A Compilation of Non-Haven Suite Information for Prima and Viva

[Lisacfletcher2009]

44 minutes ago, Sammae said:

Good morning! 

I'm so delayed in writing my post about our Suite experience. I don't have time right now to go into all the detail, but I promise to circle back around one evening this week (or if I decide to procrastinate on my thesis writing... which seems likely to happen). 

I will say that 11812 was perfect. We had a huge balcony -not much space taken up by slides. In addition to the 2 chairs and table, we had 2 loungers by the bedroom balcony door. It's going to be hard to go back to a balcony room after this experience. 

 

I promise more detail, pics and video are coming!! Stay tuned!

Thank you so much Sammae - any info whenever you can is great!

[sjacobs11]

12 hours ago, CruiserFam3 said:

 

Hi! Here are some pictures of our cabin - 15796 on the Starboard side. We *loved* it and are now spoiled to this category. We're on Encore next sailing and will definitely miss this type of cabin.

[CruiserFam3]

3 hours ago, sjacobs11 said:

Hi! Here are some pictures of our cabin - 15796 on the Starboard side. We *loved* it and are now spoiled to this category. We're on Encore next sailing and will definitely miss this type of cabin.

Thank you so much!

 

[CruiserFam3]

On 3/10/2024 at 4:18 PM, ColdCruise said:

@Martink45 welcome to CC and NCL… you sound like our kinda person - we love wine… and cruising 😀

 

We loved our transatlantic in 15196 on Nov - we had great weather so maximized use of that lovely balcony, avoiding the deck 8 fight for good spots, and actually enjoyed the occasional person shooting by under our gaze.

By chance any photos of the 15196 balcony?

[ColdCruise]

8 hours ago, CruiserFam3 said:

By chance any photos of the 15196 balcony?

Absolutely @CruiserFam3

see my trip report, lots of photos.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2972677-almost-live-…-sailing-aboard-the-ncl-viva-on-her-maiden-trans-atlantic/

look near the end at the posts first - I created an Index and posted it near the end.

 

I also had some more information in post #26 (page 2) of this thread.

Edited March 19 by ColdCruise

[Sammae]

Alright, I'm here to write a short review of our non-Haven suite experience on NCL Viva in February. We often cruise with friends, but this time it was just Steve (39) and I (38). This was my 10th NCL cruise. We sailed from San Juan for the first time, and this itinerary had a port every day.

 

Embarkation

We arrived at the port around 10:40am, although our time slot on our cruise docs was for 1pm. No one checks this at the pier. The only complaint I have about the setup at the pier is that there is signage for the Haven, but they don't include the non-Haven suites on the signs. The only reason I knew to follow the Haven signs was from my sleuthing these boards.

 

When we arrived at the pier, we could see a small seating area past security - with maybe 100 seats if that - that was full. We had to wait in line at security for about 15 minutes, and then they allowed the seating area to progress to check-in and opened the security line to start moving more people through. We walked from security, through the terminal building and right up to the Haven check-in desk where we were next in line. Once we had our cards, we were shown to a small seating area set-up with coffee, juice and pastries, where we were asked to wait for our escort on board. There was a family of 4 there waiting as well, and we sat for maybe 2 minutes before a Butler came to walk us to the ship. 

 

 

 

Our quick walk from terminal to ship took approximately a minute, and then we were brought to the bank of Haven elevators and taken up to deck 6 and on to Cagney's. 

 

What a DIFFERENT boarding experience this was compared to Miami, Port Canaveral or New York! So quick, easy and efficient!!

 

Concierge

At Cagney's, we sat to wait to speak with Mary, our concierge, who was finishing up with another family. What a lovely woman! We have never stayed in a category higher than a mini-suite before and I was skeptical that having a concierge would make much difference. Let me say, as the administrator of our 2-person household, having the ability to skip lines and speak to a single person about any issue or request made our vacation SO smooth. I loved it.

