Sthrngary

@sophia thomas I have been following along with your story since you wrote it. I am NEW to Oceania but not new to cruising. I am also not new to issues happening within my booking and being quite upset. If I may be so bold to offer you an approach that has worked for me with a high level of success. I hesitated to even respond because of the comments I have gotten in the past from my approach. However, putting myself in your place, nothing would give me greater joy then to assist in some way towards gaining you a resolution you felt comfortable with. In my Pre-Retirement Life, I taught "Issue Resolutions" for some big companies. Social Media will NOT help. It will make you feel better and maybe give you some idea's. The key to resolving your issues it a "Very Professionally Written Letter". In this letter NEVER threaten, show no anger, disappointment in the brand is a better approach. Simply explain the facts of your situation, how it made you feel as a loyal Oceania Client. Then at the end, make a suggestion of a Realistic Resolution to this issue. Realistic for both sides with an emphasis on your satisfaction. Unrealistic is "Give me a free cruise, in the Owners Suite and a full Refund". I think you get the idea. The letter must seem somewhat formal in format. Then send it to the top 4 executives of Oceania In Miami. As someone else has said, send it Certified Mail. You will repeat this process every week until they call you back and resolve your issue. If you want to send an email also, with the same letter. The Code for Oceania is First Initial, Last Name @ OceaniaCruises.com or NCL.com. It would take many more paragraphs to give you every example of how my issues have been resolved over the last 44 years of cruising. Yet, resolved they were. All fairly and with somewhat of a Win/Win conclusion. All this said, I get so much push back when I make this suggestion on a Social Media Board. Usually from those that never approached things in the manner I suggest. Good luck and let us all know what happens. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

"The best thing about waking up, is Almond Croissants with my cup!!!!" ALMOND CROISSANTS!!!!! In the Horizons Observation lounge. With the most unbelievable coffee machine I have ever used. On the JOY!!!! YOU ARE KILLING ME. Some of my best memories. Thank you and I HATE YOU!!! Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@PurpleBunny84 The best credit card perk program is American Express Platinum Rewards. Not associated with any brand. It give you the most flexibility. However, it is VERY expensive so you have to leverage every perk which I have done. I used to travel for business and my client paid all my travel expenses. At one time, I had 1.5 million points. I can transfer the points to Delta one point for one mile. I just used 800,000 delta air miles for two round trip Business Class ticket on Delta ONE from Alabama to Athens, Greece and from Barcelona to Alabama. I needed to transfer 100,000 AMX points to gain 100,000 extra miles. All I am saying is, AMX give reward points & Cruise Perks. The Royal Card just give Cruise perks. Read the fine print and due your due diligence. Then do what is right for you. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I am the OP and want to add more information that may help everyone who is new. Two subjects: Credit Card Perks Gaining Upgrades Credit Card Perks: Some credit cards are better than others. Prior to booking your cruise, check out your credit card for cruise perks. I have an American Express Platinum Card and when I book let us say, the NCL Haven Suite, I received $300.00 of on-board-credit and dinner for two at the French Specialty Restaurant. I also gain access with this card to the Delta Sky Club, The Priority Lounge and the The Centurion® Lounge. Those lounges are great when you have a lay over. There are rules and every card is different. Add to this there are some Insurance benefits HOWEVER, NOTHING takes the place of well thought out Travel Insurance. DON'T THROW THE DICE!!!!! Gaining Upgrades: Go to social media sites and learn the tricks to the upgrade for your specific cruise brand. Example: NCL has a Bidding system. They send you and email, you bid on the upgrade you want. Oceania has you make a request if they have upgraded staterooms left to make you an offer. Crystal Cruises when they were in business, did a greatly discounted upgrade as the cruise became closer. If it is a bid, do a mock booking to see what the inventory is left. If lots, bid low. If a few and you really want it, bid higher. On Solo travelers be extra careful on bidding. If you bit $100.00, you pay $200.00 because it is double occupancy. Free upgrades depend on the infamous, "Upgrade Fairy". Rarely happen so don't count on it. Well I hope this helps some of you. