HAVEN Upsell Experience and Other Thoughts Abt Getaway - Had 5 rooms in Haven

[cdoobiest]

Just got back from Getaway in Haven and loved every minute of it. Thought I share my experience. We had a group of 13. 2 families, 2 sets of grandparents and had 5 rooms. We had 9 Adults total and 5 kids aged 6-10. We had initially booked 4 mid ship balconies (they were connecting balconies) and one inside mid ship. We were all able to upgrade to Haven suites which made this trip special.

 

UPSELL

 

Thanks to everyone on the boards, I found out about the upsell thru CC. Here are some data points that may help others.

 

Day 45 from boarding - called Upsell number to ask about upgrade. Told to call back 15 days out. Made dummy reservation and there was approx 12-15 2 BR suites available and about 15 Courtyard rooms

Day 30 - asked to call back in a week, same amt of inventory.

Day 25 - Offered 750 for Courtyard, 1000 for Aft, 1250 for 2 BR. Approx same amt of inventory of rooms available.

Day 23 - Offered 500 Courtyard, 750 AFT, 1000 2 BR. I told them we had party of 13 and 5 rooms and asked if I upgraded everyone, could they give 2 BR suites for 500 for 2 of the rooms and 3 courtyard rooms for 500. After about 5 min waiting, they agreed to the balcony rooms but not the inside since they paid a lot less then the balcony rooms!

 

I booked via travel agent and he requested that he would have to take care of it since he booked it. I took the name of person who offered the upgrade and made sure she notated it on her end. Called my travel agent immediately and within an hour it was all booked! The upsell dept stated the travel agent does not need to make reservation for upsell which I think it is true, but if you have a great travel agent, let them take care of it to make sure booking is done correctly.

 

I had 4 mid ship balconies on deck 13 and one inside mid ship. I paid rock bottom prices during the kids sail free sail with UBP. They allowed us all to keep UBP and OBC we received from AMEX Plat card and our travel agent.

 

What surprised me was that they gave the 4 balconies 2 bedroom villas! The last interior room they were charging 1000 per person extra for 2 BR since they paid approx 1000 less for their room. I asked travel agent to see if he could get Courtyard for 500 pp and NCL agreed!

 

So in total, we had FOUR 2 BR villa for 500 pp upgrade for 1st and 2nd guest and 1 Courtyard Balcony for 500 pp 1/2nd person.

 

One other note: one of the families had 2 adults, 3 kids. They had 2 balconies connecting to fit their family of 5. With the Haven upgrade, they did not need second 2 BR HAVEN room since it holds six. We asked to cancel the room or merge reservations and NCL would not budge. If they all wanted to be in HAVEN, they would have to upgrade both rooms. Tried to have travel agent, supervisor in NCL call center help, no deal. We were willing to pay for the second balcony room and downsize to one HAVEN room but wanted to try to save $1000 by not upgrading a second Haven 2 BR. So, we literally had one extra 2 BR go unused on trip. It was a kids playroom and place for movie night. Such a shame, I think NCL would agree and resell room for more profit. I have read on other posts that people were able to merge/cancel the second room but we had no luck.

 

HAVEN TIPS

- I noticed prepaid gratuities was still at old rate of 12.95 a day, so I paid a few days before leaving at this rate. The other family decided to wait until on board and paid the suite rate of 15.50. I did tip the stewards and bartendars in Haven extra, so I rather give them money directly then NCL.

 

- All of our rooms was on DECK 16 within a few doors down of Courtyard and restaurant. I know some do not care, but this is BIG advantage for families. Kids aged between 6-10, we usually watch them closely but felt comfortable giving them freedom to go back to the room on their own to play in their own room for an hour, go to the bathroom, get a toy they forgot etc. We used the courtyard, hot tubs, pools a lot and made big difference knowing our room was only a few steps away

 

- HAVEN breakfast and lunch sitting outside on the courtyard was great!

 

- One disappointment was how slow staff in restaurant were. I know restaurant is more fine dining especially dinner but it took prob 30-45 minutes to get our meals. Dinner was slowest, but breakfast and lunch also took a long time. I know the food in the Haven is not mass produced and made to order and we had 13 people in our party ordering but for an exclusive restaurant, I thought service would have been better. They simply did not have enough waiters and assistants to handle everyone.

 

- That being said, the food in the Haven is one step above anything else on the ship. Breakfast had continental buffet of cheeses, fruit, pastries and the menu for lunch and dinner had very expensive items cooked to perfection. Diver scallops, lobster, certified angus beef filet and tenderloin.

 

- We ended up eating dinners in Tropicana nightly due to the slow service of Haven staff. Having 5 kids at each meal, we cannot sit for 1.5 hours for dinner every night. I was surprised at the food in Tropicana. All the meals were better than RCCL I think. Well prepared and even the standby daily meals were good.

 

- Stewards and bartendars in HAVEN were great. Very helpful and knowledgeable. We gave extra tips for their great service.

