Haven Restaurant vs Specialty Restaurants

[geo.mac]

Hi All,  

 

We're about to hit the 130 day mark for our cruise aboard the Encore.  We're staying in the Haven and are trying to decide if we book specialty dining or not.   Anecdotally, on this site, I've heard the haven food is better than many offerings at specialty dining and, if you ask nicely and the stars align, you may be able to get some items from the specialty dining restaurants served in the haven.  With the "supply chain issues" and quality cutbacks, I'm leaning further to skipping specialty dining and sticking to the haven for meals.   If we skip specialty dining, our plan is to use the credits at places like food republic and Q to grab some shareables on the fly or in our cabin.   

Am I wrong?   Will we be missing out if we don't eat in Cagney, Le Bistro or Onda?   

[JandC_Cruising]

We have been on the Escape, Joy, Epic, and Encore.  As many have told you the Haven restaurant is wonderful.  However, we always use our specialty meals from the F@S program outside the Haven.   We are recently off the Encore and Ocean Blue and Le Bistro were wonderful.  Yes, there are a couple of upcharge items on the menu, but we just avoided them.  Frankly, we are no longer fans of Cagney's as we have had too many "fails" there and the Filet and Lobster tail or NY strip in the Haven are both great.  But we enjoy getting out and experiencing the meals in the other specialties at least a couple of times on a 7-day cruise.

 

[BirdTravels]

20 minutes ago, geo.mac said:

Hi All,  

 

We're about to hit the 130 day mark for our cruise aboard the Encore.  We're staying in the Haven and are trying to decide if we book specialty dining or not.   Anecdotally, on this site, I've heard the haven food is better than many offerings at specialty dining and, if you ask nicely and the stars align, you may be able to get some items from the specialty dining restaurants served in the haven.  With the "supply chain issues" and quality cutbacks, I'm leaning further to skipping specialty dining and sticking to the haven for meals.   If we skip specialty dining, our plan is to use the credits at places like food republic and Q to grab some shareables on the fly or in our cabin.   

Am I wrong?   Will we be missing out if we don't eat in Cagney, Le Bistro or Onda?   

You won’t miss anything saving money and eating at the Haven. 
 

Getting specialty dining in the haven will cost you retail and takes staff out of the restaurant to run food for you. 
 

We add a lobster tail or two to every entree. We don’t bother with the surf and turf with small filet we add a lobster tail or two to the larger rib eye

 

 

[Wedgie Wedgie]

We did a 10 day recently in the Getaway Haven and had 4 specialty dining credits. We had one meal in the Tropicana MDR too because we enjoy the floor show. 

 

My wife swears by the crab cake app ($5 upcharge) at Cagneys. It is 10 times better than the crab cakes entrée  in the Haven, don't ask me why but it is true.

 

I had the prime rib one night in the Haven and my wife had it the next night in Cagneys, the Haven's was better to me.

 

The Haven is great for breakfast and lunch. You can ask for extra lobster in the bisque. The french dip has improved immensely from years ago, I just order a half- it's plenty for me. The poolside snack menu has a great mahi sandwich too, I asked for it without the sesame coating and received a huge, fresh piece of fish.

 

We sail the Escape next week and it's only a 7 nighter and again we have 4 specialty dining credits and we're in the Haven. We have ressies at Bayamo, Cagney's, La Cusina and LeBistro. And then there's the Haven to fall back on. It's nice that they don't take ressies and if you're still hungry or just want another killer desert you can always get in. Maybe La Cusina will just be a pizza and then drop in the Haven later.

 

What a dilemma!

 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

The specialty restaurants are options for everyone. What I generally do when it comes to the specialty restaurants that I haven't tried is I look at the menu and see if anything seems interesting.

 

Could I do 21 meals in the Haven for a week? Sure.

 

Could I do multiple specialty restaurants even when booked in the Haven? Sure.

 

Either way is fine.

[BrownEyedGirl686]

For the first time we are doing haven for most meals; and trying the new specialties we haven’t eaten at before — maybe.  
also we aren’t making reservations at the specialties we are just winging it. 😊

[BirdTravels]

The Haven matire d told us that the prime rib in the Haven is the same as Cagney’s. Same meat, cooked in the same oven, served in different restaurants. 

[Firstin87]

As with anything involving food, opinions vary by individual's taste and preferences.  We sailed on the Bliss and Joy when they first returned to sailing and stayed in the Haven.  Beautiful areas!  Personally, I did not like that the Haven menu does not change.  This was a problem for me as I am allergic to seafood, so my choices were even more limited.  The food in the Haven restaurant on each ship was very good, it was just he lack of variety for us.

[cruiseny4life]

The Haven Restaurant is amazing. But, we still use our included in the fare Free at Sea meals. We appreciate the variety, but usually don't enjoy the meal as much as in the Haven. The only exception, La Cucina on Getaway.

 

If I were you (which I'm not), I'd use the credits. At the very least, I'd make reservations, then if you want, cancel them if the Haven is amazing. We do get bored with the Haven's menu. That's why we switch it up. Having said that, we're taking our meal at La Cucina in March and using the other at Food Republic.

Good luck. Enjoy!

[Sand and Seas]

We have only been in Haven for two of our 40plus NCL cruises, but the restaurants are definitely one of the most enjoyable memories of those experiences on Getaway & Bliss.  On the Getaway, we did not use our last Dining credit and gave up our Cagney's reservation for one more meal in the Haven.

 

I wouldn't miss Onda, but could definitely pass up other specialties for the Haven restaurant.

[Sailing12Away]

If you're getting specialty restaurant food served to you in the Haven restaurant, they're still using your free at sea (or lattitudes) dining credits, it's not free just because you're a Haven guest.

 

Assuming you've got the free at sea package, I don't see why you wouldn't use those credits.

I'm a picky eater, so for myself I really don't enjoy eating in the Haven restaurant more than 1-2 times. Our next trip is a big one, 15 days. So I'm planning on visiting the concierge on day 2 (day 1 is way too busy) and having some chats to see what options we've got with enough advanced notice for the staff. Last trip a group of folks arranged for a special Indian meal one night in the Haven restaurant, so I'd definitely be interested in seeing what else I could get for a one or two special meal off-menu.

[geo.mac]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

If I were you (which I'm not), I'd use the credits. At the very least, I'd make reservations, then if you want, cancel them if the Haven is amazing. ... and using the other at Food Republic.

You may not be us... but lurking on your posts our sensibilities are the same. 

 

To provide a bit more detail, my wife and I are the first 2 cruisers on our itinerary giving us the 2 free at sea credits each.    We are travelling with our two children (12 & 14).  We might book a "date night" using 2 of the 4 credits, but may cancel and opt for a more flexible use of our credits as we've heard on other posts like using 1 credit for 4 selections from food republic or using 1 credit to get a BBQ platter while listening to country music, etc.    I explained this to my wife and her response was "why don't we get sushi rolls 4 times"?    so that's where our head is. 

As a note on the dishes from speciality restaurants while in the haven.  I saw a comment above about getting charged for them, but in other posts I have heard that requests are sometimes granted and not charged.   So let's use this as a scenario: My wife loves duck breast and I'd love to get some escargot during the cruse.  If we told our waiter at the haven in conversation "we'd love some duck breast and escargot if possible" do you think we'd be charged?

 

Cruise well, 

G