What's a suite worth to you?

[Fishbait17]

I'm on the opposite end of most posters. To me, the entire suite experience is worth every penny, no matter which suite I choose at whatever price I pay. Most importantly, we can afford it, so even though we could sail in a less expensive accommodation, it doesn't place huge financial drain to sail suites. We can't vacation as often as we would like, and when we do we like it to be easy, comfortable, and relaxing - a suite gives us all three from start to finish. We both drive older model cars (I tend to drive cars for 10-15 years) because that's not a priority, vacations are more important to us (de-stressing as much as possible). Others who can sail more frequently or who truly have to save up for a suite may not think it's worth the extra cost.

 

Robin

Edited March 24, 2014 by Fishbait17

[auntierobin]

I find the suite very valuable and worth the price. I want as much comfort and relaxation as possible.

 

I loved the extra room on the balcony for just hanging out and relaxing. I loved the butler to bring breakfast, drinks, or snacks if I didn't feel like making the trek outside. I loved going to Cagneys, knowing I didn't have to fight crowds in the buffet (although I admit, it's probably not THAT different than a main dining room breakfast). And I enjoyed being able to make a call to the concierge and get reservations when I was ready rather than feeling like I needed to plan the meals more.

 

Ditto

 

Plus, sitting on the balcony watching the wake or a magical sunset with a mojito in your hand - priceless. We usually get aft or forward penthouses. On Caribbean cruises (warmer climes of course) - we have sometimes hauled our pillows out there and slept under the stars on the chaises. Or dinner from LeBistro on your balcony under the stars, breakfast on the balcony watching the dolphins follow in the wake. All good reasons to sail in a suite. When we first started cruising we sailed in mini-suites, but once we stayed in a suite - they are right, you never go back.

[timhoke]

It all depends on what you can afford doesn't it? For us, the extra room is worth it. I tend to get up much earlier than she does. With a suite, I can make coffee in the living room & enjoy it on the balcony without waking her up.

We had an Owners Suite on the POA, we had a few issues on the cruise. Our butler & concierge were invaluable in dealing with the problems. Not only did they go out of their way to aid us, but they went above & beyond in trying to make it up to us.

We didn't go call our butler often but when we did he was always available and he took very good care of us.

I will say that if you have the chance to get a suite you should go for it!

[DMH15]

The sofa beds are extremely comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate to sleep on it. The 2-bedroom suites are really for families. I would not expect an adult couple to sleep in the 2nd bedroom - although some on here have done it!

Yes! Would someone choose:

1. The small bedroom in a 2 bdrm suite

2. An inside cabin

 

Not much difference I imagine. Except the dining room, Lavazza, suite perks, etc.

 

I MUST have a window so no inside cabin for me. If I were to cruise in the 2 bdrm I would make my share more than the person in the small bdrm.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tarheelmjfan]

OP, along with the suite comes higher tips. Your dad would also need to add the gratuity for the concierge & butler to that $1000, unless he already has. IMO, unless you are certain your parents have more than enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement, I wouldn't try to convince them to spend money that they didn't feel comfortable with originally. Your dad may be thinking about the future, or he may just simply not see that much value in a suite. You never know, he may decide to change his cabin on his own. Have fun with your family, regardless of your sleeping arrangements. :)

 

As for the value we see in a suite, DH & I have been looking at cruises & discussing this. Our requirements for a good cruise are a balcony & great food. We enjoy breakfast & lunch on our balcony, then dine in specialty restaurants at night. We wouldn't dine in Cagney's for breakfast or lunch. My back has prevented me from taking a bath in many years. A regular balcony cabin is big enough for us, as long as we have a decent size balcony. We're perfectly fine making our own dinner reservations & would never ask to be escorted to a show or anywhere else. My skin is very fair. If we lay out by the pool at all, it's usually once for 30 to 45 minutes. I just don't like laying in the sun. Haven wouldn't add anything to my cruise. All that said, if we choose an NCL cruise, we'll feel forced to book a suite. The RS menu is so limited, we feel we would need to have access to a better menu to dine on our balcony. We would prefer staying in a balcony cabin & having the option to pay extra for a better RS menu (such as the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast or Dinner on Princess), but that doesn't seem to be an option with NCL. So, if food wasn't a priority, I wouldn't see the value in a suite. If we do choose an NCL cruise, we'll probably book one anyway. :rolleyes: I suppose we could add priority embarkation as a positive to make us feel better about paying for the suite solely to indulge our need for good food our way. :p

