benel204

NCL Escape Barcelona to Venice, 11-night, May 5, 2024. We are already booked (paid and committed), but I am looking into the option of upgrading to Haven. 😁 Last night I looked at Balcony just to see if Aft cabins were available and what the fare was, and there were (and fare category is higher than our CB). And there are no CB Aft cabins (not even a category I don't think).

Our TA, which can't be named, is a beloved wholesaler based out of Kirkland, WA (hint). I found out after the fact their arrangement with NCL is that customers are specifically NOT allowed in the "bid to upgrade" program. That was disappointing news to hear once our fare entered the non-refundable phase. And your post made me chuckle, God-willing we will take many more cruises, but you are correct. Thanks for your sage advice. As I tell my kids: I have "first class worries" these days: where to take a cruise, and whether to spend their inheritance on upgrading to a better suite. (they vote for more cruises, and more upgrades).

Thanks for the additional info, graphicguy. We are looking forward to cruising on NCL in general and have an open mind about the experience.

I did just price a Balcony (not CB) last night and it's higher than our fare.....hmmm....and several available. So now I'm doing the calculations on the difference between that fare and the Haven. I am going to monitor the fares and see if NCL drops them any more in the next month.

Ha ha -- yes....we spend so many years being frugal and now hard to do otherwise. But we are learning fast! Thank you for the reminder.

Thanks all for the input. Sounds like we'd have a broader set of options for dinner, with a little advance communication with the staff.

On the Escape we are booked on, there are ~52 Haven suites available, with ~ 110 days till sailing. Is that typical? Anyone have experience of NCL dropping the fare on these? or do they book them at this point through "big to upgrade" approach? I greatly appreciate all the info. Obviously we are not only new to NCL, but newbie cruisers in general.

Wow, that's an easy decision to make then! Thanks for sharing that. Our Club Balcony all in is ~$6400 with the Free at Sea, although fare has dropped a bit since we are now within 120 days and they are trying to fill the ship. You can understand we are hesitant about doubling our fare for the least expensive Haven (penthouse with the corner tub). I can only guess the difference in fares compared to yours is # of days, season, and the itinerary? I notice the Haven cabins haven't drop in price at all like the other non-Haven cabins.

I'm curious about your calculation of ~5K/Haven all in. Do you mean 5k over a Club Balcony? I don't see any Haven suites for less than ~$12K on the Escape cruise we are on.

It won't put us in debt, but we are value conscious. If the difference between Club Balcony and the the Aft-Haven was less than it is (i.e. less than double), we could justify. I do appreciate your enthusiasm!

Thanks Treasure, life is indeed short!

Thanks justhappy, I appreciate your perspective.

I meant no opportunity for "bid to upgrade" as our TA does not participate

This threads seems to be the best place to post my question re Haven. We will be first time on NCL (Escape May 2024), an port-intensive (every day) 11-night Med cruise. And only our 4th cruise ever (previous ones were Celebrity). We are thinking about upgrading from our Club Balcony to a Haven suite. Note, the fare would be about double (and no opportunity for " to upgrade" as our TA does not participate). This is for an aft-facing cabin (our preference over the less price but odd rooms with the corner hot tub). Reasons to upgrade: We would appreciate more space primarily, and yes the extras such the service and dining would be nice (I think). Plus, like several on this site have mentioned, we are now at a stage in our life when are only flying first/business class overseas, and enjoying being comfortable and pampered. This year is also a big milestone and we can well afford it. Reasons to stay put: not sure we would get the full benefit/value of Haven for doubling our fare. In particular the dining, as we are not into heavy foods, eat primarily fish or chicken at home. Haven breakfast sounds great though! With port-intensive cruise, we will be going all day so no real sea days. As an option to upgrading: we can order all the room service we want for nominal fee, get the Priority Pass for embark/disembark, add more specialty dining etc. Realizing this post may sound familiar to many, I would still appreciate sage thoughts from veteran Haven cruisers. (calling all cruise therapists 😉)

We are considering upgrading our room from Club Balcony to a Haven suite (Escape, Med Cruise May 2024). Lots of pros and cons, and one big pro/con is the food. We are not big beef eaters, don't eat pork or shellfish, so that leaves just a few options when looking at the Dinner menu. [BTW Thanks for all the photos which really helped!] My question (which may have already been answered): The Lunch menu looks a lot more appealing to me than the Dinner menu. Is it possible to have Lunch items for dinner?

Thank you Roger B, this sounds like a good idea. We might also do a bike ride early and then make our way up the hill.

We would greatly appreciate advice on how to spend a leisurely partial day in Mallorca. This will be our first time to visit. Our NCL Escape ship arrives May 6, 2024 at 7 AM but I don't envision we'll be off until about 8 or 8:30 AM. The ship leaves at 3 PM so not a lot of time to spend. We are not interested in packing in too many sites, or beaches. A short bike or e-bike tour sounds interesting, but not for 3 or 4 hours. We definitely want to spend time in Palma, and imagine that might be the only place we visit this trip. This board has so many posts, it's hard to sift through it all. Any suggestions for a leisurely and satisfying DIY day to give us a first taste of this beautiful island?

Thanks. I assumed it was gratuities, but didn't see DSC on NCL.

What is "DSC"?

Same here (Samsung) Reinstalled X 2, the second time "opting in" to all cookies etc. The app doesn't show "My Plans" even when I click on my cruise on the profile. The app keeps crashing. I had not done a system update either on my phone. I suspect the NCL app underwent an update and now it's buggy.

Thanks for this info -=- we are first time NCL as well. Can you clarify: if we are Club Balcony, we can book entertainment at 25 days, or 21? Sorry but the posts still are not clear. We did book our specialty dining at 125 days which was nice.

I just checked and the fare for our room Balcony Club category dropped by $200; too late for us to adjust as we are within "paid in full" window. Not much to do about it.....

Oh Great, thanks! I completely missed that! I don't know why I should get excited about getting a "free" bag of laundry done when we spent $$ on the cruise. Ha ha. But those little things do count. Is the room service a separate charge otherwise? I guess I better read some more or watch more NCL cruise review videos.

We are cruising NCL for the first time, on the Escape, in Club Balcony. Other than the larger bathroom and earlier time to book restaurants etc, I didn't see information about snacks, sparkling wine, bag of laundry. Are you sure that applies to the Club Balcony on the Escape?

Wow, I was mesmerized by your story! I am going to download it and make it part of my "step by step contingency plan" if our passport is stolen. Thank you for all the detail! I have a bagalini bag (I think that's the brand) that has the locking zippers a well as inside zippers. (I also tend to put my credit card in my bra when we are out and about. The only time ample boobage comes in handy)