NCL Getaway Dec 22-27, 2021 Review - Haven Noob

[elf426]

This review has been brewing in my mind since before we even set foot onboard, but it's struggling to come out how it sounds in my head. I can only describe my first Haven experience as an initiation where I wasn't given a pledge book. Not sure how this will come across to everyone (I'm guessing it'll be "you're not the prototypical Haven client"), but here goes:

A little background
Two 30-something DINKs on their first NCL sailing - in The Haven no less (dramatic oohhing and ahhhing). We're historically Royal loyalists, although this is our third post-Covid sailing on three different lines - Celebrity Edge in July, Virgin Voyages Scarlet Lady in October. We chose this NCL Getaway sailing as my husband had FCC from a prior cancelled that needed to be used and the price and timing worked out. 

Embarkation
Our 3.5 hour drive from the Orlando area to Miami was uneventful. Our drive from arriving to the Port of Miami to the terminal...well, I can say now it set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. No directional signage to be found, we eventually made it to the garage only to find zero available spaces, save for low emissions ones. Guess where we parked. 

The pre-boarding testing queue was outrageous. We arrived at noon and the entire testing process took us just under two and a half hours. This pre-board testing is not new for NCL and if this is how it's run all the time oooohhhh buddy. I assumed (shame on me) the line outside was the line. After about 20 minutes we got to the building entrance where security was hand-wanding people. Not exactly sure the point of this since they weren't checking bags, but sure, create unnecessary bottlenecks for the sake of "security". Then...Welcome to Thunderdome. Seriously, that's the only way to describe the testing room with its maze of switchbacks and bodies. Two hours of weaving around a room, listening to the party behind us complain about how long the line is. We know, we're here, too. Please back up a step and quit breathing down my neck, sir. I wish I could say what the slowdown was, but even know thinking back I have no idea. There looked to be about 20 testing stations and all you did was scan your barcode, confirm your name and DOB, self-swap your nose and they handed you your results card with directions to the waiting zone. The two of us took all of three minutes at the station. 

It was 2:30 when we finally entered the terminal and were sent straight up to Haven check-in. I hear there's like a lounge with snacks and whatnot, but we didn't even have a chance to look around. ID check, handed keys, walked on board. Easy peasy. Finally.

Cabin
We had booked a Haven Courtyard Penthouse Suite. The room was fine, the bed was great, actually. I'm surprised how many people say they dine in their rooms - do you get a bigger table when you order room service? Ours was a tiny cafe table and I can't imagine dinner being served there. We weren't lacking for storage, although the tiny drawers in the closet were laughable. Only two American outlets in the entire room is something that needs addressed ASAP. Not ok. Balcony furniture was comfy, although I would have enjoyed a lounger. *I'll note here something I saw on a familiar social media site where someone with a "large balcony" posted that she was unhappy with the furniture provided (a cafe table and two chairs). Someone responds with "well, why didn't you ask your butler for some loungers?" Who would think to ask for different furniture?!? Am I crazy? If there were supposed to be loungers, there would have been. I'd never in a million years think to ask the butler for new furniture. See top comment about Haven initiation.

Service
Speaking of butlers, ours was Ricky. He was very nice and did all the things I'm generally used to a cabin steward doing. Again, first-timers in the Haven and not sure what to really use the butler for. Our room attendant was Edwin. The main concierge in the Haven Lounge was David and I also saw Ivan. We had an excellent server on multiple occasions, Ronie (one "n") and bartender Christian was good as well. I needed assistance from the concierge twice, once to modify a specialty dining reservation that was made incorrectly on embarkation day at Headliners, and again for a spa appointment that was decided spur of the moment while we were at the bar. Overall service was good. My biggest complaint would be lack of attendants in the courtyard, but I learned to always get a drink on my way outside.

Food
Dining in the Haven restaurant was pleasant, generally. I think we had breakfast four times, lunch twice and dinner three times "in the bubble". One tidbit I did get out of my pre-cruise research was to ask for filet at breakfast one day in advance. What I didn't know, and maybe this isn't a regular thing so don't go all "well ELF said...", was that once we put that order in it became a standing order. On the plus side, my husband got filet and eggs twice (we had put the request in for Christmas morning), but he could have potentially had it every day? Lesson learned. We also ate dinner at Cagneys with our one "free at sea" certificate and once at the noodle place by the casino. No major complaints, however, be prepared to be chastised if you don't eat three courses at lunch. Twice we went and had just soup or just a sandwich and our waiter acted like it was the end of the world. I was initially miffed that the menu doesn't rotate (Coastal Kitchen on RCI is my only comparison), but I got over it. 

