Princess cruiser tries NCL Haven

[nattie]

We have just come back from NCL Breakaway cruise in Haven suite. Chose the cruise because we wanted to sail from NOLA and upgraded to accomodate an elderly relative. I have posted a full review on NCL boards, but wanted to comment my preteen here: "Mom, keep the waterslides, I want to go back to Princess". I know Princess is not perfect, but to get that testament from 12 yo is quite something.

If anyone is interested, I am happy to answer questions. Overall, NCL Haven is 100% YES (but at $$$$), I dont think Princess has anything comparable, but general NCL (or at least Breakaway) is 100% NO.

[JF - retired RRT]

A link to your review would be helpful.

[Lady Arwen]

We tried Breakaway a few years ago to Bermuda (usually would sail on Celebrity Summit) and it was the worst cruise out of 33 at the time.  The ship is so ugly and unwelcoming.  The food was blah.  It felt like the Walmart of the Seas.  Never again would we sail NCL.

[nattie]

29 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

A link to your review would be helpful.

JF, link is below. Wasn't sure if it belonged in Princess forum.

 

 

[aimee0715]

Interesting.  I'm platinum on Princess.  I just went on NCL Breakaway at the end of January and thought it was great.  We sailed on NCL Jewel several years ago and I said "never again." But, my friend really likes NCL so we went on Breakaway.  I don't like the pricing structure and how all of the "free" things are baked into the price but overall, it was a nice cruise.  We were not in Haven. We each got a spa pass and spent a lot of time in the thermal suite.  I thought the thermal suite was better than what I have seen on Princess.  The spa services are basically identical--the spa is operated by Steiner on both lines. 

[KruzPrincess]

I like NCL. I went the first time because my friends like it. I fully expected to hate it, but I was pleasantly surprised. I’m happy to go on NCL now. Some of my friends are Haven people, so I’ve spent a lot of time there over a few cruises. It’s great, but I don’t want to spend the money for it. Non-Haven pool space is limited. I’m not a pool person, so it doesn’t bother me. The major shows on NCL are far better than Princess. Lots of food options on NCL. It’s different. I love Princess because it’s what I am used to, but definitely not perfect. I’ve only gone on the bigger new NCL ships, so I don’t have experience with older ships. 

[Ken the cruiser]

If I might ask, how is the MDR food? When we sailed on the Getaway in a suite in the Haven in 2017, it wasn’t all that great. Later this year we’ll be on the Jade on a long B2B in an aft-facing veranda cabin and we’ll be dining in both specialty restaurants as well as the MDRs.

[scooter6139]

We really liked our NCL sailing on both Joy and Encore for the most part.  Before boarding we were freaked out by the size of the ships (we were used to Grand class ships), but once aboard it didn't feel crowded at all.  Haven't had the $$$ to try a Haven Suite (yet).  We really enjoyed the food too, as they have so much to chose from, but hated the real nickel and dime approach to dining choices.  Ultimately, the entire top deck is useless to us (pools, waterslides, go carts, etc).  Plus their beds are hard as a rock. 

 

BTW - Nothing compares to the Observation Lounge on one of these Breakaway Class ships.  The ultimate lounge area to observe the outside.  

[nattie]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:37 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how is the MDR food? When we sailed on the Getaway in a suite in the Haven in 2017, it wasn’t all that great. Later this year we’ll be on the Jade on a long B2B in an aft-facing veranda cabin and we’ll be dining in both specialty restaurants as well as the MDRs.

Sorry, Ken. We never tried MDR food on this cruise.

[AF-1]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:37 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how is the MDR food? When we sailed on the Getaway in a suite in the Haven in 2017, it wasn’t all that great. Later this year we’ll be on the Jade on a long B2B in an aft-facing veranda cabin and we’ll be dining in both specialty restaurants as well as the MDRs.

