Never-Haven Cruiser sails in the Haven. Here are her thoughts.

[Candy Apple 12]

16 hours ago, kismetique said:

He would die of embarrassment!  So of course, I'm going to try this one too!

You’ll have to come back here and report how it went!

[DMH15]

11 hours ago, graphicguy said:

NO difference in Haven service whether you’re n the Haven proper, or have a Haven cabin outside of Haven proper.

I have had excellent service in all suite and haven levels.  One butler was not good.  He was new.  But he must have known it. Since he got off in one of the ports and kept going.  LOL.  It’s sadly not a joke.  It happened. 

[kismetique]

8 hours ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

You’ll have to come back here and report how it went!

Will do, we get back 5 days before Christmas!

[Smitheroo]

On 8/25/2023 at 1:00 PM, kismetique said:

If they went above and beyond and made my dining experience more than I expected, I would tip that evening.... And this is not going to be popular. I might tip $20, even as an individual if I wanted this waiter the rest of the cruise. You want to incentivise them to want YOU at their table and have a chat with the maitre d. I feel certain this is what Daisy did, and why that table was always waiting on us .. Even though she had NO guarantee what time or even if we would come that evening! We never made any prearrangements or reservations. I'm a huge tipper IF I feel I was adequately waited on and they went above and beyond.  When I ask about a dish, but decide on a different one, yet the waiter brings both dishes without me feeling bad for ordering 2... That's worth $20 to me especially when paired with other niceties ( drink waiting at table, honest recommendations, etc. ). Here's why she kept getting $50 a night from my husband and me. I like salads, but I like protein in them, so I would combine 2 appetizers and asked that they be served together, like the salad of the night topped with shrimp scampi. No problem, no questions, no hesitation! All this while carrying on separate and personalized conversations with everyone at the table! This is their livelihood and when they excel at their job, I want to reward that so they feel inclined to give others this same service. Her service was so good, we cancelled our second specialty restaurant meal and went to the MDR instead.

This works for you. Me personally, a server would have to be really bad for me to even notice.  I choose from whatever is on the menu (thankful there are choices), rarely make requests on how it is prepared, eat it and the server takes it away. One thing I do if I am with another travel partner we sit at the table for awhile. In a regular restaurant this is not appreciated by the server but on a ship I dont think many people tip by meal. And its hard to tip the waiter at the end if you've gone to several of the dining rooms plus a specialty.  I dont think I ever had the same waiter twice.

[kismetique]

On 8/26/2023 at 3:15 PM, Smitheroo said:

I dont think I ever had the same waiter twice.

That's the whole point of tipping so well, when you find one you like, to keep getting them!!!

 

The first night on this ship we went to the more modern MDR (forgot the name). We had to wait 20 min for a table, despite the dining room being half empty. We waited another 10 min to be brought menus. We ordered with the VERY unfriendly waiter. Our party of 8 had to be broken up into 2 tables that weren't across the restaurant from each other, but not very close either. The two dad's got the two kids. I inquired about the steak, the waiter shrugged his shoulders at me. I asked about another dish, same response.  We all ordered and 30 min later, the plates were thrown in front of us. We've now been there over an hour and the two children have gone to sleep in their chairs. The dad's ask to have the meals boxed so they could take it to the room and put the kids to bed.  $20 EACH!!!!!  WHAT?!?!? They walked out and left the food, put the kids to bed and when we got back to the room an HOUR LATER, they went to the buffet. This is unacceptable. The service was terrible as was the food! So when we got Daisy the next night.... We made sure she was our go to waitress the rest of the cruise. One night we went to Cagney's.  It was equally as bad as the first night in the other MDR, so we skipped Maderno all together and opted for Daisy in the MDR.  I not only plan, but expect to tip well on a cruise. When we now talk about the cruise, Daisy is always mentioned, so good memories and money WELL spent!

 

We all have different priorities. 😊

[Smitheroo]

1 hour ago, kismetique said:

That's the whole point of tipping so well, when you find one you like, to keep getting them!!!

