Photos: Epic Haven, 2 Bedroom Villa # 16001, and More

We sailed on the Norwegian Epic from September 2nd through 9th on a Western Mediterranean itinerary. We stayed in the forward facing "Haven 2-Bedroom Family Villa" # 16001 (category S4). We have sailed in Haven/Courtyard suites on the Jewel-class ships before and did some research (thank you fellow CCers) ahead of this sailing so we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. We had a great time and really enjoyed the Haven and this cabin/suite on the Epic. :D

Here a a few quick observations:

Size: As others have reported, 16001 -and, as I understand it, its counterpart above, 17001 - are wider than the standard Category S4 2-Bedroom Family Villas. We looked in a few standard S4s when disembarking and estimate that 16001 (and 17001) are about 3 feet or so wider (noticeable in the living room and the 2nd/smaller bedroom). We also think they are slightly deeper too. There was plenty of room in this suite to accommodate 2 couples comfortably. My younger brother and his wife stayed in the smaller bedroom and said they slept great in there.

Location: 16001 is all the way front and it's a big ship, which means, if you're going to the back of the ship (Manhattan Room, Mandara Spa, Spice H2O), it's a long hike (but good exercise). The Garden Cafe is located right below you though, so that's convenient (especially when you get a craving for crepes). Views are incredible.

Elevators: Seemed to be more crowded and take longer than we remember from our last trip on the Epic. We take the stairs a lot so this wasn't that big of a deal. On disembarkation day, the concierge takes you down the freight elevator and you walk right off the ship, which was awesome and a huge time-saver.

Movement: Seas were rather rough the first night heading east from Barcelona and the ship was rocking. Being high and forward, you could definitely feel the movement in the cabin (but to be honest, you could feel it a lot throughout the ship, including midship on lower decks). We take Bonine once a day when we cruise, so the rocking wasn't a problem. And after the first night, it was pretty calm for the rest of the trip.

Storage: Plentiful storage almost everywhere. The only place it was a little tight was in the smaller bedroom/bathroom (and it wasn't that there wasn't enough space; there just wasn't as much extra space as there was in the master bedroom, master bathroom, and living/dining areas).

Noise: Quiet for 22 hours a day. The family above us had young kids and most evenings (around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m.), they would discharge their excess energy by doing what kids do: running, jumping, shrieking, and - what really sounded like - horseback riding (though we never saw a horse :rolleyes:). It was annoying while it was going on, but fortunately it only lasted for an hour or two. We "had" this same cabin booked for next Thanksgiving, but have now switched to 17001 to avoid kids above us (it will be Thanksgiving, so we thought the chances of kids being in there was pretty high). I think if it were just adults up there, the noise wouldn't be that bad.

Temperature: The air-conditioning was not working when we first got to the room. We were told that they were working on it. It was very warm the first day. By that night, the air-conditioning was working better. After that, it was always comfortable, but we could never get it to be really cool (like we have in/on other cabins/ships).

Solarium: Being forward facing, these suites have solariums instead of balconies. We weren't sure how we would like it - but as it turns out, it was fantastic. It's a good size (wider and a little deeper than the standard S4 balconies), there are two windows that open easily (even while underway), it has its own thermostat, and it's just freaking cool to be front and center. The views, as I said, were amazing.

Service: Very good in the Haven and basically everywhere on the ship. Smiles all around. :)

And now for some photos (there's a bunch, so it will take me a few posts to get them all on here):

Living/Dining Areas:

WOW

What a treat! I am booked in this exact suite in February!!

THANK YOU FOR POSTING

btw.... I am a greedy pig, so I want more, more more pictures ;)

I just got off the ship and had suite 16023 and I can definitely see the difference in size. Cool!

We also had the same exact noise problem which thankfully was only temporary. And we got lucky that we had a very smooth sailing. Most of the time could barely tell we were moving. :)

Master Bedroom:

Master Bathroom:

View from the shower!:

Just an observation: note the odd placement of the shower drain/grate... it's right where you stand while showering. Not a big deal, but it would have been better (and more comfortable) if it was in a different location (especially since all the water pooled up against the more interior portion of the shower floor anyway):

On another thread, there was a discussion about forward facing penthouses having curtains instead of doors for the toilet room. After reading that, I was a little worried that the same might be true for the villas. No reason to worry. As you can see, we had a door:

Vanity area between Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom:

2nd/Smaller Bedroom/Bathroom (yes there's a door separating the 2nd bedroom and its bathroom from the main living/dining area of the suite... there was a question about that on another thread):

Here the bed is pulled out and made up (my brother and sister-in-law just kept in like this the whole trip rather than having Marta make it up and break it down each day, but your steward will if you want them to and it would give more room to move around). They had a foam egg crate mattress topper put on it and thought it was quite comfortable. There is also a twin bed that drops down from the ceiling in here if you needed it (but I would say only do that if it's kids in there - otherwise, that room is going to be very crowded):

And the 2nd bathroom:

WOW

What a treat! I am booked in this exact suite in February!!

