Can solo non-Haven passengers eat at the Haven Restaurant?

[david_sobe]

Some are confusing the short lived program of letting non-Haven passenger make a reservation for $50 (or whatever it was) and eat at the Haven.  That was discontinued.  Most times Haven guests can invite non-Haven guests WITH THEM to dine in the Haven restaurant for a fee.  Most times its allowed but it depends on the concierge.  The concierge on Encore spelled this out to everyone without anyone asking.  We were allowed to invite guests to the Haven restaurant TWICE during the week for an additional fee.  The guest MUST have a family or friend sailing in the Haven to invite them.

The only exception to this was that blogger team several years ago that invited themselves to the Haven and insisted on staying because they had a cruise vlog.  Adrian kicked them out but they created such a stink and fuss that NCL gave them dinner at the Haven.  So maybe if you become a KAREN and scream and rant can get you access to a Haven 😂

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

Some are confusing the short lived program of letting non-Haven passenger make a reservation for $50 (or whatever it was) and eat at the Haven.  That was discontinued.  

Spot-on.

The posts that quoted "policy" were referring to this short-lived experiment, which had nothing to do with Haven passengers having guests in the Haven dining room.

 

[IAcruising]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Spot-on.

The posts that quoted "policy" were referring to this short-lived experiment, which had nothing to do with Haven passengers having guests in the Haven dining room.

 

 

So, to get back to the question asked, there is no written "policy", just stories told by others.

 

[Laszlo]

2 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

So, to get back to the question asked, there is no written "policy", just stories told by others.

 

I've never seen anything written out about the subject. Maybe their is a policy actually written out somewhere

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, IAcruising said:

 

So, to get back to the question asked, there is no written "policy", just stories told by others.

 

Not every rule or procedure is in a written form that is accessible to passengers. There may be internal documentation of this, but we don't get to see it.

 

AFAIK guests of Haven passengers being permitted to eat in the Haven dining room (or a charge) has always been at management's discretion. If the Haven is jam-packed...as would normally be true on holiday week cruise, it's virtually certain that it won't be allowed. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

34 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

If the Haven is jam-packed...as would normally be true on holiday week cruise, it's virtually certain that it won't be allowed. 

Doesn't the Haven usually sell out?  Why would it be more jam-packed during a holiday week cruise?  Kids?

[Two Wheels Only]

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Doesn't the Haven usually sell out?  Why would it be more jam-packed during a holiday week cruise?  Kids?

 

Kids and grandkids, probably.

[IAcruising]

50 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Doesn't the Haven usually sell out?  Why would it be more jam-packed during a holiday week cruise?  Kids?

 

Yes, it normally sells out. The difference is 2 people per cabin, or 8 people per cabin. 😄

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

Yes, it normally sells out. The difference is 2 people per cabin, or 8 people per cabin. 😄

 

Yep.  Makes sense.  I'm always in steerage, so this is just an academic interest.

[Yesimapirate]

12 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Some are confusing the short lived program of letting non-Haven passenger make a reservation for $50 (or whatever it was) and eat at the Haven.  That was discontinued.  Most times Haven guests can invite non-Haven guests WITH THEM to dine in the Haven restaurant for a fee.  Most times its allowed but it depends on the concierge.  The concierge on Encore spelled this out to everyone without anyone asking.  We were allowed to invite guests to the Haven restaurant TWICE during the week for an additional fee.  The guest MUST have a family or friend sailing in the Haven to invite them.

The only exception to this was that blogger team several years ago that invited themselves to the Haven and insisted on staying because they had a cruise vlog.  Adrian kicked them out but they created such a stink and fuss that NCL gave them dinner at the Haven.  So maybe if you become a KAREN and scream and rant can get you access to a Haven 😂

I'd go the other direction. 

 

If I'm a paying passenger and a group of 7 (or even 2) non-haven passengers were allowed in and I had to wait to be seated or they were loud and disturbed my meal, I'd be the one kicking and screaming.

 

If dining together is that important to you there are multiple solutions. The other passengers can pay for a Haven room or the inviting passenger can join them at any other restaurant on the ship.  The exception to me would be the very rare instances of a Haven guest sailing with a family member who is crew.

 

NCL charges a huge premium for the Haven.  Why am I paying that if others have that access without paying for that access? 

 

Edited January 2 by Yesimapirate

[david_sobe]

6 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

I'd go the other direction. 

 

If I'm a paying passenger and a group of 7 (or even 2) non-haven passengers were allowed in and I had to wait to be seated or they were loud and disturbed my meal, I'd be the one kicking and screaming.

 

If dining together is that important to you there are multiple solutions. The other passengers can pay for a Haven room or the inviting passenger can join them at any other restaurant on the ship.  The exception to me would be the very rare instances of a Haven guest sailing with a family member who is crew.

 

NCL charges a huge premium for the Haven.  Why am I paying that if others have that access without paying for that access? 

 

Wow, that is a crazy assumption that non-Haven guests would be loud and disturb your meal 😉

Its a rarely used procedure that lets a few friends or family visit their Haven friends or family and eat together.  They are not allowed to use any of the Haven facilities.  If it happens on a cruise I doubt anyone notices and they pay for the experience.  While the Haven food is good its not quite up to specialty restaurant quality.  So you can laugh at them over paying for the experience.

[RocketMan275]

20 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Some are confusing the short lived program of letting non-Haven passenger make a reservation for $50 (or whatever it was) and eat at the Haven.  That was discontinued.  Most times Haven guests can invite non-Haven guests WITH THEM to dine in the Haven restaurant for a fee.  Most times its allowed but it depends on the concierge.  The concierge on Encore spelled this out to everyone without anyone asking.  We were allowed to invite guests to the Haven restaurant TWICE during the week for an additional fee.  The guest MUST have a family or friend sailing in the Haven to invite them.