Also, as to the great debate of dress code in the Haven restaurant, yeah.....nice try. On Christmas night one family got turned away dressed in swim coverups, but when the mom went back to the hostess stand to clarify who needed to change, she was told just the son (who was wearing a tank top). We saw shorts on men at all meals, hats more at breakfast and lunch, bathing suits at all meals (hard to hide a hot pink string tie around your neck). Did it change the way my food tasted? Nope. 

Lastly, single handedly the worst pizza onboard any ship. Buffet only and gross. Sometimes a girl just wants a snack, dang.

Entertainment
Sorry, I went to Howl at the Moon once and no other shows. I slept a lot. I read two and half books. I guess this ties more into ship layout, but I found it very peculiar that so much activity took place in the main atrium. Movies were shown there, the love and marriage show was there, trivia was there, Christmas Mass from the Vatican was shown there. With so many venues on board, I wonder why they chose that option (especially L&M with its "PG-13 rating"). The other weird thing I thought about the overuse of the atrium is its proximity to the arcade. The clang of the air hockey machine would wreck any movie for me. Oh, and CD "Travelling Jeff" - take it down a notch and please never bing! again.

Random Thoughts
We "got" all of the Free at Sea perks, however, they're no more of a nickel and dime scheme than buying a la carte. You still pay tax on the drinks package, the Wifi was dismal at best. Some of you will call me cheap, but I try to stay in my pre-purchased lane. I never once saw a wine list or bar menu in the Haven, so I did my best to assume that whatever I was ordering was within reason. However, I never saw anyone sign slips for what I assumed were overages (higher end whiskeys for instance). The non-stop in-room voicemails, TV messages and daily inserts for next cruise, photo studio, excursions was brutal. The upsell is hard, guys. 

 

Overhead announcements: necessary evil or effective mode of communication? In this case, chaotic evil. I get that the captain needs to come on and do his blah blah nautical miles blah blah but between his briefings then Jeff jumping on the mic twice a day it was overkill. Perhaps I'm biased and our last sailing on VV ruined me forever with its NONE overhead announcements. 

Covid protocols: performative at best. Like someone from this same sailing posted earlier, one poor guy was plopped into the main entrance of the buffet with a spray bottle of sanitizer (while six sinks and two additional sanitizer machines sat unused). Haven hostess Janet was pretty reliable in asking to washy washy on the way in. There was directional signage in the stairwells (up and down) but they felt backwards and I thought they were from the European sailings and would get taken off...alas, it didn't stop anything. While the onboard mask protocol was dropped in our laps at the 11th hour, most onboard did a decent job complying. We all have opinions about it and respectfully, this isn't the debate floor. They made the rule and we did our best to observe it. 

 

Did I maximize my Haven experience? Not a damn clue in the world. How are you supposed to know if you did or not? Did I use the exclusive restaurant every day? Yes. Did I use the exclusive pool and courtyard every day? Yes. Did I ask my butler to do cartwheels down the hall while singing Jingle Bells? No, but can I? I don't need for much. I can get my own coffee, I like eating in restaurants, I can make my own dinner reservations. Am I the wrong customer for the Haven? Can you desire upgraded amenities, pool chairs and steak without feeling like you have to ask someone to hold your hand?

 

Did the Haven ruin me forever? Well, kinda. See, I doubt I'll ever sail NCL as gen-pop, but I'd try the Haven again if the price was right. I'll say that 90% of this sailing was spent in the "bubble" of the Haven. It's slightly unfair of me to judge NCL as a whole based on one-tenth of one ship, but hey, if not on CC, where 🙂 Lacking an adults-only area like the solarium on RCI or Celebrity, I didn't find another hidey hole onboard Getaway that mimics that environment (aside from the Haven courtyard, which isn't adults only and that's a debate for  another day, too). And no, Spice H2O is not that area either.

 

But could I go back to RCI in a junior or grand suite? Totally. Does diamond status that comes with certain perks help me make that decision? Obviously. Is it time for us to graduate from mainstream commercial lines to "upscale" and "luxury"? Maybe. Anyone want to throw out some good options?

 

I have the dailies in case anyone is interested, just let me know and I'll upload them. I personally found it absurd how much paper we threw away from inserts and notes in the room...and those forsaken paper straws....my molehill...

 

Thanks for reading and letting me drain my bucket. No future cruising on my horizon but I look forward to living vicariously through all of you.
 

