We are older folks and stayed in the Haven so understand that as you judge the value of my review to you. Also, these are my views and I really don’t care whether you agree or disagree. We have been doing Haven since it was first introduced and it continues to become less exclusive and personal. Having said that, we still think it is the best high end product on the market. Yes, you can do the luxury and boutique ships (and we have) but they are small and offer limited entertainment options. We tried Prima and while the Haven can not be beat (perhaps with the exception of the Epic) the rest of the ship was a big disappointment (think ship within the ship). We were actually booked on the Viva this year and switched because of our Prima experience. Having had previous Breakaway class experience we changed to the Encore. It was a good decision…back to the ship within the ship. Lots of choices with the constant option of retreating to the Haven. The ship is immaculate and the crew service was great everywhere. We only ate in specialty restaurants and the Haven…having been in high end all-inclusives the food is much better. One unexpected find was the Observation Lounge which is a lovely and large space forward. I don’t think most people even know about it. The buffet is quite nice and while crowded didn’t seem overwhelming. For the most part we have been on every Carribean stop 5 times or more so we did not do excursions aside from doing a brief walking tour of the port areas. The port area of Puerto Plata is somewhat unique being large and free! Several pools, bands and shops…little haggling. We had forgotten how nice the port area is in Tortola…again no vendor pursuit. I will never set foot on Jamaica or the Bahamas again. So finally the crowded part…I suspect that our cruise was near capacity. I don’t think any main-stream cruise ship is designed to handle full capacity well. Spaces were crowded and lines long at the bars. They even had limited loungers at the pools to conserve space. None of that in the Haven but I understand that class comes at a steep price. So in closing, I believe the Encore may be the best ship Norwegian has, overall. I believe the Prima class is a step back that is going to hurt Norwegian (even speaking as a Haven person).