In Review: NCL Bliss - Solo in a Haven Spa Suite (via upgrade)

[maren91]

Just wanted to pay it forward to all those that have helped me plan out cruises in the past and pass along some of my experiences and answer any questions anyone has about the NCL Bliss, solo cruising, scoring an upgrade or anything else I can try and help answer.

 

Back Story:

Two weeks ago I was so frustrated with work I contemplated tossing my phone and computer off the balcony and realized I needed a disconnect ASAP. It had been about three years since I last stepped foot on a cruise and had two previously scheduled ones cancelled due to the rona. I live about 20 minutes from the Port of Los Angeles and found a five night cruise leaving in less than two weeks for an absolutely ridiculous price in a club balcony room. I've been triple vaccinated and also had a pretty legit case of COVID for about half of December so my fears of getting it again are low (at least at the moment). My biggest fear, still testing positive when I got to the port but even when I did have COVID, I continually tested negative on a rapid test but had positive PCR tests. I've also never cruised solo before but my patience for anyone with two legs at the moment I booked this cruise was minimal. The pandemic really threw some massive curve balls my way with the number one being that I was working in Cabo San Lucas when the government of Mexico and the US Government advised that we leave back to the states. I came home to empty shelves, no food and no toilet paper and close to six months of unemployment so making it back to Cabo also meant my life coming full circle and hopefully with it some closure to a very difficult time in my life.

 

The Upgrade:

About seven days out I received an upgrade email direct from NCL to bid on a variety of Haven suites, I placed the absolute lowest bid possible on every available Haven suite expect for the two-bedrooms. I still had no assigned cabin as I purchased a guarantee room and I've also never sailed in the Haven but have always wanted to. About 72 hours prior to sailing, I got the email.... I had won my bid to a Haven Spa Suite and I almost cried, literally. This was definitely my #1 choice and I briefly debated bidding a bit more than the minimum but you do have to pay for both 1st and second person on upgrade wins but this was still a STEAL of a deal.

 

Drink Package:

After reading a few posts about people in Haven and the worth of upgrading your drink package to P+, I was sold as I was now really all in on this cruise. For a five day, one person it honestly wasn't that bad of an upgrade and quickly doing the math realized this could easily make financial sense. I probably drank a total of 4-5 full bottles of Veuve Clicquot having 1-2 glasses with every lunch, dinner and late night treat. That combined with the occasional latte from Starbucks, a bottle of still water with each breakfast and a bottle of sparkling with each lunch or dinner made me so damn happy I can't even begin to describe it. 

 

 

Arriving to the Pier // Rona Stuff // Haven escort:

I briefly debated using Uber/Lyft to go down there rather than parking my car but was worried about sitting in too much traffic during rush hour on the way home. I've never parked at Port of LA and my directions looked like they were taking me to Port of Long Beach so I had a mild panic attack but quickly realized, it's basically a very similar drive. I did have to circle the parking lot twice to figure out the parking situation but once parked I was pointed to bag drop which was about a seven minute walk from the car. I tried to print my luggage tags prior to leaving but it kept printing on two pages so I went to the entrance and a friendly gentleman asked me for my cabin # and quickly helped me get a juggle tag. In my hand, I had a very visible $10 bill in my hand as I was walking that way and a porter quickly introduced himself and took my suitcase of my hands and pointed me towards the COVID testing area. Terrified, I kept going wondering if taking a cruise would be in my future or if I would test positive as some have been known to do for quite some time after recovery. 

 

It was about 1130am when I went up an escalator for a document check, brought my original vaccination card just so there would be no issues and that was compared with the name in my passport. I was quickly assigned to a COVID swabber and I had pre-registered so the waiting game began. The amount of people crammed into this area waiting for COVID test results was a bit mind blowing and completely defeating the purpose of social distancing. That said, every time someone got a results text message the cheering was pretty fabulous. It was a like a lotto win over and over again. About 15 minutes after I took a seat, I got a text message my results were ready and I headed towards an exit door for verification. I was also able to click into the link provided via text to learn my negative result prior to getting a wristband that states you've cleared COVID testing with a negative test. Later on in the cruise I learned that quite a few cruises did test positive and were turned away from embarkation.

