"Never again in the Haven"

In my Husbands words, "The Haven borders on false advertising as it is marketed as a quite and tranquil environment. There are photos of a peaceful atmosphere in the advertisements and the promotional DVD makes claims to a paradise. If NCL promotes the Haven as tranquil, then NCL needs to provide it or I will never pay for the Haven again."

The reality of the Haven on my last two Haven crises proves a very different scenario than what is advertised. Children gone wild and insufficiencies of parenting negatively impacting fellow Haven cruisers, are much more appropriate terms to describe both of my latest Haven experiences.

I like children, and mine were on the cruise. I did let my children enjoy the haven a few times, but they were on their best behavior. They were not permitted to run, scream, jump in the pool or use the hot-tub. Other parents just let their children run wild, and there was nothing the Gem staff could do.

The policy needs to come from the top. I am not suggesting an overall children's ban, but maybe the concept of limiting children's hours as a compromise could be explored. We pay a serious premium for haven use, and for most on this cruise, it was wasted money.

I hopes NCL explores this issue and finds a compromise that will ensure the integrity of the Haven, while satisfying the Haven families.

Cherie

This isn't about false advertising, this is about the ignorance and lack of consideration by certain parents that allow their unruly kids to run amok.

I agree with you, but if NCL promotes a Haven as "Tranquil" then measures need to be in place to ensure it imho.

Cherie

In my Husbands words, "The Haven borders on false advertising as it is marketed as a quite and tranquil environment. There are photos of a peaceful atmosphere in the advertisements and the promotional DVD makes claims to a paradise. If NCL promotes the Haven as tranquil, then NCL needs to provide it or I will never pay for the Haven again."

 

The reality of the Haven on my last two Haven crises proves a very different scenario than what is advertised. Children gone wild and insufficiencies of parenting negatively impacting fellow Haven cruisers, are much more appropriate terms to describe both of my latest Haven experiences.

 

I like children, and mine were on the cruise. I did let my children enjoy the haven a few times, but they were on their best behavior. They were not permitted to run, scream, jump in the pool or use the hot-tub. Other parents just let their children run wild, and there was nothing the Gem staff could do.

 

The policy needs to come from the top. I am not suggesting an overall children's ban, but maybe the concept of limiting children's hours as a compromise could be explored. We pay a serious premium for haven use, and for most on this cruise, it was wasted money.

 

I hopes NCL explores this issue and finds a compromise that will ensure the integrity of the Haven, while satisfying the Haven families.

 

Cherie

I am sorry that you had this experience not once but twice. I would be upset as well.

One thing you see once you are a parent is that there are some out there who just don't think of anyone but themselves...no consideration for people around them. It's sad.

I also don't understand why NCL staff/crew can't do anything about it.

Did you say any6thing while on board and/or have you written a letter??

It is unfortunate that parents do not discipline their children in the Haven. To make matters worse is if you say something to them nicely and politely they get an attitude and give you dirty looks for the rest of the cruise. That happened to me but I don't care which way you look at me just keep your kids in check. My kids are always in check when we are in public and if they are not I make sure they know it.

I must say out of the 3 times I stayed in the Haven only 1 time did the children rule.

I do agree that this made for a very unpleasant experience in the Haven but I don't think it is NCL's fault. If you don't complain they don't know anything is wrong. I am sure if you told the butler or concierge they might have done something.

I hope my next time in the Haven is as wonderful as the last. That was heaven in the haven

Sadly, there are parents that should not have children. Of course, based on my interaction with certain adults, I sometimes wonder how the human race survives.

Okay, with that sad - NCL advertising is not at fault here. The parents are at fault, and if they were unable to handle it, then NCL staff should have stepped in. Of course, that is easier said than done. Sometimes that "line" between acting proper and getting a little loud and being downright unruly gets very fuzzy.

We have done the Haven and had zero problem. Both times were on Jewel class ships. Not sure if you were on the bigger Epic which is ripe for problems due to number of people.

Always when I read those complains I wish there would be a video available to show the truth. Probably everyone here has a different imagination about what "Children gone wild" might be.

I agree with you, but if NCL promotes a Haven as "Tranquil" then measures need to be in place to ensure it imho.

