rsinj

The Haven is overrated and overpriced. All the suite perks you get on NCL are not. The extra you pay for a haven suite is wasted in my opinion.

Thanks for your opinion - seems that everybody has one.

What I've found is that most people who make a post like yours have actually never stayed in a Haven Suite, or any NCL suite for that matter.

We were in a suite on the Star (a real suite) and a Haven Suite on the Jewel. The Jewel cruise was the best we've ever taken. The private areas in The Haven were well worth the price to not be near any of the crowds/kids. The perks were nice and what I considered an extra, because The Haven alone would have been enough.

For us, the price of the Haven Suite was comparable to that of a mediocre cabin on RCL and was magnitudes better.

Howard

Why waste the money on a suite? Think of all of the other things you could do instead with that saved money.

If you have the money, and more than enough of it, then a person might not consider it a waste. Maybe they can stay in a suite AND do all the other things?

Howard

Recently I have started using TravelEx, because the medivac coverage is considerably more substantial. Fingers crossed that if I ever have to use the coverage, they are as good as TravelGuard was.

We've gone with TravelEx since we began purchasing travel insurance - didn't the first two cruises, but then because of a close call on that second one, we've purchased ever since. We take TravelEx over others primarily because the medical coverage is primary and not secondary as most others and the cost is pretty much the same. Luckily we haven't had to use it, but seeing the stories of what happens when things go wrong, or even just a simple visit to the ship's doctor, I prefer to travel with a clear head and not be concerned with it. I just consider it part of the cost of the trip - not a big deal or extra cost in my mind.

Howard

One trend I keep seeing is many cruisers pay the up charge to eat in the better restaurants. Is this necessary to have good meals on the cruise? Is it just a nice treat to yourself? Is the rest of the food awful where you have to pay to have nice food? Just wondering why so many do so after paying the cruise fare and meals are included? Oh sorry, I know this is getting long....but I had a friend say she did not like NCL because she felt nickle and dimed while sailing them. I personally would like to try NCL but am I a little apprehensive after her input and some of the reviews.

We've sailed with NCL twice and coming up on a third time. We have never eaten at a specialty restaurant or felt nickel and dimed because there wasn't anything on the cruises that we've felt a need to pay for beyond what was included. What NCL provides is more than enough as far as food and activities without having to pay anything above your cruise fare.

The meals in the main dining rooms were excellent. On our last NCL cruise, after we found our waiter to be excellent on the first night, we made sure we were in his section every night of the cruise. He would be bringing us extra/special things just to try. Beyond the food, I think having the relationship with the waiter made the atmosphere more enjoyable for us.

There is enough of a variety in the main dining rooms that there should be something that everyone likes. Each member of our family would generally order different appetizers, entrees, and desserts just so we could share/try. I cannot remember anything that wasn't very good.

Bottom line, we've never found a need to go to any of the specialty restaurants where there is an additional charge - there's nothing to be apprehensive about.

Howard

On the last day, I wasn't aware that the place where they collected the pool towels closed early. Later that night I asked the butler to take the towels and just make sure we didn't lose our deposit for them.

Howard

In my view, NCL is the epitome of a "bargain cruise line".

Now, I think most people are taking the phrase to have some negative meaning, when in fact it is a positive.

When we speak of "bargains" it means that you get more than what you pay for - the value of what you're getting has a greater value than the amount of money you're paying for it. In my mind, based on that definition and our experience, Carnival is no bargain. You pay a low price, and (again, in my view), you get a product which is indicative of that low price. Likewise for Disney (yet again, in my view) - you pay a premium price, but you're going to get a premium cruise experience.

However, for the price we pay for our NCL cruises, it is a great bargain, because what we get from NCL is way, way more than we get on other cruise lines for a lesser product. We sail in suites - have done so on every cruise we've been on (except Disney because the price was out of our ballpark) and for the cost, the value of what NCL provides exceeds what all the others are offering.

"NCL is a bargain cruise line" - darn right it is! That's why we sail with NCL.

Howard

As mentioned above - if you have the Courtyard, I really would not be too concerned with how cold it is.

We've already reserved ours for March 2013.

Howard

Your cruise is not over until you leave the ship. The final morning, why race to get off? You go when you want, so unless you have an early flight to catch, stay in your cabin, sleep (relatively) late, and relax. I head to the buffet, load up a tray and take it back for my family. We enjoy a relaxing breakfast on the balcony, no rush, and walk off when we're ready...or they toss us off. Howard

We have a couple of people in our group that are over the maximum weight of 250 lbs - how closely do they watch? Any chance they may let it slide if it is close?

If they are "close", then tell them to do some exercising, watch what they eat for a few weeks, and get down to 250. End of the problem.

Howard

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1. joggers should not have to get up at crack of dawn or run late at night.

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Having a few marathons under my belt as well, unfortunately I'm going to have to disagree with that.

You are on a ship with anywhere from 1000 to 3000 other passengers. Unfortunately, the number of runners who want to be out on the deck/track during the day is negligable in comparison. In this case, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. During the day, unfortunately the sun deck's primary purpose is for sunbathing. For sporting activities, you have areas designated for them so as not to cause problems for others.

If you do need to run in the middle of the day, when the sunbathers are out, there is always a treadmill in a nice cool health club with a magnificent view.

Personally, when onboard, I am up before the crack of dawn doing laps on the track. It is more enjoyable then anyhow - nobody is around to get in your way (you don't have to contend with the walkers), it's cool out, the deck is spotless clean, etc. During the day, I want to be out and about with my family.

Lastly, when you need to do so many laps to get one mile in, the treadmill isn't such a bad alternative.

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2. any sensible risk analysis would not permit co-location of running track and active sunbathing area. this is why i prefer the prom deck.

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I'll agree with that - and they should probably make it official what the running hours are. Though if the issue were forced, they'd probably formalize it as something like 10PM to 9AM.

It might interest you (if you don't already know), this is exactly what Disney has done. The designated running deck is a couple decks down - same deck as the shuffleboard. I enjoyed that more - because you can run the entire length of the ship - it is a full track - up in to the bow where the anchor is and all the way back to the stern. Less laps to make the mile, but, you're not really out in the open air since it's covered all the way around.

Howard