Lizcourt

Yes,

I have never felt the need to pay extra to get a Haven suite on Jewel class ships, regular suites are just fine (and by fine I mean a great experience even without the private area).

Its a matter of personal preference, but I have to disagree. The pool in the Haven area of the Gem is small, but there are rarely more than two or three people in it, and often no one at all. On sea days, we thought that was a BIG deal, as it allowed my sister and her daughter to enjoy a pool day together without the chaos of the pool deck. Again, however, it's all a matter of personal choice.

Excellent information given above.

 

One thing to note on the room service though. You can only order from the specialty restaurants or Moderno breakfast during the hours that the restaurants are actually open.

 

You can't order lunch from La Cucino or get a 6am breakfast from Moderno if they don't open until 7am.

Just an FYI. Enjoy!

In response to this, I just HAVE to tell what has become one of the favorite cruise stories in our family. A couple of years ago, we cruised in the Garden Suite on the Gem. We had never been on NCL before, and had never had a butler on any cruise line that we had been on. In fact, leading up to the cruise, we were a little worried -- you know, the standard concerns of "what would we even ask a butler to do, anyway." Well, boy, that concern flies out the window by day 2, to be replaced with thoughts that having a butler has spoiled you for any other type of cruise.

Anyway, on the fifth or sixth day into the cruise, after we had thought we were well-accustomed to the magic that the butlers can do, my niece and sister came back from the pool in between when various dining rooms would be open, and my niece said she was really hungry since she had skipped lunch (for various reasons, the buffet was not really an option for her). My sister told her that she'd have to wait until dinner because the dining venues were all closed. Unbeknownst to them, their butler, who had been attending to something else in the cabin, overheard. A few minutes later, he walked into the suite with a big bowl of pasta in butter sauce -- and gained a couple of NCL cruisers for life.

. . . it seems that NCL's Haven class offers a bit more than other cruise line concierge-class cabins - correct me if I am wrong.

Having been both in the Haven and in the new Star Class on RCCL, I would say that without doubt NCL set the standard for the "suite life" at sea, but that RCCL is now giving them a real run for their money, at least in that highest class. To the superb service of a butler/genie (technically, the RCCL "genies" will tell you they are designed to be a super personal concierge, rather than a butler, but both provide premium personalized service) RCCL adds included gratuities, ultimate beverage package, pay restaurants (some of these are part of recent NCL promotions, but on RCCL they are permanent features of the Star level service), and, of course, priority embarkation and debarkation. Both have dedicated suite-only restaurants (Haven restaurant on NCL, Coastal Kitchen on RCCL). However, I don't know of any RCCL ship that has a separately designated pool area for Star Class guests, while the NCL ships have Haven pool areas and hot tubs.

On the other hand, I think (though I could be wrong) that the Star Class (as opposed to the Sea or Sky class, which offer fewer inclusions and amenities) are available to substantially fewer classes of cabins at a substantially higher cost than the Haven suites on NCL. So it appears that that NCL will remain the mainstream industry leader in this area for awhile at least.

I've sailed both in the Haven on NCL and in suites on RCCL Oasis, and you have it actually have it exactly right -- the NCL suite experience, including the Haven, is far superior to RCCL (though the recent adoption of the new Royal Suite services might change that), but the ship-wide experience on the Oasis/Allure is much, much better than any NCL ship we've been on. It's a tough call. I guess you have to know which is more important to you -- the world within the suite life or the ship beyond.

Depends on what you like and how adventurous you are. We did both on our Anthem cruise last year, and I really enjoyed eating things in Wonderland that I wouldn't even begin to know where to find on land (think bone marrow). But everyone else in my party really didn't like it all, and FAR preferred the meal at Jamie's. It wasn't a difference in quality -- I though Jamie's was excellent -- just in whether you want to have an adventure instead of a meal.

Basically, its like asking whether we think you would prefer PF Chang's over Olive Garden -- it depends in large measure whether you prefer Chinese or Italian.

We're now sailing on the RCL Liberty of the Seas in an owner's suite. My DH just told me no more suites on RCL! The only thing you get is a nice cabin. There is NOTHING special. The coffee maker was an after thought so has to be plugged in next to the bed. It only makes one cup but the only packets they have are for 4 cups...so you pour out the first two to get the right strength. We're going back to NCL. The Haven is a special place and the aft suites on the away ships are amazing. RCL hasn't figured out the Suite Life yet. We are diamond plus so our goodies come from being Diamond. There is a huge suite lounge but they don't check cards. It is nothing special like the old concierge lounges. I think RCL is cutting back in the wrong areas.

