The Haven is the answer to any gripes you have about cruising...

This was a cruise of firsts for us. We generally don't do suites, we don't go to many onboard entertainment/shows, we usually do hang on the main deck quite a bit and we are generally not the most brand loyal cruisers (we've been split pretty evenly between Carnival, RCCL and now NCL). Well, that all changed on this trip. I read that the NCL entertainment is pretty good - it isn't... it is amazing. We saw 4 different music shows and they were all really, really good. The caliber of entertainment was top notch. Staying in the Haven, we were treated to front table seating at the dinner shows and preferred locations for the theatre shows. We had a package which included drinks and 3 specialty dinners... but honestly, the food in the Haven was fantastic - could have stayed there the entire trip without leaving. The Haven lounges (with terry cloth/towel covers) were a huge step up, the public areas were never overly crowded (nor did you see people "reserving" spots at early hours for the day). There were kids but they were good and certainly didn't detract at all from the More experience. We got the chance to meet up with some folks from the roll call on an online message board and it was very nice - we did a meet and greet, a pub crawl (well, 6-7 of the more stalwart drinkers did anyway!) and had a huge turnout for a slot pull event on the 2nd sea day. The only complaint I could remotely even come up with is the Jimmy Buffett bars weren't open long enough for me to get a Hot!Hot!Hot! (jalapeno) margarita when I wanted a couple of times. The Escape (Haven) was our favorite cruise experience yet - no real complaints about the ship, thought it was lovely. I am not sure I want to leave anything to chance again and cruise on any ship/class other than the Escape/Haven. This is the first time ever we felt an affinity towards a cruise line and a ship - we have always loved the cruise experience but this was something else entirely.  I can't wait to do it again... other cruises were primarily about where we went and the excurions... the standout on this cruise was the cruise itself and NCL's Haven.  Amazing.