new cruiser- NCL epic ship. Haven suite.

[noobiecruiser2018]

Hello,

 

My boyfriend and I are going on a cruise in December for the very first time. We are cruising via NCL on the Epic ship. We booked the Haven penthouse suite and we are very excited to set sail. I did have some questions before. I have been doing a lot of research via blogs, Vlogs and the NCL website. I read ( cannot recall where) that NCL will be calling us/mailing us around 40 days before our trip. Does anyone know if that is true? if so, what will they mail or call us for? I just want to be on the lookout for any mail that comes. also, if you have cruised this ship before ( haven or no haven) if you can recommend anything to do on the ship, let me know.

 

thanks!

[Kitten112]

Hello,

 

 

 

My boyfriend and I are going on a cruise in December for the very first time. We are cruising via NCL on the Epic ship. We booked the Haven penthouse suite and we are very excited to set sail. I did have some questions before. I have been doing a lot of research via blogs, Vlogs and the NCL website. I read ( cannot recall where) that NCL will be calling us/mailing us around 40 days before our trip. Does anyone know if that is true? if so, what will they mail or call us for? I just want to be on the lookout for any mail that comes. also, if you have cruised this ship before ( haven or no haven) if you can recommend anything to do on the ship, let me know.

 

 

 

thanks!

 

 

 

Hi! You are going to love the aft penthouse, and the HAVEN!!! About 50 days out you get sent a letter with luggage tags and the number for the concierge. You can call the concierge with pre-cruise requests like what pillows you want, what you want in the mini fridge if you want certain snacks etc. I have not been on the Epic but have been on the Breakaway in an aft penthouse suite and the Gen in an Aft owners suite!!

Happy cruising!!

 

 

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[noobiecruiser2018]

Thank you! what type of things do people request? we obviously want to get the most for our money but then again we don't want to be that annoying couple LOL! I like to sleep with a fan, do you think they have that on board? geeze...am I being a diva? LOL

[Callimero]

Thank you! what type of things do people request?…

 

Just found some interesting questions here:

See #17

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2656960

Maybe that helps?

[graphicguy]

Thank you! what type of things do people request? we obviously want to get the most for our money but then again we don't want to be that annoying couple LOL! I like to sleep with a fan, do you think they have that on board? geeze...am I being a diva? LOL

Not sure about the fan.

 

But, kitten has given a pretty good choice for pre-cruise requests.

 

To me more specific, as an example, if you like chocolate covered strawberries, you can ask the pre-cruise concierge to have them in your room waiting for you. If you like almonds in your room, request those. If you like real sugar instead of sweetener for your coffee, request that. If you like a certain type of tea, you can request that.

 

I think with the pillows, you can request down, or hypoallergenic, or a reading pillow, or any combination.

 

You're going to love the Epic....it's one of my favorite mega ships. The Haven is an amazing experience on the ship, too.

[Vyhanek]

You are going to love the haven on the Epic. It really is the best haven. It's big enough to accommodate everyone, the sundeck POSH is by far the best Haven sundeck in the fleet with a huge bar and plenty of space and plenty of loungers for all! The other Haven sundecks aren't large enough to accommodate all the Haven guests and so the normal chair hog situation occurs in the Haven. This doesn't happen on the huge Epic POSH sundeck.

The Haven dining room is delicious. It really is the best resteraunt on the ship. The service is the best. They will try hard to get to know you and your preferences. It's just lovely. But my advice is to avoid this resteraunt the first dinner. All of the Haven has the idea to go there for their first meal and it does get to be a madhouse. If you wait until the second night, you will have the dining room to yourself....because the other's who dined their the night before somehow think Cagney's or La Cucina is going to be better food.....it really, really isn't.

I love Howl at the Moon and the Hypnotist shows. I love the comedy shows. I love the Cirque dinner show, the food is good and the acrobatics are amazing! I highly recommend that show.

