Dinner on the Breakaway Haven?

Would you happen to have the new Haven dinner menus or know where I might view them?

 

Are they different every night or is it the same menu like the specialty restaurants?

 

 

 

Thanks so much.

 

Don

On the Escape it was the same every night

This is a link to the Haven dinner menu on Escape, but it is accurate for Breakaway too. The menu is the same every night.

http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/cr_204_haven.pdf

This is a link to the Haven dinner menu on Escape, but it is accurate for Breakaway too. The menu is the same every night.

 

 

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/cr_204_haven.pdf

The menu on Escape is different now some items changed

Would you happen to have the new Haven dinner menus or know where I might view them?

Are they different every night or is it the same menu like the specialty restaurants?

 

Thanks so much.

Don

Here you go, Don. The new breakfast, lunch and dinner menus for the Haven. They stay the same every day, but there is a lot to choose from.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49289761#post49289761

I tried attaching photo I took of menus but cannot read here

How do dinners in the Haven compare to the Specialty Restaurants and the Main Dining Rooms on the Breakaway?

 

RE: Food, Ambiance and Service?

 

Thanks.

Don

Excellent!! We ate most meals here and it was our favorite!! :D

This is a link to the Haven dinner menu on Escape, but it is accurate for Breakaway too. The menu is the same every night.

 

http://www.beyondships2.com/uploads/8/2/4/5/8245255/cr_204_haven.pdf

The link provided by gizfish is the same dinner menu that was available to me in the Haven on the NCL Epic in February/March 2016.

I was on the Epic for an 11-day round trip cruise from Barcelona (24-February to 06-March, 2016) going to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and Malaga. This was the first cruise for the Epic in 2016 with the new menu. I was pleased with the selection; however, there problems in the kitchen to deliver food cooked as ordered by the guest. I know that will change with time, but it was very frustrating as a passenger to be the guinea pig for the kitchen staff that did not get any practice with the new menu items. We were told that the kitchen staff did not have a ramp up time to try cooking these items before the menu was rolled out.

This takes me on to my next point, which is bringing this thread back to the purpose of what the OP was originally asking...

I have been in the Haven 3 times since 2011. Once on the NCL Pearl and two times on the NCL Epic. Some have said that the Haven restaurant of the Epic is the nicest of the Haven restaurants. I have not been on any Breakaway Class ship so I will hold my opinion to what I do know and have experience with.

With that said, I can honestly state that the level and quality of service and amenities, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, has decreased/diminished between my March 2014 and February 2016 trips on the Epic. The Epic had a retrofit in September/October 2015, which the Epic Haven public and private spaces benefited from. Updates to rooms were less noticeable, but still nice. Where I most noticed the changes were as follows:

• The Lavazza coffee machines were replaced with Nespresso machines. The capability and quality are inferior to the Lavazza machines.
  
• Attention to detail of service in the restaurant is lacking. I don't expect servers to know my every desire on Day 1, but after several days of seeing you and receiving the same requests at each meal, you would expect them to remember and even be proactive. Unfortunately, I found myself asking frequently and usually repetitively during the same meal.
  
• The Haven lacks from a sufficient number of servers to cover peak times. Some night service would extend beyond two hours with long waits in between courses. If you need to be somewhere, you need to constantly remind the staff when you need to leave the resturant.
  
• There are no dedicated beverage service waiters. Because all service comes through your food server, with some support by another staff member to do water/coffee. Often times, you have empty wine/cocktail glasses if you are not drinking alcohol. Service is service, regardless if you drink alcohol, soda, or water and should be provided as needed and when needed.
  
• Information communicated pre-cruise to land-based Haven concierge staff does not get translated to ship-side concierge staff accurately in some cases. Also, land based staff are not fully aware of changes that occur on ships and what items are no longer available. For example, a Carlo's Bakery cake I ordered for a special birthday celebration 6 weeks prior to boarding the ship was communicated to me on the ship on Day 1 that the cake would not be available. Even worse, the communication was addressed to the recipient of the birthday cake. Fortunately I took control of all printed information on the dining room table before it was noticed or viewed. I had to deal with the Haven Concierge and Guest Services to get a resolution to the dilemma that was not ideal. A cake of lesser quality was provided and a credit was put on my account for the cake that I had ordered.
  

I don't want to drone on and on about issues that aren't related specifically to the Haven, but I did want to give a feel for what can happen if you are not on top of your reservation, pre-embarkation orders, and other service related items that either can make or break your cruise holiday experience.

EDIT: I realized I didn't spend any time speaking to specialty restaurant food/service/quality aspects in my commentary. Let me just say that we dined at the following: Cagney's, Moderno, Teppanyaki, Spiegel Tent, and Le Bistro. Each restaurant was an amazing experience, with great food and amazing service (well, we all know how lame the food in the Spiegel Tent is). The food in the Haven is good, but many specialty restaurants have options that are more appealing. The service is where the specialty restaurants really shine. It's too bad that the Haven restaurant has to take a back seat in quality of service. I suppose the Miami office already has your money up front so there is less incentive to provide the high caliber of service in the Haven that the specialty restaurants are giving to the guests.

