There and Back Again, Breakaway journey and Haven perspective July19-26 2015

I've sailed in the Haven on the BA twice, the most recent being 7/5-7/12/15 and the first was during her inaugural season. On our first cruise, we were able to enjoy the Haven on the last night during dinner hours when most are out eating. It was blissfully empty and a wonderful way to end that cruise.

This time, there was a family group of either 48 or 51 people in the Haven and they absolutely monopolized the entire lower space, all pools, chairs, tables and hot tubs for the first three days. Kids were throwing nerf footballs across the room, some would sit at a table, order food then leave the table and go into the pools etc. It was as if they owned the space. The rest of the Haven passengers literally had to sit upstairs or outside if we/they wanted to be there at all. After the first three days, the group seemed to disperse (doing things on the island or maybe just going their separate ways?) but the whole thing left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I did bring it up to the concierge on the last night. His response was essentially "it can be difficult when large groups are sailing". Hmmm...underwhelming response seeing that I too paid a heavy premium for booking in the Haven and was absolutely unable to access the lower space for a great part of the entire cruise.

And not for nothing, Anoop was our concierge on our very first cruise (Dawn to Bermuda 4 or 5 years ago) and he was, as a former poster noted, a 'rock star' and a ninja...being everywhere and doing everything for everyone. The BA doesn't allow for the same personalized service due to her size, but I certainly won't risk booking the Haven again on that ship knowing that I might not get what I paid for.

Other than that, our latest BA was good, and we loved, loved, loved visiting Long Bay Beach in the nature preserve. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to avoid beach crowds!

Thank you, OP for your review and I'm sorry that the Haven was a haven for you either.

When we were on BA this past April there was DEFINITELY reserved seating for Haven guests for at least Rock of Ages, which I see OP did not attend. We also went to Burn the Floor but did NOT see the sign or section for reserved Haven seating, and I'm pretty sure we were there at least 15 minutes before the show. Perhaps they didn't bother with reserved seating for that show or took the sign down a little earlier.

 

When we went to Rock of Ages we got to the theater about 25 minutes before the show started. We eschewed the reserved seating (as others have noted it's on the left side about halfway back) and got much better seats about six rows back dead center.

 

AFAIK, there is only reserved seating for the main theater. I don't think there's any reserved seating for Comedy or Fat Cats, or other venues. We were able to have the concierge make a second reservation for Comedy; I don't know if that would have been possible without his assistance. When we reserved stuff online pre-cruise we could only book one Comedy show, but don't know if that restriction would have persisted after boarding and/or after seeing our booked show.

Seems like everyone says there was reserved seating before. Wonder why I was told no? Still interested to hear from another Haven guest from my sailing. I couldn't book any comedy shows pre-cruise, but could book any night it was available onboard. I think we went to 4 shows, and then the shows were repeated with a little new improv.

I've sailed in the Haven on the BA twice, the most recent being 7/5-7/12/15 and the first was during her inaugural season. On our first cruise, we were able to enjoy the Haven on the last night during dinner hours when most are out eating. It was blissfully empty and a wonderful way to end that cruise.

 

This time, there was a family group of either 48 or 51 people in the Haven and they absolutely monopolized the entire lower space, all pools, chairs, tables and hot tubs for the first three days. Kids were throwing nerf footballs across the room, some would sit at a table, order food then leave the table and go into the pools etc. It was as if they owned the space. The rest of the Haven passengers literally had to sit upstairs or outside if we/they wanted to be there at all. After the first three days, the group seemed to disperse (doing things on the island or maybe just going their separate ways?) but the whole thing left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I did bring it up to the concierge on the last night. His response was essentially "it can be difficult when large groups are sailing". Hmmm...underwhelming response seeing that I too paid a heavy premium for booking in the Haven and was absolutely unable to access the lower space for a great part of the entire cruise.

