kodos

To my surprise NCL didn't offer one when I was there last year but I can highly recommend overlord tour.

Value certainly plays into my consideration of future cruises and for the most part NCL has provided it. I mostly book inside cabins. My wife prefers the total darkness it provides for sleeping. I also shop deals and watch the trends on fares. At the rates I've paid I have always felt I have gotten my monies worth. 

The other thing that keeps me coming back is I know how NCL works and I have the perks of Sapphire. I know where everything is on all the ships. I know how to navigate around the crowds. I know all the secrets. I get to board early, eat in two specialty restaurants, and get one laundry bag plus a few other things with my status. That familiarity lowers the stress of traveling for me and has a tangible value when considering what cruise line. 

Trying to choose all my words carefully here I have seen the Syd cast perform 80's songs in a show labeled 80's prom in the main theater on both Breakaway and Getaway in 2022 & 2023.

My most recent sailing on the Prima the same show was performed in the pourhouse. 

The easiest way to know what is going on currently on any given ship is to wait until someone sailing posts their dailies on here. Each ship and each sailing is always a little different in how they do things. Sometimes adjustments are made because a scheduled show in the main theater gets canceled. 

"Changing the entertainment too often would also create a problem."

True I can see that as an issue but that also happens already. NCL has ended their relationship with plenty of entertainment companies over years and Six was one of the shows when I booked year ago only for them to end that show a few weeks ago. The Bliss was built in 2018 and refurbed in 2021. Five years isn't an unreasonable amount of time to expect a show refresh. The Syd Norman's show has been going 10 years without a change the script and I expect there are other 10 years old shows still going. 

I assume part of their answer is the game shows since audience participation will make things a little different every time but I wouldn't go see the Price is Right again. The most interesting part was the history of the show video they showed before the game. The investment in comedy also provides some variety since different comics are booked.

I don't know what the answer is and for me this only is a problem because I am a frequent NCL cruiser.  If I hadn't been on so many ships I might not be out of entertainment choices. 

I have been cruising Norwegian exclusively for over 25 years. I have been on this forum for a long time too. It has been an invaluable resource for planning out my trips. I am recently off the Bliss Mexican Rivera sailing and I thought I'd give my take on the state of things at NCL. 

This was my fifth Mexican Riviera cruise and my third time on the Bliss. I have sailed on every class of NCL ship from the Sea, Dream and Wind days all the way to the Prima. I have even tried the Haven once on the Bliss during the early Covid restart deals. I have seen plenty of changes in all the that time. Mostly good but some bad too. 

I feel like NCL eventually learns from their mistakes. Sometimes they react to customer feedback and other times they only react to financial failure. I try to answer their surveys in the hopes that they listen and they do read these forums so they are aware of some of the negative feedback. 

So what did I see on board relative to what I have read? The great cookie scarcity? Mostly true. Cookies were not to be found in the buffet. But they can and do make them. We had them every day in the Vibe. My suspicion is Haven still has cookies available for the Butlers to deliver to their guests and because the Vibe is near their galley an enterprising bartender got us cookies. I never saw hash browns or eggs Benedict at the buffet but there again they can make them since they are served at the sit down restaurants. I was a little concerned about them pulling food out of the observation lounge but it was available last week on the Bliss. The Bliss is fully setup to both have food and clean it up so it doesn't make sense to pull that but I can see that the Prima class isn't as well set up. Not sure what other doom and gloom I can confirm or deny. 

I don't see a huge recent decline in food quality. I agree that things are different post covid shutdown and menus have changed since then. I just don't see a big difference from one or two years ago. I miss some of the older menu items. The portions seem smaller which I actually welcome since I hate so much food waste and it's not like you can't order more if you want. Supply chain still seems to be the big problem for them. Everything from what food they can source to what alcohol they get. They either don't have it or run out off things. This is obviously my opinion. One of the reason so I have stayed with Norwegian is the food works for me. I always read online how bad it is relative to other cruise lines but many of these cruise lines cost more and that cost would ultimately be lost on me. 

