Pace67

Had a fantastic day with our driver Sergio. We gave him a list of what we wanted to do and he fulfilled every item. He even made suggestions that helped manage the time there. I recommend this company highly! 

On 3/28/2022 at 10:39 AM, Sthrngary said:

@CDR BensonWhen I read someone going on an NCL Ship and the outline of their lack of service; you are right, some of those situation are indeed indefensible.  It is important that if any guest on any cruise line is less then happy with the service or product, they address it right away.  It is is not that important, OK.  If it is a serious issue, it should be dealt with immediately so one can move on to the best cruise possible. 

 

My biggest frustration is for the few folks that had issues, the there is a majority that were more then satisfied. My cruise in the Haven on the Joy at the end of November with my family was lovely.  The one issue I had was resolved almost instantly.  My communication with Pre-Cruise desk with great success.  Yet if some of the outlined things happened to me, I would be less then thrilled.  I would us my own advice and address it instantly which I did.

 

If anyone who has not cruise in the Haven has an opportunity for a reasonable upgrade bid, I say go for it.  For those like myself that has had rare issue, it will depend on the fare at the time.  For those considering the Haven, look at the Great, Good, Bad and Ugly; make a decision that works for you. Ask lots of questions and process the answers.  Remember, "Realistic Expectations".  

 

One final word and I will be backing away from CruiseCritic.com for a while.  True luxury comes at an investment.  The Luxury Brands like Regent Seven Seas Cruises will blow your mind on the personalized service, accommodations and dining. With that comes an investment that makes the Haven look like  the bargain of the year.  There are trade offs, just know that they are so you are not disappointed when you sail.

 

All my best to everyone.  Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

I sure hope you will not be gone too long. Your advice is very useful and when you continue to cruise, you find even more things to give to this conversation. I'm sure it can feel like quite a burden to give advice & pointers and to describe what a great experience you get within the Haven and then to see that some people do not share this joy or have a less than positive experience. This burden, I would assume, can be quite draining. So, I understand your need for a break. I, for one, would like to point out that most likely 99% of the people who read your posts thoroughly enjoy and appreciate all the time and effort you put into this thread. It does not go unnoticed. However, it will if you are gone too long :). 

Thank you for always being positive, helping me look forward to my upcoming cruises (I have 4 booked) and providing so much knowledge to this cruising community. 

All the best to you.

22 hours ago, Revsoles said:

I’m wondering if anyone else has had less than impressive Haven pre-cruise experience? This forum maybe raised my expectations for the Haven experience, and I hope my on board experience is better, but I have had zero communication from the concierge in advance of our cruise (tomorrow), I finally emailed the concierge desk at the beginning of this week and got a robo-response email saying I would receive a reply in 48 hrs and…crickets. We didn’t have many requests and it’s nothing we can’t handle when we get on board, but a little irritating if the practice of concierge reaching out isn’t uniform. Is it possible this is just for loyalty tier members? This is our first NCL cruise so who knows? I booked online direct through NCL last fall and my only experience with NCL customer service via phone (not the concierge but general line) was very poor as I called with a question about being double charged for Wi-Fi upgrade and the agent put me on hold for 20 minutes (the timer was ticking on my car’s infotainment screen so I knew precisely how long it was) and then came back and presumably forgot who he was talking to because he started in answering questions about Covid testing, which I did not ask. I’m pretty easy going, but that was exasperating, and he was never able to answer the original question so I will have to deal with that on board I guess.
 

I wasn’t planning on doing the butler letter, I hate to impose, but after seeing many have had positive experience with it, I now am doing that and I hope that gets better results!

 

I am determined to have a great time regardless, but I would like to receive at least close to the same level of service as others are getting in Haven.

When you contact the Haven Concierge via email, it is not the concierge specific to your cruise. It is a general concierge email and they send requests to your specific ship concierge. There isn't anything you really missed out on pre-cruise from them. I emailed them dining reservations for specialty restaurants and an FYI that we are vegetarians and they replied it would be forwarded to our ships concierge and confirmed once on board. Last cruise once on board the concierge confirmed the reservations and handed us a piece of paper to choose show reservation times. We turned that in, had our dinner reservations handled and really didn't ask them for anything else. Also, the letter and luggage tags are now sent out 45 days prior to the cruise. I believe it used to be 60 days, but now it is 45 I was told. I would encourage you to do the butler letter as @Sthrngary suggested. He is a seasoned traveler and has really good advice. Your butler is the one you want an established relationship with as he/she is the one who can enhance your Haven experience. To sum up what I am trying to say is there really isn't a "pre-Haven" experience. It will arrive when you step into the Haven waiting area at the port, have a glass of fresh juice and a light snack, then get escorted onto the ship by a member of the Haven team. Your muscles will slowly relax and the tension in your neck will ease as the passengers waiting in line have to step aside to let you walk past them escorted to the front of the line and onto the Haven elevator to have a relaxing lunch in the Haven dining room with a glass of wine. This is when you will know it was worth it. Enjoy your cruise!!!

