American Diner vs Haven Restaurant

[kamikazecat]

Hi everyone,

 

This will be our first time cruising in the Haven and noticed that on embarkation day, we can choose between lunch in American Diner or the Haven Restaurant. It seems like a lot of people prefer American Diner. Is there a reason for this? We are on the Bliss if that makes a difference. Thanks!

[Calvin]

10 minutes ago, kamikazecat said:

Hi everyone,

 

This will be our first time cruising in the Haven and noticed that on embarkation day, we can choose between lunch in American Diner or the Haven Restaurant. It seems like a lot of people prefer American Diner. Is there a reason for this? We are on the Bliss if that makes a difference. Thanks!

I'm sailing on the Bliss soon and, though I'd heard about this, I didn't know the American Diner option was set in stone. If so, my guess is that many pick the American Diner because: they serve lobster rolls and shakes, this will be the only day you can eat for free at the American Diner, and you will have access to the Haven Restaurant lunch for the other 6 days.

[kamikazecat]

3 minutes ago, Calvin said:

I'm sailing on the Bliss soon and, though I'd heard about this, I didn't know the American Diner option was set in stone. If so, my guess is that many pick the American Diner because: they serve lobster rolls and shakes, this will be the only day you can eat for free at the American Diner, and you will have access to the Haven Restaurant lunch for the other 6 days.

 

No one in my family is a big fan of lobster. I am the only one that eats seafood at all so I am guessing that we will skip it and just do Haven for lunch. Thanks!

[BirdTravels]

Haven Restaurant, definitely. No diner food for us. 

[oteixeira]

IMHO, the main dinning room is a better option then the American Diner if you choose not to eat in the Haven.  I just don't understand how NCL thinks that venue is an up charge place.  Margaritaville which it replaced was about the same and was empty all the time on the sailings I took, and the new Diner seems to be the same.

[Calvin]

1 hour ago, kamikazecat said:

 

No one in my family is a big fan of lobster. I am the only one that eats seafood at all so I am guessing that we will skip it and just do Haven for lunch. Thanks!

If it helps at all, thanks to BirdTravels, I have attached a copy of the menu for the American Diner.

Also, because I am a pig, I'll probably try to do both the Haven and American Diner, if allowed.584262355_AmericanDiner (2).pdf

[complawyer]

call me crazy, but it seems to me, if youre already paying for the haven, you may as well take advantage of all its goodies.

it's comparing apples to oranges.  eating inthe haven restaurant as opposed to somewhere else, regardless of the day is a no-brainer imho

[psac]

3 hours ago, Calvin said:

I'm sailing on the Bliss soon and, though I'd heard about this, I didn't know the American Diner option was set in stone. If so, my guess is that many pick the American Diner because: they serve lobster rolls and shakes, this will be the only day you can eat for free at the American Diner, and you will have access to the Haven Restaurant lunch for the other 6 days.

They offered this to us on the Breakaway in October as well. I think as you said, it’s usually offered, but not guaranteed.  And I think your reasoning makes sense — it’s the chance to eat there for free instead of the same lunch menu at the Haven for the rest of the week.   But, we always just do the Haven restaurant anyway!!!

[The Traveling Man]

I always assumed that NCL offered the American Diner as an alternative on the first day to try to "prime the pump."  As noted by others, the Diner is usually close to completely devoid of customers.  By hyping it to Haven passengers on embarkation day, I think they are attempting to put some butts in the seats to pique the curiosity of other passengers and thus drum up some more business.  OTOH, we really enjoyed the lobster rolls the one time we took up NCL on it's offer for free lunch, but the quality and variety of food available in the Haven restaurant is far superior.

[a1betpr]

You can’t go wrong either way.  We had the American Diner option on the Joy last week and chose it because we knew we’d be eating in the Haven nearly 20 times and this was our one chance to eat at the Diner for free.  I think it was a good choice and would make the same choice again - the ribs were very good (and not offered in the Haven) and the lobster rolls were delicious.  I don’t think you get milkshakes for free regardless- but we didn’t ask.  Not very many people chose the Diner so we had great service, meanwhile the Haven restaurant was jammed, though I’m sure everyone got great service there too.  

[Calvin]

43 minutes ago, complawyer said:

call me crazy, but it seems to me, if youre already paying for the haven, you may as well take advantage of all its goodies.

it's comparing apples to oranges.  eating inthe haven restaurant as opposed to somewhere else, regardless of the day is a no-brainer imho

In general, I'd agree with you. The only issue here is that the Haven menu does not change at all, so they might want something a little different on the first day.

 

However, as someone in my old office used to say, "The time to take the cookies, is when they pass the plate." LOL, so I will be trying my darndest to "take advantage of all its goodies" as you stated. In fact, I've even warned my wife that if she does ANYTHING to make us late to the ship, thereby minimizing my time ON the ship, it will cost her big time because I will then try hard to always get a cabin in the Haven!

