david_sobe

Your children are free to be anywhere in the Haven except some ships have a special sundeck for adults only. Children use the Haven pool all the time. NCL prides itself on family suites. There will be other children in the Haven too.

NO TOENAIL CLIPPINGS EVER

NCL's Golden Ticket program: $49.99 per cabin Ensures your cabin to be ready by 2:00pm on embarkation day. Allows special access to the breakfast buffet for special hours until 10:15. A special table area will be roped off and available with key swipe. Guests will also receive a special pair of NCL toenail clippers and tweezers for picking up those extras that fell on to the rug. A gratuity will be added to your account for your convenience.

But was a bottle of water left in the mini fridge? I will withhold judgment until I know further.

Cabins ready by 4:30 Breakfast buffet over by 9:30 The things I learned on CC today

Ok here is something that will make your head spin. Back in 2010 when NCL was still having a "lobster night" it was not a feature on the Haven menu. I remember the waitress in the Haven restaurant (Epic) tell us that if we wanted lobster they would bring us a plate. Let that sink in for a moment. The Haven staff was offering MDR lobster plates that was not on the Haven menu.

A port intensive cruise would have no consideration for the Haven in my book. There are Haven perks for such a cruise. Staying on the ship or getting back early and hungry? The Haven restaurant is OPEN. While all other dining options are closed except for the buffet and The Local, The Haven restaurant stays open on port days. Getting up early to make that extra early excursion? No problem. Have your butler deliver breakfast to your cabin or walk down the hall to the Haven restaurant for a quick bite. Running late for that excursion? Have the concierge escort you off the ship on the freight elevators. Having issues booking an excursion? Let the concierge try and get you in. This thread is based on the glass is half empty. Flip the script and look at the glass half full. A port intensive cruise is all the reason to book a Haven cabin.

I remember that. And they would bring more of them if you wanted.

Sometimes it works though. The other thread about the closed Observation Lounge had everyone fired up. Sure enough the poster had an about face when NCL provided some sort of compensation. I think the difference is the closure of the lounge was a NCL decision which they fell on the sword and indirectly admitted how foolish they were. This accident had nothing to do with NCL although I saw all the people on the news yelling "The cruise lines are not doing anything." I am not sure what they could do since the Coast Guard had them shut down. It would be a miserable experience but only the reckless boat people to blame. I live in Miami and drunken boaters racing in in the pre-dawn hours crashing on the rocks or into other boats is fairly common here. If you recall the Marlins star pitcher was killed at the same location a few years ago. They were all drunk racing into the channel and crashed on the rocks. How anyone does not see a car ferry is beyond me. I suspect alcohol could have played a role since it usually does with boat accidents at this location.

Every cruise is different even if its the same ship. My first cruise was meh. I did not get the cruise bug until my second cruise. A lousy embarkation can really set the tone for your cruise. Those demons need to be exorcised out of you once you sail. In some countries or even US Ports there are many things that can create a bad embarkation. Sometimes the cruise line is not to blame. Itineraries change all the time so those two issues are not really the fault of NCL. All of your other criticisms and praise are fair game. Wherever you sail next I hope its the best cruise ever!

NCL will be eliminating many shows and bringing back Fountains. Its no cost for NCL since the performers are already ship workers. However instead of a cast of 8, it will be reduced to a cast of 2. To save on water, empty pitchers of air will be used instead. Passengers will be forced to use their imagination. All for your convenience of course. 🤩

I doubt the shower head ever gets cleaned every cruise. I clean my bathroom and shower constantly and probably clean the shower head once a year. Those are hard water stains and they dont come off with cleaning. You need a hard water professional formula. That is yet another odd thing to say was not clean especially with no photos. Dont get me wrong there are plenty of times someone posts photos of dirty rooms. Unacceptable. But even in my wildest imaginations I cant visualize how bad these few complaints can be. However, the solution is a simple phone call and pronto they would clean the room again or talk to the steward that night. Hardly the cause of a 165 post thread on CC. Dirty rooms should never be accepted. Yet these gripes seem to not rise to that level IMHO.

I cant believe we are all still debating over a bottle of water left in the fridge and the cruise's prior dailies still in the rack. Perhaps a group of passengers with pitch forks can hunt down the person or persons responsible for such a travesty. I don't know what I would do if I was in the same situation. The shock, horror and disbelief of all of it. I am not sure I could gather the strength to throw them away and continue on the journey. I would be knocking on the captain's door that night to make him aware.