My biggest area of let down is entertainment. It is the one thing that previously set NCL apart from other lines. It is not that the shows they have are bad. They are actually very well done it is just they don't change often enough which makes it difficult to cruise frequently. Before the big production shows they had shorter run shows with more variety. I was really impressed with Jersey boys the first time I saw it in 2019. I was OK seeing it again in 2022. I can't watch it a third time. I probably could have watched Six a third time but they have gotten rid of that show. I loved Syd's the first time. Probably the second and third too. But no matter the ship or cast the set list is the same and the entire script down to the jokes is the same. It needs a refresh. The Beetles show too, good the first few times but not sure I can do it again. Even Siglo a popular band on the Bliss hasn't changed their setlist. On average I cruise once a year. I would hate to think that is too much cruising to have variety in entertainment. I know the magic shows and jugglers weren't always the greatest but at least they were different every time. 

In the end cruises have to make money and they lost an awful lot during covid. They have always had profit centers on the ship from bingo to internet. I personally would rather them make money on optional things that I can choose not to buy than to increase the fare price. Through all these cruise I have learned how NCL works and I have adapted my vacations to make the most of what they offer and to navigate around their shortcomings. I concede that as a first timer to NCL or coming from another cruise line that the gradual changes I have observed might be more abrupt.

I'm running out of routes to do and with the lack of entertainment I might be forced to only do new ships if they have new shows. I've done cruises just for the ship on routes I have done before but as much as I love the Bliss I just don't think I can do it again. I'm at a bit of crossroads. I'm considering trying Virgin or maybe do some land based vacations until I miss cruising too much. 

The whisky bar was where I went most nights. They did try and make my wife a margarita with whisky one night much to her horror. Belvedere bar would have been a sit down room except it is mostly full of people waiting on tables for dinner. 

I’m recently off the 2 week Iceland/Norway roundtrip on the Prima. I thought a review highlighting what a cold weather trip on the Prima would be like when the deck 8 waterfront is mostly unusable. I won’t cover much of what you could find in the other Prima reviews.

The ship was claimed to be sold out. I’m a little skeptical but because of time of year, cost, and duration of the cruise there really weren’t many kids. We only had 43 on board so that means no 3rd and/or 4th in a cabin. So we probably only had around 3000 on board instead of 4000 if there were families.

Embarkation in South Hampton was about as warm as the trip got. Weather was in the 40’s in Iceland and 50’s in Norway. We also had rough seas leading to the pools being drained several times during the cruise and totally closing deck 8 waterfront.

I’ve read the many negative reviews of the Prima and seen the video of the 10 things I hate about the Prima. I was never really worried too much about them. I’m adaptable and this was a port intensive trip for me so even if the ship was a disaster I would still have a good time.

I’ve followed the Prima design and construction since the beginning. I’ve also been cruising with NCL for 25 years and have seen the evolution of the their ships to support freestyle cruising. With all the ship designs of the last 20 years they have been working to disperse the passengers by offering more places to go. On this ship that means every location is smaller making it feel more intimate and hiding the other 3000 passengers from you. The only problem is when everyone wants to go to the same location and won’t budge. I think there are also complaints about convoluted pathways to things.

That’s my setup, now for the review.

The ship is gorgeous. I don’t think there is much controversy on that point. I question how well some of those interiors will hold up since they are already showing wear a year in but right now they still look great.

I had an inside cabin on deck 11 forward. It is certainly the best inside cabin I have ever had and if you don’t count the lack of view against it I’d say it is better than any non-haven cabin I have had. The extra space makes a difference. You can walk easily on either side of the bed. Storage is plentiful and smart. Bathroom and shower are very roomy for a cruise ship. Because you have space for every conceivable thing you could bring your room will never feel cluttered.

By blind luck my cabin location was great for the places I wanted to go. I was very close the forward elevators. That gave me easy access to the Spa, Observation Lounge, and Atrium 6,7, & 8. Which were places I went every day on the cruise ship. I never had any issues with elevator availability and we had two that were broken much of the cruise.