 

Cherie

sorry I can not totally agree with you about this. What would you suggest the cruise line do? Everyone has paid for the area and have a right to use it. If kids are running wild, the parents should take charge. But remember they paid as well as you. Does this excuse bad behavior? Absolutely not, but you still can not blame NCL. This, by no means is false advertising.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. The families with children pay just as much as anyone to use the Haven facilities though. Not sure what ship you are referring to, but I never thought Epic had a Haven that was tranquil. It is always busy and crowded. In fact, NCL encourges families with children to book the Haven. All of their 2 bedrooms suites (on the newer ships) ALL have access to the Haven.

I have heard people complain about kids in the Haven but they are allowed to be there. In fact to see kids running around and playing on vacation is who cruise lines seek out. If I see small kids splashing around in the Haven pool, it is cute. That is why I call it the "rich kid pool." But one cruise the teenagers took over the Haven and it was more like a Teen Entourage LOL

Cruise ships are packed with people and families with children. Sometimes we all need our "space" to chill. Its hard to find sometimes though :) Before everyone starts attacking the parents for taking kids on a vacation and having FUN, I would need examples of bad behavior. To simply say kids and the Haven dont mix is not enough for me. NCL would NEVER ban kids from the Haven pool or hot tubs. Kids are going to be loud around ANY pool and on ANY vacation. I dont see NCL banning children from the Haven.

We have just came home from a Med Epic cruise in a 2 bedroom haven suite. We saw 5 people in the Haven Courtyard at the very most at any given time, most of the times it was empty. The kids that were around were polite and welll behaved with the exception of a family which from what I was told took 2 of the 2 bedroom villas and let their children run around in the elevators and another lady who let her children run around the front of the stage during a legends of rock show (I think that's what it was called). It's really up to the parents to parent their children, I don't really think it's the place of the cruise line to remove them all together from the courtyard area. Afterall, they already have Posh (at least on the Epic) and if the kids were that big of a deal during our sailing I'd move on up to Posh.

Generally the Ethics/Etiquette rule is to confront the Management before confronting the person causing the trouble.

Once solution I find useful is to publicly embarrass the parents indirectly once management has failed to control the situation. Take out your cellphone and make a call to your own children. With your public cell yell phone thank your children for being good and well behaved children.

I for one am just too old to put up with crap from others ruining movies, shows and trips because "they paid for a ticket too."

Always when I read those complains I wish there would be a video available to show the truth. Probably everyone here has a different imagination about what "Children gone wild" might be.

http://thehaven.ncl.com/experience/#video

I dunno. In NCL's promotional materials, the buffet looks pretty tranquil too. ;)

Part of the problem is that there is only so much the butlers/concierge can do if it gets out of hand in the Haven. Even the HD is only going to get involved to some point unless the behavior is likely to cause injury.

We had the experience of an extended family that had 6 of the suites - they told me to "get out of the pool - our kids want to use it and there is no way we will let them in with a stranger in it":eek:. Since the kids were starting to splash water on my DH (who uses an oxygen concentrator), I'd had enough and we left. Had DH not been there, I probably would have stood my ground (or water as the case may be).

Management, unfortunately, tried to control the group (they managed to turn on the speaker/stereo system, change the music, etc., etc.); but really they weren't going to win since they were outnumbered. I felt bad for the staff, they were constantly having to chase after that group to keep the mess and ruckus down to a dull roar.

We still book Haven suites and will continue to do so and hope that maybe we'll have a better experience. If not, I'll have to be happy on the balcony.

You may want to consider cruising at times of year when large numbers of children are unlikely to be sailing. I have sailed on the Epic and the Jewel when there were hardly eny children at all in the Haven.

http://thehaven.ncl.com/experience/#video

I think you misunderstood what they meant by a video of the Haven. That poster meant a video of the bad behavior you witnessed.

We just returned from the Breakway and experienced the Haven for the first time. We found the Haven to be very tranquil and only a handful of people out in the common/pool area at any time. I am sure that is not true on every sailing.

We were on the same GEM cruise as Cherie (Nalagh) this was our 6th Jewel class Haven cruise in 2 years. The first 4 were great the last 2 were Haven chaos. We went directly to the hotel manager on our cruise 2 months ago and we were told there was a language barrier, he is no longer with NCL

Do not even think of telling me about them paying the same premium that I do or that the parents are not controlling the kids not one of you here would have tolerated the behavior we did.

