david_sobe

I love the race track has been retired for this ship. I wonder what the line would be for this since you can only send one at a time. Looks like a Caribbean ship for sure. Hope Miami finally gets a new ship again.

I want to get back on Epic so bad. But she does not sail out of Miami for 10 years now. NEVER. Come back to your home port baby. I remember filming her when she first pulled into Miami. Everyone was in awe at how big she was.

Without a doubt Epic. Although I have not sailed Prima or Viva but have seen photos. The Epic is still the largest spa at sea (I believe). Largest thermal pools and an actual aft outdoor area that no other NCL ship has. But it does not stop there. Epic still has the best and largest gym at sea too. It also has the best Spic H20 too. I could go on and on.

All cruise lines nickel and dime. All resorts nickel and dime. Its part of the industry. For some reason some get offended if its pointed out. NCL was pretty clever several years ago when they started to charge for entertainment that would be free or included on other lines. On Getaway many years ago that magic show was what you would see on a river cruise for free. The meal was MDR quality. That was a good example of reaching too far. NCL used to make you pay a gratuity on a cover charge for a specialty dining on top of the auto gratuity for the meal on top of the auto daily gratuity you get charged daily. I am not as familiar with the other cruise lines but I am sure they do something similar. Some Hilton resorts are worse. They charge you for parking at the hotel, charge for Wifi, and charge you for an auto restaurant charge that allows you to get $10 of food from the bar every day. Of course this is to lure you to the bar and order drinks for that food. Its all a game. You cant really fight it. You just have to try and limit your damage as much as possible.

This is a fairly common ploy on all auctions to keep people bidding and increasing the price. I wonder if some of these suites actually will sell for more than the original price 9 months or so out. We will never know but there are many wealthy people that book late and want the Haven and have no problem bidding high or keep bidding.

Everyone's experiences will vary ship to ship and concierge to concierge. Even if I stay in the Haven, I always still book shows and restaurants online. However if you need a change I use them for that. On small ships the concierge really provides personal service. On Sky she would personally visit you in the morning at breakfast and then in the evening. She comped us a bottle of wine at dinner. Another time on Epic we had an emergency dental emergency with someone in our party. The concierge let us use the ship phone at sea to make a dental apt. in St Maarten before we even got to port. Another time we were running late for an excursion and he took us down the service elevator. Then there are times the concierge does not even know your name while others will call you by your name every morning. Some will not be proactive and only minimally deal with your requests. I used to hear good things about Adrian Baca and thought what's the big deal, its just the concierge. Once I sailed with him I completely understood why everyone loved him. He truly was the best. Total VIP treatment. He also was made famous for booting those 2 moochers out of the Haven restaurant on embarkation day because they thought they were entitled to because they had a cruise vlog 😆

Inside cabin 4 days. The Sky used to sail from Miami to the Bahamas which was a very competitive market. The weekend Friday to Monday was popular but you could get the 4 day Monday to Friday for the same price. Cagneys was $25. This was not that long ago 10 years or so. Those were the days

If you don't drink then it does not make sense to get the drink package. Save that money and put it to use at a specialty dining restaurant. You have to drink at least 4-5 drinks per day to pay for the gratuities. It sounds like you are not going to make that happen.

You used to be able to take a NCL Sky cruise for $349. Today it gets you a spa pass. 😲

Their full review of Viva was just released today. They said the food is better than any cruise line they have sailed. But they gave the ship 4 out of 10 mostly for its design of small venues, and only 1 major entertainment venue. They showed some awkward footage of entertainment in the atrium and with the tiered layout, you cant even see the performers. Its modern and has great food but their review is on par what others have said about the ship. NCL must acknowledge these errors because the next 2 ships in this class are around 15% bigger.

Clearly you dont watch them. They are 90% positive of almost every cruise they take. They always point out a few things they dont like. Its crazy that you are so upset because someone posted their experience that may not be yours.

