The NCL Haven Luxury VIP Experience "Secrets" REVISED for 2022

[RocketMan275]

11 minutes ago, juneaubliss said:

Hi all, does anyone know if every Haven cruise booking will receive a letter in the mail from NCL about their stay? We booked about 50 days from the cruise, when can we expect to get the welcome package with the instructions?

It's been my experience that bookings close to sailing sometimes are not contacted by the pre-cruise concierge.  Suggest you get proactive and contact them.

 

Calling them is best but here's their phone and email.

 

 

855-625-4283

norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com

All you need is  your booking number.

 

Very nice people to talk to.

[Sthrngary]

27 minutes ago, juneaubliss said:

Hi all, does anyone know if every Haven cruise booking will receive a letter in the mail from NCL about their stay? We booked about 50 days from the cruise, when can we expect to get the welcome package with the instructions?

@juneaubliss Welcome to CruiseCritic.com.  Although I have usually gotten a letter about 45 days prior to the embarkment, it is NOT guaranteed.  If you need to reach out to the Pre-Cruise Haven Desk, call NCL and ask to be transferred.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[juneaubliss]

Thank you for the responses above.

 

If one of the excursions appears to be full (eg app shows "$0.00" for the 2nd guest and not available for purchase from the app), is it ever possible for the concierge to squeeze the Haven guests in despite what the app shows?

[Girr]

They will put you on a waiting list - it's not like the restaurants where they reserve some sittings.  I imagine you'd have priority (moved to the top of the list), but unless someone cancels or there's enough interest to get the vendor to add additional transport you're out of luck.  Most excursions are limited based on number of seats.

[amygutman]

16 hours ago, Daniel A said:

Do you know if the Haven spa offers the same massages as the rest of the ship has?

@Daniel A From my understanding, you can order the majority of the same massage / facial experiences with the exception of the full-body salt rubs as there is no "spa shower" area in the Haven. It's actually more relaxing I understand as they often do not push products to sell as hard as they do not have those products on hand (and have to be sent to your rooms). 

 

Honestly, I have always gone to the spa itself or on the spa on the private island vs having a massage in the Haven; I hate the upselling of products (stresses me out to say no, as I know the spa team is heavy on commissions) and the pricing is super high unless I have OBC. Plus, if you have your treatment in the spa area, you can just walk right over to the thermal loungers which are my favorite thing in any spa on any ship. I'd love to have one in my bedroom at home!

 

Warmest Amy

 

[Branbay]

15 hours ago, juneaubliss said:

Hi all, does anyone know if every Haven cruise booking will receive a letter in the mail from NCL about their stay? We booked about 50 days from the cruise, when can we expect to get the welcome package with the instructions?

We received ours about 30 days out.

[Branbay]

15 hours ago, juneaubliss said:

Hi all, does anyone know if every Haven cruise booking will receive a letter in the mail from NCL about their stay? We booked about 50 days from the cruise, when can we expect to get the welcome package with the instructions?

We recived our letter about 30 days out.

[Branbay]

21 minutes ago, amygutman said:

@Daniel A From my understanding, you can order the majority of the same massage / facial experiences with the exception of the full-body salt rubs as there is no "spa shower" area in the Haven. It's actually more relaxing I understand as they often do not push products to sell as hard as they do not have those products on hand (and have to be sent to your rooms). 

 

Honestly, I have always gone to the spa itself or on the spa on the private island vs having a massage in the Haven; I hate the upselling of products (stresses me out to say no, as I know the spa team is heavy on commissions) and the pricing is super high unless I have OBC. Plus, if you have your treatment in the spa area, you can just walk right over to the thermal loungers which are my favorite thing in any spa on any ship. I'd love to have one in my bedroom at home!

 

Warmest Amy

 

I agree with Amy's post.  We just asked the concierge, and she booked us a massage on GSC. Which was amazing, the spa on GSC is located in the Silver Cove area.  When we were finished with our massage, we were able to use the amenities at Silver Cove which included having access to the lunch buffet, use of floats, chairs, access to the bar, etc.

[Chan50]

Hi All, 

 

Firstly, this is an amazing thread! @Sthrngary your knowledge is immense, as is some of the other others on here, thank you.

 

Does anyone have any experience on the Dawn? Looking at a suite or a club balcony suite but their doesnt appear to be any Haven on there. I assume the benefits would be considerably less? We just love the itinerary which is why we are looking at the Dawn. 
 

