justschuttme

September 18, 2015

Thank you for this write up. I think the question of haven vs. vibe vs. spa comes up often, so this will be a useful thread for many.

Question about your observations on UDP - did you have UDP or SDP? I ask because I thought the flat upcharges were for SDP. I was wondering how this would be handled for people who have UDP - whether they would be charged the flat up charge, or whether they would be charged full price less a 25% discount. I have a promo with UDP for my February Getaway cruise and am curious how this will be handled.

I 100% had UDP and not SDP. I was surprised too which is why I included it. I don't know if the server's/manager's have the leeway now and can just give the discount if they want to, or if this is truly how it is treated now. I can tell you that had I known I was going to get that discount I would have ordered a lot more oysters!;)

September 18, 2015

Got back from our BA cruise on Sunday and wanted to share my Haven/Vibe/Thermal Spa experience. I’ve been on the BA twice, this September and last, and since there are so many good reviews on here, didn’t feel the need to repeat everything. Just wanted to share my thoughts on having access to all three of these areas and whether or not I felt it was worth it.

For you Haven guests that might also want Vibe: I had planned on getting down to guest services as soon as I got on the boat to ensure we got Vibe passes since we were the first on the boat. However, our Haven concierge, Anoop, told me that he could call down and have some sent up to the Haven for us. I was nervous until I got the bands, but alas, they were there as promised.

I did stress a little because we got on the boat at 11:30 and still didn't have them by 2:30. I swung by the concierge desk at 3:00 and luckily the concierge had just received them and was able to give them to me before we went to muster. I was stressed because our plan was to be in a hot tub for sailaway. It worked! Just the four of us were in a hot tub with drinks in hand as we went by the statue and under the bridge. Perfect start to a cruise!

For those wondering if I felt the Vibe was overkill with having the Haven and Spa as well, the answer is NO! It was awesome. We used each location just about every day. They all have their pluses and minuses, so it is great to be able to go between them based on what we are looking for. Also, with how much the Haven costs, I really didn’t think the $160 for my wife and I to get Vibe bands was too bad. Even if we only used it for sailaway, it would be worth it.

Haven Courtyard - awesome area, but the chairhogs are in full effect on the sun deck. So getting shaded seating outdoors was challenging for the four of us. The inner courtyard is very nice and we hung out there on several occasions. The bar is inside, however the drink servers were excellent in here and I almost never had a need to go up to the bar while using the courtyard. It could get a little stuffy in there at times depending on if there was a breeze. Those are times we headed to Vibe! Also, big difference between courtyard and Vibe is the location of hot tubs and kids. The hot tubs are inside in the courtyard, so they are not really out in the sun or have a view of the ocean, like they do in Vibe. So we used the Haven hot tub once and the Vibe hot tubs a bunch of times. Also, while there were not a ton of kids on my sailing since it was after school was in, they were still there in the courtyard and being loud. I have nothing against kids, I have two of my own, but when kids play (as they do around a pool and hot tubs) they get loud. Being that this was a cruise without kids for us, it just wasn’t the background noise I was looking for. So Vibe offered a perfect alternative.

Vibe - there are really no chairhogs here because everyone knows there are only so many people that can get in. It definitely gets windy up there at times, but there is almost always a spot you can find with shade. The four of us sat in one of the hot tubs probably 8 times throughout the cruise and every single time that we wanted to, there was always one available. The bar does not get busy here and the staff is very friendly. I did feel like Vibe was more crowded this year than it was the prior year, but we also had a cabana the prior year and purposely did not this year, so we may have just noticed it more. We did not get the cabana because we honestly didn’t feel like it added that much to our experience from being in Vibe. The shade structure on the cabana is permanently fixed, so you are at the mercy of the sun’s placement. For those like us that want shade, we preferred the flexibility of just finding the best spot in Vibe with shade based on where the sun was at that point.

