Prima Haven - Some Almost-Curmudgeonly Musings!

[HBCcruiser]

3 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Haven complex.

I like that better than Haven Proper. I’m stealing it. 😜😀

[Two Wheels Only]

5 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

I think the point is that it is in the Haven, which @pcakes122 was saying it was not.  That is why we were confused, it is aft, so it is in fact a Haven room, in the Haven complex.

 

I read it as pcakes is accustomed to having an accessible stateroom in the same deck/area as the courtyard. The BA and BA Plus ships have that in addition to the one outside of the complex (deck 13).

 

Prima forces pcakes to be "outside" but still "inside" (if that makes sense).

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I read it as pcakes is accustomed to having an accessible stateroom in the same deck/area as the courtyard. The BA and BA Plus ships have that in addition to the one outside of the complex (deck 13).

 

Prima forces pcakes to be "outside" but still "inside" (if that makes sense).

It does. I’m in the aft OS on deck 10 (10952). Either way Haven folks have to use the elevator. It doesn’t bother me to take it at deck 10 rather than deck 15. 

[Seany527]

33 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

I just checked on that Haven elevator. It is labeled as Haven Private Elevators all the way from Deck 6 up. There are other elevators fore of the Haven ones. 

But what if someone in the Haven wants to go to deck 5? They have to use the stairs?? 😱

[pcakes122]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I read it as pcakes is accustomed to having an accessible stateroom in the same deck/area as the courtyard. The BA and BA Plus ships have that in addition to the one outside of the complex (deck 13).

 

Prima forces pcakes to be "outside" but still "inside" (if that makes sense).

Yes.  What I meant is that the Haven suite that I am in is in a non-Haven hallway. The cabins directly on either side of me are Haven suites, but the rest of the cabins on the way to the Haven elevator are all non-Haven cabins. I don't know the width of that hallway on the Prima, but I use a mobility scooter and/or chair. On the other NCL ships, the Haven hallways are generally wider than the regular hallways.  Also, with a mobility scooter, lots of elevator rides are not ideal either for me or for the other guests (not sure how big the Prima Haven elevator is, but if it's small that's no fun for anybody.)

 

Edited May 18, 2021 by pcakes122

[HBCcruiser]

47 minutes ago, Seany527 said:

But what if someone in the Haven wants to go to deck 5? They have to use the stairs?? 😱

There are only cabins on deck 5. There are other elevators close to the Haven elevators. 

[pcakes122]

2 hours ago, oteixeira said:

I am a little confused.  If you are truly aft on this ship, that you are in the Haven from deck 10-15 (which are the room decks), as @HBCcruiser said.  I thought the Accessible rooms were the odd ones on the bump out with the triangle balconies (just forward of the Haven area).  Am I confused?

I think you may be assuming that all of the cabins in the aft section are Haven? For example, on deck 10 where I am booked, the ONLY cabins that are Haven are the two Owner Suites and my Aft Penthouse. All of the other cabins in that hallway are either regular balconies or family balconies. 

[HBCcruiser]

2 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

I think you may be assuming that all of the cabins in the aft section are Haven? For example, on deck 10 where I am booked, the ONLY cabins that are Haven are the two Owner Suites and my Aft Penthouse. All of the other cabins in that hallway are either regular balconies or family balconies. 

Correct, and only Haven passengers can use the Haven elevators. It does not bother me at all because everyone staying in Haven suites must use those Haven elevators to get to the Haven Sundeck, restaurants, pool, hot tubs, bars and lounge. Exit room, get in elevator and go. 😎

[pcakes122]

23 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Correct, and only Haven passengers can use the Haven elevators. It does not bother me at all because everyone staying in Haven suites must use those Haven elevators to get to the Haven Sundeck, restaurants, pool, hot tubs, bars and lounge. Exit room, get in elevator and go. 😎

The issue for me is my scooter and/or chair. The existing Haven elevators on the Breakaway+ class are tiny, so I feel bad making people wait since no one else can really fit in the elevator with my scooter.  (It also requires a precise K-turn to get in and out at the sundeck lol) I try to avoid using the Haven elevators for that reason. Hopefully, the Haven elevators on the Prima are larger.  Since I'm on a lower Haven floor, I can just picture the elevator stopping at every floor on the way up to the Haven and having to say "sorry, no room." I hate inconveniencing people, but it is what it is. 🥺

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, pcakes122 said:

The issue for me is my scooter and/or chair. The existing Haven elevators on the Breakaway+ class are tiny, so I feel bad making people wait since no one else can really fit in the elevator with my scooter.  (It also requires a precise K-turn to get in and out at the sundeck lol) I try to avoid using the Haven elevators for that reason. Hopefully, the Haven elevators on the Prima are larger.  Since I'm on a lower Haven floor, I can just picture the elevator stopping at every floor on the way up to the Haven and having to say "sorry, no room." I hate inconveniencing people, but it is what it is. 
 

First, I think there is more than one Haven elevator. Good thing. Second, people should be understanding about all people’s needs. It is called common courtesy. I’m sorry that you feel that you inconvenience people. You would never inconvenience me. 