 

The first night on this ship we went to the more modern MDR (forgot the name). We had to wait 20 min for a table, despite the dining room being half empty. We waited another 10 min to be brought menus. We ordered with the VERY unfriendly waiter. Our party of 8 had to be broken up into 2 tables that weren't across the restaurant from each other, but not very close either. The two dad's got the two kids. I inquired about the steak, the waiter shrugged his shoulders at me. I asked about another dish, same response.  We all ordered and 30 min later, the plates were thrown in front of us. We've now been there over an hour and the two children have gone to sleep in their chairs. The dad's ask to have the meals boxed so they could take it to the room and put the kids to bed.  $20 EACH!!!!!  WHAT?!?!? They walked out and left the food, put the kids to bed and when we got back to the room an HOUR LATER, they went to the buffet. This is unacceptable. The service was terrible as was the food! So when we got Daisy the next night.... We made sure she was our go to waitress the rest of the cruise. One night we went to Cagney's.  It was equally as bad as the first night in the other MDR, so we skipped Maderno all together and opted for Daisy in the MDR.  I not only plan, but expect to tip well on a cruise. When we now talk about the cruise, Daisy is always mentioned, so good memories and money WELL spent!

 

We all have different priorities. 😊

 Definitely is an individual thing. You were a group, I was with one other person.   If I got a server like you describe here and then found a good one, I'd want to keep the good one too.  I really doubt that server will last long  There's a wide range of styles and abilities between the above server and Daisy. I cant even remember the last time I had a server I  noticed I wasnt pleased with.   I'm sure only 2 in the party vs a group makes a big difference.  with a group its important that the server be skilled. One thing I have experienced though when I dine alone. I get a weird feeling as if the server feels like I am an oddity, dining alone.  I'm sure, in everyday dining experiences, it has a lot to do with the tip they are anticipating.  I only ate one meal alone in the main dining room on the ship. I got a little bit of the weird feeling.  

 

If I had the same server every night (not by request, just the way it worked) I would feel that I should tip extra. A strange thing happened when I was on the QM2.  I had an assigned table for the evening meal but ate anywhere for the other 2. I was assigned to a table with a group of 8 people, males and females, all single. It was really interesting. We had the same waiter for the entire voyage.  When it came to the last night  he was nowhere to be found at the end of the meal.  I made a mental note that if I am in this situation again I will tip on the next to the last night.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Smitheroo

[cruiseny4life]

16 hours ago, kismetique said:

The dad's ask to have the meals boxed so they could take it to the room and put the kids to bed.  $20 EACH!!!!!  WHAT?!?!? They walked out and left the food, put the kids to bed and when we got back to the room an HOUR LATER, they went to the buffet.

$20 for what? Did the server want to charge them $20 to box up their meals? I haven't heard of this on NCL. When did you cruise? What line/ship? I'm guessing no as you went to the main dining room, but I'll ask - were you in the Haven? I'd imagine if this was the norm, plenty of folks would be here to vent. See the Celebrity boards for the now-gone $2, plus 20% convenience fee as an example of the boards going crazy. 

 

I know I threw a bunch of questions at you, but definitely curious! 

[graphicguy]

On 8/26/2023 at 4:15 PM, Smitheroo said:

This works for you. Me personally, a server would have to be really bad for me to even notice.  I choose from whatever is on the menu (thankful there are choices), rarely make requests on how it is prepared, eat it and the server takes it away. One thing I do if I am with another travel partner we sit at the table for awhile. In a regular restaurant this is not appreciated by the server but on a ship I dont think many people tip by meal. And its hard to tip the waiter at the end if you've gone to several of the dining rooms plus a specialty.  I dont think I ever had the same waiter twice.

Therein is the issue when there are so many dining options on the ship.  In the “olden” days, you dined most nights at the same MDR, with the same wait staff.  So, tipping at the end was easy.

 

Now, with MANY MDRs, the Specialty Dining venues, the Haven restaurant (which believe it or not, I don’t even dine in ½ the time given the amount of Specialty Dining places I go to), and all the staff that you interface with, I’d have to pull out a Benjamin each and every time I dined.  What’s the point in having “included” meals that you’ve already paid the Tips/service charge?

