Haven butler - how far can you take your daily snacks?

[DMH15]

I have cruised with my mom, diabetic and my niece, vegan - our butlers have been wonderfully accomodating.  
 

Some days we had a nice Haven Breakfast, a great Haven dinner or a and a specialty dinner and the snacks in between. 

[NW Pacific]

The afternoon Haven "snacks" usually for us are a waste unfortunately.  We taste a little, but know dinner is only a few hours away and after having lunch, just too much.  Have asked the Butler NO chocolate covered strawberries, but they come from somewhere and are wasted also.  the canopies are our favorite, have asked Butler just to bring them, but of course get so much more.  Hate waste, so very fortunate to have these "problems"

[DMH15]

Our strawberries never got old.  Both my mom and sister ate them within 5 minutes of discovering them. 

[graphicguy]

On 8/14/2023 at 8:33 PM, Traveling Fools said:

I wouldn't think shrimp cocktail to be extreme.  We frequently request smoked salmon and when traveling with Grandkids a hefty snack waiting for them on return to the ship.  Push comes to shove, you can always head to the buffet and bring something back..doubt it will be anything close to lobster.

 

I think I’ve actually had shrimp cocktail delivered as a snack to my cabin.  Chocolate covered strawberries always to to waste, however.

[RocketMan275]

20 hours ago, JGmf said:

It probably wouldn't be too difficult to have NCL develop a pre-cruise list of snack options, as part of check-in, to make your trip more enjoyable (and hopefully avoid waste).  I know Princess Cruises does that for their suites.

The pre-cruise concierges have always asked about snack preferences. 

They have a list.

Suggest you talk with them on your next cruise.

[JGmf]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

The pre-cruise concierges have always asked about snack preferences. 

They have a list.

Suggest you talk with them on your next cruise.

 

Thanks @RocketMan275.  Good advice for those inclined to do so, but my suggestion was to do it online, as a routine part of pre-cruise check-in, so that NCL would better tailor snacks and not waste food.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

The pre-cruise concierges have always asked about snack preferences. 

They have a list.

Suggest you talk with them on your next cruise.

 

1 minute ago, JGmf said:

 

Thanks @RocketMan275.  Good advice for those inclined to do so, but my suggestion was to do it online, as a routine part of pre-cruise check-in, so that NCL would better tailor snacks and not waste food.

The snack menu I've received from the pre-cruise concierge has generally just been M&M's and gummy bears. It has never listed the more extensive daily snacks that are delivered each day. Did you receive something different?

[kasimir]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

The pre-cruise concierges have always asked about snack preferences. 

They have a list.

Suggest you talk with them on your next cruise.

Do you know when the pre-cruise concierge will contact us? We sail in 3 months in the Haven and haven't received a Haven specific mail yet.

[Grimix]

13 minutes ago, kasimir said:

Do you know when the pre-cruise concierge will contact us? We sail in 3 months in the Haven and haven't received a Haven specific mail yet.

From now to never. It isn't very consistent... You can always contact them yourself. I know the link if floating around the Haven thread somewhere. I don't have it off the top of my head.

[ggTexasGal]

49 minutes ago, kasimir said:

Do you know when the pre-cruise concierge will contact us? We sail in 3 months in the Haven and haven't received a Haven specific mail yet.

Last year, we were contacted somewhere around 75 to 60 days prior to embarkation.

[Sand and Seas]

10 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

Last year, we were contacted somewhere around 75 to 60 days prior to embarkation.

We received an email with pre-concierge contact info at 125 days recently.  

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, kasimir said:

Do you know when the pre-cruise concierge will contact us? We sail in 3 months in the Haven and haven't received a Haven specific mail yet.

I wouldn't wait to  hear from them.

Calling them is best but here's their phone and email.

Very nice people to talk to.

All you need is  your booking number.

 

855-625-4283

norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com

[Sigyn]

Just want to say these snacks look SO MUCH BETTER than what we had in The Retreat on Celebrity last month. I can't wait to be in the Haven next spring! 

[Russiamomm]

25 minutes ago, Sigyn said:

Just want to say these snacks look SO MUCH BETTER than what we had in The Retreat on Celebrity last month. I can't wait to be in the Haven next spring! 

