Will Haven restaurant being in items from specialty restaurants?

[CarolinaMamma]

We are booked in Encore Haven, and one member of our party is a vegetarian, and therefore won’t have many options on the Haven menu. Can they bring in items from specialty restaurants if we order in advance, or are we better off just buying a larger specialty dining package so things don’t get too monotonous for our vegetarian? 

[All-ready2cruise]

I don't think I've ever seen this question asked here.  My first thought would be no, if you want to dine on specialty restaurant food, you'd need to go to a specialty restaurant to enjoy it there.  As far as a special menu requirement goes, NCL is apparently very good at taking care of those requirements.  Vegetarian meals are not that difficult to prepare. with a 24hr notice, I'm sure the chef could arrange almost anything the vegan/vegetarian would want. 

 

I know the haven experience is supposed to be special but not sure they'd allow for this specific type of change.

 

Good luck, enjoy your cruise. 

[CarolinaMamma]

38 minutes ago, All-ready2cruise said:

I don't think I've ever seen this question asked here.  My first thought would be no, if you want to dine on specialty restaurant food, you'd need to go to a specialty restaurant to enjoy it there.  As far as a special menu requirement goes, NCL is apparently very good at taking care of those requirements.  Vegetarian meals are not that difficult to prepare. with a 24hr notice, I'm sure the chef could arrange almost anything the vegan/vegetarian would want. 

 

I know the haven experience is supposed to be special but not sure they'd allow for this specific type of change.

 

Good luck, enjoy your cruise. 

Thank you. Maybe I will ask the concierge closer to sail date. I am a planner, and like to book specialty restaurants as early as possible, so hope they will be able to provide me some information on vegetarian options in the Haven, so that we can decide whether to book more specialty dining. I can totally see why they wouldn’t want to bring in a steak from Cagney’s or other expensive specialty items, but the vegetarian options from these restaurants cost considerably less and seem like they could be a reasonable request, with enough notice. 

[ColeThornton]

As "All-ready2cruise" touched on, it won't be a problem for the vegetarian to get dishes in the Haven restaurant.   The staff will accommodate their requests with no issues.

[mjkacmom]

Folks have posted many times that you can get specialty restaurant meals in the haven, you just have to pay for them, same as if you ate there in person.

[FLcruisergrl]

Yes, they will. My daughter has Celiac and they brought the cheese bread from Moderno most nights (it’s gluten free). There was no charge for it, but you’re likely to be charged for a full meal. They will also make off-menu dishes, just request them in advance. My daughter never ordered from the main menu. She’d just tell them at breakfast what she wanted for dinner and they’d make it happen!

[BirdTravels]

Your butler can serve you food from any restaurant in your room. The Haven restaurant staff can run food, but it takes the very limited staff away from serving others in the restaurant. 

[Trimone]

When you are introduced to the staff in the Haven on arrival, they will ask if you have any preferences, in fact on our last cruise a couple from Canada were vegan and the Restaurant staff really looked after them.

[mjkacmom]

51 minutes ago, FLcruisergrl said:

Yes, they will. My daughter has Celiac and they brought the cheese bread from Moderno most nights (it’s gluten free). There was no charge for it, but you’re likely to be charged for a full meal. They will also make off-menu dishes, just request them in advance. My daughter never ordered from the main menu. She’d just tell them at breakfast what she wanted for dinner and they’d make it happen!

My daughter had the same experience in the MDR’s (no haven for us). She’d order dinner the night before, breakfast at dinner. She was brought a piece of flourless chocolate cake not on the menu a few times. They would make her anything she wanted.

[CarolinaMamma]

Great to know that they will make off-menu items. We don’t necessarily need specialty restaurant food. Just don’t want the vegetarian to be stuck with the same one entree every night. 

[gizfish]

As long as they have the ingredients and enough notice, the Haven chef will accommodate special requests.  The MDR also has nightly vegetarian options which the Haven staff will bring to the Haven restaurant.  Also, many of the chefs in the cruise industry are from India, and make delicious, often vegetarian, Indian food.  So, the vegetarian may be in luck if they enjoy Indian food.  The buffet always has a section of Indian food as well.  

[valleyvillage]

When they saw I was vegetarian (it would pop up when they scanned my card in the beginning, because I had let the concierge pre-cruise desk know) they immediately made suggestions and offered to help me any way they could. I always had plenty to eat! Some of the side orders of veggies alone were WAY enough!

[Vyhanek]

At one time, the haven restaurant was more flexible and you could get items from other restaurants.   But then that stopped.   They are much less flexible and you will get push back trying to order something from a different restaurant.   

 

As far as vegetarian, there will be one option Im sure on the Haven menu that's vegetarian.

 

You won't be dining in the Haven restaurant every night.   The menu doesn't change.   It will be the same menu all week and it is pretty limited, delicious but it is a small menu.   You're going to want to dine around the ship for variety.   

[CarolinaMamma]

1 hour ago, Vyhanek said:

At one time, the haven restaurant was more flexible and you could get items from other restaurants.   But then that stopped.   They are much less flexible and you will get push back trying to order something from a different restaurant.   

 

As far as vegetarian, there will be one option Im sure on the Haven menu that's vegetarian.

 

You won't be dining in the Haven restaurant every night.   The menu doesn't change.   It will be the same menu all week and it is pretty limited, delicious but it is a small menu.   You're going to want to dine around the ship for variety.   

