bluestar1

Here are my reactions, thoughts, and feedback from our first stay in the Haven last week. Very long, as I am wordy 🙂 We were on the Encore, sailing Alaska from October 22-29. We stayed in a two-bedroom family suite, room 17116. Total of five in the family, three adults, and two tweens. Unrelated to the Haven, but important notes for traveling, even though we were driving up from Oregon, roughly a 4-5 hour trip, we decided for some reason to stay the night in Tukwila, just outside Seattle. In our other two cruises, we have not done this, but I wanted less stress this time, and driving up the night before seemed like a good plan. It was, because our driving trip ended up taking over 9 hours, including turning around 45 minutes in and going home, as I5 was shut down for hours due to police activity. I had also forgotten my Relief Band, we were thinking of stopping at a Marine store on the way up but decided it made sense to go south a few more miles and take backroads north, and this got us close enough to home to swing back by. So, always plan for extra time to travel! We arrived at Pier 66 around 10 am, my husband dropped off myself and the kids at the sidewalk with bags. We weaved around to baggage drop off, waited for him to park, and dropped our bags. We found the Haven entrance thanks to a video I saw on YouTube, and avoided the main line by going into this door. We were going to be ushered into the main line but I let the gentleman know we were Haven guests and he moved us to the Haven line. In reality, we should have stayed in the regular line, there were 2-3 people checking in regular guests and 1 for Haven. The other line was not long yet and moved much faster, as our team member checking in guests was pretty slow. We moved through security with everyone else, as the lines merged back together for this. We were then asked what floor, and they divided the main group into what floor you were in, we headed up the escalator, told the team member at the top we were in the Haven, and she checked us in from a clipboard, walked us into the Haven waiting area and to the check-in desk. They took pictures of us and checked us in. We grabbed some seats in the corner, the Haven waiting area was already filling up and grabbed some snacks. Someone came around and offered to to take a family photo, and another team member came around to give us some information on how to set up entertainment, and dining, and how they would help us on the ship. They boarded the first group of us waiting around 11 am, we were led directly into the Haven lounge, of course there was more food available and we heard more from the team members on what to expect, how to book things, and who would help us with our needs. Once released we were told to go ahead and drop our day bags off but the room would be ready in about 30 minutes. We did this and got over to the muster station so we could get that out of the way. Very glad we did as it was starting to get busy over in the theatre with other guests who had started boarding. I think we took a short walk at this point, maybe through the observation deck, atrium, and general main public decks to get an idea of the ship. We then headed back to the Haven and were told the rooms were ready so we headed over to our room. Thoughts on the room: The extra space over having an inside cabin is fantastic. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms makes a world of difference when traveling with tweens and above. On our last trip in 2019 we did two inside staterooms for the same amount of people but it was very close quarters. Main Living Area: The main living area is well-spaced, the couch wasn’t overly comfortable for sitting but usable. I think our complaints would be wishing the table was a little bigger, with how big the plates and covers are it was hard to sit more than two or three for a meal. The bar area is mostly taken over by coffee and tea service and not a lot of area to store personal needs. However, there is storage overhead in the desk area and drawers under the desk. This was more than enough for my daughter who used the couch and living area as her “room” for the week. The fridge is small, but fits a pitcher of ice water, some heavy cream, and additional yogurts the kids had asked for daily. You will not fit a regular plate in there, and I would snag the Nespresso plates from above to store extra food on them in the fridge. I did not drink the champagne, I gave it away. We took home the boxed water so I cannot comment on those yet. However, the water in the fridge daily, or we’d grab some from the bar tasted fine, and my kids and husband are picky water drinkers. Second Bedroom: This was set up the entire time as two bunks for our adult son (21) and tween son. I asked for the extra padding and neither complained of the bed comfort. With the ladder out, it is very tight to get to the bathroom, and the room is pretty narrow. I would say it's not a relaxing room for anyone larger than a child. My tween son would hang out in there and watch TV and play with small toys he had. There is a closet, shelves, and corner shelves for storage. Both boys used that area and we stuck extra suitcases in there and had plenty of room for it all. The bathroom is similar in size to inside rooms I’ve had, maybe a couple of inches bigger. Again, boys were sharing this and they had little toiletries and plenty of storage space. Master Bedroom: The bed is comfortable. No complaints! TONS of storage. I had the largest extra suitcase in the corner of the closet as it didn’t fit under the bed and it was perfectly fine in there. We both only had small carry-on size luggage for clothes. My husband didn’t even touch the drawers, and I used hangers and only a few shelves on one side. There are shelves over the desk/makeup area, drawers and shelves in the bedside table. More storage than one could ever need for a week. The only complaint from my husband, he had the side of the bed near the wall is there is little room to maneuver or dress over there. There is also a TV in this room, for a total of three TVs in the stateroom. The master bath was HUGE. I would have opted for a couple inches off the master bath to go to the master bedroom for another foot of movement around the bed. The water was hot, the shower was lovely, and again TONS of storage. Tip: use one of the drawers for your own toiletries and one for dirty clothes, this worked well for us. The