WTH! Haven Restuarant CLOSED our entire sailing!

[Two Wheels Only]

24 minutes ago, rxlowry said:

After looking at the pictures from the Breakaway thread of the Haven restaurant, it looks like the best plating NCL does.  

 

While watching a documentary about Regent Seven Seas Explorer, I noticed that even though that ship has a $100K bed, the plates in the restaurant are the same make/model that is used in the Haven restaurant.

[Two Wheels Only]

Double

Edited September 6, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[Peachypooh]

9 minutes ago, Mr Smarty said:

 

So yelling at us in all caps on a 3rd party web site solved that little non-issue?  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Here is a  work around. Go back on the site and see if there are any slots for 4

people. Or 6. Then ask around in the Haven lounge if people want to join you.

Barring that just show up and say it will be only 2. However the best advice here

is just to make a list of the restaurants and times you want and hand it to the concierge the

first day. If possible he or she will at least make it partially happen if not all. Sorry Mr. Smarty this was

meant for  Dgius

Edited September 6, 2019 by Peachypooh

[pcakes122]

6 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

The Haven restaurant inside the complex has great atmosphere and service.

It does, however it only exists on the Breakaway/Plus class of ships.  No Jewel class Havenites have died of neglect or starvation yet and they don't have a Haven restaurant.

[pcakes122]

3 minutes ago, Peachypooh said:

Here is a  work around.

No need for a work-around.  As has been said many, many times there is only a SMALL number of reservations available online, in advance.   The restaurants are NOT sold out no matter what the website says.  There will be NO issue getting reservations once onboard.  

[david_sobe]

3 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

It does, however it only exists on the Breakaway/Plus class of ships.  No Jewel class Havenites have died of neglect or starvation yet and they don't have a Haven restaurant.

If you are going to quote me, use my entire statement because you took that sentence completely out of context.  That was not the point of my paragraph.

[KarlChilders]

13 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

<snip>

Also, saying the concierge can get you into a specialty restaurant at any time with no problems is NOT true.  A few times the concierge told us the restaurant was sold out completely and no room.  That may be a rare occurrence but I can verify its true.

While I don't doubt that is true normally, I would like to think that as the decision was made to close the restaurant for this sailing, they would have taken into account the need for alternative accommodations and reserved blocks of specialty dining for the Haven passengers.

[BirdTravels]

12 minutes ago, Mr Smarty said:

Only a small percentage of available dining times are open for pre-booking.  Calm down and stop ruining your own cruise before you even get on the ship!  If you are that determined to have a horrible time just cancel your cruise and stay home.  Every passenger on the ship will probably be better off if you do.

The more important fact is that the Concierge can oversell a restaurant for Haven guests. You will board around 11:00 and you should go to the concierge desk and one of the assistant concierge can help you book entertainment and dining reservations on embarkation day, then head down to Cagney's which will open at noon. With the galley closed, it is a toss-up whether they will be serving wagyu sliders and truffle fries in the Haven lounge when you arrive. 

 

The ending comment is very ugly. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by BirdTravels

[pcakes122]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

The more important fact is that the Concierge can oversell a restaurant for Haven guests.

And the Haven Concierge is keenly aware that the restaurant is closed - so I sincerely doubt they are going to tell any Haven guest that their choice of dining venue is unavailable. 

 

And I know so many people LOVE the Haven Restaurant, but honestly I don't think it is any big whoop.  I rarely eat dinner there, it's boring.  So, while it is definitely an inconvenience that it is closed, it's no big loss (in my opinion.)

[Dgius]

Wow this thread has really taken some mean spirited turns.  I was the original poster and so much is being assumed that there is some of kind of snoberly involved in the decison to book into the Haven and my angst about the restaurant closure.  So let me just state some facts for a second.   We book into the Haven because we have mobility/disability issues and having the restaurant just a few feet from our room is necessary.  We can stay up in this small enclave and get all our needs met without having to move around very much.  We can also enjoy the observation lounge, near our room.  It is  ideal for us as a vacation given our limitations. Now that the restaurant is closed,  having to navigate down to Cagneys twice a day and also to the specialty restaurant is very challenging and daunting!!  It has really thrown a bit of a wrench into our plans and expectations.  I appreciate those of you who have been supportive with your ideas and suggestions.   We are going to make lemonade and just figure it out when we get there tomorrow morning but I would caution folks about jumping to conclusions about why folks book up into the Haven area.   

