How much would you pay for Haven?

[BNBR]

4 hours ago, Nolanoel said:

Agree.  So many generalizations here.  It really is just a matter of preference.  If you find value in a pot of hot chocolate, larger room, separate rooms, fewer people, etc.  then the Haven is worth every dime  - to you.  If you don't care much about room location, size, waiting in line, etc....you will see it as a poor value.  At the end of the day - people who are willing to spend 15k on a vacation and not blink an eye probably aren't on an NCL ship anyway.  I have never come close to spending that on an NCL ship (for 3 passengers)...If I could pay that I would probably be looking at another line - like Regent where even shore excursions are covered.  The OP's original question asking how much is it worth - so hard to answer - 5 pages of responses proves that.  It's an individual preference.  

 

I can only speak for myself, as someone who can easily afford $15k for a vacation.  I wouldn't even consider a line like Regent.  I think Celebrity was a bit too boring, Regent I couldn't even imagine!  The draw of the Haven for us was having a FUN mass market ship with the escape of a  "ship within a ship" option that was more upscale and exclusive.  However, we didn't feel the Haven delivered on that goal, mostly because they don't restrict ages.  The Haven was completely overrun by kids on our sailing and it made it anything but the shang ri la that is advertised.  And since we weren't getting that experience, it made the value of booking the Haven very little. I'd go with another poster who said $300/pp or so.

 

I would probably be ok with $500/pp extra and that's it.  However, they charge MUCH more than that and simply don't deliver the experience they advertise.  So as someone who is in the income range that would be their target market, they didn't win me over.  I like the concept, a LOT, of a ship within a ship, but NCL needs to do it much better to justify the prices they are demanding.  The value isn't there and we get a much better experience with other lines in regular cabins than the Haven can offer, and for a fraction of the cost.

Edited May 19, 2019 by BNBR

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

Every opinion counts but I would counter the point that people traveling in the Haven don't care about the cost.  Nothing could be further from the truth in my world.......................... I do agree that the huge increase in prices, the Haven has lost much of its shine and bang for the buck. 

 

That's the point!!!!  The huge increases in price make it clear that NCL is targeting people that don't care about the cost.  There is a good contingent of people who find $10k pocket change.  NCL wants to increase the perceived value of the Haven to target that type of buyer.  They don't care about people willing to pay $2k more.  It's not about that.  Think of it this way.  A first class airfare could run 10X the economy cost (international).  Airlines make a killing on business/first class and generally fill up the seats with people who aren't budget conscious.  NCL is going for buyers like that.  Not buyers looking to pay an extra few hundred bucks or even a thousand or two.

[Greenpea2]

11 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Yes, that’s basically what I have seen before.

 

It really seems to me that the difference is much more the selection rather than the charge. Basically, if you are in a standard room you can’t get much of a cooked breakfast even if you are willing to pay, but if you are happy with cold stuff then it is delivered free.

 

I wonder how many people actually pay $7.95 for an omelette or French Toast. I suppose some people must do, and if there is more than one person wanting some then the charge isn’t too bad per item.

 

If I was ever to order room service breakfast I would probably just get some toast, but it seems you can’t have that no matter how much money you want to spend.

I know, right? No toast! And where is the bacon! I think part of it must be that if it was a full menu , then possibly hundreds (1000s even!) might order room service BF after "overdoing" it (one way or another) the day/night before. Especially since, as you pointed out, for $7.95 you could get it for the whole cabin. That would be an absolute madhouse with room service people going up and down halls delivering them!

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, Cruisemama81 said:

It's all about perspective - what are YOU looking for on your vacation.

 

In January we were in our first inside room on the Breakaway & still had a blast on our trip. Prior to that we had only done the suites & haven on all of our trips. We really enjoyed the extra space & perks. The service was always incredible!

 

Once we realized we had just as much fun paying a lot less I think we will continue to book lower rooms unless there is some incredible deal or a good priced bid option.

 

We are working on budgeting here with a kid starting college this fall lol. If we didn't have all these upcoming expense we would continue to book higher rooms (suites/haven).

