What is going on with Haven Pricing?

[DMH15]

10 hours ago, takeadip said:

We only sailed in the Haven through the discounted upgrade option...i dont see how someone would pay full price for Haven on ANY NCL ship...there are specialized "boutique" cruise brands that cater to the more affluent population and are accustomed to providing truly 5 star service with other "Well Heeled" families to surround themselves with...until i hit the lottery i will continue to try to sneak into the upper class Haven even though my wife and i are prob the poorest on the ship..

Yes.  You are Frank del Rio's target for Haven. 

[Beamco]

Traveling on the Bliss in a Haven PH Suite tomorrow - all in right around $6K - worth it to me when I cruise. We have sailed Haven several times and always pay "retail" to get what we want and have never paid more than $3K per person.Granted I won't pay what they are asking for a Haven cabin in Alaska. But for now I am not interested in luxury lines I like the action around the mega ships with the ability to retreat to the Haven as needed. As for unruly kids I deal with it by finding somewhere away from them. I am on vacation and won't let it stress me out.I also have heard kids are not allowed on the Haven sundeck on the Bliss and that is where we spend most of our Haven daylight hours and have never seen kids in the Haven bar/lounge area at night so no problem there either. When the time comes for me to travel on a more sedate cruise line I will try a luxury line but until then $6k is worth it for me. I guess I will find out this week if the Haven is still for me! I also have no problem drinking Absolute, Stoli, Kettle One and Titos - and plan to drink a lot of it - no Grey Goose on UBP who cares!

Edited February 9, 2019 by Beamco

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, Battle Bots said:

What about the out of control adults?

 

Carnival...

[hladygirl]

What about the prices for insides to minisuites? They have gone up so much that I can not believe. The last 14 night cruise in a a balcony cost us $5,000 for two. The one before that 2 years ago cost us $2,200. Sorry but this increase is too much too fast. Looking at other cruise lines even though we are platininum with Ncl. May not find anything better priced but am now shopping. We never cruised anything but NCL.

[DaCruiseBug]

1 hour ago, hladygirl said:

What about the prices for insides to minisuites? They have gone up so much that I can not believe. The last 14 night cruise in a a balcony cost us $5,000 for two. The one before that 2 years ago cost us $2,200. Sorry but this increase is too much too fast. Looking at other cruise lines even though we are platininum with Ncl. May not find anything better priced but am now shopping. We never cruised anything but NCL.

 

Try MSC. They'll status match your NCL Platinum with their MSC Black. You can get a Yacht Club Suite on the Seaside for about $4,000 (you get a 5% discount after they do the status match). When comparing the YC and the Haven most people say that the YC accommodations are superior to the Haven. Heck...you can get a Royal Suite in the YC for about $7,000-8,000 which is how much NCL charges for some of their lower tier Haven rooms.

[erdoran]

11 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

I'm feeling rather dumb!  I booked the Haven because it is our 50th anniversary cruise and I wanted the forward balcony penthouse.  Paid what NCL had on their website.  Any chance they will offer us a better accommodation at a reduced cost?

DH and I only sail haven because he is in love with the product and we do pay regular price - we look for better-priced haven rooms since we have some date flexibility.  We can't book lower and hope for an upgrade because the one time we did a balcony (Carnival) he hated it and swore he would never cruise again.  Having said that, we are looking at MSC Yacht Club but so far I haven't found a combo of date, itinerary and availability that works for us.

 

BTW our Bliss Alaska cruise Sept 2018 was $4k pp before dsc & ubp, and we are up for a 14 day TA/europe on Jade for $3600 pp (after TA discount) with $300 OBC before dsc & ubp.  Bliss was CY PH; Jade is 2 BR CY PH.

Edited February 9, 2019 by erdoran

[dexddd]

6 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

 

Try MSC. They'll status match your NCL Platinum with their MSC Black. You can get a Yacht Club Suite on the Seaside for about $4,000 (you get a 5% discount after they do the status match). When comparing the YC and the Haven most people say that the YC accommodations are superior to the Haven. Heck...you can get a Royal Suite in the YC for about $7,000-8,000 which is how much NCL charges for some of their lower tier Haven rooms.

Reports are no longer to Black but you'd still get the discount.

