Sailing12Away

Done it 3x, and have never once had my wine confiscated or been sent to a naughty room. Either embarkation or at ports of call - it doesn't matter. We've done it both ways and have never had an issue.

Yes, once you are in a Haven room you get all the privilege's that come with it. Keep checking the price of the room you're interested in when you get closer to sail away date. The prices sometimes drop significantly enough that it's just easier/cheaper to upgrade to the room you want rather than bidding on it. On the Joy, look into the HH, HI, and HJ category of cabins. They're a great value and huge rooms. A lot cheaper than being in the courtyard area.

The regular beverage package lets you bring bottles of wine on board without any fees, no need for the premium one. We've taken bottles on in both our carry-on backpacks as well as our checked bags with no issues or delays in either situation. Depending on the bottle and how much we care about it, I'll sometimes tape a note around it in my luggage saying "Hi, we have the drink package, please don't take my wine!". But never any issues with bringing bottles of wine, or even a few random beer cans on board.

Bad weather this morning. Just lots of rain and dreary ickiness. Might have just been a domino effect as things started to get behind and continue to affect the ones behind them.

We were on the Joy just a few weeks earlier and had a great bar experience. There was a female bartender there during the day who was so-so (maybe it's the same one that was on now?). She didn't know how to make a mint julep. Instead of admitting that, she just put a bunch of stuff together with a sprig of mint. If I asked for her to make me something of her choosing, she nearly refused and walked me through each choice myself (spirit, mixer, frozen/rocks, etc) to the point where it was my drink and not her choice any longer. The evening bartender for us was 100x better and made all sorts of crazy things of his own creation and choosing. My biggest issue with NCL is the inconsistency. Oi... that was nearly me, minus the meltdown. In my part of NY we do not arbitrarily put mayo on burgers without indicating it is there. I despise mayo with a heated passion. So I too found mayo on a burger at The Local. Instead of meltdown, I ate it without the top bun. No need for drama unless there's a food allergy, but if you do have an allergy every single person in the Haven knows it. A bit too late to help you now, but for next time.... Haven restaurant has a kids mac & cheese. I ordered it a few times either as an app or as my meal for lunch this past trip. Nice and creamy, good stuff.

The only 2br I've stayed in was on the Epic and that was before the recent revamp. You'll need to ask someone else who was on the ship you'll be sailing on.

Another option is just check in with the NCL agents when you get there and see their estimate on when the next bus is coming. Our last trip they took our luggage before they took us (luggage went into a UHaul truck, passengers went on busses without luggage to make the process easier/faster). Might work out for you to ditch the bags with NCL and if you don't want to wait for the human bus, take the Uber you wanted to take anyway. So you can think of it as paying for a luggage transfer rather than a human one if that makes it less salty of a burn.

Correct, no Starlink yet on Joy although it is coming. On our trip earlier this month we had dinner with one of the communication engineering officers. He said they have the equipment, but haven't yet had time to start installing it everywhere on all the ships. Said it would take a few months. When you're on board, on the login.com website it lists a few "free" websites that don't use minutes. CC is one of them, but just like the experience here it never actually worked for me either. We have T-mobile and depending on where we're going will splurge the extra $40 for upgraded mobile data/calling on one of our phones for 10 days of coverage. I'd rather pay that then the unlimited wifi fees on board. For most things, our regular mobile data is fine, but if we have private tours booked I like having calling available to connect with the guides.

Depends on the cruise, moreso the length I suppose. Just got off the Joy earlier this month and for our 15 day PC transit, each day there was a special app, entree, and dessert to pick from in addition to the standard menu. If you give them enough notice and ask nice enough, they can run dishes from the MDR over to the Haven restaurant for you as well. But always better to pre-warn them rather than to ask while sitting at the table. www.cruisedeckplans.com - this is your new friend. Generally speaking, the lower decks tend to have larger (deeper) balconies based on the overall ship shape. It starts to slope in at the top, so you lose some square footage the higher up you go. As all have said... well behaved children are always welcome near me. Last trip we had a satanic beast who turned 3 during the trip. Each meal time the child had no less than 3 staff members chasing them around and scooting them out of the kitchen. Parents were non-parental (nicest way I can say it without bluntly calling them the worst in the world I've ever seen). I think it was a mom and grandma looking after little Ivy. The fact that everyone in the Haven knew this kids name and was warning each other to hold off on going to meals when she was sitting in there is enough to be said...

Yes, she spoke perfect English and helped translate for us when we grabbed lunch at a local crepe place. I don't remember the cost, but split between the 4 of us it was cheaper than a cruise ship excursion.

