Perks of a suite on Eurodam...worth it for two?

[flagger]

Thank you for all of your responses. MsFish, my invitation with my assignment was waiting for me in my stateroom when I boarded. I was unable to use it the first day and they credited me back for that lost day.

[nonnudie]

Do they offer bottles of water in the neptune lounge? I am an NCL cruiser and always stay in their suites which offer breakfast AND Lunch in one of the specialty restaurants. I like the intinerery of the Eurodam so am thinking of trying HAL this time. I would be giving up the chance of moving to the next level on NCL's Lattitudes program though..

[sail7seas]

No, water bottles are not handed out in Neptune Lounge. There is a large bottle of water in each suite that is complimentary. When you finish that, you may purchase any more water you wish.

 

We think the ship's water is better than most of what comes in all those plastic bottles but that is just our opinion.

 

 

Suite guests on Eurodam are welcome to enjoy breakfast in Pinnacle restaurant at no additional charge.

On most days of the cruise, lunch is available to all in Pinnacle. There is a nominal charge.

 

Three and Four star Mariners get a discount but suite guests, unless three/four star mariners do not.

 

We have sailed Eurodam five cruises and think her a wonderful ship. We'd return without hesitation.

 

 

[nonnudie]

Thanks.. Seems similar to NCL. One free bottle of water. Guess the only difference is the included breakfast and lunch in the specialty restaurant. I guess it wouldnt matter if they had bottled or regular ship water. I guess I can always have my bottle filled with ship water...

[sail7seas]

You may have misunderstood.

Suite guests may have complimentary breakfast in Pinnacle but if they lunch in Pinnacle, suite guests pay the same as everyone. Only suite guests can breakfast there but all guests may lunch in Pinnacle.

 

The discounts apply to Three and Four Star Mariners.

Mariners are those who have sailed previously and a Three Star has at least 75 days while a Four Star has 200 or more days.

[nonnudie]

Yes, i understood. I was referring to complimentary breakfast and lunch on NCL..I am really getting swayed towards HAL.. Must be because I am turning 50!! LMAO

[sail7seas]

Hopefully you won't mind all the young families, the twenty something year olds and folks of all ages who cruise HAL ships. :)

 

You might be quite surprised but Eurodam has just about the same demographic on her seven day Caribbean cruises as the other 'like' major cruise lines.

 

You don't say what itinerary but in Europe for a cruise 14 days and under, you will find the same type crowd you would find on Princess, Celebrity, and I can't say about NCL as I've never sailed them.

[nonnudie]

Ok.. I was told by the TA that HAL is more of a senior cruise. We are looking at the Eurodam in the Caribbean November 2012. Only problem is they are only booking SC cabins as a guarantee...

[sail7seas]

We love the "SA" on those ships. We like being mid-ship and near Neptune Lounge. If you are interested in using Neptune much, it's quite a walk from the stern to the lounge trying to keep your cup of coffee hot if you want to bring it back to your cabin. :) We always book near Neptune. :)

 

[sail7seas]

Ok.. I was told by the TA that HAL is more of a senior cruise. We are looking at the Eurodam in the Caribbean November 2012. Only problem is they are only booking SC cabins as a guarantee...

 

 

Some TA's that make that statement (and yours is not the only one) have not sailed HAL for a very long time, if at all. A seven day Caribbean cruise will have people of all ages.

 

If you don't know your TA all that well, it might be fun to ask the last time they sailed HAL and where?

 

Of course, on a 107 days World Cruise you are going to have an older crowd. Who else has the time? Same for a 65 day Grand Voyage. Most younger folks cannot leave home for that long.

 

HAL does lots of those wonderful voyages..... may be much more than NCL does though, as I say, I've never sailed NCL.

 

 

 

 

[nonnudie]

We love the "SA" on those ships. We like being mid-ship and near Neptune Lounge. If you are interested in using Neptune much, it's quite a walk from the stern to the lounge trying to keep your cup of coffee hot if you want to bring it back to your cabin. :) We always book near Neptune. :)

 

 

So, do you think the additional perks of the SC are worth it?

[nonnudie]

Some TA's that make that statement (and yours is not the only one) have not sailed HAL for a very long time, if at all. A seven day Caribbean cruise will have people of all ages.

 

If you don't know your TA all that well, it might be fun to ask the last time they sailed HAL and where?

 

Of course, on a 107 days World Cruise you are going to have an older crowd. Who else has the time? Same for a 65 day Grand Voyage. Most younger folks cannot leave home for that long.