 

 

1 hour ago, david_sobe said:

 

Its a rarely used procedure that lets a few friends or family visit their Haven friends or family and eat together.  

It's hardly a 'rarely used procedure' if Haven Guests are allowed to invite non-Haven guests twice per cruise.

[Yesimapirate]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Wow, that is a crazy assumption that non-Haven guests would be loud and disturb your meal 😉

Its a rarely used procedure that lets a few friends or family visit their Haven friends or family and eat together.  They are not allowed to use any of the Haven facilities.  If it happens on a cruise I doubt anyone notices and they pay for the experience.  While the Haven food is good its not quite up to specialty restaurant quality.  So you can laugh at them over paying for the experience.

Reading all of the words is important for context.   "If" makes quite the difference. 

[Laszlo]

When my wife and I had friends for dinner in the Haven restaurant with us the concierge told us what night we could do it. The Haven restaurant was never crowded to begin with and the concierge was able to pull up the best night to do this. He was able to see how many Haven guest were eating somewhere else (specialty restaurant)

[david_sobe]

38 minutes ago, Yesimapirate said:

Reading all of the words is important for context.   "If" makes quite the difference. 

Not really.  It still assumes of all the people in the restaurant the one or two non-Haven guests eating with their family are the ones going to be unruly.  Its a horrible context and implies non-Haven passengers are savages who cant sit down and eat a quiet dinner.  I have stayed in the Haven quite a bit and the loud and entitled ones are usually the ones in the Haven 😲

Edited January 2 by david_sobe

[david_sobe]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

 

It's hardly a 'rarely used procedure' if Haven Guests are allowed to invite non-Haven guests twice per cruise.

Next time while you are on board do a social experiment and ask the concierge how often this happens.  When we stay in the Haven we don't know anyone else on the cruise and that is usually the case with others.  But then again no one would notice or really care they are paying for something lower quality than a specialty restaurant. 

[RocketMan275]

10 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Next time while you are on board do a social experiment and ask the concierge how often this happens.  When we stay in the Haven we don't know anyone else on the cruise and that is usually the case with others.  But then again no one would notice or really care they are paying for something lower quality than a specialty restaurant. 

I would imagine the attraction isn't the quality of the food so much as the non-tangible benefits of dining in the Haven.  Somewhat like dining with the Captain.  The  forbidden aspects of dining in the Haven (bragging rights) plus dining with friends who are in the Haven.  I suspect that there are a few that think they can invite their new best friends they meet at Trivia the night before.  And, then, there is the fact that some people like to show off by inviting their non-haven guests.

As for asking the concierge, it probably varies from cruise to cruise, concierge to concierge, so that experiment would not provide reliable data.

Edited January 2 by RocketMan275

[Laszlo]

28 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Not really.  It still assumes of all the people in the restaurant the one or two non-Haven guests eating with their family are the ones going to be unruly.  Its a horrible context and implies non-Haven passengers are savages who cant sit down and eat a quiet dinner.  I have stayed in the Haven quite a bit and the loud and entitled ones are usually the ones in the Haven 😲

👍

[cruiseny4life]

15 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Not every rule or procedure is in a written form that is accessible to passengers. There may be internal documentation of this, but we don't get to see it.

You're correct. There is. Of course one has to take the word of a rando (me) online to say so, but there is a system in place for Haven guests to invite non-Haven guests. And yes, totally based on the discretion of the concierge. And no, I won't share the policy, because...well, I can't. 

 

I'm sure the pre-cruise concierge would be delighted to inform you about the policy (and to let you know arrangements must be made onboard, not pre-cruise). It does limit the number of guests to four, rather than seven, so @vacation44 lucked out! 

[vacation44]

27 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

You're correct. There is. Of course one has to take the word of a rando (me) online to say so, but there is a system in place for Haven guests to invite non-Haven guests. And yes, totally based on the discretion of the concierge. And no, I won't share the policy, because...well, I can't. 

 

I'm sure the pre-cruise concierge would be delighted to inform you about the policy (and to let you know arrangements must be made onboard, not pre-cruise). It does limit the number of guests to four, rather than seven, so @vacation44 lucked out! 

Yes, but we were seven Haven guests in total with two two bedroom suites so that probably was the reason they allowed seven.  

 

And I will add all our invited seven guests behaved appropriately!

[Asawi]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I would imagine the attraction isn't the quality of the food so much as the non-tangible benefits of dining in the Haven.  Somewhat like dining with the Captain. 

This made me chuckle quite a bit. Since I have no interest in neither dining with the captain nor in the Haven.

(Having said that I actually had a conversation with the captain on my recent Gem cruise since he was standing beside me waiting for something in the buffet and we're both Swedish. Nice to meet a fellow countryman, captain or not. Does that give me any bragging rights? 😉) 

[cruiseny4life]

38 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Yes, but we were seven Haven guests in total with two two bedroom suites so that probably was the reason they allowed seven.  

 

And I will add all our invited seven guests behaved appropriately!

Ohhhh!! I missed that even though you said it. Glad to hear your guests didn't start a cacophony of sneezing, crying, or blubbering over missing out on the Haven after experiencing it. 😉 

[RocketMan275]

36 minutes ago, Asawi said:

This made me chuckle quite a bit. Since I have no interest in neither dining with the captain nor in the Haven.

(Having said that I actually had a conversation with the captain on my recent Gem cruise since he was standing beside me waiting for something in the buffet and we're both Swedish. Nice to meet a fellow countryman, captain or not. Does that give me any bragging rights? 😉) 

You certainly could have bragging rights.  Just be sure to start a conversation with:  "When the Captain and I were having dinner, he told me...."

or

"The last time I dined with the Captain, I told him..."