Honeymoon help - Epic or Spirit?

[cruisingmoose7]

I am planning my honeymoon for sometime between late august and October of this year, and we really want to cruise in Europe and spend a few days on land afterwards. I sailed once on the Jade before and I loved it.

 

I am really torn between two cruises.

As far as our interests go, we are foodies and love history and art. We aren't partiers.

 

We were originally looking at an 11 day cruise on the Spirit. We would be doing a balcony room. The itinerary is: Embark Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy); Florence/Pisa (Livorno) (Italy); Cagliari (Sardinia); Iraklion (Crete) (Greece); Athens (Piraeus) (Greece); Santorini (Greece); Olympia (Katakolon) (Greece); Valletta (Malta); Messina (Sicily) (Italy); Naples (Italy); Disembark Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy)

 

After the cruise We would probably stay in Rome for a few days and then go to Barcelona afterward for a few days before going home. My concern about the spirit is that it's an older ship and I keep reading that it's in need of updating and there are complaints about things not working in the cabin. Since it's a smaller ship, there may be less for us to do when we are on board. But the Itinerary looks amazing.

 

I'm comparing that with a 7 day cruise on the Epic, where we can get a mini suite. The itinterary is: Embark Barcelona (Spain); Naples (Italy); Rome (Civitavecchia) (Italy); Florence/Pisa (Livorno) (Italy); Cannes (France); Palma, Majorca (Spain); Disembark Barcelona (Spain).

 

We would spend a few days in Barcelona and then probably go back to Rome. I like the idea of having a nicer room and many more dining options but we won't be going to as many places as we wanted to go. But I have also read lots of complaints about the mini suites on the Epic as well and we won't get to see as much. My family thinks I should go for the mini suite on the Epic because it's our honeymoon so we should go for things that are a bit nicer, and it at least seems nicer than just a balcony on the Spirit, but I know the layout of the rooms are different. So much to consider.

 

Any thoughts on the Itineraries and cabins on both ships? Can anyone who has been on both ships weigh in on the differences in the rooms/ships?

Edited March 13, 2017 by cruisingmoose7

[coscab]

We loved the Spirit but we were in a suite, it was a corner forward suite with a side balcony off the bedroom and a huge front balcony off the living area, it even had a half bath off the foyer and the master bath was amazing. We originally booked one of the few balcony cabins that didn't have a connecting door but as the cruise approached I kept checking the suites, I finally took the leap and paid about 1600. more for the suite but if I had it to do again I would have paid even more. Maybe you could have family and friends contribute to a "suite fund", white linen breakfast in your dining area gazing out over the bow would make for a wonderful honeymoon!

Everyone treats you like royalty on the Spirit because it is such a small ship but if you like all the bells and whistles you will not like it, we thought the crew on the Spirit was far happier than the crew on the Epic although once you got the crew on the Epic at ease with you and noticed how their superiors treated them you realized why they were a bit aloof at first, they were really a great group, just not appreciated enough.

Have a wonderful cruise which ever ship you decide to sail.

[SeeUsoon@Sea]

How about this initiary? Venice is very romantic. I'm doing Paris for 4 days then Rome for a few days before this cruise. I've been on the Getaway and Escape....now wanting to try a smaller and longer cruise. Whatever y'all decide u can't go wrong. Happy Sails!

The Venice port is overnight....so a romantic gondola ride at night is soooooooo pretty!

 

 

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[cruisingmoose7]

We loved the Spirit but we were in a suite, it was a corner forward suite with a side balcony off the bedroom and a huge front balcony off the living area, it even had a half bath off the foyer and the master bath was amazing. We originally booked one of the few balcony cabins that didn't have a connecting door but as the cruise approached I kept checking the suites, I finally took the leap and paid about 1600. more for the suite but if I had it to do again I would have paid even more. Maybe you could have family and friends contribute to a "suite fund", white linen breakfast in your dining area gazing out over the bow would make for a wonderful honeymoon!

Everyone treats you like royalty on the Spirit because it is such a small ship but if you like all the bells and whistles you will not like it, we thought the crew on the Spirit was far happier than the crew on the Epic although once you got the crew on the Epic at ease with you and noticed how their superiors treated them you realized why they were a bit aloof at first, they were really a great group, just not appreciated enough.