The Spa is definitely an improvement over the previous class ships with the exception of not having the hydrotherapy features. They is a really nice heated pool with some jets but I miss the neck waterfall. This does make things quieter. The space is divided into three separate areas. The pool, the sauna/steam/salt/snow rooms, and the loungers. The lounger area is very quiet unless you have a spot with a treadmill above you. There are plenty of others there where you can’t hear the gym. The downside of not having the echo of the hydrotherapy pool is you will hear people snoring.

The theater is small but I think the fold away seating is also a design improvement. The seats on deck 6 fold away like high school bleachers (except nicer) turning the space into the night club after the shows are over. This saves space on the ship for other things instead off having two separate facilities there are very rarely in use at the same time.

With Deck 8 out of the question for the Fjords the observation lounge was packed. It was full the entire cruise but I easily found a spot there every morning at 7:30 AM so an early riser would have no issues. I decided this cruise not to eat breakfast at the buffet so the observation lounge’s light offerings and coffee were more than enough. I really don’t understand why people choose to sleep there since it all about the view but they do.

I loved the indulge food hall. We went there right after we boarded because I wanted to try it and was worried based on the reviews it would always be too full. I ended up eating there a lot. The longest I ever waited was 30 minutes. If you don’t get a spot when you get there just stake out an area and wait. It won’t take that long for a table to open up. We even went there a few times for breakfast. The bar in there also had the best beer selection on the ship. The BBQ salmon there was one of the best things I had on the ship

The bars are a little over specialized. Other than the atrium deck 6 and maybe the pool bar I’m not sure you could guarantee the drink you wanted was available at the bar you were at. I’m sure the Haven and Vibe would be full service but I wasn’t at either of those this trip. Each bar has its own mix of premade cocktails and signature drinks. The bartenders would say they are “concept” bars if they couldn’t make something. We figured out which bar made the drinks we wanted and who made them the best but it is a little strange not be able to get something as simple a margarita at any bar.

Buffet was always packed beyond capacity and they had to use the food republic to provide overflow seating. We only went here twice for lunch.

Things I don’t know. We never could really use deck 8. I walked around it a few times. The bar at the back was open once the whole trip and we only got in the infinity pool once because the two hot tubs on 17 were so full they couldn’t possibly hold another person. Pools were heated to a survivable temperature but would have been more useful if they were a little warmer. The space looks really cool but I can imagine in nice weather you’d have a harder time getting a spot there than the observation lounge. If everyone was using the space on 8 the ship it would have taken strain off the rest of the ship but if the weather was warm enough more people would have been on the ship.

The bar side of the local needs to be gutted. It is the one place on the ship where the designer lost his mind and filled it full of useless uncomfortable seating. We ate on the restaurant side of the local a few times and enjoyed it.

The weather meant many things were closed I think the angry bees (go karts) only ran 2 days and the slides were closed most of the time. Most of the upper deck stuff remained close. I did eventually get to try all the slides once both wet and dry.

The vibe looked really nice and was totally empty since you couldn’t use it. Deck 17 pool deck looks way to small. I can’t imagine it in nice weather with the only two public hot tubs on the ship. I guess they want you on deck 8 but what kind of hunger games do you need to win to snag one of those two beds surrounded by water?

The entertainment was the the only really let down. For a two week cruise we were really lacking in shows. There just doesn’t seem to be enough compared to past cruises. We did Syd’s every night they had a show but this is my fourth time seeing them and every song and joke is the same. The atrium bands were good but also an area that was always full and sometimes hard to get a drink.

I thought the food was very good and for specialty restaurants we did Cagney’s, Le Bistro, Teppanyaki, Food Republic, Mexican, and Palomar. We tried both main dining rooms multiple times.

Service was generally very good. The one surprising area were I felt they were struggling was at the bars. Many times they just weren’t good bartenders. They either didn’t know their own menu of drinks or had trouble understanding English.

If anyone has any specific questions I’d be glad to answer.