Its called click bait and everyone does it. None of these videos are harsh like that. They are NCL cheerleaders like many other vloggers. So they point out some issues with the Viva Haven. Its fair and their experience and should not be attacked for doing so. I dont know about you but I like to hear both good and bad.

Not every ship is for every person. It's ok. One thing that I have always been curious about on these new NCL ships is how all Haven cabins are outside the Haven facilities and you must take an elevator to them. NCL has always charged top dollar to stay inside the complex. I would have to personally experience this to have an opinion. Have they made the Haven so big that it defeats its own purpose?

I have not sailed Prima or Viva but I am scared to agree with you. I like staying inside the Haven without having to take an elevator to the Haven. It looks like lots of space but no one around. Not even a guitar player in the lounge. It all looks like wasted space. I will say the aft infinity pool is great. But if its a kiddie pool then it defeats the purpose.

You are on the right track. I've brought electric candles on 2 cruises. Here is a photo of my Epic 2013 Valentines Day week cruise. Others have brought up some good points. The cakes are horrible and a waste of money. Flowers can be bought and its a fair deal considering its a cruise ship. Save money and make it more intimate. Do things yourself. Bring your own decorations and keep others away. I would not even eat in the cabin. I would have a nice meal in the Haven restaurant or specialty restaurant and then watch a DVD movie in bed later.

I am a Haven lover and those guys are always positive but their review of the Viva Haven was disappointing. The service was not great because a shortage of workers, the Haven bar closed at 6pm, Kids running all over the place monopolizing the pool, kids even on the adult only sundeck and staff never intervened, etc. I was so disappointed to see that review. Wake up NCL.

These kinds of threads drive me nuts. Any adventure for enjoyment in life involves risks. So many comments about never renting scooters, etc. Anything can happen to you at anytime in life. You can be on your way to a safe beach excursion and the bus get hit or roll off a cliff. Many years ago a volcano erupted on an excursion and killed people. You could drown swimming with dolphins. We cant just prevent risks from living our lives and having fun. I am not talking about reckless actions so please dont start posting reckless behavior. Just 2 months ago a child fell off a zipline on a cruise excursion. Then these threads all pivot to travel insurance. Yes its a good thing to have. You wont get an argument from me. However medical treatment in other countries without insurance is not like the United States with cost. Its incredible the amount of medical care you can get at a fraction of cost compared to the states. Another myth is the medical rescues from the Coast Guard. They do not charge anyone for their rescues yet its another scare tactic to talk about travel insurance. As they say, accidents happen. It may not have even been their fault. We all cant live in a bubble. I once traveled with family and someone needed urgent medical treatment (it was not life threatening). When we got to St Maarten we took a cab to a doctor, got treated and back on the ship. Paid with a credit card that was a complete fair and reasonable cost.

The Haven was so much more inexpensive prior to the upsell market. Prior to the upsell they would slash Haven cabins to fill them to occupancy. Now Haven cabins are set and only go up in price (for the most part) and there are secret bids that score pretty much what they would have originally sold for if not for more. But to answer the question, 10 years ago I was able to book an Epic 2 bedroom suite sailing Feb 2013 for $2499 per person. We had 5 people in the big cabin for only $5k which was $1k per person for a 7 day cruise. This was not an upsell. It was online price booked about 6 months in advance. Those days are long over 😞

This is confusing because breaking up with someone should have nothing to do with if your girlfriend can take time off from work to join you on your cruise. That would be the most selfish reason for breaking up with someone. Not everyone has the time for a cruise especially if they have a child. It was a wonderful offer and gift. But your expectations are completely unreasonable. Go solo again. That seems way too much money to spend traveling solo in the Haven. I don't know your financials but go with your heart whatever you like.

Yes its too early to say. The weather guy said this morning that the north east is not out of the woods yet. I cant imagine such a monster storm hitting the north east coast. But until it makes that turn to the north, no one knows if it will stay out to sea or hit a coastal area somewhere. But even if it stays out to sea, a monster hurricane like that will make for rough seas everywhere. I remember when I first moved to Florida and we had these giant waves and was shocked to learn they were from hurricane Luis and that storm came nowhere near Florida. But it was so big and powerful it was churning ocean water all through the Atlantic. No matter what happens, the captain will know what areas to avoid. Its that time of year and this is not new.

