EPIC aft balcony vs spa balcony

[debk68]

Hi- please respond quickly trying to decide...

We can upgrade to an aft balcony for "free" or upgrade to a spa balcony for $160.00. Anyone have any opinions?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

Going March 23.

 

Thanks!

[Medtech2]

Hi- please respond quickly trying to decide...

We can upgrade to an aft balcony for "free" or upgrade to a spa balcony for $160.00. Anyone have any opinions?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

Going March 23.

 

Thanks!

If I had the extra money for the Spa Pass I would pick the aft and buy the passes. I have never stayed in an aft but have seen one and the view is wonderful.

 

If money is a concern and you want to do the Spa, it would be cheaper to get the spa cabin. That Spa is pretty amazing...

[jjc8]

If you are interested in the spa, then get the spa. I believe it is $199 pp so this is a good deal. If you have no interest in the spa, go with the aft. I have done both and we are spa people.

[welove2cruise*]

Aft cabins had vibration issues when the ship first same out. I am not sure if that is still the situation or not.

 

 

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[Love my butler]

Aft cabins had vibration issues when the ship first came out.

 

Those aren't issues, that is NCL's complimentary massage package :D

[SissasMomE]

Hi- please respond quickly trying to decide...

We can upgrade to an aft balcony for "free" or upgrade to a spa balcony for $160.00. Anyone have any opinions?:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

Going March 23.

 

Thanks!

 

If you take a corner aft-facing balcony on the Epic, they are huge. I'd go for that over a spa balcony in a heartbeat!

[SissasMomE]

Aft cabins had vibration issues when the ship first same out. I am not sure if that is still the situation or not.

 

 

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Only when entering and leaving a port - common to all ships.

[debk68]

Thanks everyone! When we finally figured out what we were going to do it was gone :(.

If it pops again we are going to do an aft and try for Posh passes.

[SissasMomE]

Thanks everyone! When we finally figured out what we were going to do it was gone :(.

If it pops again we are going to do an aft and try for Posh passes.

 

Make sure you get a corner, if available. They are double the size!!

[sdmike]

Only when entering and leaving a port - common to all ships.

 

Not all. Ships with azipods don't have the issue much at all. Epic relies fully on its bow and aft side thrusters to maneuver because it uses traditional propellers and not azipods which can be turned for maneuvering.

 

here's the Epic

 

 

Here are Azipods (from Queen Mary 2). They are self contained electric motors that can move all over the place

 

 

This is a picture of the Azura, which like the Epic uses traditional propellers. You can see the side thrusters it employs as a result. These things experience a lot of cavitation when maneuvering, which causes the shuddering and vibration

 

Edited February 14, 2014 by sdmike

[SissasMomE]

Did they build the getaway and breakaway like this too? I always used it as my morning wake up call for when we were pulling into a port!

Edited February 14, 2014 by SissasMomE

[sdmike]

Did they build the getaway and breakaway like this too? I always used it as my morning wake up call for when we were pulling into a port!

 

Good question! I don't know what they used. I'll have to go look. I think the Jewel class uses azipods but when they designed the Epic it was right in the middle of when lots of ships were having issues with azipod reliability.

[sdmike]

Looks like they went back to pods. Maybe they still employ/use the side thrusters on the BA, OR there's some cavitation still from the pods.

 

The VP of design and development said this in an interview:

 

With the construction of Norwegian Breakaway, we are back to podded propulsion with pods from ABB with the implementation of the new XO Pod. Our latest new building, Norwegian Epic, has a shafted propulsion system, but now we feel that pods are the right solution for us. We save fuel and get vastly improved man*oeuvring capabilities

[SissasMomE]

Looks like they went back to pods. Maybe they still employ/use the side thrusters on the BA, OR there's some cavitation still from the pods.

 

The VP of design and development said this in an interview:

 

With the construction of Norwegian Breakaway, we are back to podded propulsion with pods from ABB with the implementation of the new XO Pod. Our latest new building, Norwegian Epic, has a shafted propulsion system, but now we feel that pods are the right solution for us. We save fuel and get vastly improved man*oeuvring capabilities

 

Learn something new every day! Thanks Mike! I did not know different ships were using different propeller thingies. :cool:

[welove2cruise*]

Only when entering and leaving a port - common to all ships.

 

 

Actually this was definitely not the normal vibration. It was quite annoying. I remember the Celebrity Galaxy having a similar issue years ago. I am thinking they may have corrected it as I haven't heard anything lately.

 

 

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