2 Bedroom Suite vs Haven 2 Bedroom Suite on the Jewel

[fanofcruizin]

Wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade to the Haven in the same suite type. I know the Jewel doesn't have a dedicated Haven restaurant for dinner and the regular suite gets us breakfast and lunch in the restaurant anyway, correct? Any other benefits that might make it worth the $1800 to upgrade? 
 

What about the Owners Suites on deck 9 and 10?  The two balconies look interesting, especially for an Alaskan cruise!  Not sure how much we would use the Haven area though if not on the same deck. Any recommendations or thoughts? 

[mertziek]

Our favorite suite on the Jewel class ships is the OS on deck 10.  Love the 2 balconies and the table off in a side alcove.  The interior room size is bigger on Deck 10 but has a smaller but still sizeable front balcony.  The OS on Deck 9 has a smaller interior but a deeper front balcony.  Both are nice but we prefer deck 10 for the bigger interior space.  And that front balcony can’t be beat for observing the glaciers.  (It was really great for going through the Panama Canal, too!). Best seats on the ship!  Better than the garden villas because you are right at the front of the ship and not in the middle.  
 

As to the regular 2 bedroom suites vs the Haven 2 bedroom ones - the only thing you give up is access to the small Haven pool area.  It is enclosed so usable for Alaska but only you can decide if you need that extra space and would make use of it.  We never used it ourselves but we are not big pool people. There’s also a hot tub.  So if I were to book a suite, I’d go with the non-Haven 2 bedroom one unless I was booking the DOS or OS.  The non-Haven suites save you a lot of money!  There is one other thing I don’t know the answer to - on the day you go to the Glacier National Park, Haven guests can go up on the Haven sundeck to observe the glaciers which is nice and less crowded but usually we move around the ship to see the park from different vantage points.  I’m not sure if non-Haven suite guests will be able to access the Haven sundeck.  I’m thinking no but there are a lot of other places on the ship you can get great views from.

[smillerholmes]

We cruised in a  regular forward facing suite on deck 9 of the Jewel to Alaska.  I will never forget that experience.  So awesome.  And although we were not Haven we received an invite to "participate" with those that were Haven and were able to enjoy the hot wine while up on deck during the Glacier National Park tour.

[GeezerCouple]

18 minutes ago, smillerholmes said:

We cruised in a  regular forward facing suite on deck 9 of the Jewel to Alaska.  I will never forget that experience.  So awesome.  And although we were not Haven we received an invite to "participate" with those that were Haven and were able to enjoy the hot wine while up on deck during the Glacier National Park tour.

 

We sailed Vancouver to Seward in the OS on NCL Sun, which has no haven. 

That OS should be called a DOS, given it's size, and the huge balcony with a private hot tub.

 

The main thing for the Alaska cruise, and the reason we chose it was because of the forward view.  That was *spectacular*!

We had a wall of windows (with a sliding glass door) in the LR/DR area, and the DR table was right in front on one side.  We had almost all of our meals served to us in the suite, while we just gazed at the gorgeous scenery.  (We also had some specialty dinners served there.)

If we could get that suite for a full Panama transit, too....!!

 

We weren't crazy about the ship, but then, we didn't see much of it 🙂 

We also spent a fair amount of time in front of Hubbard Glacier.  The ship was able to get right up close and personal, and the Captain just kept slowly spinning the ship so everyone got a good view.  We had about a 180 degree view, so we were able to watch quite a bit of the amazing calving that day.

 

The view sailing from Glacier Bay north to Hubbard Glacier had the snow-capped peaks off to our right, and we had selected the starboard OS for that view.

 

For Alaska, yes absolutely, a forward view, and starboard side northbound, port southbound.

 

Enjoy!!

 

GC

[complawyer]

the perks are the same, if the only difference is access to the ncl haven pool area, only you can decide if it's worth it, regardless of other's opinions.personally, i'd pass..we've been in thehaven complex, and i rarely if ever even go into the pool area. s long as i have a butler, concierge, and dedicated restaurants for breakfast and lunch, i can do without the pool. that,however, is just my humble opinion

[KeithJenner]

I’m currently in a standard two bedroom suite on the Jade. I wouldn’t pay anything extra for the Haven. This has everything that we want.

 

I’ve also sailed in a OS on deck 10 to Alaska. Absolutely loved that room and would have selected it in preference for this trip except there are 3 of us, so the second bedroom is good.

 

The large balcony in the OS was great in glacier bay. For the rest of the cruise we used the side one more as it doesn’t get the wind, having the choice was great.

[YVRteacher]

Yes, the non-Haven 2 bedroom penthouse suites get invited up to the Haven for both the Haven parties and the glacier viewings.  

[don't-use-real-name]

Just be sure you are going to the right Glacier Park - - - - -

Cruise ships have one heck of time getting to Glacier National Park in Montana

The GLACIER "BAY" NATIONAL PARK in Alaska however is no problem !

 

And YES I am taking my soap box and leaving platform left - just wanted to muddy the

waters and any state of confusion !  LOL !

[don't-use-real-name]

3 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

We sailed Vancouver to Seward in the OS on NCL Sun, which has no haven. 

That OS should be called a DOS, given it's size, and the huge balcony with a private hot tub.

 

The main thing for the Alaska cruise, and the reason we chose it was because of the forward view.  That was *spectacular*!

We had a wall of windows (with a sliding glass door) in the LR/DR area, and the DR table was right in front on one side.  We had almost all of our meals served to us in the suite, while we just gazed at the gorgeous scenery.  (We also had some specialty dinners served there.)

If we could get that suite for a full Panama transit, too....!!