 

Love it!  We are finding ourselves going down the same path.  We have just as much, if not more fun in regular rooms than suites.  The cruise product is so dang good in any class that paying extra for a little bigger room and a butler or whatever just does almost nothing for us.

[vamom76]

Honestly, choosing between the Haven and the non-Haven rooms is totally dependent on the person/family.  We will pay the extra cost because we value the extra add-ons while others may not.  We have children, not yet 18, so we want a separate bedroom and separate bath (in the 2-bedroom suites) and lots of extra storage space. We want everyone to sleep-in, on their schedule, without waking up others. My husband and I want "private" time without worrying about finding time alone. We want breakfast in bed, access to multiple TVs, free pay-per-view movie parties with candy and drinks, we want drinks on the balcony or meals in the room, snacks delivered after a long port-of-call. Or even time in the Haven sauna, or to sneak up to the spa, or priority access for shows.  We love the small, secluded lounge and restaurant; for us, we want a quiet place away from the crowded pools and bars, but still, have the cruise experience.  

 

We find the Haven experience to be incredibly relaxing for OUR family.  That is hard to quantify for another.  We don't mind paying extra because we get the vacation we want.

 

[Nolanoel]

4 hours ago, cruisingnewtoit said:

Not in the tip pool. meaning they get no tips from anywhere. I hope they get paid a lot more than other staff positions.

Not my business.   I tip them separately and am fine with it.  I tip what I feel is fare based on the number of people in my suite and what I ask them to do. They are not in the tip pool does not equal they get no tips.   It means that they are not in the tip pool that everyone pays.  So if you aren't sailing in a suite or Haven you aren't subsidizing the people who are only serving those of us in suites/haven. 

[Hotspring]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 11:48 AM, JamieLogical said:

I am about to go on my 6th NCL sailing the first week in June on the Escape. Contemplating paying outright for a Haven upgrade, rather than relying on bidding. I've never been in a Haven before, but I constantly track their pricing and inventory for all of my sailings. The cost difference between say, a BA balcony and any of the Haven suites seems to vary greatly from ship to ship and sailing to sailing. For those of you who sail Haven occasionally, how do you decide when the time is right to book a Haven versus just a balcony or mini-suite. Is there a difference in price point that you pay attention to?

Keep in mind in addition to the upgrade bid, you will end up paying for the concierge and butler gratuities.  You also will only be able to bring your original free at sea items that came with your balcony rather than all 5 that one receives if they book originally in Haven.   Then you have to consider what Latitude loyalty benefits you have attained.    We are the camp that the Haven is the only way to go, but may rethink that after are next cruise when we attain the Platinum benefits such as the specialty dining and early disembarkation.   If you have not ever done the Haven, it likely will be worth 1.5K/person to move up from balcony to experience it.  If you know what you are getting into, half that will like be a worthwhile bid.   Good luck.

[kitty-sail]

13 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Every opinion counts but I would counter the point that people traveling in the Haven don't care about the cost.  Nothing could be further from the truth in my world.  I am booked in the Haven on Encore but I booked 1.6 years prior to sailing in order to make the payments.  I did get a steal on an Epic Haven once but her inaugural year, I paid an outrageous amount for a penthouse.  Its like people who drive very expensive cars and you scratch your head how they can afford it.  Yes there are people in the Haven who have no financial concerns in the world.  And YES, there are people like me who are blue collar and middle class who sacrifice to book those kinds of cabins especially today.  I do agree with the huge increase in prices, the Haven has lost much of its shine and bang for the buck. 

I agree totally. Have been fortunate enough to either book outright or bid up to Haven on my last 6 cruises. But looking at pricing going forward, it's going over my budget allowance. Booked a suite on the Dawn last cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although Dawn has half the # of people, I did miss the private pool and bar especially on sea days.

[kitty-sail]

12 hours ago, BNBR said:

 

That's the point!!!!  The huge increases in price make it clear that NCL is targeting people that don't care about the cost.  There is a good contingent of people who find $10k pocket change.  NCL wants to increase the perceived value of the Haven to target that type of buyer.  They don't care about people willing to pay $2k more.  It's not about that.  Think of it this way.  A first class airfare could run 10X the economy cost (international).  Airlines make a killing on business/first class and generally fill up the seats with people who aren't budget conscious.  NCL is going for buyers like that.  Not buyers looking to pay an extra few hundred bucks or even a thousand or two.

