Labracadabra

Honestly, the best NCL cruise I have had was in a spa balcony with a vibe pass. Dedicated areas available to you, tons of flexibility for everything else.

Booked the Haven outright.

Nope, I am happy to pay for drinks -- please see that we happily paid for a bottle of wine above the PBP package at Cagney's. Plus, I hate sparkling water. This is probably a mistake on NCLs part and a lesson for me to deal with everything before disembarkation-- nothing more. I posted about it because it was my first time in the Haven and wanted to see if these charges were normal before I raised the issue with NCL.

Yep -- double and triple-checked both. We also didn't sign anything -- without the drink package you have to sign for everything. At Cagney's we ordered a bottle of wine that was over PBP, and we signed for it. It's not drinks. At the Haven restaurant, we only had a glass of wine each with dinner, no drinks at breakfast or lunch and we still have charges for those meals.

As of now I have submitted a claim to NCL and haven't heard anything. Shore-based customer service is nonexistent. I'm giving NCL to the end of the week to respond before I dispute the charges with my cc company. If I hear anything else, I will update you all.

We never signed anything — in fact we commented how nice it was not have to sign anything in the Haven! Little did we know, lol.

Not making it up. I just blocked out my husband's and my names.

I'm sorry to hear so many people -- including you -- had issues. That makes me think the charges are likely in error, and maybe not an extra Haven service charge. Although I remember the Haven restaurant menu listing a 20% service charge. Now I wonder if I read it wrong. I wish I had taken a picture of it.

It was a charge for each and every meal in the Haven restaurant and for each round of drinks in the Haven bar. The charges varied from between $28 and $37 for each meal (so likely not an erroneous charge for a non-Haven diner), and $8.20 to $8.40 for each round of drinks. The drinks charges were too low to be charges for the drinks (since most cocktails are $12 and up).

Nope, no non-Haven guests. Just us.

After 42 minutes on hold waiting for the concierge, I was advised to fill out the guest relations form to request an itemized copy of our bill. I'll do that and update if/when I hear back. The lesson here is to check the bill before you disembark, I guess. If anyone is in the Haven now and sees these charges, heads up!

Thank you for all of the replies -- I should note that the Haven restaurant menu DID say there was a 20% service charge. We never signed anything and it was listed on our bill simply as "Haven Restaurant." I'll call the shore concierge and see what's up.

Hi Everyone, I'm just off the Getaway and we had our first time in the Haven. It was nice, but we were surprised to have a 20% service charge added to our bill (on top of the daily gratuities) for each meal at the Haven restaurant and each round at the Haven bar (we had the premium plus drink package). There were only two of us, so this wasn't a charge added because we were a large group. I don't know if I just missed the fine print, but I thought the Haven restaurant was included and a 20% service charge doesn't feel "included" to me, since there isn't a similar charge at MDR or the buffet. Ditto the 20% service charge at the bar when we already paid daily service charges and drink package service charges . . .and I always tip cash as well. Are these charges new or have I been living under a rock? BTW, the charges for dinner were around $30 (we each only got an entrée, dessert and a glass of wine each) and breakfast was $28 (I had eggs benedict, my husband had waffles). At 20%, that $28 charge means NCL valued that breakfast at $140. Besides these charges, we came away unimpressed by the food and service in the Haven. We never saw a waiter on the sundeck and empty drink cups piled up around the hot tubs. The steaks in the restaurant were incredibly thin and my husband had to request a knife to cut a brownie dessert because it was so tough. "Priority" disembarkation took over an hour. The entire experience was a huge letdown after hearing the Haven talked up so much.

Just ran the #'s for our 7 day cruise on the Encore in January. Upgrading each of these (except the shore excursions) individually would cost us $600 ($84 extra meal upgrade, $30 for the Wi-Fi and $486 for the premium plus drinks). At one excursion, we'd break even and start profiting on the second. The thing is, we don't really like the cruise line's excursions. And I kind of like not having much internet at sea. But if you were going to do the premium beverage anyway, get one excursion in and the rest is gravy.

Vibe is much smaller, and much less crowded. As a result, Vibe has much better service. I've never seen a hot tub empty on Serenity, I've had one to myself several times in Vibe. A better comparison to Vibe is the Loft 19 area on the Mardi Gras. Smaller than Serenity, but plenty of space, great service and great views. When you compare Vibe prices to Loft 19 prices, the Vibe is a steal (unless you're staying in a Loft 19 suite).