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

Thank you

 

 

[psac]

On 8/17/2023 at 3:41 PM, Sthrngary said:

@Daniel A The Spa Representative has the same menu in the Haven Lounge as if you were in the spa itself.  The services are done in the spa of course.  This is simply another benefit of staying in the Haven.  

I have booked my spa treatments in the Haven with the Spa Representative and directly at the spa.  If I got on first, I do the Haven if I get on later, I go directly to the spa.  Hope that helps.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

We’re not Spa people, but the Breakaway (and I assume some of the other ships?) has at least one small spa treatment room right in the Haven area, like forward of the Haven pool. I know the Joy doesn’t have that, but I don’t know which ships in between do or don’t have that.  But I think if I wanted a treatment, I would want the full spa area experience and not do it in the little Haven spa room…..?

[pkay1]

@Chan50 I stayed in an aft balcony suite on the Dawn last summer. You are right about there not being a Haven on the Dawn, but you do get some Haven-like privileges with a suite, not a club balcony suite. We had a butler that brought us snacks daily and handled room service. We also had priority getting on and off the ship, if we chose to do so. Breakfast and lunch were in Moderno every day and it was up at the top of the ship, so a very nice place to eat. Only suite passengers were allowed to eat there. My parents were also on the cruise and they had a Deluxe Owner's Suite, so they had the same privileges I stated above, along with three bottles of spirits/wine in their room. They were in the front of the ship, had a front facing balcony and an enclosed balcony on the side of the ship. This was their first Norwegian cruise after sailing many times on Regent and they were pleasantly surprised how much they enjoyed everything about the Dawn and the cruise. We walked to them so we got a lot of steps in! The Dawn is a smaller ship. Doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles like the Breakaway and Prima class ships, but we were very happy with the ship! I'd definitely sail again on the Dawn!

[Chan50]

Thank you, that is great insight.

 

we are looking at back to back. Dawn through Ireland then Viva in the Med.
 

Your feedback helps our decision making for sure.

 

 

[AlexandNessa]

On 8/17/2023 at 4:33 PM, juneaubliss said:

Hi all, does anyone know if every Haven cruise booking will receive a letter in the mail from NCL about their stay? We booked about 50 days from the cruise, when can we expect to get the welcome package with the instructions?

 

We booked Aug 14 for a Nov cruise, and received our Haven Welcome letter on the 15th, the next day. Not sure if this was because we are in an OS? The welcome letter also contained a link for our in-room bottle preferences. 

[Sthrngary]

6 hours ago, Chan50 said:

Thank you, that is great insight.

 

we are looking at back to back. Dawn through Ireland then Viva in the Med.
 

Your feedback helps our decision making for sure.

 

 

@Chan50 I started this thread over five years ago.  If anyone is a cheerleader for NCL it is me.  I also obviously LOVE the Haven Experience.  Yet, it is important especially when doing a European cruise to look at all options, brands, ship sizes and accommodations. 

 

The ship you want is a smaller ship because of access to ports with as few tenders as possible.  I am not saying the Dawn/Viva combination would work for you.  I am saying look at all your options out there.  That kind of trip deserves all that it can be.  Regardless, you will have a time of a lifetime.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Treasure Hunter]

I have been on the Dawn ( not in a suite) and loved the ship. I think the combo choice will be a lot of fun. We once did a Tauck land tour of Italy and then a Mediterranean cruise on RCCL Symphony of the Seas in a Grand  suite. I plan to do that with NCL in the future. We are on the Encore in February. Does anyone know why NCL stopped doing the one week out of NY for February school break? We are forced to fly to Miami at the tune of $1000 a person coach. Last year we had a two bedroom suite ( in the Haven on the Breakaway) that cost less than this scenario.

[jill5172]

On 8/7/2023 at 7:11 PM, SaltyPawz said:

Considering a Haven cruise to Alaska. Bliss, Encore, and Joy are options. Any recommendations or preferences?

 

It's a bit late, but as I just finished booking Alaska on Encore for next summer, I'll give you my $0.02.  With Alaska I looked for itinerary first, then ship choice.  I specifically wanted either a one-way to see Hubbard Glacier or a round-trip from Seattle (where I live) that goes to Glacier Bay.  Bliss only was offering Dawes Glacier/inside passage, which is less appealing to me.  Encore has Glacier Bay, RT from Seattle and a proper Haven (important to us; we like having a dedicated Haven bar and restaurant.)  Joy is not sailing to Alaska next August, though the Sun is, for longer itineraries than we were interested in.