Spa Thermal Suite - I love the thermal pool, hot tub, sauna and steam rooms as they are all great to relax in. Chair hogging also seemed to be an issue here but there was never a time where the four of us could not find four chairs together in there. The thing about this area is that it is not nearly as quiet as the Haven Courtyard and Vibe because it is enclosed so the voices and noises echo. There is also a very large jet in the middle of the thermal pool which is constantly running and is pretty loud. Not saying it wasn't relaxing as I napped and read books in there on several occasions, however I would have never thought that it would have been the loudest of the three areas. Also, the chlorine from the pool and hot tub is in the air and can begin irritating your eyes after a little while. This affected me, my wife and SIL, but not my brother. Overall, couldn't really see being in the thermal suite for more than a couple of hours at most on any given day.

So overall, would not hesitate at all having access to all three areas again and definitely didn’t feel it was a waste. We could go to the thermal suite and Haven if it was windy or rainy, the Vibe if it was calm and sunny, the Vibe for hot tubbing, the Haven for hanging out and reading a book while getting good cocktail service, the Spa if we wanted to unwind in a pool, steam room or stone lounger. It basically guaranteed that no matter what the weather, chair hogs, or other elements had in store for us – we always had a nice quiet place to go and relax and make sure we had an awesome cruise.

A couple of other quick notes that I hadn’t read on CC before our cruise about the UDP. I know there is a lot of confusion on here about what you can and cannot get with the UDP. We purchased our cruise in March of this year and it included the free UDP. Here are some experiences I had:

1) I was charged the up-charge for the lobster in both Cagney’s and La Cucina, but not Le Bistro. I would imagine that one or some of those were incorrect, but the $8 or $10 was not worth my time complaining about it.

2) At both Wasabi and Raw Bar, our bill showed all of the individual items we ordered but then was discounted down to remove all of those charges and just charge us a $7 fee. That was not for me and my wife, $7 total. We had over $25 of sushi at Wasabi and $35 in oysters and apps at Raw Bar that were discounted off. I don’t remember reading about this anywhere and that is also different from our experience in 2014. I really don’t know if this was standard or not, because in both cases the server made some comment about discounting our bill. I really don’t know why they would have given us an abnormal discount, but just wanted to share my experience.

3) When we went in 2014, Ocean Blue was $50/person and you got 25% off if you had UDP. Now it is $40/person, however we were only charged a $15 cover/person with the UDP. We had not planned to go to Ocean Blue because while we thought it was very good in 2014, we just didn’t think it was that much better than Cagney’s or Le Bistro to justify spending $80 when we could eat at the others free. However, now that it is only $30 for two people that are on UDP, I definitely think it is worth it. Again, hadn’t read that anywhere before.

I am happy to answer any questions about those three areas, or any other questions you had about the Haven, UBP, UDP or anything else.

Thanks!

September 3, 2015

We also had a Spa Suite last time. With the Haven I saw no need to get Vibe except for Adults only. I'll be curious if you use Vibe much.

You nailed it - adults only and the hot tubs are in a much better location in Vibe (in terms of ocean views and being on the sun deck).

With how much Haven is costing, an extra $160 bucks for the two of us to have Vibe access is easy to justify. Even if we only use it a couple of times, I won't regret it.

September 3, 2015

Bumping to see if anyone has any thoughts on the last question. Thanks!

It all depends on what you can swallow price wise. We had the vibe last September and then bought a day pass to the Thermal Suite, so we only had it that one day. They are both awesome and offer totally different things. We are leaving again on the BA this Sunday and will have a Spa Suite (so passes included) and also plan to get Vibe. Spa is good for relaxing but it can get a little muggy in there, so you likely won't spend more than a couple of hours a day there. Vibe has plenty of shade areas (assuming no wind so they can setup umbrellas) and has a bar. The bar and outdoor breeze is the main reason we would get both. If I had to choose one over the other, I would definitely go Vibe.

September 2, 2015

Great info, thanks all.

I am not a sun worshipper, but going next March with my hubby & leaving kids at home, so thinking this might be a nice relaxing place for us! We also booked with CAS, so hoping that should get us on pretty quick to get the vibe passes.