[khia213]

Please can you upload the dailies?  Thanks!

[TNcruising02]

Thanks for posting your experience.  I have cruised on Norwegian a couple of times, but never stayed in the Haven.  My brother and his wife will only stay in the Haven.  I can see some benefit if the ship is sailing at capacity.  Maybe.  But so many people love it.  Your perspective was interesting.

[Sailing12Away]

I find it interesting that this was your first NCL Haven experience and in October I had my first RCC suite experience. Many things you seemed disappointed with on NCL were the exact things I complained about with RCC. My first Haven experience was lack-luster as well. I too didn't quite know what I was getting myself into or what was within the norm - lots of reading and research later (there's a few great threads here in these boards that go over all the silly things some are afraid to ask and help folks better prepare for their 2nd experience). Experiences after that have been 10x better, and I know what to expect and when to speak up when something is missing.

 

I have zero empathy for your parking woes, unless you're about to tell me that the other cruise lines have a gold plated reserved spot for you when you pull up. That would be like me complaining about lack of affordable parking in NYC anywhere that my car will actually still be there and safe when I return. 

 

As for the pre-embarking stuff.... not sure how many were on your sailing, but getting 2000+ people through check-in with all the ever changing rules and protocols is no easy feat. Not everyone is computer savvy and has all their ducks in a row on a smartphone to speed up the process. Plus, people don't follow the rules. They pick 12pm as their check-in time but get there early - causing an overflow and traffic jam. Again, lesson learned - if you want to enjoy the Haven pre-boarding area (it isn't anything super great), just get there a bit earlier next time. You don't have to rush onto the ship the moment you're allowed to if you don't want, so you could have relaxed in there a bit before going on if you wanted.

 

Dining in the room... if there's only 2 of you those small tables are actually fine. We've only done breakfast in the room, but if you're doing dinner I think they bring each course out one at a time - so they'll clear away the used things when they bring the next round. It's more about the convenience of being able to do so if you want to free of charge. 

 

Outlets.... don't you bring a small surge protector when you travel, or is that just me? In our owners suite on RCC we didn't even have enough outlets to use the coffee pot. 2 US outlets near the bed/dressing mirror. That's it. So if we wanted to make tea or coffee had to move the coffee pot from the bar area to the bed.... that to me is much worse than using a small surge protector for my phone charger & camera battery charger/laptop.

 

Snacks.... that's what O'Sheehans/The Local is for. Or your butler. They can bring you literally anything from the ship. Nachos, wings, grilled cheese, PB&J, chips, etc.... next time you'll know what to ask for (I avoid pizza anywhere on a cruise ship, but that's just me).

 

I'm not going to debate all of your opinions, you just seem a bit overly critical when it seems like you just didn't have enough experience to know the options available to you to make the trip what you wanted it to be. My recommendation is to give it another go with more info under your belt - as I plan to do with RCC.

[Old & Retired]

Getting the most out of a Haven cruise is a learned experience for most.  Best to do your research before if you can.  Otherwise it's OJT.  Usually by the third Haven cruise, you should know the ropes.

[Captain_Morgan]

Thank you for the review, which if we were staying in the Haven could very well have been written by us as well!!  

Your reference to the pre-embark chaos (aka Thunderdome) was brilliant as it certainly felt that way outside of the terminal when we arrived around 10am and things gradually calmed (albeit just slightly) when we got into the testing area; however, as you say it was much ado about nothing when you consider the lack of activity going on inside to cause such commotion outside.

 

Its difficult to write constructive feedback without coming across as 'negative' or 'miserable' or in some people's minds ungrateful that you were actually able to travel during a pandemic but, much like us you sound like the type of people who don't want everything for nothing, just good value for what you have paid and reasonable expectations of the same, which on this sailing fell short...

 

Funny enough, my DW spent a lot of time cursing the paper straws as well which i found their use ironic given the drinks were still served in single use plastic cups?!?  Who am I to say?!? 🙄

 

Seems our perspective on the hard-sell marketing blitz of never-ending messages, annoying overhead announcements by people who think they're entertaining, and the puzzling overuse of the atrium for ALL things wasn't just our own which is somewhat comforting for lack of a better phrase.

 

Having sailed 'higher end' brands I can say that there are some benefits but there are also plenty of minuses as well but those things are all very much down to the individual and what they want versus what they're willing to accept I suppose.

 

[jemz1949]

Yes, please post the Dailies.  Thank you.

[Two Wheels Only]

13 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Outlets.... don't you bring a small surge protector when you travel, or is that just me?

