CA to Epic Haven (June 05, 2016 Embarkation)

[fatherlu]

In this thread, I want to highlight some of the aspects of the NCL Epic for Haven guests that I had more difficulties finding when doing a Google. Certain things I plan to show via pictures are where to go to the Haven check-in area before boarding, what the check-in area looks like, the initial area of the Haven tour, some pictures of the Haven and the recently changed menus for the Haven on the Epic.

 

Before even getting to the NCL Epic Haven, I also want to provide some guidance through Gatwick Airport (South) in London as well as Barcelona Airport, Terminal 2 (where I will be landing). Along the way, I may take some landmark pictures to keep you from being completely bored—but know that this thread is more of a how-to than a picturesque series of vacation pictures.

 

I plan to take my vacation pictures using a separate camera. The how-to pictures will unfortunately be taken on my cheap smartphone—only because it will be more convenient to update the thread via WIFI and not have to transfer pictures from my good camera while on the go. So apologies ahead of time for the lower quality pictures, especially of great landmarks that will look a lot better in person or with a good camera.

 

Lastly, future updates will be single finger typed or dictated with voice to text on the go, so forgive the typos ahead of time.

[fatherlu]

My family and I started with a long red eye trip flying on Norwegian Airlines--not connected to NCL as far as I know:

 

[mal&jason]

Can't wait for your updates! I'm sure I will have many questions for you

 

 

Regards and have a great time!

Mallory

[fatherlu]

We arrived in London and had a 5-hour layover at Gadwick Airport and so I thought I would take the Gadwick Express to Victoria Station (usually only 35 minutes away and the fastest way into the city from Gadwick) to see a few sites. Of all the days, we we're faced with a late arrival, longer than average passport control and an unofficial and limited train conductor strike that only seem to affect the Gadwick Express route. What was usually a route that came every 15 minutes, came every hour in the early afternoon and non-existent for our trip back in the late afternoon! We were packed into three different trains for more than 20 minutes each before being told that they were still waiting for the conductor--and if you were a conductor amidst the passengers, to contact them--not very reassuring to say the least!

 

Here are some pictures to passport control (which was a good 15 minutes from our terminal 2 disembarkation):

 

 

 

 

Once we were able to get through passport control taking almost an hour on this occasion, we boarded a Gatwick Express from platform 6 that was supposed to have been scheduled an hour ago (not the 15 minutes routine that was the norm).

 

 

Do to my desire to see a few sites in London, all sense of rationalism and ordinary sense of self-preservation went out the window--like in this sideways picture of Westminster Abbey that was taken in a rush!

 

 

So after taking a Black Cab and negotiating with the cabbie to pay in euros instead of pounds, we rushed back to Victoria Station to experience our three train changes before racing to catch a non-Gadwick Express train filled with bodies from wall to wall back to Gadwick Airport. After that, with a lack of faith and certainty that we would likely miss our connection to Barcelona, we ran like mad men and the poor souls you only see in movies or from afar trying to catch a late departure. Yes...We're like them..the "they" became us. We arrived at our gate, having gone through security in less than 5 minutes, we arrived at the gate within 5 minutes from scheduled departure. But for the grace of God and a delay in boarding, we made it!

 

More to come...and a refocus on the NCL Epic Haven review in the next few days.

Edited June 4, 2016 by fatherlu

[IsanTom]

Looking forward to your review and photos! Bon Voyage!

[BirdTravels]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. Excited awaiting more Havens photos!

[mpcgood]

Sorry about that Fartherlu but welcome to England. London is famous for that sort of thing down here in merry England. Ask any brit and especially mention the tube and weekend times.

[mpcgood]

I think I might see you on the 6th CC roll call.

[fatherlu]

Sorry about that Fartherlu but welcome to England. London is famous for that sort of thing down here in merry England. Ask any brit and especially mention the tube and weekend times.

 

Thank you for your kind empathic remarks. I love London and the British people. Even in the midst of trying commuting circumstances, I saw over and over again the politeness and stiffed upper lip of the British.

 

I have been enjoying the Spanish culture in Barcelona and look forward to taking some pictures of the Haven embarkation scene tomorrow at 11 A.M. God willing.

 

Hope I see my fellow cruisers at that time and in the CC roll call the next day!

Edited June 4, 2016 by fatherlu

[dexddd]

Have a great trip. Looking forward to Haven reviews/pics as well on Epic. In the Barcelona port terminal there used to be a shop for water/wine etc FWIW.

[TwinMom123]

Thank you for your kind empathic remarks. I love London and the British people. Even in the midst of trying commuting circumstances, I saw over and over again the politeness and stiffed upper lip of the British.

 

I have been enjoying the Spanish culture in Barcelona and look forward to taking some pictures of the Haven embarkation scene tomorrow at 11 A.M. God willing.

 

Hope I see my fellow cruisers at that time and in the CC roll call the next day!

 

Please take photos of your room...as my family will be staying in the same room on June 26! I appreciate your posts, excited to follow along!

[fatherlu]

On Sunday, June 5th, I took the metro to the Drassannes Station before hailing a taxi to take me and my family the rest of the way. Since there were 5 of us, it made more convenient to have a taxi for the last 2 miles or so. It did cost us about 17 euros, so with tip, 20 euros, instead of 10 if we had taken the T3 Portbus. For me, I would have preferred to continue the metro to bus adventure but as I was traveling with 4 females, I was already pushing my luck by having them take the metro in the first place with luggage. Otherwise, the Barcelona metro is quite easy to use even with the T3 Portbus (costing 2 euros per person). If you prefer to take the T3 Portbus from the Drassannes Station area, it is only a few minutes walk southwest of the Columbus monument. There is a covered Portbus stop there. I've taken a picture of it showing the Barcelona Port building (which is just southeast of the Columbus statue) in the background.