We just did a 15 day Panama Canal transit earlier this month in the Haven. Never had a problem finding a quiet place to relax. Inside, outside, day bed in the shade, outdoor hot tub to myself most of the time, observation lounge was quiet and mostly empty, new drinks were coming in front of me before I even finished the last one (that got dangerous....). Walking through the main pool deck every single chair was taken, extra chairs set up along the entire walkway were all taken... Even with a split group of friends/family not in Haven, we will still book it if the price is right. There's plenty of times when we are not glued to our family 24/7, and having the option of a quiet place to escape where everyone knows your name and drink preferences is a blessing. Deals can be found by booking very far in advance as well. It gives you time to save up, and if the price comes down since you booked it you can always get the price adjustment before final payment date. We booked this Panama Canal trip nearly 2 years out at a "normal" Haven price of $500/pp/day. By the time final payment hit we got price reductions on our balance making the final cost <$300/pp/day. So our price went from 'normal' to a great deal, and we had almost 2 years to save up for it. Which reminds me.... my Prima sailing final payment is coming up in 2 months.... ouch on that one since there have been no price drops.

You can also request them to be brought to your room with breakfast. Just hand write them in on the card.

Anything that has an upcharge listed (lobster tail, filet at some places, etc) you WILL be charged extra for. But other than that, you will receive a bill for what the cost would have been - and then see a line item making it back to $0 with no charge. The gratuity is already covered when you added on the dining package, but you can leave additional if you want. No need to feel obligated as you already did it though. What you can get depends on the restaurant you choose, but as bird said above it's typically 2 things from the 'left' side of the menu, 1 main with up to 2 sides, and a dessert. Just let the servers know you're using your dining credit and they'll help you sort out what is included.

Enjoy! I did warn you about the lack luster sticks though... Rodney at the Haven bar is amazing, he'll take good care of you. He'll keep the shots flowing at night. His wife is down at the Maltings bar, and she's lovely as well if you wanted to visit with "gen pop" at some point. If you see a big guy from Nicaragua down near the pool or atrium bars named Jose - he's great as well. He used to be in the Haven until they promoted him (which makes no sense to us, if they're great they should be kept up in the Haven). I need to stop being lazy and finish adding all my photos and such from my trip. Don't forget when eating in the Haven restaurant to ask if they have any specials. Not sure if it was just on our trip since it was 15 days, or if it's something they're doing routinely now. It wasn't anything fancy - just something from MDR you could easily get up there, but it helped break up the monotony of the same menu every day.

I had created a whole thread dedicated to our day there in Le Verdon, with maps and info on the shuttles that were available as well as the private tour we ended up doing. But it looks like CC deleted it since then as I can no longer find it. We booked a private tour with this young woman. Had a great day, she picked us up from the port and took us to 3 different vineyards. It was only ourselves and another couple in the van, perfect day. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g635777-d20287878-Reviews-Vigne_Authentique-Soulac_sur_Mer_Gironde_Nouvelle_Aquitaine.html

Correct. Friends can visit your particular cabin, but they can not hang out in the Haven exclusive areas if they are not themselves guests of the Haven.

Our last trip as a 15 day journey, so the FAS + package was an extra $700 per person. For $10 per person, that's a lot cheaper for an easy way to stay in touch with folks if that's important to you. I personally like the quiet times away from my family 😉

The regular free at sea drink package will allow you to bring as many bottles of wine you can fit in your suitcase with no corkage fee. I've done this with both wine and a handful of select specialty beer cans on my last 2 trips with no issues at all.

Not sure how you do your math.... Just got off a 15 day trip this weekend. My tips (not to brag, influence, coerce, persuade, suggest, etc - just for realistic math): Butler - 300 Concierge - 150 Steward - 100 (already covered in DSC, so this is extra by our choosing based on service) Bartender - 200 (again, already covered, extra from our choosing) Assistant bar staff - 50 (another extra and not necessary tip, based on our experience and use) Grand total $800 for 15 days including 3 people who we didn't feel obligated or pressured to give anything at all. If we were on a standard 7 day trip it would have been half that. So not sure how you come up with your number that excludes the bar which tends to be our personal highest expense. A friend on this trip with us chose to tip the restaurant staff extra because his wife had food allergies and they were attentive to her needs, but didn't give nearly the tip we did to bar staff as they didn't use it nearly as much as we did. As it's been said ad nauseam, it's completely personal choice and will vary greatly by usage.

Tipping in general requires common sense. Obviously a cabin of 4 adults with different likes and needs requires a different amount of service and attention than a family of 2 adults and 2 kids who only care about endless candy in the room. People say they don't plan on using either the butler or concierge - yet they don't actually know or understand what they even do many times. If the notion of 'per person/per day' scares people, then change it to a flat amount of 'per day' as the range Bird typically puts will cover a standard cabin of 2 - 4 people anyway - hence the range and not a flat mandated amount. Everyone gets into such a fluff when it comes to tipping for Haven services, yet I don't recall ever seeing a tipping thread related to the kids club... Honestly though, a cruise ship is not much different from a high end hotel. If you would tip a concierge at a hotel $2-10 for each service they provide to you, how is that any different from tipping the cruise ship concierge a total of $50-100 depending on the length of your cruise? Same thing with room service at a hotel, or even take out delivery through GrubHub.... if you're comfortable tipping those servers $2-10 per delivery, how is it any different just because you're on a cruise ship? For folks who get scared about tipping.... just tip as you go. For me, it's just easier to lump it together with a ballpark figure in my head, and add/remove as needed based on the actual level of service received and overall usage.