When researching cruises, I look at the price per day which gives me a better price point since cruises can be 7 - 10 - 14 days.  I have seen Haven cabins going for $300. per day and some as much as $850. per day & more.  Pricing varies depending on time of year and ship.

[kitty-sail]

18 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Agree about Haven experience being tied to the ship.  For the “Jewel” ships, I think full suite cabins offer better value than the Haven cabins.  On the “Jewel’ class ships, the Haven is tiny. The full Suite cabins have access to the concierge (which are fantastic in doing about everything in planning your day’s activities, from planning ship dining, ship entertainment, excursions, taking care of any customer service issues, etc.  Plus, Suite passengers get to eat breakfast and/or lunch  in Moderno and/or Cagney’s.

 

I did that on the GEM in a full aft suite for less than $4K. Great experience.

 

The “Away” and “Away Plus” ships all have bigger and nicer Haven facilities over the other ships, and end up being the better value.

 

It really is a much better cruise experience to not have to take care of anything on your own, to not have to be restricted to the more crowded pool and bar areas of the ship, to have the “best seats in the house for all the major shows, to get on and off the ship before anyone else, to have access to any food on the ship set up in your cabin by the Butler, be served by the best bartenders on the ship in the Haven bar, have the best stewards taking care of your room every day, etc.

 

 

When booking a suite (non-Haven) on the Gem, I was under the impression that the only perk was butler and concierge service.  Do Suites on these ships have access to Haven pool or courtyard?  Do suites get breakfast in Moderno?  Priority show seating, priority boarding?

 

Have only sailed Haven on Escape, Breakaway so far which do not have a "suite non-haven" category.  The highest level on the Dawn is a Suite class which has all the perks of Haven except no courtyard. What is the difference between Haven class and Suite class on the older ships ??

 

 

Edited May 20, 2019 by kitty-sail

[KeithJenner]

10 minutes ago, kitty-sail said:

When booking a suite (non-Haven) on the Gem, I was under the impression that the only perk was butler and concierge service.  Do Suites on these ships have access to Haven pool or courtyard?  Do suites get breakfast in Moderno?  Priority show seating, priority boarding?

 

Have only sailed Haven on Escape, Breakaway so far which do not have a "suite non-haven" category.  The highest level on the Dawn is a Suite class which has all the perks of Haven except no courtyard. What is the difference between Haven class and Suite class on the older ships ??

 

 

Basically, non Haven suites on these ships get everything that Haven suites get other than access to the Haven itself. You still get the breakfast and lunch, priority seating and boarding etc.

[JamieLogical]

Just wanted to update everyone that we still haven't made a decision on a direct upgrade. We have put in an upgrade bid that we are pretty comfortable with after having tried to assign a monetary value to each benefit of sailing in the Haven we would likely use and totaling that up. We are keeping an eye on inventory and pricing as well. They are down to only three remaining cabins of the cabin type we are most interested in for our sailing, however, it's possible some of the passengers in that cabin type will be upgraded to higher categories of Haven suites. Price-wise, the prices dropped another $150 per person on Friday, putting the current price at $1350 per person above what we paid for our current Aft Balcony. That's still a bit too rich for our blood, based on what we calculated out the Haven upgrade to be "worth" to us right now. If prices drop much further, we still may consider a direct upgrade, otherwise we are going to just leave it to the Upgrade Gods to decide our fate.

 

The direct upgrade does have some additional value over winning a bid for us. Mostly the extra Latitude point per night. We would also get free wifi, which we don't have right now, but we couldn't care less about that. We won't use it even if we have it. We go on cruises to disconnect from the real world, so wifi has zero value to us. We booked during the $50 shore excursion promo they were running a few weeks ago, so we already have the UDP, SDP, and $50 shore excursion credit as our current perks.

