Port intensive Med itinerary

[Fletch2]

What's your thought?  Is the extra $5K worth it for a Haven Suite and perks vs Club Spa Suite (Thermal Suite access) on NCL for a 7 night port intensive trip in the Mediterranean with only 1 sea day?  Leaning more towards Club Spa and try to get Vibe deck access for the 1 day at sea instead but curious what others feel.

[complawyer]

if you can afford the extra $5,000, get the haven. even with only1 sea day, the excursions wont last the entire day, you can come back and relax at the haven bar, jump in the pool or jacuzzi, and have your butler bring you all sorts of goodies.  after a long day at an excursion, you may want this just for the sake of "chilling" out, rather  than dealing with the other 3-4000 of your closest friends on board..

based on your question, it also seems like youve already answered it. with only one sea day, how much use will you get from the thermal spa?  we've been on 18 ncl cruises, and ive never even seen the spa (of course that's not my thing, anyway) but i have on many occasions used the jacuzzi in the haven area and the sun deck  

[Sweetnspicy]

Not worth it to me! I always get the spa pass though and I love it. 

[WarfRatWA]

My vote is for the Haven.  But given your poll, I would guess you are concerned about budget..if that is the case, don't do the Haven, the added expense will just eat away at you and you won't enjoy it.

[Gen X Life]

Depends on the Ship and how much you will utilize the Spa.  Epic has the best Spa, BUT it also has the best Haven that I have had the privilege of experiencing. I loved the SPA!! Best on NCL.  (Hope Prima is an Upgrade!)  We go almost every night after a day of sightseeing on Epic in Europe. ( Wish Epic had better, longer itineraries - 10 days )

 

When are you going?? Weather and School break would factor into my decision. 

 

Also, are you a Bar/Show person or an excursion person?  You could arrange a few fabulous private excursions with $5k.

 

JMHO

[sverigecruiser]

 

If NCL is the only option I should defenitely book Haven. I don't know the exact itinerary but we should probably stay on the ship two portdays so that should give us three full days on the ship.

 

 

[Hadacareer]

3 hours ago, Fletch2 said:

What's your thought?  Is the extra $5K worth it for a Haven Suite and perks vs Club Spa Suite (Thermal Suite access) on NCL for a 7 night port intensive trip in the Mediterranean with only 1 sea day?  Leaning more towards Club Spa and try to get Vibe deck access for the 1 day at sea instead but curious what others feel.

 

28 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

If NCL is the only option I should defenitely book Haven. I don't know the exact itinerary but we should probably stay on the ship two portdays so that should give us three full days on the ship.

 

 

Hmm I love the spa, would go before breakfast and after excursions, but with heavy port days would reconsider.  We booked a transatlantic with first few days heavy..Rome, Livorno (Florence), Cannes, several stops in Spain..then sea days across interspersed with azures and Bermuda.  Our port days seem to be mostly short stays and with that many sea days we booked the haven and looking seriously at a thermal spa pass for me..in the Caribbean I loved it, and with my back I was able to resist a couple of massages so figure it was worth it!  Also as we are doing a December crossing thought the warmth of the spa (heated loungers) would be awesome

[MaryZ]

Haven for the ease of getting on and off the ship

[ColeThornton]

Five large ones can get you another cruise or two.  For ME, the Haven benefits while nice are not even close to being worth that much money.

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, MaryZ said:

Haven for the ease of getting on and off the ship

If it is the Epic Western Med then getting on and off the ship is just a case of walking off. I’ve done this itinerary 4 times and have never once queued either getting on or off.

[Cb2534]

If you decide against the Haven, I would consider booking a standard club balcony and then buying the add-on thermal spa pass.  So much cheaper than paying the current "spa" category  room rates when you book your cruise.     I am on the W. Med out of Rome on the Epic at the end of September and booked a balcony for a very good price.   I just picked up a full cruise thermal spa pass for $139 each for my husband and I.    Saved hundreds that way.   So much cheaper than booking a spa category room.  Make sure you call to reserve - attempting  to book the Epic thermal spa online makes it look like you are buying a day pass.   

