Haven Restaurant Menu Issues

[BLTV]

Hi!

I just got off my second Haven sailing. This time it was on Epic (7 days), last time was the Jade (11 days). Though the Jade didn't have a dedicated Haven Restaurant, we did get use of Cagney's/Moderno for Breakfast/Lunch.

But here's my question: Why does the menu NEVER change?! We would happily eat in the Haven exclusively except for the fact the menu didn't change once in 7 days, or once in 11 days on my previous sailing for breakfast, lunch OR dinner. Meanwhile the menu changed in the main dining rooms, with options they should easily be able to provide in the Haven as well. 

Is this just to push you out into other areas/restaurants?

Edited October 18, 2018 by BLTV

[Two Wheels Only]

If you see an item on the MDR menu for that day/meal that you would like to eat in the Haven restaurant, just let the Haven staff know (as soon as possible) and the staff will go get it and serve it to you in the Haven restaurant.

[noobcruiser]

My take is that NCL treats the Haven restaurant like other Specialty Restaurants -> No rotating menus.  Only the MDR's and Buffet's menus rotate.

[Jetsterkitty]

4 minutes ago, noobcruiser said:

My take is that NCL treats the Haven restaurant like other Specialty Restaurants -> No rotating menus.  Only the MDR's and Buffet's menus rotate.

Exactly!!  And the quality of the food in the Haven & Specialty restaurants is superior to that of the MDRs (at least in my experience).  That being said, if you are craving some comfort food - like meatloaf or O'Sheehans fish and chips - you can always have them bring it up to you in the Haven restaurant upon request.  Our last cruise we ate 4 dinners in the Haven and 3 in specialty restaurants and even as a non-seafood eating person I never had the same thing twice. 

[Vyhanek]

Yes, obviously it's so you won't eat in the "free" so to speak Haven every night.    They are banking on the fact that you will want some dinner variety and will be out at the other Specialty Dining options which you will then pay for additionally.    It's a revenue opportunity.

Also, the haven dining room can't accommodate all the Haven passengers.   If the Haven rotated the menu then everyone would eat in the Haven exclusively and they don't have the capacity for that.    

I have found some great food on the ships outside the Haven......not in the specialty dining.   I never want to go to Cagney's or La Cucina ever again.    But I love Food Republic on the Escape, I like the sushi bar on the Epic.   I like the noodle bar not eh Epic.   I like the seafood resteraunt on Getaway.    The one's I like mostly aren't part of the typical dining packages but it is great food!    

[vpearlkc]

13 hours ago, Vyhanek said:

Yes, obviously it's so you won't eat in the "free" so to speak Haven every night.    They are banking on the fact that you will want some dinner variety and will be out at the other Specialty Dining options which you will then pay for additionally.    It's a revenue opportunity.

Also, the haven dining room can't accommodate all the Haven passengers.   If the Haven rotated the menu then everyone would eat in the Haven exclusively and they don't have the capacity for that.    

I have found some great food on the ships outside the Haven......not in the specialty dining.   I never want to go to Cagney's or La Cucina ever again.    But I love Food Republic on the Escape, I like the sushi bar on the Epic.   I like the noodle bar not eh Epic.   I like the seafood resteraunt on Getaway.    The one's I like mostly aren't part of the typical dining packages but it is great food!    

 

 

If you book the Haven you will not pay for at least 3 nights at specialty restaurants because the dining package is included except for gratuities and maybe an up charge for a couple of options. Oceans Blue is an extra $12 per person with service charge.

[Two Wheels Only]

5 hours ago, vpearlkc said:

 

 

If you book the Haven you will not pay for at least 3 nights at specialty restaurants because the dining package is included except for gratuities and maybe an up charge for a couple of options. Oceans Blue is an extra $12 per person with service charge.

 

The 3SDP isn't automatically included for Haven guests. When booking a suite, the guest must select the SDP and pay the 20% gratuity and service charge.

 

It is very possible to book the Haven and not have the SDP nor the UOB/UBP. These options must be selected when booking. Nearly everyone booking the Haven will select all promos but if those promos aren't selected, the Haven guest won't have them. It used to be that all then current promos were automatically given for a Haven booking but now, they are optional.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Two Wheels Only

[vpearlkc]

15 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

The 3SDP isn't automatically included for Haven guests. When booking a suite, the guest must select the SDP and pay the 20% gratuity and service charge.

 

It is very possible to book the Haven and not have the SDP nor the UOB/UBP. These options must be selected when booking. Nearly everyone booking the Haven will select all promos but if those promos aren't selected, the Haven guest won't have them. It used to be that all then current promos were automatically given for a Haven booking but now, they are optional.

