Haven Experiences

[beastlet]

We sailed in the Haven on the Breakaway in January '23 and loved everything about it. The service was exceptional. The restaurant was lovely and all the staff were wonderful. Our butler was awesome and also adorable because he had just gotten the promotion to Haven butler and was really excited about it. Our steward was also great. We were interested in CruiseNext and they scheduled a time for the agent to come meet us in the Haven lounge, where we booked our next cruise.

We just returned home from our second Haven experience on the Joy (March '24). This was not the same experience. In particular, the restaurant was terrible. The service was extremely slow and haphazard. On a port day we arrived an hour before we had to leave the boat for our excursion and had to leave our meal unfinished because we were going to be late to the excursion. They didn't replenish the buffet items at breakfast until you asked. At every single breakfast I had to complain there was no lox available. On the Breakaway the maître d' noticed that I loved the pretzel bread they had only at lunch and not at dinner and surprised me by having it for me every night at dinner. Same for crème brûlée which was not a standard dinner dessert item. I expected the Joy to be the same as the Breakaway, so asked for pretzel bread at dinner the first night and clearly the staff were put out by this. It was begrudgingly produced 20 minutes later. After a few days of this attitude I just stopped asking because the experience was unpleasant. I asked for crème brûlée which was on the menu that night for the regular restaurants was was told it would take 30 minutes with some convoluted explanation about elevators. Our butler on Joy was meh. Same for the steward. For CruiseNext we were expected to stand in a long line right adjacent to LOUD deck 6 entertainment and then stand at a counter for the entire booking process. They refused to send a CruiseNext agent to the Haven lounge, even during times the CruiseNext desk was closed. The only standout Haven staff were two of the three concierges. 

The restaurant and sun deck on Joy were both much larger than on Breakaway, but they both felt more crowded. If you wanted a shady chair on Joy you had better be up there before breakfast sitting on it.

So now I'm wondering - which experience is typical? We have another cruise booked on the Getaway in the hopes it will be just like the Breakaway. I know I will never sail on the Joy again.

[MoCruiseFan]

We have sailed the Haven on the Joy twice and it was a great experience both times.  Food was excellent, service was way above expectations, and we enjoyed every second.  We did go to eat one time where we were on a tight schedule.  We let the hostess and the wait staff know that.  They all expedited our meal so we had an easy tme keeping on schedule.

[cruiseny4life]

Both experiences are typical based on my five Haven cruises. I've had both - staff on Getaway (three of my experiences, April, September 2022 and New Year's 22/23) were absolutely amazing, proactive, and my the experience wonderful. Joy (one, March 2023) was, without a doubt, the worst of my five experiences, but wasn't bad. Just not the best. Pr1ma (November, 2023)  was nice, but nowhere near as good as Getaway. 

 

Your special requests really needed to be requested at least a day in advance. This is what most experienced Haven sailors would tell you. And, it is what the restaurant manager typically asks for. It sounds like on Breakaway they probably had enough staff to allow them to get what you wanted, when you requested. Joy may have been understaffed (it's a theme lately). I do think you're asking a little too much of Joy's staff regarding the pretzel rolls and creme brulee, though they should have provided more explanation. Obviously you had a different experience on Breakaway which led you to make the requests. I get it. But, I also understand the ship's perspective. 

 

As for the sundeck, our experience was, we needed to be there by 8 AM to get a cabana. We were able to get one every day and stayed there for four to five hours. When we returned, we might be lucky and get a cabana, but more than likely, it was a lounger. The hot tubs were always filled by beer swilling drunkards from Wisconsin on our Joy sailing. They didn't really make space for me, but I made sure to sit my fat butt down in the hot tub anyway and enjoy the views off the side of the ship. 

 

I've had good and decent butlers/stateroom stewards. On Joy and Pr1ma, absolutely excellent! Mixed bag on Getaway, but always decent. Some just didn't go above and beyond. 

 

We did notice a lack of replenishment of the buffet by staff during breakfast. We either waited/asked/went without depending on our mood. On Joy and Getaway it was always replenished quickly. We've always had slow service in the Haven. If we're in a hurry we let them hostess and server know. Thy do quicken service or suggest we order certain items to get out quicker. They've been helpful, but unless we're in a hurry, we just go with the slow service.

 

Only one cruise on Getaway did I see CruiseNext come to the Haven at the request of a passenger. We always just went and talked with them in the Atrium. We wander the ship quite a lot, so don't mind being out of the Haven. 