 

HAL does lots of those wonderful voyages..... may be much more than NCL does though, as I say, I've never sailed NCL

 

 

 

 

Yep, when it comes down to it, TA's are salespeople...

[sail7seas]

Yes, I think the perks of "SC" are worth it.

There are many people here who scramble to grab those cabins. There are lots of CC'ers who love the "SC" cabins on the Vista and Signature Class ships.

 

We really like Eurodam and highly recommend sailing her. :)

 

[sail7seas]

Yep, when it comes down to it, TA's are salespeople...

 

 

Don't know but sometimes wonder if some TA's may not get a better commission from one cruise line over another so push that cruise line to their customers.

 

[kenevenpar]

We love the "SA" on those ships. We like being mid-ship and near Neptune Lounge. If you are interested in using Neptune much, it's quite a walk from the stern to the lounge trying to keep your cup of coffee hot if you want to bring it back to your cabin. :) We always book near Neptune. :)

 

 

Sail is quite right. We prefer aft wrap Deluxe's, and have found we need to bring thermal mugs for me to get our morning coffee back to the cabin while it is still hot.

[MilliesMom]

[quote name='nonnudie']So, do you think the additional perks of the SC are worth it?[/quote]

We have our first SC booked on the Westerdam for next year. Can't wait to have the HUGE wrap around balcony.

We are going to pack insulated travel mugs for drinks (coffee etc) to take back to our cabin. Don't mind the walk at all. We are on deck 5 AFT so it walking to the mid ship elevators and then up the elevator for 2 decks. My understanding is that our cabin is a bit smaller, but the balcony is HUGE. Can't wait. It will be our first time on HAL. Thought it would be perfect for Glacier Bay especially with having a fully covered balcony on this deck. Again, this the Westerdam.

I did quite a bit of research before we booked. As with any cabin category, there are pros and cons. We liked the perks that came with this delux suite, so for us it is worth the extra cost.

[kenevenpar]

[quote name='MilliesMom']We have our first SC booked on the Westerdam for next year. Can't wait to have the HUGE wrap around balcony.

We are going to pack insulated travel mugs for drinks (coffee etc) to take back to our cabin. Don't mind the walk at all. We are on deck 5 AFT so it walking to the mid ship elevators and then up the elevator for 2 decks. My understanding is that our cabin is a bit smaller, but the balcony is HUGE. Can't wait. It will be our first time on HAL. Thought it would be perfect for Glacier Bay especially with having a fully covered balcony on this deck. Again, this the Westerdam.

I did quite a bit of research before we booked. As with any cabin category, there are pros and cons. We liked the perks that came with this delux suite, so for us it is worth the extra cost.[/quote]

You will love it! We had that cabin (if it is on the port side), and were very happy. We also bring travel mugs now; we have a set for each of the three cruise lines we sail :)

[sail7seas]

[B]That cabin does have a really, really large veranda and if that matters to you, it will be glorious!!!
Enjoy.

[/B]

[MilliesMom]

[quote name='kenevenpar']You will love it! We had that cabin (if it is on the port side), and were very happy. We also bring travel mugs now; we have a set for each of the three cruise lines we sail :)[/quote]

Thank you for the feedback. We have 5191 which is on the starboard side. It is the mirror image tho of the cabin you had on the port side (5190) The other person on our roll call (there's only 2 of us right now) has the port side one. We started out with a AFT facing balcony cabin, and decided to upgrade to the delux suite with the wrap around balcony.

Hal (my hubby) has a Starbucks travel mug, so he is all set. We just need to purchase one for me.

We are so excited to be going to Alaska again. We had to cancel our Hawaii cruise last minute in December, so decided to splurge with going to Alaska/Glacier Bay and booking the suite. No cruises this year, but that's OK.

[MilliesMom]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]That cabin does have a really, really large veranda and if that matters to you, it will be glorious!!!
Enjoy.

[/B][/quote]

We definitely wanted an AFT facing cabin and had originally book one that was a balcony not a suite just a couple door down. We love the AFT and were excited to be able to book one.

Then I saw the wrap-around and started number crunching. Yes, it cost us more but the perks made a big difference too.

Then what sold us was this great review on-line:
[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/madbullogna/collections/72157624097325406/[/url]
The Glacier Bay photos were all taken from their Oosterdam suite (5191) balcony. The excitement for this suite/cabin grew from there. So many reviews are showing raining weather/cold when cruising in May. This gives us a completely covered balcony too. We have always cruised in Sep to Alaska (end of season) and had pretty good weather both times.