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Grimix My comment is NOT directly about your response. It is about the subject of "Dress Code in the Haven Restaurant". Your above comment was responding back to a poster that said, wearing shorts and flip flops. They said "No one will care". You said, that comment was patently false. Here is the Debate I really did not want to have however once again, I will address it and it will become an issue again. The dress code officially is Casual. At dinner anywhere on an NCL ship Haven or other wise is NEVER formal. The MOST casual is usually Breakfast and Lunch. Regardless of the policy, based on many Haven cruises, dinner is country club casual. I have personally seen folks come to dinner in bathing suits, dirty tea shirts and flip flops. This restaurant is one of the nicest on the ship. Everyone should ask themselves, does a bathing suit seem appropriate for dinner. Now nice shorts, with a nice shirt seems to me to casual but still is under the concept of Country Club Casual. Nobody has the right to be upset if someone comes to dinner with nice shorts on. They paid the premium so they can do that. No Haven server or crew member is going to say anything because regardless of how they feel, one negative survey about them could lose their Haven Position. Would I go with shorts, flip flops to the Haven Restaurant for dinner, "NO". Not my style. Would I be upset and would it effect my meal if some else did, "NO". They paid the premium. Have I seen some Haven guest get rude to other guest, "YES". Do they have the right based on NCL Haven Policy, "NO". That is the debate I referred to earlier. A similar debate happens on unruly children in the Haven Hot Tub, Courtyard Pool and Haven restaurant. Those children are not the issue it is their parents that allow them to disturb other. I did this to honor the OP's questions. Can we now talk about how great the Haven and its amenities are for all now. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Trust me when I say, you missed nothing. Sorry about the pre-cruise Concierge however I will lay odds, your butler with do everything your want in short order. I was on the Breakaway in December of 2022. Nice ship. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Cruiseguy14 As previously stated. Welcome to CruiseCritic.com. Each and every question you asked is answered in the tagged posting above that I wrote. The best approach is to read the very first posting on page one. It is updated as of 2022. When done reading, you can ask me any questions you like by posting @Sthrngary make sure it is highlighted and it will alert me you want me to answer a question for you. You can also Click the "Quote" and I will see the alert. Two of your questions are somewhat a can of worms. Children's behavior and Dress Code. It creates and has created many debates. Here is a general rule. NCL is a family oriented cruise line. Unlike others that are Adult Only. That creates a certain level of expectations on both your questions. My OP-ED's are always focusing on enhancing your cruise experience and always having "Realistic Expectations". With that in mind, all the Guest in the Haven pay a premium for this level of experience on a Mainstream Cruise Brand. A very few guest can come across as entitled due to that premium paid. Other can come across as defiant. Just normal for me on Social Media. My advice to you is always be considerate of others and use common business sense as we all do. As long as another guest does not negatively effect my vacation, flexibility is always the norm. I hope that makes sense. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@SaltyPawz The answer to how to alert me is given above. Thank you for your kind words. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@smillerholmes Worry not!! My approach works for the Haven or what I have called "Haven Lite". Example of Haven Lite. As much as I love the Haven, when the 7-day fair is $3,500.00 plus, it is a budget issue for myself and other sometimes. Especially if you are going solo which I ONLY did once. However, what if you got a Club Balcony Suite for lets say, $850.00 per person. I would end up getting a meal package, Vibe Beach Club Free At Sea Plus and not come close the the Haven Price. Hence, "Haven Lite". All done through planning. My hope is when I get done with my week on the ship, my bill under the door is under $100.00. You can do this from a VIP section or an Inside Cabin. Just take some Due Diligence. NOW if you want to "bust the budget", I have been know to do that quite well. I recently did it on a Oceania Cruise. Long story short, I originally booked a Four-Category Upgrade to a Penthouse with a butler and thought I found the best deal in the world. Then months later I saw a new promotion and the fare gods were looking after me. I got a reduction for my cabin of $1,800.00. I was thrilled. My final step was to have my travel agent call for an "Paid" upgrade. Oceania does not do "Bid" upgrades like NCL. Through a comedy of errors by the Oceania Agent, I got a upgrade to what would be about the same size suite as a NCL (H2) Deluxe Owners Suite with Large Balcony. It was called a "Vista" suite. My daily rate per person for the second biggest suite on board was $470.00 per day. No need for specialty meal packages, or upgrading internet, or other things I am used to gaining or upgrading. Now I know that is not chump change however a Haven Suite on most sailing for 7 days now is $3,500.00 or $500.00 per day. That is for a smaller of a Haven Suite. The moral of the story and the story that the I am telling with the video's is, Due Diligence and strategic planning can make your cruise vacation enhanced. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@RocketMan275 I love the way YOU think. Our wife's put up with us. I can not speak for you but I am "no walk in the park". My hardest part of a cruise vacation is gently nudging my bride simply let the crew make the bed for us. She and I actually got in a fight on a cruise ship when I asked to butler to put an extra ice bucket on the veranda because she like to have a glass or two (or three) of cold wine at night. She said, I was imposing on the butler. In todays world to have someone that is a best friend and confidant is such a luxury. Again, GREAT attitude. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Leejnd4 Wow, that was awfully nice of you to say. People in general want to be part of a "Pack". We tend to gravitate to others that agree with our positions. We want to bring more people into our "Pack". The world we know have shows so many examples of this behavior. Those that are bitter have every right to be bitter. Some were stranded, others lot lots of money, other were disappointed as well as hurt. Hurt that the brand they loved so much, that they were advocates for, let them down. This blog was those folks home away from home to engage on Crystal Cruising topics like no Crystal log paper on the bottom of the trash can (My personal favorite). Now, from time to time these folks come back to attempt to bring new candidates into their new "Pack". This is human nature and does does not mean everyone has to like it. They have the right to do so based on their past personal experience. Yet we all have the right to use "Ignore" function of CruiseCritic.com. Everyone has rights. I hope that makes sense. Also to @May B thank you for allowing me to visit from time to time. I hope as Keith says that many of us cruise Crystal together in the not to distant future. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@omahabob LUKE, the force is to strong between us. Your mind cannot fight the force. You must, you will and then you will BOOK. That best part of these video's is it does not matter when you go, where you go, or what brand you have; you can elevate your cruising experience and still have "Realistic Expectations". In the past, my approach to things I did not like on a cruise was to grin and bear it. A great example was a below average butler. Not to get to deep but, what it the butler that was below average or the environment that butler was in was the issue. My light bult went off and clearly, in most every case, the employee was put in a situation that did not allow for fair compensation for fair work provided. The creation of the "Butler letter" with "Pre-Cruise Tip" was born. Most of the issue we have on cruises is NOT the ship, cabin or other hard assets. It is a people issue. Whether crew or guests that have an attitude. There is a solution as long as we all go to what made it a problem in the first time. Then we create to solutions that makes OUR cruise enhanced. A little deep of an explanation but bottle lines to experience are all about relationships with people. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I am so sorry this happened to you. I try my best without being too forward to help folks on things like this. The good news is your cruise will be fantastic. Don’t let the air affect your enjoyment of your vacation. Cruise well, and enjoy every moment

You will have a great time. On the kind of trip you want to go on, you will be busy enough without a casino. I would read the rules on the formal night. Might not be super formal however not super casual either. The people that I met on Crystal enjoy the food and the experience equally. I used to laugh at the folks on the NCL Haven Board wanting to know if they could wear shorts and flip flops at dinner in the Haven Restaurant. Now THAT was an not going to happen at the dinner hour in any Crystal dining experience. Promise to review it. I envy you in many ways. Enjoy Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Treasure Hunter Well now that is an excellent question. We just have to make one assumption which in my heart of heart believe will the the case. The Assumption is the NEW Crystal will be at least as good as the OLD Crystal. All indications are it will be. With that assumption in mind, here is my response. Crystal Cruises in my experience which was one cruise was the "Haven on Steroids". The key to Crystal like Oceania or Regent is when you leave your stateroom, everyone is treated the same. Sometimes, in your stateroom, you might have a few extra amenities besides a larger living space. I LOVE that everyone is treated the same. On that same