 

With my new found COVID testing freedom, I headed to a shuttle bus full of excited cruises and headed one terminal over to begin registration and the boarding process. As soon as I got to the door off the shuttle a very friendly woman was holding a Haven sign and I enthusiastically introduced myself and she escorted me to an almost empty check in area. As I had pre-registered, check-in was quick and painless and boarding had already begun. Another crew member escorted me right from this point, all the way to the Haven lounge and gave me a very quick run down of the area. I was given the option to eat free at American Diner or I could eat at the Haven restaurant. My cabin was not located in the Haven and I was pretty hungry and excited at this point so with my backpack and another bag in hand I had my first Haven meal, a Cobb salad (OMG!!), a glass of Champagne, sparkling water and a scoop of ice cream for desert. Was this heaven? No, it was Haven... and maybe heaven as well. I also got a window table which I had for every meal minus one in the Haven. After lunch, I quickly realized that this was pretty much where I wanted to eat all my meals and cancelled all but two reservations that I had for other dining venues in the week.

 

The Have Spa Suite (#15862)

Prior to leaving home I grabbed the email address for NCL Haven concierge off another post and emailed a few requests to them including emptying the mini bar and no fish or carrots involved in any of the snacks and quickly received a confirmation reply the next day. I also wrote a letter to my butler with this info on it as well and left a tip with good wishes for him/her for the week. 

 

To be continued...

 

[kjunea]

woohoo!  Great Start!  We were supposed to be on the Joy this week in the Haven.  Have rescheduled to the Getaway in June, still in the Haven. 

[WAHMto5]

Thanks for the great review so far, can’t wait to read the rest!

[GStuart]

Following this. My disconnect is currently scheduled for the 02/27 sailing on the Bliss.

 

Particularly interested to hear about the thermal suite if you happened to use it on your trip.

 

Cheers!

[kodos]

I was on this cruise too and I’m in this picture. I recognize my Tommy Bahama shirt. 

[maren91]

1 hour ago, kodos said:

I was on this cruise too and I’m in this picture. I recognize my Tommy Bahama shirt. 

Love this! So much fun when that happens, hope you had a safe journey home!

[GINNY L]

Could it be possible for you to list the officers that are on board now.  If Zdravko is the GM see if he will still be there in mid March.  

 

Thank you

[maren91]

15 hours ago, GStuart said:

Following this. My disconnect is currently scheduled for the 02/27 sailing on the Bliss.

 

Particularly interested to hear about the thermal suite if you happened to use it on your trip.

 

Cheers!

When I booked this trip, booking a thermal pass in advance was not an option which I assume was because it was sold out or too close to the sail date or for some rona reason. I had a mental master plan on how I was going to board the ship and run for the spa but there was no need in the end. Since I ended up in a Haven Spa room, the thermal suite came with my room and I was able to use twice which is less than I have used on other cruises. It was just wonderful though there were a few very loud older gentleman in the pool both times I went in. I thought about reporting but it was a bit entertaining. The first day I laid on one of the heated benches and it was not working but double checked before I picked my spot the second day and it was fabulous and I promptly fell asleep. They were selling thermal passes all cruise since the ship was pretty empty. Gorgeous area!

[maren91]

Haven Spa Suite

Now I know some would say that this would have much better to have been with someone else so I could share it, yea nope. I was quite content having this giant space to myself and on a cruise, your never truly alone, unless you want to be. This suite was EPIC! There are no words! I've been fortunate in my life to have taken quite a few cruises with a few different lines and this was hands down the best cabin I've ever had. The in room spa was gorgeous and right next to the window so I could literally watch the world float by in a spa tub! That combined with the complimentary bottle of not so great champagne and the orange juice provided by my butler made for some very relaxing me time which is exactly what I needed (despite my extreme operation anxiety from my dog... she on the other hand was just fine).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I brought with me a few bath bombs for the tub to make sure I lived my best spa life and highly recommend that you do the same if you're ever fortunate enough to land yourself in a similar room. The balcony was also huge with one large padded lounger, two padded chairs and a small table. 

 

Since the Haven Spa Suites on the Bliss are not located near the Haven it was a bit of a trek daily to get over there but after all the snacks that were left in my room, it was a much needed trek. I had read some comments about folks feeling disconnected from the Haven by not being located in it. I do have to say I would have probably used the Haven lounge more if I was closer and guessing I would have seen my butler a bit more than I did but I enjoyed being close to the spa and it wasn't that far to activities on the rest of the ship.

 

I did have spa services on two different days during the cruise and thought they were both wonderful but by far this was the pushiest of sales pushes I've ever had cruise wide for up-sale items of all kinds. My understanding is that this ship sailed with 1,074 people onboard and was on the chopping block for cancellation due to low capacity until the week prior so I understand the need for revenue, but be prepared for this when you board her for at least the next while I'm guessing. Was it annoying? Yes. Did it detract from my cruise experience? No, I wouldn't let it.

