CDR Benson

If you look back a few pages on this thread, you'll see my trip report of our cruise in the Haven on board Norwegian Joy last month. In the piece, I relate that I packed my service dress uniform to wear for the cocktail reception with the captain and other ship's officers scheduled for the second evening of the cruise. The transportation of our luggage was not kind to my uniform. I discovered minutes after our luggage was delivered to our suite that my uniform jacket was horribly wrinkled. I informed the Haven concierge, Mr. Newball, of my situation. He informed me that there would no problem in getting the jacket pressed. Within the hour, our butler retrieved the jacket, and, an hour after that, it was delivered to our suite. Unfortunately, it looked like a rush job; the deep wrinkles had been pressed out, but the jacket still looked like it had been slept in. I asked our butler to have the laundry folks take a more thorough crack at it. It took about two hours that time, but when our butler returned, the jacket was presentable. Not, one admits, that crisp, sharp look like it just came from the dry cleaner. But it was certainly wrinkleless. I wore it with no concerns the next evening. We were not charged for the pressing service. Hope this helps.

Congratulations! A wedding at sea, hopefully the first of many happy memories in your married life. Probably because of the sea water in my veins, the idea of renewing our vows at sea captivates me. (Regent Seven Seas, with whom we are cruising next, offers a particularly inviting renewal-of-vows package.) But, the Good Mrs. Benson raises a point with which I must agree: if we ever do renew our vows, she wants it to be in the company of our family and (yes, folks, believe it or not, I do have some) friends. It would be logistically impossible to orchestrate all of those folks on one cruise. Enjoy your moment and the best to you both!

Congratulations on receiving the HI. You'll love it. But, as you're only thirty-something days away from your sail date, I'd go direct with the pre-cruise concierge desk right now, vice waiting a week. The closer it gets to the sail date, the more requests the desk receives (because, as with many endeavours, a lot of folks dither until the last minute). So, it might serve you better to submit your requests to the desk now, when it isn't swamped with them (or, at least, less swamped).

They are, indeed. Last month, on Joy, our butler brought us two bowls of them every day.

Excellent reasoning! I intended to post that a passport card was unnecessary for myself, as my military ID card already obviates the need for a Real ID driver's licence. But having a passport card as a back-up, in case something happens to one's passport book is a nice bit of precaution. Thirty dollars is a trivial amount to pay for a safeguard, if one's passport is lost or stolen. Much obliged for your post.

Something to consider is that the crew members themselves realise that the passenger manifest isn't composed entirely of Thurston Howells and John Beresford Tiptons. They know that many of the guests have had to save up just to be able to afford the cruise. So, while they gratefully accept tips, they understand that every guest cannot afford to give as much as some do, or may not desire to tip at all.

This was similar to what we did last month. To our butler, $80 was enclosed in the letter we gave him, and I gave him another $100 at cruise's end. (I intended it to be half and half, but he did such a remarkable job that I kicked in a little extra at the end. Our steward got $40 (he is in the general tip pool, after all), and to the Haven concierge, $100. I was a little befuddled on how to handle the waiters in the Haven Lounge/Horizon Observation Lounge. Handing over a buck or two with every service just seemed a bit tacky. But that quandry worked itself out. No matter which lounge the Good Mrs. Benson and I occupied and no matter what time of day or night, it was always one of the two same waiters who looked after us. So I gave them both $40 on the last night of the cruise. I don't understand the antipathy these tipping threads inspire. As you, and others, point out, it's a personal decision---there's no intrinsic right or wrong. Tip. Don't tip. Confer whatever amount fits your ethics and your budget. The folks who enquire about tipping on board aren't so much looking for a hard and fast rule as they want to know what others do. That input helps them make their own determinations. Most people aren't averse to tipping (although if one is, again, a personal choice without stigma); they just want to avoid being either too generous or too stingy.

When the Good Mrs. Benson and I checked in for our cruise last month at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, the agent at the check-in counter issued us keycards of the wrong colour (green, rather than the gold of Haven guests). I didn't notice though because we were treated as Haven guests throughout the evolution. No doubt, because we were listed on the passenger roll as Haven guests. We were in the first group to be escorted on board to the Haven Lounge, and that's where the error was discovered. The Haven escort got us the right keycards at the concierge desk in about two minutes. The upshot of the tale is, as long as you're listed on the manifest as Haven pax, being accidentally issued the wrong color keycards should not pose a significant problem.

