How much would you pay for Haven?

[aero777]

5 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Hahaha. That sounds like a great deal, but I am already booked to sail on the Bliss on December 1. My PCC would probably murder me if I switched it again. First we were booked on the Encore TA for November 2, but then they changed the itinerary, so we switched it to the Encore Eastern Caribbean out of Miami for Dec. 1 and THEN we switched it to the Bliss 12-day Southern Caribbean out of NYC Dec. 1 and booked the Encore for next April instead. My PCC is getting back from vacation herself tomorrow. If I called her up first thing with another change her head might explode.

Hey there’s nothing wrong with changing your mind...a few times! 

We’re on the Encore inaugural TA. We love sea days and the discount for the itinerary change was just icing on the cake.

Have fun JL!

[JamieLogical]

On 6/12/2019 at 1:30 PM, JamieLogical said:

 

Hahaha. That sounds like a great deal, but I am already booked to sail on the Bliss on December 1. My PCC would probably murder me if I switched it again. First we were booked on the Encore TA for November 2, but then they changed the itinerary, so we switched it to the Encore Eastern Caribbean out of Miami for Dec. 1 and THEN we switched it to the Bliss 12-day Southern Caribbean out of NYC Dec. 1 and booked the Encore for next April instead. My PCC is getting back from vacation herself tomorrow. If I called her up first thing with another change her head might explode.

 

 

So I ran this proposal by my SO yesterday and he decided that he wasn't interested because part of the reason he is willing to wait nearly 6 full months for our next sailing is that it is a 12-day. The longer cruise is part of the "reward" for the long wait. But then I was poking around the NCL site today looking at other Joy sailings and there is a 5-day from Vancouver to LA in October where the cheapest Haven cabin is only $1399 per person!!! Now I am sorely tempted to try to persuade him to do this 5-day sailing in October, since it's less than four months away and add another 7-day sailing somewhere in between this one and our Encore sailing in late April. That price just seems too good to pass up! With flights and everything, we'd still be saving over $1300 versus our scheduled Bliss 12-day. We could definitely apply that $1300 towards an extra 7-day sailing somewhere in January or February....

[tomservo]

On 6/12/2019 at 4:16 PM, drvmywifecrzy said:

I miss the old days 2016 when I called and got upgraded on the Escape from an Inside to Haven (H5) for $500 total just 3 days out from sailing

My TA told me that this is why they stopped doing stuff like this, people who got great upgrade deals for the Haven (even if it were at the last minute) would talk to other Haven guests about how little they paid, and the Haven guests who paid much more to stay in the Haven outright were getting upset. At this point they would rather sail with empty H2's and H3's rather than give people last minute discounts on them for this reason. Not blaming you specifically, just illustrating that their strategy to price them really high then offer them as cheap last minute upgrades just to fill them had unintended consequences. Instead of realizing that they were not selling because they were overpriced, which would be fixed by lowering prices, they doubled down and would rather sail with them empty so as not to "cheapen" their perceived value. We'll see how long this strategy lasts. I have a feeling that for every Rich Uncle Pennybags that pays 25k for a peak season sailing in an H2, several will go unsold.

Edited June 13, 2019 by tomservo

[tomservo]

On 5/31/2019 at 9:54 AM, graphicguy said:

I believe AMEX platinum still offers it.  Just used it on my Escape Cruise in Feb.  It also varies by cruise line.  AMEX offers NO OBC for MSC cruises, for example

 

For NCL I believe it’s $100 OBC for Interior Cabin, $200 for a Balcony/mini-suite, $300 for Haven Suite and “full suites”.

 

I remember when AMEX did the $500 OBC.  It wasn’t so long ago, but I haven’t seen that one in a while, either.

 

Also, make sure your TA passes the OBC on to you.  Some won’t...not sure why.

 

How is the travel insurance? When I started cruising I picked up one of the top tier travel cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve) mainly so I wouldn't have to take out travel insurance on my cruises. If it's as good as the CSR it might be worth it for the additional OBC.

[drvmywifecrzy]

3 hours ago, tomservo said:

My TA told me that this is why they stopped doing stuff like this, people who got great upgrade deals for the Haven (even if it were at the last minute) would talk to other Haven guests about how little they paid, and the Haven guests who paid much more to stay in the Haven outright were getting upset. At this point they would rather sail with empty H2's and H3's rather than give people last minute discounts on them for this reason. Not blaming you specifically, just illustrating that their strategy to price them really high then offer them as cheap last minute upgrades just to fill them had unintended consequences. Instead of realizing that they were not selling because they were overpriced, which would be fixed by lowering prices, they doubled down and would rather sail with them empty so as not to "cheapen" their perceived value. We'll see how long this strategy lasts. I have a feeling that for every Rich Uncle Pennybags that pays 25k for a peak season sailing in an H2, several will go unsold.

 

This no different then an airline ticket or a hotel room.  Everyone pays something different.

