Cigar King

3 hours ago, George C said:

Another thing on MSc is they do status match

What do you need to do to get the status match?

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Having sailed in the Haven and RCCL Grand Suites many times each, it is hands down the Haven. NCL and MSC puts RCCL to shame. 

Looking forward to trying them both out.  I was playing with the NCL app yesterday.  I think I like it better, although I was very confused by the restaurant pricing, when trying to understand what might be covered as part of the free dinners.  (I think we get 2 or 3 now)  I think once I understand it better I am likely to upgrade that package.

1 hour ago, RosieRoo said:

To me when you are paying that kind of money for a suite you should have unlimited internet and free bottled water. That’s why I prefer MSC Yacht Club over NCL Haven.

Oh I agree completely.  It's interesting to me that now that we have jumped ship, so to speak, the wife if more open to trying others.  MSC being one of them.  I think Yacht Club will be happening.  TA said she doesn't do MSC currently, they had a lot of complaints in the past.  They may pick them up again though, as things have gotten better.

4 hours ago, sandebeach said:

This is the cabin we had on the Escape and my husband still talks about it as his favorite balcony!

We'll that's nice to hear.  they have two categories of rooms of this type, and since the larger balcony was just a little more, I figured it was a no brainer to get it.

4 hours ago, jakeil7 said:

Please let us know about your experience after the cruise

Will do.  So far I'm just trying to figure what is different.  For example, their included internet is 300 minutes per person.  That's pretty lame considering what they charge for these rooms.

2 hours ago, jamon said:

We recently got off the Adventure of the Seas where the lounges new times are from 5pm-8pm. Which means if you have 5pm dinner you can't partake  in the evening snacks before dinner since they are not available till 5pm and you have to go to dinner.

I know I eat fast, but isn't 3 hours enough time for you to finish your meal *and* grab a snack in the lounge?

3 hours ago, mafig said:

If we are a suite and having dinner in Coastal Kitchen, can I order a cocktail from the dining room table and have it charged to our suite perks?

That's what we have done.  The bar is right there, so it's quicker than the MDR too.  Essentially once they realize you are in a suite you don't need to worry about typical drinks from 11-11.

3 hours ago, fenton04 said:

Well in the Midwest no matter how inexpensive the cruise there was the matter of flights

This is one of the reasons we do consecutive cruises.  You only need to pay airfare and hotel for one.

4 adults in a room seems painful to me.  One bathroom and not a lot of storage space.  Did you perhaps consider a nearby interior room?  Not sure what the price difference would be.

10 hours ago, island lady said:

Next time you have that set up....ask the concierge to change out your sea pass card to a suite's card.

7 hours ago, DebJ14 said:

I have always had a Suite Card.

We get the suite card sometimes.  I don't bother switching.  The older staff know the room numbers and I just remind them to be sure.  I do wish Royal put a suite designation on the cards to avoid this issue.

One of our worst cruises ever was an Easter cruise.  2000 kids on board and they were out of control.  I avoid anything close to Easter now.

FWIW we booked a Haven Aft Facing Penthouse with Master Bedroom and Large Balcony.

Thanks everyone for your help.  There are quite a few differences between the NCL model and Royal's.  I'll have to start doing some research to figure it all out.

10 hours ago, mafig said:

You can't bring water on the ship.

 

Bottled water is not included in their drink package.  

That's a negative for us.  We don't drink, so bottled water is one of the things we get often.  Sparkling water the same?

I prefer the crew doing it.  I think they're quicker too, and lately there have been lines waiting for the cones.

Lot's of people have done it.  Personally I think it's pushing it.  If everything doesn't go right, you'll miss the flight.  Royal recommends noon.  I wouldn't want it hanging over me, and would probably look for a later flight.

3 hours ago, mafig said:

They do have a strange water policy, though

What's the strange water policy?

Thanks everyone.  Right now this is a plan B, but, I like what I see enough that I am thinking even if it doesn't work out this time I should give it a whirl.  In my mind, Haven is like Star class, with a better club area. 

I am still a bit confused on the Haven itself.  It looks like the cabins are all over the ship.  (we were looking at an aft penthouse)  Is there an area with cabins in the Haven?  I imagine this must be like deck 17 on Oasis.

Somebody mentioned MSC Yacht Club.  I've been wanting to try that since I saw a cruise show featuring their ship.  Wife not so much, mainly because we have had several reports that were less than complementary.  Is the consensus here that it's worth it?  I think they have (or at least *had*) status matching.

Those ships that do not have a comedy club, generally have comedians as part of the entertainment offerings.

Tried doing a search but I didn't see anything that answered my question.  

I've plenty of experience with suites on Royal.  I am thinking of trying a Haven suite on Norwegian.  (breakaway)  I'm looking for a comparison to Royal.  There's a lot of talk about "exclusive".  Is it really, or is it like Royal and various loyalty tiers have access too?  From what I am reading it looks like a nice experience than Coastal Kitchen and the lounge.

What's been your experience?

22 hours ago, El Cano said:

We bought a Cruise to Labadee for 4 nights.

How did you find a 4 year old post to reanimate, *and* NOT find all the recent posts on this topic?

On 3/29/2024 at 8:14 AM, bouhunter said:

50+ cruises from Florida the rooms have been ready at 1:00 every time. 

We don't have as many Florida cruises as you.  Our experience is not close to yours though.  I'd say it's closer to 1:30, and we did have one where they were not ready until 7:00.  (Fog delayed us getting into port until closer to 5:00)

One thing we do is try to carry on as little as possible, typically one bag.  Makes life a lot less stressful not having to drag luggage around.

My wife is kind of picky on the tea.  She brings her own.  Suggest you avoid disappointment and do the same if you have favorites.

I thought the annual cruise was *only* useable on a new booking?  I guess we'll know for sure in a few weeks when they are issued.

8 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I've seen some suggestions that she might be headed to Oz. If that's right,  they might release a repo along with the Australia deployment week of 8 April.

That would be wonderful.  Even if it's not coming to the States it will be nice to just *know*.  My fallback plan is spend some time in Rome before coming home.  We have the prior 4 cruises booked already.

8 hours ago, ScottishRobbie said:

You're likely to be waiting a while. Port bookings show her heading east, and home porting in Brisbane, Australia from mid December 2025.

I think, at least on my part, the question, the question is how will she get there?  I'm guessing the Red Sea/Suez is out for the time being.  Royal must be considering something out of the ordinary...it's ~18 months to the cruise, and they still have not released the route.