Is the Haven really worth it?

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, tomservo said:

 

Have you done the Haven on the Bliss? I looked at the Escape deck plans and pics, honestly the lounge and courtyard didn't look any bigger than on the Getaway. The restaurant though is much bigger and has the outdoor seating which is nice, but the sundeck looked about the same size as well. Have you been in the Haven on the Breakaway/Getaway? How did it compare?

On the Bliss the Haven looks much bigger. The 2-story lounge is much bigger, it has the Haven Observation deck, and the sundeck is much bigger. 

Keeping my eye on the Bliss. Haven't sailed her yet, but want to on an Alaska cruise. 

 

Have sailed the Haven on both the Breakaway and the Getaway.  The Haven restaurant on the Escape is much bigger and has its own "floor".  The Escape Haven tour I took only lasted about 15 minutes.  I thought the pool/lounge area were bigger on the Escape.  On the "Aways" the Haven Restaurant, Bar, Lounge and pool area are all on the same "floor".  Some people like that for convenience sake.  Me? I don't care one way or the other.

 

Escape Haven, in general, is bigger because the ship is bigger.

 

The concierge's I've had in the Haven on Away ships have been Adrian, Virginia and Anoop.....all were fantastic.  Not sure who the concierge is on the Breakaway next week.

[tomservo]

24 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

However, prices continue to rise and there will be a point where we won't be willing to pay them. We're not there yet, but we're getting close. 

 

Agreed, I feel the same way. I think NCL realized that people will pay more, and will keep raising prices until bookings decrease significantly. I will say that I’ve noticed more Haven price drops closer to the sailing date, which I hadn’t seen in the past as much. I think they may have overreached with the pricing on these, ended up having too much inventory, and having to drop the price considerably close to sailing. I’ve read on here that NCL is loathe to drop prices on Haven cabins close to sailing in order to maintain the type of pricing NCL wants to project, so there must have been a lot of inventory. 

[graphicguy]

8 minutes ago, tomservo said:

 

Agreed, I feel the same way. I think NCL realized that people will pay more, and will keep raising prices until bookings decrease significantly. I will say that I’ve noticed more Haven price drops closer to the sailing date, which I hadn’t seen in the past as much. I think they may have overreached with the pricing on these, ended up having too much inventory, and having to drop the price considerably close to sailing. I’ve read on here that NCL is loathe to drop prices on Haven cabins close to sailing in order to maintain the type of pricing NCL wants to project, so there must have been a lot of inventory. 

Haven pricing seems to be more consistent than any other cabins on the ships.  But, I have seen (and taken advantage of) Haven price drops on cruises booked within 4-6-8 weeks of sailing.  The good news, there are no "bad" or mediocre Haven Suites.  They're all good.  So, I don't worry about that my "leftover" Haven Suite is anything less than great.

[justhappy]

Is the Haven worth it is such a subjective subject, as I can tell from the responses.

They are all over the place! In my case I’ll say it depends.

Of my 7 NCL cruises I’ve been in the Haven 3 times, and yes those 3 times were worth it for us.

The first was celebrating our 40th anniversary and we wanted to splurge.

The second time was sailing with good friends and we were celebrating a 60th birthday and we both originally booked balconies. Before bidding and back when you could call and see if upsells were available I upgraded ours and our friends cabin for $1k per cabin. We could afford it and we all had a blast. So the next year when there was another 60th birthday our friends wanted to book the Haven outright. We’ve never paid more than 3k per person on any cruise.

On other cruises we were with friends or family who wanted to cruise as cheap as possible and wanting to be able to hang with them we booked regular balconies.

In December we will be in the Haven again for a 5 night cruise for only $1349 per person. Heck yeah I’m going to cruise in an H6 for that price! 

The next 3 cruises will be in regular balconies or insides due to the price of a Haven cabin is more than we want to pay, or again we are cruising with friends who won’t be in the Haven.

For us it’s not a question of  being able to cruise twice in a regular cabin vs only once in the Haven, it’s a question of the value we feel we would get for the cost.

