ISABELLA

We only ate at Haven, LaBistro and Ocean Blue. Don't order salmon in OB - tasteless fish. Lamb and Dover sole were good in La Bistro. Cheesecake in the jar in OB was excellent.

I was checking on a cruise in Europe for August 24, 2024 - 9 days and this was under cancellation policy. Cancellation Fees Deluxe Porthole View with Veranda If you cancel your reservation after the dates listed below, you may be subject to additional fees. Dates Cancellation fees per guest 07-07-202425% of total cruise fare 07-22-202450% of total cruise fare 08-05-202475% of total cruise fare 09-04-2024No refund except for taxes and fees -?????? First, I think that final payment is 60 or 90 days out and cruise ends September 2. So not sure what all this means. Does anyone can explain?

I liked avocado toast, shrimp toast and keto omelet for breakfast. Surf and turf for dinner, Caesar salad with choice of chicken, shrimp or salmon. Burgers were very good, french dip. .

Before I will impose my opinion regarding cruising in NCL Haven, I would like to clarify few things. Although we cruise with Celebrity for 20 years +, we never sailed in suites, only Balcony or AQ. So, my review is not to compare suite life on either line, but to give my opinion on what is Haven life and cruise experience around the ship. We sailed on NCL Gateway, 9 days Caribbean from Port Canaveral. We chose this cruise for a few reasons – only 1 hour drive from home and we wanted to try something different. Getting from the port entrance to a drop off the luggage location took 50 min - very disorganized. After we parked the car and got to the Haven's check in it was quick process. We were taken up to 14th deck, where our cabin was. Suite was very nice and specious with a jacuzzi tub in the room by the window. Bathroom had small double sink set up and nice walk in shower with jets. Lots of closet space. Balcony was narrow but long with 2 wicker chairs and small table. Nice touch in the room was Nespresso with pods and teas. But only non-dairy creamers were provided. Our butler- lady was very nice, explained that we shouldn't hesitate to ask for anything we need or want. We usually don't eat breakfast in the room, so only asked for coffee with real half and half to be delivered around 7:30. All perks that came with Haven were very nice and useful to us: priority to get off the ship in ports, pre reserved seating in the theatre was great. Haven's courtyard was nice place to be, always quiet, plenty lounge chairs. All people serving Haven are stella and work very hard to please passengers. Haven's restaurant was very nice, similar to Blu. Food and service were excellent, for exception of soups, although my husband liked lobster bisque. Menu does not change. But we found that is not a big deal for us, always found something different to eat. Surf and Turf was excellent. And you can have more than one lobster. Portions were good. Prime rib was huge - could feed 2 or more people. Specialty restaurants were not any better that Haven restaurant. Desserts were disappointment, except " cheesecake in the jar " in Ocean Blue restaurant - best I ever had. WiFi is spotty and slow ( we paid for an upgrade from free 150 min to unlimited). About beverage package, that was included - no water of any kind is included. My husband doesn't drink, I enjoy occasional glass of wine - Moscato. They didn't have it and no substitute was offered. So, it came down to paid for a beverage package we didn't use. We didn't use Thermal Spa, which was not included in Haven, unless you stay in Spa suite. It looked nice and big. I am guessing there are a lot of Spa suites About the ship: First - she looked clean everywhere. Big deal at sea. For the most part we didn't like the ship, 17 named bars and 15 dining venues are on 3 decks, so it looks very cramp, there is no elegancy to interior. I think it is by design, since it is Free style and 90% of people are in shorts all day long, even at dinner time. Main pool area was a zoo during the day, but we expected that. So being in Haven was a blessing. Entertaining: Nice to have reserved seating in the theater. Theater look like movie theater, not like performance theater. Comedy was performed in different small venues, which avoided - too crowded. We wish Celebrity go back to have a piano bar, where you can relax and listen some nice tunes. Also, there was no place on Gateway like Cafe Al Bacio, which we liked a lot. In general We didn't like NCL Free at Sea perks. They are useless to us. At least at Celebrity we get much better drinking package, paid gratuity and wifi. Gratuity in Haven are $25/pp per day ( not included in perks) plus additional for Butler and Concierge were recommended. We always tip extra when exceptional service provided. Officers and crew on Celebrity are much friendlier that on NCL. Activities on board are similar to other cruise lines. Maybe I missed something, but if you ask I will try to answer. Overall we enjoyed our cruise and will cruise on NCL again- Haven only- if itinerary and price is right. After trying Haven, I will say there are pros and cons with both lines. Our next cruise is 10 days on Equinox in November and 14 days on Sun Princess in Mediterranean next year. Thank you for being patient, waiting for my review. I am trying to upload few pictures.

