jlowe420

This is awesome! I've done the Retreat on Celebrity one time and my takeaway was that the Haven was slightly better. I think it comes down to the private areas of the ship. The Retreat had a small room where you could get drinks, but there was no bar. The outside deck did have a bar, but there was little shade. The bar in the Retreat was just a normal bar and didn't have elevated drinks or menu. The food in the Retreat restaurant was likely a bit better than the Haven Restaurant in my experience. The haven bar on the other hand is the best bar on the ship. Some people who get AFT rooms on the older ships miss out because they are so far from the haven bar that it's out of the way to drop in to get a drink on the way somewhere else. Anyway, you will have a blast! I've been on the Joy (but not in the Haven) and she was a nice ship.

Exactly. I've found the haven servers to be a bit hit or miss as to coming around and asking if you want a drink. I may have never had one approach me while in the hot tub. In the vibe they make sure you get drinks. Depending on the cruise it can be a party atmosphere with shots on a schedule, but I don't usually participate. The no kids, no pee in the hot tub, and good bar service mean I try to book it. On my last Prima cruise the concierge was letting kids in the hot tub on the haven deck. I was very happy I had the vibe.

Well on the older NCL ships there is no haven elevator and so you wait in the lobby like everyone else. The elevators can be hit or miss depending on what is going on - sometimes you wait a long time and they show up full. It's just part of the "charm" of cruising. The haven elevators on the Prima and Viva are new. They go to all the floors where haven rooms are and they go to all of the floors where stuff is that you'd want to go to. The elevators are in the rear of the ship where all the haven rooms are, so you leave your room and walk down a short hall to the dedicated elevator bank. That bank then takes you to any floor you want to go to, and you usually don't stop to pick others up. On main floors you have to swipe your keycard to call the elevator and there is rarely too long of a wait. I've just found it changes my patterns on the ship where I'm only going up and down in the rear.

The haven elevators are to die for.

My oldest cruise memory was being a kid on the Carnival Celebration and on seafood night I ordered 6 shrimp cocktails as my entree. It was a glorious feast.

My past few cruises on the Prima and upcoming on the Viva absolutely are at Ritz Carlton prices.

Have a wonderful cruise with your mom. My mom and I went on a cruise as she was declining and I cherish the memories. Get some professional photos taken.

I have never been in a studio cabin but I have sailed solo on a few different trips and really enjoyed it. I'm not a super outgoing person and enjoy spending time by myself. That being said, one of the best solo cruises I ever did was only great because I bought passes to the "Vibe Beach Club" which is a pay area of the ship that is 18+. Having this on a long cruise allowed me to have a shaded bar seat every single day. Being in the same area the whole time also led to a lot of friendships and chats with the other people in the vibe. At the end of the cruise we were all friends and I even have a photo from us all at the mojito bar on the last night. Anyways, my next two cruises are solo and I can't wait!

Russiamomm: There is usually a 50% off coupon on like the middle day of the cruise that is delivered with the pile of trash they give you each day. I've thrown that note into the bag several days later and only been charged half.

They have to be close to taking the bubble wrap off, right?

The casino is closed when overnight in Reykjavik.

Id want to be in the haven complex so would be looking at a courtyard penthouse. Both sides are will have great views in Alaska. I love the AFT too, but I need to be close to the haven. On the Prima, the AFT is doable, but I still like the room layout of the regular haven penthouse.

This is the answer. On my recent Prima cruise a friend complained to the concierge about kids in the infinity pool and was told it was allowed and they could stay in there. I was shocked because my understanding was the sundeck was 16 and up. Maybe that family greased the wheels.

I just don't love the idea of providing them with my account details and having them run the check. But that is the most common way people do it. I have a B2B coming up in November and have been in contact with the credit folks about how best to handle. It seems like they will let me wire in funds mid cruise as well as roll over funds to the next cruise. So I can just let my bank know I plan to send in money before the cruise and may email/call to replenish mid-cruise depending on my performance. NCL just says it takes about 24 hours from when they get it until its available on the ship (assuming not over the weekend). I've found it's really nice to just ask the pit boss for a marker and have them bring me a form to sign and give me chips. At the end of the evening I'm usually depositing winnings or excess back into the account.

I have done this and it's really painless. Wire the money in ahead of time. On the first day of the cruise you stop by the cage and present your ID. They tell you the "rules" - which is basically there is a daily withdraw limit of cash. You can take out as much as you want to spend on slots or at the table, but they have a limit on what you can pull out to just keep or like take to the islands. But in my experience they don't really track or care. I'm mostly a table player - so at the table you just ask for a marker and they bring you a form to sign and give you chips. Keeps it all very simple. On the last day you give the the return wire instructions and sign the final wire back form when you wrap up gambling. The return wire took about a week to hit my bank.

I have done this with NCL. Basically you wire the money in and on the first day you come up with your ID and they setup your account. Anytime you need money you go to the cage and get it, or you can ask the pit boss for a marker at the table. Nice and easy. On NCL there is like a daily withdraw limit -- they don't want you pulling all of your cash out in a single day. You can pull it out and lose it, but they have like a 2k a day limit on cash withdraw that you keep. In my experience it never really applied, if I asked for cash for the slots they gave it. On the last day of the cruse you provide your wire information back and they take care of it about a week after the cruise ends. I've found its much nicer than carrying a large amount of cash around.

The haven on the Prima has two small hot tubs on the top floor (deck 17) and an infinity pool at the rear of the ship (deck 16). I wasnt the person that did it. but a friend of my party went an mentioned specifically to the concierge that kids were not supposed to be allowed on the sun deck and was told that was not correct. They did not go kick the kids out as we would have hoped. But probably correct, this was just the individual concierge and maybe not the "official" policy. Because of those kids I was happy to have the vibe passes.

In the Haven last month on the Prima and they said that rule no longer existed, and the noisy little rascals where hanging in both the hot tubs as well as the infinity pool.

I've been in an HE (Regular Haven Balcony) and a HB (Haven AFT Master Bedroom) on the Prima. The HE seemed larger on the inside as a whole. The HB may have had it beat on actual floor plan space, but the wall down the middle made it feel more cramped. You had to close the door to walk around the room. But it had a full walk in closet, which if your SO is messy is a nice to have. I've already booked my next cruise and I went back to the HE, because it seemed a bit larger, and it had a seat in the shower, which the HB did not. Loved the AFT balcony of the HB though, that's better for sure.

DId a 10 day on the Prima in the last 30 days and I only got one. I think it was like day 4 or so.

Having an area where 100 people come every single day and drink from dedicated bartenders leads to some enhanced opportunity for friendship and fraternization even for a relive introvert. I’ll tell you after my 10/15 cruise - i plan to vibe it up!