[Zoey]

I don't think $1,000 additional is a "bargain," but maybe you can express to him how nice it would be if all of you would be able to spend your time together in the Courtyard and the Haven dining, otherwise either you and your sister will have to spend time with him outside the Haven or not spend time together. That fact might make it more of a bargain for him.

[DrNora]

It does, but there are blackout dates. We could not get that promotion for our Thanksgiving sailing.

 

Or a lot of summer weeks.

[xriva]

For us, a suite makes more sense on a route where we will be spending more time in our room - like a Transatlantic with minimal ports. In fact, the first suite we had was on the Breakaway Transatlantic last year - the upgrade fairy called and I told my wife it was the one time I would consider having a butler and private dining areas worthwhile.

 

It was.

 

Our butler brought us breakfast in the room on some days, others we just got enough coffee so we could make it to the restaurant for breakfast. The concierge was helpful in getting us reservations we couldn't get ourselves. The extra space was nice because we were in the room much more than on our usual (Caribbean) cruises.

 

We're doing the Epic TA in a little over a month, and my Mom is going along, so we got a two-bedroom Haven suite.

 

If we're going to be in ports all day with excursions, and we have to get out of the room quickly in the morning, then we're not going to get the benefits of breakfast in the Haven restaurant (or Cagney's), we won't have much for the butler to do, and we usually pre-book shows.

 

So, we'll have balconies for port-intensive cruises and consider suites for the longer repositioning cruises.

[hateswaterloves2cruise]

Its surprising how many people feel the way I do regarding suites. I believe they are nice to have but wouldn't break the bank to have one. That said, we are booked in a 2bdrm suite (thru the kids sail free promo) at a cost of only $300 more than an aft penthouse and we are taking 2 adult people with us. I've already warned them about the second bedroom. The original suite price was quite reasonable when compared to a balcony room when originally booked. On our prior cruise in an aft balcony, an aft suite would have been $2000 more, a price I would never pay. The Cagney B&L benefit is nice, but DH doesn't get up as early as I do so we didn't use this much. Hoping with 4 of us in the suite this time I'll get to Cagney's for breakfast more often. We don't usually eat lunch, just pick at the buffet at some point. Some of the ideas in this thread i.e. special dining package for B&L are interesting, maybe NCL will read this.

[sjbdtz]

Here's a question that I anticipate will bring some interesting discussion. At what price point does a suite become tempting to spend a bit more on? Essentially, I know I can get them to spend a bit more to upgrade to a suite if it's a "bargain". However, what is a bargain?

 

Some people say "spend less, cruise more"....but we already cruise to the extent of our available vacation time (and then some).... so since we've already maxed-out the "cruise more", we then turn to "cruise better".

 

I have drawn my own line-in-the-sand based on nothing more than a whim, of saying yes to suites when they're no more than $100/pp pd more than the mini. I spend a lot of money on a lot of things, but I always buy them through the filter of my value-perception, and my perception of the value of the suite is $100 pd. That gives me the space, the service, the ambiance of breakfast & lunch, etc.

 

Would I pay more than $100...more than a room at the Quality Inn? Absolutely. I think the Sheraton or Hilton meets that criterion fairly frequently. Would I pay more than $100 pd more than a Sheraton, for the Ritz? No....the Sheraton is quite sufficient...but if I'm traveling for something special....say....my limited vacation time, I may splurge on the Ritz.

 

I'm fibbing...I only ever travel on hotel points, and I fly first class due only to airline points.

 

See? I'm a spendthrift, but I see value in the Suite experience.

 

 

.