I sailed Jade in aft Penthouse Suite.  Enjoyed the cruise, cabin and view were great.  Food was fine, and service we very good Jade has been remodeled and it looks great.  It is same size as a Grand Class ship such as Emerald or Grand Princess.  

[Selion]

On 4/19/2022 at 12:48 PM, nattie said:

NCL Haven is 100% YES (but at $$$$), I dont think Princess has anything comparable

Princess doesn't have ship-within-a-ship cabins & service, yet.  I've found MSC's Yacht Club to offer a great balance between cost and service.  It's worth a look if you don't want to spent Haven-level money, but prefer top-tier services.

[pris993]

We have only cruised on NCL 3 times.  2 times before they went to fly style, 1 after.  The one after we found an excellent fare on a Mediterranean cruise and decided to give a try.  We usually cruise in a mini suite on Princess, so book a comparable cabin, NCL Sky I think, older ship. Hawaiin theme.    Cabin was fine.  Food in MDR and service not good at all.  We tried first day lunch and dinner.  Did not return, made salads and sandwiches for the remainder of the cruise.   For the price we felt we got what we paid for so no complaint there.  

[Daniel A]

@nattie DW & I have sailed NCL twice and have a Haven booked on Breakaway in the Med next year.  Our first was an aft penthouse on NCL Pearl, and the second was a Haven penthouse on Epic.  DW is a 'foodie' and she has always said that she thinks the NCL food is a notch above Princess'.  The priority lane at our Seattle embarkation was not manned or open.  Seattle's embarkation was poorly handled IMHO.  What a difference it was embarking NCL in Barcelona!  The Haven entrance to the terminal was located right where the taxi dropped us off at the pier.  There was a separate security lane for Haven and after passing through security we were taken to a separate waiting area where we were offered champagne while we waited for a staff member who took all of our paperwork over to the check in desk and checked us in.  After we were checked in, our butler whisked us on board and escorted us to a restaurant in the Haven where we had lunch while our cabin was being prepared.  We've mostly sailed on Princess and Princess is our 'go to' line, but our Epic Haven experience has always surpassed every Princess cruise we've taken and we never had a bad cruise on Princess.  I'm hoping the Breakaway experience will match our Epic experience but we'll always be fans of Princess.

[milolii]

We’ve sailed both.   And still do.  NCL Haven is definitely a superior product, but there’s a cost. 
I find the food on NCL horrible unless you are in the Haven or Speciality restaurant.   Princess  has great food even at the Buffet. NCL shows are typically much better.  I find the butler a bit annoying at times. We don’t need that. We book for the other perks and space.  

[atexsix]

I think I would just save my money for a regular room on a luxury cruise line than pay extra for a seat in "first class", which is what it reminds me of.  If the ship or cruise line is bad in general, can you really make a silk purse here?  I suppose you can choose to never leave your self-contained special section, but why bother with such a big ship in the first place?  I'd go for Seabourn or Windstar in that case. 

[deliver42]

I never compare terminals anywhere with Seattle's. They have the worst terminals I've ever been in. That goes for Princess's and NCL's which is some distance away. Completely disorganized.

[ceilidh1]

My kids (now 15 and 10) were pretty much raised on Princess ships, having taken between 3-5 per year since they were a year old. However, they absolutely LOVE NCL Bliss, too. Our last sailing pre-Covid we sailed in the Haven on Bliss and it was perfect. I had to burst their bubble and tell them that this was a one-off...no way could be afford those prices on a regular basis! Over the years, we have definitely noticed the changes/cuts on Princess but still enjoy their product for the most part. For us, NCL offers the best of both worlds - the chance to relax and have adult experiences while still providing the slides, go karts, etc for the kids. I do think that NCL have their marketing geniuses - sure, you could get on the ship and not spend a dime with their free dining options, drink package, etc. BUT, if you are anything like our family and just HAVE to do it all, you end up spending extra on specialty dining, paid activities, the little paid treats, etc. We actually end up spending way more on an NCL cruise (even without Haven) than we do on Princess...

