Escape Haven 18704 family trip

[ejtpa]

I've appreciated everyone else's advice/reviews here so I'm sharing a few thoughts from our recent trip. This was our 3rd stay in the Haven, previous two trip on the Epic with our 2 kids in a 2 bed/bath cabin. We're considering going again next year on the Escape as we thought it was our best trip yet.

 

Across the board, service was excellent. Our butler (Jeffrey) and cabin attendant (Michael) were exceptional. No issues with any bar service, always quick.

 

We loved getting the kids' dinners delivered to the room before they went to eve Splash Academy. Previous years the buffet was much closer and we could run down more easily; delivery so convenient. Plus the buffet didn't offer chicken tenders at dinner which was a problem for one kid. Overall we were very underwhelmed with the buffet.

 

Our 2 y/o was reluctant to go to Guppies the 3 eve we sent her but she did ok. The space is really small for that age but it was adequate. Staff was great. Check in at 6:30 when the older kid can't check in til 7 was very inconvenient. She enjoyed the smaller ropes course and the kiddie splash area. There's a water table set up there that is perfect for toddlers.

 

10 y/o still happy with Splash, similar programs 3 years in a row but he had fun, went most eve. His favorite thing was the ropes course, went multi times. The Daily for boarding day says it opens at noon but it doesn't actually open til 5pm. Water slides were also a hit. The water slide in the kiddie area is sometimes insane, no supervision, saw multi kids get hurt (including mine) from kids piling down the slide all at once, pushing etc. The family pool is poorly designed with depths of 5'-5'7" with a small shallow shelf around it. Definitely suggest a floaty/life jacket unless strong swimmer for the younger kids. They can slide right in to the deep area and we would have never let the younger one use that area without something on.

 

Our cabin was the same layout as the Epic, very small balcony but limited view from inside due to a partial wall right in the center. The worst part was the sound of deck chairs being moved overhead-even at all hours of the night. REALLY loud. I don't know if it was unique to our cabin but I will avoid deck 18 in the future.

 

The Haven pool was much better than the Epic, heated fresh water, enclosed for bad weather, saved our day in Nassau when it was raining and cold.

 

The 2nd bedroom does have a drop down bunk, twin sized and uses a ladder to get up there. Perfect room for 2 kids.

 

The Haven restaurant had excellent food but soooo slow-any meal takes an hour, fine if you have no schedule. We opted for room service for breakfast on port mornings which worked much better. The outdoor seating in the Haven is a big improvement.

 

There is no longer a dvd player in the room and tv shows for kids are almost non existent, so plan accordingly if this is an issue for you.

 

I had wondered if my crazy 2 y/o could get our cabin door open and she could not fortunately!

 

People have commented on the cigarette smell around the atrium/casino-personally I thought it smelled like stale smoke all the time, sometimes more actual smoke floating around than others. I refused to sit outside Bistro.

 

Fitness center was well equipped, nice ocean views, never so crowded I couldn't use a machine. No separate fitness center for Haven like on Epic but this was great.

 

Cagney's (ate there twice) was as good or better than any top steakhouse. Le Bistro was good not great for us. Margaritaville was much better than we expected, huge portions with the best margaritas. Easy lunch several days there, no waiting. La Cucina was also super. Steak there was also very good. Service at all the places couldn't have been better.

 

Disembarkation was awful. We had walked off at 8a last two years with no issues; showed up at 8 as instructed, stood in Haven lobby til 9 when they finally let us go down.

 

On the whole, we had a great week and would certainly recommend the Escape.

 

As far at ports, we used a private charter in St Thomas we loved (Vibe charters) and took a taxi to Josiah's Bay beach in Tortola (fun watching people surf). Stayed on ship in Nassua and enjoyed the Haven and ropes.

[Jenjer]

Thank You for your review.

 

 

 

When you disembarked did you walk off with all your luggage? Did you get escorted right off the ship from the Haven lounge or where you waiting for a elevator standing in line to get off the ship?

[cmarkovsky]

Thanks for the review. We are sailing in a few weeks in room 18710. a little bummed about the noise :(.

 

how was the concierge? Didi you see him at all?

[Vyhanek]

I'll be in the Escape Haven with my family (2 teen daughters) in April. We were also on the Epic, in the Haven a year ago......

 

Thanks for the advice about deck 18 and the loud noise from above. This happened to us once on the Pearl. They must clean the decks early in the morning and move the deck loungers. It woke us up every morning at like 5am-6am!

 

What did you think of the shows? Did you do the dinner show? We loved the dinner show on the Epic with the Cirque style show. I really liked the food and the whole family was happy with the whole experience. But I'm not sure about this show on the Haven. I don't know if my teens will appreciate 80's style music. I mentioned Micheal Jackson to them and it didn't go over well.

 

I just love the shows on NCL. There have been very few I've been disappointed in. But, I'm not reading good things about the Escape shows at all. Very disappointed.

 

Did you ever use the spa services? Did you use the spa room in the Haven or did you go down to the main spa?

 

Is there a bar area on the upper sun deck in the Haven? What was your favorite meal in the Haven restaurant?

[kchiumento]

We are going to be in 18104 in September. I was worried about the noise from the deck area. Bummer. I should change rooms now.

[ejtpa]

David was the concierge, he was great. We had met him on the Epic 2 years prior and he made dinner reservations go very smoothly. We never had an issue with eating when and where we wanted (very spoiling!)

Disembarkation was waiting without our bags to be escorted down. They let the walk-off people from the whole ship go first so we were stuck. The whole lounge was full and one family who walked off with their luggage was allowed to go down.

I'm sorry I can't comment on shows or spas, we didn't have the time or energy thanks to the 2 year old.

I would switch floors if you can though I'm not sure if every room on 18 is under deck chairs. Seems like something they should have thought about in construction?!