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

[RocketMan275]

17 hours ago, BubbaBoat said:

What I am interested in is booking on board entertainment and my 3 specialty dining reservations.  When can I expect to be able to do that?  Excited to deploy all of SthrnGary's tips!

Has the pre-boarding concierge desk contacted you? Usually by email.

If they have not, here's their contact information:

855-625-4283

norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com

I would suggest calling them.  Hold time is usually less than a couple of minutes.

They can help with your reservations.

If there are none available, they can contact the ship and get you to the top of the list.

They were able to get me reservations when none showed on line.

They can also help with any pre-cruise requests. They have quite a list for you to consider.

[BubbaBoat]

16 hours ago, Russiamomm said:

The concierge has some pull, but can’t perform miracles.  They will do their best to accommodate any reasonable request.  I’ve never been on the Prima.  I don’t know if they even have a Syds.   Syd Normans does not take reservations. When I was on the Breakaway, the concierge did escort us down to Syds before they opened the doors and we were able to get great seats, but that’s not guaranteed.  As far as shows in the main theater, there is a section for Haven guests and you will be escorted to them.  You meet in the Haven lounge and the concierge will take you there via the service elevators.  

 

On the dining, the concierge will most likely be able to get you into whatever restaurant you want at the time you want.  But you probably have to wait until you board to make those arrangements.

 

I'm afraid I hear a bit of anger in your comments.  Why is that?  The Haven is fabulous.  But yes, it is pricey, and there are things that you have to pay in addition to the base fare and FAS gratuities, such as the DSC and gratuities for the butler and concierge.  It goes with the territory.  It is not a cheap vacation.

 

I don’t mean to be mean about this, but these are things that you should have researched before you booked.  

No anger at all.  I just booked everything yesterday and we'll be in Europe for two months.  Actually, when compared to other cruiselines and "like" classes, I don't think Haven is that expensive.  As far as the fees, I paid them but thought I had might already had paid them through the free at sea package.  We're excited as last year we did a similar sojourn on RCL and did not like the Wonder of the Seas.  This year we're excited to have the more exclusive ship within a ship atmosphere.  Much more excited about this itinerary, as well!  I had conducted about a week's worth of research on Youtube watching reviews.  The food in the Haven has received fabulous reviews and I agree with others that there is no need to dine elsewhere.  However, with the longer itinerary I think it would be nice to mix it up a bit.  I like the escort option, very helpful and very encouraging as others have stated finding seats for entertainment have been difficult.

[BubbaBoat]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

Has the pre-boarding concierge desk contacted you? Usually by email.

If they have not, here's their contact information:

855-625-4283

norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com

I would suggest calling them.  Hold time is usually less than a couple of minutes.

They can help with your reservations.

If there are none available, they can contact the ship and get you to the top of the list.

They were able to get me reservations when none showed on line.

They can also help with any pre-cruise requests. They have quite a list for you to consider.

This is super helpful!  I'll give them a call.

[Treasure Hunter]

I’m envious. I have cruised 50+ times and the Haven is so amazing. The concierge even printed my husbands NYTimes crossword puzzle for him daily . You are going to have the best time.

[Russiamomm]

24 minutes ago, BubbaBoat said:

No anger at all.  I just booked everything yesterday and we'll be in Europe for two months.  Actually, when compared to other cruiselines and "like" classes, I don't think Haven is that expensive.  As far as the fees, I paid them but thought I had might already had paid them through the free at sea package.  We're excited as last year we did a similar sojourn on RCL and did not like the Wonder of the Seas.  This year we're excited to have the more exclusive ship within a ship atmosphere.  Much more excited about this itinerary, as well!  I had conducted about a week's worth of research on Youtube watching reviews.  The food in the Haven has received fabulous reviews and I agree with others that there is no need to dine elsewhere.  However, with the longer itinerary I think it would be nice to mix it up a bit.  I like the escort option, very helpful and very encouraging as others have stated finding seats for entertainment have been difficult.

Thanks for the response.  You will have a fabulous time.  I’ve been in the Haven on the Joy twice and once on the Breakaway.  Some day I hope to get on one of the new ships.  I’m envious!  
 

On the food, you are right.  The food in the Haven restaurant cannot be beat, but it is nice to “mix it up” with other restaurants.  We’re on a 16 night Transatlantic in December - also in the Haven.  We have five specialty meals between the FAS and the Platinum dinners.  We will use them all.  We always save at least one for the sushi bar.  😃

 

Enjoy every minute.  And remember you can order as many lobster tails as you want in the Haven restaurant!  And they are very good.  😃

[Grimix]

29 minutes ago, BubbaBoat said:

The food in the Haven has received fabulous reviews and I agree with others that there is no need to dine elsewhere.

