The NCL Haven Luxury VIP Experience "Secrets" REVISED for 2022

[Greenpea2]

On 12/15/2022 at 8:55 PM, chill6x6 said:

Greetings all!

 

I've got a question.  Our two previous cruises this year we stayed in a Star class suite on Royal. Will be in a  HA coming up in March.  ONE of the best perks with such a Star class suite is basically whatever drinks you want(beers, Cokes, waters, juices, energy drinks, whatever they have//can get)are stocked in your cabin. Is it possible to have a few Cokes, waters, Red Bulls, OJs stocked in our cabin? The only way I can of is to get the Premium Plus beverage package and ask for a couple when you walk by a bar?   

 

Thanks!

I recently spoke with the Haven "Pre-cruise Concierge Department" to book dining. The woman I spoke to seemed disappointed that we had so few requests! LOL. She keft asking about daily snacks, etc. But she did offer all kinds of fruit juices for our fridge. So I know you can get those.

[commodore2010]

We sailed in the Haven on the Bliss and I wanted to give some perspective on comparing it to the  Oceania or Regent product. 

The Haven Area is very nice. We had the best bar crew we have ever had on land or sea. The concierge was also very helpful. The haven observation lounge was great and so was the private sun deck.

They really missed the mark on design when they did not put the bar in the Haven Observation Lounge.  

 

Our stateroom was good. On par with Oceania and Regent verandah staterooms. 

 

The Haven restaurant service for Dinner was SLOOOOOOOOW.   Ate there 4 times. 1 Breakfast. 1 Lunch, 2 Dinners.  Simple 3 course dinner should not take 1 1/2 hours and they were not even busy. Finally complained to the staff and I honestly think they were shocked. 

Also why the same menu every day. Can't they have some specials? or mix it up a little?

 

In our opinion, the food and service is much better in the Regent and Oceania Main Dining than in the Haven Restaurant.  That goes for the Specialty restaurants as well.

 

However, we found the service in the Haven (lounges/steward/butler) is on par with Oceania and fairly close to Regent.  

 

The big issue is that you have to leave the Haven and then you are with 4000 other people. At that point there is no comparison.

 

For us we will return to Oceania and Regent for our future cruises where the entire ship is like the Haven.   We are glad we tried the Haven and we had a great time as we had other family members travelling with us and that made for alot of memories and laughs. 

 

In reviewing what we spent, you can sometimes get similar priced staterooms on Oceania. As for Regent, I don't think you will find anything similarly priced. 

 

[Greenpea2]

17 minutes ago, commodore2010 said:

We sailed in the Haven on the Bliss and I wanted to give some perspective on comparing it to the  Oceania or Regent product. 

The Haven Area is very nice. We had the best bar crew we have ever had on land or sea. The concierge was also very helpful. The haven observation lounge was great and so was the private sun deck.

They really missed the mark on design when they did not put the bar in the Haven Observation Lounge.  

 

Our stateroom was good. On par with Oceania and Regent verandah staterooms. 

 

The Haven restaurant service for Dinner was SLOOOOOOOOW.   Ate there 4 times. 1 Breakfast. 1 Lunch, 2 Dinners.  Simple 3 course dinner should not take 1 1/2 hours and they were not even busy. Finally complained to the staff and I honestly think they were shocked. 

Also why the same menu every day. Can't they have some specials? or mix it up a little?

 

In our opinion, the food and service is much better in the Regent and Oceania Main Dining than in the Haven Restaurant.  That goes for the Specialty restaurants as well.

 

However, we found the service in the Haven (lounges/steward/butler) is on par with Oceania and fairly close to Regent.  

 

The big issue is that you have to leave the Haven and then you are with 4000 other people. At that point there is no comparison.

 

For us we will return to Oceania and Regent for our future cruises where the entire ship is like the Haven.   We are glad we tried the Haven and we had a great time as we had other family members travelling with us and that made for alot of memories and laughs. 

 

In reviewing what we spent, you can sometimes get similar priced staterooms on Oceania. As for Regent, I don't think you will find anything similarly priced. 

 

Strange that you had such slow service at the Haven restaurant! We had prompt and excellent service there every time we went. I guess it was an off week...