 

I had already booked dining times and entertainment, but I asked Mary to change our reservation times, since we were limited in what was available online. She also changed a shore excursion for us and all I had to do was return the old tickets to her at breakfast the next day. Throughout the week, Mary came by to see us at breakfast in the morning and we ran into her around the ship at various times where she always recognized us and asked if there was anything she could do to help. We met her in front of the theatre for shows (which ended up just being show-singular. One of the main cast members of Beetlejuice injured themselves at rehearsal the day we were supposed to see it and it was canceled the rest of the week) where she escorted us into the theatre early to have our pick of seats. We did not make use of the service to get escorted off the ship at port, as we had no early excursions and did not have to contend with the hoards, but I could see that being an extremely useful service. 

 

After speaking with Mary, we wandered over to the deck 6 atrium to grab our first cruise drink, and meandered around the ship until Cagney's opened for lunch at 12pm. The lunch menu was the same shortened menu that ColdCruise posted in their review. While we were there, Mary came over and told us our stateroom was ready (they hadn't started announcing room readiness to gen pop yet), so we headed up that way when we were finished. 

 

Family Suite with Master (SJ) 11812

 

 

This room was fantastic! It was definitely one of the larger balconies in the category. We had 2 loungers, and a table with 2 chairs. I'm including photos of all the literature that was provided on the table when we got in, as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cagney's Breakfast

Since this was an itinerary with no sea days, we had the shortened breakfast menu each day (the bottom corner of the menu says "port days" in small print). Steve is an eggs benny fan. When he asked if they could swing that for him the first day, he got a regretful "no." We did attempt to go to Hudson's for breakfast the next day so he could order it and the line was INSANE. We told our sad story in Cagney's and he was presented with eggs Benedict. So this seemed to be a YMMV situation. 

 

Butler

So, having a butler was something we thought we would really enjoy. Contrary to our pre-cruise impressions on having a concierge, we were able to think of LOTS of things that a butler could do to add just that bit more to our vacation. And contrary to our post-cruise impressions, we found the services offered by our butler, Neil, to be less helpful than those of our concierge. Now, a lot of that is on us. We're very middle-class, with very lower-to-middle class upbringings. We're not used to asking people to do things for us that we could just do ourselves, and sometimes getting over feeling silly or guilty about asking is more work than just DOING the thing ourselves. 

 

Neil left us little hors d'oeuvres every afternoon, but we were never offered the other little snacks like M&Ms or anything. But we also didn't ask. There's really only so much you can eat in a day. The one, best, most useful thing we were able to use Neil's help for though was bringing our deserts back from specialty dining. THAT was amazing. Nothing like winding down at the end of the night with the last night cap we brought up and some cake on the balcony. 

 

Concluding Remarks

Upgrading our vacation to a suite was the stupidest financial decision we've ever made, because now we're spoiled. This upgrade happened because we couldn't get Vibe for this cruise, and the difference was not much more going to a suite. We really just wanted more quiet space to hit up when needed. Having the separate bedroom was fantastic, because Steve likes to watch TV at the end of the day and I very much DO NOT like having that noise when I'm reading before bed or trying to sleep. I also get up earlier, and to be able to putter around and make a coffee and such without disturbing Steve was wonderful. 

 

Surprisingly, we did not end up ordering room service at all. I think this was partly that there was already coffee in the room (and much better coffee than room service would bring) and we had the PP beverage package, so if we were getting outside coffee we wanted it to be Starbucks. I guess the way we vacation has changed as we've gotten older. Where we used to be happy to laze around in the morning, now we want to get out and explore and sit at the restaurant and have a hot breakfast. Now, if we had a kid with us - room service would be a game changer. If we ever do have a child to travel with, this category of staterooms could remove a lot of the frustrations of cruising with a little one. 

 

Would we book this room again for the extra $$? Heck yes. The little perks took some of the stress off. Like when I was reviewing our final bill at the last possible moment and noticed a $140-ish charge from Le Bistro (turns out they charged for a bottle of champers instead of just the glass I ordered that was included in our package), Mary took care of it with a series of phone calls and provided confirmation of the charge reversal before we left the ship. Holy Hannah, was that ever nice. I guarantee we would have just rolled our eyes and absorbed the charge instead of waiting in line at Guest Services on Disembarkation day. Those little things add up and create the value in this category of staterooms. 

