THE SECRETS OF THE NCL HAVEN LUXURY EXPERIENCE

[Suite Heart]

10 hours ago, kickbutt10 said:

HIghly suggested because the "champagne" is not very good.  OJ may make it drinkable.

 

Actually, it is "sparkling wine." It can't be called Champagne unless it is actually from France.

 

And you're right about the free bottle. It is not very good.

[tumblew467]

On 1/2/2020 at 9:42 AM, BriCin said:

We cruise the Getaway Haven spa suite in April.  Our first NCL cruise. Six previous cruises on other lines.  
 

My question how much is the Vibe Beach Club for Haven rooms?  Why is this not included.  We are party people at the pool, not too wild, we like to have a good time.

The vibe beach club  is a sep entity. Has never been included for Haven. I beleive its 209 for the week. I saw that somewhere. But if I am inccorrect someone will let us know. I have sailed in the Haven and never thought I needed the vibe pass with the haven having its own private sundeck. I have seen in other posts that sometimes the concierage has tickets available , but am not sure how accurate this is. The vibe does not have a pool but oversized hot tubs. 

[BriCin]

Thank you for the information,  We just prefer the adults only bar areas.  I will ask the Concierage for the passes.

[GeorgiaGirl14]

Loving this thread for the added info. before our March 8 cruise.  Wish someone would post Freestyle Dailies.  

[dporter]

3 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

First, if you are in the Haven, you can book most shows and specialty dinning reservations 130 days prior to cruising.  If you are not in the Haven, it is 120.  I booked my specialty dinning on day 130.  Then like everything in life, my family wanted me to change almost every one.  Today is 121 days prior to cruising and the online Haven concierge has not gotten back with me as of yet on my changes.  I will be calling their phone number today to make sure I get what i want.  The key here is they can do miricles for you before you get on board or even after you are on board, just no guarantees. 

Second, check online for the excursion you want from 120 days to 7 days before your cruise.  Some excursions pop up all the time.  The greatest example was the Beach Villa for the NCL private island on my last trip.  It did not exist online yet I knew they had them.  I just figured they were sold out.  Then one day it showed back up.  If I would have missed it, the Haven concierge could have put me on a wait list if someone canceled it.  Remember, they can not nice things but not every time.  Hope that answers your questions.  Cruise well. 

 

I have had a lot of issues trying to book things online for some reason.  I called the concierge because I couldn't purchase spa passes online, they said they put a note on my file so I can do it once we board.  I have sent an email about shore excursions but they have not responded, we received our flight info so late and the disembarkation shore excursions were gone online. I was hoping they would be able to book it for me.  Maybe we will get lucky, if not I will just figure out something else to pass the 6 hours before our flight.

[Sthrngary]

28 minutes ago, dporter said:

 

I have had a lot of issues trying to book things online for some reason.  I called the concierge because I couldn't purchase spa passes online, they said they put a note on my file so I can do it once we board.  I have sent an email about shore excursions but they have not responded, we received our flight info so late and the disembarkation shore excursions were gone online. I was hoping they would be able to book it for me.  Maybe we will get lucky, if not I will just figure out something else to pass the 6 hours before our flight.

OK, I absolutely see how frustrating this can be. My cruise leaves in 122 days.  As I said in a previous response. Last week, I booked Specialty restaurants for the week on the cruise website.  My daughter wanted them all changes. So I sent an email a few days ago and have not heard back.  So I called the concierge earlier today.  Within minutes all the reservations were changed, showed up online and I was completely satisfied. 

I like I might be able to help you on the Spa Passes.  I am assuming you mean the Thermal Spa.  If so, good call on your part. Lovely place. We had access on our last cruise because we had a Haven Spa suite and the Thermal Spa comes with that.  On to my point, two approaches here.  First, I promise you without a question, you will be able to purchase the access pass to the Thermal Spa when you get on-board.  They are limited but especially on day one, they are readily available. Second, spa company (Canyon Ranch think is is) can be contacted directly just search on google.com.

