Best Haven

[Momma Rene]

We are looking for the best Haven experience.  We have sailed the Celebrity suite and Princess suite.  Looking for a wonderful suite experience with a good restaurant and a room larger than 300 square feet.  Which NCL ship should we choose?

[e2011]

Escape

[Nextcruise42]

Breakaway was wonderful!

[BirdTravels]

Let’s start with the megaships only. They are the ships with a complete Haven area. Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Bliss, Joy, Encore. Each with have positives and negatives. 

 

In our opinion, the best Haven is the Epic. Large lounge, large restaurant, large outside dining area, private sundeck with a bar, private gym, private sauna and steam room. The one negative is that the courtyard does not have a retractable roof, so the weather outside is the weather inside. 

 

The Bliss, Joy, and Encore will have big forward facing observation lounge/windows for beautiful views. 

[Momma Rene]

28 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Let’s start with the megaships only. They are the ships with a complete Haven area. Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Bliss, Joy, Encore. Each with have positives and negatives. 

 

In our opinion, the best Haven is the Epic. Large lounge, large restaurant, large outside dining area, private sundeck with a bar, private gym, private sauna and steam room. The one negative is that the courtyard does not have a retractable roof, so the weather outside is the weather inside. 

 

The Bliss, Joy, and Encore will have big forward facing observation lounge/windows for beautiful views. 

Which of the megaships would have the most negatives?  The Haven sounds very appealing......

[17cruisesnsl]

I agree that you would start with the mega ships.  Which aspects of the Haven are most important to you?  I would make a grid of all available Haven amenities by ship and place check marks on all that matter to me.  The ship with the most check marks would be the one I'd try first. 

For example, If you want to be poolside regardless of the weather outside, then only consider those with a retractable roof over the pool.  Neither EPIC nor Getaway have a retractable roof. 

Do you want a mini exercise room? 

Haven sauna? 

Outdoor dining? 

Hot tub on haven sun Deck?

 

The haven is a lovely experience. -  whichever ship you chose, enjoy your cruise. 

[FLcruisergrl]

I’ve only been on the Epic so far, but loved it! The restaurant was large and never crowded. We also lobed the outside dining area for a casual lunch. The glass elevator that let you out right by the ice cream machine was a plus! The absence of a retractable roof didn’t bother me, as we were in the Caribbean. The courtyard area was spacious and never felt crowded. We’re on the Breakaway next and the Bliss Haven is definitely on our to do list- it looks amazing!

[david_sobe]

I dislike the Haven on Breakaway class ships. Epic has so many features the other ships don't.  The Epic haven lounge has ocean views. Breakaway, Getaway, Escape have no ocean views from their Haven lounge.  Posh on Epic is better than the Haven sun deck on the Breakaway class ships.  Epic has a larger restaurant and giant outdoor Epic grill next to the courtyard.

 

Now with Encore and Bliss, NCL has expanded the area with the Horizon Lounge.  I have never sailed but it looks really nice and was something the Haven needed.

[Nextcruise42]

Breakaway was my only haven experience.  I would love to try it on the Encore if I can justify the pricing. It looks much nicer.

[Two Wheels Only]

3 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

Which of the megaships would have the most negatives? 

 

Tough question since none are bad.

If I had to make a list, Getaway would be at the bottom. Getaway and Epic don't have the retractable roof but Epic does have Posh (only ship with it).

 

Among the rest, Escape has the smallest sundeck. Joy, Bliss, and Encore have a sundeck that is over 2x the size of Escape's plus Joy, Bliss, and Encore have a Haven forward-facing lounge while Escape does not. Pool and hot-tubs are mostly similar with a few differences such as either 2 in the courtyard/ 1 on the sundeck or 1 in the courtyard/ 2 on the sundeck. Some are cantilevered and some aren't and size does vary.

[mtns2sea]

On 12/29/2018 at 1:41 PM, Momma Rene said:

We are looking for the best Haven experience.  We have sailed the Celebrity suite and Princess suite.  Looking for a wonderful suite experience with a good restaurant and a room larger than 300 square feet.  Which NCL ship should we choose?

