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.

I give up! Not everyone you talk to at NCL has the correct answers. I guess you will see what is available to you when you get on the ship. Have a great cruise!

That is correct for any bottles of alcohol, but it's not the case for shots of premium plus liquors. As @Liljo22 stated above, any of the whiskeys listed, if that's what you're interested in, with exception of the ones with an asterisk, will be included in the premium PLUS package. My DH and I always upgrade to Premium Plus, mostly for better wine, but we also upgrade our margaritas to Patron, which is $25 a shot. No extra charge for us. Starbucks is also included in the Plus package, as well as Aqua Panna and San Pelegrino in the restaurants.

I just traveled on the Emerald Princess last month. I have not traveled on the Jade, but have sailed on the Jewel, a similar ship. I thought the Emerald's food was decent, somewhat bland, except for the pizza, which was delicious! I think the specialty restaurants are much better on Norwegian, and as far as the complimentary restaurants, I'd say the two cruise lines are about the same. The common areas on the Emerald were nice, but my stateroom really needed updating. The furniture in the room definitely needed to be replaced and the hairdryer was from another century. It barely worked. My kids are grown so I can't help with that. As far as the Jade being a party ship, probably not the case. The bigger ships with more bells and whistles tend to have a more robust crowd, but I'm not sure Norwegian is ever really known as a party cruise line.

@Chan50 I stayed in an aft balcony suite on the Dawn last summer. You are right about there not being a Haven on the Dawn, but you do get some Haven-like privileges with a suite, not a club balcony suite. We had a butler that brought us snacks daily and handled room service. We also had priority getting on and off the ship, if we chose to do so. Breakfast and lunch were in Moderno every day and it was up at the top of the ship, so a very nice place to eat. Only suite passengers were allowed to eat there. My parents were also on the cruise and they had a Deluxe Owner's Suite, so they had the same privileges I stated above, along with three bottles of spirits/wine in their room. They were in the front of the ship, had a front facing balcony and an enclosed balcony on the side of the ship. This was their first Norwegian cruise after sailing many times on Regent and they were pleasantly surprised how much they enjoyed everything about the Dawn and the cruise. We walked to them so we got a lot of steps in! The Dawn is a smaller ship. Doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles like the Breakaway and Prima class ships, but we were very happy with the ship! I'd definitely sail again on the Dawn!

Thanks for letting me know! DH and I are celebrating our anniversary on our trip in November, so we really have our heart set on eating at one particular restaurant that night.

@Mike Moore this stinks for anyone living on the west coast(PDT)! 4:00am? Guess it's going to be an early morning for me this coming Sunday!

@cruiseny4life I stayed on a lower floor, so we took the Haven elevator up to the 16th floor, but there were plenty of times we'd be on 16 or 17 and would walk in the way that @GALSews explained. The Haven elevators(two of them together) are a really nice way to get to other areas of the ship though. Less wait and they pop you out right in the middle of the action! Like literally, right in the middle of the Local! You have to scan your card to use them, so they are not behind closed doors in the common areas of the ship.

@kasimir I have stayed in the Haven on the Bliss, Escape and Prima. There isn't an alternative restaurant for lunch on the Prima because the dining room is large enough to handle everyone eating at once on the first day. I assume this is still the case as I sailed on the Prima in December of '22. The pool deck was really nice on the boat. Loved hanging in the infinity pool and its location in the back of the ship. Less windy than the sun decks on the other ships. The bartenders were really good, remembered what my DH and I enjoyed drinking, but we thought the bar area was a little boring. It didn't seem to have the energy of the Haven bars we've experienced on the other two ships. I attributed this to the fact that everyone had to take the elevator(Haven only, so not the end of the world) up to the bar, instead of having their rooms on the same level as the bar. In essence, no one on the ship was staying in the Haven proper. It might have just been our week on the ship, but it was definitely a disappointment because we like hanging in the Haven bar, especially when there are fun, friendly travelers to meet. In my post cruise review, I suggested that it might be nice to have some kind of entertainment in the Haven lounge/bar, like maybe a vocalist or piano player, just to get people to want to hang in that area. The restaurant was very good. No complaints there. We loved our room, but as I stated above, it didn't have the same feeling as being in the Haven proper, which some people don't care about. I stayed in a Haven spa suite on the Escape, which was not in the Haven proper, and didn't feel like I was fully immersed in the Haven like I felt in my two Haven experiences on the Bliss. I'm not sure I would stay in the Haven on the Prima again. Actually not sure I would travel on the ship at all. I'm interested to see what changes NCL will make to the next ships in the Prima class. The Prima is lovely, but there are some misses on the ship, as has been well documented by others. I've been on the Dawn and the Jewel and have stayed in a club balcony suite and an aft balcony suite, so I feel I've experienced different types of rooms on the ships. I'm sailing on the Bliss again next month, in the Haven, and it will be my fourth time in two years. It's definitely my favorite! I haven't sailed in or out of Barcelona...yet. I'm sailing on the inaugural cruise on the Regent Grandeur in November, and we disembark in Barcelona. It's my first Regent cruise, so I'm very excited! Have a wonderful trip on the Prima! I know you will since you said that you liked the ship already! Enjoy your first Haven experience!!

My husband and I have brought M by Mondavi on board and they definitely sell it on board,

I bring a yeti on every cruise and pack it in my suitcase filled with my favorite tea bags. I've never been asked about it anywhere either. I traveled all over Europe last summer and collected tea bags from different airport lounges, hotels, and basically anywhere I could find it(including the Twinings store in London). I had a gallon size bag of tea in my carry on when I flew home that I continued to enjoy for weeks after my vacation.