 

We are very excited for this cruise - we were planning a big group Alaska cruise on Bliss in August 2020; that obviously did not happen.  Looking like we should be able to recruit friends on this one too, which makes it even more fun.

[juneaubliss]

I am curious how guests in Haven suites outside the Haven complex (eg Bliss Aft Haven suites) can receive priority disembarkation on the final day — since they’re outside the Haven complex, would they have to first make their way to the complex via regulator elevator first (lining up as needed) to request disembarkation? Would it be faster to just manually ride a regular elevator down with everyone else? And would it be faster if they carried their own bags and did self embarkation? 

 

Also, if anyone has specific pointers for Haven embarkation/disembarkation at Seattle (pier 66 I believe), that’s be great.

[RocketMan275]

5 hours ago, juneaubliss said:

I am curious how guests in Haven suites outside the Haven complex (eg Bliss Aft Haven suites) can receive priority disembarkation on the final day — since they’re outside the Haven complex, would they have to first make their way to the complex via regulator elevator first (lining up as needed) to request disembarkation? Would it be faster to just manually ride a regular elevator down with everyone else? And would it be faster if they carried their own bags and did self embarkation? 

 

Also, if anyone has specific pointers for Haven embarkation/disembarkation at Seattle (pier 66 I believe), that’s be great.

We were on Breakaway in an aft Haven suite.

We took our baggage with us to the Haven for breakfast.

After breakfast, the concierge escorted us to debarkation, the head of the line.

[Sand and Seas]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

We were on Breakaway in an aft Haven suite.

We took our baggage with us to the Haven for breakfast.

After breakfast, the concierge escorted us to debarkation, the head of the line.

Yes, this is what we have done whether we have kept all of our luggage with us, or only our overnight luggage.  Enjoy your last breakfast and then hang out in the Haven lounge until you choose to leave the ship.  Much easier to get the concierge escort to the 'head of line' disembarkation.   

 

The majority of our cruises we do not have Haven and have to join that long line that snakes around through several areas of the disembarkation deck.  Then you think, "Here we go... we are almost outside!".... before the line starts snaking through another venue😒

[Treasure Hunter]

We send our big luggage out the night before and go to breakfast at the Haven restaurant super early with our overnight case. We go down with the concierge in the crew elevator and then there is usually a person with a Haven sign that cuts to the head of the line walking on the outside of the line ( walk offs). We have also after finding our luggage ( especially in New York) gotten a porter . For $10-$20 they take you right thru customs/immigration with no waiting to your transportation. 

[Daniel A]

9 hours ago, juneaubliss said:

I am curious how guests in Haven suites outside the Haven complex (eg Bliss Aft Haven suites) can receive priority disembarkation on the final day — since they’re outside the Haven complex, would they have to first make their way to the complex via regulator elevator first (lining up as needed) to request disembarkation? Would it be faster to just manually ride a regular elevator down with everyone else? And would it be faster if they carried their own bags and did self embarkation? 

 

Also, if anyone has specific pointers for Haven embarkation/disembarkation at Seattle (pier 66 I believe), that’s be great.

If you're already booked in your aft Haven suite, why not pose that question to the pre-cruise concierge?  I don't know, but maybe they could arrange an escort to the Haven lounge on disembarkation day.  Just a thought...

[Trivan]

Just a few hours off the Joy. We did a 7 day cruise to Bermuda in a 2 bedroom.   Here is my observations and comments on the Haven Joy along with other observations as a newbie NCL / Haven guest in no order what-so-ever.  Just a brain dump while it's still fresh in my mind.

 

Embarkation was an organized mess. Getting to the waiting areas was fine, but when being led on to the ship, people were just following the guide as best they could.  Some got left behind at the security check and signage was minimal.  Once in the Haven area, no direction on what to do.  It was like, here you are, have fun! BYE!  As new cruisers it would have been nice to have some information.  Lucky this forum has provided enough to know what to do, but there were certainly people lost.  Concierge was a nightmare until 8pm, no organization to be had, one just needed to figure out there was a line, figure out that only 1 person was doing restaurants and the other everything else. 