 

Now I will say it was fun seeing the faces when I said I got a $500 upgrade 😮🤩🤣

[tomservo]

6 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

 

So I ran this proposal by my SO yesterday and he decided that he wasn't interested because part of the reason he is willing to wait nearly 6 full months for our next sailing is that it is a 12-day. The longer cruise is part of the "reward" for the long wait. But then I was poking around the NCL site today looking at other Joy sailings and there is a 5-day from Vancouver to LA in October where the cheapest Haven cabin is only $1399 per person!!! Now I am sorely tempted to try to persuade him to do this 5-day sailing in October, since it's less than four months away and add another 7-day sailing somewhere in between this one and our Encore sailing in late April. That price just seems too good to pass up! With flights and everything, we'd still be saving over $1300 versus our scheduled Bliss 12-day. We could definitely apply that $1300 towards an extra 7-day sailing somewhere in January or February....

 

Don’t do it...you’ll become hooked. I took my wife on our first NCL cruise to the Haven, now she won’t do anything less. Friends don’t let friends get addicted to the Haven.

 

But in all seriousness, if you find a good deal, you should consider trying it. It’s hard to quantify whether or not the perks are worth it to you without trying it yourself. My wife has a strong enough preference for it to the point where she would rather take half as many cruises if it means we’ll be staying in the Haven.

[GA Dave]

This makes the Haven look like a bargain!

 

https://www.yachtcharterfleet.com/luxury-charter-yacht-47976/savannah.htm

 

[UrbanGirlie]

I have 3 NCl cruises booked:

 

Getaway 8/19 (Baltic) Haven H6 Paid $12,507 (3ppl) 

Jewel 12/19 (Australia/NZ) 2br suite SC paid $15,700 (4ppl)

POA 2/20 (Hawaii) suite SC paid $12,500 (2ppl)

 

Now look at the differences in price. To sail in the Haven on the JEWEL in a 2br Haven suite vs regular suite would have cost $12k MORE than the $15k we already paid. Only difference is no use of the Haven but still access to dedicated suite breakfast/lunch plus priority embarkation and disembarkation. Not worth it to me.

i know Australias price tag is more expensive however.

POA doesn’t have a Haven, and still a pretty steep price tag for a ‘Regular’ suite IMHO!  

[gizfish]

23 hours ago, tomservo said:

My TA told me that this is why they stopped doing stuff like this, people who got great upgrade deals for the Haven (even if it were at the last minute) would talk to other Haven guests about how little they paid, and the Haven guests who paid much more to stay in the Haven outright were getting upset. At this point they would rather sail with empty H2's and H3's rather than give people last minute discounts on them for this reason. Not blaming you specifically, just illustrating that their strategy to price them really high then offer them as cheap last minute upgrades just to fill them had unintended consequences. Instead of realizing that they were not selling because they were overpriced, which would be fixed by lowering prices, they doubled down and would rather sail with them empty so as not to "cheapen" their perceived value. We'll see how long this strategy lasts. I have a feeling that for every Rich Uncle Pennybags that pays 25k for a peak season sailing in an H2, several will go unsold.

NCL changed the way they do upgrades only to make more money.  They are not sailing with empty Haven cabins by no means.  With the bidding system, they are filling every single Haven cabin and making huge amounts of money doing it.  The reason they changed has nothing to do with hurt feelings.  They saw that instead of giving someone a Haven for a total of $400 or $500, they could get someone to bid for that same room at $1,500 or more and then resell the whole string of rooms that they accepted upgrade bids on trickling down from that person.

[elwood_98034]

On 6/13/2019 at 1:08 PM, tomservo said:

My TA told me that this is why they stopped doing stuff like this, people who got great upgrade deals for the Haven (even if it were at the last minute) would talk to other Haven guests about how little they paid, and the Haven guests who paid much more to stay in the Haven outright were getting upset. At this point they would rather sail with empty H2's and H3's rather than give people last minute discounts on them for this reason. Not blaming you specifically, just illustrating that their strategy to price them really high then offer them as cheap last minute upgrades just to fill them had unintended consequences. Instead of realizing that they were not selling because they were overpriced, which would be fixed by lowering prices, they doubled down and would rather sail with them empty so as not to "cheapen" their perceived value. We'll see how long this strategy lasts. I have a feeling that for every Rich Uncle Pennybags that pays 25k for a peak season sailing in an H2, several will go unsold.

We are in a H4 and have just bid on a H2. There are a lot of empty H4's on our cruise. We are already paying over $12k for the H4, and the H2 is double that if you pay full price. We have lowballed it, as we are happy with our H4.

Your comment about leaving suites empty is interesting. I wonder if they will be able to resist sailing with the Haven half empty, when they could bump up a few people and earn a few thousand extra on the upgrades. We cruise in late August. It will be interesting to see if they manage to fill it up in the meantime.

I did note though, that there are a lot of Concierge suites empty, but most of the cheaper cabins have sold out, so people are clearly very sensitive to price. As expected.

