Loyal Celebrity cruiser will be in Haven ( suite)

[Cruising89143]

On 5/21/2023 at 4:54 AM, ISABELLA said:

We are back from our first Haven cruise. Lots of pros and cons. 

 Will post our opinion shortly. 

 

Looking forward to your comparison between the two. We cruised on Bliss in the Haven shortly before the pandemic. Will be interested in your take on NCL and the Haven.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

23 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Looking forward to your comparison between the two. We cruised on Bliss in the Haven shortly before the pandemic. Will be interested in your take on NCL and the Haven.

A Bliss Cruise 😉😁

https://www.blisscruise.com

[ISABELLA]

Before I will impose my opinion regarding cruising in NCL Haven, I would like to clarify few things. Although we cruise with Celebrity for 20 years +, we never sailed in suites, only Balcony or AQ. So, my review is not to compare suite life on either line, but to give my opinion on what is Haven life and cruise experience around the ship. We sailed on NCL Gateway, 9 days Caribbean from Port Canaveral. We chose this cruise for a few reasons – only 1 hour drive from home and we wanted to try something different.

Getting from the port entrance  to a drop off the luggage location took 50 min - very disorganized. After we parked the car and got to the Haven's check in it was quick process. We were taken up to 14th deck, where our cabin was. Suite was very nice and specious with a jacuzzi tub in the room by the window. Bathroom had small double sink set up and nice walk in shower with jets. Lots of closet space.

Balcony was narrow but long with 2 wicker chairs and small table. Nice touch in the room was Nespresso with pods and teas. But only non-dairy creamers were  provided. Our butler- lady was very nice,  explained that we shouldn't hesitate to ask for anything we need or want. We usually don't eat breakfast in the room, so only asked for coffee with real half and half to be delivered around 7:30. 

All perks that came with Haven were very nice and useful to us: priority to get off the ship in ports, pre reserved seating in the theatre was great. Haven's courtyard  was nice place to be, always quiet, plenty lounge chairs.  All people serving Haven are stella and work very hard to please passengers.

Haven's restaurant was very nice, similar to Blu. Food and service were excellent, for exception of soups, although my husband liked lobster bisque. Menu does not change. But we found that is not a big deal for us, always found something different to eat.  Surf and Turf was excellent. And you can have more than one lobster. Portions were good. Prime rib was huge - could feed 2 or more people.

Specialty restaurants were not any better that Haven restaurant. Desserts were disappointment, except " cheesecake in the jar " in Ocean Blue restaurant - best I ever had.

WiFi is spotty and slow ( we paid for an upgrade from free 150 min to unlimited).

About beverage package, that was included - no water of any kind is included.

My husband doesn't drink, I enjoy occasional glass of wine - Moscato. They didn't have it and no substitute was offered. So, it came down to paid for a beverage package we didn't use.

We didn't use Thermal Spa, which was not included in Haven, unless you stay in Spa suite. It looked nice and big. I am guessing there are a lot of Spa suites

About the ship: First - she looked clean everywhere. Big deal at sea.

For the most part we didn't like the ship, 17 named bars and 15 dining venues are on 3 decks, so it looks very cramp, there is no elegancy to interior. I think it is by design, since it is Free style and 90% of people are in shorts all day long, even at dinner time.

Main pool area was a zoo during the day, but we expected that. So being in Haven was a blessing.

Entertaining: Nice to have reserved seating in the theater. Theater look like movie theater, not like performance theater. Comedy was performed in different small venues, which avoided - too crowded.

We wish Celebrity go back to have a piano bar, where you can relax and listen some nice tunes.

Also, there was no place on Gateway like Cafe Al Bacio, which we liked a lot.

In general We didn't like NCL Free at  Sea perks. They are useless to us. At least at Celebrity we get much better drinking package, paid gratuity and wifi. Gratuity in Haven are $25/pp per day ( not included in perks)  plus additional for Butler and Concierge were recommended. We always tip extra when exceptional service provided. 

Officers and crew on Celebrity are much friendlier that on NCL. 

Activities on board are similar to other cruise lines.

Maybe I missed something, but if you ask I will try to answer.

Overall we enjoyed our cruise and will cruise on NCL again- Haven only- if itinerary and price is right.

After trying Haven, I will say there are pros and cons with both lines. 

Our next cruise is 10 days on Equinox in November and 14 days on Sun Princess in Mediterranean next year. 

Thank you for being patient, waiting for my review.

I am trying to upload few pictures.