Epic cabin selection questions

[punkincc]

Looking at the Epic to book before the 8-31 HSN OBC deadline and my head is spinning :confused:. Hull balconies, Exposed balconies, balconies overlooking the life boats, looking down on other balconies, balconies which bulge out, (angle or extend out).

 

There seems to be 7 types of balcony cabins other than suites: minisuite, family mini suite, spa balcony, aft balcony, family balcony, large balcony and midship balcony. The mini suites are 245 sq ft and the others 216.

 

I am tempted to just book an aft facing balcony (never had one).

 

Any words of wisdom from those who have sailed the Epic?

 

Does the spa balcony cabins have some sort of lounge area with balcony outside the cabin itself? Not talking about the thermal suite area.

 

Also this spa balcony indicates entry to the Mandara Spa. Are they talking about to the thermal suites only?

[Dawnya00]

Hi. I can speak to your question about the access into the Spa with the Spa Balcony as I had to call NCL and get an answer from them directly.

 

With a Spa cabin, you have unlimited access to the Spa and the Thermal Pools, etc. What it does not include is any of the spa services, those are still another charge, massages, facials....

 

If you were to want to use the Spa and did not have a Spa cabin, you can buy daily or multi-day passes, from around $40 daily and a 3 day was something like $119.

[meltingmoments]

Looking at the Epic to book before the 8-31 HSN OBC deadline and my head is spinning :confused:. Hull balconies, Exposed balconies, balconies overlooking the life boats, looking down on other balconies, balconies which bulge out, (angle or extend out).

 

There seems to be 7 types of balcony cabins other than suites: minisuite, family mini suite, spa balcony, aft balcony, family balcony, large balcony and midship balcony. The mini suites are 245 sq ft and the others 216.

 

I am tempted to just book an aft facing balcony (never had one).

 

Any words of wisdom from those who have sailed the Epic?

 

Does the spa balcony cabins have some sort of lounge area with balcony outside the cabin itself? Not talking about the thermal suite area.

 

Also this spa balcony indicates entry to the Mandara Spa. Are they talking about to the thermal suites only?

 

BOOK ONE, BOOK ONE, BOOK ONE!!!

We just came back off the Epic and were fortunate enough to have one of these! ( Ours was actually an accessible one......making it larger, without the curvy walls of other cabins )

 

The views coming into port each morning were amazing and the sound of the wake whilst we had a glass of wine late on at night.......sigh!!

 

Only one thing to mention......they CAN be noisy when docking and I felt a good bit of movement at that time too.......but nothing that I wouldn't book another in a heartbeat!

Whatever you decide.....have a great cruise!! :)

[punkincc]

BOOK ONE, BOOK ONE, BOOK ONE!!!

We just came back off the Epic and were fortunate enough to have one of these! ( Ours was actually an accessible one......making it larger, without the curvy walls of other cabins )

 

The views coming into port each morning were amazing and the sound of the wake whilst we had a glass of wine late on at night.......sigh!!

 

Only one thing to mention......they CAN be noisy when docking and I felt a good bit of movement at that time too.......but nothing that I wouldn't book another in a heartbeat!

Whatever you decide.....have a great cruise!! :)

 

What cabin were you in? Any pros/cons to any of the decks, 8-13? How does the deck size compare to other balcony cabins or mini suites?

[meltingmoments]

What cabin were you in? Any pros/cons to any of the decks, 8-13? How does the deck size compare to other balcony cabins or mini suites?

 

We were in cabin 13286. It had a larger balcony because of it being wheelchair accessible. Only time we noticed any noise was on White Hot Party night, when we were out on the balcony.......could hear the thud of the music, but just came in and shut the balcony door.....no problem!

 

Deck 12 had the kids club on it......depending on time of year, I guess that could get noisy at certain times!

I believe deck 8 has lots of * uncovered * balconies..........where you can be seen from above! Check out posts by sdmike.........he has great info on balconies.