 

If anyone has any specific questions that I did not touch on, please let me know. I wrote a lot of words here and don't want to keep anymore of your time. 

 

Happy Sailing!

 

[Lisacfletcher2009]

34 minutes ago, Sammae said:

Alright, I'm here to write a short review of our non-Haven suite experience on NCL Viva in February. We often cruise with friends, but this time it was just Steve (39) and I (38). This was my 10th NCL cruise. We sailed from San Juan for the first time, and this itinerary had a port every day.

 

Embarkation

We arrived at the port around 10:40am, although our time slot on our cruise docs was for 1pm. No one checks this at the pier. The only complaint I have about the setup at the pier is that there is signage for the Haven, but they don't include the non-Haven suites on the signs. The only reason I knew to follow the Haven signs was from my sleuthing these boards.

 

When we arrived at the pier, we could see a small seating area past security - with maybe 100 seats if that - that was full. We had to wait in line at security for about 15 minutes, and then they allowed the seating area to progress to check-in and opened the security line to start moving more people through. We walked from security, through the terminal building and right up to the Haven check-in desk where we were next in line. Once we had our cards, we were shown to a small seating area set-up with coffee, juice and pastries, where we were asked to wait for our escort on board. There was a family of 4 there waiting as well, and we sat for maybe 2 minutes before a Butler came to walk us to the ship. 

 

 

 

Our quick walk from terminal to ship took approximately a minute, and then we were brought to the bank of Haven elevators and taken up to deck 6 and on to Cagney's. 

 

What a DIFFERENT boarding experience this was compared to Miami, Port Canaveral or New York! So quick, easy and efficient!!

 

Concierge

At Cagney's, we sat to wait to speak with Mary, our concierge, who was finishing up with another family. What a lovely woman! We have never stayed in a category higher than a mini-suite before and I was skeptical that having a concierge would make much difference. Let me say, as the administrator of our 2-person household, having the ability to skip lines and speak to a single person about any issue or request made our vacation SO smooth. I loved it.

 

I had already booked dining times and entertainment, but I asked Mary to change our reservation times, since we were limited in what was available online. She also changed a shore excursion for us and all I had to do was return the old tickets to her at breakfast the next day. Throughout the week, Mary came by to see us at breakfast in the morning and we ran into her around the ship at various times where she always recognized us and asked if there was anything she could do to help. We met her in front of the theatre for shows (which ended up just being show-singular. One of the main cast members of Beetlejuice injured themselves at rehearsal the day we were supposed to see it and it was canceled the rest of the week) where she escorted us into the theatre early to have our pick of seats. We did not make use of the service to get escorted off the ship at port, as we had no early excursions and did not have to contend with the hoards, but I could see that being an extremely useful service. 

 

After speaking with Mary, we wandered over to the deck 6 atrium to grab our first cruise drink, and meandered around the ship until Cagney's opened for lunch at 12pm. The lunch menu was the same shortened menu that ColdCruise posted in their review. While we were there, Mary came over and told us our stateroom was ready (they hadn't started announcing room readiness to gen pop yet), so we headed up that way when we were finished. 

 

Family Suite with Master (SJ) 11812

 

 

This room was fantastic! It was definitely one of the larger balconies in the category. We had 2 loungers, and a table with 2 chairs. I'm including photos of all the literature that was provided on the table when we got in, as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cagney's Breakfast

Since this was an itinerary with no sea days, we had the shortened breakfast menu each day (the bottom corner of the menu says "port days" in small print). Steve is an eggs benny fan. When he asked if they could swing that for him the first day, he got a regretful "no." We did attempt to go to Hudson's for breakfast the next day so he could order it and the line was INSANE. We told our sad story in Cagney's and he was presented with eggs Benedict. So this seemed to be a YMMV situation. 