 

You should NOT use a surge protector on a cruise ship.

 

A power strip without surge protection is fine.

 

17 hours ago, elf426 said:

I'm surprised how many people say they dine in their rooms - do you get a bigger table when you order room service? Ours was a tiny cafe table and I can't imagine dinner being served there.

 

Different suites have more space than others. Some suites have enough table space to dine inside or out on the balcony.

 

17 hours ago, elf426 said:

Who would think to ask for different furniture?!? Am I crazy? If there were supposed to be loungers, there would have been. I'd never in a million years think to ask the butler for new furniture.

 

Some guests want more space. Some guests want more furniture. If the previous guests asked for a lounger, it would be there. If the previous guests asked for the lounger to be removed, it won't be there. It's up to you as long as there is room for an extra chair, lounger, etc.

[CarolinaMamma]

Thanks for sharing your review! It sounds like higher-end cruise lines may be better for you unless and until you decide to have kids. For us, the Haven gives us the peace and quiet, no lines, and better food we want while on a big ship that has fun stuff for our teens to do. 
 

i agree with you that the “free at sea” promotions are kind of deceptive. A $50 per stateroom credit is not really “free shore excursions,” but a coupon. The internet package doesn’t bother us, because we cruise to get away from the internet. I wish NCL included bottled water and coffee drinks without having to buy the premium plus beverage package. (Celebrity has a premium

non-alcoholic package that includes these). 
 

Did you try the thermal spa on Getaway? It’s a lovely, adults-only area. At least I’m pretty sure Getaway has one. Her sister ship, Breakaway, does. 
 

With a little pre-cruise research, we’ve had some excellent experiences on NCL, but once we are empty nesters, we may upgrade to higher end cruise lines. 

[mrmerlin2005]

24 minutes ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Did you try the thermal spa on Getaway? It’s a lovely, adults-only area

My wife and I had thermal pass for this cruise and we enjoyed it a few times.  We also purchased a pass to the Vibe Club, which I believe we will continue to do in the future.  At its busiest, the Vibe Club had 15 or 20 people and no kids.  It was a perfect for us, had loungers we could sit and read in, had it's own private bar, and 2 hot tubs that were rarely in use.

[mrmerlin2005]

19 hours ago, elf426 said:

Oh, and CD "Travelling Jeff" - take it down a notch and please never bing! again.

OMG!!! THIS!!!!

[UKstages]

15 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Outlets.... don't you bring a small surge protector when you travel, or is that just me? 

 

2 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

You should NOT use a surge protector on a cruise ship.

 

A power strip without surge protection is fine.

 

just to elaborate... people often use the term "power strip" and "surge protector" interchangeably. but you can have a power strip without surge protection and indeed that is what you want on a cruise ship... a cube or strip with several outlets and/or USB ports without a surge protector.

 

but most cruise lines ban "power strips" because most most power strips have surge protectors and cruise lines don't want to get into a linguistic debate about what you call that thingamajig.

 

but what they really care about is the surge protector feature on your power strip. the reason is that it becomes a fire risk onboard. ship wiring is different than home wiring... it is symmetric without a ground. if you use a surge protector with this sort of setup,  it can lead to overheating, melting, burning or an all out fire on board. you also may blow out the power entirely in your section of your deck and it may take several hours to repair.

 

i travel domestically and internationally with a power strip with a surge protector because many older hotels have poor or inaccessible outlets. but on cruise ships, i always take a simple (no surge protector) multi-socket cube that also has USB ports.

Edited December 29, 2021 by UKstages

[numberguy]

20 hours ago, elf426 said:

Oh, and CD "Travelling Jeff" - take it down a notch and please never bing! again.

 We were on the November/December cruise to Greece/Italy two cruises before yours, and Travelling Jeff was the Assistant CD then.  I think he might have gotten the "bing!" from his predecessor, who ended every announcement with "woo-hoo!" as a signature sign-off.  Even the other staff were teasing him about the "woo-hoo!"

 

20 hours ago, elf426 said:

I never once saw a wine list or bar menu in the Haven

You had to ask for one if you wanted to see it, or you could have scanned a QR code (if you could find it) on your phone.  We also learned there are certain things they can't make at every bar, but they'll go to other bars to get them.  The LGBT group met in the mojito bar each night at 7, but there were several Europeans in the group who wanted Aperol spritzes, so the waiter would go to the Mixx bar to get them.

