Epic TA Balcony vs Minisuite with thermal spa - help!

[COcruise]

Hi All! We are looking to book at 13 day transatlantic in November. We've been on a handful of cruises but not on any of NCL's new ships. This cruise is on the EPIC. The balcony with thermal spa is sold out, but the mini suite with thermal spa is not. Can anyone tell me more about the thermal spa? Is it worth is to book the MS with the thermal spa? The balcony WITHOUT thermal spa is $1300 pp while the minisuite WITH thermal spa is approx $1800 pp. Can you purchase them separately and how does that work? There are still aft balconies available so I would rather book that and add on a thermal spa pass later if I feel like it. Can you purchase day passes even? 

 

I am aware of the room differences on the smaller ships (pearl, spirit, etc.) and assume they are similar on the bigger ships. Besides the thermal spa pass and a tiny more room, any other differences on EPIC? Typically the increase in square feet is so small anyways that it isn't worth it for us to book the MS over the balcony unless the price difference is cheap. 

 

Also - if anyone can enlighten me on the differences between a balcony room and large balcony - it is hard to really tell if the differences are that much since the NCL description only provides square feet ranges. Is the difference visible? It's about $100 pp difference. I don't recall these options on the smaller ships we have cruised on 

 

Thanks a bunch :)

[BirdTravels]

26 minutes ago, COcruise said:

Hi All! We are looking to book at 13 day transatlantic in November. We've been on a handful of cruises but not on any of NCL's new ships. This cruise is on the EPIC. The balcony with thermal spa is sold out, but the mini suite with thermal spa is not. Can anyone tell me more about the thermal spa? Is it worth is to book the MS with the thermal spa? The balcony WITHOUT thermal spa is $1300 pp while the minisuite WITH thermal spa is approx $1800 pp. Can you purchase them separately and how does that work? There are still aft balconies available so I would rather book that and add on a thermal spa pass later if I feel like it. Can you purchase day passes even? 

 

I am aware of the room differences on the smaller ships (pearl, spirit, etc.) and assume they are similar on the bigger ships. Besides the thermal spa pass and a tiny more room, any other differences on EPIC? Typically the increase in square feet is so small anyways that it isn't worth it for us to book the MS over the balcony unless the price difference is cheap. 

 

Also - if anyone can enlighten me on the differences between a balcony room and large balcony - it is hard to really tell if the differences are that much since the NCL description only provides square feet ranges. Is the difference visible? It's about $100 pp difference. I don't recall these options on the smaller ships we have cruised on 

 

Thanks a bunch 🙂

The increase in space is in the shower and toilet stalls. As you know, there is no bathroom on the epic. Just a toilet stall and shower stall to either side of the entry door. We take a mini to get a bigger shower. The balcony stall is a bit tight for us if you range of motion is limited. 
 

Based on your limited description, I would take the aft balcony and add a spa pass (which is a must for us on a cold TA). 
 

 

[COcruise]

17 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The increase in space is in the shower and toilet stalls. As you know, there is no bathroom on the epic. Just a toilet stall and shower stall to either side of the entry door. We take a mini to get a bigger shower. The balcony stall is a bit tight for us if you range of motion is limited. 
 

Based on your limited description, I would take the aft balcony and add a spa pass (which is a must for us on a cold TA). 
 

 

Thanks, this is very helpful. No bathtubs in the MS either right? I couldn't find for sure online. Does the spa pass sell out? Will it become available to purchase online once I book? 

[Sauer-kraut]

Yes you can pre purchase on line.