The Haven

[emcelh]

A couple of posters have said that most of the recent problems in the Haven seem to be on the Gem. I wonder why? Could it be that the staff on other ships do a better job of keeping things under control?

[notmyccname]

I cancelled our Breakaway cruise for August & won't book another Haven Suite until someone enforces the rules NCL says they have.

 

My sister & BIL are recently off the Gem (S5) & close friends off the Breakaway (S5).

 

Nothing has changed as far as enforcing any rules. The Haven in both cases was utilized by them very little & the Haven Restaurant on the Breakaway was almost as bad as the Haven area where unsupervised unruly kids/teens seemed to take over.

 

Not exactly the 'serene' place they were expecting or paid for.

 

We're going to take a land vacation & wait & see if NCL will address these issues.

[time2cruise1]

A couple of posters have said that most of the recent problems in the Haven seem to be on the Gem. I wonder why? Could it be that the staff on other ships do a better job of keeping things under control?

 

Or more likely the passenger mix from the NYC area :eek: Don't flame me as I was one of those from the area for 20 years. I really saw the difference the first year the Dawn was in service. Cruised on her in Feb from Miami and later that year from NYC in July. Too totally difference experience with the passenger mix.

 

As far as booking a Haven I have no reservations. Yes a handful posted about issues with a few families. Maybe 1500 cruise in Haven accommodations every week. If the problems posted were in fact the norm or even a bit frequent we would have heard about it for years. Nothing has changed with the Havens except the price has continued to rise :rolleyes:

[McCutie]

We were in the Haven on the GEM in May. Not sure what specifics you may want, so ask away but it was a very nice group that sailing. And besides my children, there were also a few more young children, tweens and teens and I have to say there were no issues at all. In fact, there were plenty of times, that the Haven area was empty. And when it was "full" which was close to never, everyone had a chair, lounge, table etc.....

 

After reading on here about the issues that have happened in that area, I consider us very lucky that we had nice fellow passengers.

 

and FWIW: we had an excellent Haven attendant....Joseph. He catered to us with a smile every single day!

[biomedbob]

"Or more likely the passenger mix from the NYC area"

 

A whole other topic.

 

Sent from my Commodore Pet using an acoustic modem. :)

[SissasMomE]

Or more likely the passenger mix from the NYC area :eek: Don't flame me as I was one of those from the area for 20 years. I really saw the difference the first year the Dawn was in service. Cruised on her in Feb from Miami and later that year from NYC in July. Too totally difference experience with the passenger mix.

 

As far as booking a Haven I have no reservations. Yes a handful posted about issues with a few families. Maybe 1500 cruise in Haven accommodations every week. If the problems posted were in fact the norm or even a bit frequent we would have heard about it for years. Nothing has changed with the Havens except the price has continued to rise :rolleyes:

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Heck, we live here and I will cruise out of Florida before cruising out of NY. Our Breakaway cruise will be a first for us.

[thistimeplease]

Or more likely the passenger mix from the NYC area :eek: Don't flame me as I was one of those from the area for 20 years. I really saw the difference the first year the Dawn was in service. Cruised on her in Feb from Miami and later that year from NYC in July. Too totally difference experience with the passenger mix.

 

As far as booking a Haven I have no reservations. Yes a handful posted about issues with a few families. Maybe 1500 cruise in Haven accommodations every week. If the problems posted were in fact the norm or even a bit frequent we would have heard about it for years. Nothing has changed with the Havens except the price has continued to rise :rolleyes:

 

I do find your comments regarding passengers from NYC very offensive and uncalled for even if you are from the area. That aside, I agree with your other comment though, that it isn't the norm for the Haven. As Benjamin Franklin said "Believe non of what you hear and half of what you see". I think I believe even less of what I read, especially about the problems in the Haven.

[shaun07]

I cancelled our Breakaway cruise for August & won't book another Haven Suite until someone enforces the rules NCL says they have.

 

My sister & BIL are recently off the Gem (S5) & close friends off the Breakaway (S5).

 

Nothing has changed as far as enforcing any rules. The Haven in both cases was utilized by them very little & the Haven Restaurant on the Breakaway was almost as bad as the Haven area where unsupervised unruly kids/teens seemed to take over.

 

Not exactly the 'serene' place they were expecting or paid for.

 

We're going to take a land vacation & wait & see if NCL will address these issues.

 

I decided not to sail on Gem and I spent the day looking at resorts in Mexico. I will keep my breakaway reservations for now and see how things are in the Haven over the next few months. :(

[misterm32]

Just for your Information, there is another thread about the Haven.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1867347

 

Very interesting video in this thread from Andy Stuart, Norwegian Cruise Line's executive vice president-sales and passenger services...

 

Mike

[eynsteinp]

I just sailed in a Haven suite last week on the Breakaway and thought the Haven experience was excellent. The Haven pool area had very few people in it almost everyday and no one was rude or out of control. Even the children were well behaved and the staff was enforcing that the children had to be supervised if using the pool and hot tubs. I really think that people are looking for problems when complaining about the Haven experience as it was always staffed and never a problem. It really made the cruise so enjoyable that I would strongly recommend booking a Haven room whenever possible.

[Aurora2143]

I just sailed in a Haven suite last week on the Breakaway and thought the Haven experience was excellent. The Haven pool area had very few people in it almost everyday and no one was rude or out of control. Even the children were well behaved and the staff was enforcing that the children had to be supervised if using the pool and hot tubs. I really think that people are looking for problems when complaining about the Haven experience as it was always staffed and never a problem. It really made the cruise so enjoyable that I would strongly recommend booking a Haven room whenever possible.

