Cruiseguy14

12 minutes ago, Gold Coin Man said:

I always wear t-shirt and jeans.  My kids are well behaved and have good manners.  Child friendly all depenrs on what you mean by that term.  Can you let yoru kids run around and be a nusicence to others NO.  Can tehyt eat in the Havne erstaurant and enjoy a meal off of a kids menu, by all means.

 

My daughter is 2 so while I do try my best to make sure she is not annoying to the people around me she does act like a 2 year old. For this reason I try my best not to bring her to places where there is a reasonable expectation that you wouldn’t encounter a 2 year old such as a movie theatre. The more I think about this the less I feel concerned however. As long as my daughter behaves within the confides of normal 2 year old behavior it’s not really my problem. If people knowingly book a room where NCL allows children then they shouldn’t have that expectation. 

Thanks everyone. It seems that most of the things listed are regular foods that if you wanted you could get at the buffet. Is that the norm for their snacks? Can we make a list of luxury or unique foods that we should also remember to ask for ? I will be on NCL haven in March and don’t want to miss out on anything that I might be lesser know.  
 

I know that you can ask for anything you want and there might be a upcharge. I am specifically talking about free snacks that could be delivered on request. I spoke to someone in NCL and they said sushi was available but I’ve seen on other boards that there are upcharges. It seems vauge to me, for instance there is no list you can just see what’s available. I’m not sure if that is done on purpose.

33 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Oh I love dress code questions! Hehehe....but I'll spare ya. For now. I might get there though. It's truly a fun topic for me (I have an oddly wide smile just thinking about it and I'm at work)! My coworkers, if they walk past my office, will probably think I've gone crazy. I don't smile at work. It's work. Why would you be happy? 

 

Anywaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!! 

 

Benefits of the Haven.

 

- Everything. You are going to have a fabulous time! Absolutely phenomenal! We've only cruised four times as a couple and each time has been Haven. I don't say "never" often, but I'm almost about to say never on any other class of room. 

- I don't know what ship you're on...if it has a Shanghai Noodle Bar, an included restaurant, be sure to ask your butler to bring food from there so you don't have to wait in the ginormous line. Dumplings, spring rolls, broth-based soups, and fried rice...mmmm, so good! Here's our pile of dim sum dishes when we actually ventured to the restaurant and waited in line (we smartened up next time):

 

- Would you like crab cake instead of Canadian bacon on your Eggs Benedict? Let the host or maitre d know a day before. Prefer a filet to the NY Strip for steak and eggs? Let the host or maitre d know a day before. It's ok to customize. Get what you want, within reason and with enough notice. Here's a protein plate my husband ordered, followed by my crab cake Eggs Benedict:

 

 

- Want more than the prescribed (and pathetic) three shrimp cocktail? Order 13, like my husband does. Order four or five pieces of pork belly. It's freaking good! They only give you two pieces.

 

 

- If you have issues with your invoice, talk to the concierge. Don't bother with guest services. You'll wait behind no one, or maybe one or two people, to discuss your billing concerns. Want to cancel a shore excursion? Add a shore excursion? Secure a reservation to a restaurant or show? That's the concierge, too! 

- Normally, the bartenders will concoct any beautiful drink you would like. With alcohol or sans alcohol. Upcharges apply. 

- Others will say don't go to American Diner on embarkation day (if offered on the ship you're one). I say go. Shrimp and grits. Mozzarella sticks. Lobster/shrimp rolls. All in a very casual atmosphere which I prefer to the more elegant Haven dining room. American Diner isn't phenomenal. Service won't be epic. But, the food is mostly good and the milkshakes (upcharge) are really lovely! Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! Can you tell I'm fat yet? 

 

 

 

- Don't miss the priority tendering if you tender! It's worth the price of the Haven alone. 