On 3/23/2022 at 12:46 PM, VMax1700 said:

As it states strictly optional!  and the 10% and 5% rates are advised specifically for those who would consider 15% or 20% the minimum that they tip. 

Please keep American customs in America and when in Europe help maintain European customs. 

Thank you. 

If this is a European custom, then I am curious as to why this European Tourism Company gives percentages as tipping recommendations. I get what you are saying and I typically do not tip when I am in Europe, so I was puzzled when I saw this recommendation on my receipt. Subsequently, how do you suggest we maintain this custom when partaking in one of their tours? No tip? or, very small tip? Better yet...Should we ask them if the guides and drivers are being paid a reduced salary and the tipping is to supplement their income? Any suggestion will be helpful. 

11 hours ago, May B said:

When they hand over their tips, does somebody write down how much each server puts in? Whenever I read about shared tips, I always wonder if that’s a way for them to get good evaluations in their employee record, similar to when they get mentioned by name, with rave reviews, in a guest survey.

Good Question. I'm not sure. When I gave this tip to the server, he thanked me and said they will all appreciate it. I told him it was for him due to all the extra care he gave us and that's when he explained all tips given individually must be shared between them all. I will be in the Haven in May on a Baltic cruise, I will try to pry a little more and share anything I find out. Since they were all great, I honestly didn't mind. 

On 3/21/2022 at 10:08 AM, kmezz said:

Our cruise is to Scandinavia.  Most of the places say Euro.  Sweden and Denmark are the only places that don't list Euro.  We will most likely charge anything we buy but wondered about tipping.

We booked through Alla Tours for our Baltic Cruise. This is what is on their web site...

Tips: Kindly note that tips are not included in the tour price and cannot be added to your credit card charge. They can be provided in cash (any currency convenient to you) directly to your guide (10%) and driver (5%) at the end of the tour. Tips are strictly optional, although greatly appreciated by those hosting you through your tour.

We are taking a Baltic cruise in May. We booked multiple tours with Alla Tours. On their web site and on our receipt it gives guidance to tipping for their tours and says 10% for guide and 5% for drivers. So, after reading everyone's post above, I am really confused about tipping. Our ports are in Denmark, Sweden, Berlin, Poland, and Estonia. 

On 2/14/2022 at 8:54 AM, Karaboudjan said:

If you want to tip the serving team I would just leave it on the table.  If you to single someone out then I guess handing it to them is better since you can't be sure who will bus the table.

I gave a very generous tip to a server in the Haven bar at the end of our cruise, but did not give as much to the rest of the servers. I later found out ALL tips are shared with ALL servers within the Haven. That includes bar and restaurant. So, now I tip them all equally. 

3 hours ago, Sadric said:

 Ok this made me curious. What is shrimp scampi without the shrimp? I picture a bowl of butter and garlic. Not making fun. Genuinely curious.

The shrimp scampi in the Haven is much more than that. It is an angel hair pasta cooked with EVOO, butter, garlic and fresh parsley. It's delicious. 

On 2/19/2022 at 10:31 AM, Sthrngary said:

A question for you. How soon did the Bid up offer get sent to you.  45 days before, 30 days before?  Just planning my strategy.  Thanks.

 

Cruise well.

In January we received an email about 30 days out for the upgrade on the Breakaway from NOLA. However, for our upcoming May 18th Baltic cruise we got the email roughly 90 days out. Essentially, not consistent. It could be because of the Ukraine invasion and NCL removing all Russia ports for the year and they really need the Haven to fill up quickly due to cancellations. 

The European Commission has announced that the EU Digital COVID-19 Passport may also be issued to non-European travellers, including those from the United States and the United Kingdom

However, I cannot find any information about how to obtain it. 