 

Did you have any children with you?

[eynsteinp]

I sailed with my 11 year old twins but was in the Haven about half the time with them and half without them.

[SFO-F/A]

I sailed with my 11 year old twins but was in the Haven about half the time with them and half without them.

 

The Haven is for families, now we know. If you don't want families with kids around your quiet space, don't book the Haven! :D

[SissasMomE]

The Haven is for families, now we know. If you don't want families with kids around your quiet space, don't book the Haven! :D

 

I don't think anyone has a problem with kids. No one wants to spend $10,000 and more to be in a Walmart-like atmosphere. That is the issue. Not the kids.

[Aurora2143]

The Haven is for families, now we know. If you don't want families with kids around your quiet space, don't book the Haven! :D

 

I'm just reading...lurking and trying to see if there's a connection between the folks that come back and say the Haven was wonderful and those who say otherwise.

That's all.

For our upcoming Breakaway, I booked our room for the ginormous balcony. DH said he will try the Haven area again, but if he doesn't get to use the hot tub or pool like the last cruise, then we will have to stick with RCCL because of the Solarium.

Either way, looking forward to our cruises!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[shaun07]

The problem is simple the people who are responsible for the haven work for TIPS! How can a person who works for tips be the bad guy. It does not work that way. It goes against their own interests. They have to try and make everyone happy so they make money.

 

The solution is also simple the hotel director needs to have a bigger presence in the haven. A daily walk thru to make sure the cushions are set out and the bathrooms are clean is not good enough. They should walk thru the haven a few times a day and check on everyone. Their cards should be in the suites. Then if there is an issue the HD should handle it. The HD has a lot more power and with that comes respect.

 

There also needs to be a basic code of conduct.

[NLH Arizona]

The problem is simple the people who are responsible for the haven work for TIPS! How can a person who works for tips be the bad guy. It does not work that way. It goes against their own interests. They have to try and make everyone happy so they make money.

 

The solution is also simple the hotel director needs to have a bigger presence in the haven. A daily walk thru to make sure the cushions are set out and the bathrooms are clean is not good enough. They should walk thru the haven a few times a day and check on everyone. Their cards should be in the suites. Then if there is an issue the HD should handle it. The HD has a lot more power and with that comes respect.

 

There also needs to be a basic code of conduct.

Very well said!

[Aurora2143]

Very well said!

 

I agree!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[SouthernBelle_N_Louisiana]

Ok I am confused about the pool situation in the various Havens. The Breakaway Haven looks great, but the pool is small. Or is there an outside pool just for Haven guests?

 

My thought is that if those pools are small just how many kids and how rowdy can kids get in there? Just curious... it doesnt appear to be as big as the outdoor pools... someone help me with that please...

 

FWIW, if next summer I catch my 11 almost 12 yo son behaving in the way others have been described on here, he will apologize and then his butt "will be in a sling" and in timeout in a chair or in the room. That's the way this set of parents roll!!! Not putting up with it!! :D

[shaun07]

It's simple. When someone has an issue at a restaurant they complain to the manager, not the waiter or the host!

 

I am over the "we can offer you a complementary bottle of wine". If I can spend $8000 on a vacation I can buy a $10 bottle of wine. Just fix my complaint! -If its a responsible complaint that is :).

[SissasMomE]

The problem is simple the people who are responsible for the haven work for TIPS! How can a person who works for tips be the bad guy. It does not work that way. It goes against their own interests. They have to try and make everyone happy so they make money.

 

The solution is also simple the hotel director needs to have a bigger presence in the haven. A daily walk thru to make sure the cushions are set out and the bathrooms are clean is not good enough. They should walk thru the haven a few times a day and check on everyone. Their cards should be in the suites. Then if there is an issue the HD should handle it. The HD has a lot more power and with that comes respect.

 

There also needs to be a basic code of conduct.

 

Agreed!!

[eynsteinp]

I can only speak to the June 9th Breakaway sailing however, I did not see anything that would ruin the Haven experience for anyone during that cruise. The Haven was never overly busy and everyone was well behaved. From what I saw, if anyone had a complaint they had to be looking for something to complain about. The pool is very small but there is a tremendous amount of lounges and many adults were there reading or talking with their family and I did not see anyone being disturbed by the other people. As I said, I can only speak to the June 9th sailing as it was my first NCL sailing but any complaints with other guests that I had were not about people in the Haven - as a whole the Haven staff was nice and did their jobs making sure everyone enjoyed themselves.

[SissasMomE]

I can only speak to the June 9th Breakaway sailing however, I did not see anything that would ruin the Haven experience for anyone during that cruise. The Haven was never overly busy and everyone was well behaved. From what I saw, if anyone had a complaint they had to be looking for something to complain about. The pool is very small but there is a tremendous amount of lounges and many adults were there reading or talking with their family and I did not see anyone being disturbed by the other people. As I said, I can only speak to the June 9th sailing as it was my first NCL sailing but any complaints with other guests that I had were not about people in the Haven - as a whole the Haven staff was nice and did their jobs making sure everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

Thank you for posting this :)

[mommyto2girls]

wrong thread..sorry

[SissasMomE]

I don't think anyone has a problem with kids. No one wants to spend $10,000 and more to be in a Walmart-like atmosphere. That is the issue. Not the kids.

 

and to clarify that - I've only seen 1 person complain that people were drunk in the Haven, washing hair in the pool etc. The common complaint seems to be kids, and the common theme is sailing from NY (for cruisers complaining of adult behavior).