- Here's the secret tip: if you want something, tell someone. Ask them. Be polite. We hear a number of times from Haven cruisers they didn't get something. Well, when pressed, it's because they didn't ask. Don't ask for ridiculousness. You're not paying Ritz Carlton prices. But, be specific in your asks. Give enough lead time. And, you'll have the time of your life. I've had four times of my life with my husband onboard a NCL cruise. Could I gripe about small, insignificant things? You betcha! But why? It's a luxurious (not so luxurious as Regent, but who wants to wear a collared shirt to dinner - not this guy is who!) experience and you'll be provided with most anything you'd like. 

 

Ugh, I'm so jealous! I want to go with you. Ten days in the Caribbean, in the Haven. Yes please! 

Thanks for the tips. It’s funny you mention the American diner embarkation day meal. I heard about it and planned to go against others advice. I figured it would be a nice , causal way to stay a vacation and would be a good place to start the trip with my 2 year old.  Also me and your husband seem to have similar appetites and food preferences. 

19 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

HOW BIG IS YOUR BELLY???? I want your belly!

 

Or do you not eat the rice? I get at least two servings of rice, plus I eat my husband's soup and salad. We generally skip dessert since it's not really "tropical" fruit. I do agree there isn't enough steak or chicken or shrimp, but there's generally enough rice to fatten anyone up (or so I thought). 

  

Gosh this is the most common sense post I've ever read about specialty restaurants. I'll just add the following:

 

Cagney's = Texas Roadhouse (minus the atmopshere)

La Cucina = Olive Garden

Q BBQ = Famous Dave's

Moderno = Texas de Brazil

Teppanyaki = your neighborhood hibachi that is so-so

Trust me, specialty restaurants are ho-hum, middle of the road places. Don't believe the hype. 

@cruiseny4life Thanks. I think we are in a minority viewpoint but I think it might be because we are both from NY. NY has a lot of varied food options that we take for granted, for example Olive Garden might not be a bad option for Italian in certain parts of the country. 
 

I hope I don’t come off a snobish that is not my intent but living near a major metropolitan area has pros and cons and good food is one of the pros. 
 

To be honest I think some of your comparisons are a little dramatic but they’re closer to reality than what NCL would like you to believe. To be honest I was least disappointed with teppyanki because generally speaking it’s more about the show than food quality and it’s easier to make a good fried rice than quality steak. 
 

since we both seem to have similar taste, have you stayed at the haven ? What did you think of the food quality there ? I am staying there this 

So o hear which sucks bc I don’t think it’s on the Getaway.

Also let me preface this by saying I am mostly a beer drinker but the beer selections looks weak. I think I only saw 1 IPA and no stouts besides Guinness. 

List some of your favorite cruise drinks or even lesser known ones that you think are good . New to cruising and would like to get a list I can try when I go on my Caribbean cruise .

19 hours ago, Dorhead1230 said:

@yankprintster So funny you posted this question! I am Platinum now and Ambassador is many many moons away for me. However, I just got off the Joy. I went to buy my CN and had my 4-year old with me. The CN rep made a comment about my son getting his status at 18 and I said yes he’ll definitely be Platinum or higher by then! (He’s actually already got Gold-level points based on triple points on our two cruises this year.) The man then told us the youngest Ambassador in the program was onboard our cruise—23 years old 😮!

I’ve been sailing with my daughter . She is 2 and we have 74 points. It never occurred to me that she gets the points too. Is this true ? 

Which benefits do you like the most from latitudes ? I am at 74 lat points after two cruises bc I got 60 for one cruise but it seems any benefit worthwhile

starts at platinum. And the best benefit that it seems is the two fresh additional specialty dinings . 

Fair point. But I’ve gotten conditioned by casinos that if I gamble I get a nice free vacation. Nothing worse than losing money then having to be nickled and dime by the same company. 
 

have you guys considered taking your action elsewhere ? Sounds like Royal Carribean is a better bet. 

Thanks everyone. It’s perplexing to me that they aren’t following known industry best practices when it comes to gambling. I would have assumed that attracting a solid gambler would be more attractive than almost anyone else but I assume they know their business better than I do and it must not be the case. 