The concierge that calls you 50 days out or whatever is basically useless to me. She can do ONLY (absolutely ONLY) what you can do by pre-booking your reservations. She has no ability like the general concierge to make anything out of the ordinary work. For example if online the Teppenyaki resteraunt shows booked for Tuesday night, she would have no way at all to get you in. But as soon as you board the ship and speak with the Haven concierge and ask if you can eat dinner Tuesday in Teppenyaki, she will tell you "Of course and what time would you like to eat?" Same with shore excursions, same with basically everything. Once you et on the ship, the concierge will get you what you want.

I always pre order chocolate covered strawberries to be delivered to my room a couple days. This you can do online. I bring my own mask and snorkel for snorkeling at GSC or at the ports. If I stop in Mexico, I always visit the pharmacy and buy over the counter Z packs and Retin A. You can buy it legally and at a fraction of the price. There is a swordfish burger with the most delicious sauce on the lunch menu in the Haven. You can order it from the bartender to have them bring it to you on the sundeck. OMG, love it! POSH is a short elevator ride from the buffet, where the soft serve ice cream is. I was a regular with the ice cream cones!

Enjoy!

[Linda the Book Lover]

Hands down favorite of the DH and myself. We love Posh the best. Last year's cruise was our second time in Posh and we loved every moment. We always have the mini-fridge emptied and we have found the Haven restaurant to be wonderful in service. The bar in the Haven area right outside the restaurant is the best. Be prepared for if you prefer certain things in the restaurant for it to be remembered. We changed our reservations a couple of times due to needing more time and once because we decided against eating in Cagney's a second time. Never an issue. The pool (though I hesitate to call it that) is very small and we never used it deciding to remain in Posh whenever we were on the ship. Have a wonderful time!

[BirdTravels]

My boyfriend and I are going on a cruise in December for the very first time. We are cruising via NCL on the Epic ship. We booked the Haven penthouse suite and we are very excited to set sail. I did have some questions before. I have been doing a lot of research via blogs, Vlogs and the NCL website. I read ( cannot recall where) that NCL will be calling us/mailing us around 40 days before our trip. Does anyone know if that is true? if so, what will they mail or call us for? I just want to be on the lookout for any mail that comes. also, if you have cruised this ship before ( haven or no haven) if you can recommend anything to do on the ship, let me know.

 

You will get your snail-mail letter and luggage tags exactly 50 days to cruise.

 

We really don't find much use for the pre-concierge. We prefer to build the relationship with the concierge and butler on embarkation day.

 

The Haven on the Epic is the best in the fleet. Big. Comfortable. We were in a forward facing 2 bedroom penthouse the last time we were on the Epic.

 

You have every right to ask the staff to do anything you want. The worst that they can do is say "no".

 

The concierge desk will help you book show, dinner, shoreex, activity reservations. They can overbook sold out restaurants (but once they get totally overbooked, even the concierge can't get you a seat). We book dinners, shows (main theater, comedy club), Canvas By U painting, Escape Room with the concierge. If you book the Cirque show, the concierge staff will escort you to the show room and let you in a side entrance and give you the best seats in the house before general admission starts.

 

Your butler is your friend. They will bring you afternoon snacks. If you want something special in addition to the default snacks, don't be afraid to ask. At least once a cruise us "big kids" always ask for a PB&J sandwich with chips. We ask the butler to have full bowls of M&M (plain or peanut), Gummy Bears, and Bar Mix on the table (which go into zip locks for snacking). We have the room steward empty the mini-fridge and have the butler leave pitchers of water, ice tea, and cartons of milk (for coffee).

 

There will be breakfast cards with check boxes. Ignore the check boxes and write down what you want for morning room service on early port days. We order fresh fruit, fresh breads with butter and jam, eggs over easy, egg white omelets with tomato and spinach, filet steak, ham, bacon, sausage, roasted tomato, mushrooms, juices, and a Diet Pepsi. Your butler will deliver your breakfast on a white table cloth at the time requested. You can order anything available in the Haven Restaurant or Main Dining Room. Go Wild!

[noobiecruiser2018]

This is all so helpful ☺️