 

Butler

So, having a butler was something we thought we would really enjoy. Contrary to our pre-cruise impressions on having a concierge, we were able to think of LOTS of things that a butler could do to add just that bit more to our vacation. And contrary to our post-cruise impressions, we found the services offered by our butler, Neil, to be less helpful than those of our concierge. Now, a lot of that is on us. We're very middle-class, with very lower-to-middle class upbringings. We're not used to asking people to do things for us that we could just do ourselves, and sometimes getting over feeling silly or guilty about asking is more work than just DOING the thing ourselves. 

 

Neil left us little hors d'oeuvres every afternoon, but we were never offered the other little snacks like M&Ms or anything. But we also didn't ask. There's really only so much you can eat in a day. The one, best, most useful thing we were able to use Neil's help for though was bringing our deserts back from specialty dining. THAT was amazing. Nothing like winding down at the end of the night with the last night cap we brought up and some cake on the balcony. 

 

Concluding Remarks

Upgrading our vacation to a suite was the stupidest financial decision we've ever made, because now we're spoiled. This upgrade happened because we couldn't get Vibe for this cruise, and the difference was not much more going to a suite. We really just wanted more quiet space to hit up when needed. Having the separate bedroom was fantastic, because Steve likes to watch TV at the end of the day and I very much DO NOT like having that noise when I'm reading before bed or trying to sleep. I also get up earlier, and to be able to putter around and make a coffee and such without disturbing Steve was wonderful. 

 

Surprisingly, we did not end up ordering room service at all. I think this was partly that there was already coffee in the room (and much better coffee than room service would bring) and we had the PP beverage package, so if we were getting outside coffee we wanted it to be Starbucks. I guess the way we vacation has changed as we've gotten older. Where we used to be happy to laze around in the morning, now we want to get out and explore and sit at the restaurant and have a hot breakfast. Now, if we had a kid with us - room service would be a game changer. If we ever do have a child to travel with, this category of staterooms could remove a lot of the frustrations of cruising with a little one. 

 

Would we book this room again for the extra $$? Heck yes. The little perks took some of the stress off. Like when I was reviewing our final bill at the last possible moment and noticed a $140-ish charge from Le Bistro (turns out they charged for a bottle of champers instead of just the glass I ordered that was included in our package), Mary took care of it with a series of phone calls and provided confirmation of the charge reversal before we left the ship. Holy Hannah, was that ever nice. I guarantee we would have just rolled our eyes and absorbed the charge instead of waiting in line at Guest Services on Disembarkation day. Those little things add up and create the value in this category of staterooms. 

 

If anyone has any specific questions that I did not touch on, please let me know. I wrote a lot of words here and don't want to keep anymore of your time. 

 

Happy Sailing!

 

Thanks Sammae.

you have helped me so much.

I’m glad you had such a lovely time.

one thought - apart from the cabin itself, what perks did you enjoy most about staying in a suite? Is it possible to have speciality meals served in your room or is it just the desert?

 

many thanks once again,

Lisa 

[Sammae]

Just now, Lisacfletcher2009 said:

Thanks Sammae.

you have helped me so much.

I’m glad you had such a lovely time.

one thought - apart from the cabin itself, what perks did you enjoy most about staying in a suite? Is it possible to have speciality meals served in your room or is it just the desert?

 

many thanks once again,

Lisa 

Hi Lisa!

 

To be honest, we learned very little about what we could or could not have our Butler do, and from what you read on these boards, some will grab your Starbucks, some won't, etc. I know in the Haven you can have a specialty meal delivered to your room, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case in a suite as well. The one thing to keep in mind would be that there is no proper dining setup in these rooms. Sorry I can't be of more help!

[Sand and Seas]

@Sammae,  Thank you for posting!  Love the video.   We would especially love that balcony with the two loungers that are not in full sunlight.

 

Was there some type of pocket door between the front room and the bedroom?

[Sammae]

Just now, Sand and Seas said:

@Sammae,  Thank you for posting!  Love the video.   We would especially love that balcony with the two loungers that are not in full sunlight.

 

Was there some type of pocket door between the front room and the bedroom?

 Thank you! Yes, there was a pocket door between the 2 rooms. Very handy!

[Lisacfletcher2009]

45 minutes ago, Sammae said:

Hi Lisa!

