AliceIn

We were in the Haven and my husband and I had the adult beverage package and our three three kids had the soda package.  The Haven bartender and restaurant staff gave my kids any non-alcoholic drinks they wanted.  Shirley temples, virgin mojitos, etc.  The kids got these in the Haven only, and we never saw any charges for it.  We didn’t order for them either (they were 13, 14, and 17).

No idea what happens outside the Haven, we didn’t let them go to any other bar areas.

I second the Anker products.  They are high quality and good for the ship.  I have used them on multiple lines with no issue.

On 2/12/2020 at 3:56 PM, bam1957 said:

We stayed in the 2 Bedroom on the Escape in November. I didn't like the bed it that it's basically on the floor, no legs. It basically unfolded to the floor. Unlike the old fashion pull out couches you should actually sit on the bed and it had legs. My 32 year old son stayed in the room and he didn't complain. He said that it was comfortable but I just didn't like it. It wasn't what I expected.  We kept it made all the time. We never asked the steward to turn it back into a sofa and he could move around perfectly fine. Maybe the Encore's second bedroom is larger but it looks the same from the video.

I wonder if something was wrong with your bed that it folded down to the floor rather than having some clearance?   We stayed in a 2 bedroom Haven on the Escape, and two of my teens shared the bedroom, and the other teen used the bed in the living room.   The second bedroom had a somewhat larger bed on the bottom - definitely NOT on the floor.    The other bed pulled down from the ceiling and the steward set up the ladder.     All three kids were happy with their beds - all thought they were comfy.   We did ask for an egg crate mattress topper for the living room couch ahead of time as we knew it would be very firm.  

This is not my picture, but it looks like this.    

No, there are not, other than getting off the ship fast.

 We booked a pool cabana when we went, and that was nice for our family.   I was not enamored with Harvest Caye.

We decided to give Norwegian another try because of the better design on the newer ships.  We loved our Haven room on the Escape, but we could not abide the bad smell coming from the Casino.  The whole 6-7-8 area had a strong smell, so we stayed away from that part of the ship.  We are booked on the Encore.  I am looking forward to trying it out.

Babies in diapers cannot use any pool or hot tub on the ship, due to the potential for fecal matter to leak.  They can use the splash area in a swim diaper, but that is outside the haven.

The baby is welcome everywhere in the haven aside from the pools and sun deck.

We had this product at work.  It is a cardboard container, sort of like boxed milk, except it is water.   There are two sizes, one is 16.9 oz, the other just under 12.    For $45 I am guessing it is the larger.  
 

https://www.shopjustwater.com/collections/spring-water

Hi,

 

A question for those who have sailed on the Escape:

 

Is it very smokey? My husband is asthmatic and on the Getaway he was struggling with wheezing and constantly needing his inhalers. Is there and issue with smoke in the main areas of Escape too?

Yes - the entire Atrium area is pretty dreadful when the ship is at sea due to many people smoking in the Casino.

When the ship is at port, there is no smoking - but the stink is still there. It's a really, really bad ship design.

We avoided that part of the ship as much as possible, and kept the kids out of it entirely.

If you are looking to avoid medications, (there are safe and effective both prescription and non-prescription drugs that work), then the below might help:

Scientific studies show that Sea Bands do not work -

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15018290

Ginger, on the other hand, does:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4818021/

I don't think the mis-named "cancel for any reason" will let you cancel because you are afraid of a hurricane, possible hurricane, or feel it is ethically right to stay home rather than leave in the event your house gets damaged. Every policy is different, but usually they are insuring your TRIP and the DESTINATION, not your HOME. From Steve's TripInsuranceStore.com:

 

 

 

So, for the OP, don't worry about having the "right kind of insurance". It is unlikely you could find a policy that would cover you for this. Bad weather is one of the events with a lot of exclusions. You will most likely lose what you've paid, but get a refund on the portion you have paid that is port fees and taxes. There is no harm in asking your insurance company first, then NCL, but I suspect you won't get any satisfaction from them.

 

It's painful, but family is more important than money.

It's really up to the individual policy - you need to read the entire thing to see what is covered. The policies I have bought include both issues at the destination AND issues at home. I'd read the policy bought and read it very carefully to see what may or may not be covered.

