mearsfansinboise

I have read a hundred times how the quality of food and service is going down hill on this ship and that ship and this restaurant and that restaurant and then I'll go and it's all fine to me. It's like it depends on the dish, the server, the time of day, the day of the week, etc. Every meal I've ever had on a ship is better than anything I can get locally at home, so, it's always at least good to me - and sometimes great. Annnnnd now I'm hungry! 😋

I could have gone all day without hearing this - lol!

Cagney's. 🏆 We enjoyed La Cucina in the past, but on our last sailing it was a huge letdown -- overcooked pasta, subpar service; just a bummer. Tried Teppanyaki last time too - the food was just ok.

Um. I was thinking more about food and shopping. I figured the weather would be cooler (cold) but I had never considered 😲 ROUGH SEAS 😲 - gah! I take Bonine and some prescription chill-out meds for panicky situations; I guess it's time to make sure I've got my refills in place!

We sailed the Haven in March - and received ours at about the 30-day mark.

We are on the last Alaskan cruise (Bliss) that NCL offers in October - looks like then they head south down to Mexico. Anything different on the last of a season cruise like this? Good or bad. I had this weird thought that maybe the food’s not gonna be good because they’re running out of pineapple or whatever. But they’ll still get their provisions, and they’ll still need them for wherever they go next, right? Just a curiously dumb question.

We had the most amazing butler on the Bliss in March - Ferdinand. We gave him the letter and he said that he will never say no unless it's something he's not allowed to do. I can't remember what we asked for, a food item, I think - he needed to ask his manager if it could be done .... and it could. And that was it. Morning wake-up coffee and pastries always there, afternoon snacks, bedtime snacks, balcony set up, etc. ... it was just such a wonderfully delicious experience. I'm looking forward to the American Diner for our first complimentary meal when we board in October. And I too was surprised to read that the milkshakes are not included. You're a gem, @Sthrngary - we've learned so much from you and those that contribute to this thread to enhance our Haven/sailing experience.

Has anyone sailed the Haven recently? - specifically on the Bliss (or maybe this is a thing on all ships). When we sailed in March, there was the little Haven tour when we got on board. I was too lazy and sent my daughter on it. Later on I was hanging out in the Horizon Lounge and I saw another tour come through and they were told that until 3pm they could eat for free in the American Diner. I was so bummed because we had already eaten in the Haven restaurant and at that point already 2:45pm. (I know, #firstworldproblems.) My question: is this a standard Haven offering? Eat free until x time when board that first day? Or was this something special that day for some reason? Planning for October - figuring we'll take up that offer if there is one, because we can do lunch at the Haven restaurant every day thereafter. Anyone know?

We had this issue as well - took care of it via the "Chat with an Agent" feature on the NCL site. It was updated and correct about 15 minutes after the chat ended.

I am so glad you and @cruiseny4life mentioned this. Lately I have read comments on the boards about the attitudes/elitism of people who sail in the Haven and it sort of brought me down a little. We aren't "rich people" and just sailed in the Haven for the first time this past March. (No one's business, but we took advantage of the real estate market and sold our rental property and set some money aside to live a little.) We absolutely loved the Haven experience. We never had to leave there; meals, Horizon Lounge - with snacks and food and drinks all day + the ability to order off the Haven pool menu (I ain't too proud to eat a good hot dog and the best fries around) - the pool, hot tubs, etc. kept us mostly in our ship within a ship or whatever that expression is. We only left there for specialty dining and for entertainment on the 6th deck Atrium on occasion. We interacted with our butler (gave him our letter at the first meeting) and our steward, and the concierge. The service and food in the Haven restaurant was fantastic - though easy to get sick of because the menu doesn't change, so, when we sail the Haven again in October (lol, I know I said we aren't rich people, but, we had some money left and found a good price for Alaska) will do more specialty dining dinners - 2 with the reservation and then we did the additional package of 2 more.