Lastly, none of the experiences described above happened during the 2014 cruise on the same ship.

The link provided by gizfish is the same dinner menu that was available to me in the Haven on the NCL Epic in February/March 2016.

 

I was on the Epic for an 11-day round trip cruise from Barcelona (24-February to 06-March, 2016) going to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and Malaga. This was the first cruise for the Epic in 2016 with the new menu. I was pleased with the selection; however, there problems in the kitchen to deliver food cooked as ordered by the guest. I know that will change with time, but it was very frustrating as a passenger to be the guinea pig for the kitchen staff that did not get any practice with the new menu items. We were told that the kitchen staff did not have a ramp up time to try cooking these items before the menu was rolled out.

 

This takes me on to my next point, which is bringing this thread back to the purpose of what the OP was originally asking...

 

I have been in the Haven 3 times since 2011. Once on the NCL Pearl and two times on the NCL Epic. Some have said that the Haven restaurant of the Epic is the nicest of the Haven restaurants. I have not been on any Breakaway Class ship so I will hold my opinion to what I do know and have experience with.

 

With that said, I can honestly state that the level and quality of service and amenities, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, has decreased/diminished between my March 2014 and February 2016 trips on the Epic. The Epic had a retrofit in September/October 2015, which the Epic Haven public and private spaces benefited from. Updates to rooms were less noticeable, but still nice. Where I most noticed the changes were as follows:

• The Lavazza coffee machines were replaced with Nespresso machines. The capability and quality are inferior to the Lavazza machines.
  
• Attention to detail of service in the restaurant is lacking. I don't expect servers to know my every desire on Day 1, but after several days of seeing you and receiving the same requests at each meal, you would expect them to remember and even be proactive. Unfortunately, I found myself asking frequently and usually repetitively during the same meal.
  
• The Haven lacks from a sufficient number of servers to cover peak times. Some night service would extend beyond two hours with long waits in between courses. If you need to be somewhere, you need to constantly remind the staff when you need to leave the resturant.
  
• There are no dedicated beverage service waiters. Because all service comes through your food server, with some support by another staff member to do water/coffee. Often times, you have empty wine/cocktail glasses if you are not drinking alcohol. Service is service, regardless if you drink alcohol, soda, or water and should be provided as needed and when needed.
  
• Information communicated pre-cruise to land-based Haven concierge staff does not get translated to ship-side concierge staff accurately in some cases. Also, land based staff are not fully aware of changes that occur on ships and what items are no longer available. For example, a Carlo's Bakery cake I ordered for a special birthday celebration 6 weeks prior to boarding the ship was communicated to me on the ship on Day 1 that the cake would not be available. Even worse, the communication was addressed to the recipient of the birthday cake. Fortunately I took control of all printed information on the dining room table before it was noticed or viewed. I had to deal with the Haven Concierge and Guest Services to get a resolution to the dilemma that was not ideal. A cake of lesser quality was provided and a credit was put on my account for the cake that I had ordered.
  

 

I don't want to drone on and on about issues that aren't related specifically to the Haven, but I did want to give a feel for what can happen if you are not on top of your reservation, pre-embarkation orders, and other service related items that either can make or break your cruise holiday experience.

That must just be the Epic because I had the complete opposite experience on the Getaway. Service was incredibly quick, the waiters all remembered us, usually by name, food came out hot and delicious.

That must just be the Epic because I had the complete opposite experience on the Getaway. Service was incredibly quick, the waiters all remembered us, usually by name, food came out hot and delicious.

Why??? There is no excuse for any ship or ship staff to provide a level of service that is sub-par. I know you cannot answer this question... it is intended to be rhetorical. I'm here to speak to an experience and how it has degraded over time. This was not the case in 2014 on the Epic.

EDIT: The size of the Epic Haven is double the size of the Breakaway Class.

Sailed EPIC a few years ago. Fun cruise.

Sailed Breakaway a couple of years ago...in the Haven. Outstanding experience, from the service, to the food in the Haven, to the Concierge and Butler, the Waitstaff.

Regarding Levazza...not real fond of it. Glad they moved to Nespresso.

Will get a better ideal in JULY as I'm sailing in the Haven on the Getaway.

Here you go, Don. The new breakfast, lunch and dinner menus for the Haven. They stay the same every day, but there is a lot to choose from.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49289761#post49289761

Thanks so much Porterhouse!