Cancel for any reason truly allows you to cancel whenever you want - the caveat is that you may only get 50-75% of it covered if the cancellation is not due to one of the major hazards specifically written in the policy. In which case, wanting to stay home with kids definitely qualifies under "for any reason," but you may only get a portion back rather than the full cruise amount.

We have the dining package and thought that since we have 2 young kids, we may want to just eat in the room on one or 2 nights. If we order from a speciality dining venue to our room, who gets the tip? Does it go to the butler or does some server get it even though he/she didn't wait on us?

It likely is put into the tip pool for all serving staff. We still tipped the servers while in the restaurants, and we gave tips to our suite staff at the end of the cruise. What you do is up to you, but for us, when we received excellent service we tipped accordingly.

We use a Kyss bag for our beach bag. We've got the very large one - it fits towels and water for 5, sunscreen, etc. It's got a chain and a combination lock so you can lock the bag to something large (in Mexico, we locked it around the base of the Palapa) and the bag cannot be opened while it is locked. The material is very slash resistant, and and it makes your bag unattractive to thieves. We might put our phones and camera in there and whatever cash or a credit card we need for the day. We don't bring super expensive stuff to the beach, but we'd like to keep it if we do.

http://www.kyssbags.com/

Today by post I got self adhesive luggage tags and a covering letter telling me to contact them if I have any special request etc.

 

Does anyone actually do this or do you just wait until onboard?

 

If so, what do you request and how far in advance do you make contact?

 

Thanks

 

 

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We stayed in a 2 bedroom family villa on the Escape, and we did make requests ahead of time, and all of them were met. We asked:

For the mini fridge to be cleared of the normal contents, and for a pitcher of ice water and lemonade be kept there instead.

We asked for a egg crate mattress cover for the living room couch during turn down so that my son would be more comfortable sleeping there.

We asked for distilled water for my husband's CPAP.

All was there as we requested.

Every situation is different. It isn't just financial.

 

For my family, it's Haven/Yacht Club or nothing. My wife and I both work and kids are in school. There simply isn't time for 3-4 cruises per year.

 

If someone offered a free cruise in the Haven for us next month, we couldn't go. The kids are already in school.

 

We deal with crowds in Seaworld, Universal, Disney, Busch Gardens, etc. On a cruise, a ship within a ship is a must. We've cruised in balcony staterooms and had a good time but a much better time in the Haven. We assume that our first MSC Yacht Club cruise will be similar to the Haven.

 

When my wife and I are "empty nesters" we'll probably cruise more often in both suite and non-suite (with a spa pass and VIBE) staterooms. By then, we'll have priotity boarding no matter what type of stateroom we are booked. I know that is backwards to most people who book a balcony or 2 when they have kids then move up to a suite when the kids are grown/on their own.

This is us, absolutely.

I am a non smoker, and if you don't go into the cigar lounge, or in the smoking area on the pool deck, you will be fine. I have walked through the casinos every day, at different hours and there were no clouds of smoke anywhere. If you don't go looking for it, you'll be fine. Enjoy your cruise!

That is what we did - stayed far way from the Atrium. If you stay away from that area, you won't notice any smell, as the rest of the smoking areas are outside.

The casino is the major money maker on every ship, so they won't move it. And as for the smoking issue, it doesn't really exist.

 

 

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I just got off of the Escape this past Saturday, and the smoke smell was definitely an issue. You could smell it as soon as you enter the Atrium areas in 6/7/8 - it stank right from the start. When the casino was open, the stench was even worse. We stayed out of the casino and out of all the shops in that area because of it. My husband brought money to gamble, but never spent more than 30 minutes tops in the casino (and that was for a slot pull).

Haven guests don't need to use much effort/energy to get VIBE passes. Getting there a few minutes before priority boarding begins, checking in, and walking to either Headliners or Guest Services is easy. Getting a pass from the concierge is even easier.

There were several passengers in the Haven who arrived close to the All Aboard time - I'm sure all the passes were gone for the day. I know if you are in the Haven you are first on board if you want (my family did this), but it seems a lot of folks wanted time to enjoy Miami before boarding. There's really no right or wrong - whether someone in the Haven wants a Vibe pass or not, but I think even they need to be onboard early if they want access.