[HBCcruiser]

Just now, HBCcruiser said:

First, I think there is more than one Haven elevator. Good thing. Second, people should be understanding about all people’s needs. It is called common courtesy. I’m sorry that you feel that you inconvenience people. You would never inconvenience me. 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

4 hours ago, oteixeira said:

I think they allowed you to do that because there was no one else up there.  These were always advertised (at least since the Escape was the newest ship) as adult only as far as I can remember.

 

No, the "16+ sundeck" came years later. I believe it started in 2018 (Breakaway?) and spread to all of the BA/BA Plus ships. 

[Two Wheels Only]

9 hours ago, rwf1 said:

How will the private Haven elevators actually work? Since they also lead to public decks, will there be issues with non-Haven guests getting on the elevators with Haven guests?

 

There's nothing physically stopping a non-Haven guest from getting on....

 

9 hours ago, rwf1 said:

And could they then get off on deck 16?

 

The elevator opens right next to the concierge desk. That's where the armed security guards will be. 😁

 

9 hours ago, rwf1 said:

Not that I care, but I just wonder if this new layout will lead to minor confrontations or make it more difficult for staff to discover non-Haven guests in the Haven.

 

Either specially colored stateroom keys (worn around the neck) or RFID wristbands could be used to identify Haven guests. 

 

9 hours ago, rwf1 said:

MSC has private elevators to the Yacht Club, I think. How does it work on those ships?

 

MSC lets Yacht Club guests "hijack" some of the common elevators. A YC guest summons an elevator (on deck 6, for ex.) and the display for 1 elevator will read "Priority Service" or similar on all of the decks. People waiting on deck 10 will think that particular elevator is out of service, usually)

 

 

...and that elevator will come straight to the deck that summoned it. Swipe your card once inside and press your desired deck (whichever Yacht Club deck you want to go) and the elevator will express right to that deck. If someone else gets on and tries to press their desired non-Yacht Club deck and doesn't have a YC card, the elevator won't stop there. If anyone presses UP on any other deck, the priority elevator will ignore the request. 

 

Some non-YC guests hop on for the ride then ride back down once the elevator is free. Priority doesn't work on every elevator, though. I think 1 or 2 per bank.

 

Prima could use something similar to summon an elevator then go up to the Haven. It looks like 2 elevators are side by side. 

[rwf1]

4 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

There's nothing physically stopping a non-Haven guest from getting on....

 

For some reason, this is a concern of mine--although it won't stop me from sailing the Prima!

I don't like being the focus of attention, and we know Haven guests sometimes receive negative attention. Waiting for Haven elevators from public decks will make me feel awkward (but I will get over it). And I know there will be people who hop on the elevator after we swipe our key card just to check it out.

 

4 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

The elevator opens right next to the concierge desk. That's where the armed security guards will be. 😁

 

Well, we shouldn't expect anything less! 😀

 

4 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

MSC lets Yacht Club guests "hijack" some of the common elevators. A YC guest summons an elevator (on deck 6, for ex.) and the display for 1 elevator will read "Priority Service" or similar on all of the decks. People waiting on deck 10 will think that particular elevator is out of service, usually)

 

Oh, right. I forgot Yacht Club guests could hijack the elevator. Hmmm. . . I guess that would make me feel even more awkward. I prefer having Haven elevators to that system.

 

Thanks for all of the info!

[Seany527]

13 hours ago, rwf1 said:

I don't like being the focus of attention, and we know Haven guests sometimes receive negative attention.

Omg. It was my first time sailing in the Haven. I was at the embarkation port and being escorted to priority checkin and this woman started going berserk that I was cutting the line and she was there before me. It was so uncomfortable and awkward and the worker at the port just let her go off on me.

[rwf1]

1 hour ago, Seany527 said:

Omg. It was my first time sailing in the Haven. I was at the embarkation port and being escorted to priority checkin and this woman started going berserk that I was cutting the line and she was there before me. It was so uncomfortable and awkward and the worker at the port just let her go off on me.

 

Wow! That must have been such a disappointing way to start the cruise.

Yeah, this is the kind of reaction that I dread when staying in the Haven. However, my fear of these situations hasn't stopped me from rebooking the Haven, so I guess I'm not too concerned.

[Sailing12Away]

23 hours ago, pcakes122 said:

The issue for me is my scooter and/or chair. The existing Haven elevators on the Breakaway+ class are tiny, so I feel bad making people wait since no one else can really fit in the elevator with my scooter.  (It also requires a precise K-turn to get in and out at the sundeck lol) I try to avoid using the Haven elevators for that reason. Hopefully, the Haven elevators on the Prima are larger.  Since I'm on a lower Haven floor, I can just picture the elevator stopping at every floor on the way up to the Haven and having to say "sorry, no room." I hate inconveniencing people, but it is what it is. 🥺

Don't worry about other people, they'll get over it. If not, the rest of us will back you up.

My last trip pre-Covid we were on the Epic in the Haven and there was a gentleman with a scooter. Everyone got to know him and we all helped to keep doors open when he was coming/going through the corridors. There will be nasty folks everywhere, but I think the majority will be helpful and sympathetic - as long as we're all on a cruise again the tolerance and patience levels will be high.