mickeysgal

Another question- What is more preferable …deck 17 or deck 18? I have a choice for 18126 or 17726 Are there any disadvantages to either due to their location? They are both the last cabin in a line of cabins on each floor.

My travel agent refers to Haven room categories as HE, HF, etc. I’ve also seen Haven room categories as H2, H7, etc. Is there a list somewhere of these categories? I have no idea what these are referring to. Thanks

Are there any specific Haven cabins on any of the ships that one should avoid for any reason?

This is solid advice right here. All you have to do is have this happen to you once and you learn how to avoid it going forward. My husband flies every week for work. He always has his alternate choices in mind should there be a flight issue...delay, cancellation, etc. It's just smart. For the most part when we fly to Europe, it's our preference if at all possible, to have our connection in Europe, not the USA. If something happens and we can't make that connection, there are other choices of airlines and high speed trains to usually get us to where we need to be. Missing an overseas connection in the US, usually means waiting another day for that overnight overseas flight. I'd rather figure it out in Europe than waste another day of vacation in the US. That's our preference though...even if it costs us more. And we always, always, always fly in a day or two before for a European cruise. And yes, we do have limited vacation time like so many others. We look for cruises that start/end on days where it's compatible for our schedules with flying in early.

Ok - I see the Room Upgrade option on the app. When I click on it, it's not showing my new cabin category as an option to bid, so I would assume that it knows I've upgraded myself into the Haven. But now the bottom absolute minimums to bid on other haven rooms are higher than if I paid outright for them. Is that normal? That doesn't seem right....

That’s where we, as the consumer, have to be smart about it and don’t chose that flight combination- especially when flying overseas to meet a cruise deadline that same day. Again, it goes back to root cause and making sure you factor in possible delays and getting there a day earlier. We once had a Frankfurt Germany connection of 55 min. We took it, and made it by running, and had to go through passport control even, but we didn’t have a cruise to meet that day. Otherwise we never would have risked that kind of tight connection. As consumers, we have the personal responsibility to be smarter and err on the side of caution. How awful to miss an entire cruise - when it was avoidable.

Thanks- I’ll give them a call

Just checked the app- I don’t see anything for Room Upgrades. Ugh.

I did click on the original link. It still shows my old room category. I’ll try the app. Thanks

While I do understand some are strapped for time and money to come in at least a day early, it still doesn’t change the fact that this is the root cause of why they missed their European cruise. When you travel overseas, with connections on top of it, you have to allow for potential travel delays. Yes, NCL allowed a flight with a tight connection- so yes, they’re leading people to think this is ok. If a simple 30 min tarmac delay caused them to miss a connection, it’s too tight and should not have been an allowable option to pick.

The root cause of this issue isn't so much that it's booked through NCL and not directly via an airline, its that there was zero room for delay built into the schedule. Never arrive this late for a cruise - especially overseas. One should arrive one full day, if not two, full days when flying to Europe to catch a cruise. I'm sorry - I'd be so upset to miss the entire cruise like this. Shame on NCL for leading people to believe this tight arrival - especially with connections - is do-able.

A few months back, we did receive the email to bid on upgrades. We did put in a few bids. Then prices dropped a bit and we decided to go ahead and upgrade ourselves and directly pay for the cabin category we wanted. We did cancel our bids since we essentially upgraded ourselves - we went from a sunset balcony to a forward facing Haven penthouse. We'd now like to put in a bid for other Haven categories. We haven't received a new offer to upgrade based on our new cabin category. Do you only get one upgrade offer per sailing regardless if you've upgraded yourself? If I go look at the upgrade email we originally got and click on the link, it still shows us in our old cabin category and therefore upgrade minimums (including to the category we already moved to) based on our old cabin. Hope this makes sense! Thanks.

We also aren't NCL's target demographics anymore. No interest in the bells and whistles. We've been cruising with Celebrity for about 7 years now and zero regrets. That said, their entertainment can be lacking sometimes. Ships are swanky and gorgeous without being pretentious. NCL fit our needs for our upcoming cruise, but generally we agree with the OP...the lack of public space is noticeably apparent. We felt that way also on the Gem and Pearl. Our upcoming cruise we popped for the Haven to specifically get away from the overcrowding and chair savers. Celebrity has the Solarium and it's my favorite place on the ship to relax - adults only.

I get that they have to have a contract and terms such that they can modify ports in the event they absolutely HAVE to.. But the slight, subtle move of perhaps NCL using this verbiage a bit to their advantage is what seems to be annoying and raising suspicions. If it's happening all too often, that too raises suspicions. These cruises are planned so far in advance, you would think they'd know if there were too many other ships in port and now they can't dock (as in a case mentioned in this thread).

In the Haven, do they make up the room only once per day or is there turn down service as well?

Which three specialty restaurants were they? We have an upcoming cruise in the Haven and I’m really debating cancelling my specialty dining reservations and not doing any specialties at all. I keep reading the Haven restaurant is better.

We had a forward facing penthouse on Pearl. The balcony was so very large and awesome and I loved the interior space - we had a small living room area with chairs, couch and coffee table. Large picture windows. Yes it can get windy on that balcony while in motion, The balcony door in our case was more of a water tight /submarine door - not a slider. We had this room for Alaska - it made Glacier Bay viewing such fun. That said, there was a lot of motion being so far forward. First time ever that I got seasick and had to wear a patch. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Well, this could be construed as a definite Haven con. No one wants to hear that kind of behavior stepping out of their Haven cabin.

18. I'm currently watching the prices on those cabins on 17.

Right now , for the same price we can get a cabin on 18. I’m watching closely for a price drop on those with the larger balcony on 17.

Encore

For this type of cabin, the balcony is small but on the side of the ship. Completely useable.

We currently have a forward facing Haven cabin down on deck 10. For the same price we have the ability to switch to a courtyard cabin with a regular balcony (not the large one). Haven experts- would you stay in the forward facing one or switch to inside the courtyard?

What is the time for the next ferry? This is cutting it a bit close. You'd have to make sure you're first off, assuming the ship arrives on time and gets cleared on time. Walk your own luggage out. Don't leave it outside the door...that will add more time than you need to spend finding and reclaiming it. If I remember right, there was a long line getting out of the customs building in Seattle. All this chips away at the time you have to get to that ferry. It feels a bit nerve-wracking. Probably can be done, but realistically, if there is a later ferry, I'd have a relaxing breakfast on board and then take the next ferry. Victoria is beautiful. Enjoy.

Thank you both so very much.