 

Accommodations - generally NCL suites are bigger but also many more types.  MSC YC public areas are much nicer and larger, at least comparing new ships to new ships.

[Mike D.]

I just had a great experience with a Haven upgrade (balcony to 2 bedroom family suite) on the Breakaway.  Minimum bid. Loved the Haven restaurant and the service.  The Haven area was quiet with no out of control children (or adults).  

 

After reading the comments above and looking at what happened to me, it seems more like lightning striking.  Long (11 day cruise), in late January so few children and not much call for 2 bedroom suites in the Haven.  Couples probably don't need a small "extra" bedroom to store stuff in but I got my "own" room and didn't have to consider my travel buddy's sleeping and temperature needs.  The "kids" room works for me (5' 8") although I was a bit jealous of the master suite but I volunteered to "rough it".  

 

I don't want to give up Platinum + status for another line even with MSC's matching.  But, as others have pointed out, the Haven prices are certainly steep. It is hard to justify the "rack rate" even with a casino discount or anything else I can throw at it.  So I suspect the best my high-end desires and Wal*Mart budget can swallow is a family suite on the smaller ships like the Dawn and the Star.  

 

Bidding for an upgrade or trying to grab a last minute cruise is certainly an option but it seems like a bit of a mickey mouse way to travel since I am a bit of a compulsive planner. 

[Oceansaway17]

if you think the haven is expensive, try looking at Celebrity Cruise line for the Galapagos Islands.

Wow oh wow the prices are high for new ships.    They must have a monopoly since not other cruise lines does that area except Celebrity and a few smaller local companies.

[Vyhanek]

Its almost like the powers to be at NCL are sitting around betting each other how much they can charge for a Haven suite that people will still pay. 

 

But plenty will pay 10k for a family vacation.    You can't get a family to Hawaii for a week under 10K.   You can't take the family to Atlantis for a week under 10k food, drinks, entertainment included.    People will pay 10k for a high end vacation.     

 

 

[Realdeal80]

On 2/8/2019 at 7:02 AM, Son of a son of a ... said:

Some folks would not blink at spending $10,000 for a Haven cabin for a week if it is their annual vacation.

I didnt. Also on the MSC YC 4 months later. 😇

[Apsalar]

3 hours ago, Vyhanek said:

Its almost like the powers to be at NCL are sitting around betting each other how much they can charge for a Haven suite that people will still pay. 

 

But plenty will pay 10k for a family vacation.    You can't get a family to Hawaii for a week under 10K.   You can't take the family to Atlantis for a week under 10k food, drinks, entertainment included.    People will pay 10k for a high end vacation.     

 

 

Exactly. The Haven is like taking your family to the Wailea Four Seasons. Non-suite cabins are more like a Kihei rental condo with a kitchen. They're both a Hawaii vacation, but you pay very differently for the stuff you want.

[Tscruiser646]

It is crazy.   I am in the DOS Haven and tried to upgrade for our 25th anniversary to the Villa, but came up just shy of less than $800 short of the $5000 more they wanted for the next category room. A frequent cruiser, and I opted out of the ultimate beverage package so I saved them money, (they wouldn't allow soda package instead, but I don't drink) but wouldn't give me the time of day to try to help with the upgrade.  The ship is pretty much empty so go figure.  I think I am canceling my bid for an upgrade and saving my money for a different cruise line some day.  The UBP cost more than what I missing for the upgrade.  They said then you should take the UBP.  Another smooth move to make me pay gratuities on something I won't use. Disheartened.

[dexddd]

7 hours ago, Tscruiser646 said:

It is crazy.   I am in the DOS Haven and tried to upgrade for our 25th anniversary to the Villa, but came up just shy of less than $800 short of the $5000 more they wanted for the next category room. A frequent cruiser, and I opted out of the ultimate beverage package so I saved them money, (they wouldn't allow soda package instead, but I don't drink) but wouldn't give me the time of day to try to help with the upgrade.  The ship is pretty much empty so go figure.  I think I am canceling my bid for an upgrade and saving my money for a different cruise line some day.  The UBP cost more than what I missing for the upgrade.  They said then you should take the UBP.  Another smooth move to make me pay gratuities on something I won't use. Disheartened.