As you know, my friend, I am a kindred spirit, as well. I just don't understand the "Hey, let's just show up and see how it goes" crowd. The Good Mrs. Benson will playfully chide me for not so much as buying a stapler without doing hours of research. But she will also be the first one to proclaim how much smoother our cruises and other vacations have gone because of my thorough preparation. There's always new information to process. I learnt a couple of things on our cruise last month that I will fold into our next one to make things even more enjoyable. To all of you Champions of the Spreadsheets, I raise my glass. Because that's how things seem to happen by "magic".

In my trip report, I made mention of the perpetually occupied seats at the Haven Lounge bar. It was intended as merely a wry observation. I understand some folks enjoy the camaraderie of the bar, but it's never been a thing for the Good Mrs. Benson or myself. As noted, the lounge waiters are almost always Johnny-on-the-spot to take the orders of the folks who occupy the nice comfortable couches and armchairs in the rest of the Haven Lounge or the Horizon Observation Lounge, so we preferred that seating. A couple of times we met interesting couples, leading to entertaining conversation. Most times, it was just the GMB and me, and we were fine with that. We wouldn't have enjoyed the sociality that is imposed by sitting at the bar. For those who do, but never get the chance, because they're always beaten to the barstools, I think the answer is to add another bar, in the Horizon Observation Lounge.

That's exactly what I did every night we had dinner in the Haven Restaurant. As a rule, even though I love it, I never order prime rib in a conventional restaurant. Even the best cuts have too much fat to trim away to make it a good cost-benefit ratio. But, of course, that's not a consideration in the Haven Restaurant. The first night I requested only one lobster tail, then I discovered how small they were. After that, I requested them in multiples with my prime rib.

The Good Mrs. Benson was so taken with our cruise in the Haven that she'd been hinting whether we shouldn't cancel the Regent Seven Seas cruise and do another Norwegian cruise in the Haven. Because she knows I'm the cruise master for us, she never came right out and made an issue of it. But I could tell our experience in the Haven had made a real impact on her. So, last night, I assembled and played for her several YouTube videos providing in-depth tours of Regent Seven Seas Mariner and of the class of suite we'll occupy, along with good overviews of the Regent experience. I could tell by the dazzled expression on her face that I'd made my point. We won't be cancelling the Regent cruise. (But we're still planning our next Haven cruise.)

I thought I was the only one who did that, heh.

The pre-cruise concierge desk will set up a wheelchair for only the initial embarkation from the cruise terminal. And you have to be a little careful there. Even though your e-documents will be flagged for the chair, you get rushed through the embarkation pipeline so swiftly that it can be overlooked by the NCL reps. That's what happened to us, and I had to ask the NCL greeter at the Haven waiting area run down the wheelchair for my wife. As far as the port visits are concerned, you'll have to arrange a wheelchair for each debark/embark through the Haven concierge desk on board. It's not a problem for them. Just inform the concierge the night before what time you would like the chair available the next morning. When you return to fleet landing at the end of your port visit ashore, there are ship's personnel stationed at the foot of the brow (the ramp leading to the ship) who will summon a wheelchair for you. The on-board Haven concierge will also arrange for a wheelchair for you for debarkation to the cruise terminal at the end of the cruise. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your kind words. Aye, 14178 and 14778 are the hidden gems of Norwegian Joy's Haven. As I mentioned above, even if money were no object for me, I would not want any other Haven suite on board Joy other than one of those two. The mid-ships location was especially handy the last full day of our cruise, an at-sea day when the ship was buffeted with heavy seas and high winds. My wife and I barely felt it in 14778, but you can bet the folks in the Haven staterooms forward and three decks up sure did.

You will, indeed. If I were to travel on Joy again and had unlimited funds at my disposal, I'd still pick 14778 or 14178 as my suite. With their size, their angled balconies, and particularly their mid-ships location, as I gauge it, they're the best two staterooms on the ship. Enjoy your cruise!