We are in the Haven also. We always do the Haven restaurant the first night to see the menu (though we just saw it in March) and know what we're looking at for the week in the way of likes and planning. We always do the Haven restaurant on the last night too - say goodbye and tip the people that have been serving us all week. We have 4 specialty dining meals - we did the upgrade for 2 more in addition to what came with the booking package - to answer the OP's question: sea days. Just more time to schedule onboard meals around the reservation time. Because we did the upgrade, I need to figure out where else to plug a meal in. We have one port day that ends at 1:15, so, likely that one ... and then not sure where the last meal will go, so I'm interested in reading other peoples' strategies and thoughts on this.

Copying and pasting a comment and my response from another post ...: "We were in the line outside the tent for a few hours just to get into the tent area (think there was some pre-screening here) and then once we were far enough in we could see the "Haven/Priority" line at the far left. We kept asking employee's where we needed to go and no one had a clue." We sailed out of there in March and it was exactly like this. Hours in the tent, in the heat .... nothing special for being a Haven guest until you get through all that and inside. Then they are there holding Haven placards and you get moved to a special counter/front of the line and then over to the Haven lounge while they get a group together to take you on board.

We read everything that @Sthrngary put together and did all his recommendations, and we had a splendid Haven experience when we sailed the Bliss in March. We gave him our letter on the first day, and I think it had $50-$60 in it, and then we tipped him more at the end - I think we did $300 for him and $200 for our steward. Our butler did everything we asked and went above and beyond - (i.e. my daughter likes white rice and he had a bowl of hot white rice and a bottle of soy sauce on the snack table every afternoon) - and the rest of the snacks and requests, he took good care of us. This was our first time in the Haven and I have never felt so pampered in my life. There were some nights when our butler was off and we ordered food, we tipped that butler a few bucks. One time a little more when he brought us cans of cold soda that he had extra of and went and found something that I had wanted from a particular restaurant.

There are snacks there all. day. long. And yes, there were fresh baked cookies - not always, depended on the day and the hour. A huge variety of things - the little glass jars of desserts, chips & salsa, little sandwiches, veggies and dips, granola and yogurt ... just depended on the time of day, but always something. And, you can order from the Haven menu whilst you are there too.

@Markj When we sailed on the Bliss (Haven) in March, they mentioned in the Haven tour upon embarkation that there was free lunch in the American Diner until 3pm that day. Did they make such an offer when you boarded? (We're sailing again in October.)

"We were in the line outside the tent for a few hours just to get into the tent area (think there was some pre-screening here) and then once we were far enough in we could see the "Haven/Priority" line at the far left. We kept asking employee's where we needed to go and no one had a clue." We sailed out of there in March and it was exactly like this. Hours in the tent, in the heat .... nothing special for being a Haven guest until you get through all that and inside. Then they are there holding Haven placards and you get moved to a special counter/front of the line and then over to the Haven lounge while they get a group together to take you on board.

@GeezerCouple I don't think that was it, though I'm not opposed to the idea. 😉 I'm currently watching inventory and promos for us to sail the Bliss again, in the Haven, later this year.

@Cole Thornton Rad; thank you!!

(I did a search, but I came up with nearly 6000 posts.) Does anyone know exactly what type of bed they have in the Haven? I have extreme back pain - surgery, medication, the whole deal - and wake up every morning in pain. However, when we sailed the Bliss in March, I did not wake up with said pain. So, ideally I'd like to purchase the exact same bed, just not sure what kind it was. It seems that there was a mattress - not too firm - and a soft sort of topper. Anyone have details or can route me in the right direction? Thank you!

Ding-dong question here .... Are we allowed to bring on-board and do bubbles on our balcony? Is that some sort of no-no because it's a distraction to the captain or neighbors or anything like that?

I'm reading about this here on the boards - (thanks for the information) - we've never done this before and it sounds easy, and cheap. But the water taxi ride itself ... bumpy ... safe .... smooth? Same as being on one of the tenders in Cabo for example?