On the excursions situation.  The excursion department is a much better place for all excursion situations.  I would call them directly.  There number is: 1-866-625-1167. I have always gotten much better answers from this number then from any other NCL source for Excursions. On this item also I would say you have NO ISSUE.  The number of folks that book excursions on the day you depart is minimal.  I still would call the number above.

 

I hope that helps.  Cruise well.

[tumblew467]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaGirl14 said:

Loving this thread for the added info. before our March 8 cruise.  Wish someone would post Freestyle Dailies.  

There is FB  page that is just dedicated to that-- you may want to check there

[dporter]

10 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

OK, I absolutely see how frustrating this can be. My cruise leaves in 122 days.  As I said in a previous response. Last week, I booked Specialty restaurants for the week on the cruise website.  My daughter wanted them all changes. So I sent an email a few days ago and have not heard back.  So I called the concierge earlier today.  Within minutes all the reservations were changed, showed up online and I was completely satisfied. 

I like I might be able to help you on the Spa Passes.  I am assuming you mean the Thermal Spa.  If so, good call on your part. Lovely place. We had access on our last cruise because we had a Haven Spa suite and the Thermal Spa comes with that.  On to my point, two approaches here.  First, I promise you without a question, you will be able to purchase the access pass to the Thermal Spa when you get on-board.  They are limited but especially on day one, they are readily available. Second, spa company (Canyon Ranch think is is) can be contacted directly just search on google.com.

On the excursions situation.  The excursion department is a much better place for all excursion situations.  I would call them directly.  There number is: 1-866-625-1167. I have always gotten much better answers from this number then from any other NCL source for Excursions. On this item also I would say you have NO ISSUE.  The number of folks that book excursions on the day you depart is minimal.  I still would call the number above.

 

I hope that helps.  Cruise well.

Thanks Sthrngary! 

 

We are about 30 days out from sailing. I will probably re-arrange dining with concierge on board, but if nothing else is available what we have will be fine.  We haven't tried Le Bistro and thought maybe we would give it a shot this time, of course we had already picked other restaurants.  Since I know they hold back slots this should be easily handled when we arrive. Yes I am talking about Thermal Spa passes for  the cruise, I went from a spa mini suite to the Haven 2 bdrm so I now have to buy the passes. We will get with concierge immediately upon boarding to get those, I am confident we will be successful.  I have never flown out so late after a cruise so I thought we would do an excursion through the cruise line.  I will try calling the excursion desk for the departure day excursion. I figured since we were Haven I would just work with them.

[GeorgiaGirl14]

12 minutes ago, tumblew467 said:

There is FB  page that is just dedicated to that-- you may want to check there

Thanks for the info, tumblew467.  What's the name of the Facebook Page?

[tumblew467]

48 minutes ago, GeorgiaGirl14 said:

Thanks for the info, tumblew467.  What's the name of the Facebook Page?

Norwegian freestyle Daily

[travelgals]

On 12/4/2019 at 12:31 PM, justhappy said:

Thanks, and you will love the Haven on the Encore, I was able to tour it during a preview cruise last month. It is beautiful and Adrian Bica is an awesome concierge.

Did you happen to notice if the Encore Haven has a sauna? I don't see it on the deck plan.. While the thermal suite has a lot to offer, I’d only use the sauna on my upcoming trip so it’s a big price to pay for a few trips to the sauna. 
I’ve found Haven to be very peaceful and have never had an issue with kids- even on a post Thanksgiving sailing. I did however have a very disappointing trip in October (non haven) on a sailing that I believe was filled at the last minute with a very large percentage of non english speaking guests out of NYC. Really large percentage (seemed like over half, but probably more like 30%) and it was loud and disruptive since they couldn't easily find their way around the ship plus mass confusion around and on the elevators. I think there were translators but the groups were large so lots of yelling. I’ve sailed out of NYC many times, almost exclusively and thought I’d seen it all since we live here, but have never had this issue. I think I’d prefer the unruly kids, lol. 