There are other reasons to love the Epic outside the Haven. The Breakaway started this trend of open air restaurants to save space. Epic's venues from the nightclub to the restaurants are full size. If you go to La Cucina or Shanghais on Epic they are real restaurants with 4 walls and water view windows. On the Breakaway class ships, they are open to noise and smoke from the open side. Spice H20 is better on Epic too. It has tiered seating and a real swimming pool (not a water feature) unlike Breakaway/Getaway. The Bliss nightclub is so big it hosts games and shows during the day and there is room for everybody. The specialty dining restaurants are ample sized too without having tables 6 inches apart. IMHO, the Breakaway class ship was an over-reaction to Epic's criticism and was built way too conservative and conventional. Epic definitely has quirks but those quirks make it unique. Lastly, the main thing that often gets overlooked is how NCL built so many ships post Epic with most of Epic's features. The atrium and casino being central are almost identical to BA, GA, Escape, Bliss and Encore. The spa on Epic may still be the largest spa at sea. Its far superior to any ship post Epic. It has larger pools and even has an outdoor space which NO other NCL ship has post Epic. Epic gets lots of flack but I dont think NCL made a better ship until the Bliss/Encore came along. Epic was designed for style and flare over function in many areas. Sometimes you have to say "what were they thinking." For example the penthouse suites have the phone in the bathroom. Those round beds looked great though (not sure if they still have them). And those curved walls in the balcony cabins LOL. You just have to take it all in and enjoy it! Somtimes its fun to be different.

Epic all the way (for Haven). The mixed reviews on Epic usually have nothing to do with the Haven and trivial things like shower curtains and sinks in balconies or a lack of a promenade deck. The Getaway Haven was like one giant step backwards from the Epic. *The Haven restaurant on Epic is twice the size of the Haven restaurant on BA or GA * The Haven lounge on Epic has ocean views and is so funky and cool. No views on BA or GA * The Haven sundeck is Posh which is so much better than that basic sundeck on BA or GA * The Haven area also has a courtyard grill to sit outside and an extension of the Haven restaurant

He really was. I used to read about him all the time on this board. So I had high expectations when he was our concierge on Getaway in 2015. He exceeded those high expectations. I am glad he is well. I wish they could clone him and make him the concierge on every ship.

I am the same way. I drove my wife crazy on cruises because everything was planned. We sailed with Spanish speaking relatives once and I "over planned." I told the pre-cruise concierge to have a Spanish speaking butler and have the dailies delivered both in English and Spanish. Well sure enough everything was delivered in Spanish. Lesson learned. It was foolish for me with dumb special requests. How do you really know what pillows you want unless you try them. I don't even ask them to empty the fridge anymore because most times it does not get done. You have to let your cruise come and roll with the punches. Don't even get me started with the threads about giving their butler written lists. We never like the treats delivered each day (except for the chocolate of course) and once I tried to stop them to not waste food. It never worked and I just ended up frustrated. I have learned my lesson. Less is more!

My tips for the Haven would be the same for any cruise. Don't over plan! I think because of the excitement booking the Haven and the pre-concierge makes people over plan. I was one of them once. Details about pillows, your lounger on the balcony, and your fridge can all be worked out when you are on board. Your butler does not need advanced lists for a cruise that is happening months in advance. I have always pre-booked shows and restaurants online but even those can be handled by the concierge once on board. IMHO that is what makes it a luxury vacation. You can relax and not worry about anything until you get on board. I see way too many threads here of people over planning their Haven cruise. I've been there and done that. It always leads to more frustration because half of the stuff never gets done and must get sorted out on embarkation day. So my biggest "tip" would be is CHILL. Sit back and enjoy the cruise 😘