I love Royal Caribbean, and at one time, after my first Dawn cruise (not in a suite) swore I'd never sail NCL again. But then I sailed the "suite life" on the NCL Gem, and I have to say that at the time NCL was the only cruise line I've ever sailed (including Cunard) that really got it right. The Haven area, the superb service of the butlers, and the superlative cabins (ours on the Gem had three separate bedrooms, a huge separate patio area with a full-sized hot tub and a fabulous living room) beat even the Royal Loft on the Oasis. However, that was before the adoption of the current Royal Suite enhancements. We're back on Oasis in star class next week (can't wait) and if the suite amenities and service come anywhere near NCL (which has really made its suite service the place where they stand out in the industry) then it's RCCL full time for us once again, as the rest of the NCL ship outside the suite areas don't hold a candle to all the Oasis has to offer.

I will bet that a good chunk of the folks who object most vociferously to the rise of pay restaurants are those of us "old timers" who have been travelling for 20 years or more (my 20th anniversary cruise will be on the Oasis in two weeks). That's because we cut our cruise teeth while the cruise lines were marketing themselves as an "all inclusive" vacation where you pay once, and then, except for liquor, shore excursions and the (at that time totally voluntary, never pre-charged) tips, you were done. That was pounded into our heads as one of the great pluses of cruising. Its been hard to watch cruising depart from that basic premise, but, hey, I'm old enough to remember when you didn't pay for TV in your home, either.

On the other hand, in many respects there have been many improvements from those "good old days." I remember that on my first cruise on the Monarch of the Seas, only a few upper level suites had balconies -- now it seems that at least half of any modern ship is made up of balcony cabins. Monarch had one small (by today's standards) pool, and certainly nothing like the adult only areas of the Solarium, or the cantilevered hot tubs on the Oasis class. There was one show each night, take it or leave it -- think of Oasis with its ice skating, diving shows, full scale Broadway musicals and the like. The "gym" was one rowing machine, one exercise bike and two treadmills. "Alternative dining" was room service -- period. Even the Windjammer wasn't open during dinner hour. There were no rock climbing walls, flow riders, mini golf, or even, if I recall correctly,,ping pong tables.

Basically, you take the good with the bad. Does it cause a twinge to my "that should be included" muscle memory when I have to pay for ice cream and specialty coffee on the ship? Yup. But when I balance that against the expansion and improvements in activities, cabins, and, yes, the availability of "special" restaurants, even for a price, I have to say that on balance, today is better than yesterday and tomorrow holds the promise of being even better.

I booked directly with RCCL but I had to do it on the phone because I was having an issue with the website at the time. Therefore, I not only did not get any extra benefits of a TA, but I can't make any online changes to my reservation. I can book my own shows/restaurants, but I can't even make my final payment online. I'm kind of sorry I went directly through them because some of the TA benefits would have been good to have.

Don't know about changes on line, but when I book direct with RCCL I always do it by phone and have no problem making my final payment online.

Yes you can still make all your reservations and pre cruise purchase.

 

You cannot, change cabins, call for price drops, switch the cruise to a different date, change the occupant of the cabin, make a paymemt. For these things you must call your TA.

 

For some it's not a big deal, for others it is. Choose what works for you.

Along those lines, on our upcoming cruise we changed cabin types three times, due to some disagreements in our party as to which kind of cabin would be best for my mother (for whom the cruise was a surprise, so we couldn't simply ask her what she wanted in advance). Booked directly through RCCL and had absolutely no problems; the changes were accomplished in a reasonably quick phone call.

to the "control freaks" ...so who do you call if you need to cancel & rebook to take advantage of a new promotion, or a new deal... WITHOUT losing your original booking date or your original cabin? are you assigned a personal cruise consultant once you book online? Can you work with the same RC agent all the time??

I posted this story on the boards when it happened, but my answer to that question is this. About seven years ago my extended family booked a cruise on the Oasis, in several of what would now be Star-class suites, directly through RCCL. Less than 40 days before the cruise, we learned that my sister had early-stage breast cancer (she is, thank God, fine now) and would just have been completing radiation therapy a few days before we left, which would mean, among other things, that she would have to stay out of the sun -- a pretty significant restriction on a Caribbean cruise. Prepared to take a bath on the fare (and not sure our cruise insurance would cover it, since she was medically "able" to cruise), I called RCCL to cancel and rebook for six months later. They put me on hold for so long a time I thought they had forgotten about me, but when the cruise consultant came back to the phone, she told me that under the circumstances and because we were re-booking, RCCL would forego the cancellation fee, and apply our entire amount paid to the later cruise (we even saved something on the separately booked air fare).