 

20 hours ago, elf426 said:

Overhead announcements: necessary evil or effective mode of communication? In this case, chaotic evil. I get that the captain needs to come on and do his blah blah nautical miles blah blah but between his briefings then Jeff jumping on the mic twice a day it was overkill.

We met with the CD briefly during the LGBT gathering one night and he said that the CD getting on the mic immediately after the captain and somewhat repeating what the Captain had said is a requirement that NCL corporate mandated.  The Captain had a very deep Greek accent, so it was difficult to understand everything he said, so I sort of appreciated it, but I can understand where you're coming from.

 

--Michael

[kitty-sail]

15 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

I find it interesting that this was your first NCL Haven experience and in October I had my first RCC suite experience. Many things you seemed disappointed with on NCL were the exact things I complained about with RCC. My first Haven experience was lack-luster as well. I too didn't quite know what I was getting myself into or what was within the norm - lots of reading and research later (there's a few great threads here in these boards that go over all the silly things some are afraid to ask and help folks better prepare for their 2nd experience). Experiences after that have been 10x better, and I know what to expect and when to speak up when something is missing.

 

I have zero empathy for your parking woes, unless you're about to tell me that the other cruise lines have a gold plated reserved spot for you when you pull up. That would be like me complaining about lack of affordable parking in NYC anywhere that my car will actually still be there and safe when I return. 

 

As for the pre-embarking stuff.... not sure how many were on your sailing, but getting 2000+ people through check-in with all the ever changing rules and protocols is no easy feat. Not everyone is computer savvy and has all their ducks in a row on a smartphone to speed up the process. Plus, people don't follow the rules. They pick 12pm as their check-in time but get there early - causing an overflow and traffic jam. Again, lesson learned - if you want to enjoy the Haven pre-boarding area (it isn't anything super great), just get there a bit earlier next time. You don't have to rush onto the ship the moment you're allowed to if you don't want, so you could have relaxed in there a bit before going on if you wanted.

 

Dining in the room... if there's only 2 of you those small tables are actually fine. We've only done breakfast in the room, but if you're doing dinner I think they bring each course out one at a time - so they'll clear away the used things when they bring the next round. It's more about the convenience of being able to do so if you want to free of charge. 

 

Outlets.... don't you bring a small surge protector when you travel, or is that just me? In our owners suite on RCC we didn't even have enough outlets to use the coffee pot. 2 US outlets near the bed/dressing mirror. That's it. So if we wanted to make tea or coffee had to move the coffee pot from the bar area to the bed.... that to me is much worse than using a small surge protector for my phone charger & camera battery charger/laptop.

 

Snacks.... that's what O'Sheehans/The Local is for. Or your butler. They can bring you literally anything from the ship. Nachos, wings, grilled cheese, PB&J, chips, etc.... next time you'll know what to ask for (I avoid pizza anywhere on a cruise ship, but that's just me).

 

I'm not going to debate all of your opinions, you just seem a bit overly critical when it seems like you just didn't have enough experience to know the options available to you to make the trip what you wanted it to be. My recommendation is to give it another go with more info under your belt - as I plan to do with RCC.

thank you for expressing wisdom and logic.

[elf426]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I think this brief consensus is that even with research, you can’t possibly grasp the breadth of the Haven your first go-round. That’s fine, I hope this didn’t come off that I was miserable the whole time. Mudslides, cranberry mimosas, super soft loungers and a king size bed will generally make me a pretty happy gal. It’s just all the Haven “isms” that take some time to learn. 
 

I’ll get the dailies posted shortly for those that asked (mindless sales inserts not included).

[elf426]

Day 1

[elf426]

Day 2

[elf426]

Day 3

[elf426]

Day 4

[elf426]

Day 5

[elf426]

1 hour ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Thanks for sharing your review! It sounds like higher-end cruise lines may be better for you unless and until you decide to have kids. For us, the Haven gives us the peace and quiet, no lines, and better food we want while on a big ship that has fun stuff for our teens to do. 
 

i agree with you that the “free at sea” promotions are kind of deceptive. A $50 per stateroom credit is not really “free shore excursions,” but a coupon. The internet package doesn’t bother us, because we cruise to get away from the internet. I wish NCL included bottled water and coffee drinks without having to buy the premium plus beverage package. (Celebrity has a premium

non-alcoholic package that includes these). 
 

Did you try the thermal spa on Getaway? It’s a lovely, adults-only area. At least I’m pretty sure Getaway has one. Her sister ship, Breakaway, does. 
 

With a little pre-cruise research, we’ve had some excellent experiences on NCL, but once we are empty nesters, we may upgrade to higher end cruise lines. 

