Calling all past Epic Haven guests

[laxfanmom1]

I think you will be fine. We had an amazing time and would definitely book the Haven again. As I said, we didn't care for the general attitude of the butler, so we stopped asking. When we discovered that he wouldn't deliver dinner from the restaurants, there was really no need for his services. We were having a great time and really didn't feel the need to report it to a supervisor.

 

I do think it is the butler's responsibility to restock the fridge and glassware. While our supply of glassware/coffee cups was never completely empty, it just seemed odd that things were never fully restocked. EXAMPLES: we drank two small wines from the mini bar early in the trip, the wine in the bar was never restocked and we were only given one wine glass for the remainder of the trip. We preferred to use the large coffee mugs in the room. They were restocked daily until the fourth day, after that we just had to use the smaller mugs. There are supposed to be 8 bar glasses on the shelf in the room (2 of four different types) and we never had all 8 after the first day. Again, none of these things made for a bad trip, just found it to be bit odd.

 

Absolutely no complaints with the room steward. He was such a sweet person and our room was always immaculate. Not to mention the wonderful towel art he left every evening!

 

Enjoy your trip!

:)

 

Thanks for responding, and clarifying about the room steward. I would have thought that clean glassware was his job. We will be 5 adults in our suite. And we often carry on a case of wine (we're wine snobs and we like high end Italian wine), and we don't mind the corkage fees. We definitely need clean wine glasses in the room every day. I guess if we make a point of telling him it will be okay. But we also like the little afternoon snacks/treats (to have in the room with our wine while we dress for dinner) and would be disappointed if nothing showed up. I guess we will just play it by ear and hope for the best.

[sandtrace1]

so basically some good and some disappointing but overall good ?

 

It is such a shame about your butlers disinterest and it does sound like the butler can make or break the experience

 

I was planning on asking for very little but the little we do ask for I wasn't planning on expecting to hear things like "order from room service" when you specifically cannot order that item from room service or to feel that they couldn't be bothered with you as a guest, that is not really acceptable at all :(

 

I am so glad to hear that the haven bar was open til 10 pm :)

 

I would say the Epic was excellent overall. The cruise is very port intensive, so a disinterested butler really can't ruin a trip. I am sure that if we had called him about replacing the glassware/cups or asked for better snacks in the room, it would have been done. Just didn't want to spend our time trying to track down the butler.

The exceptional service we received elsewhere totally made up for it. Your concierge will be your best friend as he can make miracles happen!

[amy86]

I've heard on the Epic you get a portable phone or something that you can carry around the ship to contact your butler. Is that true?

[nursegator]

My husband and I are going on the Epic in Nov Leave from Barcelona . I have been on the Epic for Carribean cruise. Looking forward to the Epic haven experience. :)

[sandtrace1]

I've heard on the Epic you get a portable phone or something that you can carry around the ship to contact your butler. Is that true?

 

Amy, There was a portable phone in our room, however, no one ever told us what it was for. It was bigger than a cell phone, so I really would not have wanted to carry it around the ship. There was also a larger phone unit in the room that had direct lines to the butler, room service, concierge, etc... We tried to contact our butler a couple of times on this phone, but never got an answer.

 

The few times we interacted with our butler, he seemed to be in a big hurry. I am not sure how many rooms they are assigned to, but he always seemed to be on the run. He did meet with us very briefly (less than 5 minutes) on embarkation day. When I asked what services he provided he said, " only food and beverage". He handed us a room service menu and told us we could order anything on it. He also said he would restock our mini bar and coffee. The room service menu was VERY limited and contained mostly breakfast and lunch items and a few desserts. We would have loved to have had dinner in our room a couple of days after long excursions, but there really wasn't anything on the room service menu that looked appealing.

 

We did order breakfast from the butler the first two days as we had early morning excursions. He told us he couldn't guarantee that he could get our breakfast too us by 6:30. However, both days breakfast arrived promptly at the requested time, unfortunately the order wasn't quite right either day.