To tamper expectations, the food is great, but it doesn't match up to an equivalent meal shoreside. By that I mean the service will match or exceed a high end dining establishment, but the actual meal won't. It will be great, but don't want you to go in thinking it will be the best food you've ever had and then be disappointed!

[Treasure Hunter]

But remember you are on a cruise and can then go to the entertainment and walk back to your stateroom. I guess everything for me is better when I'm cruising, I have a permanent smile on my face.

[RocketMan275]

50 minutes ago, BubbaBoat said:

This is super helpful!  I'll give them a call.

Let us know how that worked for you.

[BubbaBoat]

27 minutes ago, Grimix said:

To tamper expectations, the food is great, but it doesn't match up to an equivalent meal shoreside. By that I mean the service will match or exceed a high end dining establishment, but the actual meal won't. It will be great, but don't want you to go in thinking it will be the best food you've ever had and then be disappointed!

Not expecting that at all.  

[BubbaBoat]

On the Thermal Suite...Is it only available for the entire cruise or can we purchase daily passes?

[ggTexasGal]

52 minutes ago, BubbaBoat said:

On the Thermal Suite...Is it only available for the entire cruise or can we purchase daily passes?

Sometimes, (usually Port days) they will sell a Day Pass.

[mconthehighseas]

On 8/2/2023 at 7:25 PM, Russiamomm said:

....... I’ve never been on the Prima.  I don’t know if they even have a Syds.   Syd Normans does not take reservations. .....

We were on Prima last month, and there is a Syds.

[mconthehighseas]

On 8/2/2023 at 5:22 PM, BubbaBoat said:

Thanks for the info.  As far as restaurants, I think I'll just eat in the dang Haven Dining Room as it sounds better than anything else on board.  However, I have 3 nights to utilize the specialty restaurants...for those of you that have cruised on Prima, what are your top 3?  Thanks!

We were on Prima last month on a Iceland to England itinerary, so my views  about Onda may not apply to a warmer cruise.  Some of the restaurants are meant to be enjoyed outdoors, and we would not do that!
Our favorite restaurant was Palomar, a seafood restaurant.  The food and atmosphere were wonderful. 

I enjoyed the food at Onda, but it was NOISY! Try to sit away from large parties. If the doors/windows were open, it might have been nicer.

My son really enjoyed Hasuki, the Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. He said the rice was bussin bussin, which means good.  It was another noisy restaurant, but that goes with show atmosphere.  
We also went to Cagney's, but I don't remember much about it  other than the walls looked like dressy cinderblocks.
 

I do want to add that the service was very good in all the venues.  You could tell that the wait staff was trying very hard to make us happy.  

[amygutman]

On 7/31/2023 at 10:12 AM, knscruiser322 said:

Morning fellow CCer's.

 

Just got back yesterday from my first Haven experience on the Joy going to Bermuda from NYC. I'll try to keep my review short (lol) but detailed for those who have questions. This was a cruise with the Mrs.

 

We decided to arrive at the terminal around 9AM. Dropped luggage off at the porter and saw early cruisers like us already there waiting. The wait was only about 15-20 minutes before they opened up check-in and I have to say it was GREAT to be in the Haven line. The non Haven line was piling up and getting ridiculous. We were 2nd in the Haven line. Breezed through check-in, got our keycards, etc. and then waited in the lounge. Had light refreshments and snacks. A bit later the ships Concierge, Mr. "X", he liked to be called came in and greeted us and told us once the ship clears we'd be the first group to board the ship.

 

We boarded the ship around 11:20AM as it seems there were a lot of people leaving the ship last minute. Once we started boarding, we were greeted by the NCL Haven staff, butlers were assisting escorting groups up to the Horizon Lounge. The Haven Bar was already prepping drinks for everyone who was being escorted up to the lounge. We didn't stay in the lounge for long. Once you were escorted into the lounge you can just explore the ship. We decided to have lunch at the Haven restaurant.

 

A quick review on the Haven restaurant overall for all (3) meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Dessert). The hostess that greeted us pretty much every meal was Marivic. She always tried to seat us at the same table at all (3) meals with the view. It was nice to come into the restaurant every time and not have to show your keycard or have them ask for your name. Another great service we noticed in the Haven. Everyone tries their best to make the experience exclusive for Haven guests.

 

Our best meals at the Haven were at breakfast. Lunch was just OKAY, and dinner I have to say was nothing out of the ordinary. Yes we have access to great cuts of meat and lobster, but one thing I noticed consistently and my wife as well is there is NOT enough seasoning in certain dishes. My wife tried a surf & turf the first night and the filet was definitely not seasoned enough. Cooked great but not enough flavor. I had the prime rib and I also noticed the flavor wasn't there. I do have to say that the Garden Cafe Prime Rib is DEFINITELY better than the one in the Haven. I noticed the Garden Cafe Prime Rib still maintained the same consistency in flavor and texture similar to my last cruise on the Escape almost 3-4 years ago! 

