rbxlady

Sorry if this has been answered, but I tried the search feature and couldn't nail it down. Does NCL give us any indication of if/when shows may change? We are booked on the Epic in March, and I know the Epic currently has Burn the Floor, which we have already seen on another ship. I'm hoping the show will change so we have an opportunity to see something else. We're past final payment, so there's nothing we can do (and I wouldn't cancel based on that alone anyway), so this is pure curiosity. Thanks!

Although it's not what they planned on, they will have quite a story to tell about their wedding!

Based on my limited experience, if I had to give up something, I would give up the butler. That is not to say that the butlers do a bad job or that we don't appreciate them because we do! However, I suspect there is a lot more the butler does that we don't even realize, so this is a very hesitant "could do without". Otherwise, the most crucial thing to me about the Haven is the restaurant, followed by being escorted on/off the ship without having to wait in line.

That makes sense about higher latitudes status members' getting more meals not tied to specific people vs. upgrades that tie them to specific people. Thank you for that clarification!

That's what I thought, too, but I didn't know if that was an option when you have a higher status. (I do not.) I should just ask my TA next time I talk to him.

This happened to my brother on a European cruise in the summer of 2022. They opened up bidding on certain Haven suites with an auction format. He put in a bid, was outbid, and decided he didn't want to play their game. It just seems like a way to maximize revenue on upgrade bidding in hopes that people will get caught up in the excitement of winning rather than think rationally about how much they want to spend.

I'm happy to buy $500 certs only if they are 100% matched like the $250 ones.

Are these transferrable if you are not Platinum or higher? My husband and I have 4 specialty dining credits each for our upcoming 7-day because we purchased FAS+. We are sailing in the Haven and love the Haven restaurant, so 4 nights eating elsewhere is overkill-- 2 nights is more than sufficient for us. Our two kids will be traveling with us, so can we use our dining credits for them? In other words, can we eat at specialty dining restaurants as a party of 4 twice without paying anything additional?

Can confirm this is, more or less, what I get from my TA. I get an invoice from them, not NCL. Funny, though, because my TA is also in Englishtown.

Thank you, it's hard to figure out precisely what happened in OP's case, and there was so much speculation in the comments, so I didn't understand that they were told it was included when it was not. Definitely a different situation than mine, in that case.

If I'm understanding what happened correctly, I had a similar experience last year. I booked a club balcony cabin for our family of four on our first NCL cruise. When I first booked, I didn't know much about the Haven, and honestly the price probably would've turned me off right away, but over time I warmed to the idea of the perks and saw the value in it. About two months before sailing, I bit the bullet and upgraded our booking to a 2BR Haven suite. Note that I had already purchased Free at Sea Plus (FAS+) for me and my husband somewhere in the $600-$700 range. If it matters, we don't do the airfare promotions because we are within reasonable driving distance of the port, so I wasn't worried about losing promotions. I did not have a TA at the time (I do now), so I called NCL about the upgrade. The rep quoted me, and it was a good bit less than I thought it was going to be based on a mock booking. I expressed my surprise, and he confirmed it and booked it when I gave him the go-ahead. That should've been a red flag, but I was so pleased that I stupidly ignored it. I got the updated cruise summary but didn't look at it too closely. A couple of days later I took a close look at the updated cruise summary I'd received, and FAS+ had disappeared. Long story short, they had taken the money I had paid for that and applied it to the Haven upgrade, thus removing FAS+. I felt like I had been improperly quoted the upgrade price because the rep did not ask if I also wanted to keep FAS+. I spent about four hours on the phone with NCL before they could determine what had gone wrong and why FAS+ wasn't showing up. Eventually, they admitted that it is something with their computer system that can easily be overlooked, like not checking a certain box when quoting the upgrade, and they could see how I found the upgrade price to be misleading and wanted to make it right. I had to wait for a call back from a manager, who agreed to split the difference as a gesture of good will. In short, they had me pay for it in full again but gave me half the value back in non-refundable OBC. When we got on board, we put that money toward a thermal spa pass, which, admittedly, was a risk because I believe those can sell out before embarkation. All in all, it was a total PITA, but now I know that you have to be very careful when upgrading an existing reservation to make sure your other perks are unaffected, of course not counting anything that would automatically be included in the your upgrade, e.g., almost all the perks of Priority Access that already come with booking in the Haven. As was recommended above, stay on the phone while you wait for your updated cruise summary and look at it to make sure everything is correct before you let the rep off the phone. What ultimately happened is that we had a great cruise and had forgotten about everything by our sailing date, and we're sailing again with NCL in the spring. Every one of these cruise lines has issues like this, so I wouldn't write off NCL just yet. See how you like your cruise, and go from there. Also, I would recommend finding a solid TA for these sorts of things so you don't have to deal with them. I wish I had done that the first time around.