[Treasure Hunter]

The key is that there were other family members and you had a great time. Maybe the rest of the ship offered more for those family members. We have sailed Regent which I found boring and Oceania ( good food and itineraries ( loved our cruise to Cuba) but now  cruise NCL Haven and  Celebrity Retreat. I love the Casinos and especially NCL entertainment. That’s what makes horse racing . Every time we eat in the Haven restaurant we found the food pretty good to very good and the service excellent. They were very accommodating. We like to eat early and make the early show and then have dessert after. No problem.

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, commodore2010 said:

The Haven restaurant service for Dinner was SLOOOOOOOOW.   Ate there 4 times. 1 Breakfast. 1 Lunch, 2 Dinners.  Simple 3 course dinner should not take 1 1/2 hours and they were not even busy. Finally complained to the staff and I honestly think they were shocked. 

Also why the same menu every day. Can't they have some specials? or mix it up a little?

 

2 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

Strange that you had such slow service at the Haven restaurant! We had prompt and excellent service there every time we went. I guess it was an off week...

I have to agree with @commodore2010 on the very slow service in the Haven Restaurant on Getaway. We've cruised three times in the Haven in the last year and each time the service was slow. We never walked out after a dinner in less than 90 minutes. We've honestly never been in a rush to go somewhere so we just went with it.

 

I did see others who had a show to catch mention to the maitre d that they needed faster service. They were in and out much quicker than we were. But hey, we were on vacation! Slow is fine with us. I'm glad to know we can speed it up, as necessary.

 

Breakfast and lunch are also slow, but not as slow as dinner. Again, nowhere to go, so we don't mind. One example that I timed, because I did kind of want to leave was disembarkation breakfast. On the last day (January 8th) we went to breakfast at 6:15 AM. We left the dining room at 7:30 AM. That's a really long time for breakfast! I'm not sure what the hold up was as we did not have any special requests. I ordered pancakes with bacon and hash browns. My husband ordered waffles with an order of hash browns, bacon, and sausage.

 

I do agree with specials. Yes, please! We're debating adding some specialty dining with the upgrade special available to us pre-cruise since there is no extra dining on the Joy. We definitely don't want to go to the buffet and the main dining room is alright, depending on what is served.

 

The drag in the Haven is the extremely slow bar service. We finally understood why on this trip. The bartender is entertaining the drunks who's butts are in front of them on, so the drinks for the dining room aren't necessarily their priority. Even a Coke is slow. Sometimes we just got our drinks at the bar, then went into the restaurant. Problem solved, when we weren't being lazy! But, I'd totally love to see a dedicated restaurant bartender.

[Homeport5]

On 1/10/2023 at 3:23 PM, Sthrngary said:

Hello everyone.  I would like to thank every single contributor this topic.  It was a great honor to have assisted many of you with your decision to book the NCL Haven.  My experiences have been great and when I like something, I both recommend it and write about it.  

 

My last two NCL cruise have been just OK.  My last cruise was good yet would not have been so if not for the NCL Vibe Beach Club which made the cruise for us.  I have felt and feel as if NCL is cutting back on everything from crew, drinks, entertainment and food quality which is some of the main reason why I have recommended them in the past.  

 

I dearly love the NCL Haven however the price increases makes it a DEAL BREAKER for me in the future.  Because of that, I will be venturing into other brands and categories from this point forward with my cruise vacations.  We all have a choice with our hard earned money.  Everyone has different wants and needs.  

 

Thank you to everyone for your comments, kind words and support.  I will no longer be able to answer your questions because other are now much better sources.  It has been a joy and as always.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

You are wonderful for starting this!!  Thank you.  

Please don't leave us just yet...what happened with your friend and he Oceania cruise?  Can you update the story?

 

[scooter6139]

I can totally understand where @Sthrngary is coming from, as The Haven pricing is just ridiculously high whenever I price out cruises.  Granted, we only do west coast cruises for now, so I am limited to where we can depart from and what destination we go to.  But really, over twice the cost from a Club Balcony to the cheapest Haven room?  Yes, it is nice but it's nowhere near twice the value IMO.  

 

Sadly, this seems to be the trend with most of the main lines these days.  Our "paused" Princess cruise is almost 2x the cost from a Club Class Mini to a S6 Vista Class cabin, the cheapest full suite with a balcony.  This is the reason why we are going to give HAL another go on one of their older and smaller ships, as I can get a full Neptune Suite for the same cost as the Princess CC, which is a little over 1/2 the cost of a Haven cabin.

 

We still have a NCL cruise booked, and I am constantly watching the pricing on Cruise Plum dot com, as it's dropped about $1k pp since July, hoping it will drop again like our last one did (wifey is a suite/Haven girl now).

