We had never tried a cruise before, and decided to try NCL Haven as an alternative to other luxury vacations; we have recently visited other five star resorts (most notably, a Four Seasons in Hawaii and a Constance resort at Maldives) and now we decided to give a chance for a cruise. We had a pretty good discount for NCL and ended up paying about half of what we have used to pay for vacations of similar length, e.g. in the aforementioned resorts. Despite the low price, the value for money was quite poor, and if I ever try a cruise again, I will definitely go for an actual luxury cruise with a luxury cruise line.

We quickly realized that we are on a ship with almost 7,000 people (and 5,000 guests). The common areas were quite crowded and noisy, and we ended up spending most of our time in the exclusive Haven lounge. The lounge was, in general, quite relaxing and nice. The pool was somewhat small, but ok, given that, after all, we cannot expect a resort-like experience from a cruise.

The service staff was also very nice and helpful, but compared to other luxury resorts, the Haven seemed quite seriously understaffed. The experience just is not at the level you would expect, even though all the people treat you very well. In particular, the staff seemed quite specialized. The Haven lounge had staff e.g. from the bar and the restaurant, and if I made a request for a wrong service person, it did not really work out. Either they directed me to seek another waitress (who might not have been available at all, if I went to look for her), or they just dismissed the request with something like "I don't know". I am usually not that demanding, so I did not really mind this, but this makes me drop the review from 5 stars to 4 stars (within luxury vacations). Read more