Haven pricing - How high will they go?

[MKsol]

In looking back over the past several years Suite pricing on NCL has been skyrocketing with the rebrand of Haven rooms and it seems as of late it is reaching epic levels (pun intended).

 

Just 2 years ago the same suites would run in the mid 300 dollars per person per day.  In pricing several bookings in the past few weeks the pricing is now mid 500 to mid 600's per day per person.  The simple truth is there is no way the branding changes have added that much value and NCL is simply seeing how high they can go before no one is willing to book.  

 

Curious about others thoughts about the magical rising fares that are the Heaven.

[cinfeb]

I agree, we are booked on the Breakway DOS and PH for a family vacation in October and for the price we are paying we could remodel our Kitchen again. 

[gmbhardy]

We have an upcoming cruise in the Getaway Haven in a few weeks. There are three of us staying in a forward two room suite. I estimate it is costing us about $500 (Canadian) each,  per day. What really bothers me is that we will have to pay extra for our booze because of the recent price changes. Our beverages of choice now exceed the $15 UBP threshold. This is simply ridiculous given what you pay for the Haven. Trying the YC in April.

[dexddd]

They have to raise prices so the bidders can feel good about getting such a great deal vs list price.

 

Plus Haven have to pay on free packages, etc.  

 

At end of the day it doesn't matter to us.  Our next three sailings aren't on NCL and future won't be either with this pricing.

[GeezerCouple]

10 minutes ago, MKsol said:

In looking back over the past several years Suite pricing on NCL has been skyrocketing with the rebrand of Haven rooms and it seems as of late it is reaching epic levels (pun intended).

 

Just 2 years ago the same suites would run in the mid 300 dollars per person per day.  In pricing several bookings in the past few weeks the pricing is now mid 500 to mid 600's per day per person.  The simple truth is there is no way the branding changes have added that much value and NCL is simply seeing how high they can go before no one is willing to book.  

 

Curious about others thoughts about the magical rising fares that are the Heaven.

 

We were delighted with the Haven on our second NCL cruise, although the rest of the ship, on a crowded holiday cruise... not so much (horrid hordes of children apparently taking delight in charging into other passengers, especially coming out of elevators, ignoring the opening politely left for them, and scattering into people waiting on the sides... but I digress 😠 ).

It was expensive, but it was a very pleasant place to be, and the space in the 2BR... glorious...

 

And then NCL not only started raising prices, but the "bidding" became a huge "thing", making us feel like real suckers for being willing to pay full price.

No, we are not willing to pay for a lower category/non-suite (or non-Haven), and then "bid and hope".

We like to know we will be IN accommodations that we will enjoy.

 

So we have pretty much switched to other lines.

IF we take the kids/grands with us again (that wasn't in Haven, and wouldn't be, although we may have a Haven suite, depending...), we will consider NCL because of the grands.  

But this also showed us how much better we could do by flying everyone to a destination of choice, and still having a great "family vacation", which is the point of bringing them with us, regardless of destination.

 

We may do NCL for the POA in Hawaii; there's no competition IF one wants to include a cruise.

Otherwise, for the two of us, I seriously doubt we'll be back on NCL while their pricing/bidding remains as it is.  And it seems to be working for them and for enough other passengers, that we don't expect it to change.

(We've moved to Oceania, in PH suites, and also some other unusual cruise lines and destinations, including a phenomenal 12 night Norwegian trip on Hurtigruten, in an OS.)

 

NCL at the higher end, at the least, cannot compete with some of their competition, and NCL drove us right into their arms  

 

GC

[casofilia]

They will continue to raise their prices till people stop buying.  If you don't like the price don't buy.

[GeezerCouple]

Just now, casofilia said:

They will continue to raise their prices till people stop buying.  If you don't like the price don't buy.

 

That's working for us! 

 

And we found other cruising that we much prefer (MUCH!), and for the same or *lower* pricing.

"Thank you, NCL!"  

 

GC

[Navis]

27 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

That's working for us! 

 

And we found other cruising that we much prefer (MUCH!), and for the same or *lower* pricing.

"Thank you, NCL!"  

 

GC

 Same here. After 6 cruises, all the in the Haven on the Breakaway and Escape, we are moving on to another cruise line.  We loved our times in the DOS, but the value is not there anymore for us and with the bidding system now, the Haven always sails at capacity and the service quality has steadily ticked down each cruise. I totally understand why they installed the system, but bidding has really tarnished the Haven experience . . . at least we think it has.