[Nolanoel]

13 hours ago, BNBR said:

 

I can only speak for myself, as someone who can easily afford $15k for a vacation.  I wouldn't even consider a line like Regent.  I think Celebrity was a bit too boring, Regent I couldn't even imagine!  The draw of the Haven for us was having a FUN mass market ship with the escape of a  "ship within a ship" option that was more upscale and exclusive.  However, we didn't feel the Haven delivered on that goal, mostly because they don't restrict ages.  The Haven was completely overrun by kids on our sailing and it made it anything but the shang ri la that is advertised.  And since we weren't getting that experience, it made the value of booking the Haven very little. I'd go with another poster who said $300/pp or so.

 

I would probably be ok with $500/pp extra and that's it.  However, they charge MUCH more than that and simply don't deliver the experience they advertise.  So as someone who is in the income range that would be their target market, they didn't win me over.  I like the concept, a LOT, of a ship within a ship, but NCL needs to do it much better to justify the prices they are demanding.  The value isn't there and we get a much better experience with other lines in regular cabins than the Haven can offer, and for a fraction of the cost.

I have never had an issue with kids in the Haven....how many times have you actually sailed in the Haven?  And what time of year?  I tend to sail Jan and Dec after Thanksgiving.....no kids at all!  The deal is that if you are going on a "fun ship"  - there will be kids. I can empathize with your frustration over not getting the experience you had hoped for - however, it is entirely possible you just went at a bad time of the year.  I am doing a family cruise Thanksgiving week....not staying in the Haven!  I know there will be tons of kids and nobody in my traveling party is doing the Haven...so it would be a huge waste of money for me.  For me...the cruising draw is that everything is taken care of - meals, cleaning my room, DRINKS!  LOL  I am good with no entertainment (I think the entertainment is so so anyway).  I don't need a go cart or laser tag (do like the slides....BTW....I have never stood in line for the slides - no kids - booking at the right time of year!)  The only problem I have with Regent is that I don't want to have to dress up all the time.  Other than that would love to have the bucks to drop on it...at least once!!

[BNBR]

16 minutes ago, Nolanoel said:

I have never had an issue with kids in the Haven....how many times have you actually sailed in the Haven?  And what time of year?  I tend to sail Jan and Dec after Thanksgiving.....no kids at all!  The deal is that if you are going on a "fun ship"  - there will be kids. I can empathize with your frustration over not getting the experience you had hoped for - however, it is entirely possible you just went at a bad time of the year.  I am doing a family cruise Thanksgiving week....not staying in the Haven!  I know there will be tons of kids and nobody in my traveling party is doing the Haven...so it would be a huge waste of money for me.  For me...the cruising draw is that everything is taken care of - meals, cleaning my room, DRINKS!  LOL  I am good with no entertainment (I think the entertainment is so so anyway).  I don't need a go cart or laser tag (do like the slides....BTW....I have never stood in line for the slides - no kids - booking at the right time of year!)  The only problem I have with Regent is that I don't want to have to dress up all the time.  Other than that would love to have the bucks to drop on it...at least once!!

 

I sailed the Haven once.  After that experience, why would I bother again?  And if it's more or less a gamble whether I get a pre-school or luxurious experience, I'm not interested.  We sailed in February, not spring break or summer or winter break, or anything of the sort.  The courtyard was loaded with kids.  10 - 15 all day long.  Screaming, running, splashing, snorkeling in the hot tubs, playing loud games in the pool.  Basically, the parents would love the enclosed area to keep their kids in view, they sit and read a book and let their kids run wild.  This is what happens when you have 3rd/4th guest free and 2 bedroom family rooms.  The Haven seems (possibly unintentionally) designed to encourage exactly this.  Posting a picture I took at the bottom, it was usually even more full of kids than in the picture!  And again, it comes down to simply why would I roll the dice on whether I'll have a kids cruise (in Feb!) or a quiet shang ri la?

 

The solarium on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean is 16+.  So the idea that there will be kids is not accurate at all.  For me, I just see no value in the courtyard and pool.  It can be full of kids, no view outside, it's totally enclosed with no ocean view, loud and echos, small, etc.  The solarium on X/RCI is exactly the opposite and you get access with any normal cabin.  On X, we sat in beautiful big padded teak loungers overlooking the ocean.  The pool was big enough for laps, the hot tubs had an ocean view, servers were coming around for drink orders, and there is a little cafe in there, too.  So why would I have interest in the Haven and pay substantially more for it?

