The NCL Haven Luxury VIP Experience "Secrets" REVISED for 2022

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

@RocketMan275I thought I was the only one that the robe did not fit.  I asked for a "Portly" size and was told "One Size Fits All".  All except me, I guess.  Then we spend a week on a cruise eating and the provided Haven Robe has NO CHANCE.  

 

Thanks for the laugh, I needed it. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

The provided robes are not "one size fits all'.  They come in multiple sizes, Small, X-Small, and XX-Small.

 

FWIW, I've yet to find a cruise line robe that fits which is why I bring my own.

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, Sthrngary said:

@RocketMan275I thought I was the only one that the robe did not fit.  I asked for a "Portly" size and was told "One Size Fits All".  All except me, I guess.  Then we spend a week on a cruise eating and the provided Haven Robe has NO CHANCE.  

 

Thanks for the laugh, I needed it. 

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Thank you Gary, and @RocketMan275! In April I took my own robe. This time, we requested a ummmm "portly" robe which our PCC acknowledged and wrote down. I'm glad to see your posts as I was going to hope I'd receive what I call a fat person robe. I guess I'll just take my own fat person robe again. I sure don't plan to lose any weight between now and Saturday, or on the cruise! 

[RocketMan275]

Just now, cruiseny4life said:

Thank you Gary, and @RocketMan275! In April I took my own robe. This time, we requested a ummmm "portly" robe which our PCC acknowledged and wrote down. I'm glad to see your posts as I was going to hope I'd receive what I call a fat person robe. I guess I'll just take my own fat person robe again. I sure don't plan to lose any weight between now and Saturday, or on the cruise! 

When I asked for a larger size on Breakaway, our steward said they didn't have different sizes but he brought me a brand new robe saying it might not have shrunk as much as the other robes. Still didn't fit.

[scooter6139]

FYI - Regarding robes.  Not sure if this works on NCL, but on Princess the biggest robes available were the ones from the Spa (Lotus Spa).  I wonder if it is the same on NCL for the Mandara Spa robes?  (We stayed in a full suite on Discovery, both wife and I are definitely plus sized.  Like a champ, our Steward tried the Suite Robes (too small), the regular robes (again too small) then found the Spa robes (were about a 2x so they fit))  Wife ended up keeping hers.

[Sailing12Away]

One size fits all - except those who abuse the heck out of their drink package with each cruise.

[Sthrngary]

18 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

One size fits all - except those who abuse the heck out of their drink package with each cruise.

@Sailing12AwayGuilty as charged.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[RocketMan275]

41 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

One size fits all - except those who abuse the heck out of their drink package with each cruise.

One size fits all as long as 'all' is under 150 pounds.

[suzieq2cruise]

On 8/25/2022 at 5:14 PM, rbxlady said:

That^ made me think of another coffee-related question: am I out of line to ask for heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) for my cabin so I can use that instead of half and half?

 

It’s just a preference, and I won’t die if I can only get half and half (and I don’t use the flavored stuff, sorry), but I would hope I would be able to secure a small pitcher of HWC to keep in our mini fridge for coffee.

 

Thanks in advance!

I don't think so at all.  I think you can even call the Haven Concierge in advance of your journey to request it.    It will probably actually help them if you call ahead about it.   

[cruiseny4life]

59 minutes ago, suzieq2cruise said:

I don't think so at all.  I think you can even call the Haven Concierge in advance of your journey to request it.    It will probably actually help them if you call ahead about it.   

In my experience, they'll just tell you to ask your butler when you get onboard. I'm not sure what the OP does to get actual value out of the pre-cruise concierge (I believe him), but I get no value from them at all. On both cruises, I've requested things like the pillow menu, the snacks (M&M's, gummy bears), and to have the mini fridge cleared out. 

 

The pre-cruise concierge response was we'll have the pillow menu waiting. For the rest, the response is ask your butler when you get onboard. Perhaps by calling you get different service? But, unless my life depends on it, I don't make phone calls, so I'll be waiting on Saturday to talk with our butler for my requests:

 

1. Clear out the mini fridge

2. Bring a carafe of iced tea and water

3. Bring gummy bears and peanut (only) M&M's

 

That's all our requests. We tried the pillow menu. It's basically the pillows on the bed, plus the butler finds a memory foam pillow which I don't like. 

