Haven Butler Service

[defeser]

My wife, 2 children and I will be on the August 6 sailing on Escape. We are booked in a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven. (I took advantage of an incredible offer from the upsell department a week ago...SWEET!) For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

[Shawnino]

My wife, 2 children and I will be on the August 6 sailing on Escape. We are booked in a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven. (I took advantage of an incredible offer from the upsell department a week ago...SWEET!) For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

 

Try this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1437066

[Two Wheels Only]

For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids?

 

Yes, if it is on-board, it's not a problem. If not on-board, there might be success if your butler is exceptional.

 

If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged?

 

That would have to be handled by your concierge. He/She will try to work something out with the restaurant manager. No guarantee of success but it is worth a shot.

 

What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

 

 

What would you like for them to do? If it is possible and realistic, it will probably happen.

[Jana60]

My wife, 2 children and I will be on the August 6 sailing on Escape. We are booked in a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven. (I took advantage of an incredible offer from the upsell department a week ago...SWEET!) For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

 

If it is within his power he will try to get it for you. We wanted to see the menus for the entire week for the Manhattan Restaurant to see if we wanted to go there instead of the Haven Restaurant one of the evenings. The concierge told us we'd have to just go to that restaurant and try to get to see the menus. We mentioned our desire to our Butler and an hour later a copy of each day's menu for the Manhattan Restaurant was laying on the dining table in our room ready for us to look over. I mentioned liking chocolate covered strawberries and there were chocolate covered strawberries in addition to other snacks there on the table every afternoon. Our butler brought us breakfast one morning and would have brought it every morning if we had wished it. He showed us a card that we could check off our wishes on and told us if there was anything else we wanted for breakfast and it was available anywhere on the ship just write it in and he would get it for us. Although the maître D in The Haven Restaurant was not as forthcoming in this area we were told by the various restaurants that if there was anything we wished to eat from those restaurants we had only to tell our Haven maitre d and they could have it sent over to The Haven Restaurant for us. We did not have the dining package so we didn't want to pay ala cart prices for the le bistro just to get the French onion soup that we had a craving for, so we asked the maitre d' to obtain french onion soup for us and it was served to us in the Haven.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Jana60

[Shawnkat]

My wife, 2 children and I will be on the August 6 sailing on Escape. We are booked in a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven. (I took advantage of an incredible offer from the upsell department a week ago...SWEET!) For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

 

 

Curiously, what was the incredible offer you got for the H4?

 

 

 

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[Kosi]

Why all the upsell offers from NCL? It would seem to me less people within the Haven area the better. I have been in Haven rooms on Jewel..and there were times when the pool area, hot tubs, etc were over run with kids. It was not enjoyable at all. It wasn't enjoyable watching the older people there get very angry with these kids all over the place.

[Jana60]

Why all the upsell offers from NCL? It would seem to me less people within the Haven area the better. I have been in Haven rooms on Jewel..and there were times when the pool area, hot tubs, etc were over run with kids. It was not enjoyable at all. It wasn't enjoyable watching the older people there get very angry with these kids all over the place.

 

We didn't see a child in the pool area the entire week. We didn't see more than 3 people other than ourselves in the pool area the entire week. It definitely was not overcrowded. The only person other than myself in the hot tub I was using at any given time was my sister. You can't get much better than a hot tub almost all to yourself.

[Annmeat]

Why all the upsell offers from NCL? It would seem to me less people within the Haven area the better. I have been in Haven rooms on Jewel..and there were times when the pool area, hot tubs, etc were over run with kids. It was not enjoyable at all. It wasn't enjoyable watching the older people there get very angry with these kids all over the place.

 

Our September cruise has only 2 H5 s booked, 2 H9s and one or two H4s . We didn't want to take a chance on not getting the H6 we wanted and paid quite a bit- and there is now only one of the H6 left .

 

There will be quite some up selling going on or the Haven will be empty .

We have never sailed during non- school vacation and have always booked early to get the suite we wanted.

 

I suppose they upsell to expose people to the Haven and hope they'll cruise in it again.

Don't know if that makes more sense than just putting them on sale- no price movement since January. I am sure that many now play the "wait for an upsell" game.

[Lupush]

My wife, 2 children and I will be on the August 6 sailing on Escape. We are booked in a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven. (I took advantage of an incredible offer from the upsell department a week ago...SWEET!) For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

 

 

What was the upsell offer you received?

