pkay1

@Sailing12Away My husband has ordered a pina colada in the Haven restaurant and asked them to make it with vanilla ice cream instead of ice. They have to run down to the bar to get the drink anyway, so they take the ice cream down to them, but he felt like he was being a little too much work! He did tip them nicely. And it was delicious!!

You will be able to walk in the gate at 1st st. It’s not a manned gate.

When you walk up to the entrance tent, tell the people working there that you have a Haven room. I don't believe you need to stand in the line outside the tent. There is a line for Haven guests inside the tent that you will be directed to.

@wncretired You can make your reservations for your two platinum dinners, as long as you’re not reserving one of the fixed charge restaurants (Teppanyaki or Moderno). These two restaurants always need to be reserved first or second in order to not be charged out of pocket. The reservation system doesn’t know that you have platinum dinners to cover the cost.

My DH and I did this on our last cruise. You'll just need to get your keys changed at guest relations after you get on the ship. We were staying in the Haven and the concierge took care of it for us so it was quite easily done. Not sure how difficult it will be at guest relations. It was definitely worth it!

@PandaBear62 I don't know of any chart comparing the Havens on the different ships, and they are different from ship to ship. My suggestion would be to watch videos on Youtube. There are some very good ones that give tours of the Haven facilities. I have stayed in the Haven on the Escape(my first cruise), Prima and the Bliss and all were different. The Bliss is probably my favorite because of the Haven observation lounge in the front of the ship. It's a really nice place to hang while cruising to Alaska.

Looking forward to your thoughts on Regent as I just sailed on my first Regent cruise. I was on the inaugural cruise on the Grandeur out of Trieste.

@kenzie Pommery Rose is pretty highly rated. It's not an inexpensive champagne, but it is a rosé, so different. I thought it tasted good, but very different from Veuve.

The current list is available on the website in the chart that shows what you get if you upgrade to premium plus. I cruised in May and September and Pommery Rose was the champagne poured on both of those trips. I sailed four times in 2022 and drank Veuve on those trips, so you're not wrong, just not up to date.

This has not been the case for most of 2023. It is only available with plus in Le Bistro, which was stated above. The ships are now carrying Pommery Rose Champagne instead.

The premium plus package is usable at the Cellars Wine Bar. There are certain wines that will be included and you may drink them by the glass. You can have as many glasses as you wish though. With the plus package, you can purchase bottles of wine for 40% off of the posted price. This is on any bottles that are sold here or elsewhere on the ship.

We traveled with another couple and used two FAS for the four of us at Food Republic. And the husbands were big eaters. Our server had no problem with us only using two meals for the four of us. We were on the Bliss and Food Republic is open for lunch on sea days. We went two times on that trip. Really enjoyed it.

When I sailed on the Prima, there was no alternative lunch venue because the restaurant is large enough to accommodate all of the Haven passengers at once.

Anyone think there will be a bigger send off for the inaugural departure of the Grandeur in November? Every port we will be going to will be the first for the ship, so I would expect local dignitaries to be there for that also, wouldn't you? I haven't heard anything and I'm on that cruise! So excited!

I sailed on the Prima last year on December 3 and all of the decorations were put up over the first couple days of our cruise, including a huge gingerbread display the chefs created. That was the second week after Thanksgiving, so I don't know if they waited until December to decorate. Maybe others can chime in as to when their ships were decorated.