 

My advice, if you want to try for somewhat reasonable Haven stay?  Find and book the Joy in one of their many, many outside The Haven complex rooms.  

[wolft927]

28 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

I can totally understand where @Sthrngary is coming from, as The Haven pricing is just ridiculously high whenever I price out cruises.  Granted, we only do west coast cruises for now, so I am limited to where we can depart from and what destination we go to.  But really, over twice the cost from a Club Balcony to the cheapest Haven room?  Yes, it is nice but it's nowhere near twice the value IMO.  

 

Sadly, this seems to be the trend with most of the main lines these days.  Our "paused" Princess cruise is almost 2x the cost from a Club Class Mini to a S6 Vista Class cabin, the cheapest full suite with a balcony.  This is the reason why we are going to give HAL another go on one of their older and smaller ships, as I can get a full Neptune Suite for the same cost as the Princess CC, which is a little over 1/2 the cost of a Haven cabin.

 

We still have a NCL cruise booked, and I am constantly watching the pricing on Cruise Plum dot com, as it's dropped about $1k pp since July, hoping it will drop again like our last one did (wifey is a suite/Haven girl now).

 

My advice, if you want to try for somewhat reasonable Haven stay?  Find and book the Joy in one of their many, many outside The Haven complex rooms.  

We love the Haven as well! But Ainu we been pricing MSC Yaght club suites and they are much more affordable, unless pricing goes down a bit we may take our next one on MSC 

[Sthrngary]

3 hours ago, Homeport5 said:

You are wonderful for starting this!!  Thank you.  

Please don't leave us just yet...what happened with your friend and he Oceania cruise?  Can you update the story?

 

@Homeport5Thank you for asking.  The update is my friend, took the book I wrote for him called a "Journey Document" and gave it to his lovely bride as a Christmas Present.  She opened the bag it was in and started to cry.  She read the front cover out to her family that said, "Merry Christmas Diane" with a summery of what was included.  Than said, "Gary wrote this, right?"  The next day she called my wife and made sure she was joining for this 10-day Mediterranean Cruise on Oceania.  

 

I, before this happened, was on the Delta Airlines site at 12:01 am when the dates came up to use my my saved points/miles to gain a Delta One Business Class flight, booked it not knowing if we would be going at all.  

 

The end is we are going, we have a four category upgrade to a Penthouse, Business Class Airfare with Delta and stay two days prior to the cruise in Athens, Greece.  All went as planned which makes me extremally happy.  Again thank you for asking.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[J0Y0US]

5 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Sadly, this seems to be the trend with most of the main lines these days.  Our "paused" Princess cruise is almost 2x the cost from a Club Class Mini to a S6 Vista Class cabin, the cheapest full suite with a balcony.  This is the reason why we are going to give HAL another go on one of their older and smaller ships, as I can get a full Neptune Suite for the same cost as the Princess CC, which is a little over 1/2 the cost of a Haven cabin.

 

I would just say you are not really comparing apples to apples.

 

If all you want is a bigger room than there are other options out there for sure that will be cheaper. The Haven though is about the locked off area of the ship, the priority everywhere, the dining area, bar area, pool area, sun deck area.

 

NCL, Celebrity, MSC, and Royal (sort of) are the ones that compete in the ship within a ship category.

 

When I look at Princess and HAL I essentially comparing connecting stateroom options to connecting balconies on other lines.

[wolft927]

I hate to ask a question that has been answered probably, but do haven guest still get lunch at American Diner included on embarkation day? We have sailed in haven several times. It never tried American diner and would like to but would never pay for it lol. 

[Treasure Hunter]

Yes. But I think it is a mistake.. the food was mediocre and you still have to pay out of pocket for the milkshake. We took the Breakaway out of New York and the diner is outside and freezing.

[cruiseny4life]

10 minutes ago, wolft927 said:

I hate to ask a question that has been answered probably, but do haven guest still get lunch at American Diner included on embarkation day? We have sailed in haven several times. It never tried American diner and would like to but would never pay for it lol. 

Yep! All three cruised in the last year we've had American Diner. I know @Treasure Hunter and I disagree, but we enjoy it. Last time I had mozzarella sticks and the lobster and shrimp roll. Lose the bread and the roll is good haha...definitely not fancy like Haven, but i dont really like the Haven lunch menu. Too few choices. Either way, enjoy!