 

Throughout the length of the cruise, we pretty much tried every item on the menu at the Haven. And consistently the dinner menu was again nothing amazing. Breakfast was always consistent and great. At lunch, (2) items always got my wife's approval and it was the Seafood Fritto Misto and the Mushroom Flatbread. I do want to note that the Haven at least cooks the NY Strip Steak better than the filet. Flavor was definitely better than the filet.

I did try the "OMG" cheesecake mid week for dinner and all I have to say is "LOL". I'm from NYC and I know a good cheesecake when I taste it. Wife agreed and said there was no cheesecake taste and it tasted more like cake texture than that of a cheesecake.

Also want to note that the French Press Coffee was one of the best cups of coffee I had on the cruise, next to the ones in the Horizon lounge. I believe both use the same type of beans.

 

I'm going to fast forward my review and keep the parts much shorter now. The sundeck and courtyard were great areas to stay in. Although we didn't have a chance to go into the pool or hot tubs, we do recommend that it is a great amenity in the Haven compared to the crazy stuff happening on the general pool deck. I wanted to check out the hot tubs in the sundeck but it was HOT and I mean HOT up there from the beaming sun. We had our fair share of water fun at Horseshoe Bay on port day so that made up for everything.

 

The Horizon Lounge was the best place to relax, read a book, grab a quick snack or just admire the view. @Sthrngary, I had a couple of Almond Croissant's just for you. Was the best snack in the morning with a nice cup of coffee. My wife enjoyed the nice mini tarts they had there.

 

Haven rooms were available pretty early. I believe the ones in the Haven Proper were ready after 1PM and I do recall ours being ready after 2PM, might have been sooner, didn't keep track. Our stateroom was nice and roomy. We stayed on deck 14, outside of the Haven proper. We had a Haven Penthouse Suite. Wife enjoyed the spacious balcony, although we didn't frequent it much. She definitely loved the walk in closet space and she loved the robes and the crisp bedsheets, lol.

 

Our butler was Jayson. He was very attentive and I did present him with the butler letter in a seal envelope with his gratuity. I didn't expect I would utilize our butler that much on the cruise, but towards a few days in, we did request more room service and he did frequently bring more snacks etc. in for us. He was a great conversationalist and always kids around with both of us. At the last sea day of the cruise, I gave him an additional tip sealed in an envelope with a small note thanking him. Our room steward was Royal. Although I didn't see him much, he cleaned our room promptly and was spotless. He greeted us each time if we did run into him, but I can see how much busier they are now managing much more rooms and cleaning Haven rooms twice a day. I also gave our steward a tip on the last sea day in a sealed envelope with a note thanking him for his hard work.

 

Although we didn't utilize the concierge at all, the team lead by Mr. "X" seemed to be keeping up with Haven standards. I want to note that we did not tip the concierge team. Nothing against the team but we honestly didn't utilize the team at all. And most of the time we never see Mr. "X" at all. I always see only the assistants on the team.

 

I am not a big drinker so I didn't utilize the Haven bar as much as most guests did. I did however tip the bartender on the first day for (2) drinks. 

 

Since this was a Haven review, I am not going to note any Bermuda references except that Horseshoe Bay was amazing.

 

As the cruise comes to an end, we arrived back pretty early in NYC. The ship definitely docked at around 6AM I would say. We self carried our luggage off the ship and was the first group off the ship since Haven has priority debarking as well. We were off the ship at around 7:30AM and settled back into our normal routine quickly.

 

I want to wrap up this review with a couple of things I noted while cruising in the Haven. I noticed a lot of guests who stayed in the Haven only limited themselves to the Haven. I'm talking literally staying in either the lounge or courtyard and probably sundeck.

We also noticed that a lot of the guests who stayed in the Haven had certain "personalities" if you would call it. The "I am better than you" personality.

We didn't limit ourselves to the Haven at all, in fact most of our time was always in the Atrium similar to our last Escape cruise as we always like to see what is always happening around the ship. The Haven exclusivity and perks are definitely a plus, but we both didn't understand why some guests stuck to the mindset of "Ship within a ship" and not leave the Haven. I felt like the fun part was exploring the ship and discovering something new. We found out that there were fist fights in the general pool area over lounge chairs!

My wife said cruising in the Haven definitely changed our way of cruising. Once you go Haven you never go back as a lot of noted.

 

Thanks again to @Sthrngary for providing this amazing thread of information and everyone else as well who contributed. Sorry for the long winded review!

 

Lovely review - Really appreciate the balanced nature and honest opinion re: your experience. 

Warmest Amy

[amygutman]

On 7/31/2023 at 12:52 PM, omahabob said:

I should like to note for any newcomers that embarkation perks and amenities for Haven guests do vary by port. NYC and Miami seem to have the best. Some other ports have less, sometimes considerably less.