[tallnthensome]

As much as I like NCL I will never understand why people are willing to pay such absurd prices for the Haven. To do so on NCL which was just this past week named second worse cruise line behind MSC in a recent survey is mind boggling. I would rather sail an upscale line in which the whole ship is a luxurious experience instead of sticking a nice restaurant and small private area into a Wal Mart store and calling it the Haven and charging through the roof for it. 

Edited January 27, 2019 by tallnthensome

[graphicguy]

I think it depends on when you cruise.  I’ve never paid more than about $4,300 to sail in the Haven, and have paid as little as $3,400....all for 7 day cruises.  Is that expensive?  Yeah!  But, I usually get some healthy OBC ($500-$1,200) to offset part of that.

 

If someone is paying $6,000+ for the Haven, they’re looking at the wrong dates, as far as I can tell.  

 

Service for me has always been outstanding.  I’ve seen no downturn in the Haven.

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

😠I seriously doubt we'll be back on NCL while their pricing/bidding remains as it is.  

 

This is my answer too.

[sverigecruiser]

14 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

As much as I like NCL I will never understand why people are willing to pay such absurd prices for the Haven. To do so on NCL which was just this past week named second worse cruise line behind MSC in a recent survey is mind boggling. I would rather sail an upscale line in which the whole ship is a luxurious experience instead of sticking a nice restaurant and small private area into a Wal Mart store and calling it the Haven and charging through the roof for it. 

 

Who named them the second worse cruise line after MSC?

 

The Haven on NCL has everything I need except for a decent price!

 

MSC is excellent!

Edited January 27, 2019 by sverigecruiser

[sverigecruiser]

11 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I think it depends on when you cruise.  I’ve never paid more than about $4,300 to sail in the Haven, and have paid as little as $3,400....all for 7 day cruises.  Is that expensive?  Yeah!  But, I usually get some healthy OBC ($500-$1,200) to offset part of that.

 

If someone is paying $6,000+ for the Haven, they’re looking at the wrong dates, as far as I can tell.  

 

Service for me has always been outstanding.  I’ve seen no downturn in the Haven.

 

One week on the Epic in July 2017 should cost us almost $10000 so we tried MSC instead. The money we saved almost paid for our business class airline tickets from Stockholm to Miami for our next cruise. We leave in 10 days so I'm very happy!

[Navis]

7 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

As much as I like NCL I will never understand why people are willing to pay such absurd prices for the Haven. To do so on NCL which was just this past week named second worse cruise line behind MSC in a recent survey is mind boggling. I would rather sail an upscale line in which the whole ship is a luxurious experience instead of sticking a nice restaurant and small private area into a Wal Mart store and calling it the Haven and charging through the roof for it. 

It seems like we have recently come around to your thinking as well. We stayed with NCL and the Haven because we liked the idea of all the entertainment and bar/dinner options on a large ship, but with the option to retreat to something more quiet and slow paced when needed and we really did love the layout of the DOS . . . it was perfect for us when coupled with a spa pass.

 

Our first butler was amazing (but she left NCL) and the ones we have had since have just been ok.  The room stewards/stewardess have always been great. But over the last few cruises I've noticed overworked Concierges, less friendly bartenders, nickel and dining re: included alcohols (I mean, really, I just spent $12K on a suite and you want to charge me $2.95 for a Hendricks? Or $15.95 for a Johnny Blue?).  Again, we have really enjoyed our cruises on NCL (even last Sept's that was rerouted from Bermuda to FL), but when I can get a true luxury experience on a 14-night cruise on Seabourn for just $1K/pp more I justify Haven prices any longer.

[Navis]

5 minutes ago, Battle Bots said:

The prices will be fluid until price equilibrium is reached, it is the basis of the free enterprise system.  The buyer sets the price.

My concern is that we will never have any transparency into true price equilibrium as a result of the bidding system.  My observation is that NCL has, effectively, removed the price ceiling by installing this bidding system.  They set the prices as high as they want (5-10% per annum inflation) and whoever they get to pay full price is just gravy for them. They know that as the cruise approaches they can fill the suites via the bidding game.  People feel they got a "deal" because they get some discount from the inflated "rack" rate, but they probably end up at or around NCL's internal targets. 

 

What would be really interesting to see is what the average rack rate is for each category in the Haven the day before the cruise sails. I think that would give us a truer approximation of actual value. In short, the bidding system has obscured the transparency of traditional supply and demand curves. 

[tallnthensome]

27 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

Who named them the second worse cruise line after MSC?

 

The Haven on NCL has everything I need except for a decent price!