 

Also check out websites that have draggable deck plans.......then you will be able to see what is around you, and above you when you are choosing a cabin. I was advised to look for cabins all around you, rather than say, restaurants or the kids club, as they tend to be quieter. If I was a computer whizz, I'd be able to show you a link for these things.....but sadly, I'm NOT, so I hope the info I've given has been helpful :o

[davesgirl51]

TA from Barcelona 10/21 cheap ...BOOK it ! :)

[SliceOfLife]

BOOK ONE, BOOK ONE, BOOK ONE!!!

We just came back off the Epic and were fortunate enough to have one of these! ( Ours was actually an accessible one......making it larger, without the curvy walls of other cabins )

 

The views coming into port each morning were amazing and the sound of the wake whilst we had a glass of wine late on at night.......sigh!!

 

Only one thing to mention......they CAN be noisy when docking and I felt a good bit of movement at that time too.......but nothing that I wouldn't book another in a heartbeat!

Whatever you decide.....have a great cruise!! :)

 

 

I felt the opposite, I had a corner aft room 12310 and I didn't really care for it. I thought there was too much movement. I felt the ship sway back and forth and it drove me crazy. We could also hear the music from the parties going on at Spice H20.

 

If I were to book the Epic again I would go with a regular balcony, probably deck 10 or 11 so you don't have the lifeboats in your face.

[jdvmd]

We participated in a Cabin Crawl on the Epic and saw two different categories that were aft. They were also doing stabilizer drills during the crawl. The vibration, shaking and sound were horrible. Never would book one of these cabins because of it. People have said they have experienced the same thing when docking and leaving ports.

[sdmike]

I know some swear by the aft, but the Epic has a couple of strikes against it when it comes to aft cabins. First, because she uses two giant props instead of azipods, maneuvering is a bit trickier. She uses side thrusters and the props to maneuver, and it can cause quite a bit of cavitation versus other ships. If you're a light sleeper it will wake you up going into port at 6am.

 

The other thing is the location of SPice H20 at the back of the ship. It can get really rocking and loud back there, and that can carry down to the rooms at the rear of the ship.

 

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with any balcony on deck 10 and up other than the hull balconies (unless you like those). There is a list of them in my signature.

[punkincc]

Thank you so much everyone for your input!

 

I think I will save the aft cabin for another cruise. Does not sound ideal for the epic.

 

One more question, port or starboard cabin? Any advantage to one or the other for the caribbean on Epic?

[SliceOfLife]

One more question, port or starboard cabin? Any advantage to one or the other for the caribbean on Epic?

 

It doesn't matter, whatever side you like better. The ships rotate sides it docks on to have the lifeboats lowered and inspected.

[sdmike]

Thank you so much everyone for your input!

 

I think I will save the aft cabin for another cruise. Does not sound ideal for the epic.

 

One more question, port or starboard cabin? Any advantage to one or the other for the caribbean on Epic?

 

The view exiting the port of miami from the port side is great. The starboard side, not so much.

[punkincc]

The view exiting the port of miami from the port side is great. The starboard side, not so much.

 

We are booked!!! Large Balcony cabin 12241 December 7 2013. $100 HSN credit and $100 from the TA. Off to a good start! Sooo far away, but think of all the fun planning I can do.

 

We picked Starboard side, will see how it works out with the itinerary. We have left out of Miami several times and are usually out on deck for the sail away. In thinking back to St Maarten, seems like the good view was on the starboard side as we sailed away. One of my favorite sailaways.

 

Thanks again

[meltingmoments]

We are booked!!! Large Balcony cabin 12241 December 7 2013. $100 HSN credit and $100 from the TA. Off to a good start! Sooo far away, but think of all the fun planning I can do.

 

We picked Starboard side, will see how it works out with the itinerary. We have left out of Miami several times and are usually out on deck for the sail away. In thinking back to St Maarten, seems like the good view was on the starboard side as we sailed away. One of my favorite sailaways.

 

Thanks again

 

Yay.....happy planning....and happy cruising when the time arrives! :)

[3ofuscruising]

We are booked!!! Large Balcony cabin 12241 December 7 2013. $100 HSN credit and $100 from the TA. Off to a good start! Sooo far away, but think of all the fun planning I can do.