As a newbie I'm a little confused about these two area. I've done a search and read what I can but I don't fully understand. From what I gather:

 

Vibe is a private bar/sunning area(?) which you have to buy passes for onboard and the passes are very limited. Is that correct? Is there any reason someone in the Haven ( on the Bliss) would want to use Vibe? What would it give them that the Haven doesn't?

 

Spice is an adults only sunning area? It's free? Is there anything else to know about it?

 

Thanks to all you amazing veterans who take the time to help out an ignorant newbie.

In my opinion, if you are in the Haven, you really don't need a Vibe pass. We cruised last week, and there were loads of children on board and traveling in the Haven. The Haven courtyard is where most of the kids will be, as they want to be in the pool - if they are not in the courtyard, they are elsewhere on the ship. One of my sons spent the entire time in Entourage. I never, ever saw a child up on the Haven sun deck - it was always just adults. Haven staff comes around bringing you drinks if you want them, or you can just stop at the Haven bar on your way out to grab a cocktail. If you are a Haven guest, and you are traveling with friends who are not - maybe then getting a Vibe pass for everyone would give everyone access to a private sundeck. Otherwise, it seems a waste of energy to make sure you are first on board to get a pass.

I wonder if they are going to fix the smoke problem with the Casino by having that area walled off from the rest of the Atrium? The Escape smells like a dirty ashtray on 6/7/8 - and it was definitely noticeable at all times. When the casino is open, the smoke smell is noxious.

I was there in January, and was so excited to go again in October, and later in the day, we walked right up and got seats with a cover over them. NOT ones that you pay for, but free to everyone. It was close to the beach as well. Wonder if this has changed since January. I did say the paid ones, but these were out with others, entire rows of them, for free. We could not get chairs by the pool, but I was fine just putting our stuff on a table as we swam. I am not big on grabbing a chair/lounger if I don't plan to sit/lounge. I LOVED Harvest Caye, and can't wait to go back for my beach/lounge/drink day. And don't let the "long walk" fool you. It wasn't bad at all, and I am NOT active or in shape at all. We even walked back to have lunch on the ship and returned to the island. I would definitely not be paying that kind of money for shade, and I am pale, pale, PALE! I am the girl in the long-sleeved shirt on the beach, ha!

What ship were you on? I think perhaps in January the crowds are much lighter? My cruise last week was on the Escape, and Harvest Caye was incredibly crowded. No free loungers or chairs in site, and the pool was pretty much so full with people that you couldn't really swim - just stand and get cool in the water. There were people who could not find any seating - not just shady areas.

I have one for the Escape for next week and I paid $299. But I am Platinum Plus so I will get back $44.85 as OBC cause its 15% off as one of my perks.

Another question is, is it first come first served or do they give you any one you request? :cool:

First come, first pick.

Where do you book the Cabanna?

 

Rich

Online as a shore excursion. They didnt show up until about 95 or so days out.

I think the cabanas went for around $499, and the villas were much, much more.

 

 

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Cabana was $225

How much did it cost?

$225 for the day

We booked a pool cabana on Harvest Caye online before the cruise, and we were so glad we did. The Escape was fully booked for the 8/5 Western cruise. Many people in the Haven were on the waitlist for the cabanas, as all of them were booked. Many people were wandering around looking for seats. All of the shaded areas were grabbed early. It was super hot and sunny there this past Tuesday.

The cabana came with two loungers, a long couch, and a regular chair. They allow more than 4 in the cabana, at least for families with kids.

We had a server to bring us drinks and lunch. There is also a table for 8 for dining that is covered by an umbrella. Two cabanas share the table. Cabanas 1 and 2 are in a great location, close to the pool, beach, and restrooms. They are all clean and beautiful.

I was greatful that we had ths shady, private space. It was a lovely day. The only downside is that people without cabana wristbands kept trying to take the tables and chairs. The cabana attendants had to keep asking people to leave the area.

If you are planning a cruise on one od the megaships, you might want to consider the cabana if anyone in your party needs shade. It is nice to have had that homebase for the day.