 

Thanks.

[defeser]

I was able to upgrade from a midship mini suite to a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven for $1,000 per person (my wife and myself) and no additional charge for my son and daughter. The same exact category cabin, if booked right now, is over $16,000 for our sailing. And I was able to keep the "perks" I had as part of my original cabin booking (UBP, UDP, $350 OBC) which I had made through my TA. Needless to say, we're thrilled! The very best part of all...we will be celebrating our son's 13th birthday and our 15 year wedding anniversary on this cruise! :-)

[Lupush]

2k to upgrade for 4 pax is a good deal. Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[Ssutera]

Why all the upsell offers from NCL? It would seem to me less people within the Haven area the better. I have been in Haven rooms on Jewel..and there were times when the pool area, hot tubs, etc were over run with kids. It was not enjoyable at all. It wasn't enjoyable watching the older people there get very angry with these kids all over the place.

 

Upsell does not necessarily mean kids. Haven is not an adult only area. Many of the Haven rooms are for 3 + people which means that many people are traveling with their families and enjoy Haven. How do you know who paid full price and who used upsell?

[asubaru]

IME, it really depends on your butler. I have had one that either said no to, or ignored, requests. I have had accommodating ones and then, one that went above and beyond.

 

Simple way to remember who is responsible; concierge usually takes care of requests/things outside of the room and the butler inside.

 

It helps if you tell them what your likes/dislikes are early on.

 

Congrats on your upsell....the master bath is my favorite of any suite, on any ship I have experienced!

 

 

My wife, 2 children and I will be on the August 6 sailing on Escape. We are booked in a 2 bedroom family villa in the Haven. (I took advantage of an incredible offer from the upsell department a week ago...SWEET!) For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

[BirdTravels]

For those who have sailed in the Haven before, can you tell me what "requests" or "services" our butler will handle for us? For example, can we request certain daily snacks for the kids? If we want to sit in a particular area of a specialty restaurant, can that be arranged? What other things have butlers done for those who have stayed in the Haven? I really appreciate any information you can provide. Thanks!

 

You can request your butler to bring any type of food. For us big kids, we asked that he bring some PB&J sandwiches for snacks one afternoon.

 

We order white tablecloth breakfast service on busy shore days. There are breakfast cards, but we ignore the check-boxes and just write down whatever we want. E.g. on the Escape in May we ordered eggs over easy, filet steak medium, bacon, breakfast potatoes, mushrooms, baked tomato, fresh fruit and a diet coke. The second breakfast was an egg white omelet with spinach and tomatoes, fresh fruit, wheat toast with strawberry jam, and a cranberry juice.

 

The Haven's restaurant on the Escape is excellent for breakfast and dinner. we had breakfast out on the open air deck several mornings. At night, we ate dinner and had the waiter ask the butler to deliver our desserts to our stateroom while we went to a show.

 

The Concierge will help you book shows, dinner reservations. We ate at the Supper Club twice and the Concierge escorted us down a private elevator into the club before general seating so we could have the best seats.

 

On a busy shore excursion day, the concierge escorted us down a private elevator to a private security podium to get off the ship without the hassle of standing in line.

 

There are usually gummy bears and M&M candies at the havens pool in the afternoon, but you can ask your butler to have a bowl filled in your stateroom.

 

Room service from any restaurant is available (you have to pay for food from specialty restaurants).

 

Have a great cruise,,,, you will never want to book a non-havens room again!

[Jenjer]

Congratulations on your upgrade your going to be spoiled for life.

 

The key is to communicate with your butler.

 

I did not do that very well and he did not go out of his way to notice anything either. I found the butler to be the least beneficial of all the Haven staff.

 

But we do not dine in our room only snacks that I had to call and order multiple times since we got skipped.

 

We asked the room steward for extra towels and we had plenty. Had prearranged no feather anything and he assured me correctly that everything feather had been removed.

 

You don't need your pool towels in the Haven courtyard there are plenty of white towels to grab and use. Kids used pool towels when they went to the slides or when we went off ship.

[Kosi]

Upsell does not necessarily mean kids. Haven is not an adult only area. Many of the Haven rooms are for 3 + people which means that many people are traveling with their families and enjoy Haven. How do you know who paid full price and who used upsell?

