Haven Questions

[roddy good boy]

10 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

You might try looking further out.

My Jan 2025 Haven that I booked in May 2023 has gone up by 50%. 

Since Haven cabins sell out, looking futher out may have savings. 

But, I'm limited to seven day caribbean cruises so YMMV.

I’m beginning to think that strategy is best for Caribbean cruises, where the Haven sells out. It may not be the case for European cruises. The Haven on my fall 2024 med cruise has gone down in price (approx $1,500) from last year this time. It dropped immediately after final payment, and there are quite a few Haven cabins left. 
 

I may re-think my strategy and book after final payment for port intensive, European routes.

 

Of course, the problem is that I book my own air fare, and have to do it a year out to get optimum pricing. I’ll be out of luck if my strategy doesn’t pan out and the cruise sells out! 🤣

Edited May 20 by roddy good boy

[RocketMan275]

4 minutes ago, roddy good boy said:

I’m beginning to think that strategy is best for Caribbean cruises, where the Haven sells out. It may not be the case for European cruises. The Haven on my fall 2024 med cruise has gone down in price (approx $1,500) from last year this time. It dropped immediately after final payment, and there are quite a few Haven cabins left. 
 

I may re-think my strategy and book after final payment for port intensive, European routes.

You're probably correct in that the best booking strategy may depend upon the area booked.

I don't even look at anything other than seven day caribbean cruises.

My wife would never agree to flying overseas.  She was born in Germany and hates to fly.  I talked her into a flight to Miami but only because it was non-stop.   Not an option to other locations.

We limit ourselves to seven day cruises since we want to minimize kennel time for our two standard poodles. 

 

[roddy good boy]

7 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

You're probably correct in that the best booking strategy may depend upon the area booked.

I don't even look at anything other than seven day caribbean cruises.

My wife would never agree to flying overseas.  She was born in Germany and hates to fly.  I talked her into a flight to Miami but only because it was non-stop.   Not an option to other locations.

We limit ourselves to seven day cruises since we want to minimize kennel time for our two standard poodles. 

 

OMG! I can relate to the dog issue! We have a shih tzu mix breed with anxiety issues! We use Rover.com and found a lovely lady (retired nurse) who loves dogs and keeps him for our long vaca’s.

[Sailing12Away]

16 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

 

 

 

Yeah, your experiences are out dated. I sailed Thanksgiving 2023 and it was exactly as I described. My MIL in the sky suite got nothing, and we got charged for mini fridge items in our celebrity suite.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, roddy good boy said:

OMG! I can relate to the dog issue! We have a shih tzu mix breed with anxiety issues! We use Rover.com and found a lovely lady (retired nurse) who loves dogs and keeps him for our long vaca’s.

My wife vetos house/dog sitters.  Even with a sitter, wife would veto trips to Europe.  

[roddy good boy]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

My wife vetos house/dog sitters.  Even with a sitter, wife would veto trips to Europe.  

Happy wife…happy life! I’m all for peace in the household! It’s taken us 38 years to get there! 😁

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

Yeah, your experiences are out dated. I sailed Thanksgiving 2023 and it was exactly as I described. My MIL in the sky suite got nothing, and we got charged for mini fridge items in our celebrity suite.

As I said before, the Sky Suites saw reduced benefits because butlers were removed. I think that happened sometime early last year. But there was such an outcry against it that they decided to reverse that policy.  They were starting with the newest ship and working out from there. That was a few months ago that I was reading that so not sure if the butler restoration continues for Sky Suites as I’ve been traveling and haven’t been reading the Celebrity boards. Sounds like your relative got caught in that unfortunate period of cutbacks.

[RocketMan275]

21 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I usually don't book that far in advance.  I find the closer the sailings, the better the fares.  That's a generalization, but my observations.

I try to have it both ways.  I book far out (just booked a cruise for 2026) and I'm golden if the are goes up.  If it goes down, I can always rebook to get the price drop.

[conandrob240]

Hi! I’ve been away from nCL for a long time (after Covid, we’ve been doing Virgin Voyages and more land vacations). In years past, we did Haven twice- once for a Med cruise on NCL Jade and once from NY on Breakaway.

 

taking my turning 80 years old parents this year on 11 nt Iceland/Norway cruise on Prima.