This was on the breakaway in April

They have plenty of umbrellas that they will move around for you to provide shade. Those clamshells are worthless. They are locked into a position and depending on the direction the boat is going they get full sun. They crammed an umbrella into one while we were there for someone who rented one. 

I always get the spa package and on my moment recent trip my spa cabin bid was accepted. Vibe, Spa, and dining package for me equals Haven light. I spend my post Vibe and pre dinner/entertainment time in the Spa watching sail away. Also the spa locker room bath is larger than the cabin so I shower and get ready there leaving the cabin for my wife to get ready. 

4 minutes ago, Deb and Jack said:

Thanks, we're joining on the 15th and will head there 1st. Hopefully the new bartender is just as good 

My sailing the Vibe didn't sell out. Passes were sold on the second day. I can't imagine this is going to last forever so enjoy it while you can. 

I was just in the breakaway Vibe 2 weeks ago. Passes were in the comedy club. Even at not full capacity the main deck and pool were packed so Vibe was worth it. Bartender was great, he was on his last cruise of a 8 month contract so he was having fun. 

I'm sure the Haven staff on each ship probably can make or break the experience. We were recently on the Bliss in the same forward penthouse and I would say other than the size and niceness of the cabin the staff made the experience more than the amenities.  I have been on the same cruise pre pandemic on the Bliss in a spa balcony. 

I'm not really a butler/concierge person either but I studied up the on 50 page secrets of Haven thread in this group. I wrote the butler a letter of the things I thought he could do to make the my experience better which he was delighted to do. One of which was just to bring me real coffee in the morning because I hate Nespresso but he also brought orange juice for my wife and creamer. Since the cabin had a separate bedroom I gave him permission to come in when he needed to. I also specifically specified told him what snacks I wanted and how little to avoid a lot of food waste.  

I didn't really have a huge need for the concierge either but on every cruise I have ever been on something causes me to need at least one trip to the front desk and the long line that is usually there. I just told the concierge the problem and let them work on it for me. I did have them make a dinner reservation for me and move some spa stuff around. 

The area where we really enjoyed the experience was the bar staff on our ship and the how accommodating the restaurant was. The bar staff was fun and made excellent drinks I've never had and our drink runners were attentive. We were a group of 6 for dinner and they always had a 6 top ready and would make a 6 top outside for us. We also made request a day in advance each night to have favorite items sent up from other restaurants each night.  

So all in all in was a good experience and if I found an exceptionally good deal again or happened to win an upgrade bid I'd do it again but at the normal prices I would just get my usual cabin. 

I was on this cruise too and I’m in this picture. I recognize my Tommy Bahama shirt. 

Thanks. I'll be on the Bliss in January and I'm just trying to figure out how best to make use of the Butler. My cabin isn't in the complex so I'm not imagining using them as much for in cabin things. 

I apologize in advance for posting something that I'm certain is in one of @Sthrngary many explanations of the Haven and its amenities. 

While at Haven pool or sundeck who serves drinks? While I am fully capable of running inside to get a drink and returning the inside bar isn't the same as walking up to a pool bar wet. 

You have also mentioned the butler getting food for you while at the sundeck. Does that mean we just call our butler on the phone and order any lunch item from the Haven menu and he brings it? 

I'm making my third attempt at the Haven experience. I had a 4 day on the Joy cancelled in 2020 for the pandemic. Rebooked the 7 dayJoy out of Jamaica that was supposed to leave tomorrow that got canceled to have its crew transferred for the Encore in Alaska. I was really sure that cruise would happen when I booked it. Both those cruises the plan was to split an Aft Penthouse which has 2 full baths with another couple using the 3 & 4 free. I had given up on the Haven since I wasn't seeing any comparable deals and all my cruises were canceled before final money was due so I did't have all the extra credit other people have. Then this week I found the 5 day Mexican Riviera on the Bliss. The price was really good on a 2 bedroom but couldn't find anyone to split it with on the date of the sailing. Surprisingly the deal on forward penthouse was also pretty good so I bit the bullet and booked it for just the two of us. I have followed @Sthrngary on the subject of Haven for 18 months at least and have studied his write up. 