 

MSC is excellent!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6601965/The-best-worst-cruise-lines-2019-revealed-report.html

 

Just a recent survey as I mentioned. I do like NCL and I also enjoyed our MSC cruise.  Opinions are like .... well .... you know. Take it with a grain of salt. 

[jmele999]

NCL has ruined a great product.  They are only able to market the Haven at those prices because of the biding process.

[NLH Arizona]

1 hour ago, casofilia said:

They will continue to raise their prices till people stop buying.  If you don't like the price don't buy.

Bingo, we have a winner.

[NLH Arizona]

32 minutes ago, Navis said:

My concern is that we will never have any transparency into true price equilibrium as a result of the bidding system.  My observation is that NCL has, effectively, removed the price ceiling by installing this bidding system. 

Celebrity is now doing it with their MoveUp program.

[graphicguy]

51 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

One week on the Epic in July 2017 should cost us almost $10000 so we tried MSC instead. The money we saved almost paid for our business class airline tickets from Stockholm to Miami for our next cruise. We leave in 10 days so I'm very happy!

I certainly understand.  No way I’d spend $10K on a Suite.  

 

I’ve sailed MSC a couple of times during their status match promo, both times in the YC.  MSC puts out a product that’s every bit as good as RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, etc. if you’re willing to keep an open mind that their biggest base is in Europe and they have more of a European flavor than those which have a bigger presence in the US.  That said, while the Divina, sailing out of FL was about $3,500 for YC.  European YC on Meriviglia out of Barcelona was $5K last year.  So, I think they are either creeping up in price, or European based cruises just cost more.

[Two Wheels Only]

31 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 So, I think they are either creeping up in price, or European based cruises just cost more.

 

The MSC Yacht Club prices are rising but they are still way under the NCL Haven (faster) rising prices. MSC prices are also more stable over time. With NCL's inflated Haven prices and bid process, the disparity between what people pay for the Haven can be huge. When I sailed on Seaside, a H6 on Getaway for the same week went from over $12K to about $8K depending on when it was booked. Throw in those who won a H6 via bid and the gap between those who paid "retail" and those who got a great deal is over $4K. 

[graphicguy]

@Two Wheels Only

 

Yeah...I’d never pay $8K-$12K in the Haven for 2.  

 

I think I tend to cruise during low season or between holidays or low demand times.

 

Again, I’ve never been quoted the prices you have been for the Haven.  Looking around MSC YC pricing vs NCL Haven pricing during low season are about $4K-$4.5K.....or within 10% of each other.  But, that’s still 2x what I’d pay for a balcony cabin.  So, you have to find value in the Haven or YC with those prices.

 

I’m looking at the Escape for the end of next month.  I can do a balcony for about $2,200 with all the perks.  Haven is $5,600 so I’ll pass on that as I don’t pay $5K for the Haven.  Looking closely at the balcony cabins, though.  I get lots of goodies as a Latitudes Platinum.  Combine those with Free at Sea perks, I’ll probably not set a foot in the MDRs the entire cruise.

[sverigecruiser]

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-6601965/The-best-worst-cruise-lines-2019-revealed-report.html

 

Just a recent survey as I mentioned. I do like NCL and I also enjoyed our MSC cruise.  Opinions are like .... well .... you know. Take it with a grain of salt. 

 

I looked at the article and really have to disagree with what lots of people said.

 

"Bombarded with sales promotions" is not something we experienced on our Meraviglia cruise.

 

Confusing drink packages? Don't understand that at all. The old drink packages they had were absolutely not confusing, I think.

 

[sverigecruiser]

56 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I certainly understand.  No way I’d spend $10K on a Suite.  

 

I’ve sailed MSC a couple of times during their status match promo, both times in the YC.  MSC puts out a product that’s every bit as good as RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, etc. if you’re willing to keep an open mind that their biggest base is in Europe and they have more of a European flavor than those which have a bigger presence in the US.  That said, while the Divina, sailing out of FL was about $3,500 for YC.  European YC on Meriviglia out of Barcelona was $5K last year.  So, I think they are either creeping up in price, or European based cruises just cost more.

 

We have paid almost $7000 for our February 10 cruise on the Divina but it's a 11-night cruise. (2 persons)

[DeltaOne]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

But, I usually get some healthy OBC ($500-$1,200) to offset part of that.

 

We had about $500 OBC last March when we stayed in the Haven.  There are too many restrictions on how you can use the OBC.  We ended up buying about $250 of stuff we really didn't want (mostly alcohol, some jewelry) to use up the OBC. 

 

We had hoped to cash it out in the casino, but they no longer allow that.