Glad that I was able to help. As I mentioned, several months ago, I expected only minor mobility issues with the Good Mrs. Benson and hired an electric scooter for her to use as a just-in-case gesture. By the time of the cruise, it became her primary means of getting around the ship. There are a couple of scooter-rental companies that provide equipment for folks taking cruises. I used Scootaround. About two months before the cruise, I hired one from the types of getabouts that were recommended for cruise ships and provided the necessary info (dates of cruise, cruise line, name of ship, port of departure, etc.). On the day of sail, the scooter showed up in our suite mid-afternoon. In fact, it arrived before our luggage did. We saw many passengers using these or similar conveyances on board, so it's something the cruise ships are geared to handle. As for wheelchairs, the Haven concierge desk on board is the point of contact. The concierges arranged a wheelchair for my wife, along with a crewman to push it, to get her off the ship at the port stops and to get her back on when we returned. (I don't know if the ship will permit you use of the wheelchair for you to push during your port visit. That wasn't necessary in my wife's case.) The Haven concierge will also provide wheelchair transportation to various venues on board, such as shows in the Joy Theater. And, if you contact the pre-cruise Norwegian Concierge Desk and notify it that your mother needs assistance in boarding the ship that first morning that you check in at the port terminal, the desk will flag her boarding documents as such and have a wheelchair for her there, as well. The ship's staff, and NCL in general, was exceptionally accommodating with us with regard to providing wheelchair assistance. I'm sure they will be for you, too. Hope this helps.

The Horizon Observation Lounge was our favourite place, as well. Particularly, at night. There is nothing as soothing as the sea at night, under the stars, surrounded by the faint glows of other ships in the distance. We barely glanced at the Haven Library. I had brought a book I had been meaning to read. You know that small sundecked courtyard area between the Haven Lounge and the Horizon Observation Lounge? Three mornings running, I took my book, stretched out on one of the chaise longues, and began to read. It's a well-written book about a topic I heartily enjoy. And each of those three days, I never got more than three pages read before I fell asleep. That's how balmy and tranquil that location is.

Not too much credit at all, sir. Sure, I would have eventually ferreted much of what your original post recommended. But you saved me a measure of time and effort by providing all that advice in one place. To planners like ourselves, that's finding the mother load. Moreover, you touched on considerations that wouldn't have occurred to me, otherwise. As you know, the GMB and I are scheduled for a cruise with Regent Seven Seas in November, 2023. You've said that Regent is the gold standard in luxury cruise lines, and I don't doubt that. But I tell you, I'm finding it difficult to imagine any cruise surpassing our experience in the Haven---it was that sublime.

