Russiamomm

Yes. Only in the Haven bar.

No, it’s not a dividend. It’s better than a dividend. It’s tax free and can be claimed repeatedly. I’ve held the stock for years, and on paper am way underwater. But the stock has almost paid for itself with the OBC.

The smoked Old Fashioneds in the Haven bar are almost worth the cost of admission! This is on the Joy in September. He made me a different concoction every night. Heavenly. 😃❤️ IMG_0097.MOV

I agree that this looks like a mistake by Upgrade Advantage. I also agree that there doesn’t seem to be a case for any kind of compensation. They corrected the issue quickly, you’re not out any money and you’re getting the original cabin you booked. What I would take issue with, however, is not being able to reinstate the original bids or put in new ones. If you’re three days out, there’s probably still hope for an upgrade. Twice in the last year I’ve won bids at the very last minute. One came through the morning of embarkation. One came through two hours after we boarded and had already dropped our carry ons in the original cabin. I would be upset if my bids were all just cancelled three days out because of this mistake.

I agree. Do not redeem the points for OBC. The best use of the points is usually to upgrade cabins, but if you cash them in it’s best to just take a a statement credit. Charge your onboard spending to the card and get 3 points per dollar.

It can’t be used for the casino or the daily service charge. It will cover most, if not all, other expenses -:spa, coffee, drinks, shore excursions, specialty dining, etc.

I hear you. I still work for a living too, but am fortunate enough to do a few cruises a year. The next time you book through CAS and are happy with the service, try to develop a relationship. I honestly don’t remember how Chris and I got connected, but it’s great to have someone you know and trust to call or email when there’s something you’re interested in.

If you book through CAS, don’t you have a regular agent you work through? I have a guy I’ve been working with for several years. He’s great. If you don’t have a “Casino Guy”, you should get one. Mine is great. 😁

The only over the top jerky behavior I saw was on our TA on the Breakaway in April. At breakfast one morning in the Haven Restaurant this woman had an absolute fit because her toast was only toasted on one side. Chewed out the waitress, called over the hostess and insisted on talking to the restaurant manager? Made a big scene. Thankfully that was the only such behavior we saw in the entire 16 days.

It really depends on the circumstances. All things being equal, I would have done it in reverse - Haven last. But in this situation, I was traveling with a friend for the TA for 16 nights. We won the bid into the Haven. I decided to stay on for the next 10 night Italy/Greece cruise. The idea was to do it as cheap as possible. There was no way to justify the Haven (or even a balcony) as a solo. Did I miss it? Absolutely! Would I do it this way again? Absolutely! But it all depends on the circumstances. If it had been the reverse, I wouldn’t have known what I was missing during the first leg and would have avoided the little bit of “Woe is me” syndrome that I had. 😂. All first world problems. We’re privileged to be able to sail at all. It’s all a matter of perspective. Given the choice of sailing in an inside cabin or not sailing at all, I’d sail any day of the week. If I can do it, the Haven is fabulous, but it’s not a deal breaker if it doesn’t happen. Just have to deal with feeling sorry for yourself a little bit. 😂

I had no problems on the Breakaway in the fall of 2021. As always happens, there was an emergency that came up and a Zoom call I needed to be on. I just had the basic internet package and an iPad, no laptop. I asked the internet manager if I could upgrade just for a day. He said there was no need, the basic package would handle it, maybe I got lucky, but there were no issues, I did the entire 2 hour call from my cabin, with no glitches. Good luck!

Interesting review. I’m sorry about the disappointments. And stunned about the amount of time it took for your first dinner and the refusal of simple requests. I’ve been in the Haven three times, twice on the Joy, once on the Breakaway. Much preferred the Joy Haven, but the Breakaway Haven was also excellent! Seeing as I just booked another Haven sailing, I must be in the “Once you go Haven, you’ll never go back” category. 😂 All three experiences were exceptional and we never had the issues you describe. I agree with you to a certain extent on the “entitled” passengers. We met a few. But by and large we really loved the passengers in the Haven on all of of our trips. Most were just normal folks like you and I treating themselves to a fabulous vacation and I really loved getting to know them. By the end of the trip it felt like family. All that being said, I’m with you on most of this. I will book the Haven if the price is right. But am certainly not opposed to not being in the Haven. Last month I did a B2B - the first leg in the Haven and the second leg in a lowly OV cabin. I admit that I missed the Haven on the second leg, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the trip!

