The “Haven Experience” Cruise did not start out great. The embarkation at Port Canaveral left a lot to be desired. According to the marketing material received, those in the Haven rooms would be waiting to board in a lovely lounge area. In reality - not so much. There were no signs nor actual humans telling people where to go once you cleared security. I finally asked an employee who pointed me to “the lounge”. The area looks more like a police booking room than a lounge. It was overcrowded with people and carry-on bags and was 15-20 degrees warmer than outside. Finally was able to leave that area and be “led” to the Haven area. The lady who led us was maybe 5 feet tall and would weave in and out of people, leaving the group well behind. We finally made it to the 16th floor and the Haven area. Once you make it there, then you understand why you paid more. Everyone there - the butler, cabin steward, concierge, assistant concierges, and wait staff in the Haven restaurant, were all great.

Restaurants - of the 20 meals on the ship, I ate 13 of them in the Haven Restaurant (I think it was called the Epic Club), 1 through room service, 1 at the Irish pub, 1 at Taste, 1 at Manhattan Room, 1 at the Brazilian steakhouse, 1 at the Italian restaurant, and 1 at Cirque Epicurean show. My wife did the same except she did 7 room services and 7 at the Haven. Neither of us cared for the food at the Irish Pub (fish & chips and Reuben) and I did not care for the Cajun fish sandwich at Taste. The Italian restaurant was ok, but we would not go again on a future cruise. All of the other meals were great. I loved the breakfasts at Haven - the pancakes with the caramel bananas were great (had it 5 days straight), the shrimp risotto appetizer at night was one of the best things I have had, and every steak or hamburger I ordered was perfect. My wife tried different things every day and said each was great. In the future, we would do Cirque and the Brazilian again, but try something else - maybe the French one or Carney’s.

Cabin - we stayed in 17002. I was concerned reading some of the reviews online about the size of the room and the round bed. To clear things up, I am a big guy - 6 feet tall, and 350+ pounds, so I didn’t want to feel cramped. We thought the bed was great, very comfortable. There was also plenty of room to unpack and put everything away. If you leave your stuff in your suitcases, then it will be very cramped for you. However, we unloaded 5 suitcases, put everything away and the suitcases under the bed - plenty of room. Read more