I did transatlantic from Rome to New York and I enjoyed it. Was there some slow days yes but it gave me a lot of time to spend with my children which during the course of a busy week sometimes I don’t get too. Also I enjoyed the novelty of traveling the old fashion way. My family came from Italy to New York so it was interesting for me to get a glimpse as to what it was like to do that kinda voyage. Obviously my conditions were a lot different but to me it’s pretty cool to say that I went from Europe to the US on a boat. Not to many people can really say that. Plus your both retired, if you’re anything like my retired parents it’s not exactly like you’re in a rush to get home and do a lot of things that can’t wait a couple of days. I say try it once and enjoy the historical experience.

@JGmf and fellow CAS cruisers. I am fairly new to cruising but kinda jumped straight into the deep end and starting with  in:

1. November 2022- 14 day carribean cruise 

2. April 2023- 15 day transatlantic cruise.

on the first cruise I gambled very heavily for my standards and was approached by a  casino host with a letter saying to call this number to book with the casino directly in the future. By the end of that cruise I was at Ruby level. As a result I got my second cruise “free”. They put me in a very good room on the Norwegian gem. It wasn’t the haven but I had access to priority on boarding, a butler , got these little snacks delivered to me everyday , access to a private breakfast and lunch in a restaurant. To be honest I think there was some issue with the haven on that particular ship so they gave me a room that was the equivalent but I don’t remember correctly.
 

On that cruise I gambled a good amount for regularly people standards but not as much as I did on the first cruise. I have received an offer from NCL for a free cruise up to 12 days in a haven suite as long as I take it before March 2024. Below are some questions I have if anymore additional background is needed please let me know.

1. These “free” cruise offers are still costing me a substantial amount of money. They are great values, for instance I have a 10 day haven cruise for 2k in March, but the land casinos offers I get will cover everything for me. So far the only comps I get from the casino are voyage fairs. I still pay (taxes, tips, shore excursions) Is this standard practice?

2. Outside the offers I am getting quotes on  sailings and the room quality is substantial worse than haven. To be honest I don’t really care much to be in the haven, my biggest need is room size but the cruises I want to go on the most I get offered a family ocean view. I found this insulting based on my play and seems to be wildly mismatched based on my free haven offers. For some background some of those cruises were out 18 months because I do like to plan ahead.

3. They never come to me. On land I am constantly bombarded with good offers from casinos by email, text and even phone calls from real hosts. I have a relationship with them and can text them at anytime and they take care of me. If that lady didn’t hand me that letter and I never called no one at NCL would or ever contacted me. 
 

Basically what I want to know is my experience common. NCL just doesn’t seem to care about my business. Which I find surprising bc I was way into the ruby level by the time of my first cruise and from their perspective would have thought I showed good potential as a new customer. I am also surprised by the level of customer service I receive. I am a planner and I do call with a list of cruise options to get quotes and I am usually met with casino host that seem more interested in getting me off the phone as soon as possible than actually helping me ( with the exception of Antoinette and Ryan). I feel like I am being treated just like a standard customer service call. This is not my experience with land based casinos. 

I find the NCL shore excursion pricing to be distastefully high.  I booked them my first cruise because I was new to cruising and didn’t know any better but with a little

planning You can save a ton. For instance they actually wanted to charge my

daughter 90 dollars for admission to a park that is free for her age. They literally charge 3 to 4x the amount for the same things you can do on your own. 

Is there any mechanism that stops people from buying the stock, taking a quick screenshot in your brokerage account and then just selling it ?

How is the lobster quality on ncl I’m general? I’m staying at the haven and the pictures don’t look great. 

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

1. The Haven does not have any higher/different standard than anywhere else on the ship. Children should try to behave themselves and not impose themselves on other passengers (e.g., Don't take over the hot tub with a fleet of floating toys and don't be banging their plates with the silverware). Yeah, probably not good to be constantly running around any restaurant, but the Haven is kid friendly. If there is something off the kids menu or main menu that you DD would like to eat at every meal, let the Maitre D know so that the galley has it on hand. 

 

Dress code in the Haven is casual. There is no "debate", that is the dress code. Shorts are allowed for all meals in the Haven restaurant and we do that from time to time. 

