amygutman

@nitecapt on behalf of regular Joe family” you have nothing to worry about. Is it expensive… Yes! But the experience of spending the time with your family in this amazing area is worth it for us. No lines, no waiting, outstanding service, a quiet place to sit with your family with staff. The staff knows you so well by day 2 that they anticipate your drink and food orders. You will meet all different types of people in the Haven. I can nearly guarantee you that you will not know who is rich, who is got upgraded, who has waited five years to have that special room, or people who literally are in the Haven once a month - guess what… The staff in the Haven doesn’t care either. Are there Haven snobs? Sure. We generally just roll our eyes at them and move on with our vacation. If your family wants to treat you, let them. The memories we have from taking three generations of our family in on a Christmas Haven cruise rooms will last forever. Both my mother and mother-in-law became seriously ill shortly after our cruise, and having that time together as a family and having them spoiled was worth the cost. I think you will find the experience so much more rewarding as a family group then you would elsewhere on the ship. Any time with the family is glorious, but being spoiled as a family is so much better! 🥰 However you choose to cruise, enjoy yourself and your family time. Warmest, Amy

@teachinginhawaii Aloha to you as well! I think folks have posted the different drinks and food per-order options this but there is also a “tray” list that you can obtain from your Concierge. This includes things like veggie trays, fruit trays, sandwich trays. I believe they need 24 hours and the prices vary but not terribly expensive especially if you’re feeling a crowd. Once, our concierge actually brought us three full pizzas from the Buffet when we asked for another game night. There was a small cost for it I think like $10 a pie, and we tipped the Butler, but it was a really awesome treat. Have a fantastic time! warmest, Amy

My FAVORITE 🪝!!!!!!

Ok...so I was trying to be funny (Get it..."Tender" hooks...like on a cruise ship?). Apologies for the pun but noted. Warmest, Amy

Thank you so much for this review and the tips. We were on the Seashore April 2022 and are curious to see how the Seaside compares. Have a wonderful trip! Warmest, Amy

@teachinginhawaii We hosted an island sail-away party on the Gem for about 4 couples and their kids. 3 Haven, 1 non-Haven family. We spoke with the concierge and butler, arranged for dessert / veggie / sandwich and snack trays, popcorn for the kids, and then a few bottles of sparkling wine, Tito's and other mixers. It was very spontaneous - we asked in the morning for an evening set-up at 1700. It was a lot of fun and our butler kept checking on us and refilling us as needed (and fed the kids so many cookies that i'm sure no one slept that night!). We tipped extra for the courtesy and other than giving the non-Haven couple a quick tour of the Haven area, we kept to our room / balcony. The only thing the butler could not do was open the balcony divider between ours and our neighbor's cabin (they were part of the gathering). We kept the noise down, the kids were well-behaved and we had a blast. Again, as mentioned on this and other threads, the ability to have this gathering was at the discretion of the concierge / butler but polite requests, grateful appreciation and a tip seemed to work pretty well. Warmest, Amy

Booked the Nov 2024 TA from Europe to Canaveral. Very appealing as it was about 10K less for the Haven (H6 2 Bed Suite) than for the Escape (also Nov 2024, different itinerary, 1 additional night) at the time of booking. Our agent says lower pricing is common for the Epic across all room categories due to the unpopular cabin layout and for the Haven because of the uncovered pool (for a Nov cruise in the Atlantic with 5-6 sea days, that is a big deal for many people). An added bonus for us on this cruise is only having to pay for one flight as we live in Orlando - nothing better than disembarking and driving home vs headed to an airport which is a very stressful way to end a vacation. Now we are concerned about it being cancelled if the Epic does not return to Europe. On the upside, if the ship is being repositioned PLUS refurbished, maybe some updates will make our original booking a bigger bargain. Our agent says that the Nov 2024 bookings are at about 30% currently so I am sure a lot of persons are on tender-hooks. Certainly better than the 62K "deal" being offered 😁 Warmest, Amy

Wholeheartedly agree - which is why polite, friendly requests when granted are appreciated, but if if granted are taken with a smile and the same level of polite friendliness. Warmest, Amy

Youtubers whose name rhymes with "Sven and Lavid" (but with a "B" and "D" 😁) just got off the Spirit on the reverse of your trip. They usually post within 4 weeks of their cruise so you may want to keep querying YouTube. We are taking the Spirit in 2025 for the Vancouver to Hawaii (if not cancelled by another private booking like they just did for 2024) and ARE SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!! Warmest, Amy

