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The main dining rooms have a sugar free dessert each night. We have been making the special dietary request and have found that the specialty restaurants will arrange to get the sugar free dessert for you from the main dining rooms on request.

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Great review, Brownie!

 

On the transatlantic I was also in a Haven suite on deck 12 forward. For the duration of the cruise, I felt very removed from the Haven proper and wouldn't choose that suite again. Also it was a very loooooooong walk from the elevator to my cabin. It was like the corridor that wouldn't end lol.

 

Did you have an opportunity to meet the Haven bartender, Mark McArthur? We just loved him. An expert cocktail craftsman.

 

Tracy

We were on the Escape in December. Mark and Branko at the Haven bar were great bartenders! Crafted amazing cocktails and were very knowledgable with a lot of personality. The bar was a popular place to hang out, with a lot of comraderie among the patrons.

Why don't u cruise on celebrity then

To date, we have cruised 9 times, all on NCL. We are big fans of NCL Freestyle and have enjoyed our cruises, including excellent service, food and entertainment. We have found the staff to be terrific. Apart from the smoke issue, we have enjoyed the casinos and have found the dealers to be fun to play with and accurate. Smoke from the casino is one factor among many for us. NCL has so many other positives. We may at some point try Celebrity or another line for a different experience if the fares and itinerary make sense. Hopefully the reports on CC of NCL planning to wall off the smoking areas are accurate. Design and ventilation could be improved so as to limit the spread of the smoke to adjacent ship areas.

We were on the Escape December 12. Didn't see any sign of plans for a walked off section. Casino smoke level varied, but was high much of the time. Smoke was very noticeable outside of Headliners and Le Bistro. A few times when we walked by Tobacco Road bar, smelled heavy smoke, probably from outside smoking area. Hopefully, NCL will take steps to improve the situation. We like time in the casino, but hate the smoke. The dealers are put in a bad situation, health wise. It's also a shame non-gamblers are subjected to casino smoke on these ships. We heard Celebrity's casinos are smoke free. That would be a welcome addition to NCL!

When we were on the ship, we noticed that, in addition to the note in the Freestyle Daily, there is a stand with a sign outside the District Brewhouse clearly stating the age limit. I think given the unique nature of the venue (only place on board with a broad craft beer selection and the limited space available), it makes sense to limit it to adults. Perhaps the age limit could be listed next to the specific activity in the Freestyle Daily to avoid families showing up and being turned away.

We have gone on 9 cruises -- all NCL. We love the free style concept and have enjoyed the cruises very much. The biggest negative for us is the smoke in the casino. Celebrity's no-smoking policy looks very attractive. Hopefully NCL will make some changes in the future. We had seen a thread saying NCL was going to retrofit the Escape casino to enclose the smoking portion, but we saw no signs of it on our December 12 cruise. Feel sorry for the casino workers who have to endure long hours jeopardizing their health.

The best meet and greets we have attended were on the Getaway a year ago and the Escape this month. Sean Wurmhoeringer was the Hotel Director on both. As is usual for NCL, the HD, Asst Hotel Director, Food & Beverage Director, Executive Housekeeper, Cruise Director, Guest Services Manager, Executive Chef, Restaurant Manager and Beverage Manager were introduced. It's nice to be able to recognize these members of senior management who regularly circulate throughout the ship, making sure services are up to standard.

Sean's meet and greets have featured additional members of ship management (such as the next level of management and maitre d's) circulating among the guests and chatting for perhaps 15 minutes at the start of the meet and greet. If there are questions or comments, they take notes and follow up. It has been nice for us to meet a restaurant maitre d and then dine in their restaurant during the cruise and be remembered.

A meet and greet gives cruise critic members an opportunity to get together and meet fellow cruisers as well as key members of ship management (hotel director, cruise director, food and beverage manager, housekeeping manager, etc.). If you look at the Roll Call section of The Cruise Critic site, you can find a thread for the particular ship and sailing you are on. It gives cruisers an opportunity to talk about their upcoming voyage, ask questions (about the ship, hotels, potential excursions etc.), coordinate, and get to know each other beforehand. Once there is a critical mass interested in attending a meet and greet, one of the participants will volunteer to contact NCL to organize the meet and greet. In my experience, it has usually been held at 11 am on the first sea day in a restaurant (such as Cagneys). NCL will provide refreshments and, after a brief with, key staff members are introduced by the captain, hotel director or cruise director. There may be an opportunity to ask questions. Ship management hands out a contact list with on board phone extensions so that if you have any issues, they can be rectified while you are on board. That is far preferable to the cruise line to passengers complaining after the cruise about items that could have been handled on board.

It is also an opportunity to mingle with fellow attendees. Sometimes the organizers on your roll call will organize an ice breaker or optional grab bag with gifts representing your home state as part of the meet and greet.Other optional typically organized by volunteers are a slot pull where a group pools their $ (perhaps $20 each) and uses the wheel of fortune slot in the casino, with prizes for highest scorers and a division of the proceeds once everyone has finished pulling. This may be right after the meet and greet or at a different time. Another typical activity is a cabin crawl, where members of the Roll Call volunteer to show their cabin type to the group of cabin crawlers.

On some of the larger ships, well over 100 people may sign up for the meet and greet on the roll call.

We were also on the December 12 sailing. Agree with the comments on the shows (all excellent). We also enjoyed Food Republic. Another great addition is the District Brewhouse, near Food Republic. We caught a football game there and heard the piano player who plays there is very good. Great selection of beers on tap (about 24) with many more choices in bottles. I believe everything was fully covered by the UBP except the 24 ounce Chimay bottles which cost about $5 extra. Ship is beautiful and we had great and friendly service as we have always found on NCL. We would highly recommend the Cruise Critic meet and greet. Members from a number of departments mingled with the guests before the heads of departments were introduced. Sean, the Hotel Director (who we first met a year ago on the Getaway) is very personable and we found the meet and greets on his ships to be outstanding.

The Haven has evolved. On the Jewel class ships, there is no bar or restaurant. Haven and other suite passengers on Jewel class ships can have breakfast and lunch at Cagneys. The Epic, Breakaway, Getaway and Escape added a separate bar and restaurant in the Haven. We sailed on the Escape December 12 and had a great cruise. The Haven on the Escape is larger than on the Breakaway and Getaway (3 floors, with bar on 17, larger restaurant on 18 and sundeck on 19). The design is improved and the new Haven menu was excellent. We had great meals (both food and service) in the Haven restaurant and the bar was very lively, with talented bartenders (Branko and Mark) and great liquor brand choices.

Does Bong lead any of the booze clinics? Sounds like an entertaining character.:)

On the Getaway December 6 cruise, Bong led mojito and martini tastings. Both were a lot of fun!

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On the Getaway December 6, I joined 2 tastings with each of Bong at the Sugarcane Bar (mojito and martini) and Darwin at the Sunset Bar (beer and margarita). All were a lot of fun and informative. Hope to see them on future cruises.

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