NikkiPoooo27

Yes, one of my friends joined me for breakfast once and lunch a couple of times in a music cruise. It has a very busy schedule with late shows, so sit down dining (especially breakfast) tends to be sparsely populated, as a rule. I think on that particular one they would have been fine if I'd brought 5 people to breakfast, since Cagney’s was totally empty every time I went. There was also never anyone in the Haven pool, so they didn't care if I had guests, which I did on one port day.

I've been told absolutely yes, since I've paid the fare for 2 people. On the Jewel class ships where they don't have a Haven Restaurant I was told specifically that I was allowed to bring a guest to breakfast and lunch at Cagney’s as well.

Do you wash undies in the sink? If you're like me, packing for 7-10 days means like 20 pairs of underwear, for no real reason other than "but what if...?"

My transatlantic is on Getaway and they just dropped the solo supplement for some categories, and prices for the rest. I had booked a balcony with extra large balcony because it's just me, and since we're past the paid in full date they won't give me an adjustment so I'm considering calling and requesting an upgrade to a club balcony suite with large balcony, which is now the same price I already paid. A Haven spa suite is reasonable enough to be tempting, but I already booked the thermal suite pass and I can't see myself staying in the room enough as a solo to make it worth 4 times the cost, though I'll miss the tub. I think I'll settle for thermal suite rather than Vibe, as well, because it will be late October/early November in the north Atlantic!

I was planning on wrapping it with a notice next time. I've used this exact one before, and it's predecessor that was identical but with different usb outlets several times with no problems.

They confiscated mine on the Alaska cruise, even though it didn't have a surge protector.

They do have an umbrella in the closet for you in the Haven suites anyway! I still bring my own hair dryer, because I have a lot of hair and I don't like theirs. I still bring a small fan, just for the circulation. Mine is solar-powered. I have a set of note cards made with my name and cabin/suite number printed on them, for leaving notes for the butler, steward, concierge, etc. The envelopes that come with them are nice for tips as well. I bring a good stainless water bottle for taking into port, and a travel coffee mug because I like the fancy latte machine in the horizon lounge but they only have small mugs... this last cruise most mornings I'd do two lattes into the travel mug with a hot chocolate packet, then go back to the room and add 2 more nespresso shots (just so I didn't feel like I was hogging the machine, though there was almost never anyone else using it, oddly). A mesh bag to hold my swimsuit when going to and from the thermal suite.

My most recent experience was that the escort on or off the ship was available the first 90 minutes the ship was in port, and then the last hour or 2 (basically whenever there would get to be a line at the gangway). That was the same for all Alaska ports, and it seems like "during busy times" may be a standard they're using. As far as drinks go, I even had the bartender in the Mojito bar see my keycard and remind me that G, the Haven bartender, would make me any of his mojitos so I didn't need to come down there just to get one if I wanted. I told him G had already told me that, but G needed to share me with the rest of the ship! I definitely got my mom mudslides from the Haven bar, and got myself a couple of chocolate grasshoppers. They spoiled me for French 75s though, because they would do it "modifed, modified" with rose champagne and good cane syrup instead of prosecco and simple syrup.

For the Alaska cruise we used the roll-up space bags to pack bulky stuff that wouldn't wrinkle, or would easily straighten out like leggings, outerwear, a Comfy (wonderful for morning coffee on the balcony), and sweaters.

The laundry service is pretty good, Haven or not, though (even in the Haven) it can sometimes take a full day to get it back if you put it out at a busy time (like when they put out the $29 bag offer). I've only ever used wash and fold, though I think I might have a few items pressed on the upcoming TA. In the last year or so they've made the bag much better than it used to be... it used to be paper and not hold very much without ripping, but now it's a polyester drawstring bag that holds a TON. You still have to list all of the items on the sheet, and they'll come back with little tags stuck in them.

O'Sheehans/The Local is nice for pub food at off-peak times... they do a decent burger, and the fish and chips is usually pretty good. The late night butler will be happy to bring you a big plate of their fries (or anything from the late night menu) at 1am if you're feeling peckish late night, as well.

I'm jealous! I've had a villa booked at GSC twice (once we had a group of 13 friends and booked both of the big ones and the small one on either side) and missed the port both times. From what I understand it's really like an extension of the Haven... private bar, private buffet, private beach with ample seating. We also really liked that the larger villas had a/c to escape to, and full bathrooms with showers and bedrooms for napping.

I would love that one, but there are no nonstops to Panama City from Detroit which makes it hard to sell to my mom. If it was in 2024 (not 2023) then I'd look at doing the round trip as a back to back, but like you I'm on a big trip in October (TA from 10/22-11/4, with a few days in London before) so this year is out.