 

If someone has been exceptional, whether it be a Hostess who “found” a table for me in a sold out restaurant, or a wait person who was attentive to my (maybe) over the top requests, etc….I’ll pull out some extra green.  But, there’s no way I can give everyone extra all the time just for providing me the service that’s expected.

 

 

[kismetique]

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

But, there’s no way I can give everyone extra all the time just for providing me the service that’s expected.

Completely agree. For us, Daisy was the exception, not the rule. And since she didn't just give expected service, but WAY, WAY over and above every night, she was handsomely rewarded. That's what I believe a tip is all about. Trust me, she earned every dime!  I've not had that level of dining service since our first cruise 20 years ago!

[kismetique]

6 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

$20 for what? Did the server want to charge them $20 to box up their meals? I haven't heard of this on NCL. When did you cruise? What line/ship? I'm guessing no as you went to the main dining room, but I'll ask - were you in the Haven? I'd imagine if this was the norm, plenty of folks would be here to vent. See the Celebrity boards for the now-gone $2, plus 20% convenience fee as an example of the boards going crazy. 

I'm not sure what the $20 for each meal was! I was simply appalled! This was a Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL Jewel in April of 2023.  It was in the Azura MDR.  The hostess was tacky and standoffish and the wait staff were completely indifferent to us. It was the first night of the cruise and I was dreading the rest of the meals under these conditions. It shouldn't matter, but my son gave his room key to check us in, he was in a club balcony next door to my 2 bedroom suite. 

 

We hadn't cruised in over 10 years so I didn't really even understand what the Haven was all about. It's my understanding now, that the Jewel doesn't really have a Haven proper, but yes, I had purchased 3 cabins for this cruise, a 2 bedroom suite with balcony and 2 club balconies next door. I tipped the concierge very well up front so that all 3 rooms could have SOME of my suite perks (priority tender, reserved show seating, etc)... Of course, they couldn't go with us to Cagney's and I never even asked for that. So we didn't any of us partake of that perk. I did have room service breakfast each morning, but the butler would only bring enough for the 3 staying in our room, which was irritating that he got to decide what was enough for each of us, as I was not ordering for the rest, they all loved the breakfast buffet! My husband is a huge breakfast eater and will usually skip lunch and just have dinner. I usually had to share my breakfast with him because our butler was stingy! 🤣 His second 'end of cruise' tip envelope reflected my displeasure too!

 

Here's the funny thing. At first, I thought the bar tenders were being nice to an old lady not charging me for my Cokes!!!!  I kept telling my husband, I'm going to the bar alone to get the Coke so they don't charge me!  Hahaha. I finally realized, it was the color of my key card and I could have asked the butler to bring me some Cokes for the room! I prefer to think they were just being nice to me! 😁 The last time we cruised years ago, your Latitudes tier level was the big deal. We could book an inside and still get perks because we were Platinum level, which apparently means almost nothing now. We used to have ALL KINDS of little goodies in our room upon arrival. NCL Pins, tons of snacks, nice selection of drinks, coupons, invitations, etc. I think we had a warm bottle of Champaign in the room upon arrival in April, and that's it. 

 

Cruising has changed drastically since we last cruised!  Some for the better and some for the worse. Being retired, I have more money for cruising these days and I'm sorta wishing my cruise line of choice had not been NCL all those years. 

 

We are on a 19 day Middle East Cruise in November on the Dawn, in the same type cabin just for the 2 of us this time (that bathroom is to die for!!!) and I better get everything I order for breakfast this time!! 😁 So, no Haven proper, but I do plan to maximize my suite perks to the absolute MAX! Now that I know what it's all about! 

[DMH15]

22 minutes ago, kismetique said:

I'm not sure what the $20 for each meal was! I was simply appalled! This was a Mexican Riviera cruise on NCL Jewel in April of 2023.  It was in the Azura MDR.  The hostess was tacky and standoffish and the wait staff were completely indifferent to us. It was the first night of the cruise and I was dreading the rest of the meals under these conditions. It shouldn't matter, but my son gave his room key to check us in, he was in a club balcony next door to my 2 bedroom suite. 