 

We weren't crazy about the ship, but then, we didn't see much of it 🙂 

We also spent a fair amount of time in front of Hubbard Glacier.  The ship was able to get right up close and personal, and the Captain just kept slowly spinning the ship so everyone got a good view.  We had about a 180 degree view, so we were able to watch quite a bit of the amazing calving that day.

 

The view sailing from Glacier Bay north to Hubbard Glacier had the snow-capped peaks off to our right, and we had selected the starboard OS for that view.

 

For Alaska, yes absolutely, a forward view, and starboard side northbound, port southbound.

 

Enjoy!!

 

GC

Concur OS 1203 starboard and 1003 port (only two on the SUN) are the most outstanding

staterooms ever.

YouTube of 1203:

Video Norwegian Sun Owners Suite Cabin 1203 (cruisedeckplans.com)

 

Yes the SUN is a smaller ship than even the DAWN JEWEL class and is dwarfed by the

the mega huge hulks - but it is the type of ship that once that you have been all over it

it grows and feels like your own private yacht with a few hundred guests as company.

[old nutter]

We have not done the Owners Suites on the Jewel ships, but have done both Haven and non-Haven 2-bed suites.  The uplift to the Haven is really all about space, comfort and convenience.  The perks are the same in all of the full suites, no no difference there.  Strange as it seems, there is a benefit on having one of the two-bed suites on the starboard side because the Haven sun-deck is above the port suites, so if you have one of the starboard suites, you have superb outside access to both sides of the ship so that if something is happening on same side as your balcony in one of those starboard suites,  you can nip up to  the sundeck and see over the port side and see out over that side.

 

The main courtyard area of the Haven has much more comfy full-length sun-beds that you get in the suite (nice as they are!).  Although there is no dedicated Haven restaurant for dinner, the area at the end of the courtyard has table seating and the Courtyard Butler will serve breakfast and lunch there.  The roof is also moved over when it is warm, so you have access to fairly private sun lounging as well.  I am not sure about all of the Jewel ships, but the last Jade refit put significant sun lounging facilities on the upper on deck, with loungers and cabanas.

 

Whether you want to have the extra space, comfort, convenient lunch and breakfast and outside viewing availability that comes along with the Jewel ship Havens at that extra cost is purely personal.  OK, so it doesn't come cheap, but are you really going to not make the most of your cruise rather than not spend what is quite a small percentage of your overall trip cost at the end of the day.  So in answer to the OP question, that extra cost is only worthwhile if you value the extras that come along with it - some do and some don't, that is why both usually sell out.  It is not true to say that the differences are good value or not because the difference is not just down to a list of perks in the end and of course, even a cruise in a suite only is a lot better than not having one at all if the Haven pushes you over your cost/value limit!!!

[Sailing12Away]

If money is no consideration at all, it's always nicer to be in Haven with those perks, regardless of the ship class. If the vacation budget is not endless, on the jewel class ships I don't think Haven is 'worth it', unless you can snag it at a good deal or via upgrade bid. Our general guide is we expect to pay around $500/person/day for a full Haven ship (Epic, Encore, Bliss, etc). Anything less than that is a deal to us, anything more than that better be an amazing itinerary or something special. For the jewel class ships, our budget goes down a bit as the experience just isn't the same.

 

We had the DOS on the Jade a few years back, and it was a huge room. You can only get there via stairs, so keep that in mind if that's an issue at all for you.  But a DOS on the Jade was not the same experience overall as our Haven room on Epic or Encore. Our most recent trip was in the 3br garden villa on the Pearl. The only reason we did that was because I was able to find an absolute steal of a deal and grabbed a few friends for a once in a lifetime opportunity. At the right price I would absolutely do it again, but I don't think I'll find that bargain again (if we had 6 in the villa it would have been about $270/person/day which is a bit unheard of).

[don't-use-real-name]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

If money is no consideration at all, it's always nicer to be in Haven with those perks, regardless of the ship class. If the vacation budget is not endless, on the jewel class ships I don't think Haven is 'worth it', unless you can snag it at a good deal or via upgrade bid. Our general guide is we expect to pay around $500/person/day for a full Haven ship (Epic, Encore, Bliss, etc). Anything less than that is a deal to us, anything more than that better be an amazing itinerary or something special. For the jewel class ships, our budget goes down a bit as the experience just isn't the same.

 

We had the DOS on the Jade a few years back, and it was a huge room. You can only get there via stairs, so keep that in mind if that's an issue at all for you.  But a DOS on the Jade was not the same experience overall as our Haven room on Epic or Encore. Our most recent trip was in the 3br garden villa on the Pearl. The only reason we did that was because I was able to find an absolute steal of a deal and grabbed a few friends for a once in a lifetime opportunity. At the right price I would absolutely do it again, but I don't think I'll find that bargain again (if we had 6 in the villa it would have been about $270/person/day which is a bit unheard of).

Shuss - don't give away the secrets - 3 suite cabins within a ship within a ship !

There are other perks that go with the Garden Villas Haven or no Haven (DAWN & STAR)

but I am not giving those secrets out.

[Sailing12Away]

1 hour ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Shuss - don't give away the secrets - 3 suite cabins within a ship within a ship !

There are other perks that go with the Garden Villas Haven or no Haven (DAWN & STAR)

but I am not giving those secrets out.

Ha! We're on the Star in 20 days. When prices started dropping we were tempted to just snag it again for ourselves, but the price was never as low as what we found on the Pearl. I'm hoping to find the folks who ultimately did book it as it is now sold out for several weeks, and make friends with them. I need to see that upper deck with my own eyes to believe it 😛

[fanofcruizin]

Thanks everyone for the experiences and recommendations!