middle drawer is for garbage. The provided soaps and shampoo are very smelly, if you aren’t used to heavy scents this could be a problem for some. Personal notes and comments about the room: I would likely never do 5 in the room again. Initially, our plans had been a balcony for us and tweens, and my adult son was doing a solo room. We decided we wanted the amenities of the Haven as tween son has special needs and we knew it would be more catered and quiet, so we had adult son dump the solo and put him into the two-bedroom so he too could have the Haven amenities. While the boys had no complaints about sharing the room, it's more my personal preference, as I am an early riser, my daughter is NOT and becomes a very difficult child with not enough sleep. I tried the first two days to slip out of the room quietly to go walk the track and have coffee in quiet in the lounge but the door wasn’t quiet and the hallway light was bright. So after two days of her bad mood, I stopped leaving, which put me in a bad mood to wake early and feel “stuck” in our bedroom. Again, all personal preferences, this had nothing to do with NCL or the Haven, but putting this out there for people to consider. I would have loved to come and go in the morning knowing I wouldn’t disturb the 2nd bedroom, or go sit on the balcony with coffee. It dampened my mood a bit to not have the quiet kid-free time as a mom. I purposely rise early at home to work in my office or sit on my deck with coffee and quiet. So if you do have someone sleeping in the living room just consider the personalities of everyone. The lights are interesting. Took us some time to figure out which ones to leave on, how to dim them, and what did what. They had a fake card in the slot when we arrived, so we never needed our keycards in the main light slot. I think one issue there is if you pull the card up, then maybe someone comes in and goes into a room without turning on the main light and then you come back and turn them on, they ALL go on so you potentially could wake someone napping with lights in their face. Butler: Our butler was Pedro. He was kind, quiet, and very helpful. My special needs son is VERY picky and has food allergies so we worked through some initial bumps but got this figured out. Pedro not only brought the regular snacks that all Haven guests get daily but also we were able to settle on sliced fresh fruits, plain chips, cut veggies, and olives in addition for my son. It was often his lunch because he wouldn’t eat anything else. We asked for heavy cream for my coffee and ice water in the fridge. The heavy cream arrived on day two, and the ice water was usually filled but often out with my kids and husband filling their water bottles once. So we would pop over to the bar and get cups of ice and fill that way. Have I mentioned my kids and husband are picky about water? 😉 Room Steward: Our room steward was Jae Mar and he was very sweet and helpful. It's like he knew when we were gone long enough to turn the room magically. Everything was restocked, beds were made or turned, and he made towel animals for the kids daily (we never even requested it!) and left them a note. On our last day suddenly there was a mildew smell in the master bath, and it filled the stateroom quickly. We opened the balcony, I popped my head out of the room, saw the other butler in the hallway, said something to her, and Jae Mar appeared in 4 minutes with some cleaner, and the smell was gone and never returned. Concierge: Bowen was also fantastic. We didn't need too much booked, but he helped with fixing an Escape Room time and also would call the Speedway and Laser Tag multiple times for us to see if they were open. He also seemed perplexed when they weren't. More below on this saga. Restaurant: WOW! Food was SO good. Just really really good. We didn’t usually have the same waiter, but sometimes we did. We didn’t feel like they got to know us really well, but this was okay, we just had to state preferences and food allergies each time. I can see how some people might feel this is a problem, but I was fine with it. Mostly because the assistant Maitre D, Geanina made up for it. She was really the highlight staff of the restaurant. She always stopped by, talked to the kids, colored with them, learned more about them, and made sure all was right. If there was anyone I was sad to leave it was her, and it was a pleasure to hand her a tip when we left. My kids even teared up a little at the last breakfast as they too would be missing her. I made sure her hero card was left at guest services and she’ll be mentioned again in email. She was just wonderful. ❤️ The food we loved and not so much: (note we are not fans of lobster or seafood) Breakfast- me: avocado toast, french press coffee and muesli. My daughter also loved the muesli and we’re scouring google for recipes to make it at home. We asked the staff but they said “oh its just oats and milk overnight”, but it was more than this. I’m not sure if anything else stood out for breakfast. Please do not hate me, I was not a fan of the almond croissant. 🤯 I promised I tried it twice! But that muesli was our daily go-to. Lunch: me: chicken consomme, cobb salad, prosciutto salad. Husband: french dip. The day they had pretzel rolls were my favorite bread. Dinner: me: rotisserie chicken and filet, risotto. Husband and daughter: filet. Desserts: I’m sad to say I didn’t love any of the desserts. I tried nearly all and never finished any. Which is fine, it gave me more room for drinks and filets 🙂 If you have the museli recipe PLEASE PLEASE share it! We ate at Onda and Q. Onda was better than Q, but I wasn't very hungry that night, the two items I had were great. Q wasn't good, and we love BBQ. My brisket was dry and salty, the rest of the food was just "eh". I feel like we should have not gone through the trouble of daycare, booking meals and just stuck with the Haven. Other thoughts about entertainment and things: We saw The Choir of Men, it was good and very happy to have the Haven seats because one difficulty we had was how the children’s daycare times were set and for parents to get in a dinner and show. It was very difficult. So we opted for a 7:30 showing, the Haven wants to take you down an hour before but the daycare opens at 7pm. We ended having my husband go down, grab two seats, I took the kids into daycare after having their dinner brought to the room and got there about 10 minutes before