 

[fatherlu]

We arrived the port at around 10:30 A.M.--mainly so I can take some pictures before it got too crowded. Below, you will find some pictures of the general boarding area, including where to drop off luggage, go through the security lines (for which there is no Haven priority) and the marked line for Haven registration. There are lines for different guest levels. Haven and suites guest have a priority lounge after registration. In my previous NCL cruise to Hawaii, the lounge was also where suite guests registered. The condiments here, some of which is pictured, was quite lacking, withe basically only cheap cookies, water, orange juice and coffee. The lounge was also really small.

 

Epic Baggage Drop

 

Epic Security Lines

 

Epic Priority Check-in 1

[fatherlu]

Epic Priority Check-in 2

 

Epic Suite Registration Line

 

Epic Suite Registration Line

 

Epic General Registration Line

[fatherlu]

Epic Haven Priority Lounge Entrance

 

Epic Haven Check-in Lounge

 

Epic Haven Check-in Lounge

 

Epic Haven Check-in Lounge

[fatherlu]

The guests were then escorted onto the Haven area on Deck 16 and were given a tour of the area and explanation of the availabilities for suite and Haven guests in smaller groups. Our group numbered 8 but I saw another with approximately 20. Below are some pictures of the tour areas. I noted that many of the Haven butlers, room stewarts and wait staffs were Filipinos. Overall, they were very helpful and polite.

 

Epic Haven Boarding

 

Epic Haven Boarding

[fatherlu]

Since we were a family of 5 and wanted all to stay together, we had the 2 bedroom suite. Below are some pictures of our stateroom 16017. We chose this cabin to purposefully be on deck 16 so it can be more convenient to the Haven pool and restaurant (the Epic Club). The location was also convenient for us to quickly glance at the entrance of the pool when opening our front door. Below are some pictures from our front door.

 

 

Epic Suite 16017 From Front Door

 

Living Room - Picture Dark

 

Second Bathroom

 

[fatherlu]

Will post more pictures at another time.

 

We had our first meal in the Epic Club, the exclusive restaurant for Haven and suite guests. The atmosphere between the Haven venue and with the majority of the ship was stark, like day and night. While we we're dining and enjoying the atmosphere in a quiet and gentile manner, the majority of the other venues, as seen by walking through, appeared to be more crowded, loud and smokey. The perception of a ship within a ship was very true from my experience and perspective. Now whether it is worth the price is up to personal preference.

I found a number of the dishes in the lunch menu to be lacking in the potential flavor and taste that it could have had but the presentation was exellent. For the dinner menu we found that the taste and quality to be very good. I have attached copies of the new Epic Club menus below. The lobster that I ate was a full one, with the meat in the claws already de-clawed. The lobster meat was soft, perfectly cooked and had a sweet taste. As others on CC have already shared, the Haven menu required no additional charge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the upcoming continued review, I will let you know what type of treatments was actually experienced.

[TwinMom123]

I love the view from the room! Nice!

[strykes]

What time were you able to board the ship?

 

Did the courtyard fill up quickly?

 

Thanks for doing this review and have a great trip!

[fatherlu]

One of the questions I asked before arriving was how the beds in the second bedroom and living room folded out? To help answer that question for some of you, I will attach copies of those pictures as soon as I can take some that have been properly made. Every time I remember about taking those pictures, it usually isn't set up for the night or is horribly messy from prior use. I will also attach pictures of the small balcony. The balcony is set up with two chairs and is open. I share this since some descriptions seem to indicate that it was mostly enclosed with a window. That said, it is small, thus positioning to get a wide picture is hard while on the balcony itself.

Ate dinner at Teppanyaki last night. We chose mostly the various seafood combinations with lobster, scallops, shrimp and calamari. While food was fairly good, the chef entertainment was awkward at times with the focus on singing two liners to various American hit songs. Since the introduction of lobster and scallops as included dishes in the Haven restaurant, the seafood at Teppanyaki doesn't have the same specialness as before. The dinner for 5 of us came out to be appoximately 191 dollars, which included an 18% automatic gratuity and a 10% VAT tax. If some of you are thinking that is too low, there are additional spaces to give additional tips to both the chef and server.

[fatherlu]

What time were you able to board the ship?

 

Did the courtyard fill up quickly?

 

Thanks for doing this review and have a great trip!

 

We were able to board at around 11:30 A.M. The terminal filled up by 11.

[paulajoy]

Thank you for posting the menus. We will be in the Haven in February. Is this the new menu? Also, since there are two appetizer and entrée menus, can I assume that the first set is lunch and the last set is dinner?

 

~PaulaJoy

[paulajoy]

Can you tell me what espresso and/or coffee maker is in the room? Is it Lavazza or Nespresso, and if Nespresso, which machine? Evoluo, Lattissima, CitiZ? Also, is there frothing capability in the room? (I need to know whether to bring my Aeroccino).

[dexddd]

Thank you for posting the menus. We will be in the Haven in February. Is this the new menu? Also, since there are two appetizer and entrée menus, can I assume that the first set is lunch and the last set is dinner?

 

~PaulaJoy

 

The suite breakfast/lunch menu shown are the new menus. The lunch menu has the Brie burger on it. Not sure about the Haven dinner menu as the last two ships we've been on didn't have a Haven.