Plato123

Our recent cruise on the Joy in an aft Haven penthouse suite was quite enjoyable but we were not too impressed with the food. We thought service in the Haven restaurant was outstanding but the food was hit and miss. We did not like Cagney's nor Ocean Blue and were surprised how crowded the tables were . Le Bistro was excellent with good food, endless Veuve Cliquot and great service, and La Cucina was also good but we felt a little rushed. My wife had an outstanding filet with blue cheese ravioli. I thought the spaghetti carbonara was excellent too.

We went on our first NCL cruise recently and had FAS+ and were in a Haven Suite. We enjoyed our cruise and thought it came close to our preferred line, Celebrity, but with no more FAS+ we are not likely to book NCL again.

We recently completed our first cruise on NCL, on the Norwegian Joy. Overall it was our 28th cruise and we were in a Haven aft penthouse suite. The Joy was the largest ship we have sailed on and we soon knew how long it was as we travelled between our aft suite and the forward Haven compound. Our suite was spacious and well appointed with a Nespresso machine for me (our butler brought hot water for my wife as she prefers tea). The master bathroom was huge and probably the best we have seen on our cruises, with windows in the bath and shower. The second bath was the smallest we have ever seen in our travels but was perfectly fine for us but probably not fine at all for many of the more generously sized passengers on the cruise. The Haven compound is huge and the bar and restaurant were very nice as was the service. We had the Free at Sea Plus package so we had no worries at all when it came to drinks and we tried four specialty dining restaurants as part of that package. Food was good (but not outstanding) in all the restaurants we tried but there was a general lack of seasoning in most of out meals. We went on two excursions and one was good and the other was a waste of time and money with a tour guide who was not that well informed or prepared. Overall we enjoyed the Haven experience and will do it again. We normally cruise on Celebrity and it is still our preferred cruise line for many reasons, but we want to try others as our loyalty level on Celebrity does not encourage us to seek a higher level as it is beyond our expected reach..

We will soon be on our first NCL cruise and we were wondering if anyone has seen canned figs in the buffet at breakfast. We have only ever seen these on Celebrity and not every day. has anyone ever seen them offered on other cruise lines?

I see that Haven suites have small Nespresso machines. They look like the same ones we use at home. Are they only set up to make expresso or lungo sized coffees or are they set up to make a larger americano sized coffee? Also are you expected to use the Nespresso machine to make tea or is there a kettle provided for this?

We will be on our first NCL cruise and it will be on the Joy in an aft Haven suite. We purchased the FAS+ package as we want to see how close our NCL experience will be to a Celebrity suite cruise, plus we like nice things. Also we chose the NCL cruise because the itinerary appealed to us. We tried to same approach on two Princess cruises and found, in our opinion, they did not measure up but we still had a great time on each.

Here is part of the message NCL sent to our TA: Thank you for inquiry. In review of current rates for your sailing xxxxx, we have identified a price drop in the amount of $xxx.xx As a one-time good will gesture, we have created 100% of that amount as future cruise credits for you below: XXX XXX The FCCs will be available for use after completion of your upcoming sailing and are valid to book and sail within 2 years on a 7 day or longer sailing. The FCC’s are non-transferable and have no cash value. If you cancel your reservation, the FCC will not be issued. Please note, only one Price Drop review is allowed per qualifying reservation, even if the price drops again before the cruise. Thank you for choosing Norwegian Cruise Line! We look forward to welcoming your Clients aboard soon!

We got a FCC through our travel agent after our final payment, but we pulled the trigger a little early as the price dropped again after we did so. This will be our first NCL cruise so we will see whether we will want to use the FCC at all.

We also like better wines and are looking forward to our Haven suite and FAS+ for our first NCL cruise. We understand that bottles of wine are available with dinner. Are these bottles the same wines as are available by the glass? Also can you take unfinished bottles back to your cabin?

Does NCL provide a transfer from Manhattan to Newark airport post cruise? Indications from posts I have seen here suggest it might not. If not, what are the options to do so and what might they cost? Thanks.