One other thought - the cost for the 7 day spa pass was so low it makes me wonder if there will be limited services open or available for this sailing.      

I really can't wait for the reviews to start coming in after sailing starts!!

 

[taylortime05]

3 hours ago, Cb2534 said:

If you decide against the Haven, I would consider booking a standard club balcony and then buying the add-on thermal spa pass.  So much cheaper than paying the current "spa" category  room rates when you book your cruise.     I am on the W. Med out of Rome on the Epic at the end of September and booked a balcony for a very good price.   I just picked up a full cruise thermal spa pass for $139 each for my husband and I.    Saved hundreds that way.   So much cheaper than booking a spa category room.  Make sure you call to reserve - attempting  to book the Epic thermal spa online makes it look like you are buying a day pass.   

One other thought - the cost for the 7 day spa pass was so low it makes me wonder if there will be limited services open or available for this sailing.      

I really can't wait for the reviews to start coming in after sailing starts!!

 

 

I just booked the Epic on 9/29.  Did you add the airfare through NCL?  Someone told me if you are not flying on airlines that are designated as "Covid Tested" then you will need to quarantine in Europe for 10 days.  So I'm assuming NCL would ensure that the airline they select meets any requirements at the time.

 

I booked the H9 Spa Cabin for 5K.  I think it's a reasonable price for a Haven.  But I'm going to check out the other cabin prices because it is port intensive.  We've only been on one NCL cruise on the Escape. We won a bid for aft Haven.  We loved it so much.   I'll have to check out the price differences between balcony vs Haven. 

[BirdTravels]

Don’t book a Haven. Once you do it once, you will never book a standard room again. 

[complawyer]

18 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Don’t book a Haven. Once you do it once, you will never book a standard room again. 

totally agree with you.my wife is so spoiled, if i cant/dont book a haven, she refuses to go on the cruise

[horseboarder]

We were in Haven for port intensive Western Med.  One major plus to being in Haven is room service made to order breakfast each morning prior to early excursion departures. Beyond that priority queuing for NCL excursion transportation is nice. Our excursion days were very long and very tiring so the little extras provided by the Haven experience were nice. Would I spend the price differential again - probably not. 

[Cb2534]

On 6/19/2021 at 12:13 AM, taylortime05 said:

 

I just booked the Epic on 9/29.  Did you add the airfare through NCL?  Someone told me if you are not flying on airlines that are designated as "Covid Tested" then you will need to quarantine in Europe for 10 days.  So I'm assuming NCL would ensure that the airline they select meets any requirements at the time.

 

I booked the H9 Spa Cabin for 5K.  I think it's a reasonable price for a Haven.  But I'm going to check out the other cabin prices because it is port intensive.  We've only been on one NCL cruise on the Escape. We won a bid for aft Haven.  We loved it so much.   I'll have to check out the price differences between balcony vs Haven. 

Congrats on booking the cruise and in the Haven no less.     We are also on the 9/29 cruising  in a large balcony cabin on deck 11 - I am sure we will see you in the spa.    I generally don't book the Haven unless I can score an amazing deal during the upgrade bidding.   

We did not take advantage of the airfare offer because of the "covid-tested" flight requirement from the US into Italy.  I did not want to take a chance on that.  We are also adding quite a few days to the trip before and after the cruise so another reason NCL air wouldn't work for us.     We fly out of JFK on the 25th.  

I was also looking for a roll call for this cruise.  There are a few older ones out there from 2020 that don't seem to hit the mark.     I guess for this itinerary there will be people getting on in Rome on Wed. (9/29)  to start their cruise and a whole new group getting on in Barcelona on Sunday for their 7day.   It's the first staggered type of cruise I've seen like this.    The only roll call I've found is for the Barcelona trip that begins on 10/3 but there has not been much activity.    I may start one myself.  I always loved the meet and mingle and the ability to join small group tours with other cruisers.