 

You don't know that of course.. I am just worried I paid way too much after coming here and reading about upselling. I would love a 2 bedroom over regular H5.. I will keep watching prices. This is for just 2 people. I have had this room before for 2.. If you had 4 adults you will have a problem as the 2nd BR is tinyyy.. The bathroom is to die for off the master. . why I would want it again.

[Kosi]

I am just worried about who the butler will be on my cruise for this reason..I talked my husband into this room , it wasn't easy..

 

Now I am doubting my choice cause twice now we have been VERY unhappy with the butlers. Once in 2 BR ,once in owners suite.. not sure who was worse.

 

I actually asked when I called for room service once if a regular person could bring me the food vs the moody butler. I disliked him so much I wrote to that hotel manager while on cruise.. my mistake cause I got ambushed (while running late to show) by concierge. I explained fast why I felt he was less than stellar. We -my Sister and I.. felt scared after this .. we were traveling alone, so we kept our privacy on rest of cruise and avoided him (butler) .

 

Thing is.. he treated the older couple next to us like gold. I saw this first hand.. he got them food all restaurants.. he was alwayssss caterering to their needs.. ?? Maybe they tipped them at start of cruise? Needless to say he got zero from us!

 

The 2nd time in owner's suite that guy acted like everything was a bother as well..

 

Please believe me we are not at all picky.. I feel odd with people going out of their way for me.. I don't think asking for food.. or to have someone come fix balcony door and was told we have to wait till next day to use it.. was too much. The balcony door came later after he was moody man.. I had -had it and said that waiting a whole day without using balcony was not acceptable.. (all it took was W2 40..and 5 minutes)

[Two Wheels Only]

(all it took was W2 40..and 5 minutes)

 

You needed income tax information to fix a door? :p

[Kosi]

You needed income tax information to fix a door? :p

lol!

[luckyinpa]

. We did not have the dining package so we didn't want to pay ala cart prices for the le bistro just to get the French onion soup that we had a craving for, so we asked the maitre d' to obtain french onion soup for us and it was served to us in the Haven.

 

do you mean you can be in haven restaurant and ask for something from a specialty restaurant and they deliver it in haven and you dont have to pay for it (or if you had SDP you dont have to burn one of them?)

[Jana60]

do you mean you can be in haven restaurant and ask for something from a specialty restaurant and they deliver it in haven and you dont have to pay for it (or if you had SDP you dont have to burn one of them?)

 

The maître D in The Haven won't tell you this is the case but the head maitre d and the maitre d of all the other restaurants will if you ask them. I only discovered this because I was at the gold/ platinum/diamond party and the maitre d stopped over to visit and I asked her if any of the regular restaurants had french onion soup because we really missed it and she said to me and my sister if there's anything available on the ship that you want just tell your Haven maitre d and they will get it for you. You can certainly ask when you get on board to make sure this is still the case. But this was just July 9th so the information is pretty current. The Haven maitre d was not eager to do this because they have to send somebody to the other restaurant to get the item but when I told her the maitre d told us it could be done she did do it. Our Butler also told us this was frequently done.

[BirdTravels]

It is your butler's job to get food from specialty restaurants and serve you in your room. You pay for the food just like you are in the restaurant. When you have the Havens restaurant run for food, you degrade service to other guests in the restaurant, which is very selfish.

[Two Wheels Only]

Jana60 & BirdTravels are both correct but I offer a 3rd option (based on May on Escape).

 

If you know what you want from the other restaurant, make arrangements prior to sitting down in the Haven restaurant. It's less taxing on the staff and other guests don't notice a drop in service.

[Jana60]

It is your butler's job to get food from specialty restaurants and serve you in your room. You pay for the food just like you are in the restaurant. When you have the Havens restaurant run for food, you degrade service to other guests in the restaurant, which is very selfish.

 

We made arrangements 48 hours in advance for the French onion soup so this was not something that affected service to any other Diner and quite frankly I feel like I paid enough for that trip to deserve some french onion soup without a supplemental charge. Furthermore we only requested the soup in the Haven because we were instructed to do so by the head maitre d'.

[Loonbeam]

Requesting a single non-entree item like a soup or a dessert in advance typically will not incur a charge (as noted, doing so at seating is very disruptive to operations and they MAY decide to charge you if they will even do it.) Of course, this is for a one time request. If you plan to request more items, have the butler bring to your cabin.