 

And not for nothing, Anoop was our concierge on our very first cruise (Dawn to Bermuda 4 or 5 years ago) and he was, as a former poster noted, a 'rock star' and a ninja...being everywhere and doing everything for everyone. The BA doesn't allow for the same personalized service due to her size, but I certainly won't risk booking the Haven again on that ship knowing that I might not get what I paid for.

 

Other than that, our latest BA was good, and we loved, loved, loved visiting Long Bay Beach in the nature preserve. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to avoid beach crowds!

 

Thank you, OP for your review and I'm sorry that the Haven was a haven for you either.

Is Long Bay Beach also known as Cooper's Island? Would love to check that out when we next get to Bermuda.

I don't know what to say about Anoop. Perhaps there were a lot of "high maintenance" guests during my sailing. Just got a strained, unhappy vibe and had a total of 3 interactions with him the entire week. I don't need a lot of hand holding--but it was strange. Not looking up from the desk when we were leaving was just really weird.

Sorry your vacation had to deal with a large group as well. Thanks for your input.

Sorry for all your troubles. This is the thing that kind of concerned me about the Haven. The area looks kind of small to begin with, and I can see how it would easily be taken over by a large enough group.

To me, having access to the "limited access" public areas is not as valuable as having more truly private space, like a large balcony. I keep looking at BA for something over the winter that wouldn't require a flight, but I just don't see us using the Haven amenities enough to make the price differential worth it. I am looking forward to a non-Haven suite on the Pearl next summer, though.

Sorry for all your troubles. This is the thing that kind of concerned me about the Haven. The area looks kind of small to begin with, and I can see how it would easily be taken over by a large enough group.

 

To me, having access to the "limited access" public areas is not as valuable as having more truly private space, like a large balcony. I keep looking at BA for something over the winter that wouldn't require a flight, but I just don't see us using the Haven amenities enough to make the price differential worth it. I am looking forward to a non-Haven suite on the Pearl next summer, though.

Actually the area is larger than I thought it would be. I understand exactly what you mean about using the Haven enough. I think to get the full value is just the luck of the draw as far as who else is in the Haven that week and if they control their kids. I don't want to do the Florida/Bahamas run and I don't want to sail in prime hurricane weather--been there done that. Hope the Pearl is a great cruise for you. The ship looks really nice from what I have seen. I guess I like the smaller ships since I don't have to book everything in advance.

Is Long Bay Beach also known as Cooper's Island? Would love to check that out when we next get to Bermuda.

 

I don't know what to say about Anoop. Perhaps there were a lot of "high maintenance" guests during my sailing. Just got a strained, unhappy vibe and had a total of 3 interactions with him the entire week. I don't need a lot of hand holding--but it was strange. Not looking up from the desk when we were leaving was just really weird.

 

Sorry your vacation had to deal with a large group as well. Thanks for your input.

Long Bay Beach is part of Cooper's Nature Preserve. It's about as far from the dockyard as you can get on the island and there are several beaches there. Clearwater has a beach bar (and rest rooms for customers) as well as porto-potties for beach only guests. Clearwater had lots of locals and camp groups with children when we went. There's also Turtle Bay which is just before the nature preserve. It's smaller and quieter than Clearwater but I don't think it has facilities. Then there's Long Bay which is in the preserve. It's absolutely lovely....there were probably no more than ten people there when we went. There are no facilities, however, so you would have to walk back to Clearwater if you needed the bathroom. In my opinion, it's well worth the trek to get there. We ended up sharing a cab with another couple from St. Georges...it was $11 per couple one way.

One last comment about BA concierge service. We sailed on her fourth voyage (so the ship was brandy new) and we had Ruth as the concierge. We had a party of 7 across three Haven rooms, one of which was the DOS. She literally never knew our names or our room numbers. I was seriously surprised. She also never was seen outside of the Haven....ever. No dinnertime drop by's in the restaurants...no nothing outside of what we had to request her help with. For that matter, hardly a smile to be seen the entire week.

Anoop was certainly better/different than that experience on the BA, but he couldn't deliver nearly the level of service we had on the Dawn some years back. Kind of makes me sad because we were so excited that he would again be our concierge.

