teachinginhawaii

That was part of why we booked the aft cabin. No one else in my family would even dream of spending the money on a Haven cabin. My husband and I love the Haven cabins so booking an aft stateroom was essential for this trip. I am also very aware that only our cabin is a Haven stateroom and that while they can be in our cabin at any time, the benefits are for just the two of us. The good news is that even though we're sailing as a group, we all have our own plans for most of the days. Aloha Amy! It's the food and drinks that I am most interested in knowing more about. I'm really hoping to order some food and beverages for the event to be brought to (again, we're okay paying for it). Did the concierge/butler provide you with options and prices for what you ordered? We will also be tipping extra if we can make this happen. It's kind of a special family cruise because while it's to celebrate birthdays, it's going to be even more special because my sister has just been cleared to sail by her doctor after having brain surgery. Celebrating her 50th and my mom's 75th birthday as a family has been a motivating factor through all the medical issues. Mahalo for sharing what your group was able to do! Jen

I would love to hear from anyone who has done a gathering or cocktail type of event in their stateroom. I'll be sailing on 7/22 on the Bliss (Aft Haven stateroom) and have family who are sailing with us. We would like to throw a surprise party for my mother's 75th and sister's 50th birthday. I started by emailing the concierge desk and after a few emails back and forth, I found out that the date and time we would like should be fine. This week I called the concierge desk to confirm a couple of dining requests and asked about food/beverages for our gathering. The person I spoke with told me to contact special events and gave me that information. Then, I sent all the information to special events but they emailed me back and said that since our event would be for only 8 people, they can't help us and that the concierge desk should help me. I would love to find out if anyone else has tried to host a gathering in their stateroom, how they arranged the details, what food or beverage options were available, and any other details. We know there will be extra charges and we are totally fine with that. If it's handled by our butler, we will also tip extra for this service. I'm just wondering if I'm going to end up just ordering things separately (using the gifts & more options to order things ahead of time) to get a cake, maybe some food, and drinks. I'm hoping someone else has tried to do something similar and has some advice to share. Thanks!

I would love information and advice about hosting a small gather in our Haven room. I have no issues if I have to pay extra (but if someone has information on approximate costs, that would be helpful). Here's our situation: My husband and I booked a Haven room (aft with a large balcony). My mother and her husband have a regular room next to us, my sister and her husband have a room next to my mom, and another relative and her husband are next to them. This cruise is to celebrate my mom's 75th birthday and my sister's 50th birthday (though neither of the birthday dates are on the cruise). My mother "gifted" all of us part of the cruise cost and my husband and I chose to pay extra to have a Haven room for many reasons - but one of them was to have the larger room/balcony that we could all hang out in. We can afford the upgrade and picked a room outside of the Haven to make it easier for other family to enjoy the space our room will offer for being together. We completely understand the Haven service and amenities are for the two of us and will not be asking much of our butler this trip. The one thing we would really like is to have some sort of gathering in our room to celebrate the birthdays and having the family together. I would love to arrange for snacks or dessert or something that would be a bit special but I'm not sure what's possible. One other question I have is about dining reservations. There are 8 of us (with the 2 of us in the Haven). We hope to be able to dine as a group in a specialty restaurant once or twice during the cruise (my mom paid to upgrade everyone to the Free at Sea Plus package). We've never cruised with others and aren't sure how to make the dining reservations for 8 - and since they aren't in the Haven with us, I don't think I can ask the concierge to help with the one or two meals this would apply to. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks everyone!

Loved all the advice we got here for our last cruise. Just about to make our deposit on the next one but I have a couple of questions. Last time we were in the Haven proper, this time we're looking to book a Haven aft stateroom for an Alaskan cruise next summer. Here are our questions: We currently have stateroom 9918 on hold but are debating 12906. I know that deck 9 and deck 12 are said to have the deepest balconies and that is super important to us. Does anyone know if there's a difference in the actual stateroom size or any other considerations that are important? I saw on a site that these rooms were handicap accessible rooms but I'm not sure if this is true. If it is, does that mean the bathroom is any different? We are traveling with 2 other parties who will be in staterooms near ours but not Haven rooms. We totally understand they cannot use Haven benefits and we will not be asking for that (nor are they interested). That being said, there isn't a problem with them hanging out on our balcony at times with us is there? We specifically are picking a room outside of the Haven to make this easier but I want to make sure it's not something we shouldn't do. Thanks in advance for any/all advice.