 

have seen prices drop over past few weeks (been playing the Hold, cancel, hold, cancel game). 
 

it is now down to $7600 penthouse HE all in pricing (taxes, gratuities). Thoughts on the pricing? Would you think it’ll go down further or is that sort of the low end of what they’ll sell Haven for? 
 

and what’s the reviews on Prima Haven? I know Haven will be lovely, another reason I want to book is is Dad has mobility issues (can’t walk too long) so I figured haven would also be helpful with that (priority disembark, etc)

[cruiseny4life]

9 minutes ago, conandrob240 said:

Hi! I’ve been away from nCL for a long time (after Covid, we’ve been doing Virgin Voyages and more land vacations). In years past, we did Haven twice- once for a Med cruise on NCL Jade and once from NY on Breakaway.

 

taking my turning 80 years old parents this year on 11 nt Iceland/Norway cruise on Prima.

 

have seen prices drop over past few weeks (been playing the Hold, cancel, hold, cancel game). 
 

it is now down to $7600 penthouse HE all in pricing (taxes, gratuities). Thoughts on the pricing? Would you think it’ll go down further or is that sort of the low end of what they’ll sell Haven for? 
 

and what’s the reviews on Prima Haven? I know Haven will be lovely, another reason I want to book is is Dad has mobility issues (can’t walk too long) so I figured haven would also be helpful with that (priority disembark, etc)

Are you saying it's $7600 for three/four of you? If so, I say book. If not, I'd still say it's a decent price, especially for 11 nights. If I were looking at this cruise, I'd absolutely snag that fare! I know plenty of others may say "only you can decide..." Well, I say hooie! I'm deciding right now that you should book that fare. Just remember I have no cash in the game.

 

I enjoyed Pr1ma's Haven. You can read all about it here (or feel free to ask specific questions and I/others will happily answer): - post 182, page 8 is where the cruise begins.

 

 

 

[conandrob240]

Well if we all went into the one Haven penthouse it would be like $9000. This $7600 was for 2 people (and we’d eq h get our own HE suite)

 

the balcony cabins are in the $5000-6000 vicinity. 

[cruiseny4life]

2 minutes ago, conandrob240 said:

Well if we all went into the one Haven penthouse it would be like $9000. This $7600 was for 2 people (and we’d eq h get our own HE suite)

 

the balcony cabins are in the $5000-6000 vicinity. 

Still sounds like a great option to me! Balcony, especially for that price? No thanks. I've been in Haven rooms for the same.

[RocketMan275]

33 minutes ago, conandrob240 said:

Hi! I’ve been away from nCL for a long time (after Covid, we’ve been doing Virgin Voyages and more land vacations). In years past, we did Haven twice- once for a Med cruise on NCL Jade and once from NY on Breakaway.

 

taking my turning 80 years old parents this year on 11 nt Iceland/Norway cruise on Prima.

 

have seen prices drop over past few weeks (been playing the Hold, cancel, hold, cancel game). 
 

it is now down to $7600 penthouse HE all in pricing (taxes, gratuities). Thoughts on the pricing? Would you think it’ll go down further or is that sort of the low end of what they’ll sell Haven for? 
 

and what’s the reviews on Prima Haven? I know Haven will be lovely, another reason I want to book is is Dad has mobility issues (can’t walk too long) so I figured haven would also be helpful with that (priority disembark, etc)

Depends upon when you're sailing. 

Are you within final payment?

Cancel rebook if it drops some more.

[conandrob240]

Yes within final that’s why I have been holding for 24 hrs cancelling, booking again. I remember being super annoyed with NCL years ago with significant price drops after final. I was just wondering if people felt like that was kind of the lowest  Haven will go for 11 nt cruise.

[conandrob240]

35 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Still sounds like a great option to me! Balcony, especially for that price? No thanks. I've been in Haven rooms for the same.

It seems like a very good price to me too. 

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, conandrob240 said:

It seems like a very good price to me too. 

I looked up our Pr1ma confirmation for our cruise this past November that was booked within final payment (I'm like you and try to only book within final payment for the same reason as you). Here's my confirmation just so you have something to compare Pr1ma 11 nights.

 

[graphicguy]

Haven Spa Suite on the Epic 6- months ago...