I'm officially annoyed. Here comes a rant about Haven accessibility options. The suite we had on Bliss was very well set up for various disabled persons, accommodated a scooter very well, and was nicely located within the Haven complex. My mom loved the Haven experience so much she decided she wanted to book another cruise right away. We went to the CruiseNext desk to see about a few different options for southern Caribbean or Panama Canal trips. The first slightly annoying thing was that even though we don't want to go at a peak time there were only a few options that had availability in an accessible suite, because there are only 1 or 2 of those on any given ship. That was fine though, because we found a cruise on Viva with the *one accessible Haven suite that exists on the whole ship*, which is an aft-facing master on deck 10. Not the best, because it's at the opposite end from the elevators so she won't be able to just leave the scooter in the suite to go to the lounge or the restaurant like she could on the Bliss, and it's a long trip down the narrow hallway, which the service carts often make impassable for wheelchairs. It's got 2 hallway options though, so we decided to go for it. Yay! Then I got home and really looked at a layout of the suite. It didn't make sense as a wheelchair cabin, so I watched a video and it is a *total joke*. You have to enter in a short of hallway hallway like a regular balcony cabin, with no ability to turn a chair or scooter at all until you get to the living area part... the really, *really* stupid part about that, though, is that all of the storage is in that hallway in an open closet shelving area that not only looks horrible, it's not functional for someone who can't leave their chair. They can't turn sideways to even look at it, and any time they go to get clothing they would have to go down the hall and then back the chair up into the living area with the clothing because they can't change right there in front of the doorway. Then, moving into the rest of the suite, it's not a 1 bedroom like other masters. They've removed the wall separating the bedroom and the living space and just left a weird 2-sided TV hutch that has shelving on either end. Ready for more utter stupidity? There is still a TV on both sides, even though there is no wall separating the two, and they are inches apart. The one on the "bedroom" side is touching the foot of the bed. There is enough space to turn a scooter around next to the bed, on the side by the bathroom, but there is no way for a person who can't leave their chair to get to the other side of the room (balcony side) without modifying the furniture. On the other side of the TV hutch is a small table, 2 chairs, and a couch. This takes up all of the space on that side, so that a wheelchair or scooter would not fit through to get to the balcony unless the table and chairs are removed from the suite entirely. This would also be the only way for them to get to the other side of the bedroom area. The bathroom is the only part of the suite that's really suitable for a person using a wheelchair, but it's also basically the same as a minisuite bathroom, just slightly larger and with a double sink. Basic rainfall shower with spray wand, no tub, almost zero counter space at all. So now I guess we'll be doing whatever we can find an open accessible suite on for a Panama Canal cruise, or maybe Bermuda or of NYC. It seems like Breakaway and Breakaway+ class ships are really the only good accessible Haven options. It's so disappointing that they've basically shut wheelchair users out of the Haven on these brands new ships that have really huge Haven sections. Even the non-Haven accessible options on those ships are really awful too.

We simply asked for a lounger in addition to the 2 chairs for our penthouse last week. There was plenty of space, so it was no problem.

I definitely do not recommend the Bliss for a sold out sailing, even in the Haven. It's nice if you never plan to leave the Haven complex, but it's just wall to wall people everywhere else. The elevators take *forever* to get to or from deck 17 because they stop at every single floor and they're full. I went to the concierge at 1:30 on boarding day to sign up for the beyond the scenes tour and it was already waitlisted, and the staff there are exhausted because they're just crazy busy the whole time they're open, inundated with people trying to get reservations for things that got filled up very quickly. The desk is 3 deep with people waiting every time I walk in the lounge.

The coach for domestic is the reason we *didn't* go with Regent for this Alaska cruise. They confirmed that they do consider both Vancouver and Alaska to be domestic flights, and there's no way my mother would fly coach for those flights (with 6+ hour legs). For a $20k+ 7-day cruise that seems very cheap on their part, indeed.

LeBistro is my favorite, and Moderno is second (the grilled pineapple 🤤) so I'm sad to miss that on Bliss, but I'm excited to try Q for the first time next week!

I think the bigger the ship the more difficult it might be, especially if it's maybe during spring break time and the ship is full. When you have 4,400+ people on the ship and most of them have free dining in their package then availability is going to just be slim everywhere... that's one of the reasons we booked Haven for the 4th of July cruise. Also, it seems Cagney's just fills up faster, maybe because everyone knows what to expect there. That's the only specialty that doesn't have totally open availability for my TA in the fall, and there are 2 different nights that it's fairly booked up... all sorts of "Just booked Cagney's for the first sea day!" posts appeared once reservations opened up.

My tags for the cruise that leaves on 7/1 didn't arrive until like 6/14. I had already printed and laminated the ones from the edocs. I actually like those better because you can put your name and contact info on them.

I have never heard or seen of it on the ones I was on, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a thing. I know when we boarded we were taken onto the ship the normal way.

They get a bunch of musical acts (either curated around a theme or genre, or a big name headliner and acts they choose to go with them that may or may not be music) and charter the ship... then you spend 4-7 amazing days with considerably more live entertainment than a typical cruise on a ship full of like-minded people. They are mostly just Caribbean cruises, but on these cruises the destination is not the main point. There are a few different companies that do them, but cruise with the same one who now occupies the Norwegian Pearl (or occasionally another Gem-class ship if Pearl needs some work) for most of October until mid-spring. I don't know if they're considered a TA so I won't say their name, but if you google The Rock Boat (which is their longest running event, and my first of 27 events with them with them starting way back in 2005) and scroll down to the bottom of the page there's an oval-shaped logo you can click on to go to their main page.

Yikes! I hope things turn around a bit for you.

This is a good tip for my mom, who likes vodka & orange juice but won't want to drive her scooter out to the lounge all the time. It's a good idea for me for my TA in the fall when I'm not in the Haven for that one (traveling solo), but am alllll the way forward... there will be a couple of the *7 sea days* that I don't feel like going out much, I'm sure.

I've never had any issues wearing open toed shoes or nicer open toed sandals are fine for ladies (think a dressy sandal, not Tevas) in any dining venue. I can't think of any closed toed dressy shoes I would have worn on a cruise, TBH.