I did witness the lead man from the huge group complain to Anoop that his TA did not inform them when the Captain's party was being held and his group had a conflict. Guess what happened? The captain's party time was adjusted as was the time for that enormous group's reservation. Wow...I was dumbfounded. :eek:

Long Bay Beach is part of Cooper's Nature Preserve. It's about as far from the dockyard as you can get on the island and there are several beaches there. Clearwater has a beach bar (and rest rooms for customers) as well as porto-potties for beach only guests. Clearwater had lots of locals and camp groups with children when we went. There's also Turtle Bay which is just before the nature preserve. It's smaller and quieter than Clearwater but I don't think it has facilities. Then there's Long Bay which is in the preserve. It's absolutely lovely....there were probably no more than ten people there when we went. There are no facilities, however, so you would have to walk back to Clearwater if you needed the bathroom. In my opinion, it's well worth the trek to get there. We ended up sharing a cab with another couple from St. Georges...it was $11 per couple one way.

 

One last comment about BA concierge service. We sailed on her fourth voyage (so the ship was brandy new) and we had Ruth as the concierge. We had a party of 7 across three Haven rooms, one of which was the DOS. She literally never knew our names or our room numbers. I was seriously surprised. She also never was seen outside of the Haven....ever. No dinnertime drop by's in the restaurants...no nothing outside of what we had to request her help with. For that matter, hardly a smile to be seen the entire week.

 

Anoop was certainly better/different than that experience on the BA, but he couldn't deliver nearly the level of service we had on the Dawn some years back. Kind of makes me sad because we were so excited that he would again be our concierge.

 

I did witness the lead man from the huge group complain to Anoop that his TA did not inform them when the Captain's party was being held and his group had a conflict. Guess what happened? The captain's party time was adjusted as was the time for that enormous group's reservation. Wow...I was dumbfounded. :eek:

Wow! I guess some are just more special than the rest of us. I had the feeling on another sailing, that if I had worn more bling that I would have been fawned over. Kind of felt that the concierge did a "once-over" up and down and decided I wasn't worth her effort. :o

Thanks for all the great information on Long Bay etc. sounds like our kind of place. Makes me want to fly back soon!

Regarding Long Bay, I posted a few pics of the beach on the Bermuda ports of call board. I don't know how to post a link, but the title of the thread is something along the lines of 'walking to St. Davids'? The thread was started by mitsugirly and has a lot of good information about this area.

In my view, if you're looking for a very quiet and pristine beach, you can't find a better one than Long Bay! :)

Quick question... If you want to have dinner in Haven restaurant do you have to make a reservation or just show up like breakfast and lunch?

No, You can just show up. There is no dress code either. I found the service excellent and the food hit or miss.

You can also change things up on the menu. I don't like mussels and fennel, which were on the salmon dish. They were able to just do a salmon with sauce, rice and broccoli. You can also get a baked potato with any dish.

There is a different menu out by the pool area. You can order off either menu for both places.

If I didn't have the UDP I would have eaten most dinners here.

We had a good Haven experience. We found the area to be fairly uncrowded and mostly peaceful.we were traveling with kids who loved the Haven pool which seemed to work out fine because if was too cold and small for the adults who stuck to the hot tubs. As for concierge, we had Anoop also. He was a very pleasant man but his services were sort of a mystery to me. Other than booking shows and dinner ( which we had done ahead of time), I was unsure what the purpose was. And don't get me started on Carlos. What a terrible butler experience we had with him. From the first interaction, he always seemed annoyed. Didn't di anything for us other than what was asked ( and sometimes he didn't even do that) and every interaction was painful like he was annoyed at our very presence. Butler on NCl is not how it's mdesribed, at least in our experience. As for show seats, there was a roped section for Haven guests. Perhaps you just asked the wrong person.