Edited September 27, 2019 by justhappy

[roscoe123]

I’ve done the Haven on the Breakaway earlier this year and then the Bliss a week ago in Alaska.  I love it.  It was an amazing space on the Bliss.  It was never crowded at all!  That really allows me to unwind almost immediately.  Plus there are some nice perks, such as Haven staff taking you to the front of a very long line to get on the ship as the weather in port gets colder and windier.  As well as whisking you past the crowded elevators. 

[david_sobe]

18 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Keeping my eye on the Bliss. Haven't sailed her yet, but want to on an Alaska cruise. 

 

Have sailed the Haven on both the Breakaway and the Getaway.  The Haven restaurant on the Escape is much bigger and has its own "floor".  The Escape Haven tour I took only lasted about 15 minutes.  I thought the pool/lounge area were bigger on the Escape.  On the "Aways" the Haven Restaurant, Bar, Lounge and pool area are all on the same "floor".  Some people like that for convenience sake.  Me? I don't care one way or the other.

 

Escape Haven, in general, is bigger because the ship is bigger.

 

The concierge's I've had in the Haven on Away ships have been Adrian, Virginia and Anoop.....all were fantastic.  Not sure who the concierge is on the Breakaway next week.

The Haven on the -Away class ships was a step backwards IMHO.  The prior ship Epic had ocean views from the Haven lounge, a fantastic posh, bigger Haven restaurant, and outdoor Haven restaurant.  Everything seemed like an afterthought on Getaway in the Haven.  The Haven restaurant was so small and windows on only one side.   The Escape did correct many of these flaws including adding water features (hot tub) on the Haven sundeck.  For these reasons, the Breakaway and Getaway are my least favorite Haven ships.  IMHO the Breakaway and Getaway suffered from the Epic hangover.  The Epic took too much flack for being daring and overly innovative.  NCL over reacted and ended up building very traditional, neutral (almost boring), and not that innovative ships in that class.  With Bliss and Encore, the innovation finally came back IMHO.

Edited September 28, 2019 by david_sobe

[beerman2]

On 9/27/2019 at 1:24 AM, Hotspring said:

 

Do not forget that the Haven is about the only place on most ships in which you can get a real king size bed that is comfortable.  

At best the rest of the cabins have a couple of miniaturized twin beds slide together for the master bed.  Hardly as comfortable.

Also Haven cabins get a cloth comforter protector for luggage, while the other cabins have plastic roll up things rolled on to the bed.  

 

Finally time is money, does one want wait in line for hours to get ensure getting into the entertainment venues, when a  Haven person only needs to show up by 15 minutes to show time and have their choice of seats.   

 

This in addition to what has been mentioned.

Not exactly sure how a cloth comforter protector for luggage as opposed to a plastic roll up one can enhance a cruise experience. This made me laugh though!

[graphicguy]

@david_sobe......I’ve only sailed in a balcony cabin on the Epic.  I really want to try sailing in their Haven some day, based on your descriptions.

 

The Away ships are the only Haven experiences I’ve had, and I loved them.

 

That said, I did get a tour of the Haven on both the Gem and the Escape.  Haven on the GEM was just a tiny pool with a few loungers around it.  Perhaps I didn’t get to see the whole thing as it was part of a cabin crawl.  However, it still didn’t have its own bar or restaurant.

 

Escape Haven was much bigger than the GEM’s Haven.  I remember it having more space than the Away Havens.  But, it was spread out with the restaurant on a different floor.  That wouldn’t bother me.  But, some said they’d rather have everything on the same floor in the Haven.  Can’t please everyone, I suppose.

[dexddd]

7 hours ago, david_sobe said:

The Haven on the -Away class ships was a step backwards IMHO.  The prior ship Epic had ocean views from the Haven lounge, a fantastic posh, bigger Haven restaurant, and outdoor Haven restaurant.  Everything seemed like an afterthought on Getaway in the Haven.  The Haven restaurant was so small and windows on only one side.   The Escape did correct many of these flaws including adding water features (hot tub) on the Haven sundeck.  For these reasons, the Breakaway and Getaway are my least favorite Haven ships.  IMHO the Breakaway and Getaway suffered from the Epic hangover.  The Epic took too much flack for being daring and overly innovative.  NCL over reacted and ended up building very traditional, neutral (almost boring), and not that innovative ships in that class.  With Bliss and Encore, the innovation finally came back IMHO.

