Havenly disappointment?

I have to vent a bit here because I can't vent to my friends. Here goes...

Has anyone been disappointed by their Haven experience? My husband and I shared a 2 bedroom H4 suite in the Haven on the September 10th sailing on the Escape. The other couple had the big bedroom while we had the second bedroom. While, the pull out double bed was comfortable, it was only about 6 inches off the floor, making getting out of bed a bit difficult, and the room overall was the same size as the master bathroom in the suite. My husband and I came to dub our room the closet. While we were completely content with our closet, the thing that left us with a sour taste was how we were treated by the crew in the Haven. Our friends were always referred to by their first names and we were rarely addressed as such. They received chocolates and towel animals every night while we were lucky to be getting clean towels. And if we ventured to the Haven restaurant without our friends, we had a very hard time getting served. I was very disappointed about the whole thing.

The rest of the ship was fantastic. We loved the Wine Lovers musical and For the Record show. Margaritaville was my favorite lunch spot. Cagney's, Food Republic and Le Bistro were delicious; Bamayos, not so much. And Robert in the Brewhouse was an awesome bartender. We spent A LOT of time there.

Overall, I loved the ship and will go back on it, but I will not be wasting my money on the Haven again. I go on vacation to relax, and the Haven left me feeling stressed out and crying. Over a year of anticipation and excitment only to be wishing I had gone to Disney. Lol

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On one of my cruises we did a cabin crawl and went through the two bedroom. I was so surprised how small the second bedroom was; a closet is a great name for it. With regard to the other issues, I hope you let the Hotel Director know, because there was no excuse for how you were treated, especially in the Haven restaurant. Glad other things went well for you.

Wow that's a shame. I don't think what bedroom you slept in was the reason. How would the restaurant staff know where you slept.

The only explanation for the restaurant that we could come up with was because our friends both had allergies, where we do not, so they were far more memorable to them than us.

That's messed up! They must be used to the 3/4 pax being the kids of pax 1/2 and not put much effort into them. Not ok though; you paid too!

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The only explanation for the restaurant that we could come up with was because our friends both had allergies, where we do not, so they were far more memorable to them than us.

That's kinda ridiculous.

What does "hard time getting served" actually mean? Did they snub you? Was it just busy? What happened?

As another poster said, they don't know who is sleeping where. Hell, maybe you are all sleeping together. All anyone knows is you're in the Haven, your keycard says Haven and gets you into the Haven. What else is there?

The only explanation for the restaurant that we could come up with was because our friends both had allergies, where we do not, so they were far more memorable to them than us.

That doesn't make sense to me. You wouldn't be able to go to the Haven restaurant without being booked in the Haven (unless you were a guest of someone), so it's odd they would treat you differently. You would think not having food allergies would get you better service (if there were a service difference), not worse. I can understand your disappointment--people always rave about being in the Haven.

I was a guest in the Haven restaurant on my last cruise, and I wouldn't book the Haven. I found the service to be too cloying and it made me uncomfortable. But, I know many people like that. I just don't happen to be one of them!

That's kinda ridiculous.

 

What does "hard time getting served" actually mean? Did they snub you? Was it just busy? What happened?

 

As another poster said, they don't know who is sleeping where. Hell, maybe you are all sleeping together. All anyone knows is you're in the Haven, your keycard says Haven and gets you into the Haven. What else is there?

How is my post ridiculous? It is true. The level of service that we received while with our friends was VASTLY different than when we went to that restaurant alone. The wait staff was far less interested in having the same level of attentiveness.

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That doesn't make sense to me. You wouldn't be able to go to the Haven restaurant without being booked in the Haven (unless you were a guest of someone), so it's odd they would treat you differently. You would think not having food allergies would get you better service (if there were a service difference), not worse. I can understand your disappointment--people always rave about being in the Haven.

 

I was a guest in the Haven restaurant on my last cruise, and I wouldn't book the Haven. I found the service to be too cloying and it made me uncomfortable. But, I know many people like that. I just don't happen to be one of them!