 

Now, I'll be the first to say your experience may be better than mine. I know the OP gets wonderful pre-cruise concierge service, so I hope all you others do as well. 

[Sthrngary]

57 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Now, I'll be the first to say your experience may be better than mine. I know the OP gets wonderful pre-cruise concierge service, so I hope all you others do as well. 

@cruiseny4life Hello, I am the OP.  You can call me Gary and you make a great point.  This question comes up a lot so I think it might be time to do some clarifying.  I hope everyone remembers my intent is to establish Realistic expectations.  Otherwise, we go on an expensive cruise, upgrade to the Haven and feel like we did not get the values others have gotten.  That is a downer for most folks.  

 

Expectation to the Pre-Cruise Concierge: My goal is to handle a few things pre-cruise so I don't have to on the cruise.  The assistance falls in two area's, first to have things done for me in advance.  Second, to give me the best approach when I am on the ship. That is my goal.  I just want to know the rules to the game. 

 

Truly Personalized Service: The NCL Haven and the Celebrity Retreat do a nice job of personalized service.  This includes before the and mostly during the actual cruise.  They don't hold a candle to Regent, Oceania, SeaBourn, Viking, and other luxury segment brands. The difference subtle and hard to describe. My experience is you can get the same things done Pre/During Cruise but it takes more effort on Mainstream Cruise Brands.  The effort by the crew on personalized service is hampered on the Highly Structured Process and Procedure used.  Where on the Luxury Brands, the crew has discretionary abilities. It is simply not the same and we need to go into the cruise knowing that. 

 

The True Secret To Getting What You Want: Have your request pre-thought out.  Start with the Pre-Cruise Concierge and ask for confirmation in writing.  Follow up if need be with the on-ship concierge in writing if possible. Finally, ask your butler and again I do it in writing.  None of these folks have a crystal ball to know what is uniquely important to me different than others.  On a luxury brand, you can simply write and email or ask your butler.  They have never missed with a request that was no to over the top. I do something else and this is the first time I have ever stated it out loud.  I create a relationship with the folks I talk to on the phone or emails.  I ask for them in the future, I praise them to their managers if they go over the top.  I gain the supervisors name and contact information.  When my request is granted, I show my appreciation with a kind think you.  I know have collected names and contact numbers for the majority of supervisors and executives on the brands. I never abuse the relationship, ever. 

 

If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get: If something is important to me, I ask.  If I get a "No" I am not upset.  My thoughts are, I did not know if it was possible anyway.  I have asked for "Upgrade/Upgrade Status" and never gotten one unless my upgrade bid was a winner.  No special treatment. On the other hand, I wanted to buy the Premium "PLUS" beverage package for two of the four adults in my suite.  I was given the right person to call and it was handled onboard.  I was told that this was not possible on Social Media yet with a little intuitiveness it was done for me on my cruise.  

 

Conclusion:  You can get almost anything you want done with a little planning and realistic expectations.  Never demand or use anger (no one ever said in this stream they were using anger or demanding), collect confirmations emails of your requests, write a reasonable list of what you want, start with pre-cruise and don't be disappointed it you have to simply ask on the cruise.  If you don't get everything you want, let it go.  Nothing is perfect.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

 

 

 

[jkbec101]

Speaking of if you don't ask you don't get.

 

Sometimes I have the pallet of a 10 year old boy and for lunch, I like a good old fashion grilled cheese and fries (we even have a grilled cheese truck that I follow on Twitter).  

 

I know it's not on the menu, but I should be able to order this at lunch one day, right?  I mean it's not a complicated dish.

Just curious.

[The Shrike]

17 minutes ago, jkbec101 said:

Speaking of if you don't ask you don't get.

 

Sometimes I have the pallet of a 10 year old boy and for lunch, I like a good old fashion grilled cheese and fries (we even have a grilled cheese truck that I follow on Twitter).  