[pcakes122]

11 minutes ago, Dgius said:

We book into the Haven because we have mobility/disability issues and having the restaurant just a few feet from our room is necessary.  We can stay up in this small enclave and get all our needs met without having to move around very much.  We can also enjoy the observation lounge, near our room.  It is  ideal for us as a vacation given our limitations. Now that the restaurant is closed,  having to navigate down to Cagneys twice a day and also to the specialty restaurant is very challenging and daunting!!  It has really thrown a bit of a wrench into our plans and expectations.  I appreciate those of you who have been supportive with your ideas and suggestions. 

I am disabled as well and I always book the Haven.  I don't normally eat in the Haven restaurant (as I've mentioned, too boring for me and too many other good options in the specialty restaurants!)  One thing you might consider is renting a scooter (if you don't already have one.)  I rent one every cruise and it's great to be able to easily zip around and enjoy the full ship without any issues!  It would be unfortunate if you had to restrict yourself to just one small area of the ship - I haven't been on the Joy yet but I heard it's beautiful!

[pcakes122]

41 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

If you are going to quote me, use my entire statement because you took that sentence completely out of context.  That was not the point of my paragraph.

I understood the point of your paragraph to mean that the restaurant within the enclave is part of the Haven "experience."  The point of my response is that having a Haven restaurant is not critical to a great Haven experience since it does not exist on the Jewel-class ships and people book & rebook those Haven cabins every day.

55 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Also, saying the concierge can get you into a specialty restaurant at any time with no problems is NOT true.  A few times the concierge told us the restaurant was sold out completely and no room.  That may be a rare occurrence but I can verify its true.

Referring you to the nearest "tipping" thread for guidance on how to avoid this issue in the future. 😉

 

In all seriousness, I will believe it since you've said it, but I've never experienced that in many Haven cruises. Did you have an unusually large number of folks in your party?

[Georgia_Peaches]

6 hours ago, Mr Smarty said:

Entirely a first world problem and nothing more.  Get over it and enjoy your cruise.  Talk about an entitled spoiled attitude!  Jebus Christy!

 

So?  First world problems are to be expected in a first world country.  This has nothing to do with being spoiled or entitled.  It's called being disappointed, plain and simple.  If I pay for a certain experience, I expect to receive it.  In this case I think NCL has done a pretty good job of compensating for the closure by providing specialty dining for the entire cruise.  But when you book a Haven category, you go into it with a certain amount of excitement and anticipation for having a premium experience.  Nothing wrong with that and certainly noting entitled about that feeling.  Its part of the fun of the pre-cruise build up.  Perhaps you can't relate but that's your problem, not the OP's or anyone else who empathizes with the disappointment.  

Edited September 6, 2019 by Georgia_Peaches

[david_sobe]

23 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

I understood the point of your paragraph to mean that the restaurant within the enclave is part of the Haven "experience."  The point of my response is that having a Haven restaurant is not critical to a great Haven experience since it does not exist on the Jewel-class ships and people book & rebook those Haven cabins every day.

Referring you to the nearest "tipping" thread for guidance on how to avoid this issue in the future. 😉

 

In all seriousness, I will believe it since you've said it, but I've never experienced that in many Haven cruises. Did you have an unusually large number of folks in your party?

Nope.  Tipping had nothing to do with it.  There are reasons that not everyone experiences on every cruise.  Once during Valentine's Day week there was a singles group who booked Cagneys solid.  Concierge told us there was nothing he could do and even the spots usually reserved for Haven were gone.  He did provide options of having the food delivered to another restaurant, etc.  But ALL TABLES SOLD OUT.

Also on Valentines day as you can imagine we were not able to get into Le Bistro.  Booked solid but someone eventually cancelled and we got in.  See.  Everyone's experience is different just like every cruise is different.  We loved the Concierge and he did wonderful things for us in other areas.  However, I have had concierges work magic on every issue.  While rare, I have read other times where the concierge was not able to get Haven guests into sold out shows, excursions, and restaurants too. 

Edited September 6, 2019 by david_sobe

[Georgia_Peaches]

25 minutes ago, pcakes122 said:

I understood the point of your paragraph to mean that the restaurant within the enclave is part of the Haven "experience."  The point of my response is that having a Haven restaurant is not critical to a great Haven experience since it does not exist on the Jewel-class ships and people book & rebook those Haven cabins every day.