We've met many nice folks on Haven sailings that we've invited up to see our room / Haven complex if they've expressed curiosity. We run it by the concierge to be polite and have never been turned down - in fact, a few times the butler brought us all drinks and snacks (watching football games, for example). We never abuse the privilege and other than touring the pool / lounge complexes, do not have our guests use the facilities as that is most definitely frowned upon. From the marketing standpoint it makes sense. We never even knew about the Haven until staying in our first suite on the Gem (back in the days when you got called to upgrade). We were invited to a Haven party with the officers and we left that party / tour knowing that our next cruise would 100% be booked in that bit of heaven. Warmest, A,my

Wow...just....wow. It sounds like the crew were your heroes and you behaved much better than we would have. I feel bad for all three generations of your family. Just proves that even if you have enough money for a suite, that doesn't mean you can buy class. If anyone tried to shoosh me on my own little piece of balcony heaven, I would certainly have brought my inner demons out to play.

@BirdTravels interesting update from my travel agent - he has been working on re-bookings for this and the Spirit and trying to get some sort of answer from NCL re: what the heck is going on with the Epic. He suspects that NCL will use the "downtime" to refurbish the ship as they have not opened up any bookings for the affected 4 months. His bigger concern (as is mine) is that the Epic's 2024 winter Mediterranean season will also be cancelled due to NCL perhaps taking the Epic out of the Med altogether and he wants to know sooner than later. He said the Epic's 2024 Canaveral sailings have not been affected so he is hopeful after the Florida summer season the Epic will head back to the Med. I am curious as to your opinion? You always are super thoughtful in your responses and I'll take your experienced speculation to heart. Warmest, Amy

Primarily referencing off-site lots. Google the websites for GoPort, ParkPort or Port Parking Canaveral - you should be able to reserve a spot. All of those have shuttles that run pretty regularly and are about 5-10 minutes from the ports. There's no harm with using the lots right at the terminals, but they are much pricier (about 5-10$ more a day depending on time of year). Enjoy your cruise! Warmest, Amy

I would suggest going to cruisedeckplans.com - they have great information and lots of photos of rooms. It's a free site with paid "member" options - the small fee is worth the added access to detailed information you often don't get online (especially if you intend to cruise again). Also try Harr Travel's youtube site - they have really great videos of the room you are looking at. No specifics on size as in square footage, but really excellent camera-work to show you what the rooms look like. We were on the Pear for a Panama Canal cruise in the DOS but got to visit an aft balcony after meeting the cruises in that stateroom. The balcony is huge! Theirs had a lot of shade and was comfortably set up with loungers. Sorry - we didn't take photos but it was a lovely room altogether. Warmest, Amy

Noted. I think the OP’s question was less about semantics and more about when to arrive at port to check in/board. At least that’s how I understood it. Wouldn’t you agree?

Ah-ha!!! That would make sense. I’m pretty middle-of-the line but some of the titles alone made me blush 🤣

@FitchburgWIFamily ok...I am terribly curious (and please tell me to MMOB if I'm out of line) as to what your neighbors were doing that the cruise staff could not put a stop to? It's awesome the crew found a solution for you, but smoking, loud music (or relations, ahem) usually get swatted down quickly. Now...we've had some a--hole behavior from neighbor smokers who we repeatedly reported, but i'm pretty selfish about my time / money / vacation and don't give a hoot about pissy looks and grumbled obscenities from bad neighbors. Just put an upside-down pineapple on their door as pay-back. 😁 Warmest, Amy

If you are arriving at 0900 but have a later boarding time and want to be in a food coma even before your vacation starts, I recommend Southern Charm Cafe on Astronaut Blvd. Holy carb heaven. It is outstanding AND inexpensive AND 10 minutes form the port. It's likely you won't be boarding until after 1100 - this way you will be too full to even have to worry about fighting the lunch embarkation crowds on the ship. BTW - make sure you pre-reserve your parking spot in one of the lots. It gets a bit dicey (and expensive as you miss out on booking discounts) if you wait until the day of the cruise. Warmest (a Floridian since 2022...welcome to our great state!), Amy