If you are in a DOS and looking for upgrade it must be for a Garden Villa?

 

If just two of you, yes, a GV would be nice but lots of extra space.  We were on Gem in DOS and could have gone into GV before bid system but upgrade too much for just two of us without kids that trip.  We saved the money.  The DOS on Jewel class ships is very nice and ronantic.  The ones on Dawn class are also nice enough especially if you go with the outer ones.

[Tscruiser646]

6 hours ago, dexddd said:

If you are in a DOS and looking for upgrade it must be for a Garden Villa?

 

If just two of you, yes, a GV would be nice but lots of extra space.  We were on Gem in DOS and could have gone into GV before bid system but upgrade too much for just two of us without kids that trip.  We saved the money.  The DOS on Jewel class ships is very nice and ronantic.  The ones on Dawn class are also nice enough especially if you go with the outer ones.

Did the upgrade.  Went for broke.  DOS open and dropped price from I had.  Up for grabs of upgrade advantage. Good luck!

[erdoran]

I'm crossing my fingers super hard for the chance to bid on a GV for my upcoming cruise.  DH is really against it because he thinks it's ridiculous for just two people to have that humungous cabin/suite/villa or whatever you call it....

 

I could get used to it 😆

[Tscruiser646]

6 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I'm crossing my fingers super hard for the chance to bid on a GV for my upcoming cruise.  DH is really against it because he thinks it's ridiculous for just two people to have that humungous cabin/suite/villa or whatever you call it....

 

I could get used to it 😆

What is DH?

[erdoran]

Just now, Tscruiser646 said:

What is DH?

Dear (or darned or any number of d-words) hubby!

[Tscruiser646]

1 minute ago, erdoran said:

Dear (or darned or any number of d-words) hubby!

I didn't tell my husband.  Surprise!!!!!  He will find out once we enter the room.  I pay the bills and do the travel agenda.  

[erdoran]

3 minutes ago, Tscruiser646 said:

I didn't tell my husband.  Surprise!!!!!  He will find out once we enter the room.  I pay the bills and do the travel agenda.  

I may do the same, but I've already shown him the GV and drooled all over it.  if we get it (we haven't even had the upgrade advantage offer yet and we are 74 days out) I'm not sure i can keep it secret - and yes, same here, I pay bills & handle travel.

[Tscruiser646]

Put it on a card with time to pay offer.  This gave me a little wiggle room for pay in full.  Not a great financial move, but college tuition makes it tough to ensure larger payments. I like to put money in bank until due date.  My card 0  percent interest until November.  This way I pay in chunks rather than in full.  I just happen to have a promotion.  I wouldn't suggest getting a new card lol.

[Realdeal80]

14 minutes ago, Tscruiser646 said:

I didn't tell my husband.  Surprise!!!!!  He will find out once we enter the room.  I pay the bills and do the travel 

Please keep me in your thoughts when you divorce. 😁

[Tscruiser646]

3 minutes ago, Realdeal80 said:

Please keep me in your thoughts when you divorce. 😁

That was nasty.  When the woman makes a VERY good salary with multiple positions and surprises her husband with a gift, that is her prerogative.  Best wishes and prayers and thoughts to you and your family.  I wish you a life of happiness.  Have a nice cruise.

[graphicguy]

Interesting...I've been searching for a quick NCL cruise.  Just looked at a Haven Forward Penthouse on the Escape....$4,800 for two plus all the goodies.  May have to snag that one. 

[Bonobochick]

On 2/8/2019 at 11:32 PM, hladygirl said:

What about the prices for insides to minisuites? They have gone up so much that I can not believe. The last 14 night cruise in a a balcony cost us $5,000 for two. The one before that 2 years ago cost us $2,200. Sorry but this increase is too much too fast. Looking at other cruise lines even though we are platininum with Ncl. May not find anything better priced but am now shopping. We never cruised anything but NCL.

This is where I am. 😶 I've only sailed NCL and I'm platinum so I appreciate the perks that come with that status level. Looking at Bermuda cruises in June, they're running about $1800 with taxes (and not including perk gratuities) for a studio. I'll hold out to see if they fire sale the week I want close to the sailing date but I'm making alternate plans already, which includes checking out other cruise lines Bermuda prices.