No worry about the "kids someday" here. We talked ad nauseum about if the ship were just the Haven, we'd have loved it, which begs the question what is the next step? I don't mind kids on cruises, however, there's something drawing me personally to Viking Ocean, which is 18+. VV is also adults only, but it's its own animal and I'm a bit of a traditionalist. My favorite spaces on Celebrity Edge this past July were the magic carpet bar and the solarium. 

 

We didn't try the thermal suite as there was some confusion about whether or not masks were required, which seemed pointless then. @mrmerlin2005can you confirm what the ruling was?

[elf426]

21 minutes ago, numberguy said:

You had to ask for one if you wanted to see it, or you could have scanned a QR code (if you could find it) on your phone.  We also learned there are certain things they can't make at every bar, but they'll go to other bars to get them.  The LGBT group met in the mojito bar each night at 7, but there were several Europeans in the group who wanted Aperol spritzes, so the waiter would go to the Mixx bar to get them.

 

--Michael

Did you at all find it odd that the majority of their mojitos were not uh...mojitos? Sticking a sprig of mint in a cocktail does not a mojito make. Conversely, I asked for an Aperol Spritz in the Haven lounge one night, which didn't have all of the ingredients and ended up with some sort of grapefruit concoction. Can't screw up a glass of bubbly. 

[aubreyc1988]

1 minute ago, elf426 said:

No worry about the "kids someday" here. We talked ad nauseum about if the ship were just the Haven, we'd have loved it, which begs the question what is the next step? I don't mind kids on cruises, however, there's something drawing me personally to Viking Ocean, which is 18+. VV is also adults only, but it's its own animal and I'm a bit of a traditionalist. My favorite spaces on Celebrity Edge this past July were the magic carpet bar and the solarium. 

 

We didn't try the thermal suite as there was some confusion about whether or not masks were required, which seemed pointless then. @mrmerlin2005can you confirm what the ruling was?

the audacity of people saying "When you decide to have kids", I can't even 

 

my husband and I are DINKS, and I just bristle whenever I see this, sorry!

 

Thank you for the review, my husband and I are considering the Haven for end of Jan. Still unsure so it will probably be a last minute decision but really enjoyed reading your feedback, definitely is helpful to us. 

[Captain_Morgan]

2 hours ago, elf426 said:

No worry about the "kids someday" here. We talked ad nauseum about if the ship were just the Haven, we'd have loved it, which begs the question what is the next step? I don't mind kids on cruises, however, there's something drawing me personally to Viking Ocean, which is 18+. VV is also adults only, but it's its own animal and I'm a bit of a traditionalist. My favorite spaces on Celebrity Edge this past July were the magic carpet bar and the solarium. 

Viking Ocean is very good value, especially when you compare the average cost of a stay in the Haven.  That said, you will undoubtedly be the youngest passengers onboard by a long way so if you don't mind that you will likely enjoy the overall experience as the ships are very understated in their elegance and the food offerings are quite high quality too.

[Sailing12Away]

7 hours ago, UKstages said:

just to elaborate... people often use the term "power strip" and "surge protector" interchangeably. but you can have a power strip without surge protection and indeed that is what you want on a cruise ship... a cube or strip with several outlets and/or USB ports without a surge protector.

 

but most cruise lines ban "power strips" because most most power strips have surge protectors and cruise lines don't want to get into a linguistic debate about what you call that thingamajig.

 

i travel domestically and internationally with a power strip with a surge protector because many older hotels have poor or inaccessible outlets. but on cruise ships, i always take a simple (no surge protector) multi-socket cube that also has USB ports.

yes... this, exactly. A way to turn one outlet into more than one, with a USB charger built in so I don't need a separate outlet just to charge my phone.

 

Another interesting comparison between NCL & RCC that I found was that the bars on NCL have different drink menus. With RCC - nearly every single bar was the same exact menu. So why bother going to different bars with them? We found that boring, and I had to use my phone all the time with RCC - they didn't have any printed menus at all. Not easy when you're wearing a dress without pockets to carry a phone just to see a menu...

 

Haven bar experience on our most recent Alaska cruise was out of this world the best experience. No menu needed - just tell them what you're in the mood for, or a particular spirit and they would work magic. I asked Veronica for something with cucumber and it turned into the Veronica special night after night for me. Or 'something creamy' and it turned into a frozen tiramisu. It makes getting to try new things more fun rather than just randomly picking something based on the name that everyone else is getting. That's how I found out I liked RumChata and needed to add it to my personal stores when I returned.