This 10-day getaway was the first cruise my husband & I have ever taken, & in anticipation of the crowds on a ship the size of the Breakaway we opted to splurge a bit & book in the Haven - best vacation decision EVER. As NCL pledged, being a guest of the Haven afforded us over the top perks during our entire cruise. From our initial embarkation in New Orleans to any chosen daily port embarkations along with the final disembarkation, we were always provided priority head of the line access, & this type of spoiling transcended to every other aspect of our cruise as well.

Our aft-facing Penthouse Suite trumped any 5-Star luxury hotel room that we’ve ever stayed in, & couldn’t have been more over the top or awesome. From the huge rear-facing balcony that had enough room & furniture for a group of 8, to a separate bedroom with a spectacular ensuite bathroom complete with a large soaking tub & separate shower - both with windows overlooking the balcony & ocean beyond, this layout was unbelievable. In addition, the suite had another small guest bath complete with a shower - perfect for a husband’s ‘private’ place, ha. ;-) Also included with this suite was a super sweet Butler, Choi, who treated us to different afternoon goodies every day & would also deliver room service with a smile at any time. Even though these aft-facing suites aren’t on deck 16, they still come with full Haven access, & the way we saw it, the walks back & forth did us good by countering the additional daily caloric intake we were allowing ourselves.

The Haven compound on deck 16 is accessed by your keycard, & is basically a private oasis within the ship. It consists of a comfortable lounge area with a bar, a very nice private restaurant that serves complimentary breakfast, lunch, & dinner (extremely tasty food & great service), a courtyard area with a small pool & two hot tubs, & multiple seating areas. Upstairs from this courtyard area were additional cozy seating areas & numerous lounge chairs, & access to a very nice private outdoor deck area. With these fairly large areas only accessible to approximately 150 maximum guests at a time (we rarely saw more than 30 other people at any given time), this ‘breathing room’ without any crowds whatsoever is really what the Haven is all about. Read more