Thoughts on "The Haven" -- In General, But NCL "Joy" In Particular

[ajtraveler66]

We've been on several NCL cruises, but we've never stayed in "The Haven".  We're thinking about doing one on a Bermuda cruise on the NCL " either this year or next.

 

I'd just like your thoughts, in general.  Is it all that much different?  Is it more quiet?  (Of course, I guess that depends on who's aboard.  😀).

 

Is the food any better?  (Not that it's bad in the main dining room).

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

[Two Wheels Only]

Many Haven questions are answered in the following (long but helpful) thread....

 

 

[Sthrngary]

Thank you @Two Wheels Only for reposting this op-ed.  @ajtraveler66 I am the op-ed for the article.  In addition and to your question, I was in the NCL Joy Haven with my family of five in November and December of 2021.  I also cruise the Joy again, in March 2022 as a first time solo cruiser.  

 

As @Two Wheels Only said, this is the revised article on the Haven updated in 2022 per the members of Cruise Critic request.  The op-ed answers most of your question about the Haven to an obsessed amount. The specific question about the Haven on the NCL Joy I can shed some light on.  You can ask me anything.  However I will say, I purposely did my cruise on a week that was not a holiday.  To be exact, the week after thanksgiving.  I did this because there was less families onboard with very young children.  

 

NCL is a real deal of sort with there special of 3 & 4 person free.  This brings lots of families on days like holidays.  I knew, my family mainly of adults would like it better with less young kids.  Not no kids, just less kids.  That was my reasoning and it worked out nicely.

 

Again, ask me anything and I will be completely transparent.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[palpieha]

32 minutes ago, ajtraveler66 said:

We've been on several NCL cruises, but we've never stayed in "The Haven".  We're thinking about doing one on a Bermuda cruise on the NCL " either this year or next.

 

I'd just like your thoughts, in general.  Is it all that much different?  Is it more quiet?  (Of course, I guess that depends on who's aboard.  😀).

 

Is the food any better?  (Not that it's bad in the main dining room).

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yes, it's much quieter. The sundeck is 16+ and has hot tubs which are much less crowded than the ones in the standard pool deck. The Horizon Lounge is much quieter than the Observation Lounge. The Haven restaurant has the best food on the ship.

 

We don't even use all the included specialty restaurant credits, because I'd rather have the filet and lobster tail (or as many filets and as many lobster tails as you want) every night in the Haven restaurant. It's better than anywhere else, unless you have to have foie gras, then go to Le Bistro and pay the upcharge.

 

The bartenders at the Haven bar get to know you and what you like. Want an espresso martini in the morning and a smoked old fashioned before dinner? They do it all, and no lines.

 

The only drawback to the Haven: I used to cruise not in the Haven, then I went and now I'm spoiled. I don't think I'd ever cruise again if it's not in the Haven.

Edited March 15, 2023 by palpieha

[LloydJr]

1 hour ago, palpieha said:

The Horizon Lounge is much quieter than the Observation Lounge.

I've never found an Observation Lounge to be noisy.  Do you have some specific examples?

[palpieha]

44 minutes ago, LloydJr said:

I've never found an Observation Lounge to be noisy.  Do you have some specific examples?

I've been to the observation lounge where it's hard to find a seat near the windows, and another where they had noisy Mardi gras parties. Glad you didn't have the same issue.

[BrownEyedGirl686]

We have done a bait with our a traditional haven; a non haven/ suite room and a Haven room— never will we save not Haven again.   
 

we are going to be on the Joy in the Haven at the end of May to Bermuda 🥳

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, ajtraveler66 said:

Is the food any better?  (Not that it's bad in the main dining room).

We enjoy dining in the Haven Restaurant on the Joy's cousin, the Breakaway. Here are a few pics

 

 

[dexddd]

10 hours ago, LloydJr said:

I've never found an Observation Lounge to be noisy.  Do you have some specific examples?

Our Prima sailing it was literally like a morgue or pre school.  Lots of sleepers for long time, shoes off, legs up.  Not an enjoyable location.

[dexddd]

Yes, it is quieter and food is better and mostly a real 'haven' from rest of ship.  But, the prices are out of control.