 

Have you sailed Oasis class yet?  You may have a different view of entertainment on that ship.  And yeah, I love the slides!  So for us we like Harmony/Symphony.  Though the Escape has probably my favorite slide at sea.  Forget the name but it's the big inner tube slide.  It's outstanding and they move the line fast.

 

And I would say we still had a very nice time on the Escape with the Haven.  The spa must be the best at sea, it's amazing.  The waterfront was a blast and we enjoyed the specialty dining quite a bit. The thing is, you don't need a Haven room to do any of that!  Our favorite stuff was not in the Haven!  We would much rather have drinks on the waterfront than the tiny enclosed lounge/bar sitting next to the concierge.  The Haven restaurant is highly overrated and just vanilla.  There are so many better things to do outside the Haven.

 

 

[Cruisemama81]

47 minutes ago, Nolanoel said:

I have never had an issue with kids in the Haven....how many times have you actually sailed in the Haven?  And what time of year?  I tend to sail Jan and Dec after Thanksgiving.....no kids at all!  The deal is that if you are going on a "fun ship"  - there will be kids. I can empathize with your frustration over not getting the experience you had hoped for - however, it is entirely possible you just went at a bad time of the year.  I am doing a family cruise Thanksgiving week....not staying in the Haven!  I know there will be tons of kids and nobody in my traveling party is doing the Haven...so it would be a huge waste of money for me.  For me...the cruising draw is that everything is taken care of - meals, cleaning my room, DRINKS!  LOL  I am good with no entertainment (I think the entertainment is so so anyway).  I don't need a go cart or laser tag (do like the slides....BTW....I have never stood in line for the slides - no kids - booking at the right time of year!)  The only problem I have with Regent is that I don't want to have to dress up all the time.  Other than that would love to have the bucks to drop on it...at least once!!

Exactly! It's all about the time of year you go for the Haven! We also rarely do to entertainment any more. As long as I have good food, DRINKS, service, & company I am HAPPY!

[debgreg]

1 minute ago, Cruisemama81 said:

Exactly! It's all about the time of year you go for the Haven! We also rarely do to entertainment any more. As long as I have good food, DRINKS, service, & company I am HAPPY!

In the UK we have holiday camps called Haven, full of kids, that might put some off

[Mike D.]

1 hour ago, BNBR said:

 

I sailed the Haven once.  After that experience, why would I bother again?  And if it's more or less a gamble whether I get a pre-school or luxurious experience, I'm not interested.  We sailed in February, not spring break or summer or winter break, or anything of the sort.  The courtyard was loaded with kids.  10 - 15 all day long.  Screaming, running, splashing, snorkeling in the hot tubs, playing loud games in the pool.  Basically, the parents would love the enclosed area to keep their kids in view, they sit and read a book and let their kids run wild.  This is what happens when you have 3rd/4th guest free and 2 bedroom family rooms.  The Haven seems (possibly unintentionally) designed to encourage exactly this.  Posting a picture I took at the bottom, it was usually even more full of kids than in the picture!  And again, it comes down to simply why would I roll the dice on whether I'll have a kids cruise (in Feb!) or a quiet shang ri la?

 

The solarium on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean is 16+.  So the idea that there will be kids is not accurate at all.  For me, I just see no value in the courtyard and pool.  It can be full of kids, no view outside, it's totally enclosed with no ocean view, loud and echos, small, etc.  The solarium on X/RCI is exactly the opposite and you get access with any normal cabin.  On X, we sat in beautiful big padded teak loungers overlooking the ocean.  The pool was big enough for laps, the hot tubs had an ocean view, servers were coming around for drink orders, and there is a little cafe in there, too.  So why would I have interest in the Haven and pay substantially more for it?

 

Have you sailed Oasis class yet?  You may have a different view of entertainment on that ship.  And yeah, I love the slides!  So for us we like Harmony/Symphony.  Though the Escape has probably my favorite slide at sea.  Forget the name but it's the big inner tube slide.  It's outstanding and they move the line fast.