 

Based on our most recent experiences, others experiences, and my general malaise toward NCL, we've decided to lay off of Haven cruises for the time being. I'll re-evaluate in 2025 (or who knows, maybe I'll change my mind and book this year, but that's highly doubtful). 

[cruiseny4life]

One thing I didn't mention in my biblical-length post above - communicate. Always communicate! In order to get what you want out of the Haven experience, we've found we need to talk with the butler, stateroom attendant, hostesses, restaurant manager, and concierge. We also talk a lot with servers and the bar staff. This engagement has made our cruises infinitely better. I think I would have the same experience you did, if we didn't communicate. You have to. Maybe, given the "luxury" marketing, you shouldn't, but you do. 

[david_sobe]

This does happen.  As they say, each ship, each cruise, each crew can give wildly different experiences.  The best Haven I ever experienced was on Epic in 2010.  EVERYONE greeted us from day one by our name.  Not one waiter or waitress ever wrote anything down and got every order right.  I never experienced anything like it.  3 years later I sailed the Epic again and the Breakaway had just debuted.  All the experienced crew was put on Breakaway and they had a bunch of new people on Epic.  The service was not bad but it was 100% different.  No one greeted us by name and waiters would write down orders and still get things wrong.  Drinks were always given to the wrong person, etc.  It did not really impact the cruise but I was in shock at how the service had changed.  They were also very short staffed.  Remember in those days they had the crew talent show.   The Haven restaurant was so short staffed that unfortunately the staff had to cancel their performance because they were needed to staff the restaurant.  Some waiters were not even exclusive to the Haven and we would see them in other restaurants around the ship.  Butlers can be the same.  Some people get butlers that go way out of their way while others get butlers who never even come introduce themselves.  Its all part of cruising and while on board all you can do is make the best of it.

Edited March 27 by david_sobe

[beastlet]

12 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

Your special requests really needed to be requested at least a day in advance. This is what most experienced Haven sailors would tell you. And, it is what the restaurant manager typically asks for. It sounds like on Breakaway they probably had enough staff to allow them to get what you wanted, when you requested. Joy may have been understaffed (it's a theme lately). I do think you're asking a little too much of Joy's staff regarding the pretzel rolls and creme brulee, though they should have provided more explanation. Obviously you had a different experience on Breakaway which led you to make the requests. I get it. But, I also understand the ship's perspective. 

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

After the first day, I did request that those things were available from then on, but it still was a struggle I gave up on. 

I didn't ask in advance the first day, because on Breakaway they did those things without me asking, so I assumed that was the standard. If I hadn't been on Breakaway first it never would have even occurred to me to ask.

 

[beastlet]

17 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

 

"We did notice a lack of replenishment of the buffet by staff during breakfast. We either waited/asked/went without depending on our mood. On Joy and Getaway it was always replenished quickly. We've always had slow service in the Haven. If we're in a hurry we let them hostess and server know. Thy do quicken service or suggest we order certain items to get out quicker. They've been helpful, but unless we're in a hurry, we just go with the slow service."

We did tell them we were in a hurry. Multiple times. It didn't really help.
 

"Only one cruise on Getaway did I see CruiseNext come to the Haven at the request of a passenger. We always just went and talked with them in the Atrium. We wander the ship quite a lot, so don't mind being out of the Haven. "

On the Breakaway they came to the lounge, and 5 different couples booked with them. On this cruise other people also wanted to book, but no dice.

I'm willing to leave the Haven and like walking around the boat. The problem was having to stand in a long line for 40 minutes, then having to stand during the booking process, and having to shout the whole time because music is being blasted across the atrium. Why wouldn't they put the CruiseNext somewhere quiet where you could hear the person, and where you can be sitting comfortably while giving Norwegian your money?

 

 

[BirdTravels]

54 minutes ago, beastlet said:

We sailed in the Haven on the Breakaway in January '23 and loved everything about it. The service was exceptional. The restaurant was lovely and all the staff were wonderful. Our butler was awesome and also adorable because he had just gotten the promotion to Haven butler and was really excited about it. Our steward was also great. We were interested in CruiseNext and they scheduled a time for the agent to come meet us in the Haven lounge, where we booked our next cruise.