 

 

I'm on the opposite end of most posters. To me, the entire suite experience is worth every penny, no matter which suite I choose at whatever price I pay. Most importantly, we can afford it, so even though we could sail in a less expensive accommodation, it doesn't place huge financial drain to sail suites. We can't vacation as often as we would like, and when we do we like it to be easy, comfortable, and relaxing - a suite gives us all three from start to finish. We both drive older model cars (I tend to drive cars for 10-15 years) because that's not a priority, vacations are more important to us (de-stressing as much as possible). Others who can sail more frequently or who truly have to save up for a suite may not think it's worth the extra cost.

 

Robin

 

 

This, except that our cars are new. :)

 

 

 

.

[DMH15]

I hear ya! My 2005 SUV has 80k miles on it and my round-trip commute is under 2 miles. I do not choose to upgrade my vehicle as it meets my needs. It still looks and runs good.

 

I enjoy the suite experience, which has value to me and my mom who I travel with. So, I don't care about the price differential. Since I am divorced with no kids I only answer to moi. And my mom trusts me to plan and price our vacations.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jmele999]

We book suites because we enjoy the perks and the extra space. However, we book early and usually enjoy a large amount of OBC. I can say that we typically pay between $500 - $1000 more for a suite than a regular balcony, but usually get about $500 on OBC.

[Mom2B&Z]

To us, it depends. We just had our first suite on Breakaway, and for us it was with every penny. The private dining room kept DH and I on track with our portion controlled eating, and having the butler deliver dinner to the suite after a long day was a real treat. Plus the extra space, especially the balcony, on a cruise with 3 sea days and two young boys was fantastic. However, I have a regular balcony cabin booked for POA next year, and I'd never consider booking anything more. To us, that's a floating hotel.

So the price upgrade would have to be minimal for me to consider upgrading on POA, but we paid about $2000 more for the 4 of us to have a suite and Haven experience on Breakaway and it was well worth it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kcwingwalker]

I hear ya! My 2005 SUV has 80k miles on it and my round-trip commute is under 2 miles. I do not choose to upgrade my vehicle as it meets my needs. It still looks and runs good.

 

I enjoy the suite experience, which has value to me and my mom who I travel with. So, I don't care about the price differential. Since I am divorced with no kids I only answer to moi. And my mom trusts me to plan and price our vacations.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Somewhat the same here. My Volvo has aged with grace and dignity as the Swedes do. No plans to replace it for at least 5 years and hopefully 10. My last Volvo went well over 150,000 and drove it for 12 years.......still miss that wagon it was almost family.

 

Our home is in a desirable neighborhood, but is small. Much less cost for maintenance, utilities, etc. While I love great clothes, I buy almost all items on sale. I bought clothes for our upcoming cruise last fall and at end of summer prices. Fortunately I'm all set in the jewelry department as my mother and grandmother have been more then generous. So you won't be seeing me at the diamond seminars.

 

We do some take out, but as a rule do not dine out. This does not mean we eat cheaply, but prefer to splurge only on those items that are really worthwhile and it will be for an occasion. I rarely fly due to a security incident that left me feeling it just wasn't worth it so my vacations are cruises that I can drive to.

 

I will splurge on gifts that I know are needed/much wanted for my children. My son is an excellent photographer and earns his way around Europe with his photography. He's young, happy and worked hard in college. For Christmas he asked if I would help him purchase a camera that was important to him. Same son never asks for money to tide him over or pay his airfare home. It was not hard to make the decision to buy him the camera and told him to hold onto his money.

 

Now I have booked the owner's suite for myself and DD. This is a gift that I know will make my daughter happy. She has been working at a job for the past year that is below her skills and has been an unhappy experience. Next she and her husband will leave for South Korea. She's excited about living half way around the world, but still gets teary about leaving. So when the chance came to book the owner's suite it wasn't hard to make the decision. It might be years before we have the chance to spend time like this together again. I like to spend money where it counts and making someone you love happy is something that really matters.

 

One thing that I find important is to always pay cash. Paying cash gives you tremendous freedom and encourages you to live more frugally so you always have what you need/want on hand.

[Fishbait17]

I hear ya! My 2005 SUV has 80k miles on it and my round-trip commute is under 2 miles. I do not choose to upgrade my vehicle as it meets my needs. It still looks and runs good.