[vacation44]

3 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Yep! All three cruised in the last year we've had American Diner. I know @Treasure Hunter and I disagree, but we enjoy it. Last time I had mozzarella sticks and the lobster and shrimp roll. Lose the bread and the roll is good haha...definitely not fancy like Haven, but i dont really like the Haven lunch menu. Too few choices. Either way, enjoy!

Agree!   Mozzerella sticks are worth it and the Haven lunch menu is very limited for us.

[Sailing12Away]

On 1/12/2023 at 4:42 PM, commodore2010 said:

We sailed in the Haven on the Bliss and I wanted to give some perspective on comparing it to the  Oceania or Regent product. 

 

I'm curious what you thought though about the rest of the ship itself. With NCL, I like the low key casual vibe and the tons of entertainment. With the fancier lines, I always presume that I would be looked down on for wearing a tshirt and shorts in the evening, and the only entertainment would be lounge bar singer type folks. Is there any pizazz or fun stuff happening, and is everyone as uptight and snooty as I picture them to be?

 

2 hours ago, wolft927 said:

I hate to ask a question that has been answered probably, but do haven guest still get lunch at American Diner included on embarkation day? We have sailed in haven several times. It never tried American diner and would like to but would never pay for it lol. 

It's available, worth it to try it and say you did it. For me it was just meh, but glad we got to try it.

 

1 hour ago, vacation44 said:

Agree!   Mozzerella sticks are worth it and the Haven lunch menu is very limited for us.

Opposite for me oddly. I find their dinner menu to be much more limited in terms of what I would eat. Lunch I have more options to pick from, dinner it's really just 1-2 things.

 

My recommendation for the American Diner - go for the shrimp & grits. Or, since I don't eat shrimp, go for the double andouille sausage & grits. The mozzarella sticks were too gooey for me and had no seasoning in the bread crumbs. The shakes weren't worth the $5 each - too much whipped cream, although maybe I'll try it again and just tell them to not put any in at all. Halfway through I was just sucking on cream and no shake.

 

[Homeport5]

21 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

@Homeport5Thank you for asking.  The update is my friend, took the book I wrote for him called a "Journey Document" and gave it to his lovely bride as a Christmas Present.  She opened the bag it was in and started to cry.  She read the front cover out to her family that said, "Merry Christmas Diane" with a summery of what was included.  Than said, "Gary wrote this, right?"  The next day she called my wife and made sure she was joining for this 10-day Mediterranean Cruise on Oceania.  

 

I, before this happened, was on the Delta Airlines site at 12:01 am when the dates came up to use my my saved points/miles to gain a Delta One Business Class flight, booked it not knowing if we would be going at all.  

 

The end is we are going, we have a four category upgrade to a Penthouse, Business Class Airfare with Delta and stay two days prior to the cruise in Athens, Greece.  All went as planned which makes me extremally happy.  Again thank you for asking.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Thank you for sharing!  I'm excited for all of you.  Enjoy!

[zgscl]

Just booked my first Haven Cruise & first NCL cruise in nearly 20 years. Our last trip with them was pretty awful and we wrote off the line. Of course so much has changed since then. We have primarily sailed with Holland America in Neptune suites but have recently been curious to try other products and was very impressed with Celebrity’s retreat. Reading this thread has been so helpful so thank you all for the information. I’m sure I will have questions but I have another 30 pages or so to get through first. 

I will be sailing on the Encore in a Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony. I  really agonized over that and the forward facing penthouse. As much as I loved the forward window and having more space and better pricing, I am traveling solo and I decided the convenience of having everything right there outweighed everything else. This is also my first time on a large ship (the largest I’ve done so far have been Celebrity Solstice & Koningsdam so this is really a step up in terms of size). 
 

I can’t wait to give NCL & the Haven a try. The videos I’ve seen of the space on Encore are quite impressive. And given that this is an Alaska cruise in May I think having the Horizon lounge for glacier bay is a huge plus since it may be too cold to spend much time on the balcony. 

[renji]

On 1/11/2023 at 5:48 PM, Greenpea2 said:

I recently spoke with the Haven "Pre-cruise Concierge Department" to book dining. The woman I spoke to seemed disappointed that we had so few requests! LOL. She keft asking about daily snacks, etc. But she did offer all kinds of fruit juices for our fridge. So I know you can get those.

may I ask how you reached them? our cruise is 1 week out and I wondered if i should try.