it started. It felt rushed, but worked out. Back to the daycare, my kids are tweens and just at the oldest level before the entourage teen room. I personally don’t like the idea of 13-year-olds roaming around and glad we could still use this option. I did not allow them to check themselves out. I trust my kids to be good, I don’t trust other people. Plus even good kids do dumb things when grouped with other kids. I think they were slightly bored there, and we had to push them to go use it so we had a short break to eat or whatever. Other issues with how entertainment amenities are open vs daycare was another issue. For instance, the speedway would only be open during the daycare times. So we would miss a mom and dad break in order to do something they wanted. Along with the above, and as I say this, I fully understand that all activities are noted with availability, and things like weather or circumstances can close things or not open them. It was VERY difficult to figure out when the outside amenities were actually open such as laser tag and the speedway. Fully understanding it was Alaska and it was windy and cold, I get this. However, there was really no rhyme or reason to this. They might be noted as open on the daily, and it was fully sunny, not as cold, and not windy, yet they would be closed. One time when it was FINALLY open it was freezing, windy, and dark. So I truly say, no rhyme or reason to this. One caveat to this, with a special needs child who wanted to do these things, we spend a lot of time utilizing our concierge to make calls to see if they were truly open instead of going to the location only to find it closed and dealing with meltdowns. One time we showed up at laser tag after the concierge had confirmed it open, and just after my husband and daughter used the speedway, the staff member there also confirmed, we walked over, and there were still 20 minutes left (time in the arena is 10 minutes) and they literally closed up in our face. My son lost it, and as we were sitting there with him sobbing on a bench we watched another staff member come over and point to his watch and give a confused hand sign as to why his colleagues were closing up. So in this instance, we think that maybe they just felt like closing early. Regardless, the whole thing was frustrating. Again, I fully understand weather issues being part of this, but again we saw things open in the coldest windiest portions of the trip and closed on the calmest and warmer portions despite what the daily said. It was just very frustrating to make plans to do these activities. I will suggest to NCL to maybe put something on the TV or app if these activities are open or not, just a red or green dot next to each would be a quick way to see. We also did the escape room, again some difficulty with scheduling, but the fantastic concierge fixed it. It was a relatively easy escape room, took us 28 minutes, you are given 45. The kids did the Galaxy Pavilion. I wouldn’t recommend more than an hour pass unless it's busy, but it was very empty in there. The staff was kind and gave them an extra 15 minutes as many of the rides were down and not working. We did the arcade pass. I had read to put it on ONE card for one person and you can multi-swipe for others. This worked perfectly for us, we played with the kids on some games. I put this pass on one of the kid's cards so I was able to hand it off to my adult son to use since we didn’t need her card at that time. The cost for the week was $175. Food allergies: My son has multiple food allergies and is also very very picky. I had filed the allergy paper ahead of time, but I was still not prepared on how to make things work in the Haven. It took a couple days but once set it worked. Hopefully, this information can help someone else on your first day and you won’t have the bumps like we did. If you have some general allergies like gluten only and you aren’t picky and eat steak and chicken you will be fine. If you are more complex and picky like him then here are my suggestions. Know what you WILL eat. Make a list of what you will eat and what meals. Again, my child is super picky and will eat the same foods daily, and this would have been the smartest thing for us to do. Meet with the restaurant staff and provide them with this exact list. For example, we finally had it worked out my son would eat 3 of the allergy-free waffles for breakfast and a side of sliced watermelon. Nothing else (they kept trying to add berries and make the presentation pretty, nope, he needs simple!) Do this for all your meals. If you want to change it up give them time to work through this and give it to them in writing. Use your butler for snacks to the room. Again, it took a few days but due to special needs my son didn’t want to sit in the restaurant for all three meals so we were able to get a certain plate brought daily with cucumber, olives, carrots, and more fruit. I added some salami and crackers we brought from home. Side note: we had the hardest time finding CHEDDAR cheese, like a basic Tillamook cheddar. Everything was fancy or if they had it on a plate labeled cheddar it was really American. Things I wished I would have brought: Vaseline or eucerine for chapped faces/lips. We had chapstick but both kids probably from lots of pool time had chapped upper lips and noses. I wished I had brought something like this. 32-degree layers. I run warm all the time and overheat easily. However, that wind is bitterly cold and I wished I had brought my 32 degrees layers. Helpful things I did bring: Dollar store fabric folding boxes. Super helpful to have a spot to dump things in, and they pack nicely. Small things for the kids to do at the table. They got sick of coloring the same thing every night, so we had some travel magnet games. Little notecards and envelopes. I used these to leave tips and write notes to our butler or room steward daily. Either things we needed or simply every day I made sure to write them a thank you. Shelf-stable snacks and foods for my picky allergy child. Turns out there was NO egg-free ice cream or sorbet on board, so thankfully I had brought him cookies and some sweets. There’s more, but this is SO long and you get an award for reading my ramblings. Hopefully, I was helpful for anyone who may have questions. I should add, we were happy enough that we purchased three CruiseNext credits 🙂 (added some random photos including the note my son left Geanina)