 

2. Read Sthrngary's post.

 

For us, on busy port days, we like to have breakfast served in our room. There will be the regular breakfast cards in your stateroom with check boxes. IGNORE THE CHECKBOXES and write down what you want on the card, one card per person, and get it to your butler the night before. Eggs over easy, scrambled eggs, egg whites, omelet with your choice of fillings, breakfast potatoes, hash browns, NY Strip steak, bacon, ham, sausage, mushrooms, grilled tomato, fresh fruits, fresh breads, anything you want from the Haven breakfast menu (available on your NCL app). Don't miss out on the lovely cold buffet in the Haven restaurant either - and you can ask for items from the cold buffet to be delivered. 

 

Each afternoon, your butler will deliver the snack of the day. Ask for extra snacks, or specific snacks if you want. We always ask for full bowls of M&Ms (peanut or plain), Gummy Bears, and Bar Mix (which goes into zip lock bags for snacks). We also ask for pitchers of water and ice tea in our fridge. And, even for us big kids, we request a PB&J sandwich from time to time. Whatever your daughter would like. 

 

Your concierge is able to oversell a restaurant. If your app says that you can't get Cagney's at 7:30 on Monday, ask your concierge on embarkation day and they are likely going to be able to over sell the restaurant for you. Once a restaurant is totally oversold, even the concierge can't get you a seat,,, but normally they will seat you whenever you want. 

 

Your concierge will also escort you to shows. While there is a long line to get into the theater or comedy club or other show venue, your concierge will sneak you in the "back door" and allow you to sit in suites seating or any seat in the house (which for us is normally [near] front and center).

 

Both your butler and concierge are there to ensure that you have everything you need to have a wonderful cruise. 

 

I did a posting last year on Haven foods. The menu has not changed much, but give it a peak for ideas. You will see that we added a lobster tail or two to every dinner entrée. 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for all this info. Very informative .

I have dined at le bistro, Cagney and la cucina. Obviously food is a very personal taste but I’ll give you my two cents. 
 

First it’s my experience that any comparable restaurant on land is better than what you will get at sea. This is not to say that they don’t have good dishes but I’ll take a $50 steak on land over a $50 steak at cagneys. This might sound obvious but I think it’s important in your decision making. 
 

With this in mind, think about your offshore experiences and how they might affect your experience. If you live near a great steak house you frequent maybe you choose Le Bistro bc French food is less readily available. That’s usually why I choose Le Bistro.

I think all the speciality restaurants are comparable. None of them will be the best of that cuisine that you ever had on land but it will be a solid meal. Don’t stress over the decision that much bc your probably not missing out on much.

I wondered this too. The only conclusion I came to is that the “American Diner” might be a novelty of sorts to non Americans. My wife is Asian and we live in a small town in New York where diners are common. When her family comes here they love it. It’s a very American experience that they have seen in movies and don’t really have a comparable thing in their country. I could be wrong but that’s the only conclusion I came to. 

Rocket, JG, Southern Gary thank you very much. The article is very impressive. Well written and informative. I will give it another good read and come back if I have any other questions. Thank you for helping me. 

Hello Everyone, 

I booked my first cruise out of the Haven for March of this year. It is a 10 day carribean cruise. I have several questions so bear with me. I have looked online/ talked to ncl staff but haven’t found satisfactory answers. 
 

1. what is the etiquette standards as far as dress and child expectations ? Are people expected to dress nicer in the haven restaurant than they would be in a regular MDR? My daughter is 3 years old and has trouble sitting down in the MDR. Is the haven restaurant child friendly ? 
 

2. Besides the obvious benefits of the haven (better room, food , getting on  and off ship) can  anyone let me know what are lesser known benefits that I should be aware of ? 
 

3 how can I best utilize my concierge/butler? From my understanding the concierge just makes your reservations, which I can do easily on the app so I don’t see much value. As far as the butler I know they can bring food/drink to your room but know little else what I can utilize them for. 
 

Thanks in advance.