havoc315

I’m doing this cruise in July. I’m disappointed in the clear entertainment cost cutting. In a 7 night cruise, just 2 production numbers, a single comic on multiple nights, and movie nights. Do you recall which nights were the 2 production shows?

Haha. 20 minutes would be a record, maybe doable at 2am. It’s really 30 minute minimum. But on a weekend, assume no major accidents blocking traffic, should be no more than about 40-45 minutes. In weekday rush hour traffic, it’s over an hour.

I feel like it’s a bigger issue on economy cruise lines that have adopted all-you-can-drink packages. It specifically attracts people drawn to drinking heavily. Pay a budget price, get mediocre entertainment and food… but lots of booze. And I fear NCL’s entertainment cuts means relying more on the draw of lots of booze. One would hope to find less of that mentality in the Haven. Not because more affluent people drink any less. But simply because at the much higher price of the Haven, unlimited drinks wouldn’t be the draw at that price tag.

When you think about it, its not that shocking that the price would be similar. In some ways, you get more from the big mainstream ship -- Comparing a Haven suite to a Oceania/Silver Sea etc: On the true luxury line: You absolutely should expect superior service, superior food and alcohol. But in the Haven, you will typically get a much larger cabin than the same price on those ultra luxury lines. A Garden Villa / Deluxe Owner's Suite may be around the same price as a basic balcony cabin on true luxury line. And of course, you get big ship amenities that typically aren't found on those ultra luxury lines. But I do feel, in the long term, NCL would be wise to lift consistency and level of service in the Haven.

I had a recent call with the concierge. At the 130 day mark, got an email telling me to call the concierge for dining reservations, etc. I’ll say the pre-cruise concierge was very friendly and helpful. Connected immediately, did my dining reservations, and proactively inquired about anything else I need. What mixers did u want for my bar set up (Garden Villa), did I need extra pillows, etc. We’ll see if all the requests and notes actually get fulfilled once on board. But the call was A+ service.

Is the lunch menu the same as the Haven restaurant lunch menu?

I think it depends on your definition of regular cleaning vs deep cleaning. If regular cleaning is thorough vacuuming, disinfecting all surfaces, replacing all linens, emptying all trash, inspecting drawers and closets for stray items / garbage, then I’m fine with regular cleaning. The carpets don’t need to be shampooed every turnaround, etc.

1. The germs are your own germs. 2. If you paid a housekeeper to scrub your toilet, and they just pocketed the money and said, “I didn’t think the toilet needed scrubbing”… you wouldn’t be happy. I’m paying NCL a lot of money for a meticulous suite. I have a right to expect to receive what I paid for. 3. If you eat McDonalds hamburgers at home… but you decided to go out to a 5 star steakhouse, you paid $300 for the wagyu filet… but then they serve you a McDonalds patty and say, “this is what you eat at home, so should be good enough”

Comparing to what you do at home is irrelevant. Your home isn’t changing occupants every week. Your drawers aren’t being cleared out every week so a brand new person can move in. Further, a Haven suite is a luxury vacation costing thousands of dollars for a week. I eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast at home every morning — does that mean I shouldn’t expect to have a hot breakfast menu on the cruise? It’s true, I rarely wash my windows at home, maybe not even yearly. But I absolutely do expect my panoramic windows in my suite to be cleaned regularly so I can really appreciate the view. And I do bleach my shower and toilet every 1-2 weeks at home, I certainly would hope a cruise line would do so, as basic mold prevention. While we should all accept that not everything is perfect all of the time, we should all accept that mistakes happen, it’s also perfectly fine to have an expectation of a meticulously cleaned room, hot edible food, well stocked bars, etc. Sure, for 1 meal, the side dish came out cold. Or the bar ran out of your preferred beer. Or there was a stray toiletry accidentally left in the bathroom. But these things should be the exception, and it’s perfectly acceptable to politely complain.

Especially on a cruise ship which is amenable to spread of viral and bacterial infections, it’s appropriate to expect full deep cleaning between cruises. It might be overreaction to be upset about a misaligned towel.. a missed candy wrapper under the bed. But certainly, expect a deep cleaning of the bathroom. Used toiletries from a prior guest left laying out in the open, is certainly a legitimate complaint. Enough to ruin the entire cruise? No. But definitely a pretty legitimate gripe.