 

THANK YOU FOR POSTING

btw.... I am a greedy pig, so I want more, more more pictures ;)

I have this suite the week after you PLEASE take good care!;)

The Solarium:

View during the day from the Solarium:

And the view at night:

Thank you for the pictures.

There are four thermostats in the suite:

-Living/Dining Area;

-Master Bedroom/Bathroom;

-2nd Bedroom/Bathroom;

-Solarium

The light controls are pre-set and there are controls everywhere. It takes a while to figure them all out but by the end of the cruise, we were pros!

In the entry area, there's a slot to put your room key in. When your key is not in there it turns off most of the lights and slows down the air-conditioning:

Given that we were having a little trouble keeping the place cool, we used a Dunkin' Donuts gift card to keep it running when we weren't in there (I know, I know, it's not the most environmental thing to do, but it was hot otherwise!):

Two phones (plus a cordless/mobile phone that you can carry around the ship with you). Here's the interactive display on one of the main phones. Note that you can turn the display off by pressing the light bulb icon (that helps when you're sleeping because the display is bright):

Haven Courtyard:

Haven Sun Deck (Front of Deck 18), closed while underway:

Haven Fitness Room (convenient, but not nearly as big or as many choices in equipment as the main fitness center):

Concierge Lounge:

Epic Lounge:

Epic Club Restaurant (I posted menus here last week: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1706986&highlight=epic+club+menus):

Epic Grill:

Posh:

Posh at night:

Pics taken from Posh:

Wow, looks gorgeous!!

Thanks for your pics! Hope to see more soon. I have a question about the 2nd bedroom. If you don't mind me asking did you have any 3rd and 4th person deals where they paid less then the 1st and 2nd? If so how much? Thanks, Kim

The Spa. On our sailing, the weekly pass was: $119 per person or $199 per couple - and worth every cent!

I took these photos on Cannes day (everybody had apparently gotten off the ship already!). It never felt "over-crowded" - but I have heard that on some sailings, it can get packed during certain times.

Saunas at the Mandara Spa have a sweet view:

Spa locker rooms:

I've never tried NCL, but I must admit your photos really are inviting. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us!:)

Epic Theater:

Spiegel Tent for Cirque Dreams & Dinner (get the "premium" seats or you'll likely be stuck in a booth against the back wall and will miss some of the show):

Fat Cats (Charlie Love & The Silky Smooth Band were performing as Slam Allen is on vacation.... Slam will be back when we sail this Thanksgiving, then he heads to the Breakaway in the Spring. No idea who will be playing next Thanksgiving):

Atrium Big Screen (showing movies):

Casino (anyone see my money??? I think it's lost in a slot machine :eek:):

Fabulous pictures! Thank you so much for posting them.

Spice H2O:

White Hot Party at Spice H2O:

Pool Deck/Slides (slide lines were crowded most of the time; they closed at 7:00pm (wish they would have stayed open a little later)):

Rock Climbing:

Sports Court:

I found an image online of a standard S4 2-Bedroom Villa Living Room for comparison. The first picture (with the orange chairs/curtains) is the standard size. The second picture (with the fuchsia chairs/curtains) is a picture I took of the larger living room in 16001 (I thought I had posted this one in an earlier post, but it looks like I doubled up on the same shot).

Standard Category S4 Living Room:

16001 (Category S4) Larger Living Room:

And that's it. Hope this helps anyone trying to decide about 16001 on the Epic.

:D

This so makes me want to jump to NCL!

Thanks for your pics! Hope to see more soon. I have a question about the 2nd bedroom. If you don't mind me asking did you have any 3rd and 4th person deals where they paid less then the 1st and 2nd? If so how much? Thanks, Kim

Yes, the 3rd and 4th passenger rates were significantly reduced (which is pretty standard protocol). For this sailing the 3rd and 4th passengers' fares were each ~$1800 less per person than each of the first two passengers' fares per person.

I think the only time 3rd and 4th passenger rates get weird and very high is when there are a lot of 3rd and 4th passengers being added to rooms (thus causing problems for total capacity controls). Most likely to occur on holiday and spring break sailings.