focus, Crystal Personalized service is a better experience than any other brand I have cruise to this point including the NCL Haven, the Celebrity Retreat or MSC Yacht Club. Impossible to describe but immediately apparent. Add to this the food is elevated if you can believe that because we both like the Haven Restaurant. Here is what you have to remember. Crystal is a smaller ship, it is designed for long cruises that are port intensive. It does not have water slides, go carts and the like. The shows are less of a productions show off of Broadway and more of an ensemble of good performers. The VERY best butler I have ever had with NO ONE ever coming close was on my Crystal voyage. His name was Erin. No words, just the best. Now to answer your question in my way. If the NEW Crystal would have been a real thing prior to me booking my Oceania 10 day cruise in the Mediterranean, I would have seriously considered it. Just know, it is much more laid back, and Luxury is different than mainstream in very subtle ways. Short answer, "You WILL LOVE IT!" Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

Hello All: Soon your wait will be over. My hopes are your memories of the Crystal Cruise of the past will be exceeded. Change is very difficult for all involved. Let's imagine that with the right financial backing, much better upper level management, and many of the same ship crew members, Crystal will reemerge as an industry standard once again. Please share your experiences when you cruise again. I was happy to see the Mushroom Soup was back and that is NO JOKE. I have been in withdrawal. It was SO Good. Keep the faith and remember; the future Crystal Brand is in your hands. It will survive based on "Word-of-Mouth" that is accurate to the exceeding expectations. No amount of Marketing will bring back the brand. You are Crystal's Future. Just my opinion, not meant to challenge other. Cruise well and as Keith always says, "Enjoy Every Moment".

@js I cannot tell you how excited I am for you. I LOVE the NCL Joy. I can answer your question. We left and came back from New NCL terminal in Miami. The ship docked at 06:00 AM. We were in the freight elevator, behind the Haven Desk at 07:00 AM. I had my luggage in hand at 07:05 AM, I was at the cab stand at 07:15 AM. Baring any unforeseen situations, that is my experience. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Morgsmom Sorry for any confusion. Allow me to approach this. First let me say again, I have been on the NCL Joy three times and LOVE it. On to some things that might interest you. All Haven Suites on the NCL Joy have butlers. Haven suites are in what one would call Haven Proper and outside of Haven Proper. Again butlers in any Haven Suite. I have been in both Haven locations. Like everything in life, their are pros/cons for everything. My concern right now for you is that your very simple question is getting lots of information, all good but off your original question. Here is the long and short of it. It is very nice to be in the Haven Proper. It is a close walk to the Restaurant, Bar and Haven Sundeck. I also like that there is an elevator in the Haven that starts on 17 and goes to 19 which is the sundeck. I found that to be very nice. I have done bids for Haven Suites and it depends on the time of year if the success ratio is high or low. The bid program is not to my liking. It makes me want to bid more sometimes because I always prefer to be in the Haven. On to the suites. I notices you made a comment about mock reservations so you get the concept of if that Haven Categories has more suites, you can bid less. Just a strategy and does not always work. On that note, on the bow are some Haven Suites with large balconies as there are in the rear of the ship. Many folks LOVE these Haven Suites because the balcony's are so big. You know the Haven Suite has a Large Balcony if your category of bid says large balcony. Personally I would still look at the suite diagram on the NCL Website. Remember my reference to pros/cons. In the Bow you have the same view that the captain has. Lovely. The down side is when the ship is moving, the balcony can have to much wind. In the rear of the ship, the wind is better however you are far away from the Haven Proper and you gain some vibration from the props. See, Pros/Cons. I personally like a Haven Penthouse Suite, on either side of the ship. For my wife and I it has the best of both worlds. Would like like one with a larger balcony, sure. But for two people, not a big deal to us. Other may debate that just my personal opinion. I am commenting because I was afraid that you were starting to get a bit frustrate. I really know how that feels and simply wanted to say this in a way I thought you would appreciate. For you, the Haven will very much remind you of the MSC Yacht Club which is lovely. So is the Celebrity Retreat. We tend to be a little brand loyal and have very strong opinions. Just means we like the brand and the "Ship-Within-A-Ship" concept. Cruise well and you will love the Haven, we all do. Enjoy every moment.