Depends how many people. We have 7 sharing it — comes out to much less than $10k per person. Still not cheap, but not that much more than booking 2-3 Haven cabins for the party.

There are of course so many factors going into the subjectively best suite/cabin, all alongside budget. How big is your party? How much time will you spend on ship/in suite/in haven/in port? What aspects of cruising are most important to you? What aspects of “luxury cruising” are most important to you? Answers of course aren’t the same for every cruise, at every age, etc. I have an upcoming Bermuda cruise on the Gem. We have 2 families traveling together, a total of 7 guests including 3 older teens (17-19). We splurged for the Garden Villa- Answering my own questions: How big is your party? 7 people, 2 families splitting the villa, makes the cost more reasonable and we could use the space. How much time will you spend on ship/in suite/in haven/in port? We’ve been to Bermuda before. This particular trip is more about enjoying cruising than enjoying the ports. My wife intends to spend many hours soaking up a hot tub. So getting the nicest possible on board experience has value on this trip. What aspects of cruising are most important to you? What aspects of “luxury cruising” are most important to you? Being totally removed from work, from regular daily life. Just existing differently. So for a week, nice to have a cabin even nicer than our already-nice home. But I’ll add— also very important to me on a cruise is fine dining and entertainment. And these things have me considering a future cruise in a lesser cabin on a true luxury line like Oceana or Silverseas.

What is the customary amount is asking about the custom. The questions are often, “what do people usually tip?” “Usually” is literally a synonym of “customarily”

Correct.

well, we go with public information. Of course, it’s always possible public information is wrong.

Yes —- I’m 100% certain they get the cash tip I hand them. I have no certainty, whatsoever, about FAS service charges. The only money I’m certain about is the money I hand them. Other than the money I hand them, I have no idea.

I’ve had Europeans visiting the US ask me about tipping practices — not because they were being cheap. Quite the opposite, because they were not familiar with the customs. People asking about tipping, in most cases, has nothing to do with being cheap or not wanting to look cheap. In most cases, it’s simply people doing their due diligence to understand whether there is an applicable custom, such as the 15-25% in American restaurants.

Each person must tip based on their own preferences and factors. Nobody should tell anyone else that they should or should not tip. For me personally, this lack of clarity makes more more inclined to cash tip.

I don’t know precisely. But ballpark earnings are on Glassdoor and elsewhere. Yes, I do feel I can be very confident in stating the bartenders are not earning $3,000-$5,000+ per week.

No. I was pretty clear — I have no idea. Though since I do know that bartenders are not earning $3,000-$5,000 per week on NCL, I am highly confident that NCL is not distributing 100% of the FAS service charge to the bartenders. If I had to guess — and this is a pure guess — they simply receive an overall compensation similar to what they would get in base+tips if FAS didn’t exist.

It is one factor that is relevant to me in deciding whether I want to tip additionally or not.

I think I was pretty clear in admitting that I have no idea. Point being, we have no idea to what extent the service charge is actually shared as a “gratuity.”

all cruise line staff belong to the Seafarer’s Union. https://www.itfseafarers.org/en

“ anything they want” is of course not the literal truth. They have to abide by their agreements with employees - whether a collective agreement or individual. But we have no idea whether those agreements say anything about the handling of the service charge. The agreement could simply be, “compensation for bartenders shall be $20 per hour, which is inclusive of a base pay and gratuities. Bartenders shall have no separate claim to any revenue received by NCL as part of service charges.” The only money I’m certain a bartender receives is any cash tip I give them. (Obviously, they aren’t slaves. I’m certain they are being compensated but I have no certainty as to what that compensation includes).

Again, you’re not necessarily padding their salaries. Your fees may be going straight to NCL revenue, and NCL is paying their server $8 per hour. We don’t know. Certainly, NCL suggests their gratuities are already included. So I’ll accept that I shouldn’t feel obligated to tip further. NCL has accepted the responsibility of making sure that staff is compensated properly at a level that includes “tips.” I just wouldn’t use the words “padding.” I guarantee you that no staff member is getting rich on the service charge.