I was pondering the same question. From the replies so far I gather it is not worth having your first Haven experience on one of the older ships (Epic aside). Would the Haven vets agree?

[david_sobe]

16 minutes ago, mtns2sea said:

I was pondering the same question. From the replies so far I gather it is not worth having your first Haven experience on one of the older ships (Epic aside). Would the Haven vets agree?

 

 

No, I would not agree with that at all.  The smaller ships only have a few Haven suites so the concierge, butler, and staff really can provide exceptional service. On the mega ships, you are just another face in the Haven.  For example, there is no Haven complex on the NCL Sky but my suite experience on the Sky blew me away and set the bar so high.  Its the only time the butler came into the cabin to give me a personal demonstration on the Lavazza machine and provided white table cloth service for breakfast.  The concierge visits you at breakfast and personally visits your cabin in the evening to see how things are going and what they can play for you.  On the mega ships, the concierge could never learn everyone's name let alone make personal visits.

I believe the title of this thread is what ship has the best Haven complex, not the best Haven service.  Big difference IMHO 🙂

[mtns2sea]

13 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

 

 

No, I would not agree with that at all.  The smaller ships only have a few Haven suites so the concierge, butler, and staff really can provide exceptional service. On the mega ships, you are just another face in the Haven.  For example, there is no Haven complex on the NCL Sky but my suite experience on the Sky blew me away and set the bar so high.  Its the only time the butler came into the cabin to give me a personal demonstration on the Lavazza machine and provided white table cloth service for breakfast.  The concierge visits you at breakfast and personally visits your cabin in the evening to see how things are going and what they can play for you.  On the mega ships, the concierge could never learn everyone's name let alone make personal visits.

I believe the title of this thread is what ship has the best Haven complex, not the best Haven service.  Big difference IMHO 🙂

Thanks and I agree with service over amenities. I would much rather have the better service. We cruised on the Dawn a few years ago and are thinking about revisiting her. Is suite life/service on Dawn worthy?

[FLcruisergrl]

34 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

 

 

No, I would not agree with that at all.  The smaller ships only have a few Haven suites so the concierge, butler, and staff really can provide exceptional service. On the mega ships, you are just another face in the Haven.  For example, there is no Haven complex on the NCL Sky but my suite experience on the Sky blew me away and set the bar so high.  Its the only time the butler came into the cabin to give me a personal demonstration on the Lavazza machine and provided white table cloth service for breakfast.  The concierge visits you at breakfast and personally visits your cabin in the evening to see how things are going and what they can play for you.  On the mega ships, the concierge could never learn everyone's name let alone make personal visits.

I believe the title of this thread is what ship has the best Haven complex, not the best Haven service.  Big difference IMHO 🙂

That’s really good to hear! We have a short cruise booked in June on the Sun. We’ll be in the owner’s suite. I’ve been a little nervous about the absence of the Haven, but it sounds like between the personalized service and the balcony jacuzzi, I shouldn’t miss it!

[david_sobe]

17 minutes ago, mtns2sea said:

Thanks and I agree with service over amenities. I would much rather have the better service. We cruised on the Dawn a few years ago and are thinking about revisiting her. Is suite life/service on Dawn worthy?

 

 

I've never been on the Dawn.  We never use the Haven pool and I feel guilty for not using it because we are paying for it.  Its a wrong assumption that not having a Haven complex means you cant have a fantastic suite experience.  The concierge will know you by name and is your friend the entire cruise.  

[erdoran]

Hubs and I are haven lovers.  We’ve done Epic and Bliss, and are on Jade next.  Hubby loves the mega ship havens because of the bar & restaurant being right there - staying in the Haven means we can walk to the bar whenever for a drink, which is very convenient. We loved the private sun deck hot tubs on Bliss.  It’s been years since Epic so I don’t remember it as well, but they also have a Haven lounge with bar & restaurant right there, if you stay in the haven.  