[Greenpea2]

9 minutes ago, renji said:

may I ask how you reached them? our cruise is 1 week out and I wondered if i should try.

They called me about a month ago and left a message. I called them back. I don’t have the number in my phone anymore but I found this one online for NCL Pre-cruise Concierge Desk: 855-625-4283. Give it a call. Hope this helps. 

[RocketMan275]

10 minutes ago, renji said:

may I ask how you reached them? our cruise is 1 week out and I wondered if i should try.

Of course you should try.

They're very nice and you'll enjoy talking with them.

Since you're only a week out I would call rather than email.

Wait times are usually less than five minutes.

 1-855-625-4283. 

norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com

[cruiseny4life]

6 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

My recommendation for the American Diner - go for the shrimp & grits. Or, since I don't eat shrimp, go for the double andouille sausage & grits. The mozzarella sticks were too gooey for me and had no seasoning in the bread crumbs. The shakes weren't worth the $5 each - too much whipped cream, although maybe I'll try it again and just tell them to not put any in at all. Halfway through I was just sucking on cream and no shake.

WHOA!!! Shrimp and grits? I want that!! American Diner on Getaway has never had that. Same with the Andouille Sausage and grits. Mmmm, I'd definitely go back there if they had that. Hopefully Joy has these menu items.

 

Those mozzarella sticks don't look nearly as good as the Getaway's though!

 

 

Now I'm really confused about the consistency of NCL's dining...ok, ok, I know NCL and consistency are antonyms, but yikes!

[fox02554]

12 hours ago, renji said:

may I ask how you reached them? our cruise is 1 week out and I wondered if i should try.

Edited January 15, 2023 by fox02554
information all ready shared with OP

[dave7502]

On 1/10/2023 at 3:23 PM, Sthrngary said:

Hello everyone.  I would like to thank every single contributor this topic.  It was a great honor to have assisted many of you with your decision to book the NCL Haven.  My experiences have been great and when I like something, I both recommend it and write about it.  

 

My last two NCL cruise have been just OK.  My last cruise was good yet would not have been so if not for the NCL Vibe Beach Club which made the cruise for us.  I have felt and feel as if NCL is cutting back on everything from crew, drinks, entertainment and food quality which is some of the main reason why I have recommended them in the past.  

 

I dearly love the NCL Haven however the price increases makes it a DEAL BREAKER for me in the future.  Because of that, I will be venturing into other brands and categories from this point forward with my cruise vacations.  We all have a choice with our hard earned money.  Everyone has different wants and needs.  

 

Thank you to everyone for your comments, kind words and support.  I will no longer be able to answer your questions because other are now much better sources.  It has been a joy and as always.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Your wisdom and experience made my NCL Haven cruise far more memorable than it would have been. I followed most of your suggestions from both Haven threads with a noticeable positive difference. I hope you start new threads about your next adventures and Haven alternatives. I, too, have been pricing my next Haven adventure and the price increase are noticeable. Out of curiosity, could you tell us what Haven alternatives you find at a more reasonable price and the differences in services provided? Thank you again for your time on these threads and the helpful advice you have provided. Happy cruising!

[Sthrngary]

1 hour ago, dave7502 said:

Your wisdom and experience made my NCL Haven cruise far more memorable than it would have been. I followed most of your suggestions from both Haven threads with a noticeable positive difference. I hope you start new threads about your next adventures and Haven alternatives. I, too, have been pricing my next Haven adventure and the price increase are noticeable. Out of curiosity, could you tell us what Haven alternatives you find at a more reasonable price and the differences in services provided? Thank you again for your time on these threads and the helpful advice you have provided. Happy cruising!

 

@dave7502 Thank you for asking.  As it relates to Haven Like experiences you have the Celebrity Retreat; MSC Yacht Club; Royal has the Genie.  Just like the Haven, they are all kind of a "Ship-within-a-ship" concept.  Small boutique private area still providing access to the rest of a huge ship.  I would look as similar Itineraries and cabin types so compare pricing.  Each line plays games with pricing so you have to do your best to do an apple to apple comparison or as close as you can get. I am fully aware I did not answer your question as of yet. 