[Calvin]

9 minutes ago, a1betpr said:

You can’t go wrong either way.  We had the American Diner option on the Joy last week and chose it because we knew we’d be eating in the Haven nearly 20 times and this was our one chance to eat at the Diner for free.  I think it was a good choice and would make the same choice again - the ribs were very good (and not offered in the Haven) and the lobster rolls were delicious.  I don’t think you get milkshakes for free regardless- but we didn’t ask.  Not very many people chose the Diner so we had great service, meanwhile the Haven restaurant was jammed, though I’m sure everyone got great service there too.  

Great points. I would be going for the milkshakes largely because my daughter would love them.

[Sailing12Away]

I'm always baffled when folks proclaim devout love of the Haven restaurant. I'm no food snob, so maybe that's why I don't notice enough of a difference to care. But the exact same menu every day is a no deal for me. We'll eat lunch there maybe 1-2x and dinner maybe 1-2x on a 7 night cruise. Who wants to eat the same thing every night?

 

Maybe it's just because I'm a picky eater and only find 1-2 things I would enjoy whereas the rest of you will go down the offerings and pick something different each day.

[Calvin]

11 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

I'm always baffled when folks proclaim devout love of the Haven restaurant. I'm no food snob, so maybe that's why I don't notice enough of a difference to care. But the exact same menu every day is a no deal for me. We'll eat lunch there maybe 1-2x and dinner maybe 1-2x on a 7 night cruise. Who wants to eat the same thing every night?

 

Maybe it's just because I'm a picky eater and only find 1-2 things I would enjoy whereas the rest of you will go down the offerings and pick something different each day.

I've seen a couple of menus that I hope they will have in the Haven and I can certainly pick out at LEAST 5 items I can eat for dinner.  Not to mention that I might want to eat surf & turf on more than 1 night.  If so, I will use the other 2 nights for the included specialty dining.

 

This will be my first time in the full fledged Haven Restaurant, but I also read that you can order any meal at any time in the Haven, so we may not be limited to what's on the dinner menu. In addition, I heard that they feature a special that's not on the menu. 

[Yinster]

8 hours ago, Calvin said:

 

Also, because I am a pig, I'll probably try to do both the Haven and American Diner, if allowed.584262355_AmericanDiner (2).pdf

Totally possible. It all down to timing.

 

On my last cruise, I had three breakfasts in three restaurants in one morning. First taste as my partner wasn't up yet. Then haven as age was getting ready and finally O'Sheehan as she was ready 

 

I had waffles in Taste, avocado toast in Haven and finally a fry breakfast in O'Sheehan. 

[Yinster]

4 hours ago, Calvin said:

but I also read that you can order any meal at any time in the Haven, so we may not be limited to what's on the dinner menu.  

All. Depends on the restaurant manager. So don't be disappointed if they say no. It means one wait staff needs to leave the haven to get it. If they do say no, make use of your butler and have it in your cabin

[Calvin]

3 hours ago, Yinster said:

Totally possible. It all down to timing.

 

On my last cruise, I had three breakfasts in three restaurants in one morning. First taste as my partner wasn't up yet. Then haven as age was getting ready and finally O'Sheehan as she was ready 

 

I had waffles in Taste, avocado toast in Haven and finally a fry breakfast in O'Sheehan. 

3 breakfasts in one morning!!!  I'm sorry, but that is just pure unadulterated gluttony, and you are my hero.

 

Re the Haven, I may have misspoken.  I was trying to say that I read you can have any HAVEN meal at any time in the Haven, ie dinner menu options at lunch, etc. 

[Yinster]

1 minute ago, Calvin said:

 the Haven, I may have misspoken.  I was trying to say that I read you can have any HAVEN meal at any time in the Haven, ie dinner menu options at lunch, etc. 

My apologies. I misread your comment. 

 

Yeah that was a good Thursday morning. We sometimes do dinner like too when we have a show. Pre show and after the show.

 

 

[valleyvillage]

OK, my true confession: I go to the Diner first and have a Margarita and nachos and then stroll to the Haven restaurant.

[a1betpr]

Our Haven restaurant manager would not let us order lunch menu items at dinner time, claiming it wasn't possible because all of the lunch items were removed from the kitchen for dinner.  She also wouldn't let us order the 7-layer cake from Cagney's for dessert, nor would she allow us to order a burger or anything not on the dinner menu for our teen kid.  She really wasn't very flexible at all, and I wonder if it's because I didn't grease her palm at the outset.  We requested to sit outside at the first dinner and she made us wait 15 minutes for a table to clear; when we were seated the outside area was half empty, so I still wonder if she was looking for an early tip.  Overall our service in the Haven restaurant was excellent, but I could have done without the hostess/manager.  Needless to say we didn't tip her, but would have had she shown any interest in providing excellent service.  Her loss.  

 

Also, I have to agree somewhat with Sailing12Away on the Haven dinner menu - very little variety and even more so if you are not a meat eater.  My wife doesn't eat red meat and that eliminated about 2/3 of the menu (steak, steak, steak, prime rib, pork chop, veal).  The dessert menu wasn't spectacular either.   What is offered is good but 7 nights in a row with that limited menu is tough.  We both ate a lot of lobster tails and crab cakes though, so all was good!