 

I think concierge/butler service may be more related to the employee quality - I’ve had outstanding service on Epic and marginal service on Epic; had outstanding service on Bliss.  

 

We have some misgivings about Jade haven because no bar/restaurant/lounge but the price was wonderful as was the itinerary so we are giving it a try.  It has good reviews - but much smaller than the mega ships.

 

Personally, I’d look at itinerary and price first, and ship second.  The only question is whether you want a haven or not (e.g. is butler/concierge service enough, without that private ship within a ship?), and if you want haven, do you want the smaller ship Jade-like experience, or is the full mega ship haven a must-have.  

 

For us, we do want a haven and wouldn’t consider a cruise without one, but we’ll let price & itinerary and dates make the decision for us from there.

[dongordon]

14 minutes ago, erdoran said:

Hubs and I are haven lovers.  We’ve done Epic and Bliss, and are on Jade next.  Hubby loves the mega ship havens because of the bar & restaurant being right there - staying in the Haven means we can walk to the bar whenever for a drink, which is very convenient. We loved the private sun deck hot tubs on Bliss.  It’s been years since Epic so I don’t remember it as well, but they also have a Haven lounge with bar & restaurant right there, if you stay in the haven.  

 

I think concierge/butler service may be more related to the employee quality - I’ve had outstanding service on Epic and marginal service on Epic; had outstanding service on Bliss.  

 

We have some misgivings about Jade haven because no bar/restaurant/lounge but the price was wonderful as was the itinerary so we are giving it a try.  It has good reviews - but much smaller than the mega ships.

 

Personally, I’d look at itinerary and price first, and ship second.  The only question is whether you want a haven or not (e.g. is butler/concierge service enough, without that private ship within a ship?), and if you want haven, do you want the smaller ship Jade-like experience, or is the full mega ship haven a must-have.  

 

For us, we do want a haven and wouldn’t consider a cruise without one, but we’ll let price & itinerary and dates make the decision for us from there.

You are 100% correct on all the points that you brought out about the larger ship's Haven experience.

Although the GEM was more personalized, the other amenities you mentioned for me on the Breakaway's Haven made the Haven experience so much better.  I'll take the larger ship's Haven over the smaller ones if given a choice.

We are doing the Haven on the Escape in about two weeks and hope to do the same on the Bliss next year.

 

Don 

[BirdTravels]

On 12/29/2018 at 9:38 AM, Momma Rene said:

Which of the megaships would have the most negatives?  The Haven sounds very appealing......

Breakaway and Getaway. The restaurants are too small for the Haven guests. So they use the courtyard as overflow restaurant seating. The net effect is that there are no/few loungers next to the pool and if you are in the pool, there will be someone having lunch at a poolside table staring down at you. That was fixed on the Escape. 

[Momma Rene]

23 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Breakaway and Getaway. The restaurants are too small for the Haven guests. So they use the courtyard as overflow restaurant seating. The net effect is that there are no/few loungers next to the pool and if you are in the pool, there will be someone having lunch at a poolside table staring down at you. That was fixed on the Escape. 

Wow, that does not sound very appealing.  We tentatively booked the Getaway because of the itinerary leaving from New Orleans.   We booked a forward facing balcony haven cabin 12706 after speaking to a NCL representative.  I'm hoping we did not make a mistake as this is the first time in Haven.  We sailed Celebrity, Holland America and most recently Princess in a Vista Suite.

[david_sobe]

29 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Breakaway and Getaway. The restaurants are too small for the Haven guests. So they use the courtyard as overflow restaurant seating. The net effect is that there are no/few loungers next to the pool and if you are in the pool, there will be someone having lunch at a poolside table staring down at you. That was fixed on the Escape. 