 

Staff was great.  Some of the staff were less trained as others but everyone was working very hard and always helpful.   Our butler was fantastic, she was alway on point, but at times did seem a bit over burdened with the amount of rooms she had to cover, which was the entire length of the haven-14 rooms.   One night, over heard some people who must of learned about the “Butler letter” and was commenting on how absurd it was (far more foul language was used).  All I’ll say it it worked great for us. I think our Butler appreciated it as they have way too many cabins to remember everything.  She had all our points with food allergies and preferences nailed down by the first evening.

 

Concierge was there, but didn’t really go out of his way to meet people. Other on our cruise commented the same.  Talked with others at the bar and others had the same comment that he wasn’t really great. I’m sure his tips reflected it.   I took $$ from his tip pool and gave it to a Bar back who was busting her back all week to keep the Haven bartenders stocked and helping out where ever she could.

 

Haven Bar was awesome, I went premium plus and was of great value to me.  Wife and I are not a big drinkers but the amount of Starbucks, bottle water, premium wine/champagne and a few Old Fashions and scotch from the top shelf made it worth it for us. 

Specialty food into the Haven dining room was being frowned upon. Our butler said it was getting too much and once others found out it was being done started to do the same and taxed the system, so they cut it out.

 

The Speciality dining was very strict with the amount of food which could be ordered.  It was made very clear when we sat down that only 1 appetizer, 1 soup/salad, 1 entree and 1 dessert would be allowed

 

Outside the Haven was crazy is all I can say.  I would not have found the cruise to be relaxing unless we paid for the Vibe.  Even then, parts of the ship with all the loud music and people running around would have driven me nuts.

 

We went to Cagneys and Ocean Blue.  Wasn’t a fan of Cagney’s, but the Lamb chops and Blueberry crisp cobbler was very good.  Felt like we were rushed out.   Ocean Blue was worked by the morning Haven staff, so level of service was much better.   As people said the food in the Haven is much better, but we needed a change from the menu.   If NCL people are reading, just adding 1 new dish a day would be a huge plus.  It could be something from one of the speciality restaurants, but please consider mixing it up.

Haven lunch while very good was limiting after a few days for us.  One day we did room service from the Local for pub dogs and nachos.

 

Food republic - we did not like it, waste of a speciality dining for us.  I guess having great sushi and asian influenced food in NYC spoils you.  I could see if your from an area with limited food of this style it could be good.   We had the Tuna pizza and it was not edible, we mentioned to our server that it was way to garlicly and nothing was done to acknowledge that.  We felt it was the worst meal of our trip.  We ordered room service that night 🙂

 

We had a great relaxing trip, will certainly look to cruising in the Haven again.  

Any secret tips to stop the house from rocking back and forth...... 🤮

Edited August 20, 2023 by Trivan
bullet points didn't come thru

[eppler]

We have taken the plunge and upgraded to the Haven for our Sept 4th out of NY on the Joy.  I have spent hours today reading the many pages of information which I am grateful for.

One thing I didn't see was a posting of the Haven restaurant menu.  Granted , the search function here and on the NCL website are not the best.

If anyone has a picture I would appreciate if you could post it.

[RocketMan275]

12 minutes ago, eppler said:

We have taken the plunge and upgraded to the Haven for our Sept 4th out of NY on the Joy.  I have spent hours today reading the many pages of information which I am grateful for.

One thing I didn't see was a posting of the Haven restaurant menu.  Granted , the search function here and on the NCL website are not the best.

If anyone has a picture I would appreciate if you could post it.

You'll find this  useful:

 

[Sthrngary]

2 hours ago, eppler said:

We have taken the plunge and upgraded to the Haven for our Sept 4th out of NY on the Joy.  I have spent hours today reading the many pages of information which I am grateful for.

One thing I didn't see was a posting of the Haven restaurant menu.  Granted , the search function here and on the NCL website are not the best.

If anyone has a picture I would appreciate if you could post it.

@eppler You will love the Joy Haven.  One of my favorite ships and Haven's.  I will attach what I have and cannot guarantee it is accurate.  But it will give you a feel.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

Haven_Dinner_Menu_Side_Two.jfif Haven_Dinner_Menu_Side_One.jfif Haven_Lunch_Menu_Side_Two.jfif Haven_Lunch_Menu_Side_One.jfif Haven_Breakfast_Menu.jfif