 

I can see why some teetotalers would not want to pay the $250+ service charge on the UBP so it makes sense that the perk is optional. I'm glad I booked our upcoming cruise when the service charges were included. It saved me over $300.

[BNBR]

We thought the Haven restaurant was one of the worse on the ship. Not the food or service, but it's just so vanilla and not special or interesting when they have so many other great venues.  Haven, or food Republic... Haven or pincho tapas on the waterfront....

 

Breakfast outside at the haven restaurant was nice though.  Maybe they don't have a rotating menu because so few would want to eat there every night anyways, it's not necessary to rotate. 

[cliffd64]

This is one of those things I have not understood about the "Haven Restaurant" on any of the larger ships...  Just because you are in a suite/The Haven, you shouldn't be expected to be isolated from the rest of the ship every meal.  The Epic literally has several venues to dine in, and many of them are complimentary,  so why limit yourself to one particular location?   The MDRs all have rotating menus and certainly enough variety to satisfy anyone.  Between Taste, Manhattan, Shanghai, and O'Sheehans there is certainly tons of variety.  And of course, upcharge or not, there are great options available at the specialty restaurants as well.  I really don't think the menu at The Haven restaurant is crafted to push you out to upcharge restaurants.  You have all sorts of choices...  But, just like the breakfast and lunch menus, the dinner menu in the Haven Restaurant is static.   As others have stated you can also have meals from MDRs brought there although that can be time consuming at times.   Not sure why people would not just go to Manhattan or Taste etc to experience those restaurants on their own... unless it was a mobility issue.

[boopsahoy]

We actually cancelled a specialty restaurant reservation to eat another night in the Escape Haven restaurant!

[BirdTravels]

For us, the Haven restaurant for dinner is good for 2 night max. We’ll eat elsewhere on other nights. 

[DeltaOne]

3 hours ago, cliffd64 said:

This is one of those things I have not understood about the "Haven Restaurant" on any of the larger ships...  Just because you are in a suite/The Haven, you shouldn't be expected to be isolated from the rest of the ship every meal.

 

We loved eating in the Haven restaurant.  No waiting, great service, great food.  There's lots to like.

 

Now, we did venture out and try other venues.  Twice I asked for food from other venues to be brought to the Haven restaurant.  The best of both worlds!

[valleyvillage]

1 hour ago, boopsahoy said:

We actually cancelled a specialty restaurant reservation to eat another night in the Escape Haven restaurant!

So did we! Absolutely fell in love with the Haven Restaurant, the food, the staff and the ambiance. 

One day I asked for some Indian food and they were pleased to help. Another day I inquired about a veggie burger? Done!

[GA Dave]

We loved the Haven restaurant.  The food was excellent and the service exceptional. There were enough items on each meal’s menu that we never had the same thing twice.  The only bad food experience we had on the Getaway was day 1 dinner at the Tropicana.  That was disgusting, to the point that my wife became ill at the table.

[boopsahoy]

5 hours ago, valleyvillage said:

So did we! Absolutely fell in love with the Haven Restaurant, the food, the staff and the ambiance. 

One day I asked for some Indian food and they were pleased to help. Another day I inquired about a veggie burger? Done!

I'm going to try asking for Indian food next time!! Great idea

[amygutman]

The best thing about the Haven restaurant - the consistently friendly faces of the staff. They know your name, your preferences and your "quirks" by day 2 - have no idea how!

 

The food is wonderful - predictably! Yes...it's repetitive if you order off the menu, but honestly, if you ask for anything special it magically appears. The service is always top notch, and usually it's one of the nicer views on the entire ship. The breakfast buffet...oooohhh.... I have no idea how anyone would want to go anywhere else. It's a vegan's playground with all of the fresh fruits and the french press coffee I dream about in between cruises. 

 

No issues here...yes, we do like the specialty restaurants and venture away from the Haven - but always come back for more!

 

Amy

[dexddd]

19 hours ago, boopsahoy said:

We actually cancelled a specialty restaurant reservation to eat another night in the Escape Haven restaurant!

We did the same thing in June plus we had our kids with us so it would have been $60+ dollars to go to Cagneys or we could all be happy with Haven for dinner.

 

Escape Haven restaurant was the best we've had by far and a lot had to do with the staff - people like Francis.

[boopsahoy]

1 hour ago, dexddd said:

We did the same thing in June plus we had our kids with us so it would have been $60+ dollars to go to Cagneys or we could all be happy with Haven for dinner.

 

Escape Haven restaurant was the best we've had by far and a lot had to do with the staff - people like Francis.

We cancelled specialty restaurant even though we still had a dinner left on our plan! Thats how much we liked the Haven restaurant!