Quick review Epic Haven 12/30-1/6 Cruise!

[FLcruisergrl]

I’ve been off the Epic for 4.5 hrs and am going through some serious withdrawals! Flashing my Haven badge at my kid does not get me faster service and I’m wondering what the butler will be bringing for this afternoon’s snack! This was such a good vacation. The Haven totally spoiled me and I don’t think I’ll be able to cruise any other way. It’s the experience of a small, upscale ship within a mega ship. I’ll hit some highlights:

 

Embarkation: smooth and easy. We arrive around 10:30am and quickly parked and dropped our bags off to the porters. We made our way inside and got through security very quickly. I approached an NCL employee and before I could say anything, she explained that checkin would start shortly and to have a seat. Then, I said the magic word....Haven...and watched her demeanor change instantly. Yes, ma’am, right this way. Enjoy your vacation! The Haven area was smallish, but there were snacks and before I knew it, Hanno was fetching us to start boarding.

 

Haven first impressions: Wow!! Mary Ann gave us a tour and then we were free to have lunch. I’m used to a buffet lunch that is a mish mash of different things. Not today! My mom and I had the shrimp Caesar salad and the goat cheese tart. Both were excellent, as was my hubby’s pork chop and our daughter was very happy with her Mac & cheese and fries. Dessert was awesome and we were then off to check out our rooms!

 

Rooms: the hubby and I had an aft penthouse on deck 10 and Mom and daughter were above us in an aft penthouse on 11. The rooms were very nice, beds comfortable, and bathroom spacious. The views couldn’t be beat.

 

Butler: We had Jojit, whom we loved! We are not high maintenance, but Jo took good care of us, delivering afternoon snacks and room service when requested (always quickly and within his time estimate). He noticed how much we loved the red grapes in the fruit bowl and the fruit bowl soon became a full bowl of grapes daily, without being asked!

 

Concierge: The concierge team was wonderful as well. Hanno was the head Concierge. He was pleasant, accommodating, and funny and made us quickly feel at home. He and his team truly coddled us and made us feel very special.

 

Dining: For breakfast, we either had room service or ate in the Haven. French press coffee was a favorite, as was the seafood eggs benedict. We only ate lunch in the restaurant the first day, but ate at the courtyard grill a few times, as well as O’Sheehans. Our daughter loved the nachos and I thought the black & bleu burger was quite good. The spinach dip, not so good. Dinners were at the Haven, Cagney’s, Moderno, Le Bistro, and Wasabi. I was happy with all, but Cagney’s was the favorite, followed closely by the Haven.

 

Ports: We staid on the shop in Nassau, did rafting on the Martha Brae in Jamaica, and a beach day at the Royal Palms in Grand Cayman. I highly recommend the Martha Brae trip and the Royal Palms! We were supposed to go to Great Stirrup Cay but alas, it was not meant to be! The seas were rough, our not so tiny ship was tossed, and we headed for Nassau part 2! Did some shopping and spent the afternoon by the Haven pool nursing a glass of sangria.

 

Haven facilities: we loved the Haven pool and hot tubs! I do wish the courtyard got full sun all day, but was able to deal with it. There were lots of kids on our sailing, but all were well behaved. My complaint about the Haven pool is the chair hogs. I had hoped it wouldn’t happen, but by 9:30 every morning, most chairs had towels on them. We were still always able to find a chair, but it stinks to be stuck in the shade while someone’s towel catches the rays.

 

Only disappointment: the only disappointment I had (and it’s small), was that they wouldn’t serve lunch from the Epic Club in the courtyard grill. I had asked for a Brie burger from the restaurant menu while seated in the grill and was told no. Seriously, the restaurant is 20 steps away and it probably all comes from the same kitchen!

 

Conclusion: This was an awesome vacation! NCL now has us hooked and we will definitely cruise the Epic Haven again.

[Shuush]

Thank you for your review! Leaving the 20th in a Haven suite, and it sounds perfect!

[cbtravel1]

Great review, we will be on Epic on the 27th. Did you park right at the port? If so, in which order did you park or drop off your luggage.

[Linda the Book Lover]

Yep, you have been spoiled. Welcome to the Haven lovers club!

[DMH15]

I was in The DOS on Epic last March. Almost perfect. If we had Hanno it would have been. LUCKY YOU!

 

We never had Haven chair hogs. I would have complained. Did you?

 

Thanks for your review.

 

 

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[Pappion]

Thanks for the review. Will be on the 20th in a Haven suite as well. Looking so forward to it...

[FLcruisergrl]

Great review, we will be on Epic on the 27th. Did you park right at the port? If so, in which order did you park or drop off your luggage.

 

Yes, we parked at the port. We parked and rolled our luggage to the porters. I’m sure there was a way to drop it off first, but it was very easy to park first as well.

[FLcruisergrl]

I was in The DOS on Epic last March. Almost perfect. If we had Hanno it would have been. LUCKY YOU!

 

We never had Haven chair hogs. I would have complained. Did you?

 

Thanks for your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hanno is fabulous! We didn’t complain, as we were able to find chairs and just decided to go with the flow. If we had been completely unable to find anything, I would’ve said something. The first day in Nassau Twas fine, the hogging started the second day (at sea) and seemed to be started by a large family. Others saw and followed suit.

[bmwman]

Hanno is fabulous! We didn’t complain, as we were able to find chairs and just decided to go with the flow. If we had been completely unable to find anything, I would’ve said something. The first day in Nassau Twas fine, the hogging started the second day (at sea) and seemed to be started by a large family. Others saw and followed suit.

 

Firstly great review and you are lucky that the previous concierge Bruno was not on the ship.

 

Never had chair problems in Haven so I think that's a bit unlucky but glad you had a great time

[Clarea]

Thanks for the interesting report.

[Vinegarjoe10]

Firstly great review and you are lucky that the previous concierge Bruno was not on the ship.

 

Never had chair problems in Haven so I think that's a bit unlucky but glad you had a great time

 

bmwman,

 

You didn't like Bruno ? We were on the Epic 12/9-12/16 and Bruno and Wade, in my opinion, provided professional, timely service when requests were made.

 

-Vinegarjoe .

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your report.

 

Keith

[Trapson]

Great review!

Can I ask, where did you go for sail away? Is there a haven private sundeck that kids are allowed on? Or is it just the courtyard which won’t have a sea view?

[FLcruisergrl]

Great review!

Can I ask, where did you go for sail away? Is there a haven private sundeck that kids are allowed on? Or is it just the courtyard which won’t have a sea view?

 

We went to the quiet sundeck at the very front of 18. I believe kids are allowed in Posh for sailaway only, but we wanted to be at the very front. It was chilly, so we didn’t spend much time there and went back to our aft balcony to finish sailaway!