You would be surprised. They actually go way out of their way for the allergies.

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You would be surprised. They actually go way out of their way for the allergies.

 

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Oh, I know that. I've traveled on NCL when I needed to eat gluten free. They were great. I'm just saying that causes more work for them, so you'd think it would mean you'd get better service if you didn't have allergies. I don't have an explanation for your experience. It seems really strange and very contrary to what people usually report. I'm not saying you didn't experience it or discounting it. Just that it's odd. That's what a lot of people love about the Haven--the service. So, to not get that level of service unless you were with your friends is odd.

It is very odd. We have been on several NCL cruises, and have had nothing but fantastic cruises so we were very surprised by our first and only Haven experience. Outside the Haven, we had nothing but good experiences.

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How much less did you pay for the cabin than your friends?

Here's my opinion.....

I think that being the "secondary guests" gave you (subconsciously?) a feeling of being less of a Haven guest and even the slightest thing was used to support your "secondary guest" feelings.

The Haven staff addressed all 4 of us by name. "Mr. and Mrs." for me and my wife and our kids (who were KSF, btw) were addressed by their respective name. Even when we ventured out of the Haven and came across Haven staff, they recognized us and greeted us by name.

The Haven staff doesn't care which guest # a Haven guest is. Perhaps, the OP didn't request as much as guests #1 & #2 so the OP didn't receive as much, idk.

Not having enough towels (never a problem for us, btw) is solved by making one request for more/fresh towels. The rest of the cruise, the OP would have had extra towels. The staff is very reactive to Haven guest requests.....to the point of being cloying.:p

I guess I'm not getting it.

1) Not addressed by name every time

2) No chocolates

3) Inattentive service in the Haven restaurant

4) Lucky to get towels.

Is this it?

I don't know about 1, but 2... I would bet they customarily don't put chocolates in the closet because kids are typically there? 3... still not clear what was so bad. Snubbed? 4... should have dealt with that right away on the ship, with the stew or the butler. No excuse for it.

I agree with Two Wheels... it sure seems like a subconscious effort to "find" poor service due to being guests 3/4 and -- I would assume -- paying less than 1/2.

We split the cost of the vacation evenly, and I can assure that we were not addressed as "mr" and "mrs" as our friends were. I also never said that we were lacking for towels, I said that we weren't getting all the little extra touches that they were getting.

Believe me, I was brand loyal to NCL before this trip and they will still be my primary cruise line, but my experience in the Haven does not make me want to experience that experience again.

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TBH, if I were in your situation, and the costs were split evenly, subcontiously I'd be feeling slighted. That really doesn't seem fair. My DD is gluten free, and always received a lot of attention in the dining rooms. I don't think it bothered her siblings, but DH got a lot of personalized attention.

My oldest shares an apartment with 4 friends (college students). She has her own bedroom, the others share rooms. She, of course, pays more rent.

We split the cost of the vacation evenly

You definitely got the short end of the stick on that one! Did you pull straws for bedrooms??

Ouch. If you split the cost evenly, you got a really raw deal. You need to do another H4 and stick them in the closet so you're even. :D

We split the cost of the vacation evenly, and I can assure that we were not addressed as "mr" and "mrs" as our friends were. I also never said that we were lacking for towels, I said that we weren't getting all the little extra touches that they were getting.

Splitting evenly was a recipe for disappointment.

You wrote that you were "lucky to be getting clean towels" so you either got them or you didn't. If you got clean towels, you weren't "lucky". You received what you were supposed to receive.

I still stand by my belief that getting the short end of the H4 is the root of the "problem". Learning that both couples paid the same supports my belief even more.

If you didn't get towel animals, you could have asked for extra towel animals.

I just don't understand how people can WAIT until after a cruise is over to express their disappointment about something instead of dealing with the issue while onboard.