 

I know it's not on the menu, but I should be able to order this at lunch one day, right?  I mean it's not a complicated dish.

Just curious.

Yes, my SIL ordered just that a few years back on the Escape.  She didn't want a big lunch so asked the waiter "Could I just get a grilled cheese sandwich and some fries?"  The response was "Of course, ma'am."

[wolft927]

18 minutes ago, jkbec101 said:

Speaking of if you don't ask you don't get.

 

Sometimes I have the pallet of a 10 year old boy and for lunch, I like a good old fashion grilled cheese and fries (we even have a grilled cheese truck that I follow on Twitter).  

 

I know it's not on the menu, but I should be able to order this at lunch one day, right?  I mean it's not a complicated dish.

Just curious.

I'm Sure, I have ordered a Grilled Cheese with tomatoes before and they never blinked an eye. its not an earth chattering request 

[MaryZ]

We tend to order of the menu in haven often. Their menus used to be so much better years ago.
Looking at the menus recently posted, they are like they were in Feb on the Getaway.  So, since we are back on the Getaway in a few days, we will just clarify early on what we would enjoy for certain meals.

As far as snacks go from the butler, we only like fruit and cheese.   We are always clear about that, no candy, cookies, cakes etc.  We just don't eat it.  Or worse, it's there and we will eat it 😁

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, jkbec101 said:

Speaking of if you don't ask you don't get.

 

Sometimes I have the pallet of a 10 year old boy and for lunch, I like a good old fashion grilled cheese and fries (we even have a grilled cheese truck that I follow on Twitter).  

 

I know it's not on the menu, but I should be able to order this at lunch one day, right?  I mean it's not a complicated dish.

Just curious.

Thanks.  I will order this on my next cruise.  Maybe with some tomato soup.

[pbenjamin]

The notion that asking for things via the pre-cruise concierge desk doesn't work comes up often.  I can only relay our experience but we have had good luck.  On our first cruise in an NCL suite we asked for several things:

 

• Bed in second bedroom made up with egg-crate pad or mattress topper
• Fridge emptied
• Peanut M&Ms and Gummi Bears
• Included sparkling wine on ice
• Another ice bucket ready for the Dom Perignon we were carrying on
• Setup for a small bon voyage party on embarkation day
• Champagne flutes for 8 along with Sierra Mist for the kids
• Adjustments to dining reservations

 

All were taken care of flawlessly.  We have had 3 cruises cancelled on us since then and only one got to the per-cruise concierge state but our requests got a positive response, as did the requests for our upcoming cruise in October.

 

[Sailing12Away]

4 hours ago, jkbec101 said:

Sometimes I have the pallet of a 10 year old boy and for lunch, I like a good old fashion grilled cheese and fries (we even have a grilled cheese truck that I follow on Twitter).  

 

I know it's not on the menu, but I should be able to order this at lunch one day, right?  I mean it's not a complicated dish.

Just curious.

Absolutely. My go-to list that we give to the butler on embarkation says I like BLT's (no mayo), grilled cheese, PB&J, nachos, etc. 

 

So I have the pallet of a 10yr old too and couldn't give 2 hoots. Last trip they even brought me a plate of just plain french fries when they found out I liked anything with potatoes. 

[erdoc1]

OMG!  What a useful thread.  We have always exclusively cruised with Celebrity (6 times, 4 of which were in suites).  We love the suite-only benefits on Celebrity but the pandemic has caused their fares to go up dramatically and we are now forced to look at alternatives if we are to consider a cruise.  We are a family of 4 with 2 girls aged 10 and 4.  We are contemplating a Haven Suite for next April but want to choose the best ship.  Itinerary is pretty irrelevant to us and just want a good experience onboard.  The kids club in Celebrity incidentally allows you to drop off the kids while you go ashore.  Does NCL offer this?  

 

Our options are the following ships...which is best for Haven guests?