What do you think, maybe 4 nights in specialty restaurants and 3 in Haven?  On our other cruises, we have not been in the Haven but have done specialty restaurants every night. 
 

I may wait until ships start sailing again and see what the new menus look like. 

[oteixeira]

14 minutes ago, CarolinaMamma said:

What do you think, maybe 4 nights in specialty restaurants and 3 in Haven?  On our other cruises, we have not been in the Haven but have done specialty restaurants every night. 
 

I may wait until ships start sailing again and see what the new menus look like. 

For us it's the Haven restaurant every night we are not at a specialty, so basically, right now I think you get 2 dinners on a 7 night?   That would mean 5 nights in the haven, unless you would like to spend more. 

[FLcruisergrl]

31 minutes ago, CarolinaMamma said:

What do you think, maybe 4 nights in specialty restaurants and 3 in Haven?  On our other cruises, we have not been in the Haven but have done specialty restaurants every night. 
 

I may wait until ships start sailing again and see what the new menus look like. 

I’d do Ocean Blue, Onda, and Cagney’s or Le Bistro and the rest in the Haven.

[Coastalbreezes]

12 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

What do you think, maybe 4 nights in specialty restaurants and 3 in Haven?  On our other cruises, we have not been in the Haven but have done specialty restaurants every night. 
 

I may wait until ships start sailing again and see what the new menus look like. 

Since you are sailing Encore note that in addition to the standard NCL specialty restaurants, you will also have Onda, Los Lobos and Q as options to book, each one with a few vegetarian selections.

Edited January 17, 2021 by Coastalbreezes

[david_sobe]

Many have reported doing this with no issues.  However, last Feb on the Encore, Onda was sold out so I asked the concierge if we could get Onda ordered to the Haven.  I got the face of death and was told it would be up to the Haven restaurant manager.  It never ended up happening but was surprised what a big deal Armando thought it was going to be.  I just don't think they like people eating food from other restaurants in the Haven restaurant.  Does it happen, yes but I got the feeling it was not welcomed.  They prefer you to get it delivered to your cabin.

[david_sobe]

2 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Many have reported doing this with no issues.  However, last Feb on the Encore, Onda was sold out (and concierge could not get us in) so I asked the concierge if we could get Onda ordered to the Haven.  I got the face of death and was told it would be up to the Haven restaurant manager.  It never ended up happening but was surprised what a big deal Armando thought it was going to be.  I just don't think they like people eating food from other restaurants in the Haven restaurant.  Does it happen, yes but I got the feeling it was not welcomed.  They prefer you to get it delivered to your cabin.  As always, every concierge and Haven restaurant is different.

Onda is extremely popular so book online even if you are in the Haven.  Otherwise you may not get what you want.

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by david_sobe

[BirdTravels]

21 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

What do you think, maybe 4 nights in specialty restaurants and 3 in Haven?  On our other cruises, we have not been in the Haven but have done specialty restaurants every night. 
 

I may wait until ships start sailing again and see what the new menus look like. 

We sail multiple times a year, about half the time in suites (we have an April cruise in the Haven in the process of being cancelled right now). We normally eat in the Haven for lunch and dinner 2-3 times each on a 7-night. We prefer trying different specialty restaurants. Since the menu does not change, there are only a couple of items on the menu that we really want.... no sense ordering the same thing every night or ordering something you really don’t want. 
 

That being said, things like Prime Rib in the Haven (if it is still on the menu when you sail), is the exact same as the one served in Cagney’s, so you could save a SDP credit by eating in the Haven. 

[graphicguy]

Understand that the Haven has its own kitchen.  So, any meals ordered from any of the ship's other restaurants have to come from the specialty restaurants' kitchens.  Butlers are specifically trained for this.  So, while they won't serve those meals to you in the Haven Restaurant (where they'd probably interfere with the other Haven wait staff), they're more than happy to accommodate setting up specialty meals in your suite.

 

I do find the Haven Restaurant to be accommodating with special requests they can make in their own kitchen, though.  Vegetarian meals,  lactose intolerance, etc seem to be handled well by the Haven restaurant.

[Laszlo]

I ordered a BLT in the Haven restaurant on the Escape for lunch one day. Big mistake, 40 minutes later when it arrived I found out its made in one of the main dining room restaurants. I had two more BLT's that same week for lunch. I went to the buffet and made them myself Lol

Edited January 18, 2021 by Laszlo

[mtrancher]

@Laszlo It always is a surprise to me to hear of a bad experience in the Haven restaurant. We didn't have a one and we had a big group so I always expect a couple misfires or issues. It's really a surprise to hear they make a BLT in the main dinning room as obviously that would be super easy to make in the Haven kitchen. Hope you have better luck next time; and I hope our luck continues to hold.

[Roger88]

I doubt the buffet, restaurants and cafes will be the same when the lockdown is over. I really want to see all this variability but unfortunately they will totally limit their menu and specials. I even wonder how many people would like to cruise when pandemic is over 

[graphicguy]

21 hours ago, Roger88 said:

I doubt the buffet, restaurants and cafes will be the same when the lockdown is over. I really want to see all this variability but unfortunately they will totally limit their menu and specials. I even wonder how many people would like to cruise when pandemic is over 

I'd leave tomorrow if there was a cruise going out near a port I could get to within a few hours.