1. Cannon balls into the little Haven pool

2. kids (very young) in the Hot Tub by themselves!

3. taking cookies, m&m's and Swedish fish with your hands, just pick out the red ones and throw the rest back in the bowl!

4. The ice tongs are there so you do not put your hands in the bucket.

5. and as a side note your bag or your book does not need a chair there are tables for that!

I have raised my children, I love kids. I think kids should be allowed to be kids, Cherie's kids were very well behaved.

The recent behavior in the Haven that we have seen is just dangerous and unsanitary.

NCL needs to address this as a safety and health issue. I do not pay thousands of dollars to enforce rules that is NCL's job.

NCL continues to push the Haven for families. They even upgraded the love seat to a sleeper to up the occupancy to 6. Throw in Kids sail free or 1/2 off and we all run the risk of the courtyard being a family play area.

That said the first 2 ADULTS pay 90% of the fare for the suites and deserve some adult time in the courtyard. Yes the kids paid but only perhaps 10% of the total. The only answer I can see is to set aside part of everyday as an Adult only courtyard. As long as everyone knows before they book it should not be an issue but it would take time to implement.

Our only experience in the Haven was a good one. However, the Jewel Class Havens are quite small. I could see making an "adult only" time for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. Even if only on cruises with a lot of children. It could be a solution without offending anyone in particular.

That's ashame for everyone involved. The kids should be letting off steam at the Kids Club. I have a son and he would have never acted like that. But what do you expect when a parent tells someone to get out of the pool because her kids want to use the pool. That sense of entitlement feeds onto the children and there is little that can be done in that situation. :(

3. taking cookies, m&m's and Swedish fish with your hands, just pick out the red ones and throw the rest back in the bowl!

If I would have seen this, I would have immediaely gotten an attendant and if they did nothing, I would have picked up the bowl and/or tray and dumped it all out. It is digusting that someone would touch food that others might eat. No one should allow food that has been touched to be left out. I never have a problem loudly telling an attendant and/or server that someone has used their hands at a salad bar or buffet and others should do the same. Say it loud enough to embarrass the person who did it and to make sure you get the attention of someone that can throw the food out.

I doubt that they would ever make any special "hours" (nor could they enforce them even if they did do so).

We actually love seeing the kids have fun. Makes us laugh just to watch them just being kids.

That said, parents really need to *be* with their children in the Haven (or any pools, etc.). It's too easy for the children to get hurt from horseplay and that would be tragic for all.

We have noticed that a lot of the kids we've seen "run wild" (the cannonballs, etc. like others have described) have no adults around at all in the Haven. I'm not there to be a parent or make sure someone else's kids don't get hurt (though I'll be the first one to get help if someone does get hurt).

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I would think that parents would watch their kids in pools.

While I think claiming false advertising is way off the mark, I WOULD like to see NCL at least adopt a code of behavior for the public haven areas. The very name "haven" implies that it should be a respite from the real world. Sure, children should be welcome there, but it calls for a case of good old fashioned "seen and not heard" in my opinion. A code of conduct would give NCL some recourse against unruly behavior.

If I would have seen this, I would have immediaely gotten an attendant and if they did nothing, I would have picked up the bowl and/or tray and dumped it all out. It is digusting that someone would touch food that others might eat. No one should allow food that has been touched to be left out. I never have a problem loudly telling an attendant and/or server that someone has used their hands at a salad bar or buffet and others should do the same. Say it loud enough to embarrass the person who did it and to make sure you get the attention of someone that can throw the food out.

I did have it dumped immediately all the time but quite frankly I do not cruise to cause myself stress, I cruise to relax..on our March Gem cruise we were forced to just not be in the Haven last week I loudly proclaimed the lack of manners and it fell on deaf ears.

Our only experience in the Haven was a good one. However, the Jewel Class Havens are quite small. I could see making an "adult only" time for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. Even if only on cruises with a lot of children. It could be a solution without offending anyone in particular.

We had a wonderful cruise in the Haven with you on the Jewel I believe.