The "Suite" Life - Dawn Review - 9/2/11

[mrclean1]

Oops...realized I never actually answered your question. don't remember if Gian told me his date to leave. He did say he boarded 2 weeks before we sailed, so I guess you probably will see him.

 

Virginia did tell me she was going home for Christmas and then would be going back to the Star, so I'm not sure who your concierge will be.

[WineGuy]

Mr. Clean - How was the closet space? After reading your review my wife and I are thinking of switching to one of these suites - just the two of us - for an 11 day cruise. We're currently booked in a 2 bedroom suite on deck 11 but after my wife saw the balcony in your pictures she got all excited! Her only concern is closet space. Thanks for your great review!!

[yoyocruiser]

We stayed in the same type of suite--and it is--as noted--aboslutely marvelous. Regarding the closet space--if you read the very first post the OP gives a very detailed description of the closet. It is accurate. However, perhaps we do not travel with that many clothes that need to be hung in the closet--so we were actually fine and actually had leftover space. But I do have to concur that the closets are definitely not laid out well. That said--honestly--I would not let that factor deter me from taking this suite. I think you could figure out a way to deal with it even if it were an issue. Have fun!!

[WineGuy]

Thank You YoYoCruiser... I just went back and re-read the first page. I was just skimming the review in the beginning and totally missed that part!

[medicalma'am]

As far as writing an outline while on board goes, that is a very wise thing to do. The best review I wrote was when I did that. It was a cruise DH and I did out of NOLA just the two of us. Not being with friends/family, I had loads of time to write and had my laptop with me. I would create a word document each day, get online, copy and paste and post on xanga for the family back home. After the cruise, I edited that for my review. Even if you do not buy an internet package, it is a great way to do it. That was the last time I took the laptop. When we sail out of NOLA again, I will bring it as we can drive to the port city (and I tend to bring more then). :D

 

We are taking our kids on our next cruise and they are in these rooms on the Star. We have and aft 10 suite (we have the whole back of deck 10 booked with family practically!) I have toyed with moving up there with my kids or moving them down with us. This review makes it more tempting! Thanks for all your work!

[mrclean1]

Mr. Clean - How was the closet space? After reading your review my wife and I are thinking of switching to one of these suites - just the two of us - for an 11 day cruise. We're currently booked in a 2 bedroom suite on deck 11 but after my wife saw the balcony in your pictures she got all excited! Her only concern is closet space. Thanks for your great review!!

 

YoYo got it right Wineguy.... It was weird, but not a deal breaker in all honesty. I was just surprised that with the size of the suite the closet didn't seem to fit. Sorry for the delay in answering, but it seems you got the info you needed.

 

We were involved with the Northeast October surprise storm, it looks like a war zone up there. Power has been out for 3 days, DW and I hopped a plane to South Florida this morning, where at least we are warm and I have internet service :D

[ourfamilylovescruising]

great review

[RI-Traveler]

The newer rooms definately have closet space issues, this is the deluxe owners suite 12502's closets... a real dissapointment!

 

Out Of all that space, only one side had a rack to hang clothing.

 

Bedroom Closet Left Side:

 

 

Bedroom right Side:

 

Living room Left Side:

 

Living room Right Side:

 

[sullyd]

Feel the same way about morderno very unimpressed.......

[gamblinrose]

mr clean:

i thought so much of your review that i just booked "your" room for our 06/08 bermuda cruise!

thanks so much for taking the time to write up the review!

kim

[mrclean1]

Good for you!!! It will be a memorable trip.

 

Steve

[CruiseRansier]

9/6 (day 5)

I had a very lazy morning after a really late night last evening. DW and I do breakfast in the buffet, relax on the balcony and really have no plan for the day. Feels like we are just floating northward, can’t be traveling more than 5 knots or so, and the weather is beautiful with temps in the mid to high 80’s, with humidity about 80%. I believe we are going to just lounge around in the nice weather before making a run for Boston sometime late in the day Thursday.

