Breakaway Haven Review Aug 7-14

Just returned home after staying in the Haven 2BR Suite. There were 5 of us. Me, husband,daughter(12) ,son (18) son's friend (17).

First of all- we had a blast. This was our first Haven experience. We were on the Breakaway in late Aug 2014 in a mid-ship balcony. I loved the ship but hated the crowds last time so we said the only way we would do it again is I the Haven.it really was like being on a different cruise. Peace,quiet, and tranquility!

I will add as the day goes on- between unpacking and back to routine stuff.

We stayed at the Springhill Suites Newark Say 8/6. Got a great rate to stay for 5 including 8 days parking and breakfast Sun morning. Had a ride setup through Independent Driver for prompt pickup at 9am. Took us to Manhattan Cruise Terminal where we arrived by 9:30am.

Got in Haven line which didn't move until 10am- this is the security checkpoint so no one goes through until 10am. It was already pretty crowded for how early it was!

After the security check we were quickly seen in the Haven lounge waiting area. Then we sat and waited for at least an hour. It got crowded there and some people were left standing during the wait. A young kid in the area was coughing very bad. (I mean really bad- like I was concerned for his health) The only reason I mention this is my dear husband ended up with a terrible cold/cough and we joked about how this kid made him sick. ( we try to find humor in these things).

Finally when we're swiping our cards to follow the concierge to the Haven we weren't allowed to go as two the cards had the wrong photos on them. We waited 10 more mins and finally okayed to go but the I noticed my husbands card said soda package and my sons friend had the UBP and 4SDP. They said I had to get that fixed with the concierge. That took 2 days to straighten out. More to come-

Glad you had a good time and hope the weather was good too - didn't pay much attention last week.

Someone else reported getting keycards goofed up like yours but don't recall if it was BA.

Experimenting with attaching photos.

Getting the hang of this.

Nice Start. I like when Breakaway Cruisers post on Sunday. Might help with "Withdrawal

Symptoms". Yes, nothing like the Haven. Thanks for posting so soon.

Great review so far. Looking forward to the rest.

Before I continue timeline- quick tips-

Make your specialty restaurant reservations before you board! I'm so glad we did. I had heard people advise other Haven guests to do it onboard as if the concierge will magically get you a reservation. Yes they will try very hard but I saw a number of couples be told they were not able to secure certain places on requested nights.

Log onto iconcierge while waiting to board and book your Second City show for your best time for you. (I wasn't really thrilled with show but you might like it).

Go to Horseshoe Bay early. Five of us took a taxi for roughly the same price as shuttle. We got there at 9am and were out by 1:30 when crowds got crazy. (We also went on day 2- heard the first day was nuts) :)

Looking forward to the rest of your review. As I will be flying into Newark too, I wondered how much your ride from Newark to the pier cost with Independent Driver. Thank you.

Just returned home after staying in the Haven 2BR Suite. There were 5 of us. Me, husband,daughter(12) ,son (18) son's friend (17).

 

First of all- we had a blast. This was our first Haven experience. We were on the Breakaway in late Aug 2014 in a mid-ship balcony. I loved the ship but hated the crowds last time so we said the only way we would do it again is I the Haven.it really was like being on a different cruise. Peace,quiet, and tranquility!

 

I will add as the day goes on- between unpacking and back to routine stuff.

 

We stayed at the Springhill Suites Newark Say 8/6. Got a great rate to stay for 5 including 8 days parking and breakfast Sun morning. Had a ride setup through Independent Driver for prompt pickup at 9am. Took us to Manhattan Cruise Terminal where we arrived by 9:30am.

 

Got in Haven line which didn't move until 10am- this is the security checkpoint so no one goes through until 10am. It was already pretty crowded for how early it was!

 

After the security check we were quickly seen in the Haven lounge waiting area. Then we sat and waited for at least an hour. It got crowded there and some people were left standing during the wait. A young kid in the area was coughing very bad. (I mean really bad- like I was concerned for his health) The only reason I mention this is my dear husband ended up with a terrible cold/cough and we joked about how this kid made him sick. ( we try to find humor in these things).

 

Finally when we're swiping our cards to follow the concierge to the Haven we weren't allowed to go as two the cards had the wrong photos on them. We waited 10 more mins and finally okayed to go but the I noticed my husbands card said soda package and my sons friend had the UBP and 4SDP. They said I had to get that fixed with the concierge. That took 2 days to straighten out. More to come-

Hi! I was on same sailing also in an H4 cabin 16720. I was with my dh, who is a big guy, my mom and my dd-22 her friend and my ds-18. My dh, mom and I were usually in the Haven inside and ate our breakfast and lunches in Haven. I was usually coming back from the gym about 8 am and ate every morning in the restaurant with my workout clothes on. Did you see me lol

We have a spa balcony on the Getaway for February but my dh and I booked the Escape Haven for just the two of us for next July for ny 50th birthday and our anniversary.