We sailed primarily with Celebrity for over 25 years and loved it. We decided to try something different - NCL Haven on Gateway. We had wonderful experience in Haven - food and service were very good and having separate area to relax was the reason we booked it. We didn't like the ship. We didn't like the perks - free at sea. Free internet is a joke ( 150 min). We paid for an upgrade and still service was spotty and slow. Beverage package does not include water. I have very simple taste in wine - Moscato. But they didn't have any and no substitute was offered. I don't drink mixed dinks or hard liquor. $50 / cabin excursion voucher was useless to us, since we had no plans to take any tours. Specialty restaurants were not any better than Haven restaurant. Entertaiment was hit or miss. We wish Celebrity had a piano lounge, like back in good old days. There is no place on NCL Gateway where you can sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee, like Al Bacio on Celebrity. Nice Latte were available in Haven. We are not fans of Starbuck coffee. Garden Cafe looked always busy, reminded me school cafeteria. Will we go back to NCL - probably, but only in Haven and for a right price and itinerary.

We are back from our first Haven cruise. Lots of pros and cons. Will post our opinion shortly.

We just returned from our NCL Haven cruise. We enjoyed it, but a lot of things that NCL offer does not fit our likes. We will only sail in Haven, and will have to be for the right price and itinerary.

Would like to comment on our Haven experience. Not to repeat what already has been said, just to add. Dining in Haven for breakfast, lunch and dinner was very pleasant and enjoyable experience. Service was excellent. Taste of food and quality were also very good, for one or two exceptions. I found crabcakes were very salty, but it maybe only for my taste. All other dishes were well prepared and presented. Although menu is the same every day, there are some dishes were worth to eat more than once. As for specialty restaurants, we dined in La Bistro and Ocean Blue. La Bistro was good, I had lamb and it was tasty. My DH had Dover Sole and it was very good. Service was very good. I had salmon in Ocean Blue and it was very bland with no seasoning at all. But cheesecake in the jar was a highlight of that dinner. We didn't like that NCL beverage package did not include any type of water. And they didn't have any Moscato wine or similar wine to offer. I don't drink mixed drink or hard liquor, so beverage package was useless to us. We upgraded our internet package and it was very slow most of the time. Overall we enjoyed Haven experience and will do it again for the right price and itinerary. If anyone have any questions, I would answer them to best of my experience.

After sailing in AQ for a first time back in 2011, we loved the concept of Blu and Persian Garden. Over the years, we’ve seen a decline in quality and variety in menu items. And drastic increase in pricing made us look at other options. We just took our first cruise on NCL in Haven and really enjoyed the experience. But AQ is not worth the money for us.

To be fair to NCL, they don’t pretend to offer upscale cruising experience. Free style determines that pj shorts are OK for evenings -dinner or show. Even in Haven, there is no dress code. We only ate at Haven restaurant and La Bistro ( French specialty restaurant). Food is good and special attention is very nice. But Haven comes with a price. Sailing in the regular cabin or even suite would not work for us. Different venues with any kind of entertainment are small and crowded. Also, would like to point out - Celebrity perks are better than NCL “free at sea” deal. So now we are looking forward to our 10 days on Equinox in November.