I'd agree with that.  Didn't like BA so won't like GA.  Epic looks interesting but with the prices now, not likely.

 

Escape was pretty good.

[dexddd]

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

@david_sobe......I’ve only sailed in a balcony cabin on the Epic.  I really want to try sailing in their Haven some day, based on your descriptions.

 

The Away ships are the only Haven experiences I’ve had, and I loved them.

 

That said, I did get a tour of the Haven on both the Gem and the Escape.  Haven on the GEM was just a tiny pool with a few loungers around it.  Perhaps I didn’t get to see the whole thing as it was part of a cabin crawl.  However, it still didn’t have its own bar or restaurant.

 

Escape Haven was much bigger than the GEM’s Haven.  I remember it having more space than the Away Havens.  But, it was spread out with the restaurant on a different floor.  That wouldn’t bother me.  But, some said they’d rather have everything on the same floor in the Haven.  Can’t please everyone, I suppose.

Right, Gem Haven the small pool, cove with seating for a few, then upstairs is an area on one half port side with cabanas and loungers.  

[Hotspring]

15 hours ago, beerman2 said:

Not exactly sure how a cloth comforter protector for luggage as opposed to a plastic roll up one can enhance a cruise experience. This made me laugh though!

The last time we cruised in steerage we had a shabby and dusty heavy plastic roll up protector with stains and imprinted instructions ordering us to place it on the bed when unpacking and packing luggage.  Otherwise it hung up rolled up in a closet all week.   In the Haven, the luggage protector provides a color contrast that is actually left out all week long to add color to the spacious room.   Since it was designed to protect the comfortable 24/7, it did not have instructions ordering to do anything with our luggage.   We are on vacation, not robots following some bureaucrats  orders on a over used piece of plastic.

[BirdTravels]

15 hours ago, beerman2 said:

Not exactly sure how a cloth comforter protector for luggage as opposed to a plastic roll up one can enhance a cruise experience. This made me laugh though!

We had a cloth runner in steerage on the Escape a few months back

 

[Hotspring]

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We had a cloth runner in steerage on the Escape a few months back

 

Wow, except for the miniature bathroom, maybe we need to rethink the benefit of staying in the Haven.   Did not realize they upgraded their look while at the same time getting cheap in making the guest beg for towel animals and charging for room service out side the Haven.    Thanks for sharing (seriously)!

[sverigecruiser]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We had a cloth runner in steerage on the Escape a few months back

 

 

Is that really the protector for luggage? Isn't that what they use all other days when they make the bed?

[ollienbertsmum]

4 hours ago, Hotspring said:

The last time we cruised in steerage we had a shabby and dusty heavy plastic roll up protector with stains and imprinted instructions ordering us to place it on the bed when unpacking and packing luggage.  Otherwise it hung up rolled up in a closet all week.   In the Haven, the luggage protector provides a color contrast that is actually left out all week long to add color to the spacious room.   Since it was designed to protect the comfortable 24/7, it did not have instructions ordering to do anything with our luggage.   We are on vacation, not robots following some bureaucrats  orders on a over used piece of plastic.

 

We were in OV last week.  We had a coloured runner on the bed.  It stayed there all week.  We had to work out how to empty our own suitcases.  

 

To be honest I never put suitcases on the bed because I know that they have been wheeled through streets.  That would be like walking on the bed in your shoes.  

[sverigecruiser]

1 minute ago, ollienbertsmum said:

 

To be honest I never put suitcases on the bed because I know that they have been wheeled through streets.  That would be like walking on the bed in your shoes.  

 

That's the reason why they have the protector on the bed when you embark.

[ollienbertsmum]

Just now, sverigecruiser said:

 

That's the reason why they have the protector on the bed when you embark.

But then they should take it away when you have finished unpacking.  Our coloured runner stayed on the bed through the cruise.  

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, ollienbertsmum said:

But then they should take it away when you have finished unpacking.  Our coloured runner stayed on the bed through the cruise.  

 

They have always tanken it away on our cruises. I don't know why they haven't done it on your cruises.