[justhappy]

6 hours ago, travelgals said:

Did you happen to notice if the Encore Haven has a sauna? I don't see it on the deck plan.. While the thermal suite has a lot to offer, I’d only use the sauna on my upcoming trip so it’s a big price to pay for a few trips to the sauna. 
I’ve found Haven to be very peaceful and have never had an issue with kids- even on a post Thanksgiving sailing. I did however have a very disappointing trip in October (non haven) on a sailing that I believe was filled at the last minute with a very large percentage of non english speaking guests out of NYC. Really large percentage (seemed like over half, but probably more like 30%) and it was loud and disruptive since they couldn't easily find their way around the ship plus mass confusion around and on the elevators. I think there were translators but the groups were large so lots of yelling. I’ve sailed out of NYC many times, almost exclusively and thought I’d seen it all since we live here, but have never had this issue. I think I’d prefer the unruly kids, lol. 

I didn’t go behind the pool courtyard area of the Haven on the Encore so I can’t say for sure about a sauna. Hopefully some here can say for sure.

[Niffernay]

On 1/9/2020 at 12:30 PM, GeorgiaGirl14 said:

Loving this thread for the added info. before our March 8 cruise.  Wish someone would post Freestyle Dailies.  

We just got off the Breakaway and I have all the dailies; I will upload them as soon as I get them scanned.  😀

[Suite Heart]

8 minutes ago, Niffernay said:

We just got off the Breakaway and I have all the dailies; I will upload them as soon as I get them scanned.  😀

 

That would be fabulous! Thank you!

[forgotmyCCname]

On 1/9/2020 at 10:49 AM, tumblew467 said:

The vibe beach club  is a sep entity. Has never been included for Haven. I beleive its 209 for the week. I saw that somewhere. But if I am inccorrect someone will let us know. I have sailed in the Haven and never thought I needed the vibe pass with the haven having its own private sundeck. I have seen in other posts that sometimes the concierage has tickets available , but am not sure how accurate this is. The vibe does not have a pool but oversized hot tubs. 

When we sailed Epic it was included.

[kickbutt10]

6 hours ago, forgotmyCCname said:

When we sailed Epic it was included.

From what I understand, the area on Epic is called POSH and it shares the same space as the Haven sundeck.  That is why it is included.  On the ships that have VIBE, it is a separate space from Haven and is not included.  

[Susandt]

On 1/13/2020 at 3:59 PM, Suite Heart said:

 

That would be fabulous! Thank you!

Awesome 

[forgotmyCCname]

3 hours ago, kickbutt10 said:

From what I understand, the area on Epic is called POSH and it shares the same space as the Haven sundeck.  That is why it is included.  On the ships that have VIBE, it is a separate space from Haven and is not included.  

Thank you!! Im a wealth of misinformation these days.

 

[suprmom28]

Hoping someone knows...what is the latest time you can disembark on your last day?  We're hoping to stay in our Deluxe Owner's Suite as long as possible-LOL

 

[kickbutt10]

2 hours ago, forgotmyCCname said:

Thank you!! Im a wealth of misinformation these days.

 

Oh, you were not really incorrect.  It is just different on Epic then on the other larger ships.  We wish they would include it or modify the Haven sundeck a bit to include an outside bar.  We love Haven but do not like that the bar area is so far removed from the sundeck.

[don't-use-real-name]

4 hours ago, suprmom28 said:

Hoping someone knows...what is the latest time you can disembark on your last day?  We're hoping to stay in our Deluxe Owner's Suite as long as possible-LOL

 

Ideally NCL would like you out of your stateroom digs earlier than 8:00 am and off the ship no later than 10:00 am !

You can go to the suite breakfast location on your ship have breakfast and leave from there.

Note that on some ships the Beverage Package ends some time after midnight on the last night of the cruise.

Breakfast with anything alcoholic - not so - Bar is closed -

 

Making your stateroom available for the new guests is nothing like a simple tidying up - bedding and bath

items must be fully exchanged - cabin cleaned through out - any furniture moved must be replaced to the

cabin specs -

Since you note that you are in the DOS all the beverages and Butler catered items must be replaced and the

complimentary bottles of booze selected by the new guests put in place -

the Platinum or other free perk items cards laid out for the new guests.

Your cabin steward will have his hands full to accomplish all this before the usual cabin readiness time of 1:00 pm !

