NCL The Haven with kids

[erdoc1]

We have always exclusively cruised with Celebrity (6 times, 4 of which were in suites).  We love the suite-only benefits on Celebrity but the pandemic has caused their fares to go up dramatically and we are now forced to look at alternatives if we are to consider a cruise.  We are a family of 4 with 2 girls aged 10 and 4.  We are contemplating a Haven Suite for next April but want to choose the best ship.  Itinerary is pretty irrelevant to us and just want a good experience onboard.  The kids club in Celebrity incidentally allows you to drop off the kids while you go ashore.  Does NCL offer this?  

 

Our options are the following ships...which is best for Haven guests?

 

Prima 

Encore

Joy

Escape

Getaway

Breakaway

Epic

Gem

Pearl

Dawn

Sky

 

Thanks in advance. 

[rjm11]

The Dawn and Sky do not have dedicated Haven areas, so cross them off the list. The Pearl and Gem have them, but not a Haven Restaurant. They have special haven breakfast and lunch in one of the specialty restaurants- but no haven dinner, so if that's important to you then skip those. People rave about the Epic Haven, but I have not personally tried it. I LOVED the one on the Bliss though, so I would recommend the Encore (sister ship)- that Haven-dedicated huge lounge in the front is wonderful. We played cards and games with our kids there, and they set out little snacks (sandwiches, desserts, etc) all day long in there.

[wolft927]

I think as long as you choose a Breakaway class or Breakaway plus class ship you will be very happy. As far as dropping off at Kids club and you going ashore I am not sure about that, hopefully someone can answer that for you. I will be on the Getaway in the Have at the end of the month and will be doing a live review as well. 

[Two Wheels Only]

Epic and anything newer is a good start. From there, look at what the ships have to offer. 

 

 

[mjkacmom]

Hopefully they will open up the club for the 3 - 5 age group by then.

[NYMama]

To my knowledge, NCL currently does not have staff supervised programs available for children under the age of 5.  That could change by April.

[palpieha]

Unfortunately, NCL has not brought back programs for kids under 5:

https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/family-cruises/youth-programs#splashacademy

 

They did have "Port Play" prior to the pandemic where you could drop kids off and get off the ship, but the webpage above shows that's "Temporarily not available".

[The Shrike]

We love the Haven on the Escape.

[Karaboudjan]

What are the suite benefits that you have liked on Celebrity?  I think that your kids will find plenty of fun things to do, but none of them would be in the Haven or exclusive to Haven guests so I would question if the Haven is a great fit and worth the large price differential.  You could also look into the non-Haven suites that most if not all NCL ships offer.

[erdoc1]

So, indeed the kids club for those less than 5 is temporarily close because of lack of staffing.  No indication of when things will resume.  The benefits on Celebrity: swift check in, preferred luggage delivery, dedicated suite restaurants, dedicated bars/pool for suite guests and dedicated lounges among others.  

 

Comtemplating booking on NCL and cancelling late if they don't resume the kids club for the <5 year olds. my daughter will be 4.  Defeats the purpose to have the 9 year old and not the 4 year old enjoying herself in the kids club. 

 

[BirdTravels]

On 9/11/2022 at 9:02 PM, erdoc1 said:

 

We have always exclusively cruised with Celebrity (6 times, 4 of which were in suites).  We love the suite-only benefits on Celebrity but the pandemic has caused their fares to go up dramatically and we are now forced to look at alternatives if we are to consider a cruise.  We are a family of 4 with 2 girls aged 10 and 4.  We are contemplating a Haven Suite for next April but want to choose the best ship.  Itinerary is pretty irrelevant to us and just want a good experience onboard.  The kids club in Celebrity incidentally allows you to drop off the kids while you go ashore.  Does NCL offer this?  

 

Our options are the following ships...which is best for Haven guests?

 

Prima 

Encore

Joy

Escape

Getaway

Breakaway

Epic

Gem

Pearl

Dawn

Sky

 

Thanks in advance. 

From a pure Haven perspective, the Epic has the best Haven in the fleet. That being said, she is the oldest of NCL's big ships. The newer Havens are on the Encore, Joy, and Bliss. The newest ship (only sailing for a few weeks) is the Prima and from videos (no first hand experience), her Haven is the newest and has features that others don't have.

 

Steer clear of the Gem, Perl, Dawn, and Sky. 

Lower on the priority list is the Haven room on the Breakaway and Getaway. 

 

I posted some pictures of the Haven on the Breakaway on the following link starting on Post #161

 

And some Breakaway Haven food pictures on this thread

 

 

[Candy Apple 12]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

From a pure Haven perspective, the Epic has the best Haven in the fleet.

Can you expand on this? Thank you!

[BirdTravels]

55 minutes ago, Candy Apple 12 said:

Can you expand on this? Thank you!

It has a very large 2-story lounge. A small private gym (not on other ships). Steam room (not on other ships) in addition to sauna. It's sun deck is the multi-level Posh Club (Vibe Club on newer ships) with a private bar and water feature. It has a very large outdoors dining room in addition to a large indoor dining room.  Bottom line is that it has a lot bigger public space than other Havens. Now, the Prima seems to have a nice Haven, but there seems to be a lot more Haven rooms (the entire back end of the ship for multiple decks),,, so we'll see how that goes.

Edited September 21, 2022 by BirdTravels

[erdoc1]

On 9/20/2022 at 8:37 PM, BirdTravels said:

It has a very large 2-story lounge. A small private gym (not on other ships). Steam room (not on other ships) in addition to sauna. It's sun deck is the multi-level Posh Club (Vibe Club on newer ships) with a private bar and water feature. It has a very large outdoors dining room in addition to a large indoor dining room.  Bottom line is that it has a lot bigger public space than other Havens. Now, the Prima seems to have a nice Haven, but there seems to be a lot more Haven rooms (the entire back end of the ship for multiple decks),,, so we'll see how that goes.

Thank you bird.  This is very helpful.  One of your pictures showed an area for 16+ only.   We are traveling with 2 under 10.  Which area was this?  

[Cap_D]

erdoc1 What did you decide on?  We have a 5 year old and remain interested in Haven, but don't like the 16+ restriction on the sundeck.  We have sailed Celebrity (Edge in April 2022).  Their acceptance of children in all Retreat areas was a deciding factor, and we found they treated children as well / better than adults.  Beautiful Berner, too.