Breakaway/Haven Questions

[CruiseTee]

Hi All,

 

We are scheduled on the Breakaway next month. We are 5 people, 3 adults, 2 teens. Right now, we are booked in a Forward Facing Penthouse with an attached balcony cabin. We may have the opportunity to upgrade to the 2 BR Family Villa. Not sure if we should take it. Thoughts? My main concern is that one of the adults (my 70 year old mom) will have to sleep in the 2nd bedroom on some sort of pull-out, not an actual bed. The flip side to this is that where we are right now, I'm not sure I'm going to like being that far forward on the ship (more motion, seasickness). So there are pros & cons to each! I'm not that concerned about my kids having Haven privileges (as long as we can all board together) because a lot of their friends are also on the cruise, so I'm sure they will want to be with them most of the time.

 

Also, does the Haven restaurant stay open on port days?

 

We've cruised a lot on many different cruise lines (Celebrity, Carnival, Royal, Holland, Oceania, Regent, Cunard), but this is our first NCL! Any opinions on how the food compares to Royal or Celebrity?

 

One last question...sorry, I'm such a newbie to NCL. We have a large onboard credit. I was told we can't use it for gratuities (weird, because most other lines you can), can we use it for casino cash? I'm assuming you transfer money onto your casino card from your room account?

 

Thanks for any and all feedback! We are looking forward to trying NCL!

 

CruiseTee

[dexddd]

Hi All,

 

We are scheduled on the Breakaway next month. We are 5 people, 3 adults, 2 teens. Right now, we are booked in a Forward Facing Penthouse with an attached balcony cabin. We may have the opportunity to upgrade to the 2 BR Family Villa. Not sure if we should take it. Thoughts? My main concern is that one of the adults (my 70 year old mom) will have to sleep in the 2nd bedroom on some sort of pull-out, not an actual bed. The flip side to this is that where we are right now, I'm not sure I'm going to like being that far forward on the ship (more motion, seasickness). So there are pros & cons to each! I'm not that concerned about my kids having Haven privileges (as long as we can all board together) because a lot of their friends are also on the cruise, so I'm sure they will want to be with them most of the time.

 

Also, does the Haven restaurant stay open on port days?

 

We've cruised a lot on many different cruise lines (Celebrity, Carnival, Royal, Holland, Oceania, Regent, Cunard), but this is our first NCL! Any opinions on how the food compares to Royal or Celebrity?

 

One last question...sorry, I'm such a newbie to NCL. We have a large onboard credit. I was told we can't use it for gratuities (weird, because most other lines you can), can we use it for casino cash? I'm assuming you transfer money onto your casino card from your room account?

 

Thanks for any and all feedback! We are looking forward to trying NCL!

 

CruiseTee

 

I'd go for all in one if it is yourself, kids, plus gma to the H4. At some point you will all want to be in the Haven so that is why I say that. With 5 with one being grandma, I'd do it. With 5 adults or 6 no. While the pool is small, there are treats there for you during the day and the Haven restaurant is there.

[jaclync324]

The two bedroom is nice because it has a true separate living room so it has three separate rooms with two full baths. The haven area is great and the haven lounge bar area is a nice perk.

[jaclync324]

If I remember correctly the bed in the second room was more like a day bed with pillows making it a couch. Not sure if it was a real mattress but it was not a pull out. Just go to YouTube a watch some videos. There is also a bed that comes down from the ceiling like a bunk bed that our seven year old son loved and used just because he thought it was cool even though he had the room to his self.

[Lacaena]

The Haven Restaurant does stay open in port. However; on our cruise on the Getaway in October, the hours for breakfast varied depending on what time we docked. These hours didn't seem to be posted anywhere, you just had to ask.

[evk1972]

2 bedroom villa only sleeps 6. If I counted correctly there are 10 in your party. Check with your PCC. There are other Haven cabins that sleep 10.

 

Personally, we love the Haven.

[dexddd]

2 bedroom villa only sleeps 6. If I counted correctly there are 10 in your party. Check with your PCC. There are other Haven cabins that sleep 10.

 

Personally, we love the Haven.

 

They said they have 5 and there are no rooms by themselves that sleep 10 on any NCL ship.

[CruiseTee]

Sorry for the confusion, there are only 5 in our party.

 

Thank you for all the answers! We are looking forward to our first Norwegian Cruise! I think we may go for the 2 BR Villa. :)