AND HE HAS MORE THAN ONE CABIN TO ATTEND TO ! The Butler is also consumed in this rat race escorting

suite guests off the ship stocking the cabin with his fare and then awaiting the boarding call and escorting new guests

on board

 

Please leave the comfortable stateroom digs as soon as possible and go to breakfast giving the cabin/butler crew

more time to do their frenzied pace job - also leaving the ship early resulting a zero headcount makes things easier

for the guests coming on board - boarding may start promptly at the usual 11:00 am or designated time and in some

cases their cabin digs ready for occupancy !

 

 

[Greenpea2]

On 1/9/2020 at 3:31 PM, dporter said:

Thanks Sthrngary! 

 

We are about 30 days out from sailing. I will probably re-arrange dining with concierge on board, but if nothing else is available what we have will be fine.  We haven't tried Le Bistro and thought maybe we would give it a shot this time, of course we had already picked other restaurants.  Since I know they hold back slots this should be easily handled when we arrive. Yes I am talking about Thermal Spa passes for  the cruise, I went from a spa mini suite to the Haven 2 bdrm so I now have to buy the passes. We will get with concierge immediately upon boarding to get those, I am confident we will be successful.  I have never flown out so late after a cruise so I thought we would do an excursion through the cruise line.  I will try calling the excursion desk for the departure day excursion. I figured since we were Haven I would just work with them.

dporter, on my upcoming cruise I tried booking a cabana via the preconcierge--they told me excursions are not part of their bailiwick and I needed to do it via the excursions department. 

[suprmom28]

6 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Ideally NCL would like you out of your stateroom digs earlier than 8:00 am and off the ship no later than 10:00 am !

You can go to the suite breakfast location on your ship have breakfast and leave from there.

Note that on some ships the Beverage Package ends some time after midnight on the last night of the cruise.

Breakfast with anything alcoholic - not so - Bar is closed -

 

Making your stateroom available for the new guests is nothing like a simple tidying up - bedding and bath

items must be fully exchanged - cabin cleaned through out - any furniture moved must be replaced to the

cabin specs -

Since you note that you are in the DOS all the beverages and Butler catered items must be replaced and the

complimentary bottles of booze selected by the new guests put in place -

the Platinum or other free perk items cards laid out for the new guests.

Your cabin steward will have his hands full to accomplish all this before the usual cabin readiness time of 1:00 pm !

AND HE HAS MORE THAN ONE CABIN TO ATTEND TO ! The Butler is also consumed in this rat race escorting

suite guests off the ship stocking the cabin with his fare and then awaiting the boarding call and escorting new guests

on board

 

Please leave the comfortable stateroom digs as soon as possible and go to breakfast giving the cabin/butler crew

more time to do their frenzied pace job - also leaving the ship early resulting a zero headcount makes things easier

for the guests coming on board - boarding may start promptly at the usual 11:00 am or designated time and in some

cases their cabin digs ready for occupancy !

 

 

WOW!!! So many things and people to take care of, in such a small amount of time. Thank you for the information, I now understand why they want you out. We will definitely be out early! I do not want to be one of those people.

On a side note, with the complimentary bottles of alcohol...if we do not finish these, are we allowed to pack them and bring them home?

[dporter]

2 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

dporter, on my upcoming cruise I tried booking a cabana via the preconcierge--they told me excursions are not part of their bailiwick and I needed to do it via the excursions department. 

Thank you.

 

i received a response that I have to do shore excursions through shore excursions. No worries we will see what choices are once onboard if nothing we will wander on our own or enjoy a quiet ship. 
 

I did receive confirmation yesterday that my thermal spa passes are reserved for us, this was the most important to us; I was trying to avoid an I told you do from my other half for upgrading out of spa room to 2 bedroom when he said to not bother. The price was the same I wanted the larger space in Haven proper.

[Cruising since 3]

42 minutes ago, suprmom28 said:

WOW!!! So many things and people to take care of, in such a small amount of time. Thank you for the information, I now understand why they want you out. We will definitely be out early! I do not want to be one of those people.

On a side note, with the complimentary bottles of alcohol...if we do not finish these, are we allowed to pack them and bring them home?

On a past cruise we took our bottles with leftovers with us, but we were only driving home.  We carried them off in our carry-on bags.