Edited June 15, 2019 by elwood_98034
Typo

[tomservo]

On 6/13/2019 at 10:12 PM, tomservo said:

 

Don’t do it...you’ll become hooked. I took my wife on our first NCL cruise to the Haven, now she won’t do anything less. Friends don’t let friends get addicted to the Haven.

 

But in all seriousness, if you find a good deal, you should consider trying it. It’s hard to quantify whether or not the perks are worth it to you without trying it yourself. My wife has a strong enough preference for it to the point where she would rather take half as many cruises if it means we’ll be staying in the Haven.

 

I was looking at Haven prices and I noticed this one dropped a bit, now 1299pp for an HA. Not to be a devil on your shoulder...

[JamieLogical]

On 6/29/2019 at 12:36 AM, tomservo said:

 

I was looking at Haven prices and I noticed this one dropped a bit, now 1299pp for an HA. Not to be a devil on your shoulder...

 

Fortunately (unfortunately?) there is now no risk of me taking a cruise in October. I am purchasing a new home that I'll be closing on in late August. so all of my money and time off are going that endeavor, which will definitely cost me considerably more than $1299!

 

[littlelulu01]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Fortunately (unfortunately?) there is now no risk of me taking a cruise in October. I am purchasing a new home that I'll be closing on in late August. so all of my money and time off are going that endeavor, which will definitely cost me considerably more than $1299!

 

Congratulations!  Now you can work on creating Haven at home, well minus the butler, housekeepers and cooks. But nothing will feel better than someday having a house paid for and extra money going towards vacations instead of rent. Life flies by and 15 or so years from now you will be pretty happy paying off that mortgage! A resourceful person such as yourself will likely be planning the next vacation pretty quickly so best of both worlds. 

Edited July 1, 2019 by littlelulu01

[Seafan22]

On 5/16/2019 at 3:47 PM, KeithJenner said:

I am going to go against the usual consensus and say that I would pay little if anything for Haven access. We really enjoy the public areas on the ships (after all, we regularly pay to cruise with access to those public areas), and when we did have a Haven room we felt that whilst it was nice in the Haven, we enjoy being in the general bars more.

 

Basically, I would probably pay a few hundred for the bigger room (depending on what other rooms are available), but for Haven access, concierge, butler, Cagneys breakfast/dinner etc I would pay very little if anything.

 

I agree with Keith here; not only would I not want pay for the concierge and butler, but frankly it would make me very uncomfortable to have those people doing things for me that I really don't need and am quite willing to do for myself.  When I'm in my balcony room I tell the room-steward that the second servicing of the room is generally not needed.  I know I am paying to have the room cleaned and refreshed, but I don't really need more than that.

 

[drvmywifecrzy]

The Haven is so wide open on my upcoming Bermuda cruise hoping to get a deal on my bid

[tomservo]

On 7/1/2019 at 3:04 PM, Seafan22 said:

 

I agree with Keith here; not only would I not want pay for the concierge and butler, but frankly it would make me very uncomfortable to have those people doing things for me that I really don't need and am quite willing to do for myself.  When I'm in my balcony room I tell the room-steward that the second servicing of the room is generally not needed.  I know I am paying to have the room cleaned and refreshed, but I don't really need more than that.

 

We were also worried about feeling uncomfortable before our first Haven cruise. I would say the concierge is more like an upgraded version of guest services with the ability to help make reservations and other special access, and the butler (again in our experience) was more like an upgraded room steward with special access (more things they’re allowed to bring to your room, meals from restaurants, etc). Again that was the extent of our use of them. You can utilize them as much or as little as you want. 

[SailBreakaway]

I’d pay what I paid in 2015 before they jacked pricing, plus regular inflation. That leaves me At about 2500 pp for a Forward or a Courtyard. Aft facing with 4 in the room used to run 5500 - 6000 in 2016 to Bermuda which is now one of the priciest markets for Haven. Expect to pay almost double that now. I’ve booked three one week Deluxe suites on MSC for two at 4500 or less out the door. I put that for comparison. I personally believe you get more for that money with MSC but that’s my opinion. On the flip side I was checking out Celebrity Suites with the Retreat and they are right there neck and neck with NCL. Heck a Royal Oasis class suite will put you at same price as a Haven Aft or two bedroom villa. For me, at the 10k price point out the door for Haven NY or Alaska cruises I would move to the Oceania or Regent product, but that’s just me. 

 

I believe the NCL sweet spot on BA and BA+ class is being a Platinum, booking a mini suite (aft or large balcony), vibe, spa passes and a week of specialty dining.  Put some money aside for on board spending and enjoy. That gives you priority embar/debar and tender, a quit private child free reserved deck area (if that’s your tthing) with bar and hot tub, a really nice room, the thermal spa for relaxation and a place to escape the masses indoors, and great great food from specialty dining, including some extra money set aside for Food Republic! We don’t really use a butler, the concierge is nice for shows, so we really don’t miss out on anything there. 

 

FDR made more last year than almost the Royal and a Carnival CEOs combined. Someone has to pay for that paycheck.