 

Mid morning we power walked the promenade, spent some time in the photo gallery and shops, DW made her debut in the casino, visiting for the first time and did her part to fatten the bottom line of NCL,:) freshened up and off we went to Cagney’s for lunch. I had the Ahi tuna burger for the second time and it was wonderful along with the shrimp cocktails. Then, off to the pool deck (which conveniently is only about 50 yards from our cabin) and while there, we experienced another first, when early afternoon poolside a guy jumps up onto the bands gazebo and proposes to his fiancée in front of hundreds of us, not the way I would have done it, but cute, good thing for him she said yes….:eek: I’m sure they had more than a few drinks purchased for them around the ship after that…The rest of the day was spent on our balcony which on this return trip home faces west. Beautiful sunrises going down and spectacular sunsets going home….

 

Not really being cabin people, we always spent most of our time out, but this time living in such a beautiful space, we find ourselves being in the cabin much more, either entertaining friends or flat out just enjoying the day on our balcony. Not normally being suite travelers, we may have to re-think that plan going forward.

 

Gian, our butler delivered menus from Cagney’s and Le Bistro and is anxious to work harder for us, so we agree to dinner en suite at 7:30PM from Cagney’s. This guy is great! He stops by around 5:30 and takes our order for dinner. I’m off to the internet café to take care of business and personal e-mails, as it is little sis’s birthday tomorrow.

Arrive back to the cabin about 7:15PM to find the dining table set up on our balcony, wine chilling in the bucket and a spectacular sunset in progress. I wanted a table with a view, and there surely is not a better one to be found than right here, right now.

 

I was a little leery about spending 50.00 for dinner and having it arrive late, cold, etc. None of which was an issue, we were served by Gian as if we were sitting right there in Cagney’s, not rushed and everything arrived hot and fresh.

Oysters Rockefeller and clam chowder, followed by salads, a spectacular filet and rib eye with béarnaise sauce, along with garlic mashed potatoes, Cagney fries and creamed spinach. We spent 2 hours over dinner and enjoyed every minute of it…. We finished with cappuccino but no dessert. Would I do this again? You bet, and Gian is trying to convince us to do it again tomorrow night, this time ordering from Le Bistro, we’ll see…

 

Show tonight is Second City, not our favorite, so we did not go, we did miss Dave Heenan the comedian in the atrium due to dinner, but he will be in the theater tomorrow, so we will get to see him then. Finished the evening late in the casino, where I graciously returned some of their money to them :(

Hey we had this butler Gian on our panama canal cruise on the pearl! He was awesome!

[MKsol]

Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such a great picture of the suite life. I am in the suite next door (12526) next week for an 11 day southern carib cruise and this thread provided me we great information and expectation setting. That said the DW refused to read or look at the pictures - she likes the surprise! :D Although when I warned her our closets might be less functional then hoped she was willing to look at those and those only photos - go figure!

 

Thanks for the time and effort!

[mrclean1]

:D Enjoy......

[kart97]

Great review on the suite... Thank you for having us at your get together... it was a great break. Drop me a line as we have a picture for you from your suite party. You guys got off the boat so quick we never saw you on the last day. We were not allowed into your line... (inside rooms don't rate) As you can see... we also booked a couple more trips... Joyce had to twist my arm. :D

[mrclean1]

Great review on the suite... Thank you for having us at your get together... it was a great break. Drop me a line as we have a picture for you from your suite party. You guys got off the boat so quick we never saw you on the last day. We were not allowed into your line... (inside rooms don't rate) As you can see... we also booked a couple more trips... Joyce had to twist my arm. :D

Great to hear from you!! Hope you and Joyce have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year. I'll try to get with you, but am leaving for Florida soon, if I don't see you before it will have to be when we get back in late March.

 

Steve

[coyboy1971]

You can see the 5 balconys up there on 12, we were in the 2nd one back.

 

Super review and great pictures!