 

I also wanted to add in my note I told my butler that my favorite food item was the hot pretzel sticks and on the last night of the cruise I came back to my room to find hot pretzel buns with hot cheese sauce and a GIANT charcuterie plate. I was in literal heaven. As others have pointed out, please let your butler know your likes and dislikes and he/she will bend over backwards to make you happy. Of course, tips I'm sure help with this as do most things in life.

 

The Food

I ate most meals in the Haven restaurant but spent my first night at Teppanyaki and enjoyed a meal at La Cucina mid-cruise. I did have a reservation at Cagneys for the last night but ended up cancelling it as I didn't have any meal credits left and honestly, the food was so fabulous in the Haven it's hard to imagine Cagney's having been better. Prior to the cruise, I had been watching my food portion sizes so that first meal at Teppanyaki had me hurting that first night. My best advice to you, if you don't normally eat like this please pack some Tums. I really wish I would have. Regarding Teppanyaki, I was seated with the most amazing extended family who was originally from the Philippines. Most of the staff on the ship are also from the Philippines and given that these guests spoke their native language it not only led to some awesome laughs all around but you could tell how happy the crew was to have guests talk a little crap to them about their knife skills in their native  tongue, the laughter made an awesome first night of the cruise and my Filet Mignon was hands down the best meat I had the entire trip. I literally don't think Cagneys could possibly top the Filet that I was served in Teppanyaki, I'm still dreaming about it.

 

As a self designated foodie, I took a few photos of my favorite meals, hope you enjoy!

 

Breakfast at Haven

 

The night before I had requested to have Filet Minion and eggs and of course, as with all things Haven no problem was the answer. I did end up requesting some steak sauce on the side which really made this an excellent breakfast. That combined with fresh squeezed orange juice and a latte was the morning breakfast of dreams!

 

 

My last meal before getting the boot. Asked for one single pancake knowing I would never be able to finish a bunch of them and it was fabulous. I also learned half way through the cruise to make sure you ask for your bacon extra crispy (if you like that way) or else it's a bit sad. Loved the included buffet filled with meats and fresh fruits as well. French press coffee to wash it all down was Devine.

 

 

 

Lunch at Haven

I'm not a huge fan of whole tomatoes so asked for them to create the prosciutto and burrata appetizer without, oh my goodness. Literally just amazing.

 

 

 

I could eat this banana dessert forever and not get tired of it, this is up there with some of the best desserts I've ever put in mouth. Hands down. Wow.

 

Haven Dinner

 

This was the steak special, I ended up requesting extra sauce because it was so good and the broccolini was my favorite side dish that I ordered again later in the cruise. The French fries were just perfect and also ordered a side of them for lunch on a few afternoons.

 

They had a great wine selection and allowed me to happily sample a few until I found the perfect one.

 

 

Cheesecake for dessert, not nearly as good as the banana lunch dessert. Should have asked them to serve it to me at all meals lol.

 

Up Next:

Cabo San Lucas, returning "home" after being booted out in 2019 due to the rona.

Ensenada and the ship "VIP winery and lunch" tour

 

Bye for now!

 

 

 

[maren91]

2 hours ago, GINNY L said:

Could it be possible for you to list the officers that are on board now.  If Zdravko is the GM see if he will still be there in mid March.  

 

Thank you

I saved all of the cruise daily's, will take a look to see if it's in there later tonight.

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, maren91 said:

When I booked this trip, booking a thermal pass in advance was not an option which I assume was because it was sold out or too close to the sail date or for some rona reason. I had a mental master plan on how I was going to board the ship and run for the spa but there was no need in the end. Since I ended up in a Haven Spa room, the thermal suite came with my room and I was able to use twice which is less than I have used on other cruises. It was just wonderful though there were a few very loud older gentleman in the pool both times I went in. I thought about reporting but it was a bit entertaining. The first day I laid on one of the heated benches and it was not working but double checked before I picked my spot the second day and it was fabulous and I promptly fell asleep. They were selling thermal passes all cruise since the ship was pretty empty. Gorgeous area!

To be fair, if you're trying to converse in the thalassotherapy pool, you'd have to shout to be heard. That's why I like actually being in the pool - I can't hear a darned thing except thundering water. It's splendid.

 

Following your report with much envy! I'd love to book (or upgrade into) the Haven but it just seems so excessive for a solo. Based on what you've posted so far, maybe a little excess is a wonderful idea after all...

 

 

[kenzie]

Could you let us know what days the main shows were on please 

[Candy Apple 12]

That banana dessert looks yummy! Is the fresh squeezed OJ included in the Haven? I know it’s an upcharge elsewhere on NCL.

Edited March 11, 2022 by Candy Apple 12