We had a good Haven experience. We found the area to be fairly uncrowded and mostly peaceful.we were traveling with kids who loved the Haven pool which seemed to work out fine because if was too cold and small for the adults who stuck to the hot tubs. As for concierge, we had Anoop also. He was a very pleasant man but his services were sort of a mystery to me. Other than booking shows and dinner ( which we had done ahead of time), I was unsure what the purpose was. And don't get me started on Carlos. What a terrible butler experience we had with him. From the first interaction, he always seemed annoyed. Didn't di anything for us other than what was asked ( and sometimes he didn't even do that) and every interaction was painful like he was annoyed at our very presence. Butler on NCl is not how it's mdesribed, at least in our experience. As for show seats, there was a roped section for Haven guests. Perhaps you just asked the wrong person.

Well I asked Anoop--so it is what it is. We did not have Carlos. I think the Haven is a different experience each week, guest dependent. Sounds like the week before us was pretty good and two weeks before our sailing was similar to ours. We did enjoy some time on the deck outside on the Haven, it just never was for long enough before we felt like our personal space was being compromised. Glad you had a good week (butler exp excluded)

Thanks for info. Were in haven inaugaral season but couldnt remember how dinner worked. Do you recommend prebooking specialties with UDP or will concierge do it for us? Prefer to wait til onboard to see our plans for each day but it is sounding like breakawAy concierge not As helpful n friendly as those on the gem. Our previous experience on breakaway she just sat at desk and almost every request we had was answered with a "no" she was not accomodating at all! Hope this experience is different....carlos, pearl and florentina on the gem were superb! Lani was our butler on breakaway went above n beyond n kind of made up for concierge aloofness...

We found the BA concierge unable to get us anything other than posted availability for specialities. With UDP, reservations were sometimes hard to come by.

Thanks for info. Were in haven inaugaral season but couldnt remember how dinner worked. Do you recommend prebooking specialties with UDP or will concierge do it for us? Prefer to wait til onboard to see our plans for each day but it is sounding like breakawAy concierge not As helpful n friendly as those on the gem. Our previous experience on breakaway she just sat at desk and almost every request we had was answered with a "no" she was not accomodating at all! Hope this experience is different....carlos, pearl and florentina on the gem were superb! Lani was our butler on breakaway went above n beyond n kind of made up for concierge aloofness...

I would definitely book ahead. The restaurants were packed. It does not cost you anything to pre-book, and you can always cancel. I booked tables for 4 (even though only 2 of us have the UDP) and was not charged for the extra person til we ate. All our reservations were for 5:15 or 5:30 and I was glad we ate early, since I heard complaints of people having 8:30 reservations and not getting their food til 10:00. We were able to make most of our 7:00 shows, but usually only had 2 courses.

I emailed the pre concierges desk for our sailing on August 9. Wanted clarification to reserved seating and also wanted to change some dining times. Will post what they email back once I hear from them. I also asked for 3 vibe passes to be reserved. I know on getaway we had spa passes reserved via concierge. This was before you could pre-purchase these. This will be my 14th cruise with ncl and 13 of them in suites so I know what to expect and if it is not then will probably cancel the 2 others booked.

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I emailed the pre concierges desk for our sailing on August 9. Wanted clarification to reserved seating and also wanted to change some dining times. Will post what they email back once I hear from them. I also asked for 3 vibe passes to be reserved. I know on getaway we had spa passes reserved via concierge. This was before you could pre-purchase these. This will be my 14th cruise with ncl and 13 of them in suites so I know what to expect and if it is not then will probably cancel the 2 others booked.

 

 

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Hope you have good weather Murfette and that your pre concierge requests get followed-through with the ship staff. Have a good trip.

Just read Juniortrooper's review or last week. In Post #22 she states that there was a roped off area that she assumed was for Haven guests in the theater, though didn't investigate.

So why did Anoop tell me there was no reserved seating? Was it for one of the large groups in the Haven last week? Certainly didn't impact my trip one way or another, but is just weird.