I don't plan on being converted to a Haven or nothing person. With over 20 years of cruising under my belt I have evolved into doing to types of trips. I do destination trips to places I haven't been where I get an inside cabin and I'm off the ship all day in port. Trips like that I know I'll spend just as much money as the ship cost on port activities. My next one will be Japan (I hope). The other trip I take is for the ship itself. Destination doesn't matter and usually is a place I haven been to already so I don't feel bad about not getting off the ship. These trips are usually on the newest ships. That's what this Haven trip will be. I actually did a similar trip on the Bliss 2 years ago. I had a spa cabin and vibe passes. I never got off the ship and my day was spent in the observation lounge, vibe, and spa. 

It is hard for me to justify spending more on a 5 day Haven than a 12 day Japan inside but I really want to do it at least once. I'm am really hoping I get to report back about the experience and this cruise doesn't get cancelled too. 

I actually also find it interesting that people don't like the Breakaway Plus class. I loved the Bliss. The spa was amazing as was the observation lounge. Since I had vibe passes I didn't spend time on the pool deck which was one of the sources of complaints. The ship never felt crowded to me because it disperses people well but 100% agree no activities should be held in the atrium. 

Universally no one likes the Epic bathroom and because of it I'd probably never convince my wife to sail on it again but I like the rest of ships quirkiness. 

14 hours ago, complawyer said:

we were on the star on a southeast asia cruise from hong kong to singapore back between dec 2016 and jan 2017. not until we actually got on board ere we advised of the propulsion issues. while  we missed 3 ports that were important to me, they offered us a full refund if weleft the ship (no brainer since we were already in hong kong and airfare booked from singapore 2 seeks later, of a fare reduction of 50% on this cruise and another 50% off any future cruise.  we had a forward facing penthouse for 3 of us so the fare ended up being $3750, and the following year i booked a 2 bedroom suite on the epic for my wife, myself , my grandson and a friend of his, for less than $4000.

 

so in spite of the mechanical problems, i really cant complain about the star.

 

actually, we have been on a number of ncl ships (other than the much newer ones) andso far i havent had any problems on any of them. that being said, our favorite is the getaway.

 

we are currently booked on the epic in jan, the jade in apr and once again the star (keeping my fingers crossed) nov 2022.

 

i have read traveling man's comment for a number of years, and he is usually spot on!.

since its been 4 years since ive been on the star, i would cut them a little slack

I was on the same trip. I was disappointed at some of the missed spots but the compensation was extremely generous. We lucked out though. Subsequent sailing as they continued to try and fix the problem did not receive the same compensation. I think because we were a Christmas/New Year's cruise and had the least amount of notice to change plans they gave us the best deal. 

I can relate to the Star's Azipod problem having been on a 2 week cruise going at half speed missing ports but due to itinerary choices I have been on a Star/Dawn class ship for almost half my cruises and find it familiar. The new ships always bring improvements but I also pay attention to refurb date. Even a newer ship will seem trashed if you are on it right before it goes in for refurb. 

I did a 2 week med at the start of the school year that only had 5 children on board the ship and they were all relatives of the entertainment. Cruise director announced it the first day. 

I totally get the feeling of betrayal and the lack of trust going forward. I do question if the grass will truly be greener elsewhere. I don't spend time in any of the other cruise line groups but I assume they all sound pretty much like we do in this group for better or worse.

Accurate and honest communication hasn't been Norwegian's strong suit in decades. 5 year's ago for my 25th anniversary I was on the crippled Star. We had a 2 week from Hong Kong to Singapore over Christmas. The previous sailing one of the generator engines went down and ship could only run one motor and hence half speed. For me these were really expensive airfare tickets and I had fancy pre and post hotels booked. I was getting real time updates on CC from passengers but NCL was denying the ship had any problems. Ultimately when faced with overwhelming evidence they fessed up and with days before sailing offered to allow people to cancel. What good would that possibly do that late? We ended up sailing on the cruise because they said they could fix it in port but we ended missing half the ports since they couldn't fix the ship for months. They did make it right to my satisfaction by giving us half the money back  and half in credit toward a future cruise but that ultimately took a large congregation of people refusing to leave the atrium until the captain came out.  