 

To be honest, we learned very little about what we could or could not have our Butler do, and from what you read on these boards, some will grab your Starbucks, some won't, etc. I know in the Haven you can have a specialty meal delivered to your room, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case in a suite as well. The one thing to keep in mind would be that there is no proper dining setup in these rooms. Sorry I can't be of more help!

You are lots of help!

thanks again 

[sjacobs11]

We used our butler to sneak in with press-pot coffee transferred to a metal thermos to keep hot, along with almond croissants every morning. It was amazing opening the pocket door and seeing the set-up already there! We ordered room service once. I was surprised when the butler answered the phone and was up with my turkey sandwich (yum!) in less than 10 mins. We had also spoken with the pre-arrival concierge to request gummy bears and mini-M&Ms and I had also requested dark coffee Nespresso capsules. The butler also escorted us on/off the ship, amongst other surprising things! We also didn't think we'd use him a lot, but we did! Moreso than the concierge at Cagneys.

 

We really wish that the Breakaway Plus class had this category type. Once you sail this way, you don't want to go back to a balcony, and it worked out really well for us as we were with a lot of other folks, so Haven was not an option, as we would have never seen them!

 

We all also had Vibe, which was a-ma-zing. The bartenders there know you by name within minutes of your arrival and keep those drinks coming!

[RosieRoo]

Thank you @Sammae for all the great info.  We’re booked for a 12 nt out of Southampton in this same category. I was tempted to bid on the low level Haven suites, but this room has more square footage and almost as many perks as the Haven suites. 

[ColdCruise]

Hi @Sammae your suite was the reverse layout from ours. I never thought about having the desserts taken to our room for later…if we ever sail in a suite again!

I didn’t care for some of the savory canapés so I asked the butler if we could just get fruit and cheese…too much of a good thing as the cheese plates were more than enough for 2 (and wedged between lunch & dinner,… let’s just say I was never hungry).

 

BTW, I didn’t notice the “port day” on the shorter menu…good catch - that makes sense. Then again we only had 3 ports.

 

@sjacobs11 I asked our butler about the pressed coffee and he said no. Asked a couple days later and still “no”. Definitely a YMMV thing, but as others mentioned they were able to get it, I was miffed. However the coffee he brought with continental breakfast was superior to even Cagney. We did a full breakfast once, omelet etc, but preferred going to Cagneys So I could have the eggs Benny or the breakfast steak. We still had continental breakfast most mornings on the balcony and would hit up Cagney about 30 minutes before end of breakfast period. It was really nice start to the day - no rush, lazing in our pjs on the balcony with some croissants and coffee.

 

our next cruise was a totally different experience- 14 days, all ports, no sea days, so we booked an oceanview on an older ship (Sky). Didn’t think we’d need the bells & whistles cuz we’d be off the ship every day, usually 8-5, but the 128sq ft was definitely a step down 😜 Also the asking price for the smallest suite was more than we paid for the 2 room suite on Viva, so didn’t seem good value. After the first day, we adapted and rarely were in our room. 

Edited March 24 by ColdCruise

[CruiserFam3]

Hello, still new to this....if redundant, apologies! We have Prima booked this summer, SK Suite category. I am understanding

1) we have access to the concierge, daily who is located in Cagney's at breakfast and lunch - is this correct?

2) are we also able to eat breakfast and lunch in Cagney's?

3) we have 3 people traveling (2 adults, 1 teen), the only way to pre-book the specialty dining is with "4". I was given conflicting info from NCL reps. Was told, it was "4" because they needed to plan 3 people at a 4-top table. Pre-booking only allow even numbers. Then, once on board, I need to inform dinning, we have 3 people so we are not billed for 4 people. Does this sound correct?

[sjacobs11]

Just now, CruiserFam3 said:

Hello, still new to this....if redundant, apologies! We have Prima booked this summer, SK Suite category. I am understanding

1) we have access to the concierge, daily who is located in Cagney's at breakfast and lunch - is this correct?

2) are we also able to eat breakfast and lunch in Cagney's?