 

The "New" NCL terminal at Port Canaveral is wonderful for both Haven and Suite guests. Smaller / older NCL ships are often relegated to one of the older Carnival terminals (still with the delightfully garish signage) if the port is busy. Although the "secondary" terminal has the same priority line / waiting area, it is small and not adequate for the number of Haven / Suite area guests. 

Apologies for not recalling the secondary NCL terminal number. 

Warmest Amy

[Candy Apple 12]

12 hours ago, amygutman said:

The "New" NCL terminal at Port Canaveral is wonderful for both Haven and Suite guests. Smaller / older NCL ships are often relegated to one of the older Carnival terminals (still with the delightfully garish signage) if the port is busy. Although the "secondary" terminal has the same priority line / waiting area, it is small and not adequate for the number of Haven / Suite area guests. 

Apologies for not recalling the secondary NCL terminal number. 

Warmest Amy

I’m guessing you have to wait until you get your e-docs to know which terminal your ship is assigned to. Does anyone have photos of the Port Canaveral Haven areas?

[amygutman]

1 hour ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

I’m guessing you have to wait until you get your e-docs to know which terminal your ship is assigned to. Does anyone have photos of the Port Canaveral Haven areas?

I'm sorry - no recent ones. I will say it's been very well marked where you have to go. You can go to www.portcanaveral.com the day before (or even the morning of) your cruise to see where your ship is docked. The best indicator of which dock is eyeballing the ships whilst driving in - just look up 😁. All the ships are very well marked and it becomes immediately evident where you are boarding. If taking a shuttle from a parking lot, they will take you directly to your specific port. 

 

Another poster here also noted the much newer and bigger Miami terminal which I believe has even a bigger and shinier NCL area + the older and smaller secondary dock. Due to influx of so many ships daily, RCL "brands", NCL "brands" and other groups of ships may have rotating docks. 

 

Sorry to not be more helpful, Warmest Amy

[omahabob]

3 hours ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

I’m guessing you have to wait until you get your e-docs to know which terminal your ship is assigned to. Does anyone have photos of the Port Canaveral Haven areas?

 

I tried, but they wouldn't let me in. Some silly rule about not being a Haven guest, or something like that.

[SaltyPawz]

Considering a Haven cruise to Alaska. Bliss, Encore, and Joy are options. Any recommendations or preferences?

[mthayer295]

On 8/1/2023 at 3:21 PM, Candy Apple 12 said:

@cruiseny4life Just double checking my understanding of your post about Miami embarkation, there is someone outside the terminal with a Haven sign? If so, I assume you drop off luggage with the porters first and then head to the terminal area?
 

I’m cruising with my husband, my mom, and my in-laws, and I’d like to be prepared. My mom has never been in the Haven, and I’m trying to keep it a surprise for her. It’ll be her first cruise since my dad died a few months ago. My in-laws have done the Haven, so I’ll make sure they don’t ruin the surprise. I’m trying to figure out the best way to surprise her on embarkation day. 

 

On 8/1/2023 at 1:05 PM, Sthrngary said:

Yes

I am confused because my confirmation states that I have “prepaid serve charge for suites & haven”.   So how is it that it doesn’t cover Haven service personnel like butlers?

[RocketMan275]

23 minutes ago, mthayer295 said:

 

I am confused because my confirmation states that I have “prepaid serve charge for suites & haven”.   So how is it that it doesn’t cover Haven service personnel like butlers?

It doesn't because not all passengers will utilize their services.  The service personnel not covered only include the butler and the concierge.  Bartenders, waitstaff, hostesses, etc., are all covered.

[Sthrngary]

59 minutes ago, mthayer295 said:

 

I am confused because my confirmation states that I have “prepaid serve charge for suites & haven”.   So how is it that it doesn’t cover Haven service personnel like butlers?

@mthayer295 I don't understand it either and it has been a point of debate online many times.  The Bottom line is the Butler does not participate in those Pre-Paid Gratuities.  Everyone else in the Haven does.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[jessicasquared]

1 hour ago, mthayer295 said:

 

I am confused because my confirmation states that I have “prepaid serve charge for suites & haven”.   So how is it that it doesn’t cover Haven service personnel like butlers?

It covers your cabin Stewart (who keeps your room clean) and all the other services onboard except the concierge and butler. 

[Daniel A]

How do I find out which shows will be on my sailing?  I am assuming the pre-cruise concierge can reserve seats for us.  Is that correct?

[Treasure Hunter]

I’ve always reserved specialty restaurants with the pre cruise concierge and the shows in the pre boarding Haven lounge at the terminal with the asst concierge. They hand you a sheet with listings of shows, times and days while you are waiting to board and the confirmation is in your room later in the day. Unless it’s changed since February.