In 2022, I booked our cruise before final payment was due, but I upgraded our cabin to the Haven after final payment. Shortly thereafter, the price dropped $600, then our suite type sold out a day or two later, so my timing was perfect. NCL gave me and my husband each a $300 FCC that would go into our Latitudes accounts after our sailing was complete. It did show up within a couple of days after we got back, but to use them, you must sail within a year, not just book. We did not sail within a year, so we lost them. We did book a year to the day of our disembarkation date for a cruise in 2024, and our TA could not get them to honor the FCC. It would've been nice, but the rules were pretty straightforward. I think that even if you initially book after final payment, you can still ask for FCC for one price drop. Word on the street is that you cannot do this multiple times, though.

I am somewhat disappointed in the second bedroom setup on these new ships because my husband and I cruise with our two kids. We all loved that they had their own space in the 2BR on the Getaway, and we are cruising in a 2BR on the Epic next year. They're currently 10 and 12 (<-- this one's 5'6"), so they are young enough not to care too much about bed comfort, but if they have to share a bed, God help my ears from the bickering about who's hogging sheets, blankets, and space. While I love that there is the option of a big bed for a second couple on these ships, it limits the functionality of the second bedroom for parents traveling with kids or other people who don't necessarily want to share a bed but are OK sharing a room. I know I'm being picky at this point, but I just don't like turning the living area into a third bedroom. The nicer second bathroom on the new ships is great, especially for teens and adults, and especially the separate toilet, but the ones on the older ships aren't garbage, just not quite as nice. I just wish that on the new ships they had an option to either separate the bed into two beds or have a Pullman in the second bedroom, and in the latter case, the kids could fight over the queen bed or switch back and forth.

Oh, good point, that could absolutely be true. We are cruising over spring break because that's the only time we can go, unfortunately. When we went last year, it was not any kind of school break. (The kids missed a week of school and had a bad time getting caught back up, so they asked us not to do that again.) I joked last year that maybe we could make friends with some people and get them to reimburse us for half! Definitely a lot for one family to swallow, but we are super low-key people, and we really appreciated the calm and quiet. I really want to do it again even though it's pricey. If they have a pool, even better.

I hope so! The prices went up on Silver Cove compared to when we went in October 2022. We paid for a lagoon villa, and only three were in use, including ours, so it was mega empty. I think it was $750 or maybe $799 before the $50 off. Now it's $949 before the $50 off. I really appreciated a mega quiet beach day and the delicious buffet, but I feel like a pool would justify the price increase.

43 here, and my husband is 45. We intend to enjoy the waterslides with the kids on our next cruise.

Yep, you're absolutely right! The same "sale" has been going on forever. Edited to add that it's not the same sale in the sense that it's constantly renamed, but it's more or less the same.