I've had my fare share of NCL cancellations in all this though no where near as many as some on here. Lost my first Haven cruise on the Joy last year. Lost a Japan cruise. Lost my 30th anniversary India cruise this year. Also like many of us I lost my sure thing guaranteed to cruise second attempt at the Haven on the Joy. I still have Japan 2022, and Prima 2023 on the books. 

I'm pretty sure I'm done making any further attempts in 2021. Thankfully I have a land trip planned to St. Lucia. Even though I get not wanting to reward bad behavior I'm not going to dump NCL and certainly not lose money to do it. I have been sailing with them for over 20 years and I like their innovations with the exception of the absurd bathroom design of the Epic cabins. They seem to fit my demographic well and the price to product/service level is right for me. I get the other side too. I texted my wife after the Joy cancellation that I have never seen so many loyal NCL people so mad and willing to quit NCL for good on CC in the entire time I have been on here. Crazy times. Some of your user names I have been seeing on here forever and though I don't post much I can't imagine not seeing your posts in the future. I'm probably being a fool but I'm going to hope that NCL manages to somehow redeem themselves.

This was the next logical step for me on slippery slope toward becoming a Haven user. I have been getting the thermal spa pass since the launching of the Star Class which had the first true spa. That has been were I go to relax in the late afternoon. It is also where I go to get ready for the evening since the bathroom is much bigger and I can leave the cabin to my wife. The specialty dining package was the next step. Combined with my latitudes perks I was only eating in the MDR once or twice a cruise. More recently with the price increase lowering demand I finally made it to the vibe. That experience was so good I probably would have paid twice as much for it. So basically I am already paying over $600 a person for Haven like experiences so what is $400 more in rough numbers to take it to the next level. Those numbers are also because I am splitting the cabin 4 ways which makes it into within my cost threshold. I am sure I'm going to have a great time but it won't change my cruising habits which are primarily route chosen. The big ships don't usually go to the more exotic places and I don't see the value of the haven on the ships that don't have the complex. 

10 hours ago, RolandofGilead said:

What I enjoyed about the haven is the feeling of a small community within the ship. I am a social person and enjoy meeting new people but prefer to have a little bit more sustained engagement. I generally stick to a somewhat set pattern in my day and was able to get to know a few groups of people that would be typically in the same places as me at different parts of the day. I had some great conversation with people at the bar at night after the kids were asleep. I enjoyed being able to meet people with different perspectives and from different stages in their lives.

This was similar to my last cruise with my first vibe passes. I somehow managed to do everything right to not only snag vibe passes but the first 6 sold. We never left the vibe the whole cruise. Same small community feel. We got to really know the vibe patrons and staff. In actuality the staff memorized our names from the moment it showed up on their computers when we badged in. I'm really looking forward to extending that experience in Haven to dinner and times other than just the sun deck. 

For me it comes down to am I going for the destination or the ship. I have done both. If I know I am going to be in port from the time it arrives until it departs I go for the best deal on a cabin. Normally this is inside but sometimes I've needed a window to get the perks I want. When they launch a new ship and I want to just spend time on the ship and I have splurged a little. Most recently that meant a spa cabin and vibe passes on the the Bliss. I never left the ship. I've wanted to try the Haven for a while and had a 4 day booked last year on the Joy that was cancelled. With no cruising last year and my India cruise pretty unlikely this year I jumped on the Montego Bay sailing of the Joy. I'm splitting an aft penthouse with another couple so it makes it a little more economical. I wanted to do the Haven on the Joy specifically because the Joy has no thermal spa. That is may normal hide away from the crowds but if I was in the Haven I wouldn't need it. 

I'd say the second most useful thread is this one. I have planned out every meal of my trip.