Hello All: I have been on CruiseCritic.com for many years now. More than most, not as many as others. I have always attempted to by the “voice of reason”, attempting to take the “high road” on many difficult subjects. You may or may not know me for my OP-ED’s on The NCL Haven, Doing Haven Lite or the NCL Premium PLUS Beverage Package. Many call me, “Mr. Haven”. I am honored. Well during covid-19, I got bored and did a series of YouTube.com videos on cruising. I called it the “Cranky Old Man Series” because my family calls me a “Cranky Old Man”. The series is very informal, it was not done professionally. I did it myself and the editing is just ok, but the message is clear. I wanted to show how with a little “due diligence”, you could create as close to an “all-inclusive, luxury and elevated cruise experience” as possible. I wanted to focus on always having a “Realistic Expectation” with our cruise vacations. These videos sell NOTHING, I do not endorse any Travel Agents and I NEVER ask for anything other than feedback. I share this upfront so that the gods at CruiseCritic.com see I am not selling ANYTHING and not attempting to break policies or rules. This five-part series tells a story in order. The titles let you know what is being presented. They go in order building on what was already presented. I was bored today and watched them ALL again. They are informative and answer many of the questions I get asked here every day. I will post the link below of the “YouTube Playlist”. If this post is still on CruiseCritic.com in the morning, I will know did not break any rules. Here is what will be in the Playlist: Episode 1: Introduction to the All-Inclusive Cruising Experience. Episode 2: What I want from my All-Inclusive Cruise Experience Episode 3: Data Collection from Social Media. Episode 4: What I don’t like about Cruising and Fixing It. Episode 5: Pre-Cruise Preparation BONUS: NCL Joy (H2) Haven Deluxe Owners Suite with Large Balcony I hope my efforts in some way assist you and help you enhance your cruising experience. "Cruise well and enjoy every moment." The Playlist Link is: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr9nz5r1Vg_MoFU7f9raAozE_3N46DGa2

@Morgsmom Welcome to the NCL Board on CruiseCritic.com. It seems @knscruiser322 just linked my content on the Haven for you above this post. The first entry (#1) will give you everything you wanted to know about the NCL Haven and more than anyone really wants to read, LOL. I have also been in the Haven on the Joy twice and in a Club Balcony Suite on the Joy. Feel free to ask me any question you might have. It is my pleasure to assist in anyway possible. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

I am just having fun here so please don't take this post/comment as if it is overly important. I am doing a daily check on my one (1) remaining Guarantee reservation and finding this little study very interesting. I HAD two (2) bookings both Guarantee PH3 for a November 2023 10 day Mediterranean Cruise. One reservation which was mine, I did a guest "Paid" upgrade so I have a stateroom now. The other Guarantee is for the guest that will be joining us which is still in PLAY. Here are the facts: This cruise is NOW in the deposit penalty period. Newbee Assumption: Logic tells me prior to this first penalty period, some folks would cancel with NO penalty. Like a first small wave of cancelations. The final payment is scheduled for August 11, 2023. Newbee Assumption: The second wave of cancelations logically would happen just before final payment avoiding additional guest loss. Currently only two (2) Staterooms show available. One (1) Vista Suite and one (1) Owners Suite. All other categories are waitlist. The majority of waitlist happened when new bookings could take advantage of BOTH "four category upgrade" and "Extraordinary Saving Sale" at the same time. About once a week, a PH category becomes available and within an hour or two is gone. The Summer sale is current in effect for this sailing however I am not sure if that has any effect on the remaining Vista or Owners Suite category. Newbee Assumption: The last wave of cancelations should be as the embarkment day gets closer most likely based on sudden health and scheduling issue crop up. I am sure there are other reasons. I find it very interesting to look at this data as it moves forward. It now makes so much sense what so many people have stated on this specific thread. My interpretation. Unlike when a Air Craft overbooks, overbooking is rarely the case on a cruises. When/if it does happen again rare, the few Guaranteed Staterooms WILL be filled. Those on the cruise paid in full (Not