We just returned home from our second Haven experience on the Joy (March '24). This was not the same experience. In particular, the restaurant was terrible. The service was extremely slow and haphazard. On a port day we arrived an hour before we had to leave the boat for our excursion and had to leave our meal unfinished because we were going to be late to the excursion. They didn't replenish the buffet items at breakfast until you asked. At every single breakfast I had to complain there was no lox available. On the Breakaway the maître d' noticed that I loved the pretzel bread they had only at lunch and not at dinner and surprised me by having it for me every night at dinner. Same for crème brûlée which was not a standard dinner dessert item. I expected the Joy to be the same as the Breakaway, so asked for pretzel bread at dinner the first night and clearly the staff were put out by this. It was begrudgingly produced 20 minutes later. After a few days of this attitude I just stopped asking because the experience was unpleasant. I asked for crème brûlée which was on the menu that night for the regular restaurants was was told it would take 30 minutes with some convoluted explanation about elevators. Our butler on Joy was meh. Same for the steward. For CruiseNext we were expected to stand in a long line right adjacent to LOUD deck 6 entertainment and then stand at a counter for the entire booking process. They refused to send a CruiseNext agent to the Haven lounge, even during times the CruiseNext desk was closed. The only standout Haven staff were two of the three concierges. 

The restaurant and sun deck on Joy were both much larger than on Breakaway, but they both felt more crowded. If you wanted a shady chair on Joy you had better be up there before breakfast sitting on it.

So now I'm wondering - which experience is typical? We have another cruise booked on the Getaway in the hopes it will be just like the Breakaway. I know I will never sail on the Joy again.

The Joy is bit of an odd ball in the fleet. After she was built, they converted about 20 Suites to Haven rooms, essentially adding 25% more rooms for the Haven infrastructure to handle. I have not personally sailing the Joy haven since this conversion. I sailing a suite on the Joy which does not enjoy the same benefits as suites on every other NCL ship with them. So, again, the Joy is an odd ball. 

[beastlet]

17 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Joy is bit of an odd ball in the fleet. After she was built, they converted about 20 Suites to Haven rooms, essentially adding 25% more rooms for the Haven infrastructure to handle. I have not personally sailing the Joy haven since this conversion. I sailing a suite on the Joy which does not enjoy the same benefits as suites on every other NCL ship with them. So, again, the Joy is an odd ball. 

That is what I was hoping to hear. The Breakaway was so fantastic we thought we were Haven cruisers for life. I guess we'll see how the Getaway goes next year.

[gmbhardy]

We’ve sailed in the Haven about 12 times on four different ships. The best by far was the Joy. It just proves that mass market cruise lines are consistently inconsistent. 

[david_sobe]

1 hour ago, gmbhardy said:

We’ve sailed in the Haven about 12 times on four different ships. The best by far was the Joy. It just proves that mass market cruise lines are consistently inconsistent. 

I think that shows that anything can happen on different sailings.  You may have an awesome concierge and butler.  I am the next cruise and the concierge left for their vacation and get a stand in who is not as good.  I can also get a less than stellar butler.  We both sailed the same ship a week or a few weeks apart but have completely different experiences. 

[IAcruising]

7 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

communicate. Always communicate!

 

Exactly. If you want pretzel bread every night for dinner, tell them you want pretzel bread every night for dinner. If it isn't there, ask them why the pretzel bread isn't there.

 

[Yesimapirate]

2 weeks ago on the Epic our butler told us on the first day that he had too many rooms and we wouldn't see him all week.  And we didn't until the night before disembarking when he came to ask for a tip.

 

It's completely true that service varies.  However,  I don't really understand how you sell an upgraded service,  charge significantly more for it and have so many people here defend that you may but maybe not have good service. 

[IAcruising]

35 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

2 weeks ago on the Epic our butler told us on the first day that he had too many rooms and we wouldn't see him all week

 

I recall you posting this same story, more than 2 weeks ago. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I didn't believe you then, and I don't believe you now.

 

[Yesimapirate]

9 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

I recall you posting this same story, more than 2 weeks ago. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I didn't believe you then, and I don't believe you now.

 

Well, the cruise was March 10th through 17th, so yep 2 weeks.  

 

As to what you believe or not, absolutely meaningless.  I'll sleep well tonight whether a random stranger on the internet believes it or not.  Sadly, you'll still be here telling people that things like this don't happen and denying anything bad.  And now I'm going to stop wasting time on this.