I see what you mean.....all meals look delish! :)

Don

Just got off Breakaway. The Haven food is superior to ANY of the products from any other restaurant, period. Service is phenomenal. Beyond incredible. The staff goes above and beyond all the time for their guests. Of course I'm not sure if you're a jerk to them what your experience is, but our experience was incredible. In some cases we made friends for life. Concierge had reservations for sold out shows and restaurants on demand. Sure Mr..... All set no problem. The Surf and Turf in the Haven rivals most high end steak houses. My wife is a vegetarian. Whatever she wanted those servers appeared with, nightly with the utmost quality. I likened the restaurant manager to the expectations and attention to detail of Chef Ramsey from TV. Nothing short of perfection is allowed. You won't be disappointed. However, I will stress, ymmv if you are a jerk and treat the staff like crap. Then, while I'm sure the quality will still be excellent, I can't guarantee what we experienced. We witnessed this treatment from another guest(s) and I give the staff so much credit for not wanting to knock these people out. Service industry is a tough one, landslide or sea. Please enjoy with confidence. We couldn't be happier with the overall experience. Simply incredible.

I was on Escape a few weeks ago and the food in the Haven restaurant was so good that many people (us included) were cancelling their specialty restaurant reservations.

Service can be slow (I waited over 40 minutes for my lunch one day that we were in port and the restaurant was minimally staffed and only about six people dining).

Enjoy,

Tracy

Who's the matre'd on the escape in the haven restaurant? I heard it was Sing, he was great to us when he was on the Breakaway, 2 years in a row. I heard he was moved to the Escape

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Who's the matre'd on the escape in the haven restaurant? I heard it was Sing, he was great to us when he was on the Breakaway, 2 years in a row. I heard he was moved to the Escape

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

No clue I only saw the assistant Maitre'd when I was there two weeks ago

Who's the matre'd on the escape in the haven restaurant? I heard it was Sing, he was great to us when he was on the Breakaway, 2 years in a row. I heard he was moved to the Escape

Lilly is the restaurant manager for the Escape Haven's restaurant. She had two young ladies running the hostest stand.

Just got off Breakaway. The Haven food is superior to ANY of the products from any other restaurant, period. Service is phenomenal. Beyond incredible. The staff goes above and beyond all the time for their guests. Of course I'm not sure if you're a jerk to them what your experience is, but our experience was incredible. In some cases we made friends for life. Concierge had reservations for sold out shows and restaurants on demand. Sure Mr..... All set no problem. The Surf and Turf in the Haven rivals most high end steak houses. My wife is a vegetarian. Whatever she wanted those servers appeared with, nightly with the utmost quality. I likened the restaurant manager to the expectations and attention to detail of Chef Ramsey from TV. Nothing short of perfection is allowed. You won't be disappointed. However, I will stress, ymmv if you are a jerk and treat the staff like crap. Then, while I'm sure the quality will still be excellent, I can't guarantee what we experienced. We witnessed this treatment from another guest(s) and I give the staff so much credit for not wanting to knock these people out. Service industry is a tough one, landslide or sea. Please enjoy with confidence. We couldn't be happier with the overall experience. Simply incredible.

Is the Surf and Turf in the Haven an extra charge or included in the price for Haven guests? This is appears to be my first cruise back with the Surf and Turf option in the Haven--unless I was oblivious to the option before. Also, anyone know if the Surf and Turf is also available in the Epic Haven?

Is the Surf and Turf in the Haven an extra charge or included in the price for Haven guests? This is appears to be my first cruise back with the Surf and Turf option in the Haven--unless I was oblivious to the option before. Also, anyone know if the Surf and Turf is also available in the Epic Haven?

Everything on the Haven menu is included for Haven guests - no upcharges. The Surf & Turf is incredible.

Lilly is the restaurant manager for the Escape Haven's restaurant. She had two young ladies running the hostest stand.

Lilibeth Espinosa is the assistant Maitre'd and the only one I saw besides the two hostesses and all the waitstaff

All were wonderful there and the food the best

You eat like a king in the haven restaurant. I just got off the Getaway 2 weeks ago and what I loved about it vs the specialty restaurants is we got the same waitress (Liza) and she knew my likes and dislikes and drinks and took care of us amazingly. only the first night the Haven was busy and early morning excursions on port days breakfast was busy BUT they turn tables so fast you never had to wait.

Is the Surf and Turf in the Haven an extra charge or included in the price for Haven guests? This is appears to be my first cruise back with the Surf and Turf option in the Haven--unless I was oblivious to the option before. Also, anyone know if the Surf and Turf is also available in the Epic Haven?

The *free* surf and turf was wonderful. My DW had the steamed lobster tail (and they were large tails). Great food!

Thanks Porterhouse248 and BirdTravels...I'm looking forward to the new menu selection.

Sorry if this is slightly off topic. But can you invite non-Haven guests to have dinner with you in the Haven? Thanks in advance.

Sorry if this is slightly off topic. But can you invite non-Haven guests to have dinner with you in the Haven? Thanks in advance.

2 times only at $25.00 each .. That is what I have been told