Would a TA have been able to do the same? Maybe -- since I've never used a TA since, and never had to ask a TA on earlier cruises to do anything like this, I really don't know. But to the question of who you deal with if you have issues when you've booked directly with RCCL, I would never hesitate to say RCCL has your back.

While I would definitely rate RCCL over NCL for most things, there is one exception (for now). If you travel in the upper-level suite accommodations, NCL has it (or at least, had it) all over RCCL. The service, particularly in any suite having a butler, was absolutely incredible and pampering, and the separate facilities for suite passengers, including the Haven pools and separate restaurants, were terrific.

I'm not sure whether RCCL's new emphasis on suite perks, including the adoption of the Royal Genie service, will alter that (I'll let you know after my I get back from the Oasis on February 26th!) but based on past experience on the NCL Gem, for now, if you're a suite passenger, I'd give NCL the edge.

For me it's more a question of which ports NOT to stay on the ship. Don't get me wrong, Most of the islands are beautiful and more than worth seeing once or twice -- some more than that. But after twenty years of cruising I am more than happy to make the ship my destination, getting off only at maybe only one port for a beach day. I LOVE the serenity on the ship on port days.

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First of all, my sister is booked solo in the sky loft suite for the 2/19 oasis sailing and we had no problem booking it. In addition, several years ago my mother and I sailed in the royal loft suite, which requires 4 to book. We booked 4 -- adding the names of two of my nieces-- and cancelled them before final payment was due. I don't recall if we ate the deposit, but frankly if that cost was a deal breaker we wouldn't have been booking the royal loft in the first place.

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It's ironic that OP's complaints come in a year when it appears that RCCL has actually made the decision to ENHANCE the suite experience, beginning with the Oasis and Anthem class ships. I have said for years that even though RCCL is my favorite cruise line for a host of reasons, other lines, like Celebrity and especially NCL are much better at making the "suite life" a really special experience. Now with the advent of the Royal Class suite enhancements, including the addition of Coastal Kitchen, and, for star class, complimentary tips, drink packages and pay restaurants, IMHO RCCL has really stepped up its game.

And btw, even before those enhancements, I always thought I was paying more mainly for the cabin itself -- especially in the Crown Loft, Aqua Theater and Royal Loft suites, which is what you need to be talking about if you're saying you spent 10x more than a non-suite cabin.

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I hate to be a contrartian, but my advice at CoCo Key is to stay on the ship. Of all the private islands I've been to on all my cruises, it is far and away my least favorite. The water is extremely reedy and rocky, the beach is overcrowded and the facilities are substandard. Labadee is far, far superior. Depending on which of the Labadee beaches you go to, you can get soft sand and clear water, and the beaches have more shade and much better facilities.

39 on the old Monarch of the Seas -- it was a friend's 40th birthday celebration. Came home and told my family that all I wanted for MY 40th birthday was for them to try cruising. They fought me for the next seven months but finally relented, and the whole family became instant converts. That made it easier for my niece, born a year later and cruising by the time she was nine months.

I will admit to preferring Oasis and Allure, but not flying has its perks!! [emoji854]

 

 

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I used to be of the same mind -- being able to drive to the pier, board, and immediately be on vacation seemed great. But frankly, the last few times we have sailed out of NY/NJ the weather has been far too cold on the first days out and the last days back to enjoy any of the outdoor facilities (not to mention that the North Atlantic tends to be much rockier than the Caribbean). So we've decided that getting those three to four days in full vacation mode by sailing out of Florida is worth the hassle of a few hours flying down and back, and have gone back to the Oasis for our next cruise.

OK, if someone already said this, forgive me, but I only read pages 1 and 4 of this thread, and wanted to make the following point.

You often hear people complain about how "in the good old days" there were no upcharges. That may be true. But on my first cruise 20 years ago (on Monarch, by the way), you could have lobster on lobster night and steak on steak night, period. Now, you can have lobster on lobster night, steak on steak night -- AND ,FOR AN EXTRA CHARGE, LOBSTER OR STEAK EVERY NIGHT. I don't see that as taking away, or charging for, anything that was available before. Rather, it's is making a NEW option that was not previously offered available and charging for that convenience. You can argue whether RCCL should be willing to make that option available for no charge, but I don't think you can legitimately argue that they have "downgraded" or "lessened" the traditional offerings on the ship.

I give Royal a lot of credit for listening to their customers. No format is going to please everyone, and I'll admit that I'm biased in thinking Royal has made a good move here because we hated DD when we were on Anthem in February. But really, the feedback has been generally negative, and I think a lot of Royal for listening to it rather than stubbornly sticking with the concept that they had clearly invested time and money promoting.