Now you definitely can't buy them ahead of time online or at the pier itself correct?

Thank you everyone! Fingers crossed we get into vibe now!

Correct. You cannot buy them ahead of time or at the pier. You can do that with the spa passes, but not vibe.

September 1, 2015

I'm a Bronze level latitude member...does that matter with boarding priority?

Also, how do they determine what time you board in the groups...is it random?

Doesn't appear first come, first serve has any benefits

I really want 2 Vibe passes

I went on BA last Sept. My Wife, brother and SIL got to the pier at 8:30am and were 2nd in line. When we went to check in, we were split up based on the fact that our state room was forward and theirs was aft. We got group 6 and they got group 23. No rhyme or reason. They asked if they could board with us and no one gave them a problem. As soon as we got on the ship, I ran for guest services. Was able to get 2 cabanas. It was absolutely the best decision ever. Doing sail away in a hot tub on the top deck with a drink in hand (and no crowds) is a fantastic memory.

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September 1, 2015

Love the live review! We are sailing BA Haven Spa suite next week so this is the perfect way to get through this dragging lead up week! One question- what time did you leave the Haven holding pen and actually board the ship? How soon after did Anoop start his presentation in the Haven? Just wondering if we would have time to go to guest services real quick after boarding without missing the concierge presentation. Thanks!

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August 29, 2015

Such a nice thing to do. We just went to the restaurant after we boarded and booked reservations for our in-laws and told them to charge my card (I had it with me, of course). They went and when the bill came they told them it was compliments of us...... Hope this helps. =)

August 4, 2015

We also went to the Rum Cake Company and Glassworks (same building, two different sides of the building). I didn't really care for the taste of the cake, so we didn't purchase any. I did find lots of cute "critters" for sale in the Glassworks place that were reasonable--my kids would love the fish, turtles, ladybugs, etc. On the last day I ended up coming back here to purchase a couple of the fish, a snail, two turtles, and a bird. These were multicolored--no two are the same. Of course my husband was nervous about me purchasing glass for the children, but I convinced him it would be ok. The person wrapped each one really well, included an artist bio and information about the animal. I was able to label each animal as he wrapped them. (they made it home in one piece but my four year old's turtle lost part of his foot on day 1...oh well!)

Ok- now I feel like we are living parallel lives. We too purchased one of the tiny glass turtles for our 6 year old. His lasted about 10 seconds out of the box before this happened....

Pretty hilarious. Maybe we will trust him with a new one when we go back in September.

August 1, 2015

We did that exact same walk from Horseshoe Bay to Swizzle Inn! That is hilarious! We were a group of 4 in our 30's without kids too and we went on the Breakaway last September (going again this September!!). I told the group that Swizzle Inn was pretty close to Horseshoe - you just had to walk down the beach about a mile but it would be a pretty walk. As you discovered, not so much. We too came up from the beach at some point and started walking along the road. It turns out that Swizzle Inn is actually 2.5 miles from the entrance of Horseshoe Bay. That may not sound too bad, but as you saw, there are no sidewalks and even areas where there is very little grass on the side of the road to keep from being in the road on some blind turns. My party was not too happy with me, but we kept on chugging and finally ended up there!

Glad you had a great trip and thanks for the detailed review. It's great to relive it again before we get back on for another trip!

March 4, 2015

Just for the record, we got to the port early (like the 8th-11th people at the port) and were easily able to get the passes. In fact, both couples got the cabanas. It. Was. Perfect. This wonderful lady working at the port has to sit according to your arrival and it is all very civilized. Sailing away just the four of us in one of the two hot tubs watching the NY skyline disappear (not the mention Lady Liberty and the bridge) with drinks in hand....... That cruise was, without a doubt, the BEST vacation I have ever been on and The Vibe had a lot to do with that. We actually just booked her again for this coming September but this time in a Haven Spa Suite!!!!! This year will be even better!!! =)