I realized I never answered the question about whether the Haven is worth it. My apologies for another novelette. The answer is, it depends on you. Personally, I am an introvert, as is my husband. We like quiet, we don't like being in large crowds fighting for a place in line, etc. We quite literally retreated to the Haven very often on our last cruise and spent most of our time on board there. Because it's relatively small, you start to see the same people over and over. It's like living on a small street with friendly neighbors. We had our kids with us, and there were a few other kids in the Haven (it was not a regular school break), but all the kids were well-behaved. One family had very young children with them, and if one got a little loud at a meal, one parent would leave with the child and return when the child was calm. In other words, everyone acted right, and the whole experience was very civilized. That's not to say that there will never be jerks in the Haven or that the rest of the ship is filled with uncivilized brutes. It's just one of those things where if you want a nice, quiet dinner, you're more likely to find it at a fine dining establishment than you are at Applebee's. Of course your suite is going to be much nicer than even a club balcony "suite". Don't forget the one-hit wonder of split bathrooms on the Epic, which is not the case in Haven suites. I would check out the floorplans on the NCL site: https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/epic/staterooms/the-haven. In the Haven, you get a butler. This sounds weird and elitist, and I assumed we would say hi to our butler on the first day and never ask anything of him, but the man was practically a wizard and would anticipate everything we intended to ask for before we could ask for it. If we left our cabin for 15 minutes, we came back to find things straightened up and new treats left behind. We joked that he was spying on us. When one of our kids got a stomach bug, we self-quarantined for 24 hours, and our butler brought us easy snacks for our son plus other snacks for the rest of us, as well as dinner from the Haven restaurant in our cabin that night. He offered these things; we didn't even have to ask. We didn't ask for much overall, but he made everything so easy. The Haven has its own separate concierge. When our son got sick, I alerted them in case the medical team wanted to COVID test us or anything (they didn't), but concierge checked on us to ask how our son was feeling. At our request, they cancelled our excursions for that day and the next and got us full refunds. They made show reservations for us, and when it was time to go, they escorted us down and brought us to the Haven seating area at the front. We were escorted up and down the ship on port days, and we got priority in boarding the tender (in both directions) at Great Stirrup Cay. I don't know if any ports on your upcoming cruise will have tenders or not, but our next cruise will have two (Great Stirrup Cay and Grand Cayman), so this is a nice bonus for us. When you arrive on embarkation day, there is usually have a separate Haven area where Haven concierge check you in, there are snacks and drinks and more comfortable seating than in the rest of the terminal, and you get escorted up to the Haven with priority boarding, so you're some of the first people on the ship. You also get priority disembarkation. We left our suite and were in the shuttle back to our car in about 30 minutes (of course, customs and luggage carousels may slow you up). I saw the lines we bypassed, and they were pretty long. Finally, there's the Haven restaurant. We ate at the buffet one time and one time only. It was so bad we actually went back up to the Haven and ate there. The food in the Haven was delicious! We literally had nothing that was just "meh" there. I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of, but the Haven is an opportunity to have access to exclusive (read: generally quiet) parts of the ship as well as to be treated like a VIP. Sure, you get the same ship, the same entertainment, and the same ports as everyone on board, but it removes the inconveniences of cruising on a large ship while also giving you a few very nice benefits.

This thread began in 2021 and continues to this day: I followed this thread very closely last year and just skimmed through the last few pages. If you start at the beginning, keep in mind that you'll see a lot of relatively low upgrade bids being accepted for the Haven when cruising was not yet back up to full capacity. That's not to say that people don't still get relatively low bids accepted anymore, but usually you see those for inside to balcony, etc., not from balcony or club balcony to Haven. We sailed in October of 2022 on the Getaway and had a reservation in club balcony. When upgrade bidding opened, the minimum bids were so high that I decided to bid but also watch availability for our preferred Haven suite (2BR, as we were cruising with kids). Data just so you have an idea of what bidding from club balcony to the Haven might look like (keep in mind it is probably based on what I paid for club balcony, plus it was a different ship, different time, different itinerary, and apparently I kept all my e-mails): deluxe owner's suite (DOS) with balcony minimum bid at $1500pp, DOS with large balcony minimum bid at $1600pp, 2BR family villa minimum bid at $1000pp, and for an aft-facing penthouse, either a regular balcony or large balcony, minimum bid at $750pp. I figured a lot of people would bid the minimum and/or bid round numbers, so I played The Price is Right and bid just over round numbers (e.g., $1510 instead of $1500). A little over two months before our cruise, with three 2BR suites left, the price dropped to basically our upgrade bid plus a little extra. I decided to book it to secure it, and the bonus is that you get double Latitudes points when you actually book it rather than win an upgrade bid. Sometimes the fare will drop to below your bid! Not long after we upgraded, the 2BR suites sold out, then shortly after that, the entire Haven sold out, so short of any last-minute cancellations, nobody's Haven bids were accepted. We're cruising again with our kids on the Epic on 3/31, and we booked in late October, so not yet a month ago. At the time, there were only three or four 2BR suites available (we booked the only one left on the main level of the Haven), but I checked about a week ago, and there were none left. I just looked, and there are only seven Haven suites left of any kind at over four months out. All that to say, since it's just two of you, you have more options than a group of four, but based on what I'm seeing in that upgrade bid thread, the Haven seems to be selling out on many sailings. Before I booked our cruise on the Epic, I looked at other cruises the same timeframe where there were no 2BR suites. It sounds like you're happy with club balcony, which is great-- you should always book the cabin you're happy with so you're not disappointed if your bids aren't selected-- but you may want to keep an eye on the suite(s) you may want and see if the price drops to around your bid. Three things to keep in mind: (1) Mediterranean cruising tends to be port-heavy, so you won't spend as much time on the ship; (2) according to others on here, the Epic has the best Haven in the fleet; and (3) cruising in the Haven is addictive. There's also a great thread from a fantastic member Sthrngary on what he calls the "Haven lite", which is full of tips for making your cruise outside the Haven feel very luxurious.