The Good Mrs. Benson and I are back from our 16-23 September cruise to New England/Canada on Norwegian Joy. I want to provide an insight to our experience in the Haven. I suspect the OP of this thread, Mr. Tilkin, has been interested in this, given that I expressed concern over the quality of service after reading some posts submitted by Haven guests of cruises earlier this year whose experiences were less than expected. Like Mr. Tilkin, I am a thorough planner. After our 2020 cruise was cancelled when Canada closed its borders to cruise-ship visits, I spent a few months researching before deciding on a replacement cruise. In February, 2021, I booked suite 14778 on Norwegian Joy. 14778 was one of the suites than had just been folded into Joy’s Haven enclave. Presumably because they are not in the “millionaires’ row” of the Haven proper, these newly added suites were considerably less expensive than a Haven courtyard suite, while at the same time, being larger than a Haven courtyard suite. 14778 is one of the two suites (the other being 14178) with an angled balcony, slightly larger and a bit of a view forward. We arrived in New York City the day before sailing and, the next morning, had no problem getting a taxicab to the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. Our scheduled check-in time was 0900-0930. We arrived at pier 88 at ten minutes before 0900, and I was surprised to find only about ten people ahead of us. Of those, only one other couple were also Haven guests, so when the line opened on the hour, the GMB and I were the second couple through the priority embarkation line. We proceeded smoothly through security to the NCL ticketing desk. After a review of our documents and our photos taken, we were issued our key cards and escorted to the Haven waiting area. (I hesitate to call it a lounge; it consisted of rows of banquet chairs and some tables with water, juices, coffee, tea, and light snacks.) Elapsed time from our arrival at the pier to being seated in the waiting area: thirty-five minutes. About an hour later, at 1025, Joy’s Haven concierge, Mr. David Newball, presented himself and, after a brief introduction, the boarding procedure began. It was swift and efficient. We were in the first group of Haven guests delivered on board to the Haven Lounge, where we received a briefing of the Haven’s services. The GMB and I were seated in the lounge with our first cocktails in hand by 1050. Around an hour later, when the waves of arriving Haven guests began to ebb, I decided we should complete the check-in for ship’s muster. Our muster station was on deck seven. On the way, we stopped by our suite to drop off our carry-on bag. Although the staterooms had not yet been announced as ready for occupation, ours looked ready in all respects, except for no “welcome aboard” literature. (The expression of delight on my wife’s face when she saw the space made it worth every cent I spent on this vacation.) Muster check-in was easy. Crew members were stationed at strategic junctions to direct guests to the correct locations. At our muster station, our key cards were scanned and we were informed that we were not required to do anything when the emergency drill was conducted at 1600. We had lunch in the Haven Restaurant, then relaxed in the Horizon observation lounge. We wanted good seats to view the ship getting underway in a few hours. At 1545, I went to our suite to see if our luggage had been delivered. It had. It is at this point that my narrative goes to the quality of service we experienced in the Haven on board Norwegian Joy. I did some quick unpacking---just the items that I wanted up on hangers. One of those items was my service dress blue uniform. There would, indeed, be a cocktail reception hosted by the ship’s master, Captain Håkan Svedung and some of his officers for Haven guests the following evening. Please, fellows, I don’t want to open yet another sartorial debate between people who dress and the t-shirt-and-Bermuda-shorts crowd. I foresaw the possibility of this occasion and, in such an instance, the captain is our host and I am in his house; therefore, I felt that I should dress appropriately. Unfortunately, I had tried a different method of packing my dress uniform, hoping to prevent wrinkling, and it backfired. The trousers came out fine, but the jacket was horribly wrinkled. I returned to the Haven concierge desk and spoke to Mr. Newball about the possibility of getting my jacket pressed. No problem, he assured me. He would send our butler to our suite to pick up the garment. I said that I would head right down to meet him. I waited for our butler for half an hour, but he never showed. It was almost 1700, the scheduled time of departure, and I was going to watch it with my wife. I grabbed the uniform jacket, intending to give it to Mr. Newball directly. However, when I got to the concierge desk, he was busy with other guests, so I continued on, rejoining the Good Mrs. Benson in the Horizon observation lounge. The next ten minutes was the last time I had any ideas that we would experience poor service in the Haven. In that time, our butler, Mr. Willie Erum, showed up where we were sitting and introduced himself. He apologised to us for having missed us in our suite. He had spent the last ten minutes tracking us down, so he could ensure my jacket got pressed. Talk about making a good first impression! I turned it over to him, figuring I’d see it the next morning. The underway was delayed by an hour. The GMB and I got back to our suite around 1830, and---how about that?---my uniform jacket was back. However, it looked like it had been given a rush job; all the severe wrinkles were pressed out, but it still looked like I had taken a nap in it. I was deciding on how to approach this when both Mr. Erum and our room steward, Richard, arrived at our door. They couldn’t have been more willing to make our voyage enjoyable. I informed Mr. Erum of how favourably impressed I was that he had gone to the effort of hunting me down to get my jacket. Then, I pointed out that the fellows who had done the pressing had missed quite a few wrinkles. Mr. Erum said he’d see to it. (And he did---when the jacket came back again, it was completely presentable.) As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I followed the admirable lead of Mr. Tilkin’s original post. My preparation for our stay in the Haven included two letters to our butler (the text of which appears in some other thread on this board). One letter had half my intended tip to the butler attached to it, in expectation of a splendid working relationship; the other letter, if our butler had been a no-show that first day and seldom seen on the others, had no tip. I gave Mr. Erum the letter with the money. In the letter I expressed the following requests from the Good Mrs. Benson and myself: ■ All for-sale or charged items, especially those in the mini-refrigerator, removed from the suite. (That had already been taken care of by the concierge.) ■ A pitcher of iced tea and a pitcher of orange juice placed in the mini-fridge as needed. ■ A bowl of potato chips and a bowl of peanut M&M’s provided daily. ■ Five memory-foam pillows for the bed. I didn’t expect our remaining requests to be met until the next morning, and we were fine with that. The only other task for Mr. Erum that night was my wife’s request for ice. Mr. Erum was gone so long to handle that that I began to think that maybe he’d gone to the north Atlantic to chip some ice off a floating berg. Then, he returned, with ice---and with a pitcher of iced tea and a pitcher of orange juice and bowls of potato chips and peanut M&M’s! I knew for sure that we had a winner in Mr. Erum. He kept us informed and provisioned throughout the cruise. One thing I appreciated, because I hate waste, is that he supplied us with the tea and juice and snacks as needed, rather than automatically dumping out what we didn’t consume one day and replacing it. He gauged it so well that we were never without, at any time. But here’s where Mr. Erum went above and beyond for us. Both the GMB and I suffer from arthritic knees. Hers are worse than mine. Months ago, as a “nice to have” measure, I hired an electric scooter for my wife to use on board, if needed. Between the time I hired the scooter and the date of sail, her knees had declined to the point that “nice to have” was now pretty much “need to have”. When the scooter’s battery ran low on the fourth day, Mr. Erum got it recharged. On the second night, I lost the tip of my cane in a battle with elevator doors. Mr. Erum could not find a replacement tip on board, so he MacGyvered a functioning tip out of packing material and masking tape. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked as well as a manufactured version, getting me around the ship and Portland, and Saint John, and Halifax. Since getting home, I haven’t even bothered to replace it, yet. Funny, I didn’t expect to need a butler much, but he turned out to be invaluable. I know that opinions on tipping are divided on these boards, but at the end of the cruise I was happy to give Mr. Erum the other half of his tip (with a bit more thrown in for good measure)---he’d well earned it. Nor can I praise enough the Haven concierge, Mr. Newball, and his assistant, Rosemarie. They provided all the nuts-and-bolts services and information that made our cruise go so smoothly. They made our show reservations the first day; they arranged for the GMB to have a wheelchair available for debark/embark at every port visit; they escorted us to all of the event venues. The concierge desk on Norwegian Joy’s Haven was our fount of all wisdom about events on the ship and how to get things done. The Haven Restaurant was a luxurious dining experience. We had never been catered to so graciously or generously. At our first dinner there, I ordered the prime rib and asked for a lobster tail to be added. The waitress smiled and said, “Of course. Just one?” The quality of the food, for our meals, at least, was first rate. We ate in the Haven Restaurant several times, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and every meal was superb. If I have any criticism, it’s that their cooking-to-temperature is just a little to high for my taste. I ordered medium rare and the protein came out slightly nearer to medium. Not a fatal flaw, but next time, I think I’ll order “rare” when I want “mid-rare”. The GMB and I spent a lot of time in either the Haven Lounge or the Horizon observation lounge. Mr. Tilkin and some others have tagged it right when they said that the seats at the bar of the Haven Lounge are perpetually occupied. We noticed that the same gathering of barflies seemed to light there every night. It didn’t matter, though. No matter where we sat in either lounge area, a waiter appeared within a minute or two after we plopped down to check on us. We made good use of the included Premium Beverage Package. In that week, we both exceeded our usual alcohol imbibing rate for a year. Some amplifying information on our suite. Back in February, poster vacation44 remarked on her stay in suite 14178. Suite 14178 is the “mirror image” (same layout and dimensions, only on the port side) of the one we occupied, 14778. Vacation44 commented on 14178’s generously sized cabin and balcony and the handy walk-in closet. The same hold true for suite 14778. Plus, there were no noise issues above, below, or outside. Yes, the space is close to an elevator bank, but we heard no disturbing sounds because of it. In this case, being so near the elevators was a plus. The suite was, perhaps, fifteen feet from the closest elevator. Unless there was a rush, such as on the morning of debarkation for a port visit, we went from our suite to the Haven Lounge in one-to-two minutes. One story before I wind this up. It more appropriately belongs in a review of our cruise in toto, but it’s such a good example of serendipity that I have to mention it. I mentioned the cocktail reception held by the ship’s master for the Haven guests. Well, the evening of the reception, the GMB and I were dressed to the nines to attend, but a series of misadventures (including my duel with the elevator) kept us from getting to it. I was a bit put out, but it wasn’t a disaster. Since we were dressed for it anyway, we decided to go to dinner in the Haven Restaurant (that was our first dinner there). It wasn’t crowded, but we had to wait a couple of minutes because the GMB requested a table by a window. Shortly, we were seated. We gave the waitress our drink orders and got settled in. That’s when I took a look around the restaurant. Wouldn’t you know? A few tables away, behind the GMB’s left shoulder, Captain Svedung was having dinner with his senior officers. I figured it was fate’s way of tweaking my nose over missing the reception and turned my attention back to the lady I brung to the dance. The captain and his staff broke up just about the time that Mrs. Benson and I were waiting on dessert and coffee. I looked over to see the ship’s officers head for the exit, but Captain Svedung go the other way. He headed toward our table. He’d noted my uniform and stopped by to welcome us aboard. The captain and I talked shop for a few minutes. I told him that his was the more difficult job---he had all of the sea-going responsibilities that I’d had, plus 4,000 guests for whom he had to provide a vacation experience. He complimented his staff and insisted they were the ones that made it happen. And that goes to the point of my entire post. This was the most . . . the only word for it is serene vacation in the thirty years my wife and I have been together. Sure, my planning gets some of the credit for that. But, hugely, the reason for the success of our cruise lies in the crew of Norwegian Joy. Never---I mean never---on our previous cruise, at any resort, in any hotel or restaurant, or at any other venue, have we encountered a staff of employees so willing, so eager, so gracious to ensure that their guests have a wonderful experience. And they’re not so attentive because they have to be; they are because they want to be. Was our experience flawless? No. But the few difficulties that arose were never more than short-lived hiccoughs because the ship’s staff responded quickly and with aplomb. When a Navy captain is selected for flag officer rank, he is sent to the Navy’s knife-and-fork school for admirals. One of the first things these admiral-selectees are taught is to be careful in what they express, because if an admiral were to say something like, “Gee, I loved Ovaltine when I was a kid. I wonder if it still tastes as good?” then his staff is going to move Heaven and Earth to get the boss some Ovaltine. For the Good Mrs. Benson and myself, our stay in the Haven was just like that. As Mr. Tilkin has taken pains to point out, his posts only relate his experience in the Haven, after the preparations he took. But, like the small print in the financial ads say, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” He doesn’t---he can’t---promise anyone else who rides in the Haven will have the same level of royal treatment. The same holds for my account above. I’m only relating how it went for my wife and myself. And, for us, it was the absolute best getaway of our lives. We hope your experiences prove the same, or better.