This is the answer I got from the tour operator in Saint Petersburg when I asked the question about ports being open for our May 2022 cruise:

I would be glad to assuage all your worries, but I am afraid I cannot say anything definite. As of now, Baltic ports are closed (they are always closed in January, as the navigation is over). The situation will be clear closer to the time when the navigation restarts in April. Meanwhile, all St Petersburg museums, restaurants, cafes, shopping centres and other public places are open for visitors - we are almost back to regular life here (except for wearing masks and QR-codes confirming vaccination / negative PCR tests - they are required everywhere in public places).

On 1/17/2022 at 2:37 PM, catfan2 said:

I just got upgraded to a 2BR Haven on the 1/23/22 Epic.  My first cruise in the Haven.  We just have to stay covid free until we board (and hopefully we will stay covid free).  I appreciate reading all this info about the Haven and the tips. 

 

We are travelling with my mother who is in her early 80's... so I've been very nervous about this whole experience, but she is healthy for her age.  I'm hoping staying in the Haven gives us more privacy and space for her sake.  We are so tired of cancelled vacations, it's time to live again, even with a mask on and social distancing.  Everyone I know thinks we are nuts to go on a cruise right now with her.  But she's already had 5 vacations cancelled on her and a few rescheduled and she isn't getting any younger.  I don't think covid is going anywhere, we will have 1 or 2 variants every year, so we just need to learn how to live with it, and ride out the waves.  I am 100% happy that NCL brought masks back on their ships, until Omicron settles down. It makes me feel much more secure with travelling with my mom.

 

My brother is a vegetarian, so I've reached out to the concierge so it can be noted on my room.  It's nice to know he can order off the menu in the Haven restaurant or through room service, I've been a bit concerned about how meals are going to go.  Our last cruise together was pre-covid, and he was still occasionally eating non vegetarian on vacations, but now he's strict.  Maybe something about a 2+ year pandemic to make you think hard about your health and eating habits.  

We were in the Haven on the Breakaway 2 weeks ago and my daughter and I are vegetarians. We would pre-order our vegetarian meals the day before with the maitre D. He would give suggestions (pasta, stuffed peppers, gnocchi etc...) and there were vegetarian options in the Haven for appetizers, so we only had to get the main entree accomodated. You can also request meals on the Haven menu without the meat. One day for lunch I had the shrimp scampi without the shrimp and it was delicious. We never had a problem and every meal was delicious. I also asked for fruit and vegy snacks from the butler and he never failed to deliver each day. 

To those of you curious about said pie...Here you go....It's DELICIOUS!!

Maple Syrup Pie (Tarte au Sirop d’erable) Restaurant Aux Anciens Canadiens, Quebec, Canada Yield: Serves 8 to 10 (9-inch pie) Active Time: 25 min Total Time: 2 ½ hr

INGREDIENTS 9 inch pie shell 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs at room temperature ½ cup heavy cream 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (preferably medium ) 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, melted. PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350F Whisk together brown sugar and eggs until creamy. Add cream syrup, and butter, then whisk until smooth. Pour filling into pie shell Bake pie in lower third of oven until pastry is golden and filling is puffed and looks dry but still trembles, 50-60 minutes. Cool on a rack to room temperature (filling will set as pie cools)

@Martincath... Thank you for that unsolicited history lesson. While I did not say their maple syrup pie is the most "authentic", it is however...the best. Growing up on my grandfather's maple syrup farm in Quebec, I've tried...let's just say...many. And Aux Anciens Canadiens, (brown sugar and all) is...THE BEST!!! Not to mention, this is the oldest and most charming restaurant in Quebec City. However, I will agree with you on one point. Yes, Quebec monopolizes the maple syrup industry in the world due to FQMP'S control over supply management. While I do not agree with it, they have been able to keep prices stable due to having such a large reserve. Also, no need for me to head west for any Quebecois cooking in Vancouver, I'm actually cooking a pot soupe aux pois as I'm typing this response. BTW...thanks in advance for not responding to the stable prices comment 🙂 

Passe une bonne soiree

Pinson Labrie

Be sure to have an early dinner at Aux Anciens Canadiens. Make Reservations...

 http://www.auxancienscanadiens.qc.ca/en/menu-du-jour.htm  The Table D' Hote Menu before 5:45pm is a great deal and this is the most authentic Canadian meal you will have while there. The Maple Syrup pie is the best in Quebec!!!

My husband just booked Turtle Hill and got a cruise ship rate of $109 which includes 18 holes plus cart and club rentals. They said you have to bring your own golf balls though.