Earlier this month I cruised on the Norwegian Joy out of NYC to Bermuda (7 day cruise) in The Haven’s Forward Facing Penthouse Suite. This was my first time experiencing the Haven, but not my first NCL cruise. I always wanted to try the Haven, and now that I have, want to share my Norwegian Joy Haven Review! (Click to see my full Norwegian Joy Review posted last week!)
The Haven is Norwegian’s upscale luxury enclave on board select NCL ships. Each Haven is different but many have similar amenities. The previous NCL cruises I’ve been on have not had a Haven so we were super excited to experience it on this particular cruise.
My Norwegian Joy Haven Review...
The Haven experience starts at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal in NYC. We drove and parked at the terminal ($45/day – prepaid and reserved so we had a spot secured!). We walked from the car into the cruise terminal.
We were greeted by this gold Haven check-in sign, where we were asked our cabin number, then permitted into the check-in area (no photos allowed there!).
At check-in, we presented our passports and a credit card to tie to our account, and received our Haven keycards which would be used for the rest of the trip to access our stateroom, allow us on and off the ship, and any onboard charges.
After successfully checking in, we are whisked to a Haven waiting area, where we meet one of the Haven concierge members, and there are light refreshments we can enjoy. We were here so briefly that I didn’t even have a chance to get a photo before we were allowed to board the Joy.
The concierge takes a group of Haven passengers into an elevator that takes us directly to deck 17 where the Haven is located. We are escorted into the Haven, and given a brief tour that takes us through the Lounge, through the Haven pool area, and into the Horizon Lounge, which is the Haven’s own observation lounge.
The Haven Lounge & Horizon Lounge
Horizon Lounge tour
After the quick tour, we were able to talk with a Norwegian Joy Haven concierge in the lounge about our specialty dining reservations. We did book this cruise about 45 days out so many of the available online pre-boarding reservations (which open for Haven guests 130 days prior to sailing) were sold out. Have no fear though – they only allow about 20% of available reservations to be pre-booked so it’s recommended to do this as soon as you board for the best selection.
Our concierge was able to get us our specialty dining reservations, and as the week went on, we were even able to move our last reservation to a more desirable time. The concierge desk is open from 8 AM – 8 PM daily.
The Norwegian Joy Haven Bar & Lounge
We sat at the Haven bar and had a drink or two while we waited for our stateroom to be ready. It was May 5th – Cinco de Mayo – so we enjoyed some Margaritas! The Haven bar is fully stocked, and if you want Johnnie Walker Blue (which is included in the Unlimited Premium Plus Beverage Package), this is the only bar on the ship that has it.
If you’re into the Old Fashioned drink, be sure to get one at this bar! They have at least 8 or 9 different wood chips you can choose from for the smoke flavor (cherry, oak, pear, apple, etc). It is very cool to watch (video below) and is a very generously sized drink!
*NOTE – the Open Bar Selection are the beers, wines and spirits that are covered under the Free At Sea (FAS) package that almost all guests have included in their cruise fare. The Premium Selections are an upcharge (above the $15 max for FAS beverages), or they are included if you upgrade your beverage package.
Forward Facing Penthouse Suite #9708
Finally around 3 pm our stateroom was ready! (Announcements are made ship-wide as to what deck staterooms are ready.) We were able to finally see our Forward Facing Penthouse Suite #9708.
We chose this stateroom because we wanted 2 rooms should one of us not sleep well or get up before the other, and we knew it wasn’t in the Haven proper.
Next time, we will choose to be in the Haven enclave. It was a bit of a hike from deck 9 forward to the midship elevators to take up 8 decks to the Haven.
With only 2 banks of 8 elevators each (aft and midship), we did a fair amount of waiting. *PRO TIP – the aft elevators did not seem to have as much as a wait as the midship ones.
Also, I would feel bad not sharing our actual experience in Haven stateroom 9708 for future cruisers. This stateroom was quite noisy. I believe there is a crew area directly below, and doors were slamming all night long almost every night. On the last night, we pulled into NYC at 2:26 AM – I know because I was abruptly woken when our entire cabin – bed, sconces, etc – started shaking violently as (what I think was) the side thrusters engaged to maneuver the Joy into the pier. It continued for quite a while so I never fell back asleep. In my opinion, this stateroom should not be considered a Haven-level stateroom as it was quite noisy every night, going against the ‘sanctuary’ feel NCL advertises the Haven as being.
Also included in the Haven is a Butler. We met our butler, Mansur, shortly after getting into our stateroom. We only asked that he keep our mini-fridge stocked with bottled water, which he did. We didn’t see him again until the last day of our cruise. I know the butler can arrange for the in-stateroom dining, which we never did, but know others that asked their butler to bring French press coffee every morning, or other little things. We are not that high maintenance/demanding but it was nice to know if we needed anything, we could call him.