Didn't the Haven restaurant become a thing well after the establishment of the Jewel class ships?  It's my understanding that there is no Haven restaurant on these ships because there is not room for one...I could be wrong.  And I think it is a little presumptuous for anyone to determine what makes a great Haven experience for others as I believe this is very personal to the individual traveler.    I personally don't need a butler and would be just fine if that was eliminated from the Haven experience.  A butler is not critical to my enjoyment of the Haven.  I bet lots of people would be quite upset if Haven butlers were eliminated because of how their experience is enhanced by having one.

[SeaShark]

54 minutes ago, Dgius said:

Wow this thread has really taken some mean spirited turns.  I was the original poster and so much is being assumed that there is some of kind of snoberly involved in the decison to book into the Haven and my angst about the restaurant closure.  So let me just state some facts for a second.   We book into the Haven because we have mobility/disability issues and having the restaurant just a few feet from our room is necessary.  We can stay up in this small enclave and get all our needs met without having to move around very much.  We can also enjoy the observation lounge, near our room.  It is  ideal for us as a vacation given our limitations. Now that the restaurant is closed,  having to navigate down to Cagneys twice a day and also to the specialty restaurant is very challenging and daunting!!  It has really thrown a bit of a wrench into our plans and expectations.  I appreciate those of you who have been supportive with your ideas and suggestions.   We are going to make lemonade and just figure it out when we get there tomorrow morning but I would caution folks about jumping to conclusions about why folks book up into the Haven area.   

 

I don't know that anyone jumped to a conclusion. I even specifically stated: "Of course, this isn't to say ALL Haven guests...just SOME Haven guests."

 

You can easily be part of the ALL without being part of the SOME.

 

Pointing out the fact (which has already been acknowledged, btw) that some people don't fall under the snobbery umbrella does not negate the initial point which was only pointing out the behavior of SOME people.

 

Its like saying there were loud and out of control kids on the ship. That statement is still true despite the fact that some kids on the ship were quiet and well-behaved. 

[SeaShark]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Didn't the Haven restaurant become a thing well after the establishment of the Jewel class ships?  It's my understanding that there is no Haven restaurant on these ships because there is not room for one...I could be wrong.  And I think it is a little presumptuous for anyone to determine what makes a great Haven experience for others as I believe this is very personal to the individual traveler.    I personally don't need a butler and would be just fine if that was eliminated from the Haven experience.  A butler is not critical to my enjoyment of the Haven.  I bet lots of people would be quite upset if Haven butlers were eliminated because of how their experience is enhanced by having one.

 

The Haven Restaurant has been on every NCL ship since the Norwegian Epic.

 

All of the ships prior to the Norwegian Epic have a dedicated restaurant (usually, but not always, Cagneys) for suite guests for breakfast and lunch. Those suite guests are on their own for dinner...no dedicated restaurant and no free dining at the specialty restaurants for those folks.

 

As an aside, the reason (IMHO) behind the "What does the butler do?" threads is typically

a) Person has no idea what a butler does and is afraid of being embarrassed by asking them to do something that isn't their job, or 

b) Person has no idea what a butler does and wants to know every possible thing they can request so that they can make sure they get "their money's worth" out of having a butler. They don't want to find out after the cruise that they missed out on something they didn't know they could get.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, Dgius said:

Wow this thread has really taken some mean spirited turns.  I was the original poster and so much is being assumed that there is some of kind of snoberly involved in the decison to book into the Haven and my angst about the restaurant closure.  So let me just state some facts for a second.   We book into the Haven because we have mobility/disability issues and having the restaurant just a few feet from our room is necessary.  We can stay up in this small enclave and get all our needs met without having to move around very much.  We can also enjoy the observation lounge, near our room.  It is  ideal for us as a vacation given our limitations. Now that the restaurant is closed,  having to navigate down to Cagneys twice a day and also to the specialty restaurant is very challenging and daunting!!  It has really thrown a bit of a wrench into our plans and expectations.  I appreciate those of you who have been supportive with your ideas and suggestions.   We are going to make lemonade and just figure it out when we get there tomorrow morning but I would caution folks about jumping to conclusions about why folks book up into the Haven area.   