those in Guarantee) may have an paid upgrade possibility presented OR may be offered a benefit to take another cruise OR may be given a benefit to take a lower stateroom category. These offers are very calculated by the ships "Revenue" department for maximizing sales and profits as one would assume. All this is hypothetical of course with the logical assumption, staterooms WILL naturally become available up to the last minute. It now makes compete sense that the Guarantees are filled most of the time, after the final payment is due and as close to the sailing date as possible. It also makes sense that although there is a possibility of an upgrade within the category you are booked (PH3 to PH2 to PH1), a higher category is HIGHLY unusual and very RARE if at all. Does the Complementary Upgrade fairy exist? Maybe but they are all based on algorithms that don't favor the kind of upgrade we all dream on. As I continue to watch this every day (I have a lot of time on my hands obviously), I will report back. Please know, regardless to when my final guarantee is filled, each cruise is an island to itself with unique aspects that control timing and placement of guaranteed staterooms. I am simply enjoying the process for "Sport". Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Rainbow3fe I am new to Oceania. I usually go on NCL in the Haven. I want to give you a perspective from someone new and someone that learns some lessons on booking Oceania over the last year. When you see a sale next to your cruise; Summer Sale, The Extraordinary Sale, Four Category Upgrade Sale; The prices you see posted on the Oceania Website are not always accurate. If you use a Travel Agent, have them check. If you use Oceania direct check. The short cut I found was going to a third party online company that starts with the name Cruise. I can say them because it is against CruiseCritic.com posting policy. Anyway, I look up the price on my sailing and their price was much lower than the posted price on Oceania. I hope that makes sense. It was very new to me. I hit pay dirt by being able to have to promotions sales at the same time. That was also a first for me. I hope that helps you. it was a Journey to learn for me. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@js I am anticipating your reason for your question an early flight. If you are on the Joy, in the Haven, the moment the ship is cleared, you can have the Haven desk escort you on the service elevator out. Let's say it gets to the pier at 07:00 AM, at latest, you are off at luggage at 08:00 AM. If you get in at 06:00 AM you are at luggage at 07:00 AM. On embarkation, do Online Check-In the moment you can (21 days out) and get the earliest time for boarding. In reality, it does not matter I just always act like I am in a Club Balcony Suite even if I am in the Haven. The Haven can board first and can come to the port anytime they want. So, you will be in the Port Haven Lounge until the clear the ship. Be in the first Haven group being escorted in. That is what I always do. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Rabidcruiser I could not agree with you more. Part of luxury is the feeling that communication is always very clear and accurate. That said and the theme of the post I did way before much was known about "Simply More" was, basically, "This to shall pass!" After being on the Crystal Cruise Board when they went bankrupt; on the NCL board when covid hit first and speculation of all cruise brands going under. All all the ups and downs of the past few years, it seems the WAVES are big and upsetting when the WAVE happens, then seems to be forgotten soon after. I am NOT say any cruise brand gets a pass on bad or incomplete communications. We all deserve better. I am saying I don't see much difference from one cruise brand to another. For me, not everyone, bad communication seems to be the only thing consistent in the cruise industry. Just my opinion, not saying I am wise or right. Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

@Trivan The NCL Joy has a GREAT Haven and GREAT Haven staff. Here is my sea day. Great Breakfast with way to much French Press Coffee. Shower Haven Bar to gain a drink to take to the Haven Sundeck. Hot Tub with my newest friends. Shower Haven Bar for another drink or two Lunch at the Haven Restuarant Main Pool Deck to watch the "Mr. Sexy Legs Contest" with a drink. Haven Bar for another drink. Spa massage which needed the several drinks prior to forget how darn expensive that massage will be. Two bottles of water Shower You guest it, more drinks. "Not that I plan things our or anything." Cruise well and enjoy every moment.