Comparison Haven vs. inside to Alaska and May vs. Aug.

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cold plunge pool on women's side

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sauna. saw a lot of sea action from here.

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loungers on women's side overlooking ocean

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view from women's loungers out to sea.

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heated tile loungers in co-ed spa. Sure bliss.

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So even though daughter and I had an inside stateroom we still had peaceful relaxation area.

 

Now here are some pics of the Haven area we used for relaxation. My husband and I loved coming back to the ship after being out in the cold, and taking a hot tub. Then watching the ship pull out of port from our balcony.

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I guess I missed the balcony the most.

 

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So now I'll compare the inside stateroom vs. the Haven. Well there is really no comparison in the rooms themselves but...

 

My daughter and I had a fabulous vacation and loved almost every minute of it. I of course would rather have sailed in the Haven but I actually enjoyed this vacation more than the Haven trip with husband. The Haven entailed more pampering, better food, balcony, bathroom to die for, and a relaxing romantic vacation. The extra benefits of having a concierge and butler were also nice and the Haven area was also missed. The inside cabin and vacation experience was more about the ship, activities, being on the go, meeting new friends, and spending time with my daughter. We took advantage of what the ship had to offer vs. what the Haven had to offer. In all honesty I did not miss the experience as much as I thought I would and felt like we were still pampered and taken good care of with the inside, lowest priced cabin. I did however miss the balcony and sitting out there in my own private space watching the ocean and sea life. Cost wise though the inside guarantee cabin was sooo much less than the Haven so the savings made up for the loss of the Haven and a balcony.

We ended up with an inside balcony on deck 10 aft. 10167, the only inside cabin facing the aft balconies on this deck. The cabin itself was very clean, well laid out, cozy and had plenty of room for the two of us. There were no noise issues whatsoever. Our cabin steward, Leslie was excellent. I would say he treated us just as well as our Haven Steward, Tito. Shower size was ample. The bathroom was the same size as our second bathroom in the Haven two bedroom villa. The cabin size was just big enough and very cozy. Very well laid out and had everything we needed. Cabin steward emptied our fridge and we put water/diet soda that we brought aboard. We had enough room to hang our clothing and we actually brought more clothing this trip because we brought along some dress up clothing and more shoes. We both slept very well, beds extremely comfortable. I was happy that the pillow situation was decent as was the bedding. I remembered our Christmas sailing aboard Royal Caribbean in a balcony room and the biggest turn off we had was each receiving one flat well worn pillow. I had asked my room steward for extra pillows and our room steward told us there were none. We had paid 6k for the two rooms for the Christmas sailing aboard this vessel and not having a decent pillow for that price was the last straw for my husband thus we had not cruised since till our NCL cruise earlier this year. I was expecting much the same this trip with sailing in an inside stateroom on NCL but it was not the case at all. Our steward even voluntarily asked us if we needed extra pillows but we had plenty so no need.

 

I'll post some pics of the inside stateroom daughter and I shared and then the Haven room Husband and I had.

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two beds and they were very comfortable. The bedding was also of high quality, crisp clean sheets. Not a lot of privacy but it was just daughter and I so that did not matter.

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A table. I suppose one could eat here but we did not.

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blow dryer commercial grade.

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and the lovely bathroom. The area was small but adequate. Sorry about the goofy pics of daughter. Tried to get a person in pics for size reference and she thought I was crazy for taking a pic of a toilet room.

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Now the Haven room. There were two bedrooms, one of which we did not use except to store luggage but the extra bathroom was nice. The second bedroom was the size of our inside stateroom for reference and it slept up to three people.

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eating in the room was a little more appealing and fun, especially when your butler delivers while you are in awe looking at the surroundings.

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And no need to get fancied up for a meal.

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master bathroom. I don't usually take a tub but when out at sea how could I resist. This was a fun place to hang out while out on the ocean. I brought an ihome so that we could have our music too.

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The Haven room also had a Lavisso? machine that made horribly addictive drinks. There were a couple mornings I got a little too wired on the stuff while waiting for husband to wake up.

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sofa that folds into a bed to accommodate a 6th person.

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And the towel art. A little different in the Haven. Our room steward had a sense of humor.

 

 

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We also received mini towel art in the inside stateroom and my daughter tickled. Didn't show her the towel art we got in the Haven. In fact did not show her any Haven pics but then again she would not have cared. She's used to living in a dorm.

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There were a couple other perks as a suite guest however these perks were not something my daughter would have cared about so not missed. We ate breakfast and lunch in Cagney's and we had a bridge tour. I was most impressed with the officers coffee machine.