Dgius it's a shame that you felt like you had to explain yourself.  You are completely within your right to feel disappointed without having to justify your reasons for booking a Haven category.  I book the Haven because I like the premium experience.  I don't have mobility issues at this point in my life.  I do it because I can afford it and I like it.  If that makes me a snob in the eyes of people I've never met, so be it.  Regarding your mobility issues, you might consider discussing this with your butler or the concierge who can likely arrange for you to get to a restaurant of your choice via private or service elevator.  I hope you enjoy your cruise.

[rxlowry]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

While watching a documentary about Regent Seven Seas Explorer, I noticed that even though that ship has a $100K bed, the plates in the restaurant are the same make/model that is used in the Haven restaurant.

Not plates...plating....how the food is presented is what I was referring to not the actual plate.  But interesting facts about Regent...have only been on the Mariner and the Navigator...and if I go on Explorer I doubt it will be in that bed!

[sverigecruiser]

4 hours ago, SeaShark said:

Heck...just look at the number of "What does a butler do?" threads here. You'd think that wealthy people would KNOW what a butler does. The number of times this gets asked makes you think that the only time these people are exposed to a butler is while watching Batman.

 

Maybe wealthy people knows what a butler does but does the butlers on the ships really does the same things as a privately employed butler? I don't think so but I'm not wealthy enough to really know.

[pcakes122]

50 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

b) Person has no idea what a butler does and wants to know every possible thing they can request so that they can make sure they get "their money's worth" out of having a butler. They don't want to find out after the cruise that they missed out on something they didn't know they could get.

Yes, it is extremely important to people to make sure they get every gummy bear coming to them!

[pcakes122]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

Also on Valentines day as you can imagine we were not able to get into Le Bistro.  

Definitely one case where I would have pre-booked prior to boarding.  I'm sure that's a popular spot on Valentine's Day!

 

Again, not doubting you, but I guess I should count myself very lucky because I've never experienced an issue getting seated for dinner.  In fact, I don't believe I've ever been told "no" in the Haven for anything during any of my cruises.  Two more Haven cruises coming before the year ends - I hope my streak continues! 🤞

[mertziek]

We had an experience when booked in the Haven of the Concierge on the Jade not able to get us into a specialty restaurant when we wanted so it does happen.  We were on a Transatlantic cruise where I believe people are more inclined to do specialty dining on sea days so I think that was why.   I also think now with the dining package as one of the perks people can select, it is becoming more common for specialty restaurants to get fully booked.  And we would be disappointed if the Haven restaurant was unavailable when we expected it to be there for our cruise.  It’s nice to decide on the spur of the moment to go there to dinner rather than having to plan a dinner days in advance.  But I would not let it ruin my vacay and try to go with the flow.  However, giving you 7 specialty dinners is a nice way to try to compensate the passengers.

[SailBreakaway]

This is unacceptable. Lately NCL is making these bad decisions at their customers expense, literally. They just came out of one of the most expensive dry docks in history, there should be zero MX needed. This screams poor planning. 

 

One of the best aspects of Haven is the restaurant. Its an entire different experience than specialty dining. 

 

They should have announced this in advance for those like me that would avoid this sailing, and they need to reimburse some of the extreme cost of Haven to their guests. 

 

Thats my $0.02. 

 

I’ve given up on Haven experience for the Yacht Club. Even if the costs were equal, they do it better. I sail NCL still, but not in Haven, balconies and MSuites, with Spa and Vibe and Specialty Dining and still love that product. 

 

 

[ColeThornton]

24 minutes ago, SailBreakaway said:

This is unacceptable. Lately NCL is making these bad decisions at their customers expense, literally. They just came out of one of the most expensive dry docks in history, there should be zero MX needed. This screams poor planning. 

 

One of the best aspects of Haven is the restaurant. Its an entire different experience than specialty dining. 

 

They should have announced this in advance for those like me that would avoid this sailing, and they need to reimburse some of the extreme cost of Haven to their guests. 

 

Thats my $0.02. 

 

I’ve given up on Haven experience for the Yacht Club. Even if the costs were equal, they do it better. I sail NCL still, but not in Haven, balconies and MSuites, with Spa and Vibe and Specialty Dining and still love that product. 

 

 

 

 

This is NOT for maintenance, this is for repairs.  Big difference.

Edited September 7, 2019 by ColeThornton