We don’t have Spa suite. It might be worth it in Europe. Nice place to relax after day of touring. Thermal spa has not been used much during our cruise. I agree - Haven’s personal is stellar. We are going to have dinner at La Bistro tonight. Will report tomorrow.

I am responding to your post from NCL Gateway. This is our first NCL haven experience. We are enjoying Haven, but have to tell you - most adults are doing nothing but drinking all day long. There is not much of interesting going on on the ship. After this” free style” cruising, I will take boring Celebrity any time.

I will post a review later, mostly about Haven restaurant. We will have dinners at 2 specialty restaurants by the end of the cruise. I do want to mention that serving nondairy little creamers for coffee outside courtyard area was surprising to me. No Half n half or real cream for coffee. Same is room service. We asked our butler to bring us HnH.

Maybe I wasn’t clear. We have iPhone and we’re told that we only can text and receive texts from iPhone, not to and from android. Sorry if I confused the issue.

We went to I cafe and IT specialist told us, that we have an IPhone and can communicate only with iPhone but not android. It was odd to hear since we had no problem on other cruise lines. Maybe Gateway don’t have the same providers as other ships.

First, we are seasoned cruisers, cruising mostly with Celebrity and Princess and RC in the past. Decided to try NCL Haven and here is our take. We are on Gateway, day 4, sailing from Port Canaveral. A short report so far. We drove from home, no traffic, about an hour. Got into the port area around 11 for 12 -12:30 check in. OMG, line of cars was about half a mile long. Took us about 50 min to go thru, park the car. Then we got checked in Haven section. It was fairly quickly. Our suite is very nice with a lot of closet space, nice bathroom and jacuzzi tub in the room (haven’t used it yet). We met our lady butler. She is very nice. We didn’t have many requests, so few things we asked for, she gets us. Haven area is very nice, relaxing. Concierge service is very convenient. I will give a full report about Haven restaurant by the end of the cruise. We don’t like public areas of the ship. 17 bars and 15 restaurants and different venues makes this ship feel even more crowded. Stay tuned, more to come.

We are currently on Gateway. We upgraded to unlimited Internet to communicate with family and friends. Apparently you can only text to an I phone, but not to an Android. There is no where it was advertised or warned. Besides that, Internet service is hit or miss. Browsing is at 50%, emails works about 30%of the time. Very disappointing to pay for partial usage of the service.

We are currently on Gateway. We upgraded to unlimited Internet to communicate with family and friends. Apparently you can only text to an I phone, but not to an Android. There is no where it was advertised or warned. Besides that, Internet service is hit or miss. Browsing is at 50%, emails works about 30%of the time. Very disappointing to pay for partial usage of the service.

Not anymore. NRD - if you cancel, you will loose full deposit.

We will be trying NCL Haven for the first time next month. $320/ pp per day. Will see how Haven will compares to Retreat.

We have been sailing with Celebrity for 30 years. Always loved what Celebrity had to offer. Our last cruise on Equinox last March was first after pandemic. We had wonderful cruise, didn't pay much attention to what was missing from cruising prior. We had to cancel 2 more cruises last year and after reading a lot complains about " cut corners" and changes and higher prices, we decided to try something new - NCL Haven suites. I will report back if we will be coming back to X or find something else. BTW - cost of the Haven suite was less than AQ for the same number of days.

Appreciated all points of view. Like all things in life - there are pros and cons to everything. 20 years ago, we used to sail with Princess and loved it. But after discovering Solarium, better food and service, AQ experience - there were no return. Now is time to try something new. 😄

We will be on Gateway. And thank you for answering my ??

We will be on Gateway. And thank you for answering my ??

Will be in Haven for the first time. Please tell me if there is menu for snacks in the cabin? Is there a charge for these snacks, lemonade, juices? Thanks