 

At the end of the day, we just didn't get a great vibe from the guy. The few simple requests that we made were met with hesitation, followed by saying, he would try but couldn't guarantee anything. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, after day 2 we just completely wrote off the service and never tried to contact him again. After reading threads on Cruise Critic, I think we probably should have utilized him more, but it just felt awkward. We had a great trip in spite of not knowing what to do with the butler. LOL

[amy86]

Amy, There was a portable phone in our room, however, no one ever told us what it was for. It was bigger than a cell phone, so I really would not have wanted to carry it around the ship. There was also a larger phone unit in the room that had direct lines to the butler, room service, concierge, etc... We tried to contact our butler a couple of times on this phone, but never got an answer.

 

The few times we interacted with our butler, he seemed to be in a big hurry. I am not sure how many rooms they are assigned to, but he always seemed to be on the run. He did meet with us very briefly (less than 5 minutes) on embarkation day. When I asked what services he provided he said, " only food and beverage". He handed us a room service menu and told us we could order anything on it. He also said he would restock our mini bar and coffee. The room service menu was VERY limited and contained mostly breakfast and lunch items and a few desserts. We would have loved to have had dinner in our room a couple of days after long excursions, but there really wasn't anything on the room service menu that looked appealing.

 

We did order breakfast from the butler the first two days as we had early morning excursions. He told us he couldn't guarantee that he could get our breakfast too us by 6:30. However, both days breakfast arrived promptly at the requested time, unfortunately the order wasn't quite right either day.

 

At the end of the day, we just didn't get a great vibe from the guy. The few simple requests that we made were met with hesitation, followed by saying, he would try but couldn't guarantee anything. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, after day 2 we just completely wrote off the service and never tried to contact him again. After reading threads on Cruise Critic, I think we probably should have utilized him more, but it just felt awkward. We had a great trip in spite of not knowing what to do with the butler. LOL

 

Thanks for your response. I'm so sorry your butler had such a poor attitude! Just curious, which Haven suite were you in? (Or which floor?)

[sandtrace1]

Thanks for your response. I'm so sorry your butler had such a poor attitude! Just curious, which Haven suite were you in? (Or which floor?)

 

We were in cabin 17009.

[sjbdtz]

The room service menu was VERY limited and contained mostly breakfast and lunch items and a few desserts. We would have loved to have had dinner in our room a couple of days after long excursions, but there really wasn't anything on the room service menu that looked appealing.

 

 

 

When we intend to eat in our room, we typically take a look at all of the menus for the day, and pull together our ideal meal.

 

Appetizer from this menu

Main from that one

Dessert from another.

 

and usually between us & our guests there are several venues involved.

 

We've never had a butler express concern about this. They assemble the dishes from the various galleys and arrive at the door.

 

We DO give them lots of notice....like calling at 6 and asking for dinner at 7.

 

 

Stephen

 

.

[DandDM]

At the end of the day, we just didn't get a great vibe from the guy. The few simple requests that we made were met with hesitation, followed by saying, he would try but couldn't guarantee anything. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, after day 2 we just completely wrote off the service and never tried to contact him again. After reading threads on Cruise Critic, I think we probably should have utilized him more, but it just felt awkward. We had a great trip in spite of not knowing what to do with the butler. LOL

 

This got me thinking, as we had a very similar experience with our butler (last April, cabin 16025).

 

There was one thing that worked out well with him: after a couple days of frustration, I finally called him to the room for help with the coffee machine. (btw: we loved the thing, used it very often, and it was one of our favorite features of the suite).

 

I ended up giving him a list of our "demands": plenty of the regular coffee capsules, large cups, fresh milk, creamer, and sugar packets. My wife actually wrote it down so I wouldn't forget and I gave the list to the butler.

 

While we probably only saw him once more during the week, we had plenty of those items for the rest of the trip. So now looking back, I wonder what else we should have put on that list. . .