 

August 2021, I did a Crystal Cruise which would be a premium or more likely luxury segment.  I immediately noticed that the entire ship was the Haven, Retreat or Yacht Club.  The entire ship was the boutique area.  Everyone once they left their stateroom were treated the same.  I coined the term, "Haven on Steroids".  I compare everything to the Haven because I love it so much. The food was significantly better at all venues, the personalized service as over the top, I never had to wait to be noticed by the bar tender who remembered my name and drink type.  I felt special no where I went on board. The ship at the time was know for that however it was also at 25% capacity.  The lack of cruisers was the down side.  This cruise with so much to offer was boring to a max.  

 

This experience made me crave for upgraded dining experience which I have not been finding recently on my Mainstream Cruise Brands.  It also showed me what a consistent level of personalized service was like for all passengers regardless of suite status. I never felt I was being nickeled or dimed which was a very welcomed difference.  The spa sauna's, hot tubs, steam room was available to all.  No extra fee for the Thermal Spa.  The back of the ship was all public area vs. high end suites and you could smoke a cigar back there.  The butler was so much better than any butler I had before it was not even a fair comparison.  But yet again, I was bored. 

 

Crystal went bankrupt do to poor management and has been purchased by another company to be returning sometime this year.  Now I wanted to recreate the whole ship being the Haven on Steroids.  I wanted upgrading dining experience and I did not want to break the bank.  I knew I had to lose the idea of water slides, Broadway shows, Lasor tag or go carts.  I also did not want to break the bank and also finally cruise the Mediterranean.  The choice as kind of easy, I choose Oceania which is still in the NCL family.  When I compared at least 9 other brands, cabin times with similar agenda's; Oceania give the best value with the items I was looking for.  The Retreat and Haven were substantially higher cost which to me was ridicules for port intensive cruises.   

 

So there was my choice.  I went from Mainstream VIP to Premium-Plus/Luxury for the dining, service and much more port intensive itinerary.  That should both answer your question and give you some of my reasoning based on my wants, needs, and motive.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[renji]

2 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

@dave7502 Thank you for asking.  As it relates to Haven Like experiences you have the Celebrity Retreat; MSC Yacht Club; Royal has the Genie.  Just like the Haven, they are all kind of a "Ship-within-a-ship" concept.  Small boutique private area still providing access to the rest of a huge ship.  I would look as similar Itineraries and cabin types so compare pricing.  Each line plays games with pricing so you have to do your best to do an apple to apple comparison or as close as you can get. I am fully aware I did not answer your question as of yet. 

 

August 2021, I did a Crystal Cruise which would be a premium or more likely luxury segment.  I immediately noticed that the entire ship was the Haven, Retreat or Yacht Club.  The entire ship was the boutique area.  Everyone once they left their stateroom were treated the same.  I coined the term, "Haven on Steroids".  I compare everything to the Haven because I love it so much. The food was significantly better at all venues, the personalized service as over the top, I never had to wait to be noticed by the bar tender who remembered my name and drink type.  I felt special no where I went on board. The ship at the time was know for that however it was also at 25% capacity.  The lack of cruisers was the down side.  This cruise with so much to offer was boring to a max.  

 

This experience made me crave for upgraded dining experience which I have not been finding recently on my Mainstream Cruise Brands.  It also showed me what a consistent level of personalized service was like for all passengers regardless of suite status. I never felt I was being nickeled or dimed which was a very welcomed difference.  The spa sauna's, hot tubs, steam room was available to all.  No extra fee for the Thermal Spa.  The back of the ship was all public area vs. high end suites and you could smoke a cigar back there.  The butler was so much better than any butler I had before it was not even a fair comparison.  But yet again, I was bored. 

 

Crystal went bankrupt do to poor management and has been purchased by another company to be returning sometime this year.  Now I wanted to recreate the whole ship being the Haven on Steroids.  I wanted upgrading dining experience and I did not want to break the bank.  I knew I had to lose the idea of water slides, Broadway shows, Lasor tag or go carts.  I also did not want to break the bank and also finally cruise the Mediterranean.  The choice as kind of easy, I choose Oceania which is still in the NCL family.  When I compared at least 9 other brands, cabin times with similar agenda's; Oceania give the best value with the items I was looking for.  The Retreat and Haven were substantially higher cost which to me was ridicules for port intensive cruises.   

 

So there was my choice.  I went from Mainstream VIP to Premium-Plus/Luxury for the dining, service and much more port intensive itinerary.  That should both answer your question and give you some of my reasoning based on my wants, needs, and motive.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

 

Eager to hear your Oceania review.  I was bored on Crystal due to lack of night life.  Think I will go back to Cunard next summer...