 

We hadn't cruised in over 10 years so I didn't really even understand what the Haven was all about. It's my understanding now, that the Jewel doesn't really have a Haven proper, but yes, I had purchased 3 cabins for this cruise, a 2 bedroom suite with balcony and 2 club balconies next door. I tipped the concierge very well up front so that all 3 rooms could have SOME of my suite perks (priority tender, reserved show seating, etc)... Of course, they couldn't go with us to Cagney's and I never even asked for that. So we didn't any of us partake of that perk. I did have room service breakfast each morning, but the butler would only bring enough for the 3 staying in our room, which was irritating that he got to decide what was enough for each of us, as I was not ordering for the rest, they all loved the breakfast buffet! My husband is a huge breakfast eater and will usually skip lunch and just have dinner. I usually had to share my breakfast with him because our butler was stingy! 🤣 His second 'end of cruise' tip envelope reflected my displeasure too!

 

Here's the funny thing. At first, I thought the bar tenders were being nice to an old lady not charging me for my Cokes!!!!  I kept telling my husband, I'm going to the bar alone to get the Coke so they don't charge me!  Hahaha. I finally realized, it was the color of my key card and I could have asked the butler to bring me some Cokes for the room! I prefer to think they were just being nice to me! 😁 The last time we cruised years ago, your Latitudes tier level was the big deal. We could book an inside and still get perks because we were Platinum level, which apparently means almost nothing now. We used to have ALL KINDS of little goodies in our room upon arrival. NCL Pins, tons of snacks, nice selection of drinks, coupons, invitations, etc. I think we had a warm bottle of Champaign in the room upon arrival in April, and that's it. 

 

Cruising has changed drastically since we last cruised!  Some for the better and some for the worse. Being retired, I have more money for cruising these days and I'm sorta wishing my cruise line of choice had not been NCL all those years. 

 

We are on a 19 day Middle East Cruise in November on the Dawn, in the same type cabin just for the 2 of us this time (that bathroom is to die for!!!) and I better get everything I order for breakfast this time!! 😁 So, no Haven proper, but I do plan to maximize my suite perks to the absolute MAX! Now that I know what it's all about! 

I have sailed the Dawn right after the Jewel and I nicnamed the Dawn “Jewel Lite”… because it was like a mini-version of Jewel.  
 

My mom and I liked the little restaurant (like a diner) on the Jewel so we looked forward to it on the Dawn but it was more like a teen hangout.  No thanks!

 

Then after that cruise I cruised the Jewel again.  

 

FWIW, my niece and I had an aft Ph on the Jewel and we had a fantastic butler and a superlative concierge, the wonderful and tall Hanno from Germany.  They were both so sweet to her.  This was her high school grad present from me.   
 

We never felt slighted being out of the Haven proper. 
 

i’ve run the gamut.   Loved the DOS on Epic but also adore the aft corner suites on the Sun.   Have stayed in the same suite twice for 25 total days on the Sun.  That balcony is pure magic.  And what used to be called Il Adagio was so wonderful for breakfast and lunch for suites.  

Edited August 28, 2023 by DMH15

[kismetique]

14 minutes ago, DMH15 said:

Loved the DOS on Epic but also adore the aft corner suites on the Sun.  

I didn't realized the Sun was still in service.  We did a 12 day on her to South America and loved loved loved that ship!  Of course, that was back before specialty dining.  I think they were just starting to experiment with dining options and they had this little Bistro set up on the back of the ship, tucked away by the buffet dining area.  They didn't advertise it, but once we stumbled upon it, we kept going there for dinner each night.  It was like ordering Tapa's.  They wouldn't give you very much at at time, so you had to keep going back and ask for another serving....but no one knew it was there and we were usually the only ones!  It was magical and free of course!

 

Our concierge on the Jewel was fabulous.  The butler seemed somewhat new and not comfortable with his duties yet.  I had to keep asking for lemonade and tea each day for the room.  I told him on day one, that's all my husband drinks and to please provide a pitcher of each, each day.  We were also celebrating 4 birthdays and I told him I would like to have a cake one evening after we had our meal in Cagney's - but I didn't tell him what night - I told him I would let him know.  We got back to the room after the Azura dining disaster to find our room decorated with balloons and streamers and a birthday cake!