If you wanted "x" but didn't ask for "x", venting on CC won't help.

If you wanted "x" and asked but didn't recieve "x", that would be something worth venting.

We split the cost of the vacation evenly, and I can assure that we were not addressed as "mr" and "mrs" as our friends were. I also never said that we were lacking for towels, I said that we weren't getting all the little extra touches that they were getting.

 

Believe me, I was brand loyal to NCL before this trip and they will still be my primary cruise line, but my experience in the Haven does not make me want to experience that experience again.

 

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My question is did you have any idea that the second bedroom was "small"? Years ago several gal friends and myself sailed in a suite and it was discussed prior to putting any money down who would have what bed and how the split in the cruise cost would be divided. After the first day you should have said something to your friends about what made you unhappy. I also would have first asked the room steward to rectify the towel, chocolate, towel animal issue. If it was not resolved after the request then it is time for the butler to become involved. I am sorry you did not enjoy your Haven experience but based on your story I think all could have been amended while on your cruise.

Wow, you split the cost evenly? We travel with my sister in law in a two bedroom suite and we always pay the majority of the fare and charge her much less since she is basically sailing in a closet. There is no comparison in the accommodations between the master bedroom/bathroom and that second bedroom/bathroom. I agree with others, I think you got cheated a bit to begin with. Sorry you didn't feel you were treated the same. To be honest, in our experience she's been treated very well by the staff.

Splitting evenly was a recipe for disappointment.

 

You wrote that you were "lucky to be getting clean towels" so you either got them or you didn't. If you got clean towels, you weren't "lucky". You received what you were supposed to receive.

 

I still stand by my belief that getting the short end of the H4 is the root of the "problem". Learning that both couples paid the same supports my belief even more.

 

If you didn't get towel animals, you could have asked for extra towel animals.

 

I just don't understand how people can WAIT until after a cruise is over to express their disappointment about something instead of dealing with the issue while onboard.

 

If you wanted "x" but didn't ask for "x", venting on CC won't help.

 

If you wanted "x" and asked but didn't recieve "x", that would be something worth venting.

I am not just complaining. I have stated numerous times that we had great experiences outside of the Haven. My reason for posting this was to see if others have had disappointments during their Haven experience, given the much higher price over regular staterooms and the hype that you see pre-cruise.

We had an H4 on the Jade and no, the 2nd bedroom did not get a towel animal or chocolates. However, it was my 2 sons in the 2nd bedroom and they didn't really care - and I seem to remember us all sharing the chocolates left in my room. And, if they had wanted a towel animal I'm pretty sure that mentioning it to our butler would have made it happen since anything we mentioned was taken care of.

Now - if I were sharing an H4 with another couple - and all parties paid the same share I would not be happy with having the 2nd bedroom the entire trip. The difference in the bedrooms and especially the bathrooms is HUGE.

The boys definitely received the same degree of service when alone, or with me.

I'd definitely give the Haven another shot and hopefully you'll get the full experience because it definitely spoils you.

That second bedroom should be used for children only -- and not even adult children. You never should have split the cost of that suite evenly, because you got about 1/4 of what they got (I'm speaking of cabin size only). Seriously, I'd be asking your friends for a refund.

My wife and I stayed in the Haven Spa Suite. Due to the fact that we weren't "in the Haven" it seemed like many of the staff seemed to know the others whose cabins were there better than us. We made an effort to go to the bar and restaurant and after another day or so, they all started to use our names etc....

I think they give you as much attention as you seem to require. My mother and Aunt will be staying in the 2nd bedroom of an H4; we will be paying a considerable amount more for the main bedroom. My mom is very muted for what she wants and doesn't want to "bother" anyone. I've already let her know to make sure to tell any of the staff anything that she might want. She is paying for the Haven experience, including the attention to detail of her needs by the staff; that's why theyre there.

If you didn't use the concierge, butler or some staff they more than likely would barely remember you. Out of sight out of mind.