[Navis]

A little off topic, but to the extent you find it helpful, fort the ships with the Haven that also have a Food Republic … they used to offer Haven guests 50% off on embarkation evening for dinner. We did this quite a few times and just paid out of pocket rather than using a speciality dining credit. 

[Slk1z]

20 minutes ago, a1betpr said:

Our Haven restaurant manager would not let us order lunch menu items at dinner time, claiming it wasn't possible because all of the lunch items were removed from the kitchen for dinner.  She also wouldn't let us order the 7-layer cake from Cagney's for dessert, nor would she allow us to order a burger or anything not on the dinner menu for our teen kid.  She really wasn't very flexible at all, and I wonder if it's because I didn't grease her palm at the outset.  We requested to sit outside at the first dinner and she made us wait 15 minutes for a table to clear; when we were seated the outside area was half empty, so I still wonder if she was looking for an early tip.  Overall our service in the Haven restaurant was excellent, but I could have done without the hostess/manager.  Needless to say we didn't tip her, but would have had she shown any interest in providing excellent service.  Her loss.  

 

Also, I have to agree somewhat with Sailing12Away on the Haven dinner menu - very little variety and even more so if you are not a meat eater.  My wife doesn't eat red meat and that eliminated about 2/3 of the menu (steak, steak, steak, prime rib, pork chop, veal).  The dessert menu wasn't spectacular either.   What is offered is good but 7 nights in a row with that limited menu is tough.  We both ate a lot of lobster tails and crab cakes though, so all was good!

Not sure what Ship you were on, but I recently had the same issue on the Joy 2 weeks ago.   We asked for the French Onion soup ( usually from La Bistro, but many others have it now)  and it was a flat out No..  Which was the first time I was ever denied a food request in the Haven in 6 sailings.  The next night the food and beverage manager was chatting people up over dinner and my sister mentioned it to him.   He apologized and said it would not be an issue ,  just to let the them know in the morning and they would make it for us that evening.   

I will say I have no issues covering the cost of the soup, nor tipping afterwards for going over and above.   I hope this is not fleet wide.....   Since the Haven menu does not change , asking for something different during the cruise is kinda what the Haven is known for. 

And with that I do check out American Diner the first day for variety.

[dexddd]

15 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

I always assumed that NCL offered the American Diner as an alternative on the first day to try to "prime the pump."  As noted by others, the Diner is usually close to completely devoid of customers.  By hyping it to Haven passengers on embarkation day, I think they are attempting to put some butts in the seats to pique the curiosity of other passengers and thus drum up some more business.  OTOH, we really enjoyed the lobster rolls the one time we took up NCL on it's offer for free lunch, but the quality and variety of food available in the Haven restaurant is far superior.

That plus to spread out Haven guests the first day to not overwhelm Haven.

 

We also had a couple free, limited meals in Food Republic on Escape but not sure is still the case.

[The Traveling Man]

14 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

I'm always baffled when folks proclaim devout love of the Haven restaurant. I'm no food snob, so maybe that's why I don't notice enough of a difference to care. But the exact same menu every day is a no deal for me. We'll eat lunch there maybe 1-2x and dinner maybe 1-2x on a 7 night cruise. Who wants to eat the same thing every night?

 

Maybe it's just because I'm a picky eater and only find 1-2 things I would enjoy whereas the rest of you will go down the offerings and pick something different each day.

The few times we have sailed in the Haven we usually have had breakfast there each morning.  There is plenty of variety on the menu to entice us, even on a 14 day cruise.  We also learned that you can ask for things that aren't on the menu - be inventive!  Once they made Eggs Benedict for me with salmon in place of Canadian bacon and a bagel instead of the English muffin.  Plus a few truffle shavings!  We have lunch there perhaps half the time, with other sea-day noon meals in the Local / O'Sheehan's or in the buffet. For dinner we may eat in the Haven restaurant about half the time, specialty restaurants about one-third of the evenings, and the MDR or O'Sheehan's / The Local maybe once.  The thing that really keeps bringing us back to the Haven restaurant, though, is the service.  In our experience, it's head and shoulders better than any other restaurant on board.

[a1betpr]

1 hour ago, Slk1z said:

Not sure what Ship you were on, but I recently had the same issue on the Joy 2 weeks ago.   We asked for the French Onion soup ( usually from La Bistro, but many others have it now)  and it was a flat out No..  Which was the first time I was ever denied a food request in the Haven in 6 sailings.  The next night the food and beverage manager was chatting people up over dinner and my sister mentioned it to him.   He apologized and said it would not be an issue ,  just to let the them know in the morning and they would make it for us that evening.   

I will say I have no issues covering the cost of the soup, nor tipping afterwards for going over and above.   I hope this is not fleet wide.....   Since the Haven menu does not change , asking for something different during the cruise is kinda what the Haven is known for. 

And with that I do check out American Diner the first day for variety.

 

We were also on the Joy.  Our butler (Melody - she was OUTSTANDING) would get us anything from anywhere, but the restaurant wasn't so flexible. It wasn't that big of a deal, and it's not like I didn't eat enough for three people each day, but it was disappointing since every other whim in the Haven seems to be acted upon (and other posters here have said they were able to get other items in the restaurant with no trouble).