Some of the in-suite amenities found in our Haven Forward Facing Penthouse Suite…
The Haven Sun Deck
After dropping our carry-ons off to our stateroom, we then ventured back into the Haven to check out the Haven Sun Deck on deck 19. There is a Haven elevator on deck 17 inside the Haven that will take you to deck 18, where the Haven Restaurant is located, and to deck 19. There is a rather large smoker’s area on the starboard (right) side of the sun deck.
There are 2 ‘hot’ tubs (though they were never hot – just warm – and no one could get the jets working), one on either side of the sun deck. The sun deck is reserved for guests 16+, however we found some people did not follow the restriction. Our cruise only had a handful of children in the Haven so it wasn’t intolerable, but I personally feel that the Haven would be best experienced if it were adult only, or at least 16+ yrs and older.
The Haven Restaurant
The Haven Restaurant, located on deck 18 inside the Haven enclave, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No reservations needed or available, just walk up to the hostess to be seated. There is also outside seating available if the weather permits.
The hours for the Haven Restaurant, and the Haven Bar, are not posted in the Freesytle Daily (in the app or the printed version in your stateroom), but should be listed in the letter in your Haven stateroom. Here they are:
- Haven Bar is open from 7 AM – 11 PM daily.
- Haven Restaurant is open 7 – 10 AM on sea days; 6:30 – 9:30 AM on port days for breakfast; 12 – 2 PM for lunch, and 5:30 – 9:30 PM for dinner.
The service here was impeccable. Carla was fantastic! As were the rest of the staff but we had her a few times and really enjoyed her service.
The *only* complaint about the Haven Restaurant is that the menus never change. Breakfast menu is the same every day, lunch and dinner too. We ate breakfast here 4 days, lunch twice, and dinner twice.
You can order anything from the Haven Restaurant menus to be delivered and set up in your stateroom with linens and full table service, should you not want to go to the restaurant. You request this through your butler. However with us being on deck 9 and the restaurant on deck 18, we decided the food would be better if we ate in the restaurant itself. I suppose if we were in the actual Haven enclave, having that dining service in our room would be a nice perk, and food still fresh and warm with the restaurant right there.
The Haven Restaurant Food
As I mentioned above, the Haven Restaurant food was all very good. We loved the surf & turf, and the lobster deviled eggs were amazing! The coconut mousse was to die for. You really can’t go wrong with anything you eat at the Haven Restaurant!
The Haven In-Room Snacks
Every day in your stateroom you also get some snacks delivered. I read somewhere it they are delivered around 3-4 PM but we never saw them being delivered so we never knew for sure. Only one day we did not eat them because we were in port all day and did not get back to the ship until about 6 PM and the food included cheese and it looked like either chicken salad or tuna salad sandwiches, and we didn’t want to risk eating not knowing how long it was sitting out.
I also believe you get additional or upgraded snacks based on your Latitudes level. We are Silver, and I’ve seen other posts about Platinum members getting different items than we did.
The Haven Perks
Being in the Haven has lots of perks. It starts from when you arrive at the cruise terminal. Once on board, if you want to go to the evening shows in the theater, simply gather in the Haven Lounge and you will be escorted on a non-stop elevator to deck 7 and right into the reserved Haven section (no worries of not finding a seat) of the theater!
When in port, gather again near the concierge desk in the Haven Lounge and they will call out to gather and escort you in groups down to the tender deck (deck 4) through private service elevators located in the Haven. You will debark and embark the ship while in port through a preferred ramp and again, whisked back up into the Haven Lounge. It really does save a lot of time!
Also, while in Bermuda, there is a free ferry (by NCL) to St. George. It’s about a 40 minute ferry ride. There is a special queue for Haven guests so you get on the ferry first! Both in the Royal Naval Dockyard, and also in St. George. *PRO TIP – the seats inside on the top deck of the ferry are very nice!
On debarkation day, simply bring your luggage (if you did not put out the night before for them to take to the pier) to the concierge desk again, and once the ship has been cleared at the pier, they’ll whisk you down again in the private service elevators and right off the ship, bypassing the regular line of passengers disembarking.
The Haven - Final Thoughts
Is the Haven worth the upgrade? YES!!!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Norwegian Joy Haven. The space is well designed, food, drinks and service were fantastic, and we were glad we upgraded to the premium plus beverages, not just for the alcohol – we had Starbucks every day, even multiple times a day, plus the unlimited bottled water was also very appreciated! It was so nice to have a quieter, less crowded space to enjoy, we met some really great people, and enjoyed feeling pampered!
Some of the newer ships have the Haven in the aft (rear) of the ship, and at least one ship has private Haven elevators that can access all decks. Other Haven’s do not have a private restaurant or bar. Be sure to check the ship’s Haven deck plans to make sure you know what kind of Haven experience you will get on that particular sailing.
Be sure to check out my post: Norwegian Joy Review that discusses the entire ship, not just the Haven.
I would love to help you book your next cruise and happy to talk to you about our experience and use that to ensure you have the best vacation possible! You can contact me or schedule a free call with me below, and I invite you to join my private Facebook group Luxury Travels with Becky for even more travel talk, tips and expert travel advice!