[littlelulu01]

I went back and forth on the value as well. I ended up booking the Haven in a spa suite today. I'm hoping to be able to switch to the new perk package in August with daily gratuities replacing the shore excursion credit which is a throw away perk for us. Our sailing isn't until next 12/2016 but in the end I was able to justify the extra expense.

 

Have sailed the Haven on the Pearl to Alaska and it was by far the most relaxing and pampering vacation to date. Have also recently sailed the Jade two week in OV with dd's and we had a fabulous time but we were on the go every day all day. Traveling to Europe with husband I wanted more of a romantic relaxing trip vs marathon touring style. Not sure how long your sailing is but ours has several sea days where we can enjoy the spa and haven amenities vs a potentially very crowded ship.

 

I've read so many negative things about the epic balcony and mini suite cabin design and since this is our first mega ship experience, I opted for the Haven. I figured out how much extra it will cost me per month, between now and final payment and fit it in my budget by giving up a few things i waste $ on. Good luck with your decision. Kim

[vulcan1971]

I've heard on the Epic you get a portable phone or something that you can carry around the ship to contact your butler. Is that true?

 

amy86 - yes, there is a phone that is generally sitting on a charging dock in the living room of the Haven 2 Bedroom Family Villas that is portable and can be taken anywhere on the ship. I did take it a few times when I was trying to make plans and meet some cruisers and didn't want to play voicemail tag. It is a nice feature, especially if you are in a group and want or need to be able to stay in touch while not being tied down to routine check-in times at the cabin.

 

This is all helpful feedback - thank you! Keep it coming :)

 

Some of the reasons we booked the Haven suite:

- the expanded room service menu for breakfast (we almost always prefer room service for breakfast, esp. on port days) I have stayed in two different Haven 2 Bedroom Family Villas and have never dined in the room using the room service menu or the butler to provide a dining service. I enjoyed the flexibility of being able to show up at the Epic Club whenever I was ready to dine, regardless of the meal. Even on port days, it was easy to stop in at breakfast and get very quick service or just graze on the continental buffet options.

- the expanded dinner room service (if we are very tired after port days, it would be nice to still get food from specialty restaurants)As someone else mentioned, once you dine in the Epic Club, you may never want to do room service again. The flexibility to come and go as you want allows for you to relax as much or as little as you need to prior to dinner.

- the private sun & pool areas on sea days (but only 1 sea day on this itinerary, and I'm less sold on the Haven perks now - seen reviews that anyone can go up to Posh, and worried about crowded Haven pool on sea day. The spice H2O area sounds like it might be just fine for us? We just want lounge chairs, drink service and no so many kids around.)The Haven courtyard is not accessed by Epic passengers with a Posh pass. A limited number of the Posh passes are sold, so if you choose to use that area, it usually isn't overly crowded.

- priority disembarkment is also a bonus One of my favorite features of the Haven suite is the expedited boarding of the ship for embarkation, port calls, and disembarkation process.

- DVD player is nice perk for us too (don't really care about the fancy coffee maker)I never used the DVD player since we had plenty of other entertainment options we took advantage of. The Lavazza machine can also make single serving cups of tea as well as coffee drinks.

- I like the Haven restaurant as an option, but we'd probably only use it for dinner once and lunch maybe twice?I enjoyed almost all meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner) in the Haven restaurant. A couple of specialty restaurants were thrown in for good measure and a special birthday celebration.

 

Trying to balance all this against the $2300 I would save by booking a minisuite... (ugh)

 

amy - see my comments in RED.

 

If you have no need for the butler service and other Haven amenities, you certainly can save a lot of money with a mini-suite, but I cannot imagine cruising with NCL and not having it.

[asubaru]

Was his name Fernando, by chance?