We enjoyed our afternoon snacks.  I loved the BLTs.  My travel mate doesn’t eat meat and dairy.  We asked for egg salad sandwiches for her and BLTs for me.  No problem.  They arrived each day, along with the peanut M&Ms that we asked to be replenished as they were gone.  The only other thing we asked for was extra Nespresso pods and real cream for it (this was after they replaced half and half with Coffee Mate.  Ick!).  No problem at all.  The cream arrived in a small pitcher that they put in the fridge and was refreshed every day or two.  

[SeekingKillerWhales!]

Wait, y'all have access to all the M&Ms you want and you waste your requests on steak???? Pfft. 

 

 

 

 

 

😄

[Sigyn]

I'm serious about the Retreat v. Haven stuff. When we boarded last month on the Millennium, I asked our butler for afternoon snacks and he said, "Well, most people don't want snacks anymore since the pandemic. We have snacks in the Retreat lounge at 3 pm." I said, "I'd like for you to bring us snacks." I asked for a cheese plate, fruit and salted nuts each day at 3 pm. I received a plain bowl of unsalted pecans one day and a cheese plate and a fruit plate, but that was the only time I saw nuts. One day there was shrimp with cocktail sauce with a cheese plate and fruit. Another day there was a meat plate randomly added. It was so bizarre. I gave up. We were actually hungry at 3 pm/4 pm when we'd get back to our cabin because we were in Alaska and out on excursions every day and we wouldn't go to dinner until about 7 pm. I wanted my snack and I didn't want to go down several decks to the lounge to get it. 🤣

[Ktuluorion]

2 hours ago, Sigyn said:

I'm serious about the Retreat v. Haven stuff. When we boarded last month on the Millennium, I asked our butler for afternoon snacks and he said, "Well, most people don't want snacks anymore since the pandemic. We have snacks in the Retreat lounge at 3 pm." I said, "I'd like for you to bring us snacks." I asked for a cheese plate, fruit and salted nuts each day at 3 pm. I received a plain bowl of unsalted pecans one day and a cheese plate and a fruit plate, but that was the only time I saw nuts. One day there was shrimp with cocktail sauce with a cheese plate and fruit. Another day there was a meat plate randomly added. It was so bizarre. I gave up. We were actually hungry at 3 pm/4 pm when we'd get back to our cabin because we were in Alaska and out on excursions every day and we wouldn't go to dinner until about 7 pm. I wanted my snack and I didn't want to go down several decks to the lounge to get it. 🤣

 

Celebrity has really gone downhill.  We were longtime NCL cruisers and switched to Celeb 5 or 6 years ago.  The last couple years prices have really gotten out of hand and quality has sufferer.  We found that we could sail the Haven for what we would pay for Aquaclass on Celebrity at this point.. so we are back on NCL!  A huge gripe for me was the lack of entertainment on Celebrity..   although it does look like NCL has taken a few steps back in that regard as well.  Back in the mid/late 2000s they had tons of amazing production shows, second city improv, and always had something to do!  now I see only 2 theater shows for our upcoming 16 night cruise!

[Sigyn]

33 minutes ago, Ktuluorion said:

 

Celebrity has really gone downhill.  We were longtime NCL cruisers and switched to Celeb 5 or 6 years ago.  The last couple years prices have really gotten out of hand and quality has sufferer.  We found that we could sail the Haven for what we would pay for Aquaclass on Celebrity at this point.. so we are back on NCL!  A huge gripe for me was the lack of entertainment on Celebrity..   although it does look like NCL has taken a few steps back in that regard as well.  Back in the mid/late 2000s they had tons of amazing production shows, second city improv, and always had something to do!  now I see only 2 theater shows for our upcoming 16 night cruise!

yeah, it all depends on what matters to each person. for us, we like the music in the small venues but we skip the big theater productions. I agree on the pricing. We paid around $6,000 for the two of us in the smallest sky suite guarantee in the Retreat on the Millennium for Alaska. Or was it $7,000. I forget at this point. My brain is old. But we are "only" paying $7,800 for three of us in the Haven on the Joy to the Caribbean during spring break and it's a two room suite. Altho I did have to pay $650 or so to upgrade to free at sea plus to get the better drink and WiFi package and that came with the Retreat. Still a better price tho.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Sigyn

[Yinster]

Guess we been lucky with our butlers as we usually inform them on the first day what snacks we like in the afternoon and have been given them. No more and no less.