[latebloomer56]

If you can avoid it don't book during school breaks. Go just before school gets out or like we did when it was starting. This year I'm sure we will be packed with kiddos but our grandson can only travel during the school break. Our Haven is also smaller than the Joy not sure if that will be a plus or  a minus.

Enjoy you experience, we will 😊.

[vacation44]

14 hours ago, ajtraveler66 said:

We've been on several NCL cruises, but we've never stayed in "The Haven".  We're thinking about doing one on a Bermuda cruise on the NCL " either this year or next.

 

I'd just like your thoughts, in general.  Is it all that much different?  Is it more quiet?  (Of course, I guess that depends on who's aboard.  😀).

 

Is the food any better?  (Not that it's bad in the main dining room).

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

We were on the Joy twice last year--once in a Haven suite and once in a non-Haven suite.    We have a 2024 Bermuda cruise booked on the Joy and booked a Club Balcony Mini suite and secured Vibe passes already.    If it was just my husband and I, I would have booked the non-Haven suite again, but we are going with extended family and we are covering the cost of four cabins so that majorly played into our decision.    It really comes down to what you want to spend your money on.   

 

Personally, I think the Haven prices are very high and unlike posts from a lot of people, I can go back to a non-Haven cabin and still have a wonderful time.    It is possible and a lot of people do it.  

[Sthrngary]

14 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Personally, I think the Haven prices are very high and unlike posts from a lot of people, I can go back to a non-Haven cabin and still have a wonderful time.    It is possible and a lot of people do it.  

@vacation44 I could not agree more.  I think the term is Haven Lite and it is just great.  One more thing about the Joy.  It has the best Vibe Beach Club of any NCL ship I have ever been on.  

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[DCGuy64]

40 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

We were on the Joy twice last year--once in a Haven suite and once in a non-Haven suite.    We have a 2024 Bermuda cruise booked on the Joy and booked a Club Balcony Mini suite and secured Vibe passes already.    If it was just my husband and I, I would have booked the non-Haven suite again, but we are going with extended family and we are covering the cost of four cabins so that majorly played into our decision.    It really comes down to what you want to spend your money on.   

 

Personally, I think the Haven prices are very high and unlike posts from a lot of people, I can go back to a non-Haven cabin and still have a wonderful time.    It is possible and a lot of people do it.  

The Haven is something I know we would like to try one day. Just about everyone who comments on here says it's the only way to go. That said, I just priced a Haven cabin for our upcoming NCL sailing in November. The price is more than $2,000 per person higher for a Haven cabin vs our Club Balcony suite. Now, that is for a 10-day cruise, which works out to an additional $200 per day. Not that bad, but for the 2 of us, that's $4,000 extra. We can put that money to good use on another cruise. But the Haven is on our radar for sure. One day! 

[vacation44]

15 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

The Haven is something I know we would like to try one day. Just about everyone who comments on here says it's the only way to go. That said, I just priced a Haven cabin for our upcoming NCL sailing in November. The price is more than $2,000 per person higher for a Haven cabin vs our Club Balcony suite. Now, that is for a 10-day cruise, which works out to an additional $200 per day. Not that bad, but for the 2 of us, that's $4,000 extra. We can put that money to good use on another cruise. But the Haven is on our radar for sure. One day! 

I would price check constantly and see if the price comes down.   We are sailing again in a Haven cabin this Sunday on the Epic and the price went down around $3400 from booking to final payment.   Then I received another $640 in FCC for a final price drop after final payment.   

 

But as I stated above, we do not always need to be in the Haven or want to spend the additional money.  We have an oceanview cabin booked for our cruise in August to Alaska.   We choose to spend the money on pricey excursions and first class plane tickets.  The cost right now is an additional $6700 to upgrade to a Haven cabin.  No, thank you.   

[wolft927]

Haven Prices have Gone up. But if you can be flexible with sailing dates, you can find deals. We are on the Joy April 8th staying in the Aft facing Haven Suite. We have stayed inside the Haven as well as outside and either works for us. We usually choose outside becasue we will get the forward or aft as they are much bigger. 

