Norwegian Epic Review

4.5 / 5.0
4,409 reviews

Absolutely Wonderful time on the Epic!

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Epic
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SuiteTraveler
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Mar 2014

After seeing all the bad reviews of this ship, I have to write my review as we had a marvelous time. We had The Haven Spa Suite 14151 on the Epic embarking March 9.

Embarkation Process: There was quite a line at the pier. Since we were in a suite I had thought there would be a line for suite guests, but all go through the same security line. It was long, but as the weather was nice, standing in line was OK - although I miss the much easier embarkation that we experienced for the Jade in Barcelona on two occasions. Unfortunately, right after security, no one checks to find out if you are in a suite to direct you to the VIP area, so, not realizing there was a VIP area, we went to the regular lines to check in. There was hardly any line in this area and the check in lady took us to the VIP suite area where we were escorted onboard - much better. The Spa Suites are lovely. 14151 has a gigantic balcony. There were already 2 chaise lounges and 2 chairs along with 2 tables on the balcony. PERFECT! We went to The Epic Club for lunch which was great. After lunch, we explored the ship and my husband signed up for the Texas Hold-em Poker tournament the next day. We had dinner at Shanghai's - really great spicy Chinese food - don't know why anyone would complain about these dishes. Shanghai's acts as overflow for the Manhattan Room - don't know why NCL allows that as it negatively impacts the experience for paying guests in Shanghai's. Fortunately we were almost done with dinner. This did create an interesting discussion between me and my husband about the issue of capacity planning for this ship. It is much larger than other NCL ships, so based on previous ships, NCL would really just be guessing as to how many would go to the specialty restaurants as opposed to the free MDR and buffet. Once the ship is built, they are stuck. If demand for the MDR outweighed demand for the other restaurants, what do they do?

That night, I noticed that the tub in our room was leaking. As it was near midnight I didn't want to bother our cabin steward, so we mopped up the water, put the towels in the tub and went to bed. The next day, I explained to our cabin steward that it appeared to me that one of the pipes must be loose (based on where the water was coming from.) She had only begun working in this area on this cruise as the regular steward was on vacation. She filled the tub and after about 30 minutes, there was water everywhere and she wiped up the floor and contacted a plumber who came and took our tub apart and found a disconnected pipe, just as I had said. I told our cabin steward that between the two of us, we'd have cabin 14151 in the best shape it had ever been in! I subsequently found a few other problems, which she was quick to have fixed. All I can think is that the previous occupants of the suite never told their steward that light bulbs were out or that the tub was leaking. One of the surprises of the room is that the headboard actually has 2 pullout extensions with drop down tables that turn into nightstands! I had not noticed these until the 3rd night - at which time, I found out one of the extensions was stuck - another minor repair. None of these issues detracted from our stay in the cabin as the needed repairs were all immediately organized by our cabin steward. Our cabin steward did such an outstanding job on organizing the repairs, I gave her an extra $40 on top of her regular tip at the end of the week. She was so thrilled she hugged me and thanked my husband profusely. But, in fact, she deserved the extra money. She was always cheerful, always positive and always did the utmost to help and I repaid her by finding every issue that needed to be resolved in our suite and also monetarily for her excellent work in getting the issues solved.

Cabin Review

The Haven Spa Suite on the Epic is absolutely beautiful. Suite 14151 has the largest balcony - big enough for 2 chaise lounges and 2 chairs and 2 tables. The round bed is huge! My husband is 6' and had no trouble fitting on the bed. I am used to sleeping at the very edge of our bed at home, but that doesn't work on a round bed, so I had to move further onto the bed, which was fine. The bed was comfortable. I requested 2 foam pillows and combined with the other 4 down pillows, we had plenty of pillows for the trip. Unlike the overly heavy comforter on the Jade, this one seemed much lighter and we did not have to remove it.IMO, the absolute best feature of this room is the HUGE shower with two different shower heads (rain and regular.) Water pressure is excellent. I really enjoyed the shower. The spa tub is rather small. At home we have the Jetta Paradise J24-XT - that's a REAL spa tub for 2! The one on the ship, is really small and really very crowded for 2 people. We used it once. I guess we are spoiled. The ONLY thing about this room that was missing was a good area for dining or for a desk area. There was also an issue with the spa tub - on the first usage, it leaked all over the floor. We mopped up the floor and I told our cabin steward the next day that it looked to me like a pipe had come disconnected. She got a plumber to come take the tub apart and sure enough, I was right. I think this happened because as the ship moves vibration would make the pipes come apart. Anyway, the plumber fixed it. The hair dryer has a tendency to cut out and then will start working again in a few minutes. My hair takes about 5 minutes to blow dry normally. I usually do my bangs last, but that is when it would cut out, so I started doing the bangs and then move to the back and the dryer would cut out, but most of my hair would be dry at that point.About that annoying automatic light over the toilet which seems to stay on at night for 5 minutes or more...take a post-it tab or post-it note and put it over the sensor located on the ceiling just inside the door to the toilet room. This will deactivate the sensor without causing any harm or damage to sensor. This way, the automatic light will not come on at night at all. The phone also has a light switch to turn off the light on the face of it. I used a napkin on the Lavazza coffee machine and towels on other lights that were disturbing me - I like it very dark at night.Keep the drapes closed during the day when you are not in the cabin to keep it cooler inside.There is a DVD player, refrigerator, and tons of storage. More than you could possibly need for a week or even 2. There are 2 wicker chairs in the room and a table. The suite automatically comes with a flower arrangement. There is a fruit bowl that is refilled every day and the butler brings snacks every afternoon and any room service you request from him. The concierge handles dinner reservations and shore excursions. On each side of the headboard, there is a hole. Put your finger in the hole and pull firmly and out slides a panel that has a drop down nightstand! I didn't discover this until the 3rd day.We brought onboard our own bottled water and diet soda. Other than those items, everything else we wanted or needed was provided. IMO, the one thing I would change about Spa Suites, is I would put a hot tub on the balcony, instead of a spa tub inside the room. I believe this would solve 2 problems:1. Make room inside the suite for a dining table height table that could be used for dining or for a desk.2. Prevent the mess from the spa tub on the floor. I'm not 100% sure what the floors are made of. I had initially guessed Pergo, but then thought they might be some kind of wood laminate. At any rate, I noticed that the seam in the floor in front of the bathroom sink is coming apart and also, if you get out of the spa tub, water gets on the floor there. Since our tub had a leak, it wound up going all over the floor - even under the bed where our suitcases were. It also got the bedskirt wet. That's a problem. So I do think that putting a hot tub for 2 on the deck instead of a spa tub in the room would relieve this problem and help protect the floors in the suite.Other than that, we were delighted with our Spa Suite and highly recommend it. I would choose a The Haven Spa Suite over any suite in The Haven just because of the included spa access. I should also note, I would only sail on NCL in a suite - but that is our preference to have access to The Haven and the associated dining.We have cruised on RCCL's Oasis of the Seas and felt that this ship was as good as, if not just a bit better than that one.

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