 

We didn't eat it because of the dining snafu and the next day he kept saying, but Madame - you said, you said.  I told him it was fine, we would eat it eventually, not to worry.  He fretted over the cake until we finally just threw it away so he would stop worrying.

 

I'm looking forward to this same cabin on the Dawn.  That bathroom is to die for and I'm seeing the newer ships don't have that configuration for that type of suite.  I may just have to stick to the older ships ...or switch lines.

[Smitheroo]

30 minutes ago, kismetique said:

I didn't realized the Sun was still in service.  We did a 12 day on her to South America and loved loved loved that ship!  Of course, that was back before specialty dining.  I think they were just starting to experiment with dining options and they had this little Bistro set up on the back of the ship, tucked away by the buffet dining area.  They didn't advertise it, but once we stumbled upon it, we kept going there for dinner each night.  It was like ordering Tapa's.  They wouldn't give you very much at at time, so you had to keep going back and ask for another serving....but no one knew it was there and we were usually the only ones!  It was magical and free of course!

 

Our concierge on the Jewel was fabulous.  The butler seemed somewhat new and not comfortable with his duties yet.  I had to keep asking for lemonade and tea each day for the room.  I told him on day one, that's all my husband drinks and to please provide a pitcher of each, each day.  We were also celebrating 4 birthdays and I told him I would like to have a cake one evening after we had our meal in Cagney's - but I didn't tell him what night - I told him I would let him know.  We got back to the room after the Azura dining disaster to find our room decorated with balloons and streamers and a birthday cake!

 

We didn't eat it because of the dining snafu and the next day he kept saying, but Madame - you said, you said.  I told him it was fine, we would eat it eventually, not to worry.  He fretted over the cake until we finally just threw it away so he would stop worrying.

 

I'm looking forward to this same cabin on the Dawn.  That bathroom is to die for and I'm seeing the newer ships don't have that configuration for that type of suite.  I may just have to stick to the older ships ...or switch lines.

The Sun had a long panama cruise this past Spring. I had just done the Mexican cruise and wished I could have gone on this Panama Cruise. I think it might even have been 21 days and it was not that expensive.   I havent seen a cruise with the Sun since then.

 

my idea of heaven is a balcony cabin at  time of year where I could enjoy it

[DMH15]

16 hours ago, kismetique said:

I didn't realized the Sun was still in service.  We did a 12 day on her to South America and loved loved loved that ship!  Of course, that was back before specialty dining.  I think they were just starting to experiment with dining options and they had this little Bistro set up on the back of the ship, tucked away by the buffet dining area.  They didn't advertise it, but once we stumbled upon it, we kept going there for dinner each night.  It was like ordering Tapa's.  They wouldn't give you very much at at time, so you had to keep going back and ask for another serving....but no one knew it was there and we were usually the only ones!  It was magical and free of course!

 

Our concierge on the Jewel was fabulous.  The butler seemed somewhat new and not comfortable with his duties yet.  I had to keep asking for lemonade and tea each day for the room.  I told him on day one, that's all my husband drinks and to please provide a pitcher of each, each day.  We were also celebrating 4 birthdays and I told him I would like to have a cake one evening after we had our meal in Cagney's - but I didn't tell him what night - I told him I would let him know.  We got back to the room after the Azura dining disaster to find our room decorated with balloons and streamers and a birthday cake!

 

We didn't eat it because of the dining snafu and the next day he kept saying, but Madame - you said, you said.  I told him it was fine, we would eat it eventually, not to worry.  He fretted over the cake until we finally just threw it away so he would stop worrying.

 

I'm looking forward to this same cabin on the Dawn.  That bathroom is to die for and I'm seeing the newer ships don't have that configuration for that type of suite.  I may just have to stick to the older ships ...or switch lines.

My 2 Sun cruises were a while back.  I remember being on another ship and seeing the Sun while in port.  It kinda made me sad.  I loved that ship so much.  
 

We also did the Tapas restaurant and laughed at how stingy they were.  We had planned to dine there but after our drinks and two appetizers each (we had to practically beg for the second) we considered it like a happy hour and had a late dinner a few hours later.  
 