We enjoyed one of our best beach days ever in Tortola. We just grabbed a cab at the pier, had him take us to the other side of the island where there was a beautiful, palm-fringed beach, and arranged for him to pick us up at a designated time to take us back to the ship. I'm struggling to remember the name of the beach, but if you go to the destinations boards, and look for postings on Tortola, you should be able to find it.

Also, if this is your first cruise, you may not realize that you really don't need to get off the ship in every port. Experienced cruisers learn fast the wonders of staying on the ship on a port day -- the pool deck, fitness facilities and other venues are blissfully peaceful, and there are almost always port-day spa specials which can save you loads off a massage or facial.

When I was first cruising almost 20 years ago, I used to look for itineraries that were port-intensive, thinking that would get me the most bang for my buck. Now I realize that if its the right ship, the ship itself is the destination. In fact, on my last cruise on Oasis, I never left the ship once, and it was a fabulous vacation.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful tips! So the cruise ends in Halifax so I am assuming you don't get any time there unless you extend your stay in a hotel. Is one night enough to see then fly home from Halifax ? Also arriving into Newark to leave our of the Liberty port, has anyone flown in the same day as taking the cruise ? I could get a non stop flight and get there by noon. Does that leave enough time to catch the boat ? I guess the only issue is if they lose your luggage right!

Newark Airport is very close to the Bayonne port; barring flight delays you'll have plenty of time to make the cruise.

I've only been to Halifax on a cruise one time. We decided that rather than go to the "touristy" Peggy's Cove, we would take a private tour. Never again! We basically rode around in a car for hours in terrain that looked just like upstate New York (nothing wrong with that, of course, but my mother grew up there, so it was sort of been there, done that). We learned our lesson. The first time you go to a port, go where the tourists go, since that's why they go there. I would think that one day would be plenty of time to do Peggy's Cove and the maritime museum that has Titanic memorabilia, which are the highlights of Halifax.

My first cruise (20 years ago this month, actually) we made sure we had a lot of "port" days, because we were so worried that we'd be bored. Now, not only do I favor itineraries with lots of sea days, but on my last three cruises, I never left the ship. Granted, there is a lot more to do on the mega-ships now than there was on the Monarch in 1996, but still, I've grown to think of the ship itself as the destination, and sitting on my balcony watching the sea go by as the real "event" for which I paid my fare.

I don't think we will ever go on carnival. Have talked to many people and they have pretty much said you get what you pay for. We have had great cruises on RCI and don't really plan on changing

I find that when you are talking about the major mid-level lines -- RCCL, Carnival, NCL, and even Celebrity -- the experience varies more ship to ship than line to line. The three best cruises I've ever been on were on Oasis (RCCL), Gem (NCL) and Pride (Carnival). The three weakest (with the caveat that the worst day at sea is better than the best day on land) were Dawn (NCL), Anthem (RCCL) and (talk about not "getting what you pay for") QE II (Cunard). There is as wide a difference in different Carnival ships as there is between the Oasis class and the Sovereign class on RCCL -- which is huge. Contrary to what someone else posted, I don't think its particularly "sad" when someone decides to stay with one line, but I sure wouldn't make my choice based on broad characterizations about the line as a whole rather than a particular ship.

I've not been on IOS, but have been on Anthem, and would definitely opt in favor of IOS, for a couple of reasons. First of all, there was nothing particularly wrong with Anthem, but nothing particularly right, either. Of all the cruises we've been on, and all the RCCL cruises we've been on, its the first ship to which our reaction was just "meh". Probably more importantly however (since, for all I know, IOS is a "meh" as well), is that after several cruises out of NY/NJ -- including cruises that, as a whole, we loved -- we've decided to go back to Florida departures. Unless the weather is unusually warm, you really can't comfortably use a lot of the outdoor facilities, including the pool area and the flow rider, for a day or two down and a day or two on the way back on a cruise from NY/NJ. We've decided that the hassle of having to fly to Florida and back rather than driving to the NJ pier (which is just 30 minutes from where we live) is worth it to be fully on vacation in the warm weather from day one through the last day of the cruise.

We made dinner, show and event reservations a month or more in advance, and had no problem with those reservations once we were on board ship.

My brother-in-law is tied to his computer; honestly, had he started cruising before the days of Wi-Fi at sea, I think he would have curled up in a corner and wept for the whole week. According to him, the VOOM internet on Anthem was spectacular -- as good as his Wi-Fi at home.

We had a fine time on Anthem, and she is a lovely ship, but at the end of the day we had kind of a "blah" feeling about her. Nothing that would make us dis her, but also, unlike, say the Oasis-class ships, nothing that would make us especially want to book a Quantum class ship in the near future.