 

 

We cruised on the Epic from 7/15-7/22 boarding in Civitavecchia and stayed in a Haven Suite. We loved the amenities that were included. Our room steward (Ricardo) was absolutely wonderful and the concierge service went out of their way to accommodate excursions, dining and show reservations.

 

Butler service for us was very hit or miss. He seemed to be put off when we requested a service (i.e. pillow menu or breakfast delivery). After day two, we didn't ask him to do anything and we didn't see him again until it was time to check out. We had the ultimate dining package, but were not able to order dinner from the restaurants and have it delivered by the butler. Not sure if this is something new, or if our butler just didn't want to be bothered with it. He told us we could order from the room service menu, however the selection was very limited. Glassware and coffee cups were not restocked (even though someone took away the dirty ones daily). The mini bar was never restocked the entire week, so once we consumed something, it was not replaced. He delivered advertised "gourmet" treat 6 out of the 7 days, not sure why he skipped a day. Mostly it was a bowl of fruit (banana, apple, pear, orange), which was disappointing. However, one day we did get some chocolates, and another day canapés.

 

As mentioned on numerous threads, the haven pool is full of kids most days and you will need to get there early if you want a good seat. We did find that the pool emptied out around 4:00. We spent most of our time on the Posh deck as it was never crowded. The bartenders up there are wonderful! They even passed out fruit skewers and ice water throughout the day.

 

We loved the Haven restaurant and ate breakfast and lunch there when we were on the ship. We also had dinner there on 2 nights and found the food and service to be very good.

 

The Haven bar was open until 10:00 every night the week that we cruised.

 

Even though we were underwhelmed by the butler service, we loved everything else about the Haven and thoroughly enjoyed the perks that went with it. We would definitely recommend booking it.

[bnorris10]

Just a question out of curiosity if we pay the 7.95 for iconcierge for texting our daughter would we be able to also use that to contact our butler instead of dragging around the room phone

[DandDM]

Just a question out of curiosity if we pay the 7.95 for iconcierge for texting our daughter would we be able to also use that to contact our butler instead of dragging around the room phone

 

I don't have the answer from experience, but since no one else has replied, I'll give you my thoughts! And that is "no", I doubt it will work; I would be surprised if he/she were able to receive texts.

 

As far as the phone itself, we didn't even know it was there until later in the week. I can't think of when we would have used it, but we also didn't get much use out of the butler. At Sandals resort you can use the phone anywhere on the resort and the butler will bring you drinks, or make dinner arrangements, or do a number of things. But I didn't sense that level of service in the Haven Butler (perhaps I didn't try hard enough).

 

Hopefully someone has a definitive answer for you, though!

[WhenIsOurNextCruise]

I absolutely would not cruise on a ship with a Haven area if we weren't IN IT! And the Epic Class ships are the best of the best. Also, after we stayed in the Garden Villa on the Gem Class ships, we never wanted to be on one of those ships if we weren't in the GV. But we are hooked on Epic Class having sailed in the Haven twice on the Epic, once on each of the "away" ships and heading for the Escape this weekend. Love the concierge service and the luxury and feeling like royalty! Impossible to go back Downstairs! Give it a try.

[T-Square]

My husband and I LOVED the Haven on the Epic. The extra space was just incredible - and the convenience of 2 bathrooms was such a luxury. We felt pampered by the extra special service from a private area to check in and then walk directly on the ship - to escorts for private up-close seating at the entertainment venues. We have already booked again in a Haven Spa suite for 4/7/16 on the Mediterranean itinerary.

Edited December 18, 2015 by T-Square

[sc2011]

My husband and I LOVED the Haven on the Epic. The extra space was just incredible - and the convenience of 2 bathrooms was such a luxury. We felt pampered by the extra special service from a private area to check in and then walk directly on the ship - to escorts for private up-close seating at the entertainment venues. We have already booked again in a Haven Spa suite for 4/7/16 on the Mediterranean itinerary.

 

We'll be on the same cruise. See you there! Can't wait.