 

 

There is a long list of things I am not crazy about the Breakaway Class ships and the smaller/crammed Haven is just one of them.  Most other venues (Spa, nightclub, Haven, restaurants, etc) also got smaller and more crammed.  The Breakaway-Plus class did make things better.  I think NCL over-reacted from Epic and the Breakaway class ships are so traditional they are almost boring or lacking imagination exempting the waterfront of course.  With Bliss and Encore, its nice to see NCL get more imaginative again.  I have always said that if you could slap a waterfront on the Epic, it still would be one of the best ships at sea.

[dongordon]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Breakaway and Getaway. The restaurants are too small for the Haven guests. So they use the courtyard as overflow restaurant seating. The net effect is that there are no/few loungers next to the pool and if you are in the pool, there will be someone having lunch at a poolside table staring down at you. That was fixed on the Escape. 

I was in the Haven twice on the Breakaway and never had any difficulty dining indoors in the Haven restaurant.  We had a few lunches in the outdoor courtyard but that was our own choosing.  The pools (if you call them that) were down further from the courtyard tables. 

Loved my Breakaway Haven experience and looking forward to the Escape.

 

Sounds like it will even be better!

 

Don

Edited January 1, 2019 by dongordon

[mom23krzkidz]

1 hour ago, Momma Rene said:

Wow, that does not sound very appealing.  We tentatively booked the Getaway because of the itinerary leaving from New Orleans.   We booked a forward facing balcony haven cabin 12706 after speaking to a NCL representative.  I'm hoping we did not make a mistake as this is the first time in Haven.  We sailed Celebrity, Holland America and most recently Princess in a Vista Suite.

We were on the Getaway last January in our first Haven Penthouse suite and loved it. Never had any issues finding space in the restaurant, at the bar, in the lounge, by the pool or on the sun deck. (Except the one afternoon when a haven passenger had the entirety of his nonhaven family, 30+ people, in the lounge for about 5 minutes until the concierge politely but not so quietly asked them to leave.)  

[Vyhanek]

I've cruised in the Haven on most of the mega ships.    By far, the Epic has the best Haven.    The most space, the lowest space/Haven guest ratio.    Hands down the best sundeck (POSH) which is Haven Adults only with it's own sundeck bar, lots of shade, plenty of nice loungers and plenty of space for everyone.    This is most definitely not the case on other ships in the Haven.   In fact, most have such a tiny Haven sundeck that there is severe chair hogging and no bar.   There is bar service but the bar the servers have to get to is 2 floors down making drink service very, very slow.   I ended up getting my own drinks....I know, first world problems.    It also has a separate enough smoking area.   The other ships have the Haven smoking area on the already tiny Haven sundeck.   A sort of half wall separates the smoking area from the Haven sundeck.   Its a tiny space and then shared with the smokers.   Not on the Epic.

 

The other nice thing about the Epic haven is that there are 3 bars within the Haven.   The other ships have a grand total of 1 bar and it's part of the main lobby area making that one bar really crowded and loud with lots of pass thru traffic and concierge services going on  and basic lobby business while you're enjoying your drink at the bar.   The Epic bar is separate and dedicated for a great bar experience.

 

The big problem with the Epic is the ship itself. The rest of the ship is poorly designed. It packs on the passengers more than any other ship I've ever been on especially anything NCL.  All outdoor spaces are over crowded.   Seating for the buffet area actually spills right out onto the pool deck.   Packing on so many passengers has made it the lowest price point for a mega ship and it attracts the lowest price point cruisers.  All other NCL ships have a better overall ship experience.   This is the big problem with the Epic.

Edited January 1, 2019 by Vyhanek

[dexddd]

4 hours ago, mtns2sea said:

Thanks and I agree with service over amenities. I would much rather have the better service. We cruised on the Dawn a few years ago and are thinking about revisiting her. Is suite life/service on Dawn worthy?

We've been in suites on Dawn and Star and butlers were spread too thin. On the older, smaller ships I'd agree with David service from butler and concierge have been best overall combined.

 

YMMV though ship to ship, suite to suite, date to date.

Edited January 1, 2019 by dexddd