 

- Butlers were spotty. Having 5 rooms, we were able to compare. 2 rooms on other side of hallway had different waiter and they stated they like fruit, sweets and cheese. Every night, they received cheese plate, chocolate covered strawberries in addition to the snack of the day

 

- Our butler just brought snack of the day. Day 3, I asked if he could bring chocolate covered strawberries. He said not available. Day 4, instead of asking, I said "I would like chocolate covered strawberries" in a nice tone, he said ok. Curious to see what would happen, I also asked for gummi bears for the kids and chips. He brought a huge bowl of gummi bears and a Costco unopened bag of Lays potato chips!

 

- After this, he did bring a plate of cookies and choc covered strawberreis with snack of the day without asking

 

- Ask the Bar in Haven for potato chips. They were homemade and so good. Disappointed Butler did not bring these chips instead of Lays!

 

- Pay per View movies in Haven were free. They were approx 65 movies to choose from and many are pretty new. We had new Star Wars movie, Good Dinosaur, Big Short, Spectre (James Bond) to name a few

 

- Concierge was blah. Nice guy, always smiling but did not go out of his way to do anything for us. I felt the assistant did more. Sure, they did the priority on/off tenders and got us reservations for shows, rooms but I felt priority lines is a perk of Haven we paid for and the concierge did not go above and beyond what I read others have gotten. I asked for behind the scenes tour or bridge tour. Was told not offered. I did tip concierge and assistant.

 

- Haven staff was great but did not go out of their way to accomodate large groups. They were a number of large parties in the HAVEN this time. We were 13, there was another family of 18. I found the restaurant gave us a dirty look every time 13 of us wanted to eat. Also, when I went to make a reservation for 13 for dinner or shows, the concierge looked surprised. Just my observation.

 

OTHER TIDBITS

 

- I find so much inconsistentcy with NCL staff in terms of information provided.

 

- Each room had about $250 OBC Nonrefundable. I knew you could use it to tip butlers, concierge, give extra money to stewards, staff members, etc. via manual voucher at guest services.

 

- I had no problem doing this, when another family member tried to do the same was told they could not do this twice by different staff members. We had to go to same staff member I used to clarify we could do this.

 

- We missed Great Stirrup due to weather so we were refunded $11 pp for port tax. This was deemed a REFUNDABLE credit. I asked On Board Credit Desk and we could cash this out and get cash immediately which I rather have then wait for a check from NCL 10 weeks later. They told my father in law they would need to close out his account to do this and he would have to pay for any additional items in cash or credit card which is fine since last night of cruise. We did the same 3 hours later, we got the cash back and they asked if we wanted to keep our account open?

 

Overall, we all agreed this was one of the most relaxing trips we took. Having the Haven courtyard, private pools and hot tubs and the rooms so close to the Haven area made this trip special. We were truly spoiled and pampered and it is going to be tough to cruise again in a NON Haven or private area such as this. After seeing how busy the rest of the ship was, it will be tough to go back to regular cruising.

[Kfamilycruise]

Thanks so much for posting this! I was wondering if we had two connecting balconies if we could upgrade at all. Great info!

[MikeBTN]

Great review and notes. Sailing Escape Haven in 27 days and considering a 14 day Southern on Getaway in The Haven in November.

[Sand and Seas]

We will be in our first Haven on Getaway in June so very excited to read your review! Good to know we should let them know which treats we like most. (DH is hoping for good choc chip cookies.)

 

Did they have a different courtyard menu for more casual lunches? I want to hang out there everyday:D

[smg873]

I was also in the Haven last week, and I think I chatted with your family a bit by the Haven pool.

 

I completely agree with your review - I found the service in the Haven restaurant to be slow & spotty. Our butler, Rex, was just okay. I asked for a few things at the start of the week, even making a list to make it easier, but not all things were addressed. We asked for reading wedges off the pillow menu, which were never delivered. I also asked at the beginning of the week that he bring us the various menus for the main dining rooms, O'Sheehan's and the Haven (since I knew we could order room service from any). After I left a note reminding him, he brought us an O'Sheehan's menu and that night's MDR menu, but we never got any other menus and he never brought us the Haven menu. I also told him when he brought the daily snack on the first day that none of us really eat seafood (there was salmon on one of the canapes) and he said he would note that, but brought canapes with salmon or shrimp on them multiple times through the week.

 

That all being said, I LOVED the Haven. We were at the back of the ship in an aft penthouse, and had read reviews from others who said they found that they used the Haven less when they weren't staying in the Haven area, but I did not find that to be the case for us - we're walking all over the ship anyway, so walking to the Haven was not a big deal - if anything, it was good because it kept us more active. However, I can see that being right in the Haven would be easier with young kids - my kids are a tween & a teen, so I could give them more freedom to move about the ship.

 

I am not a big nightclub person, so I really enjoyed the quiet, laid-back atmosphere of the Haven lounge. Traveling as a single parent, I would go there alone while my kids were off at the kids club & teen club with friends, and I never felt out of place being alone - I always ended up chatting with other guests and the bartenders. The bartenders were FANTASTIC! Judith always greeted guests by name, and remembered what they liked to drink (even when I asked her to make a particular drink and told her what was in it - she remembered and asked me if I wanted "my drink" the next night).

 

I also agree about the concierge, John. He was okay, but I actually thought that his assistant provided better, more attentive service.