 

And I would say we still had a very nice time on the Escape with the Haven.  The spa must be the best at sea, it's amazing.  The waterfront was a blast and we enjoyed the specialty dining quite a bit. The thing is, you don't need a Haven room to do any of that!  Our favorite stuff was not in the Haven!  We would much rather have drinks on the waterfront than the tiny enclosed lounge/bar sitting next to the concierge.  The Haven restaurant is highly overrated and just vanilla.  There are so many better things to do outside the Haven.

 

 

Thanks for that picture!   That would certainly wreck the area for me.  

 

My one Haven experience was on the Breakaway in January for 11 days.  On that voyage I believe there were (maybe) 8 children in the whole Haven, 5 of them in one family and super well behaved.  I think that good experience was about the time of year and the duration of the cruise which would probably discourage the participation of many children.  So the Haven pool area was always nice and quiet.

 

My usual place to hangout during the day is the Thermal Suite and having Haven privileges didn't change that.  The Haven pool is (IMHO) pretty silly with its limited depth and weird couches in the middle of the water.  Did we sit out there a few times?  Yes.  Pleasant place to read a book?  Yes.  

 

I'll disagree about the Haven restaurant.  I found the service and food to be very good+.  Would I like more variety in the dinner menu...yes!  I understand that "in the good old days" any item like on any restaurant menu could be ordered.  That would be nice but I was still quite pleased.

[BostonGal35]

id pay at most $2300 pp for Haven.

we have been able to find deals on off season sails but its becoming harder and harder.

[BNBR]

2 hours ago, Mike D. said:

Thanks for that picture!   That would certainly wreck the area for me.  

 

My one Haven experience was on the Breakaway in January for 11 days.  On that voyage I believe there were (maybe) 8 children in the whole Haven, 5 of them in one family and super well behaved.  I think that good experience was about the time of year and the duration of the cruise which would probably discourage the participation of many children.  So the Haven pool area was always nice and quiet.

 

My usual place to hangout during the day is the Thermal Suite and having Haven privileges didn't change that.  The Haven pool is (IMHO) pretty silly with its limited depth and weird couches in the middle of the water.  Did we sit out there a few times?  Yes.  Pleasant place to read a book?  Yes.  

 

I'll disagree about the Haven restaurant.  I found the service and food to be very good+.  Would I like more variety in the dinner menu...yes!  I understand that "in the good old days" any item like on any restaurant menu could be ordered.  That would be nice but I was still quite pleased.

 

Yeah it was pretty awful.  Since the courtyard echos so bad and the kids were so loud, my wife (who at first didn't mind the kids too much), a few days in she couldn't even relax on the upper deck and read.  The noise was so bad.  I've read that you can complain to the concierge, but having to go through that nonsense, make complaints, is not the ultimate luxury/exclusive vacation the Haven is sold as.  The area allows kids.  You could have a sailing full of kids in the Haven, all it takes is a couple of families, and it can happen any time of year as we saw.

 

I'm not sure we disagree about the Haven restaurant.  It IS very good.  But we found all the specialty restaurants and dining venues to be also very good with a lot more variety in the menu.  The Haven restaurant service on our sailing was "adequate" at best.  It was slow at times, and just kind of like any other restaurant on the ship.  There was nothing that made the restaurant stand out other than it was smaller and more private.  With the never changing menu, it became stale by day 3 and we were even doing breakfast at the buffet because we were so bored with the Haven.

Edited May 20, 2019 by BNBR

[graphicguy]

50 minutes ago, BostonGal35 said:

id pay at most $2300 pp for Haven.

we have been able to find deals on off season sails but its becoming harder and harder.

Sailed Havens on the “Away” ships to both Bermuda and Caribbean.  The price you quote is right in line with what I’ve paid.  Actually, I paid a little less than that once.

 

But, I also got a lot of OBC to go along with the Haven making the net price very close to a regular balcony cabin.

[Nolanoel]

2 hours ago, Mike D. said:

Thanks for that picture!   That would certainly wreck the area for me.  

 

My one Haven experience was on the Breakaway in January for 11 days.  On that voyage I believe there were (maybe) 8 children in the whole Haven, 5 of them in one family and super well behaved.  I think that good experience was about the time of year and the duration of the cruise which would probably discourage the participation of many children.  So the Haven pool area was always nice and quiet.