I find it amusing how expectations of what is horrible and tragic to some can vary from person to person. We just got off the Joy yesterday. If you thought a 2 hr process was bad, then don't read my thread about our recent trip. We sailed out of LA and it took 5 hours from the time our flight landed to the time I was standing on board the ship. Coming home was from Miami. We left our room at 8:30 when our orange color tag was called, and ended up having to catch a Lyft to get to the airport in time for our flight. Made it to our boarding gate at the airport at 11am when boarding had already begun. If we waited for the NCL transfer we would definitely have missed our flight home. Spent nearly 2 hrs in line going through customs and waiting for the NCL transfer bus before giving up and hailing a Lyft.

You also get some snacks brought to the room 1-2 times during your trip, depending on the length of the cruise. My folks were in a club balcony suite in September and had chocolate covered strawberries one day, and cookies another on a 10 day cruise. Slightly bigger and nicer bathroom, better ship location, free bag of laundry, and some bonus snacks. Otherwise there's not much difference.

You're allowed to mention other cruise line names. Sometimes that even helps as folks have traveled on more than one and can help you equate an experience with restaurant X to the one you can look forward to having on the particular NCL ship you'll be on. Specialty dining restaurants usually require a reservation. You can (and should) pre-book these before you get on board. You can usually shuffle them around and change the days/times when you get on board as needed. For the regular dining room, no reservations are needed unless you have a large group. Main theatre shows tend to be at 7pm and 9:30pm. So you could always get back on board, shower, then head to the first showing and eat dinner after. Or, plan on seeing the later show if you wanted to eat first. I'm a picky eater, and I manage just fine. If it's already listed on the menu, you can easily swap out proteins or veggies, or ask for sauces on the side or not at all. Now if you want a mushroom risotto without mushrooms - not going to happen as that is already incorporated into the dish itself. But I've had no problem swapping a veal cutlet with a chicken one, or getting a potato side instead of broccoli and things like that. If you're looking for them to make something from scratch that's not even on the menu, that's a different story. Don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask what is on the kids menu too. This most recent trip I order off of there a few times as I wanted something simple. Chicken noodle soup, mac & cheese, pizza.... there's a lot they already offer and can easily made. So I often use a kids meal choice as my appetizer since I don't eat seafood or shrooms and many choices have them in the MDR options. Flights - read the information (all of it) provided by them on their website, in your confirmation letters and documents, including the fine print, very carefully. I've had no issues with the flights and have saved thousands by using NCL to book them, but the airport transfers I will no longer be using from NCL. Do some research here on the port of call forums for your embarkation/debarkation ports and see what a ballpark price for taxi/Uber/Lyft would be. If it's similar to what NCL is charging, you're better off doing it on your own. With the NCL transfers you have to wait a long time before you get onto a bus with 50+ other passengers. We almost missed our flight home yesterday and had to take a Lyft and forgo the included NCL bus to the airport. So flights will be fine - ask for a deviation if going international for safety (meaning you fly in at least 1-2 days early). If you get the drink package (if you plan on having 2-3 drinks per day, plus sodas, it's 100% worth it in my opinion with the free at sea promotion), then you do not pay any corkage fee at all. The reason folks bring their own wine even with the package is either because there is a particular wine they like which the ship doesn't offer (choices for sweeter wines or higher end wines are very limited), the wine they like is pricier than the $15 limit allowed in the drink package and they prefer to just bring something from home than pay the $1-3 per drink overage charge, or they want a full bottle to have in their room at a time of their choosing. With the regular drink package it only includes wine by the glass. So if you want a full bottle, you would have to pay extra - or bring your own.

What ship will you be on? Ones that have both Taste/Savor (same exact restaurant, one is on the left, the other on the right) as well as the Manhattan room (one deck higher) - the Manhattan room is more 'fancy', simply because they require pants to be worn. If you don't want to see folks in casual vacation attire, stick with that one. But dress as fancy as you want whenever you want. Everyone will look and oooh and aahhhh over you and tell you how lovely you look as they go by in their flippety flops. To each their own.

Letter drafted to NCL requesting a refund on our transfers and Lyft expenses, we'll see how that goes. But for now, some photos and videos from snorkeling in Grand Cayman. USS Kittiwake shipwreck and coral reefs right near where the cruise ship anchored. 20180816_152343.MOV 20180816_143207.MOV 20180816_142924.MOV 20180816_152722.MOV 20180816_152643.MOV