[nattie]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:41 AM, atexsix said:

I think I would just save my money for a regular room on a luxury cruise line than pay extra for a seat in "first class", which is what it reminds me of.  If the ship or cruise line is bad in general, can you really make a silk purse here?  I suppose you can choose to never leave your self-contained special section, but why bother with such a big ship in the first place?  I'd go for Seabourn or Windstar in that case. 

I see your point, but I actually get sea sick, so bigger ship is better :). We are back to Princess for Alaska, but I am eyeing San Juan Xmas cruise on NCL, For whatever reason this year I cant find anything on Princess that fits Winter break at my DS's school.

[kitkat343]

We sailed the NCL Star even though princess is our favorite cruise line overall.  NCL is fairly similar to Princess, so if you find a good itinerary and price you will probably be happy.  The one issue was that the food in the MDR was not nearly as good as princess, or Cunard, or surprisingly even Carnival (Carnival had  cruise with an itinerary I loved so I went even having low expectations.  The food on Carnival was made out of inexpensive ingredients (which was completely reasonable given the price of the cruise) but it was well prepared so all of the main dining room meals actually tasted quite good).   I'd read about the problems with the food on NCL, and had purchased a meal package.  NCL's specialty restaurants were excellent, so if you care about food you just need to include the price of a specialty dining package when deciding which cruise to take.  

[AF-1]

does anyone on this thread think all the cruise lines should go to all inclusive; you pay one price and once onboard you don't have to worry about everything being ala carte.  Cheers

[latebloomer56]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

does anyone on this thread think all the cruise lines should go to all inclusive; you pay one price and once onboard you don't have to worry about everything being ala carte.  Cheers

Yes for me. Our next Princess cruise is almost all inclusive. We had no separate fees and have premium drink packages, auto tips, internet and discounts on excursions per cabin. Still pay for excursions, casino,  and specialty dinning. For dinning we get the perk for platinum plus two from our TA. I like not dishing out for soda card for hubby and drink as well as coffee card for me. Always prepay the tips then just add if needed on board but no worries this time either.

[latebloomer56]

As far as NCL, we sail on this line because they sail from Boston (some trip we go to NY but Manhattan easy). Have only sail in cabin other than suite once never do that again. We love suite and Haven separate dinning options. That said food on Princess is better as far as we are concerned overall with a few exceptions. We are platinum on both so getting on and off the ship is easy. NCL treats suite passengers better but have only had a suite once on Princess wasn't impressed.

As always for us Princess is first choice but they don't have enough options in the northeast for us.

[AF-1]

20 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

Yes for me. Our next Princess cruise is almost all inclusive. We had no separate fees and have premium drink packages, auto tips, internet and discounts on excursions per cabin. Still pay for excursions, casino,  and specialty dinning. For dinning we get the perk for platinum plus two from our TA. I like not dishing out for soda card for hubby and drink as well as coffee card for me. Always prepay the tips then just add if needed on board but no worries this time either.

good for you;  have fun

[Daniel A]

On 4/30/2022 at 8:28 AM, AF-1 said:

does anyone on this thread think all the cruise lines should go to all inclusive; you pay one price and once onboard you don't have to worry about everything being ala carte.  Cheers

For some reason, my previous post disappeared.  I don't think all inclusive fares should be mandatory.  Having a choice is always better.  All inclusive rates are good for those who use all of the features which are included, but for those who don't use all of the features, it's not a good deal as they would be subsidizing the others.  That being said, I take advantage of the all inclusive fares on Princess.

[AF-1]

20 hours ago, Daniel A said:

For some reason, my previous post disappeared.  I don't think all inclusive fares should be mandatory.  Having a choice is always better.  All inclusive rates are good for those who use all of the features which are included, but for those who don't use all of the features, it's not a good deal as they would be subsidizing the others.  That being said, I take advantage of the all inclusive fares on Princess.

Daniel A   thank you for your feedback.  I appreciate it