 

My usual place to hangout during the day is the Thermal Suite and having Haven privileges didn't change that.  The Haven pool is (IMHO) pretty silly with its limited depth and weird couches in the middle of the water.  Did we sit out there a few times?  Yes.  Pleasant place to read a book?  Yes.  

 

I'll disagree about the Haven restaurant.  I found the service and food to be very good+.  Would I like more variety in the dinner menu...yes!  I understand that "in the good old days" any item like on any restaurant menu could be ordered.  That would be nice but I was still quite pleased.

Hey Mike....I think we were on the same Breakaway cruise - we did 11 day Jan. 6th out of NOLA and  I didn't see any kids at all.  I agree with you....the Haven pools are strange...I never saw anyone using them.  I loved the Haven restaurant - only did one dinner there but enjoyed lunch and breakfast every sea day.  Very good experience.  Wish I was still there.  

[Nolanoel]

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Sailed Havens on the “Away” ships to both Bermuda and Caribbean.  The price you quote is right in line with what I’ve paid.  Actually, I paid a little less than that once.

 

But, I also got a lot of OBC to go along with the Haven making the net price very close to a regular balcony cabin.

Since you have done multiple Havens and MSC....how do they compare?  Would love to know.

 

[graphicguy]

3 minutes ago, Nolanoel said:

Since you have done multiple Havens and MSC....how do they compare?  Would love to know.

 

They’re both good....in different ways.  I like the Top Sail Lounge better than the Haven Bar.  Concierges are much better on NCL than MSC.  There’s no planning needed with NCL Concierges.  MSC concierge will make reservations, but if they aren’t available at the time or date you want, there’s nothing they can/will do.  NCL Concierges seem to be able to get you into any restaurant or any show, any day or any time, even if sold out.  Same goes for any of the shows.

 

I much preferred NCL entertainment over MSC. That’s objective.  But, I was familiar with the shows NCL offered.  The entertainment on MSC was more generic.  Talent was good on both, though.

 

Butler service on both is similar (both good).  I liked the Haven Restaurant over MSC’s Le Muse.

 

When MSC YC was less expensive than NCL Haven (when I booked them), it was worthwhile.  Now, they’re priced similarly, I’d choose NCL Haven.

 

The only caveat....I’d choose MSC over NCL in the Mediterranean (was in the YC sailing on Meriviglia).

 

Clear as mud? 😉

[Mike D.]

24 minutes ago, Nolanoel said:

Hey Mike....I think we were on the same Breakaway cruise - we did 11 day Jan. 6th out of NOLA and  I didn't see any kids at all.  I agree with you....the Haven pools are strange...I never saw anyone using them.  I loved the Haven restaurant - only did one dinner there but enjoyed lunch and breakfast every sea day.  Very good experience.  Wish I was still there.  

We were on the 11 day on January 26th our of NOLA on the Breakaway.  Now I know TWO good dates to pick. 🙂  I will second your "wish I was still there" sentiment.  

[Nolanoel]

4 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

They’re both good....in different ways.  I like the Top Sail Lounge better than the Haven Bar.  Concierges are much better on NCL than MSC.  There’s no planning needed with NCL Concierges.  MSC concierge will make reservations, but if they aren’t available at the time or date you want, there’s nothing they can/will do.  NCL Concierges seem to be able to get you into any restaurant or any show, any day or any time, even if sold out.  Same goes for any of the shows.

 

I much preferred NCL entertainment over MSC. That’s objective.  But, I was familiar with the shows NCL offered.  The entertainment on MSC was more generic.  Talent was good on both, though.

 

Butler service on both is similar (both good).  I liked the Haven Restaurant over MSC’s Le Muse.

 

When MSC YC was less expensive than NCL Haven (when I booked them), it was worthwhile.  Now, they’re priced similarly, I’d choose NCL Haven.

 

The only caveat....I’d choose MSC over NCL in the Mediterranean (was in the YC sailing on Meriviglia).

 

Clear as mud? 😉

LOL!!  Actually very clear!  I appreciate the objective review.  Those NCL concierges sure are special!  They make magic happen!