[cruiseny4life]

I absolutely love the Haven! It's worth every penny and there are deals to be found. You just have to be super flexible with dates, itinerary, and ship. If you can do that, then you can find a nice deal. 

 

You can read all about my Norwegian Joy Haven trip on these forums. I am flying to Miami tomorrow, sailing out of Miami on Saturday. We're going to be in a Haven Suite, category HJ (the cheapest possible Haven suite on Joy). 

 

So, I have a bad habit of starting my "lives" way before the cruise. There are already five pages, so feel free to skip to page five or six so you can follow along on the actual experience. But, if you enjoy cute dogs, Niagara Falls, pricing posts, and the saga of someone becoming a new citizen, changing his name, needing a passport, and name change on NCL and Delta, then you should start from the beginning.

 

Oh, and my other Haven reviews can be found by clicking this link too! Two lives and one review. Happy reading, though I understand if you say NO WAY, that guy writes way too much junk!

 

 

[DCGuy64]

30 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

I absolutely love the Haven! It's worth every penny and there are deals to be found. You just have to be super flexible with dates, itinerary, and ship. If you can do that, then you can find a nice deal. 

And, as the saying goes, therein lies the rub. We can't be flexible with dates or itinerary, due to our jobs and other commitments. I love my job and where I work, and I love my colleagues. But you HAVE to request time off WAY in advance, and if something comes up, you might risk not getting the time off. I learned the hard way a long time ago not to book nonrefundable plane tickets before confirming I had the vacation time approved. And the refundable ones? Yeah, right.... That said, I look forward to checking out your blog.

52 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

I would price check constantly and see if the price comes down.   We are sailing again in a Haven cabin this Sunday on the Epic and the price went down around $3400 from booking to final payment.   Then I received another $640 in FCC for a final price drop after final payment. 

I like this idea, thanks for suggesting it. I think I will have our TA keep an eye on the Haven price and if it comes down enough, we might pull the trigger and do that.

[vacation44]

11 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

 

I like this idea, thanks for suggesting it. I think I will have our TA keep an eye on the Haven price and if it comes down enough, we might pull the trigger and do that.

I check every morning with my first cup of coffee!

[Sthrngary]

19 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

I check every morning with my first cup of coffee!

@vacation44 LOL, I thought I was the only one.  Love it.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

[bkrickles1]

2 hours ago, vacation44 said:

We were on the Joy twice last year--once in a Haven suite and once in a non-Haven suite.    We have a 2024 Bermuda cruise booked on the Joy and booked a Club Balcony Mini suite and secured Vibe passes already.    If it was just my husband and I, I would have booked the non-Haven suite again, but we are going with extended family and we are covering the cost of four cabins so that majorly played into our decision.    It really comes down to what you want to spend your money on.   

 

Personally, I think the Haven prices are very high and unlike posts from a lot of people, I can go back to a non-Haven cabin and still have a wonderful time.    It is possible and a lot of people do it.  

I couldn't agree more.

I have never sailed in the Haven and it's partly the cost, but it's mostly because we always sail with others and we never can get everyone to book it.

For example, We're sailing Joy for the 2nd time in July and we have 13 (so far) in our group.

Half the group can't really afford (especially right now) the Haven and my wife will not separate from our niece and nephew and the others.

On top of that, I wanted to book Vibe now that you can do it ahead of time, and my wife once again refuses to be separated from everyone else.

I told her that I was getting a pass just for myself and she said to go ahead and be the meanest uncle in the world. Lmao!!!!

Anyway, I'm not that mean and I'll suffer. Lol!

But, as others have said, if you are prepared for the ship your sailing you can thoroughly enjoy a cruise in any cabin.

[scooter6139]

IMHO - The Joy is the best ship to try out The Haven as it has a lot more cabin types to try out compared to all other NCL ships.  The only negative to that is that there can be a LOT more Haven people using The Haven space than usual.  

