bmlovell

On 10/16/2022 at 4:05 PM, Sailing12Away said:

Butler will give you pitchers of anything you want for your room.

 

As for cans, they are technically not covered unless you're in an Owners Suite or Garden Villa. Having said that, if you ask nice enough at the Haven bar and don't make a habit of it, or act as though it's something you're entitled to - the bartenders usually have no problem giving you 1-2 cans to take away to your room.

 

Such a good tip I was wondering how to get soda in my suite with no extra charge . A pitcher brilliant 😀. Now maybe I can ask for a pitcher of MOËT 🥳lol prob won’t work . We have the PP. beverage package and staying in forward HG it’s a long walk to haven bar .

Perhaps  mr Bird travels can give some guidance , we are in HG haven next week .With the premium plus upgraded beverage package can I order a bottle of the included champagne and bring it to my suite at lunch time ? Then I  can enjoy later in my cabin . Our suite is a foreword haven and it’s a little bit of walk every time I want a drink or some wine , from haven bar . Thanks for any tips .

4 hours ago, Nclgetawaymenhoney said:

Good for you, I’m sure this will happen, what I find kind of funny is that say only two cabins are available and people are bidding say they both decide to upgrade outright like you did.  Then the people left bidding won’t win no matter what they bid.

I guess that could happen that’s what pushed my husband off the cliff to booking it outright the same concern .

15 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Booking your room is absolutely the way to go! That way you get what you want and don't have to continually think on your trip, "what if we were in the Haven?" 

 

So happy for you! Now you better be writing a review or a live of your trip so I can follow along. Haha, kidding (kind of). 🙂

 

Excited for you!

I did write a very detailed report several  years ago with tons of pics and video , we we’re  the Gem for hurricane sandy about to return to NY from Bermuda a day early to. Beat  storm  . I over hear a lady saying as she picked up child from kid club they are flying home from Bermuda she was super mad about hurricane! I noticed she was in haven so k ew a room was going to be empty , I called hotel director on ship whom I’d.  met at Cc. Meet group . Asked him if we could have the haven room he said he would look into it . Later that day we were escorted to the haven by our new butler 😀it was surreal we were in a 2 bedroom family. Villa for rest of. Cruise ,  my 8 & 10 yea old at time were 😳😀🥳. That trip had 3 extra sea days we could not dock in NYC port closed due to sandy . That’s our first haven experience 

I will do a report for this one but not live I like to have Husbund help with loading pics

thanks for the well wishes on our wild decision. 
 

Ok update !  CAll us fools or crazy but my husband saw only 2 left of the haven suites he wanted , he had been doing mock bookings to watch haven inventory during the live bidding .husband sees we are again outbid and he said it was the 1st time he really felt he would be unhappy if we didn’t get the haven he wanted . I just said do what makes you happy , late yesterday afternoon he sends me a pic of a haven cabin number  HG category ; I said we won ?he said I made sure we won I just booked it outright 😳😂😱so that’s was crazy in a good way . I do wish we could have seen how the bidding went if we stuck it out , just to be more educated on the process . I will say most bids on all the havens were getting up there no cheap deals really maybe the winners will save some cash but it won’t be a windfall savings . Anyone who wins let me know and congratulations on sticking it out ! The extended live bidding has a phycological side effect it’s called… bidding on haven Anxiety disorder …. Lol . A final word we don’t vacation much not retired yet and care for elderly mother , my husband said I’m going big we may not get to travel for a while you never know .

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Would be interested in seeing that.  I wouldn't want to be tied to a bid if I only wanted to see what the potential are would be.  

You can back

out and cancel your bid any time but if it’s accepted suddenly you are not able to cancel it’s charged to your credit card on file . Through this live bidding experience we have done all kinds of stuff ,cancelled it then said oh no let’s up it 10 bucks now we are bidding again now we are … in the lead in 2 of the seven categories we bid on . Check later we are outbid on all but one haven class . Check again we are outbid . It’s actually quite annoying to be honest . I said to my husband this is crazy 3 days of live bidding .you just gotta know your limit I guess like at the casino 😑 

11 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

ok, I thought something was different.  I've never seen the live bidding, so I'm guessing it's pretty new.  I actually just got an upgrade on my cruise that leaves in two days, but there was no live bids (thus seeing where you were in line).  I just submitted an upgrade amount (i bid the minimum) and waited.  Received the upgrade two days ago

That’s amazing congratulations!WE have never seen this bidding thing ourselves so I guess it varies from ship or sailing and capacity already booked .

21 minutes ago, Karaboudjan said:

 

I stopped following the main upgrade thread a while back, but it seemed like the live bidding is something fairly new and may not be used for all cruises.

 

Do you have to actually make a bid before you see the live bidding?  I don't see anything about live for my upcoming cruise but I have not made any bids either...

Yes you must make an offer and you should see an email inviting you to upgrade that’s when you can make offers and a list of available upgrades will be available to look at then place your bid .

Just now, Jpepin92 said:

I’ve never heard of this. Did you receive an email? I’m on the Joy in 16 day’s hoping to go from a club balcony to the Haven.

It’s all online in our ncl.com when you first log in you should see 

Let’s get you upgraded click here and you can.  View the live bidding if it’s opened up for your sailing . It certainly keeps you logging in to see what happened each day .

Another thought I was thinking jus beacause you are out  I’d it may not be over . For example There can be 12 cabins available in say penthouse, yes you are out bid on that category but you could still win one of those because they still have 11 more to fill. It’s A mind game and very easy to get caught up in lifting your bid . Feel like I’m in a casino lol and I don’t gamble .question 

this open bidding has been on for 2 days when will they shut the live bidding off ?

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

The question I have, was you bid in the poor, fair or good category?