It makes you not want to pay that final payment or book flights / hotels until literally the last moment. We love NCL...honestly, it's our favorite cruise line but admittedly it's because we are "Haven-ites". We live for our cruises to be spoiled with on our floating hotel suites in cool locations as a family. However, we have been rather anxious lately seeing two of the ships / itineraries we booked in the coming years change suddenly for what appears to the general public as arbitrary. We are on the Spirit in June 2025 Alaska-Hawaii and the Epic Nov 2024 for a Transatlantic. Both fit gaps in our schedules and both are on our bucket lists. We haven't booked hotels or flights, but it could just as easily be our upcoming Sept Encore Alaska cruise that we booked in 2021, fully paid, crazy shift changes to accommodate travel for ourselves and friends from Bermuda and England, and has been a source of happiness planning and dreaming for years. We would be devastated to have to rebook because it just could not happen. Just like anyone cruising, we work OT, give up other luxuries, and save for years for these vacations and although neither cancelled sailing affects our vacations personally personally, we are so upset seeing how many people are affected. I'd love to actually see what financial or publicity impacts these cancellations have, both direct and indirect, on future cruise bookings. Warmest, Amy

@Morgsmom we absolutely could. We saw Ghostbusters Afterlife in April on the Seashore - listed as a "4$ charge". We bought it, and the charge turned to "0$" when we checked our bill the next day. Concierge confirmed "the majority" of the movies are free. I am not sure how to tell which ones as they were all listed as 4$. We love watching late night or post-long excursion/ beach day movies. We get room service and popcorn (not an actual menu item but we asked on MSC and NCL and it came like magic when we asked), and we all cuddle into bed for movie night. The movies on NCL in the Haven are all free or 12$ outside of the Haven, but definitely less choice. MSC had a great selection...even has a whole Adult section that we clicked on by accident completely embarrassing the aforementioned 14 yo. 😬 Warmest, Amy

The bruises our whole family had from walking into the mirrored walls on the Seashore were a source of giggling throughout the cruise. No - we weren't really hurt much, but we definitely laughed at our inability to walk SOBER through many of the hallways without hitting a shiny outcropping. That being said - it attests to the level of cleanliness to keep those miles of mirrors clean enough to continually smack into. Warmest, Amy

Agree. Lobster 🦞 every meal. In fact, they kept bringing us two tails at a time. We protested (well… not a lot) but enjoyed every bite. Kiddo and DH say the burgers and fries are amazing. I loved the salmon and the kale salad. Just fantastic. Never had a bad meal - and the Getaway Haven staff are wonderful. Warmest, Amy

Kiddo got a kick out of ordering "pizza delivery" after a swimming. It was a fun movie night - pizza, chocolate cookies, salad, hamburger and fries all from room service at around 2100. No charge in the YC (for movie or for the food, even though the TV listed the movie price as 4$ - the charge was "0$" on the final bill), and other than the tip for the butler, it was free. Very cool indeed. Warmest, Amy

Both on the Seashore (April 2022) and the Meraviglia (April 2023) there were posted dining times for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for "sit down service". In between those times, there were lighter meals / snacks at the YC pool bar and in the YC lounge. Be aware that the YC lounge often has very odd snacks (i.e. pickled onions...) but the pool bar had a wonderful buffet (a really nice variety of options). My apologies for not posting the exact hours, but they changed depending on sea day vs port day. I believe breakfast was 0600-0900, lunch 1200-1400, and dinner started at 1730 ending at 2100 or 2200. Room service is near 24/7 though so you are never without food options. If another poster has more updated hours, please correct my recollections...Warmest, Amy

I am sorry your folks did not have a great dining experience, but it would have been a great time to venture out into unknown food lands. It's free, exciting, and they have found something they liked even more than their traditional taste palate. Or not...but still...there is no better place than a cruise ship to explore. Food preferences are subjective (reference the CC discussions across many forums re: best pizza at sea), but as an American "Mutt" born, raised and living in many cultures, I humbly would say that the Indian food on cruise ships in general is pretty darned good. Like all things - some days great, some days OK. It may not to be to everyone's taste though or regionally what you are used to. Again, consider the pizza discussions...I am not a pizza-eater (the horror), but for a New Yorker my husband says Royal Caribbean's pizza was better than MSC's "best pizza at sea" and way, way better than NCL. My kiddo, who is 14 and hoovers food like there is no tomorrow says that NCL is "the best pizza ever" because it "taste like the cafeteria pizza at school". So...there's that. I suppose if you are a Chicagoan, you would hate the pizza all-together as it's not deep-dish. Admittedly, we are spoiled when it comes to Indian food on NCL. Yes, I do love basic dals and masalas (and oh...those papadams) but find the buffet a bit bland (as per the above commenters re: mass-produced food). I make friends with the waiters in the suite restaurants or MDRs who happily bring me "proper" Indian cuisine after they find out about my preferences - Northern and Southern choices depending on who is in the kitchen. And yes...there are tons of Indians and East Indians in the kitchens who can "spice up your life". If your eyes aren't watering, you aren't doing it right in my opinion! I hope your next cruise adventure is a food adventure as well! Warmest, Amy