 

I enjoy the suite experience, which has value to me and my mom who I travel with. So, I don't care about the price differential. Since I am divorced with no kids I only answer to moi. And my mom trusts me to plan and price our vacations.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have to admit, I fibbed :rolleyes:. I actually have a brand new minivan - just purchased, carefully selected when my 2000 Minivan finally started to really show it's age. I still have the old van, I use it locally for the beach with the dogs a few times a week (keeps my new van cleaner), and we will be donating it to my nephew this summer (I'll be sad to see it go). I test drove lots of cars, but still love the minivan swagger (with three big dogs and annual cross-country drives both ways, it just makes sense). But hubby still drives his 2002 BMW, which we bought used and has over 220,000 miles on (looks and runs GREAT!). Like I said, our only priority is a safe car that suits it's purpose, age doesn't matter until it starts to fall apart.

 

We too fly mostly first class (lifetime high status from a lifetime of flying and 30 years of points) and stay in Starwood hotels (again, lifetime status and 30 years points). I have one diamond, given to me by my mother when hubby and I got engaged in college and never even wear that or any other jewelry. I could not care any less about clothing (Costco, Target, the Gap suit me fine). Small house (not too much work) in a great beach town, an investment property we visit in CA to see our daughter. Kids are educated and gone. But other than travel, I need little else. Give me a great vacation and I'll eat whatever is cheap (I can gourmet up anything) and scrub my old white shirts to get them new looking again while I wait for departure lol.. I would, however, love to have a boat someday..but I'm in no rush....

 

Robin

Edited March 25, 2014 by Fishbait17

[AF-1]

My wife and I have been in several suites. We like the extra room along will lg balcony. We will be sailing a 14 night trip next year, the extra living space is worth paying extra money. We do spend more time in our cabin. My wife likes to come back and read on the balcony, and I will be on the iPad. The extra perks are nice; but not a big deal to us; we enjoy being able to stretch out and move around without getting out of bed and hitting the wall. A little joke there; We have never been in an aft cabin, so next year will be our first. Have read so many positive posts regarding aft cabins. The aft penthouse will be wonderful. I would not be in a suite if my budget did not allow. We were going to get the owners suite but decided to go with penthouse suite and use the savings get another reg cabin and bring our two adult children with us. On a side note; we looked at the mini suite; but NCL was offering OBC along with suite perks; so we chose the aft penthouse. Sorry for the long post. Hope this helps the OP..

[toyotaford]

I have enjoyed reading this tread and all the different thoughts. I think NCL has done a great job of offering whatever it is the customer wants. If it is a bargain inside cabin for someone on a tight budget or who doesn't plan on staying in their room much or the 7,000 sq. feet GV on the Star NCL has you covered. Just another thing I love about NCL.

[Fishbait17]

I have enjoyed reading this tread and all the different thoughts. I think NCL has done a great job of offering whatever it is the customer wants. If it is a bargain inside cabin for someone on a tight budget or who doesn't plan on staying in their room much or the 7,000 sq. feet GV on the Star NCL has you covered. Just another thing I love about NCL.

 

You are so right!! Sometimes people ask why "suite dwellers" don't sail on more "exclusive" lines. Frankly, I love everything about NCL, from freestyle to the passengers to the ships to the restaurants, and I love that I can get a nice suite at a very affordable price as well! I'm not sure my "scrubbed" white Gap tees would be as accepted dress on one of the more "exclusive" lines lol...

 

Robin

[garycarla]

...We were going to get the owners suite but decided to go with penthouse suite and use the savings get another reg cabin and bring our two adult children with us. ...

 

You do realize that those in the "reg cabin" do not get any suite perks and can not enjoy breakfast and lunch in Cagneys/Haven, right?

[Quincella]

I stayed in a suite once, and it was fabulous. No kidding. It was a 2-bedroom in the Haven on Epic.

 

I originally had a standard balcony booked for four of us (2 adults, 2 kids), and I think I paid right at $2000, or something like that. The upsell cost me an additional $1500, so $3500 total for a 2-bedroom Haven suite.