Edited September 29, 2019 by sverigecruiser

[Always Cruising]

The colored runner is a decorative part of the "made" bed.  The heavy plastic/rubber runner on the first day is for the suitcase to prevent street dirt from getting on the comforter.

[Harratine]

Done Haven on the Escape (2 bed suite).  It was quite the experience.  I typically take 3 days to go from working brain to vacation brain.  So I finally start to enjoy by day 4.  This is true  except when in a suite or the Haven.  Haven makes it easy to disconnect.  That’s worth it for our family.

[Shidah]

I have thought about this same topic a lot this weekend.  Yesterday I originally booked a Haven courtyard suite, was thinking about changing to a Haven Aft suite, and then changed the reservation to a regular aft balcony.  This is for the Bliss, Florida/ Bahamas.

 

 When I travel with family we always go Haven.  But this next one is a solo trip.  I did one solo trip reg aft  and one Haven trip this year with family both on the Escape.  And honestly, I felt more special in the regular aft balcony trip.  Got so many treats from either the casino or Deepak.  Not that the Haven trip wasn’t an amazing vacation overall, but there was just something off with the Haven experience (Adrian was not there, on vacation).  Concierge completely messed up reservation which lead to in my opinion the worst seat at one of our dinners.  Bar staff was almost arrogant the first day, was better by the end of the week though.  Information left in room wasn’t there the first day, then appeared suddenly mid-week.  Nothing major though.  Staff definitely had their favorites amongst guests, I get it there are some guests that go several weeks a year.  Just a lot of little things, some others I am not mentioning here intentionally. 

 

 Would I go Haven again, absolutely, when I travel with others.  But solo, I’m just as happy in a regular room.  It isn’t the money, for the difference in price on my next cruise I can lose double that in just one visit to a land based casino without blinking.  I guess it is just the value for the money.  When I go Haven, my expectations are higher and I am sometimes disappointed.  Not going Haven, my expectations are lower and I am always pleasantly surprised.

 

 I agree with another poster, when you have the platinum meals, plus the dining package, there is not much time to enjoy the Haven restaurant. When I go Haven, I feel like I don’t take full advantage of it. The hours are also restrictive for breakfast and lunch.  The Horizon lounge is what made me consider it even going solo.  On an Alaskan cruise, 100% would book Haven for this lounge alone.  But do I see myself sittting there on a Florida/Bahamas cruise, no way.  I’d rather be elsewhere on the ship.

[vicpylon]

The Haven's utility is inversely proportional to your tolerance for people. Did a Caribbean cruise on a sold-out ship and the Haven saved us from the zoo that is the pool deck and many of the restaurants.  Took an Alaska cruise with cold weather (no pool usage)  and a less-crowded ship and the Haven did not seem as useful. Your mileage will vary.

[Run14]

37 minutes ago, vicpylon said:

The Haven's utility is inversely proportional to your tolerance for people. 

 

I found myself instinctively nodding my head when I read this.  Completely agree.  My wife and I have done both Haven and gen-pop multiple times, and we only sail the Haven now.  Having a quiet and calm, yet indulgent and comfortable, place to retreat to at any time that is larger than a basic cabin is invaluable to us.  That said, just because we find value in it doesn't mean others will.  

The "little things" (as generally viewed by others) are more important/valuable to us than others seem to find them, especially the lack of waiting and under utilizing time. 

[tomservo]

5 hours ago, Shidah said:

When I go Haven, my expectations are higher and I am sometimes disappointed.  Not going Haven, my expectations are lower and I am always pleasantly surprised.

 

Kudos, that’s a really interesting perspective!

[coastcat]

On 9/25/2019 at 4:05 AM, nyc2pdx said:

I am a solo traveler, and an introvert. The idea of a ship inside of a ship sounds heavenly to me. I am not going on a cruise for the ports...I have a very intense middle management job that I want to escape from for a week. No internet, phone...the pampering sounds like a real vacation for me.

Another introvert who prefers solo travel and just completed her first cruise... Although the idea of the Haven is indeed appealing, there are enough quiet spots here and there to refresh your mind and settle your nerves even if you're in the cheap seats (or in my case, in the Studios).

 

The best thing about the cruise was that the most complex question I had to answer for a whole delightful week was "would you like to see the wine list?"

 

Yes. Yes I would.