 

Cruise $ 4439.40 Add-ons $ 257.60 Taxes & Fees $ 148.27 Total Amount (USD) $ 4845.27 Total Paid $ 4845.27 Paid in Full

	Please pre-register at www.ncl.com to obtain your electronic boarding documents.
	CRUISE DETAILS Cruise Line NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE Ship NORWEGIAN EPIC Deck DECK 14 Itinerary 11 NIGHT EUROPE - CLASSIC MEDITERRANEAN Start Date 10/02/2023 (11 Nights)  Dining Open Category / Cabin No. H9 - THE HAVEN SPA SUITE WITH BALCONY / NO. 14137 Cruise Line Res # 53319809

[graphicguy]

Prima Haven Balcony Suite-7 nites 3-4 months ago....Cozumel, Costa Maya, Roatan, Harvest Cay.....

 

Cruise $ 4097.90 Add-ons $ 172.40 Taxes & Fees $ 187.83 Total Amount (USD) $ 4458.13 Total Paid $ 4458.13 Paid in Full

	*Additional benefits of points and onboard credit to be announced for using NCL credit card* Please pre-register at www.ncl.com to obtain your electronic boarding documents.
	CRUISE DETAILS Cruise Line NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE Ship NORWEGIAN PRIMA Deck DECK 13 Itinerary 7 NIGHTS CARIBBEAN - Start Date 02/02/2024 (7 Nights)  Dining Open Category / Cabin No. HE - THE HAVEN PENTHOUSE WITH BALCONY / NO. 13306 Cruise Line Res # 54840993

 

[graphicguy]

I can't bring myself to pay more than $1,000 to $1,500 more for the Haven than a Balcony cabin.

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, conandrob240 said:

Yes within final that’s why I have been holding for 24 hrs cancelling, booking again. I remember being super annoyed with NCL years ago with significant price drops after final. I was just wondering if people felt like that was kind of the lowest  Haven will go for 11 nt cruise.

 Very inconsiderate to do this, you may be preventing someone else from booking. This is a prime example of the “me” mentality. 

[conandrob240]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

I can't bring myself to pay more than $1,000 to $1,500 more for the Haven than a Balcony cabin.

It’s pretty close to that, that’s why I’m considering it.

[conandrob240]

24 minutes ago, zqvol said:

 Very inconsiderate to do this, you may be preventing someone else from booking. This is a prime example of the “me” mentality. 

This makes no sense. I’m holding 1 room at a time. I plan on booking the room, I’m just trying to delay final payment. So how is that inconsiderate?  I book it, delay payment 24 hrs, extend it one day then I cancel it and rebook it. Never at any point am I holding two rooms for one couple. So perhaps you can be outraged elsewhere. 

[conandrob240]

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Haven Spa Suite on the Epic 6- months ago...

 

Cruise $ 4439.40 Add-ons $ 257.60 Taxes & Fees $ 148.27 Total Amount (USD) $ 4845.27 Total Paid $ 4845.27 Paid in Full

	Please pre-register at www.ncl.com to obtain your electronic boarding documents.
	CRUISE DETAILS   Cruise Line NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE Ship NORWEGIAN EPIC Deck DECK 14 Itinerary 11 NIGHT EUROPE - CLASSIC MEDITERRANEAN Start Date 10/02/2023 (11 Nights)  Dining Open Category / Cabin No. H9 - THE HAVEN SPA SUITE WITH BALCONY / NO. 14137 Cruise Line Res # 53319809

Interesting. Yes the Med cruises seem lower. This is the Iceland/ Norway sailing of which there are only a handful so it has been considerably higher than a Med or Caribbean cruise do some

time.

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, conandrob240 said:

This makes no sense. I’m holding 1 room at a time. I plan on booking the room, I’m just trying to delay final payment. So how is that inconsiderate?  I book it, delay payment 24 hrs, extend it one day then I cancel it and rebook it. Never at any point am I holding two rooms for one couple. So perhaps you can be outraged elsewhere. 

 Outing you can say changes the fact that it is inconsiderate, and the fact that you don’t understand that makes the original statement more powerful. 

[conandrob240]

47 minutes ago, zqvol said:

 Outing you can say changes the fact that it is inconsiderate, and the fact that you don’t understand that makes the original statement more powerful. 

Yes almighty, you are very powerful.

 

I've done nothing to “take a room” from anyone. All I’m doing is delaying the final payment on the room I am going to book. And your point is even sillier because there a tons of the category available. 
 

if you have nothing to contribute here, please move on.