Just good category we never did a poor bid . But I won’t go crazy if we win we win if not I have vibe and a nice club balcony. I shall be content 😎

It’s all very confusing and they sure know how to get you checking everyday to see if your outbid or as I mentioned you could see , your in the lead 😳we were outbid on one last night .it will be interesting to see if we get an upgrade I’ll be sure to post what happens.

So 2 categories of haven we have bid on say you are in the lead  .is this good ? Are we actually maybe going to get upgraded ? We are 10 days from sail date . Has anyone gotten this message then been awarded an upgrade ..?or am I getting excited for nothing 😂

Looking forward to hearing your impressions of the ship and the layout and design . Some of those who have sailed already have mentioned traffic flow problems and crowded venues. Being this is a relatively warmer sailing maybe the outdoor space can be fully used and enjoyed . Have a great trip .

Really nice pics ! Thank you for sharing , enjoy your upcoming cruise .

   My all time favorite haven room thus far , have traveled in this one twice with just my 2 kids and the second time with 2 kids I kid friend and grandma. It works best with just 4  but is ok with 6 as long as the sofa is like kids or teens maybe one adult . You do lose that nice living room space if someone’s sleeping. I would still grab it with 6 if it. Ent. Ring in haven but 4 is best .   MAn I miss that gorgeous bathroom . 

Getting some fantastic tips from you pros out there !thank you all even a few good tips on other restaurants. Did not expect la cucina to rate so high with good reviews for of all things steak , also ocean blue for steak . We really enjoyed blue with the seafood dishes .so far we have le bistro &ocean blue reserved for our Oct 22-29joy sailing we have one more to choose , going to be a tough call try something new or do another of our favorites .

2 hours ago, weltek said:

This is the attitude we are going in with. I'm a former KCBS judge and I don't eat brisket outside of Texas..period, so yeah, am a little picky about what I consider good bbq. But "average" chicken, sausage ribs and pulled pork are still alright with me just as a different option for dinner while on the cruise. We are only doing it because we have 4 nights of specialty dining and don't like to eat at the same places during our trip. Figure we might as well try Q and just do it on a day when we can come hungry.  I agree with another poster that said to "expect Famous Dave's" level of bbq...which yeah, is just above mediocre. I like that they have live music!

Food Republic is in my top three fleetwide specialty restaurants. We do it for lunch both sea days. It's casual and delicious. So if you do it for dinner, just expect a more casual atmosphere than many of the other specialties. Good after a shore excursion day where you have a sunburn and don't want to endure a long fancy dinner. 🙂

Yes I think I’m skipping Q except for a few desserts my DH loves ,and will do food republic a la. Artie for lunch. Thx 

2 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

The problem with the food at Q is that the techniques available to cook on board a ship are limited and do not lend themselves well to the proper preparation of barbeque.  Barbeque should be slow-cooked, smoked actually, at under 200 degrees for at least 10 hours.  At Q they cook it at about 400 degrees for a couple of hours.  The flavor and texture just aren't the same.  The food comes out tasty enough, but it just isn't true barbeque.  Unless you've never eaten barbeque before and want to get some idea of how it tastes, I recommend skipping dinner at Q.  Full disclosure:  I grew up in Texas and have eaten barbeque several thousand times at more than 100 different restaurants.  My personal preference, dare I say it, is for the ribs at Central Barbeque in Memphis, followed closely by the brisket at several different spots in the Central Texas Hill Country.  FWIW, NCL seems to recognize their shortcomings.  On Prima, NCL's latest ship, Q has been downgraded from an extra-cost specialty restaurant to just one of several booths in the Food Hall.  They no longer are emphasizing it or charging extra.  You may want to wait until you cruise on the Prima, or even wait until the Viva is launched, and then try Q without the surcharge.

Thanks that’s a good point , if they were super popular they would have kept full size restaurant I would think .

4 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

On this live that @mking8288did, he posted some photos of Q. I followed up with a question about the food, and he responded.

 

Here's the topic:

The posts I'm referring to are #'s 74, 75, 82, and 101.

 

Post 91 is @fstuff1's thoughts on Q the week before.

 

When I'm on the Joy in March I think we'll be hitting Q up as one of our four specialty meals.

 

Thank you for the extra info I’ll. Be checking it out !we have 3 specialty nites and I wanted to use them wisely 😄

 Sailing on joy for first time this month ,have never tried either restaurant as they were not on the ships I last sailed . We had moderno and I think Q is the replacement for that on the joy . Is the food good or should this be one to skip ?would you consider food republic a true speciality dining choice ,or like a quick eats spot ?for those who have tried thanks for the information.

Duplicate

12 hours ago, phillygwm said:

Last year the wine list was different and they had a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape which I really enjoyed.  Now it's a different winery and only by the glass.  But ultimately, you may hate what I like. 

 

I'd recommend sitting at The Cellars wine bar and having them serve you different things until you zero in on what you enjoy.  Or ask the sommelier for recommendations.  Better still, before you leave for the cruise, if there's a decent wine shop near you, they probably have tastings.  Take advantage.  I'm far from a wine snob but I learned a little from going to a few of those and talking to staffers who are more knowledgeable (and passionate) about the topic than I am.  And most places weren't trying to sell me an expensive bottle, I think the most I spent was in the low $20s, with most even cheaper.  I learned to always make sure I have several bottles of Cote du Rhone on hand.  Inexpensive, full bodied, and everyone seems to enjoy it.

Fantastic idea I will definitely try that , appreciate the idea and information.

3 minutes ago, Juncti said:

So if we're doing the 4th I need to hurry and book a cabana lol

 

Mini haven might be a nice place to flex the upgraded beverage package. Those bartenders, next to Haven bartenders, go above and beyond. Did you book a vibe?

Vibe bartenders went all out for us on our last cruise .

Stopper *