Have a wonderful cruise which ever ship you decide to sail.

 

Thanks Coscab!

That was very helpful.

The cost of a suite on the Spirit is really high for this cruise ($5400 per person!), does the cost come down closer to the date of sailing if no one booked one? Right now my family is giving us tons of miles/points which we are using on the airfare/hotels and some can be used toward the cruise. If I book the Spirit trip it will cut our cost for a balcony room almost in half but the Epic cruise would be nearly free - not counting excursions and extras.

[cruisingmoose7]

How about this initiary? Venice is very romantic. I'm doing Paris for 4 days then Rome for a few days before this cruise. I've been on the Getaway and Escape....now wanting to try a smaller and longer cruise. Whatever y'all decide u can't go wrong. Happy Sails!

The Venice port is overnight....so a romantic gondola ride at night is soooooooo pretty!

 

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Thanks for the suggestion! The reasons we like the other two itineraries is that we are really excited about Florence/Pisa and Naples which both trips go to in addition to Rome. In weighing our options we would rather see the statue of David/Leaning tower and Pompeii than go for a gondola ride. Not an easy choice to make ;) We were originally going to just do a land trip to Italy but we started talking more and more about a cruise and how much fun that would be. The 11 day one additionally goes to Santorini and Iraklion - both places we are very interested in visiting.

[SeeUsoon@Sea]

It seems you are leaning toward the Spirit then. That initiary also sounds pretty great. About rooms....minisuites are not suites. They don't have any amenities like real suites. It's just a bigger room with a balcony. But if you decide on Epic...the spa balcony is nice. The spa thermal suite area was just relaxing and rejuvenating after days in ports. I have a spa balcony booked on my May Escape cruise (3rd time on it!).

 

 

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[Eleteace]

Based on the ships alone I 100% would chose the spirit!

 

The epic has strange bathrooms and lacks a 'proper' promonade deck. I really like a walk around the ship so that one annoyed me quite a lot....

 

On the other hand the spirit is gorgeous. So much room and so elegant, it feels more like a traditional cruise ship. It has an interesting history actually, pretty old ship which wasn't ever meant for NCL. They got her by accident almost... (anyway I could go on forever, I love NCL) if you wanna read anymore about why then here ya go: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2016/10/15/ncls-norwegian-spirit-my-favourite-cruise-ship/

 

I've been on the spirit twice, once as a child and once recently on a Christmas cruise. Both amazing!

 

 

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[DaisyA]

Count me in for a Spirit vote - she's our favorite ship in the fleet. She's beautiful, well laid out, and while some might call it small, I would classify it as intimate. We actually just disembarked the Epic last week and she might be my least favorite ship, I found her to be dark and impersonal. As mentioned, the lack of a Promenade deck (and windows in public spaces!) was really disheartening...for the itinerary you are considering, I can't imagine missing out on the views. That said, if you do go Epic, I definitely second the vote for a Spa Minisuite - we were in one for our cruise and that might have been one of our best cruise decisions yet!

 

Best of luck with your decision, either way you'll have an amazing time, I'm sure! And Congratulations!

[gymbomb]

Europe is a very port intensive cruise. Choose based on itinerary!! And the rooms on Epic are quite small, so while newer a mini suite there is probably smaller (both the room itself and the actual balcony) than a balcony room on Spirit.

 

 

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[coscab]

Thanks Coscab!

That was very helpful.

The cost of a suite on the Spirit is really high for this cruise ($5400 per person!), does the cost come down closer to the date of sailing if no one booked one? Right now my family is giving us tons of miles/points which we are using on the airfare/hotels and some can be used toward the cruise. If I book the Spirit trip it will cut our cost for a balcony room almost in half but the Epic cruise would be nearly free - not counting excursions and extras.[/quote

 

The price was about 6800. for the corner suite when I booked the balcony cabin, I checked the price almost everyday when the cruise got closer, I think I paid about 3800.00 about 2 weeks from the sail date, it was only a 7 day caribbean cruise, the suites probably don't get discounted much for your itinerary,

[cruisingmoose7]

Thank you so much for the advice everyone! it's been really helpful, I appreciate it. I think we are going to book the itinerary on the Spirit :)