I agree. If you don’t find it useful, don’t read it. Personally, I find it useful to see what is being offered/accepted as time goes on. Since the re-start, the cruise industry has changed a lot and ships are filling up. Immediately after the re-start minimum bids were regularly accepted. Not so much anymore. I find this thread useful in planning/strategizing. if you’re not interested, don’t read it. But personally I love this thread. 😃

A little late to the game, but I agree with the frustration. Coffee Mate is NOT cream. I’ve sailed NCL a lot. Half and half was always available until around February, when they seem to have switched to Coffee Mate everywhere - even in the Haven. I’m not a picky person. I rarely complain about anything. But don’t mess with my coffee! I just got back from 26 nights on the Breakaway. This was my one complaint for the post-cruise survey. It may seem like a little thing, but it’s not. At least in my opinion. I don’t want fake cream. In the Haven they did bring a pitcher of heavy cream to the room and kept it fresh and supplied. But for me, it was just too heavy. I like half and half. And it was virtually impossible to find anywhere on the ship. Late in the cruise I did see a pitcher labeled half and half on the buffet. On future cruises I will bring a cup back to the room, but that doesn’t help in the restaurants. I really don’t get this. It’s a small thing, but it matters. It can’t cost that much more to offer real half and half vs. the fake stuff. Rant over. 😂

This was not the case for us. We’ve won bids into the Haven twice. We earned points for a Haven cabin. We also weren’t charged the extra DSC for the Haven. (We had prepaid the DSC for the original balcony cabin.)

Everyone is accurate in their assessments. I’ve sailed out of NYC many times, but I’m on the arrive early camp. I’m Platinum and book through CAS, so it’s slightly less painful. But the later you arrive, the longer the lines at security and the check in lines. When you get checked in, the later you arrive, the higher boarding group you get. I’ve also seem major clusters later in the day, delaying boarding even more. If you can’t go early, go late after the chaos has subsided.

This. Use it for Starbucks, an extra specialty dinner or at the duty free. If you know any smokers, cigarettes are dirt cheap and a good way to use OBC.

We leave the 25th. Cannot wait to get back on the Joy. Love the ship and love the Haven. The only issue I had is that it has no thermal spa and no Syd Normans. But she’s a beautiful ship and the staff is fantastic. September was out first and only time time in the Haven. Going to be very hard to go back to a regular cabin!

Thanks for the confirmation. We’re back on the joy next week in the Haven. Will have to take as much advantage of these two venues as possible!

Sorry for the late question, but I’m just catching up on the review. It was wonderful! we’re on the Breakaway for a TA in April and cautiously optimistic we’ll win a bid into the Haven. I’ve been in the Haven on the Joy, but I have two questions. 1. It looks like there is no observation lounge in the BA Haven. Is that true? We really enjoyed that space on the Joy - especially the espresso machine and the snacks out all day. Am I right that the snack station on the BA is in the courtyard by the pools? 2. Is there a hot tub on the Haven sun deck on the BA. Looking at deck plans, it doesn’t look like it. Again, we spent may hours in the cabanas and in the hot tubs on the Joy. It would be disappointing if there was no hot tub in the BA Haven sun deck. thanks in advance!

Honestly, I think it depends on the airline. I’m Executive Platinum on AA and have no status on Delta. Last September we used NCL air just to go to NYC. I didn’t like the flights. I could definitely choose my seats, using my status to get the good seats, but wasn’t able to change the flight time - I didn’t own the booking. We were able to fly standby and get an earlier flight home, but were stuck on the outbound flight. Fast forward to our transatlantic in April. The flight to NYC is on Delta this time. I was able to go into Deltas site and change the flight to slightly later in the morning and pick seats. No problem - all done online. We were thrilled. Maybe it was because the “rack rate” for the new flight was lower than the original flight booked by NCL. I got a notice that the difference in fare would be credited to the credit card that paid for it. That was NCL. I didn’t pay Delta - NCL did. we weren’t thrilled with the return - scheduled on Lufthansa. For that flight we can’t do anything. Can’t even pick seats until check in 24 hours before flight time. Just one person’s experience, but I really thing some of the flexibility depends on the airline.

Correct. It applies to the cabin fare paid, or in the case of CAS offer, what you pay for an upgrade. The admin fee is not discounted.

Sorry. Hadn’t read the context of what you quoted. We’re in agreement. NCL needs to stop this marketing ploy. It’s deceiving.

Please read the entire thread. Non-refundable OBC cannot be used for the DSC. But that’s irrelevant. The “OBC” CAN be used to offset the cost of the CNs. You buy two. They charge your account $500. You get $250 in OBC. Net cost is $250. And you get $500 towards deposits on future cruises. Period. There’s no reason to look any further. You still have to pay the DSC. I completely agree that the way they sell these is snake oil. The repeated questions that come upon this site about this conforms it. They are trying to get you to buy other stuff onboard. You don’t need to. You get the benefit by the offset in the cost of the CNs.

Right. I’ve been in the Thermal spa on Escape, Breakaway and the Gem. The big ships are all similar. They’re fantastic. Didn’t enjoy the thermal spa on the Gem as much. Much smaller, noisy and the saunas/steam rooms are in the unisex locker rooms. Much preferred the bigger ships. I was on the Joy in September and REALLY missed the spa.