[IAcruising]

15 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

As to what you believe or not, absolutely meaningless.

 

Truer words never spoken. Sleep well.

 

[beastlet]

2 hours ago, IAcruising said:

 

Exactly. If you want pretzel bread every night for dinner, tell them you want pretzel bread every night for dinner. If it isn't there, ask them why the pretzel bread isn't there.

 

 

I did tell them that. it didn't stick. I gave up. I literally told them I wanted it every night, except the 2 specific nights we were eating in specialty restaurants. 

I never would have thought of asking for it, or expected it, if not that the provided it on Breakaway without me asking for it, simply because they noticed I liked it. The service differential between the two ships is what I am confused about, not the pretzel bread in particular.

Edited March 28 by beastlet

[WonderMan3]

I see several references to a breakfast buffet in The Haven. Is this in addition to the standard Haven breakfast menu? What items are offered in this buffet?

[dexddd]

As a trend, service going down prices up for Haven.  Surprised BA was that good.  Ours was not when fairly new and most reported the same over years.

[roger001]

I think we were on the Breakaway the cruise before yours.  Our experience in the Haven was just like yours...fantastic.  Most wonderful crew we have ever seen.   Loved everything about it.  

[cruiseny4life]

17 hours ago, beastlet said:

 

 

Well, that is upsetting! You shouldn't have to make the request more than once or twice. I'm sorry the service wasn't up to par. This is one (of several) reasons I mentioned I've given up on cruising NCL for the moment. I have no idea how long that "moment" will last. 

 

I do think there is a service difference between Breakaway and the other ships in the line. If you read enough lives/reviews you notice subtle differences. The reviews don't have to be folks staying in the Haven either. It just seems Breakaway (and maybe Jewel) have different senior leaders that do things differently, leading to a better experience than others report. It's just a gut feeling I have. No proof whatsoever, just me reading between the lines (that may or may not be there). 

 

6 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

I see several references to a breakfast buffet in The Haven. Is this in addition to the standard Haven breakfast menu? What items are offered in this buffet?

A variety of fruits, veggies, pastries (croissants, muffins, danish), cheese, breads, some deli type meat (prosciutto, salami), and perhaps salmon. My husband will sometimes grab one of the croissants, a slice of ham and cheese, then ask the server to warm it for his breakfast. If I order grits, I'll get some cheese from the buffet to make the grits somewhat good (a real southern Yankee needs his Velveeta for good grits). 

 

Don't expect a huge buffet - it's probably ten to twelve feet long. I do like it as I feel it enhances the breakfast offered.

[justhappy]

6 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Well, that is upsetting! You shouldn't have to make the request more than once or twice. I'm sorry the service wasn't up to par. This is one (of several) reasons I mentioned I've given up on cruising NCL for the moment. I have no idea how long that "moment" will last. 

 

I do think there is a service difference between Breakaway and the other ships in the line. If you read enough lives/reviews you notice subtle differences. The reviews don't have to be folks staying in the Haven either. It just seems Breakaway (and maybe Jewel) have different senior leaders that do things differently, leading to a better experience than others report. It's just a gut feeling I have. No proof whatsoever, just me reading between the lines (that may or may not be there). 

 

 

I think this is a big part of it, regarding service and guest experience.

GM’s like Errol Bailey and Kivanc Ucar

worked their way from the bottom up and tend to be better for it, and the crew performance reflects how well they are treated imo. That works its way down to the guests.

[RocketMan275]

6 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

I see several references to a breakfast buffet in The Haven. Is this in addition to the standard Haven breakfast menu? What items are offered in this buffet?

Post number three has pictures of the breakfast buffet.

[Laszlo]

19 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Always communicate! 

THIS!

 

As I sometimes have to remind my wife I am not a mind reader. We give a very short list of what we would like to our butler the very first day. French Press at 6am (wife) a small cheese plate and crackers in the afternoon around 4pm.... thats about it. 

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

THIS!

 

As I sometimes have to remind my wife I am not a mind reader. We give a very short list of what we would like to our butler the very first day. French Press at 6am (wife) a small cheese plate and crackers in the afternoon around 4pm.... thats about it. 

YES.  Communication is key.

 

I always call the Haven Concierge, probably at least a half dozen times, before embarkation.  I have them make note of my preferences BEFORE I even step on to the ship.  My Butler already knows what I want upon our first meeting.