I miss Anoop, Edgar, Marlon and especially Erwin lol.

On my 7th load of laundry and dh just came back from foodshopping. We got off and in our car by 8:02 am!

Did we meet?

I was usually coming back from the gym about 8 am and ate every morning in the restaurant with my workout clothes on. Did you see me lol?

A more import question is "Did you smell me?" :D

Looking forward to the rest of your review. As I will be flying into Newark too, I wondered how much your ride from Newark to the pier cost with Independent Driver. Thank you.

$105 for 5 people- it would be less for 1-4 passengers.

A more import question is "Did you smell me?" :D

Lol- I did not smell you! I don't think we met. DH and I spent the vast majority of our time on the sundeck outside. We didn't eat many breakfasts in the Haven- only 2 in the Courtyard. If you were on the sundeck I'm sure we saw each other. [emoji41] that's where we live on a cruise. The Haven staff are great.

A more import question is "Did you smell me?" :D

No wonder why I was always placed in a corner hahaaa

I LOVED working out, running and then being served my breakfast. I loved my cruise and wish I was still there!

Hi, we were on the same cruise. We were in Aft Penthouse on deck 11. It's a long walk to the Haven but worth it. Anoop was great. He got us dinner reservations in Blue Lagoon the same day. We had two tickets to Saturday's Cirque dream jungle

Show, we needed 4 more for my son, daughter in law and 2 kids. He got them also. The Haven was great, Bermuda was great, the weather was great. Know what? I had a great cruise.

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Food Highlights

Haven was amazing. We really enjoyed everything there. Seriously, it's that good. The menu doesn't change so it's easy to see where you want a change of atmosphere- that's where the Specialty Dining comes in.

We are not big breakfast people but did enjoy two sit down breakfasts in the courtyard. Again- great food. I had the Vanilla Tahitian French toast (something like that). Loved it. Also- hubby loves the 3 egg omelet, son loved the steak and eggs.

We had lunch in the Courtyard most days. The swordfish burger was my husband's favorite. I had the Kosher hot do, onion rings, a chicken Caesar wrap (not bad but not my fave) hamburger and my daughter got chicken strips. Everything was great.

My husband and I went to Cagney's and Le Bistro. Both were fantastic. At Le Bistro we both had the French Onion soup and filet. Can't race more about them. We were so full we didn't have dessert.

At Cagney's I had the Shrimp Cocktail, iceberg wedge salad and filet, hubby had lobster bisque and double cut lamb chops. So good! Our favorite specialty restaurant. We also had the broccoli and asparagus sides.

The whole family went to the Cirque Show and everyone raved about how great the performance was! Definitely go see it but the food was underwhelming and extremely salty!

We also took the kids to Teppanyaki on our final night. This was our least favorite. I've been to hibachi restaurants before so I know what to expect. The soup and salad were not good at all. The service was slow and our chef was not up to par with the other chefs we watched as far as performance goes. I will say the rice, vegetables and entrees were great. The green tea cake dessert was terrible but I don't like green tea cake or green tea ice cream so maybe it's just me.

As for the buffet- kids hit it up a few times but weren't thrilled with the selection. The pizza got good reviews but everything else was just 'meh'.

Kids also went to O'Sheehans and said it was "okay". They got wings and burgers.

Thanks for sharing.

can I ask what room you were in?

can i ask what room you were in?

16120

As I said I had a great time on this cruise, but there were some things missing I would know to look out for in the future in the Haven. First- when our concierge took a group of us up to the Haven, there was no mention of what you could expect, or a tour of the area. We just got to the lobby and were left there. No big deal to me, I'm better on my own. Maybe it depends on who you get, but I expected a little more. When it comes to the butler- write up what you want from your butler and make sure they understand what you need. I had pre-arranged a number of things on the phone, but the most important- a pot of coffee every morning in my room didn't happen. I did not meet my butler until the day before we left. Now, obviously, I could have sought him out but I didn't. My son saw him on day 1 in the room. He brought some food in and left. The next morning there was no pot of coffee so I just went to the courtyard and got it myself. (3 cups for dear hubby each morning). I was busy the first two days trying to straighten up the keycard mess I mentioned in my first post of this thread and I wanted to spend time on the sundeck, not looking for cruise personnel.

I never got a card about breakfast or choices for breakfast. There is nothing in my Haven cabin that explained what choices you had or what was covered concerning room service, movies, etc. Good thing I was here prior to the cruise and knew what you could get but they should do a better job of letting you know what is available.