 

We picked Starboard side, will see how it works out with the itinerary. We have left out of Miami several times and are usually out on deck for the sail away. In thinking back to St Maarten, seems like the good view was on the starboard side as we sailed away. One of my favorite sailaways.

 

Thanks again

 

 

And I thought we had a long wait:eek: We are booked for Nov 16,2013 and we are in family mini suite..upgraded from MB-M3 14063...can't wait to sail away on Her!!!!

[RVachon]

We are booked!!! Large Balcony cabin 12241 December 7 2013. $100 HSN credit and $100 from the TA. Off to a good start! Sooo far away, but think of all the fun planning I can do.

 

We picked Starboard side, will see how it works out with the itinerary. We have left out of Miami several times and are usually out on deck for the sail away. In thinking back to St Maarten, seems like the good view was on the starboard side as we sailed away. One of my favorite sailaways.

 

Thanks again

 

Hmmm, how is this possible when I have that cabin booked for that cruise??? :confused:

[Blondie008]

Re - aft cabins .

We were in a B2B last year, and couldnt get the same suite for both. The first leg - we were on the aft.

Never again.

The wake is lovely, and of course - sounds of the ocean beautiful

But - seven days, day in day out, same view.

We missed seeing the views in and out of port -

It was just - the same - All.The.Time.

We could not wait to move for our second week -

Never again would we do an aft cabin or suite on ANY cruise line

(well - aside from 6147 Penthouse on MClass Celebrity ship if we won the lottery - half the beam - THATS an aft suite lol!)

Much prefer a mid ship cabin on either port or starboard.

Anyone booking aft - just remember - as much as you love the wake -it aint gonna change much ;)

[racnwdow]

Hmmm, how is this possible when I have that cabin booked for that cruise??? :confused:

 

Seriously?

[kanamurva]

If you're going to take the spa pass anyway, is it a better value to book the spa balcony/suite room rather than the normal balcony/suite and the buy the spa pass separately?

 

And another question: for the cruise that I'm looking, the minisuite would be only around 100$ more expensive than the balcony. Would you think it's worth it? There have been some listings about what is included in the suites (category MX) but is Epic the same as other Ncl ships?

[jdvmd]

If you're going to take the spa pass anyway, is it a better value to book the spa balcony/suite room rather than the normal balcony/suite and the buy the spa pass separately?

 

And another question: for the cruise that I'm looking, the minisuite would be only around 100$ more expensive than the balcony. Would you think it's worth it? There have been some listings about what is included in the suites (category MX) but is Epic the same as other Ncl ships?

A mini suite is not a suite and doesn't receive suite perks associated with the category. For perks, the cabin category must begin with an "S." A mini suite is basically larger than a balcony - 25 square feet more. MA and MCs have a tub/shower combination instead of a shower.

[kanamurva]

Thanks. To make sure: from a minisuite there's no access to the private area called the courtyard (or something)?

[jdvmd]

Thanks. To make sure: from a minisuite there's no access to the private area called the courtyard (or something)?

With a mini suite, you DEFINITELY do not have access to the Haven (formerly known as the Courtyard). To get access, you have to specifically book a suite that has Haven access. For example, on the Pearl, there are suites that do not have access.

[sdmike]

Thanks. To make sure: from a minisuite there's no access to the private area called the courtyard (or something)?

 

A mini-suite gets nothing but extra space. The name stinks. It confuses people

[kanamurva]

Thanks for the clarifying replys. What about the spa balcony vs. normal balcony? For me it seems that the only difference is the complimentary access to the spa area. The price difference for a specific cruise that I'm looking for is 300$/pp. However the spa passes bought separately cost 149$/pp. Is there any reason to book the spa category? For me it seems 150$ more expensive.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for the clarifying replys. What about the spa balcony vs. normal balcony? For me it seems that the only difference is the complimentary access to the spa area. The price difference for a specific cruise that I'm looking for is 300$/pp. However the spa passes bought separately cost 149$/pp. Is there any reason to book the spa category? For me it seems 150$ more expensive.

The spa passes may not be available to be purchased.

There is no difference between the regular balcony and the spa balcony other than access to spa and location.