I know I won't make it the entire cruise, but I attempt to make what I can 🙂 I have adjusted to plain coffee with cream, and no sugar and will use those saved carbs for the almond croissants and banana banoff I keep hearing about. Oddly, every time I vacation I lose weight, probably because of the extra steps (darn desk job!), and when people cook for me I tend to choose and stick with meat and green veggie or salad combo. Something about being less stressed 😉. I can't wait! Having people serve me meals for 6 days and not have to cook or do dishes sounds delightful.

Silly question, but you maybe understand the importance because of keto - was it heavy cream or half and half? I'm going in a couple of weeks and will have the exact same request/need. Thank you for the detailed post!

I haven't looked at the rules, but in my experience of hotels and other venues usually hot tub use is at the very least 14 but often 16, and I'll reiterate I make my kids follow the rules. They won't be on the sun deck (although I've read everyone in the Haven is allowed at sail away, so I'll check first) and they won't be in hot tubs.

THIS! As a parent sailing in the Haven shortly with two tweens, I'm becoming overly concerned that we will get the side-eye just stepping foot into the area. Clearly many children (parents) have caused problems, but then there are people like me who CHOOSE to sail outside of breaks because we 1: homeschool and 2. I'm not too fond of OPK (other people's kids) 😉 Mine are well-mannered, respectful, and will follow given rules. Maybe it's the GenX parent in me, I was raised by a "I'll knock you into next week" type 🙂 I'm not AS strict but darn close. Anyway, I hope we aren't judged before they actually SEE how my children behave.