The GMB and I would very much enjoy having you and Mrs. Tilkin as shipmates for a cruise. Your advice was invaluable to me in preparing for our Haven stay. I modified it where applicable, of course, but I followed your basic template and it couldn't have turned out better. Very much obliged, sir.

All superb advice. The Good Mrs.Benson and I just got back from our stay in the Haven for the 16-23 September cruise, and followed that template almost exactly. I'm draughting my post on our Haven experience, now.

I never hurts to ask. As you imply, there are factors that govern butler assignments, but you might luck out. If the on-board concierge is aware of your preference, it might be arranged. The worst that could happen would be a courteous no.

At the twenty-nine-day mark of our upcoming cruise, we had not received anything, either. So I sent an e-mail to the Norwegian concierge desk. Within two days, it responded, confirming the date that the luggage tags had been sent. It also attached all of the other letters and literature to the e-mail. Avout five days later, I received the luggage tags and letter in the mail. Part of the reason for the delay was probably because it was sent to my travel agent, who then forwarded it to me.

I can attest to that. In the last two months, I've contacted the concierge desk through this e-mail address four times, to address issues or ask questions. Invariably, the desk has been helpful, efficient, and gracious. My issues were neatly resolved and my questions were answered thoroughly. And the responses were always within forty-eight hours of my enquiries.