Another instance of "right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" was that the navigation channel continued to show the port departure time from Bermuda at 5:00 pm rather than the new 3:00 pm. Some people we talked with were confused and didn't believe we were actually leaving early.

I emailed the pre concierges desk for our sailing on August 9. Wanted clarification to reserved seating and also wanted to change some dining times. Will post what they email back once I hear from them. I also asked for 3 vibe passes to be reserved. I know on getaway we had spa passes reserved via concierge. This was before you could pre-purchase these. This will be my 14th cruise with ncl and 13 of them in suites so I know what to expect and if it is not then will probably cancel the 2 others booked.

 

 

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After waiting 24 hours with out a response. I emailed again. I had saved a copy of my email and this time stated that as a long time loyal costumer I would appreciate my email being answered in a timely manner and with in an hour after that second email it was.

Here is the response and I will have it printed out.

I have updated your reservation with your requests to adjust your dining reservation time on August 9, 10, and 14 to 7pm. I also requested to change the party size on Aug 15 to a party of 3. These requests will be confirmed onboard by the concierge onboard.

I have also updated your reservation with your request to empty the fridge.

There is reserved seating for our haven guests for the shows, however we highly recommend reservations so I have added a request to your reservation for the 9:30PM shows on Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages on the sea days. These will be confirmed onboard by the concierge. At this time the Vibe passes are only available for purchase onboard so I added the request for 3 week passes these will be confirmed onboard.

Attached is your suite selection letter for your upcoming cruise. Please take a moment to review the amenities available and feel free to contact us to confirm your selections.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with.

Kind Regards,

After waiting 24 hours with out a response. I emailed again. I had saved a copy of my email and this time stated that as a long time loyal costumer I would appreciate my email being answered in a timely manner and with in an hour after that second email it was.

 

Here is the response and I will have it printed out.

I have updated your reservation with your requests to adjust your dining reservation time on August 9, 10, and 14 to 7pm. I also requested to change the party size on Aug 15 to a party of 3. These requests will be confirmed onboard by the concierge onboard.

 

I have also updated your reservation with your request to empty the fridge.

 

There is reserved seating for our haven guests for the shows, however we highly recommend reservations so I have added a request to your reservation for the 9:30PM shows on Burn the Floor and Rock of Ages on the sea days. These will be confirmed onboard by the concierge. At this time the Vibe passes are only available for purchase onboard so I added the request for 3 week passes these will be confirmed onboard.

 

Attached is your suite selection letter for your upcoming cruise. Please take a moment to review the amenities available and feel free to contact us to confirm your selections.

 

Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with.

 

Kind Regards,

Keeping my fingers crossed for you that it all works out in your favor.

Thanks snorklemom19. I will post an update when we return.

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Just read Juniortrooper's review or last week. In Post #22 she states that there was a roped off area that she assumed was for Haven guests in the theater, though didn't investigate.

 

So why did Anoop tell me there was no reserved seating? Was it for one of the large groups in the Haven last week? Certainly didn't impact my trip one way or another, but is just weird.

 

Another instance of "right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing" was that the navigation channel continued to show the port departure time from Bermuda at 5:00 pm rather than the new 3:00 pm. Some people we talked with were confused and didn't believe we were actually leaving early.

It's entirely possible he didn't understand what was being asked. He's been on the BA for at least a year. I think he knows there is reserved seating. Either you asked it the wrong way or maybe he wasn't listening well.

It's entirely possible he didn't understand what was being asked. He's been on the BA for at least a year. I think he knows there is reserved seating. Either you asked it the wrong way or maybe he wasn't listening well.

Whatever. Put a fork in it. Looking forward to a Spain land vacation to celebrate 5 years cancer free and 30 year anniversary.

Whatever. Put a fork in it. Looking forward to a Spain land vacation to celebrate 5 years cancer free and 30 year anniversary.

Congratulations on both of your anniversaries. Enjoy Spain and life:)

Congratulations on both of your anniversaries. Enjoy Spain and life:)

Thank you!