 

We cruised in the Haven Proper last December, during Christmas break so there were a lot of families and kiddo running around.  I did a write-up, but don't know where it went on the forums, but I'll post just my Haven parts here:

 

Cabin – 17702

I had originally booked an SC suite cabin, then upgraded to HI cabin 15150.  Our friends got a balcony a few doors down from there.  I had bid on many other Haven cabins, never expecting any of the poor/low bids to come through.  Yet a week or so before we were upgraded to a HE cabin 17702.  The cabin was very nice, but not as big as 15150.  Comfy bed (not a rock as we had before) but it seemed like it was bigger than a regular king.  It was very high, which I am not used to.  The closet was adequate, storage space was abundant.  Didn’t like the bathroom.  Glass enclosure for the toilet was weird and small.  Sink was about the same size as the double-wide one we were used to in Club Balcony Suites.  Shower sucked.  It was a tub/shower combo with a high step and wasn’t very wide.  Very slippery, and at 6’2”, I looked over the top of the shower door.  Water pressure was low, so you had to stand right next to the wall.  I’m a big guy, so this was not a nice place to take a shower.  Wife loved the Nespresso machine, as she had never tried this brand before.  The toilet stopped working one night and wasn’t fixed until the next morning (we had to use the public ones).  Our butler, Pedro, was super nice and very helpful.  Thanks to @Sthrngary, I had my Butler Letter (my wife still mocks me on this) ready to go.  He took it and got us everything we wanted (daily freshly squeezed OJ, cans of soda, daily BLTA x2 plus cheese plates, etc). 

The next morning we tried the Haven Restaurant for the first time and my wife and I both agree, nothing else on the ship compares.  Eggs Benedict was delightful, as everything else there for breakfast.  Wife didn’t like the Poached Eggs ‘Meurette’ nor the Coffee from the press (she doesn’t like Coffee Press anyway) but she loved the coffee from the machines.  We ate breakfast here every day.  Taste/Savor for dinner was just ok, nothing great.  It was what I remembered from other cruises.  We only ate here once with our friends (I’m telling you, once you eat in the Haven Restaurant you have a hard time enjoying the other food locations).  We did lunch and dinner once each in the Haven (we didn’t like excluding our friends and I was a cheapskate who didn’t want to pay for them to eat there). 

 

Haven Experience

I was worried that once the wife and I tried the Haven, it would be nearly impossible to go back to anything else.  I was right.  Just after breakfast on our first real day, wife said “if we were just cruising ourselves I would never leave the Haven area”.  The food is the best in the Haven Restaurant.  Our previous favorite location, the Observation Lounge, has a more private one in the Haven called the Horizon Lounge.  It has the same snacks but better, with a “make your own trail mix” spot we both loved.  It had the coffee machine that wifey loved.   The only “off” thing was we didn’t like the seating that much, as none was super comfortable for our favorite cruising activity (besides eating): reading while drinking something fun and snacking.  The Haven library was also a great spot to sit and read or play quiet games.  The only time we ventured onto the Haven Sundeck was when we were giving a tour to our friend of the Haven area.  We also rotated into the Haven Bar area to read and drink fancy stuff we don’t drink at home.  We never tried the pool or hot tub as it was always occupied by families with children.  We also didn’t quite realize how great the Haven perk of “priority” would really be.  We had always hated those folks who got to go to the front of all the lines.  Now we were those people.  Admittedly, I didn’t hate myself for doing so.  We had the upgraded FASUP package, which we didn’t utilize to it’s fullest either in dining or drinking.   The bottles of still and sparkling water were nice, as was all the cans of Zero soda I got.  We only used the Starbucks once, which I was sure we were going to use a lot as wifey loves Starbucks; but she loved the coffee machines in the Haven, so she felt no need to go all the way down to deck 15 forward or deck 6 midship to get a Starbucks. 

[Jordan61]

22 minutes ago, Sthrngary said:

42 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

I check every morning with my first cup of coffee!

@vacation44 LOL, I thought I was the only one.  Love it.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment.

 

Scoot over and let me join the party, because I do this first thing every morning as well!

[DCGuy64]

9 minutes ago, Jordan61 said:

 

Scoot over and let me join the party, because I do this first thing every morning as well!

LOL, I may have to try that, too!

[vacation44]

5 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

LOL, I may have to try that, too!

When there is a price drop, it is a wonderful way to start the day!