I remember that was such a funny evening, because that was the night we were seated with another couple at dinner, an older woman and man and she started telling us about how they met and it was due to their immediate sexual chemistry.  She went on, and on telling us what a terrific lover he was he just sat there and beamed. I don’t think he said a word. Needless to say we ate and ran.

[kismetique]

1 hour ago, DMH15 said:

Needless to say we ate and ran.

Yes, they were stingy, but we just kept going back and asking for more because the food was so much better than the buffet!  We were still pretty new at cruising at that point, and with no specialty restaurants, if you didn't like your table mates in the MDR, the buffet was the only alternative.

 

Speaking of table mates... Sounds like you had interesting ones!  Sometimes you have to wonder if it wasn't all a rouse. Like an inside joke between the two of them to spin such a story. Likely she was on the level, but I could see my son pulling such a stunt. He absolutely loves to mess with people he's forced to spend time with. Telling them the most outlandish stories, and the problem is, he's so good at it, they believe every word!  

 

I would have been uncomfortable with her story and like... What do you say to someone like that?  I'm sure you tried to change the subject or stear the conversation in a different direction, but given that the story was told in the first place, I would imagine she couldn't be deterred!!🤣

 

I read your post to my husband and he got a belly laugh from it! He said, I would have ran too!

[DMH15]

19 minutes ago, kismetique said:

Yes, they were stingy, but we just kept going back and asking for more because the food was so much better than the buffet!  We were still pretty new at cruising at that point, and with no specialty restaurants, if you didn't like your table mates in the MDR, the buffet was the only alternative.

 

Speaking of table mates... Sounds like you had interesting ones!  Sometimes you have to wonder if it wasn't all a rouse. Like an inside joke between the two of them to spin such a story. Likely she was on the level, but I could see my son pulling such a stunt. He absolutely loves to mess with people he's forced to spend time with. Telling them the most outlandish stories, and the problem is, he's so good at it, they believe every word!  

 

I would have been uncomfortable with her story and like... What do you say to someone like that?  I'm sure you tried to change the subject or stear the conversation in a different direction, but given that the story was told in the first place, I would imagine she couldn't be deterred!!🤣

 

I read your post to my husband and he got a belly laugh from it! He said, I would have ran too!

And I was with my mother, cousin (older than me) and her friend.  We have laughed about it for years.  

[4kids3dogs2cats&fish]

I keep reading about making a "bid" to book a Haven suite. Can someone please tell me how to do this?

Thank for any help!

[graphicguy]

14 minutes ago, 4kids3dogs2cats&fish said:

I keep reading about making a "bid" to book a Haven suite. Can someone please tell me how to do this?

Thank for any help!

You should have received an email stating "Let's Get You Upgraded".  Not sure it's always sent out or if it goes to everyone.  If you never received it, call 866-234-7350 and ask about upgrades and if you can bid on one.  They may be able to send you a link.

[Mommapadraig]

22 minutes ago, 4kids3dogs2cats&fish said:

I keep reading about making a "bid" to book a Haven suite. Can someone please tell me how to do this?

Thank for any help!

On the app there is a choice that says room upgrade. Click on that. I’ve never received an email to bid.It will tell you what rooms you can bid on. There is a bar that you move right and you’ll see your bid increase. There were 2 of us on our reservation so whatever I bid was times 2. Are there any haven rooms available on your cruise? The only time I won was when I bid high. Just make sure what you are bidding isn’t more than just calling ncl and paying for an upgrade.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Mommapadraig

[4kids3dogs2cats&fish]

7 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

You should have received an email stating "Let's Get You Upgraded".  Not sure it's always sent out or if it goes to everyone.  If you never received it, call 866-234-7350 and ask about upgrades and if you can bid on one.  They may be able to send you a link.

So you have to book a regular cabin first?

[graphicguy]

4 minutes ago, 4kids3dogs2cats&fish said:

So you have to book a regular cabin first?

Yes...you have to have a reservation to upgrade.  Also, I think to bid on a Haven Suite, you must first be booked in a Balcony Cabin at a minimum.

[Grimix]

23 minutes ago, 4kids3dogs2cats&fish said:

So you have to book a regular cabin first?

And also booked directly with the line or with a TA that participates in the upgrade program. I believe the popular big box store does not from what I hear.