They would all be running to the customer service desk to cancel their daily service charge.

This is a sad story on 2 counts. First that a popular area was closed for guests the entire cruise. Second that the NCL ship has no public space for a private art show. Of course they would not have it on the Race Track or theater. NCL is not building ships properly if they have nowhere to have a private art show.

Its all about money. Whoever pays the most gets the most perks. That is a HUGE lounge. Its puzzling they could not have just roped half it off.

I sailed once and Cagneys was booked one night for a singles group that was on board for Valenetines Day week. The entire restaurant all night was devoted exclusively to them.

A bottle of water left in a fridge is not a sign the room was not cleaned. Dailies left in the rack is not a sign the room was not cleaned. If they were on the bed or in the trash then maybe you could say that. All the sheets and bedding are removed from the bed on embarkation/disembarkation day. There is no proof the same sheets were used to make the bed. I think it was an over-reaction because of a few left behind items in places meant the room was not clean. The dailies would have been taken care of that night when the new one came. I simply would have thrown out the bottle of water in the fridge if it bothered me.

For those that keep insinuating that the sheets are not clean: The OP never said the bed was not made. Has anyone seen the crew in disembarkation day? The bed is ripped apart and all the sheets are removed and they vacuum. It appears this cabin missed throwing away old dailies which will be discarded once the next one comes. If the bed was perfectly made then its not logical for those to say the bed had dirty sheets. A few mishaps with old items in the cabin will always take place. Simply introduce yourself to your steward or call house keeping. These are minor issues and people are expanding what was wrong with it. If the bed was not made and the trash can was full then I would definitely say the room was not cleaned from the last guests. The OP only mentioned a water bottle in the fridge and the sink and old dailies in the rack. Hardly a sign the room was not cleaned since the last guests.

Not really. If the bed was not made, the garbage can full, no clean towels in your cabin then you would be right. Its common to find drinks in the fridge. I once found a mouthwash container full of alcohol in a drawer once. New dailies will replace the old ones. Its embarkation day so a few blips may occur. Introduce yourself to your cabin steward and explain what you want done.

From my experience, waiting 20 minutes for a tender is typical and not unusual. Taking small water craft to and from the ship always takes patience. I always found it more chaotic leaving the ship than getting back.

With a teenager, I would probably pick the new Icon. The forward penthouse is not located inside the Haven so you will be walking. The Joy is sort of the odd bird of the NCL fleet. It has no thermal spa, a tiny race track compared to her sister ships. If it was a suite actually located inside the Haven like a 2 bedroom then I could change my mind. I've stayed in a forward suite on Getaway. Fantastic cabin. Hated the long walks to everything and felt like a visitor to the Haven.

Going back to the original complaint from the OP about all the "extras" in the Haven. Yes NCL will still nickel and dime you in the Haven. You will pay extra for internet, specialty dining, spa services, any activities, excursions, soda, drinks etc. Its definitely not all inclusive. You will actually pay more for daily gratuities for cleaning your cabin, etc. Dont get me wrong, I love the Haven but its more marketing in making people "feel" special than actually treating them special. If you go back many years, the Haven had better fluffy beach towels, got several liters of spring water, drink specials in the Haven bar, etc. All that is gone.

Great to the point review. I am not a ship designer but I know why the Galaxy Pavillion is next to the Observation Lounge. The Galaxy Pavillion does not need windows since its a giant game room that actually is better with less natural light. The Observation Lounge is surrounded by floor to ceiling windows for views. When you have such an observation room with all those windows, there is going to be an area without windows. Thus the Galaxy Pavillion makes perfect sense.

Dont let the lack of Haven facilities down you about your suite experience. My first suite experience was on Sky and the bar was set very high. While other ships have a Haven complex, they are so large that they lose major aspects of personal service. The concierge on a small ship like Sky will constantly check in on you. In the morning at breakfast and in the evening. We got personal visits and even got a bottle of wine comped to us at dinner. You will not get this kind of personal visits on larger ships. The concierge has more time to be "hands on." On the bigger ships, you must go to them. On Sky they come to you. Its something I had to learn once I started experiencing the Haven experience on the bigger and newer ships. I have not sailed Sky for years so I hope things have remained the same.