Not at all, I wasn't sure if my question was understood. I was curious if this pier has everyone stand in the same line and you separate at that door, or if we find a way to walk around the line and go straight to that door. I will ask when we drop our luggage, but was looking for anyone who is more seasoned than we are to maybe provide a helpful tidbit of what we do. Having a special needs child with me the idea of walking all the way to the front to find out we're supposed to be in the full line won't be a nice way to start the cruise 🙂 It is helpful for us to provide him with what to expect, if he knows what to expect, the rest of us are happier 🙂.

That was my question, I wasn't sure if you had to wait in the initial line and were diverted once you get to the door OR if it was like TSA pre check at the airport and you just immediately go to the Haven sign and walk by everyone? In reviewing the video I wasn't sure how you'd even get to those doors to begin with. I wasn't suggesting to wait, I was questioning if you do, never been a Haven guest and wanted to know what we do.

Pier 66 Haven check-in question, in reviewing this video, at 46 seconds in you see a Haven Check-In sign, would we pass up the long line he shows prior? Or do we stand in that line and once we hit the doors we go right while everyone else goes left?

Congratulations! Also keto, I lost a chunk last year then let life get in the way, and I am also trying to drop a bunch before the cruise only to enjoy the cruise and have myself right back on. Thankfully I LOVE filet and steaks, and we're in the Haven. I'll be able to eat plenty of protein. Congrats again, it's not easy!

Is there a company that offers a cancel for any reason policy? Please let me know your recommendations. Specifics are cruise is totally paid for, on NCL, and less than 60 days out. I've already purchased Allianz. However, what I'm looking for is if any sort of mandate is reinstated prior to the cruise we don't want to go and would like to cancel, just not something I want to have children deal with, it's too traumatic after years of no school, special needs child who cannot cope with the requests, etc. I'd rather wait and reschedule for as close to normal as possible for their sake.

This is the BEST topic. We're new to NCL, and decided to go out all for a Haven room on our first NCL cruise. I have this topic open on a tab and refresh daily, read the new posts, and I've taken SO many notes. I don't care if I see the same questions, because the answers vary and often add their own flare.

He was clearly at home, his phone went live on him and he was talking to his wife about a coffee maker 🤣 It made for a good segway for me to chat with him about his coffee and build a moment that he helped me with everything I needed even though I had ended up in the wrong queue.

I'm not sure what PCC is? The calls have been to add the dining back into the package, as a new person to NCL I didn't understand clearly the free at sea options. Another call to upgrade from an oceanview to a balcony. Another call to help my son with his reservation to upgrade from inside to solo. A call to get the pricing on a Haven room. A call to ask about the alcohol waiver for a family member who doesn't drink. A call to upgrade to the Haven. So yes, multiple calls over the last few weeks. This one was fantastic customer service.

A few days ago I made a call to NCL customer service, I ended up in a queue for access services, but the representative helped me, happily with my request. At the time I didn't know he was access services and the other question I had called about was in his department. I've made approx. 8 calls to NCL in the past 5-6 weeks and this by far was the BEST call I've had. However, I never got his name or simply forgot it if he told me, I was a bit frazzled on the topics I was calling about. Is there any way that NCL could see who I spoke with if I were to send in some sort of comments/review about this person? And, how do I go about doing that? It was just an excellent experience and I'd like to make sure they know and if he gets feedback he is aware. And no, I had not chosen to take the survey at the end, so I could not do it that way.

Thank you all for the kind comments and tips. We decided to upgrade today and received some great tips from the NCL agent that assisted me with the upgrade. Somehow their system routed me to an Access Coordinator but he assisted with the upgrade, and when I mentioned why we did the upgrade, the special needs and allergies he said "well you have the right person!' and proceeded to answer all my questions, explain some tips and who to reach out to for what. One tip he shared with me, I feel everyone should know - he said if we had stayed with our regular room there is an assistance program called "Pier Assistance " you set up ahead of time and call a number when you get to the pier and someone will come out and help expedite you through the regular line. He also said once on board guest services can connect you with the accessibility officer to also request disembarking in a faster and less crowded fashion. This is available to all passengers with special needs. It just has to be set up ahead of time.