My brother was on an NCL ship when this happened, and they got an extra day+ on the ship. It messed up people's return trips, and I felt really awful for the people whose cruise got cut short by a day. I didn't even consider what a mess the port terminal must've been.

I'd be curious to know if they give you a FCC if there are no more of your cabin available. Can they check the price without cancelling your reservation? I got a FCC in 2022 when there were two cabins left of our type and got $600 which, of course, we did not use in time. We booked within a year but did not sail within a year, and our TA could not convince NCL to let us use it. It was worth a try. I just tried to do a mock booking for our upcoming cruise, but the cabin type we booked is sold out. I got a deal I'm happy with last month, though, so I'm glad I didn't wait for Black Friday deals to book. Edited to add, no airfare for us, either. We drive to the port.

Our next sail-away date with NCL is Easter Sunday, though we are planning to go to Easter Vigil Mass the night before near the port. I'm not counting on Mass being available on the ship even though it's Easter, but I will be asking beforehand just in case it is available because I would prefer to do that. Regardless, we are practicing Roman Catholics and are considering asking NCL for space to hold morning prayer (Liturgy of the Hours, possibly followed by the rosary, about 1/2 hour total). Obviously if there is a priest on board, we would defer to him in this. At worst, we'd ask to privately join him for LOTH, as it is a requirement for him. My husband is soon to be ordained a permanent deacon, though not before our next cruise, but it's possible that after his (presumed) ordination, he may be permitted to travel with the Eucharist so that we could request for him to hold Communion services on board. It could not be Mass, as deacons cannot consecrate the host, but that suffices to fulfill your Sunday obligation (or a HDO) if no Mass is available. Anyway, all that to say that if you happen to cruise with people who feel inclined to lead something or even ordained clergy, there may be options, but under most circumstances, I would not expect to be able to find anything on NCL.

Luggage tags are a big one, but honestly none of it seems real until I am walking into the hotel the night before. But I know a good, long trip (as opposed to a weekend trip) is about to happen when I'm sitting on my bathroom floor, sifting through my ridiculously large collection of travel toiletries for the products I want to pack.

I've never gotten the NCL one 😞

We were on the Getaway out of Port Canaveral in October of last year. Long story short, we were booked in the Haven, but we got misdirected several times before I spoke up, leading to our being second-guessed as Haven passengers (I guess we don't look the part?) and finally sent to the Haven waiting area. Now we know what to do to avoid problems (I hope) when we go back there next spring, but it was kind of a mess. I don't know how soon after we boarded that Priority ended up boarding, but the small Priority area was standing room only. Based on how crowded it was, I'm guessing they sell it to as many people as are willing to buy it, so I would also guess that your mileage may vary based on how many people have it. If I recall correctly, at Great Stirrup Cay, the Haven and Priority (and possibly Silver Cove?) passengers were put in one small area together and boarded the tenders first before everyone else waiting.