Even with the great balcony, I know we will spend time up on deck and around the ship. Only 351 days to go!!!! :D

NOTE: If anyone books an SC guarantee category delux suite (at least on the Westerdam), there are two that are handicap accessible and neither of these are wrap-around balconies. I have heard a few people say they were assigned one of these cabins just before the cruise as they had not been booked. So if the wrap-around is important, don't do a guarantee and have them mark your reservation "do not upgrade".

[jimd909]

[quote name='MilliesMom']We definitely wanted an AFT facing cabin and had originally book one that was a balcony not a suite just a couple door down. We love the AFT and were excited to be able to book one.

Then I saw the wrap-around and started number crunching. Yes, it cost us more but the perks made a big difference too.

Then what sold us was this great review on-line:
[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/madbullogna/collections/72157624097325406/[/url]
The Glacier Bay photos were all taken from their Oosterdam suite (5191) balcony. The excitement for this suite/cabin grew from there. So many reviews are showing raining weather/cold when cruising in May. This gives us a completely covered balcony too. We have always cruised in Sep to Alaska (end of season) and had pretty good weather both times.

Even with the great balcony, I know we will spend time up on deck and around the ship. Only 351 days to go!!!! :D

NOTE: If anyone books an SC guarantee category delux suite (at least on the Westerdam), there are two that are handicap accessible and neither of these are wrap-around balconies. I have heard a few people say they were assigned one of these cabins just before the cruise as they had not been booked. So if the wrap-around is important, don't do a guarantee and have them mark your reservation "do not upgrade".[/QUOTE]

I was able to snag 5190 on the Westerdam for my cruise at the end of the month. I was funny because I just finished viewing IRL_Joanie's website then checked HAL's website to see what was available and 5190 was the only aft available at the time. I got lucky.

I had an aft suite on Princess and loved it. This will be my first cruise on HAL. I hope I don't get flamed because of mentioning I cruise in suites. ;)

[MilliesMom]

[quote name='jimd909']I was able to snag 5190 on the Westerdam for my cruise at the end of the month. I was funny because I just finished viewing IRL_Joanie's website then checked HAL's website to see what was available and 5190 was the only aft available at the time. I got lucky.

I had an aft suite on Princess and loved it. This will be my first cruise on HAL. I hope I don't get flamed because of mentioning I cruise in suites. ;)[/quote]

Fantastic!!! Excited for you.

This will be our first suite ... my feeling is that each person/couple books what is important to them. We have had inside, ocean view, balcony, and mini-suite (no extra perks except priority boarding). We now book a minimum of a balcony because I have asthma/allergies and the accessibility to fresh air makes a big difference.

Not sure how many suites are in our future, but wanted to have this experience at least once.

Hope you take LOTS of photos on your cruise to Alaska and then came back and post a review etc.

[PathfinderEss]

[quote name='flagger']I am going to be returning to [I]Eurodam[/I] with my wife this time in November for a business meeting and convention. Though it is just the two of us, we are considering a Superior Suite for a variety of reasons. We have cruised in all categories of staterooms but suites on a variety of lines.

Other than the space and the concierge and the Neptune Lounge, what other perks have you experienced staying in a suite on Eurodam? Did you find it worth it? Have you ever stayed in a suite with just two people?

I look forward to your answers.[/quote]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=darkred][B]You will all love your suite cabins, and will have a hard time ever going back to a standard room. As the saying goes 'If you book a suite you will never go back' ask my DH. You all have a great cruises, enjoy the suite life.[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][COLOR=darkred][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Jade13]

[quote name='flagger']Sorry to clarify, this would be a Deluxe. Sorry, new to HAL get the categories reversed. This DOES have the Neptune access. My question is did you find the perks worth it? The space for us is just gravy though our time in a our room on a business trip is limited so it would almost be wasted. We just want to experience it honestly for many reasons.[/QUOTE]

I just stayed in one. I think it is totally worth it. Note that with HAL you are paying for the Real Estate and Neptune. Neptune is similar to the Club Level you will find in many hotels. You also can have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grille.

HAL does not have the perks that Celebrity is starting to add for Suite guests, such as reserved seating in the theater, etc.


OK, if you don't care about the Real Estate it might not be worth the extra money.

[sail7seas]

[B]Seeing we almost never go to shows,,,,,,,,, :) an empty 'perk', for us, if you will.

We are all about HAL. :)[/B]