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Ascent later this year and are looking forward to it. We were on an inaugural review of the Edge and were impressed overall but we disappointed in our suite and its furnishings but maybe things have been corrected on the Ascent. We can recommend the Retreat on the Celebrity Reflection if you choose to stay on a more classic Celebrity ship and you will find the dining in the Retreat/Suite restaurant Luminae to be very good, and interesting. On our last Celebrity cruise I had sweetbreads which is a favorite and very uncommon on a cruise menu.

First I want to thank everyone who has answered my many questions about the NCL Haven on what will be our first NCL cruise, We have cruised on several lines in suites and most recently have walked on (and off) with our bags rather than leaving them with porters. We have done so as we have been able to go right to our suite and drop off our bags before noon, even if the room is not fully ready, and thus relax knowing our bags will be in our suite to unpack after lunch. This has been the case with Celebrity and Princess. Can this be done on NCL if we are in a Haven Suite or do we have to leave them with porters or drag them around the ship until our suite is ready?

We will be on our first NCL cruise in a couple of months and had hoped that Veuve Cliquot would be available with our FAS+ package but no longer, it seems. What other substitutions are they making with the premium wines in the FAS+ package and is there an up to date wine/bar list available? Thanks./

We will have FAS+ on an upcoming 7 day cruise in the Haven and were curious as to how the specialty dining benefits work. We note that the menus look to be a la carte, so is there a dollar limit per visit or is it whatever we want?

We enjoyed choosing fine cheeses from the cheese cart in Murano but it was no lomger there on our last Celebrity cruise on the Equinox. Is it gone on all ships? In my opinion Murano had the best selection of fine cheses we have seen on the cruise lines we have been on.

We will soon be on our first NCL cruise in a Haven suite and we wondering if top quality cheeses were available and properly served at room temperature. We have usually cruised on Celebrity and their Murano restaurant often had an excellent selection served from a cheese cart (but no longer). We mean cheeses like Morbier, Livarot, Manchego and Roquefort for examples. Too often a cheese plate is served "fresh from the fridge" and contains simple cheeses like generic brie and swiss.

Several years ago we went on a cruise out of Valencia on a line that no longer exists. We flew from Canada to Paris CDG then connected on to Valencia. When we went to board, the Purser looked at our passports and was not going to let us board as there was no stamp showing we had entered the EU as the lazy immigration people at CDG had not stamped our passports. Luckily we were in a suite and our concierge stepped in and overruled the purser and we were allowed on board.

Thank you. This was useful.Our favorite Celebrity ship is the Reflection and your comparisons of it to NCLs ships was interesting. My wife will be very happy that she can get daily potato chips and gummy bears while I will enjoy the tortilla chips and salsa!

We normally cruise on Celebrity in Retreat suites, and will be trying NCL on the Joy in the near future. We have booked a Haven Penthouse suite and got the Free at Sea Plus package. We would like to know the similarity or differences between what we should expect and what we are used to on Celebrity in Celebrity suites. Also we enjoyed Luminae on Celebrity for a departure day lunch (rather than the buffet). Would the Haven restaurant (or others) be open for lunch on departure day? Thanks.

Here is a photo of the bath on the Reflection Sky Suite. We have been on ships where it is a lot higher and as a senior with recent back surgery I was able to manage the tub quite well.

I agree with you about the LCG, however Tuscan has normally been a disappointment for us. We love the Reflection but other than the LCG we will stick to Luminae. Also having been in the Specialty dining restaurants many times I might try them more often if the menus changed more often and they dumped the Petit Chef and reinstated Qsine and revitalized Sushi on 5.

We were recently on the Equinox and had a chance to have a bridge tour. It was not our first, so when I was told no photos (still or video) were allowed I was not too disappointed. For others who had not been on a bridge tour before it was disappointing. Interestingly, our printed invitation did say still photos were allowed, and security checked out my camera equipment just before the tour, but once we were on the bridge we were told that photos were no longer permitted, and this was a fleet wide decision.

We normally eat in Luminae but several years ago we decided to try the MDR to see what thed service there was like. It was later in the cruise and we were seated at a table with several others who clearly looked at us as outsiders as we must have displaced a couple who they had regularly been dining with. We now stick to Luminae, but (on S class ships) occasionally will order off the MDR menu.