Hello! I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter break. We spent the days following Easter cruising the Mediterranean Sea aboard the Norwegian EPIC.
The Norwegian EPIC was the first ship with an exclusive Haven when it launched in 2010. The ship was recently refurbished in 2020 and has a guest capacity of 4,100. There are also 1,724 crew members. We stayed in 2 of the Owner’s Suites in the ultra private Haven. The Haven is literally a cruise within a cruise and offers premium benefits like early check-in, escorts off the ship for excursions, VIP seating at shows, and exclusive dining in the Haven Restaurant and lounge. We even had priority access to the elevator as it would come right up to our floor! Throughout the cruise, we were looked after by 2 butlers, 2 stewards, a concierge, and very attentive restaurant staff. Our kids love cruises and they were not disappointed.
The Haven offers exclusive access to their restaurant as well as the Haven Courtyard Pool & Sundeck. There are also kid-free zones for those who prefer a more adult atmosphere. Each Haven Deluxe Owner’s Suite is 852 square feet with a balcony that is 121 square feet. There are two bathrooms, a separate dining area, a separate seating area, spacious closet, and separate bedroom with a king-size bed. Each suite sleeps up to 4 guests, so our family had plenty of room to spread out without tripping over suitcases or having to wait for a free bathroom.
In addition to the spacious accommodations, the Haven Restaurant offered delicious food and the most charming and thoughtful staff.
The menu in the Haven Restaurant has something for everyone. They have offerings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m not sure if it changes or if they continuously offer the same things with each new embarkation. Here are a few of the items we enjoyed. There is a kid’s menu available. Our kids normally eat what we eat, but on the first day, they brought up a pizza for one of the kids and it was delicious.
If you find yourself getting bored with the options in The Haven Restaurant on days 4-7, you are free to check out one of the other restaurants onboard. We dined in Le Bistro, a family favorite. I love the escargot! We drank Veuve Clicquot and ate very rich and savory French cuisine.
We had an amazing time and cannot wait for our next Norwegian cruise. While we didn’t get to explore the ship as much as we had planned to, we did have an amazing time touring Corsica, France; Naples, Rome, and Pisa in Italy, Cannes, France, and Palma Mallorca, Spain. The temperatures were too cool to spend laying on the balcony but we did love the views from our window. Please check back for updates on the interesting things we saw while on excursion. If you haven’t cruised via Norwegian and need a travel agent to help you plan your dream vacation, be sure to leave a comment or send us an email to karla@eatsleepvacay.com.