 

Prima 

Encore

Joy

Escape

Getaway

Breakaway

Epic

Gem

Pearl

Dawn

Sky

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

Our butler last week was.... kind of an over achiever (this is what we found when we returned to our stateroom on Day 2 - Sea Day)

 

[BirdTravels]

We print a few 1/4 sheet note paper that we hand/leave for our butler and room steward. We always communicate in writing (short and concise list of requests) so that they don't "forget" something along the way. 

 

[The Shrike]

9 hours ago, erdoc1 said:

Our options are the following ships...which is best for Haven guests?

 

Prima 

Encore

Joy

Escape

Getaway

Breakaway

Epic

Gem

Pearl

Dawn

Sky

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don't have kids, but we really enjoy the Haven on the Escape.  Sailing with two kids, I would recommend avoiding the smaller ships (Gem, Pearl, Dawn, Sky) as the larger ones will have more activities that may interest them.

[rbxlady]

14 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Absolutely. My go-to list that we give to the butler on embarkation says I like BLT's (no mayo), grilled cheese, PB&J, nachos, etc. 

 

So I have the pallet of a 10yr old too and couldn't give 2 hoots. Last trip they even brought me a plate of just plain french fries when they found out I liked anything with potatoes. 

 

My husband, born in the South, is a big fan of tomato sandwiches. He likes tomato with mayo, salt, and pepper, all on toast. He will be happy to know that this can be done or even provided as a snack (like finger sandwiches, I guess).

[rbxlady]

15 hours ago, pbenjamin said:

The notion that asking for things via the pre-cruise concierge desk doesn't work comes up often.  I can only relay our experience but we have had good luck.  On our first cruise in an NCL suite we asked for several things:

 

• Bed in second bedroom made up with egg-crate pad or mattress topper
• Fridge emptied
• Peanut M&Ms and Gummi Bears
• Included sparkling wine on ice
• Another ice bucket ready for the Dom Perignon we were carrying on
• Setup for a small bon voyage party on embarkation day
• Champagne flutes for 8 along with Sierra Mist for the kids
• Adjustments to dining reservations

 

All were taken care of flawlessly.  We have had 3 cruises cancelled on us since then and only one got to the per-cruise concierge state but our requests got a positive response, as did the requests for our upcoming cruise in October.

 

They provided cans of soda in the suite for you? My husband and I have premium plus drink packages, and we've purchased soda packages for the kids, so do you know if they need to confirm that first?

[Sthrngary]

24 minutes ago, rbxlady said:

They provided cans of soda in the suite for you? My husband and I have premium plus drink packages, and we've purchased soda packages for the kids, so do you know if they need to confirm that first?

@rbxladyMy goal as the Op-Ed here is to assist in realistic expectations.  It is my experience in the Haven that the only time a Butler would provide Canned Soda was two situations.  First, when you are in an owners suite which provides three bottles of spirits and mixers.  The mixers are soda and they replenish daily.  It is complementary.  The other situation is when you buy a bottle of spirits from room service.  Included are some canned soda's.

 

The Haven does not claim to provide soda's to the suite unless you pay extra for them.  I also ALWAYS do the Premium "PLUS" Beverage Package.  Even then, it has never happened in my suite without a cost.  Now I am NOT saying some others have had a Butler that accommodated them.  Happens all the time. I am saying it is not NCL Haven policy.  So if you go on board and expect this and it does not happen, you will be disappointed.  That is what I mean by realistic expectations.  If it does happen, great.  If it does not happen you are not surprised.

 

When I comment on something that another CruiseCritic.com community member says and I softly challenge it, I mean no disrespect.  Instead I just want all of us to have the best time possible.  I hope my comment is take that way.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Sthrngary said:

@rbxladyMy goal as the Op-Ed here is to assist in realistic expectations.  It is my experience in the Haven that the only time a Butler would provide Canned Soda was two situations.  First, when you are in an owners suite which provides three bottles of spirits and mixers.  The mixers are soda and they replenish daily.  It is complementary.  The other situation is when you buy a bottle of spirits from room service.  Included are some canned soda's.

 

Are you saying one can buy a bottle of spirits (bourbon, vodka, etc) and have it delivered to your room for consumption?