3) we have 3 people traveling (2 adults, 1 teen), the only way to pre-book the specialty dining is with "4". I was given conflicting info from NCL reps. Was told, it was "4" because they needed to plan 3 people at a 4-top table. Pre-booking only allow even numbers. Then, once on board, I need to inform dinning, we have 3 people so we are not billed for 4 people. Does this sound correct?

Hi! Just back from an SJ cabin, so same perks applied:

 

1) The concierge is at breakfast/lunch at Cagney's. They set up at a table in the corner when you enter.

2) Breakfast and lunch at Cagney's is exclusive for suite guests. It was amazing. We were often one of two or three tables eating breakfast, and the concierge comes around asking if there's anything they can help plan, etc.

3) Book for four, since you'll need a four-top table, and they just seat you for your meal. You're only "charged" for specialty dining based on the number of guests who eat.

 

Hope that helped!

[CruiserFam3]

Thank you! So apprecaited. What cruise where you on? Was it the Iceland one?

1) Is the Cagney's breakfast and lunch complimentary for SK Suite guests or extra $$.

2) Was the menu at lunch similar to dinner at Cagney's...asking b/c if lunch was complimentary, is it worthwhile to use the specialty dinning credit at Cagney's for dinner, if one can get similar meal at lunch?

[sjacobs11]

8 minutes ago, CruiserFam3 said:

Thank you! So apprecaited. What cruise where you on? Was it the Iceland one?

1) Is the Cagney's breakfast and lunch complimentary for SK Suite guests or extra $$.

2) Was the menu at lunch similar to dinner at Cagney's...asking b/c if lunch was complimentary, is it worthwhile to use the specialty dinning credit at Cagney's for dinner, if one can get similar meal at lunch?

Hi! We went to Roatán, Mexico, and their private island. Was fun!!

 

Cagneys is included as a suite guest. It’s different menu than dinner. Similar to what’s offered in the Haven dining room. Not very “steak-y”. We went there for dinner as well one night and it was a completely different experience. Don’t miss it!

[CruiserFam3]

thank you again! where can I find what all the benefits are for suite SK category guests?

[sjacobs11]

2 minutes ago, CruiserFam3 said:

thank you again! where can I find what all the benefits are for suite SK category guests?

Check them out here - https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/cruise-accommodations/cruise-suites-and-penthouses

[ColdCruise]

Want to mention, two of the benefits of breakfast at Cagney is 1) the steak & egg breakfast- the 6 oz strip was better than the ribeye I had for dinner in Cagneys…hands down. The 2nd is eggs Benedict all the time. Even when it wasn’t listed on debating day (used the “port day” menu I think @Sammae pointed out), I saw someone enjoying a final eggs benny as we left the restaurant.

 

Details in my trip report- check index near end for exact post. Thread post is linked several times in this thread (hate being redundant when the thread is only 3 pages, steady to find info if looking(

[ysolde]

This thread is so wonderfully informative!  I really appreciate it.  Our cruise begins in very late November and goes into December.  We start in the Mediterranean, cross the Atlantic, then end up in the Caribbean, so we have a lot of sea days in there.  I'm thinking there will be plenty of Eggs Benedict to look forward to, and I like it.  I am also wondering whether we can request an occasional plate of mini brownies (or cookies, or something like that)  for our cabin, so that we can snack on them in the afternoon/evening while we relax on the balcony with a cup of tea, read, etc.  It sounds so idyllic.  

[sjacobs11]

6 minutes ago, ysolde said:

This thread is so wonderfully informative!  I really appreciate it.  Our cruise begins in very late November and goes into December.  We start in the Mediterranean, cross the Atlantic, then end up in the Caribbean, so we have a lot of sea days in there.  I'm thinking there will be plenty of Eggs Benedict to look forward to, and I like it.  I am also wondering whether we can request an occasional plate of mini brownies (or cookies, or something like that)  for our cabin, so that we can snack on them in the afternoon/evening while we relax on the balcony with a cup of tea, read, etc.  It sounds so idyllic.  

We asked the butler for pretzels and every day there was a huge plate of The Local’s pretzel bites. So just ask!!