My butler never introduced himself or stopped by when we were in our cabin until the night BEFORE we were leaving. What is up with that? He purposely stops by in the hall as I'm going in the room and says "Good Evening" . I ask my son "Is that the butler?" The kids met him day one, and one afternoon when they ordered room service and we weren't there. He did bring snacks each day, but my husband and I never saw him. The last morning, I asked my concierge who the butler was so I could tip him- (yes, I still tipped, although not as much as I would have if we had utilized him more).

This is just a heads up to do your homework and be communicative if there are things that are important to you and you expect from your butler.

If you want to know the menus for the Manhattan Room or the specialty restaurants, ask the Concierge. He can get the menu for you.

I'll get to our Bermuda port experiences soon.

Hi, we were on the same cruise. We were in Aft Penthouse on deck 11. It's a long walk to the Haven but worth it. Anoop was great. He got us dinner reservations in Blue Lagoon the same day. We had two tickets to Saturday's Cirque dream jungle

Show, we needed 4 more for my son, daughter in law and 2 kids. He got them also. The Haven was great, Bermuda was great, the weather was great. Know what? I had a great cruise.

 

 

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We will be aft on 11 this Sunday. So looking forward to it. Do you still have a DVD player in that room. I know you can get on demand free, but my son uses a nebulizer and watches certain videos during the treatment. Thanks

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Thanks for this, and looking forward to more.

Hi, we were on the same cruise. We were in Aft Penthouse on deck 11. It's a long walk to the Haven but worth it. Anoop was great. He got us dinner reservations in Blue Lagoon the same day. We had two tickets to Saturday's Cirque dream jungle

Show, we needed 4 more for my son, daughter in law and 2 kids. He got them also. The Haven was great, Bermuda was great, the weather was great. Know what? I had a great cruise.

 

 

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Thanks for the heads up re: the walk to the Haven. We're in an aft penthouse on the 9/18 cruise and thought we'd like the exercise to walk off the food! Glad you enjoyed your cruise, it's refreshing to hear instead of all the negative stuff people choose to highlight....

As I said I had a great time on this cruise, but there were some things missing I would know to look out for in the future in the Haven. First- when our concierge took a group of us up to the Haven, there was no mention of what you could expect, or a tour of the area. We just got to the lobby and were left there. No big deal to me, I'm better on my own. Maybe it depends on who you get, but I expected a little more. When it comes to the butler- write up what you want from your butler and make sure they understand what you need. I had pre-arranged a number of things on the phone, but the most important- a pot of coffee every morning in my room didn't happen. I did not meet my butler until the day before we left. Now, obviously, I could have sought him out but I didn't. My son saw him on day 1 in the room. He brought some food in and left. The next morning there was no pot of coffee so I just went to the courtyard and got it myself. (3 cups for dear hubby each morning). I was busy the first two days trying to straighten up the keycard mess I mentioned in my first post of this thread and I wanted to spend time on the sundeck, not looking for cruise personnel.

 

I never got a card about breakfast or choices for breakfast. There is nothing in my Haven cabin that explained what choices you had or what was covered concerning room service, movies, etc. Good thing I was here prior to the cruise and knew what you could get but they should do a better job of letting you know what is available.

 

My butler never introduced himself or stopped by when we were in our cabin until the night BEFORE we were leaving. What is up with that? He purposely stops by in the hall as I'm going in the room and says "Good Evening" . I ask my son "Is that the butler?" The kids met him day one, and one afternoon when they ordered room service and we weren't there. He did bring snacks each day, but my husband and I never saw him. The last morning, I asked my concierge who the butler was so I could tip him- (yes, I still tipped, although not as much as I would have if we had utilized him more).

 

This is just a heads up to do your homework and be communicative if there are things that are important to you and you expect from your butler.

 

If you want to know the menus for the Manhattan Room or the specialty restaurants, ask the Concierge. He can get the menu for you.

 

I'll get to our Bermuda port experiences soon.

Enjoying your review and observations of the Haven, concierge and butler. From our past experiences we've had great and not so great concierges and butlers. I'd think they know that their tip reflects the effort they put into their job. With that said, we've never not had our butler come and introduce himself on the first day. That seems very odd, maybe too many rooms or last cruise before his vacation??

Sorry to hear the problems you had with your butler. We had that problem three years ago. Never saw our butler. But on this cruise ( same time as yours) we were in the Aft penthouse on the 11th floor. The first day our butler, Ramona came in and introduced herself to us and told us what exactly she does. She was great. We had breakfast on our balcony three days. It was great. She not only delivered the goodies every day, but asked us if we wanted something special. We asked for cheese and crackers. We got them everyday alone with the other stuff she brings.

Also Anoop the concierge was great. He made all our excursions reservations for us. Also got us in specialty restaurants on the same day. When we tried ourselves there was no room they said. He also took care of the kids cards, they lost them. He can print them out from his desk. This was a great cruise for us.

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