 

Was it worth it? Oh, yeah. For us it certainly was. We loved the suite. We loved the Haven restaurant. We loved not having to wait in lines for shows and things. And that bathroom and shower....heavenly.

 

Would I do it again? Sure, for the right price, but it's not a given. I got the upsell call to upgrade to a suite on the Dawn next weekend, and I declined. It's just my husband and me, and it's a port intensive cruise. I didn't think we'd really have time to enjoy it, and there's no Haven on the Dawn.

 

Will I do it if I get the same offer on the Getaway in September? Maybe. Only three ports, there'll be 4 of us, and it would be a fun experience for my husband (my sister was with me for that Epic suite).

 

I don't care much about the butler and concierge, but the room....man....luxury.

[Medtech2]

Here's a question that I anticipate will bring some interesting discussion. At what price point does a suite become tempting to spend a bit more on? For example, my husband and I currently have an aft penthouse booked on the Getaway in the fall, with my sister and my son in the room with us. My parents have the connecting balcony room booked. Obviously, the trip would be nicer for everyone if my parents were in a suite as well. At the moment, a spa penthouse would be $1000 more than the price that they paid for their balcony, and my father does not see the value in that. They sailed in a suite on the Star with us, so they are aware of the perks that come with the suite life. Essentially, I know I can get them to spend a bit more to upgrade to a suite if it's a "bargain". However, what is a bargain?

When we took into account the Suite OBC and AMEX OBC it was not a huge amount of money to upgrade so we are sailing in our first suite in October. Otherwise I wouldn't do it, esp. not for $1000!

 

Our family all wakes up at different times so everyone does different breakfasts. Everyone has different activities so lunches don't line up. The only meal we would be together would be dinner and we would all do the MDR or a specialty. I would have absolutely no problem having family members in different types of cabins...

 

And your balcony will be large enough for everyone to visit there...

[AF-1]

You do realize that those in the "reg cabin" do not get any suite perks and can not enjoy breakfast and lunch in Cagneys/Haven, right?

 

Yup. We just wanted our two adult kids to be with us for my wife's retirement cruise. No kids.

[steelcashew]

Just got home from a 2 bedroom suite in the Haven on Epic. It cost me 1400 more and was so worth it. Faster embarkation, but mainly debarkation was great, and little extras like the concierge can be helpful (like when we discovered we lost something just as we were leaving the ship). Nice to not have to go early to shows to get good seats as well. We used the Epic lounge often for meals, as it was fast, good enough that we didn't need to book the extra fee restaurants. But the real value was in the separate pool area, and the deck overlooking the main pool, and in the separate bedroom. This was not at all like a lumpy sofabed :) It was comfortable and most importantly had its own bathroom. On the Epic, baths are an issue, and I loved having a shower and bath that had glass walls overlooking the sea. So, on this ship, it was really worth the upgrade.

[SissasMomE]

Just got home from a 2 bedroom suite in the Haven on Epic. It cost me 1400 more and was so worth it. Faster embarkation, but mainly debarkation was great, and little extras like the concierge can be helpful (like when we discovered we lost something just as we were leaving the ship). Nice to not have to go early to shows to get good seats as well. We used the Epic lounge often for meals, as it was fast, good enough that we didn't need to book the extra fee restaurants. But the real value was in the separate pool area, and the deck overlooking the main pool, and in the separate bedroom. This was not at all like a lumpy sofabed :) It was comfortable and most importantly had its own bathroom. On the Epic, baths are an issue, and I loved having a shower and bath that had glass walls overlooking the sea. So, on this ship, it was really worth the upgrade.

 

That's what we have booked for Thanksgiving. Only 3 of us, but 1 is a 17-year old, so that extra bathroom is going to be nice :)

[jkgourmet]

We normally book inside cabins. Our logic is that we enjoy time on the ship much more than the amenities provided in a suite, and we can cruise 28 days for less money than we could in a suite for 14 days.

 

Yep. This kind if thinking is what allowed us to retire at ages 62 and 52. Now we REALLY have the time to travel.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Forums mobile app