Is the NCL Haven Suite Worth the Money?

Thinking of upgrading to the Haven Suite on a Norwegian cruise, but aren’t sure if it’s worth the extra money? In today’s blog, we’re going to talk about the pros and cons of the Haven and whether we would consider staying in it again.

For comparison, we stayed in the Haven on our cruise to Alaska aboard the Bliss. Later in the year, we stayed in a regular balcony stateroom aboard the Sky on our Mexico/Bahamas cruise.

Pros

You have significantly more space, especially in the bathroom. Our Haven Suite room was about the size of a small hotel room. We had one king size bed, two end tables, a chair, a small table and two closets. It was easy enough to move around in the room and the balcony was huge. The bathroom had a toilet room inside, plenty of counter space (and drawers), and the shower was a standard bathtub/shower combo. After staying in a smaller stateroom, we most missed the shower. The shower in the regular stateroom room was so tiny you could barely turn in a circle without hitting the shower curtain or the wall. The regular room itself was also smaller and it was a bit difficult to maneuver around the beds, but not impossible. The balcony was still a good size and we didn’t feel claustrophobic in this room. For a tour of our Haven room, check out this vlog.

The Haven Dining Room is awesome. This was honestly the biggest perk of the Haven though having the larger room was also great. We never had to wait for a table in The Haven Dining Room because it was only open to Haven guests. It also had menu options that you could not get anywhere else on the boat. All of the food was delicious and you didn’t have to worry about credits or how many things you could get; you could just get whatever you wanted. The service was phenomenal. Though the wait staff was excellent across the ships, the Haven wait staff was next level. They were so nice, learned all of our names, and were just truly some of the best people we encountered on the ships.

Having a butler and concierge is nice. Though we can’t say it is much of a time saver, as there always seemed to be people lined up at the concierge desk when we were, it was still nice to be able to book restaurant reservations and show tickets, and to ask questions, all inside the Haven lounge. Our butler, not to be confused with the room steward who was also great, was on call at all times (there was a night butler on duty if you needed something after 10 and before 5) to bring you whatever you needed. It was a little strange honestly, but also made us feel fancy. They even gave us complementary champagne on our first night and on Courtney’s birthday, where they also hung a banner in our room.

You have access to a private indoor swimming pool and hot tub, plus a private deck on the top floor of the ship. We did not actually utilize the indoor pool or hot tub, but have to admit it was a bonus nonetheless. It was way too cold to be swimming in the regular outdoor pool. We did get in the hot tub on the private deck and that was pretty nice. Also, kids were not allowed on the private deck, even if they were in the Haven, so it was quiet and relaxing.

You get priority embarkation and disembarkation. When we first arrived at the port, we were escorted to a special lounge with drinks, snacks and soft couches to wait until boarding time. We were able to board before other passengers and were therefore able to get into our rooms, drop our stuff, get a tour of the Haven and eat lunch before most people were on the ship. Being able to be first off the boat also has its perks. Overall, this is a definite plus.

Cons

You don’t get any discounts on Wi-Fi, food, or drink packages. After paying so much money, we kind of expected to get free upgrades to our beverage and Wi-Fi packages. However, that was not the case. We were held to the same rules as every other passenger when it came to adding on food, beverage, and Wi-Fi packages.

It costs so much more than a regular room. The main con is that it is so much more expensive than your typical stateroom. While a regular balcony room will likely cost you $1,500-2,000 per person, the Haven runs closer to $5,000 per person.

Conclusions

So is the Haven Suite worth the money? Well, not to cop out, but it depends. Are the benefits worth the extra cost? Only you can answer that question. And for us, the answer is probably not. Despite all of the aforementioned perks, the cost was simply a lot for us.

The extra space was nice, especially in the shower, but our regular stateroom worked fine for us on our Bahamas cruise. We don’t spend a lot of time in our room anyway as we are always looking for something to do. So for us, the space wasn’t a big deal. Though the Haven dining room is superior to all other dining rooms, we were also fine eating at the buffet for most of our meals on our Bahamas cruise. We also really enjoyed some of the fine dining establishments, especially Le Bistro.

Court- My parents were also on this trip and they did think the Haven was worth the money. They loved the Haven Dining room, spent more time in their rooms than we did, and also enjoyed sitting by the pool without as many people around.

As previously stated, whether or not the Haven is worth it is a personal preference. If we were to go on another cruise, we wouldn’t stay in the Haven simply to save money. There are a lot of benefits, but we’re a bit too cheap to reap them.