Booking Suite with connecting balcony room

[TampaCruisers2007]

We are a family of 5 and are looking forward to booking on the Norwegian Spirit next summer. We have booked suites in the past that fit all 5 of us, but on the Spirit, the suites only fit up to 3 people. One option we are considering is booking myself and 2 kids in a suite, and my wife and the third kid in a connecting balcony room. In this scenario would Norwegian allow all 5 of us to enjoy the suite perks (breakfast at cagneys, priority embarkation, etc). Or would they only allow it for the 3 registered in the suite? I called Norwegian on this topic and basically got an 'I don't know' type of response. Has anyone been able to do this before?

[Starflyr3]

I'm not 100%, (and this has been hotly debated), but I think the procedure here is to book yourself and your wife and 1 kid in the suite and the other 2 kids in the connecting balcony. Generally, I think you have to call to book it like this, since they have to play with birthdays to make it work.

 

If you do 1 adult in each room, I think the people in the balcony do not get suite perks. But call NCL to be sure ( well, as sure as you can be).

 

^this assumes that all your kids are minors.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Starflyr3

[TampaCruisers2007]

Thanks for the quick response. Yes, they are all minors. Has anyone been able to do this before?

[TampaCruisers2007]

On the Spirit, the bulk of their suites are on Deck 10 and almost all of these suites alternate with a standard connecting balcony room. I am assuming that these are intended for bigger families, but if only part of the family gets the Suite perks, then that is a deal breaker and we may as well get family balconies.

[deladypilot]

"Technically" No the people in the balcony room do not get the suite perk because they did not pay for a suite. That said, I have seen some here talk about how their family members in other rooms got some of the perks and others say that they booked a connecting room for family and NCL would not allow them in the VIP check in etc. I think each sailing is different.

 

As mentioned this has been the topic of some much heated debate on cruise critic and you may not get a true answer. One persons experience seems to be different from the next

[rocklinmom]

My family of five did the Med cruise on the Spirit in summer 2014 and we were also booked in a deck 10 suite connected to a balcony cabin. All five of us (myself, husband, and three kids) got the suite benefits. I booked myself in the suite with our two daughters and my husband in the balcony with our son. So yes you should all get the suite benefits. Talk to the concierge when you board to confirm.

[Vyhanek]

I think your issue is not the normal issue of a non suite guest using suite privileges.

 

Since they have no suites that can accommodate more than 3 people, this has to be a regular occurrence to the Spirit and I can't imagine they haven't worked out some solution. Most families have more than 3 people. Lots of families book suite cabins.

 

On my upcoming cruise, I've already received an email from my concierge. Have you received an email from the concierge directly on the ship? I imagine your situation is not unique on this ship and they make the accommodation. Especially since it's a suite and you've booked the attached balcony room to accommodate your family. This isn't a normal issue with non suite guests booked in an interior cabin on deck 4 wanting to use suite amenities.

 

Would you mind coming back and updating us on what the final resolution is?

[Boschmann]

Tampacruisers, I would still at least try to book both adults in the suite and the kids in the balcony as that way the amenity invoice will show the perks/promos correctly with less possibility of having to try to fix it upon boarding. NCL, or at least some of their PCC's have been doing this for years on pre-Haven ships and there was little controversy. The concierge would usually extend the limited suite perks (priority & breakfast/lunch) to the minors in the non-suite.

 

The controversy posters speak of is that lately this NCL allowance is being "abused" by two adult couples booking into the suite and then all the kids (have to be minors) into a non suite on a Haven class ship with no intention of sleeping this way. I don't think sleeping situation really matters because basically the non suite family gets Haven perks.

 

I don't think anyone here can criticize you for doing it that way.

[TampaCruisers2007]

Thank you everyone for your comments. We have not booked yet since the cruise is not until 2017 and don't go on sale for a couple weeks. If anyone else has any first hand stories on this subject, especially on the NCL Spirit, I would love to hear them. I will definitely update this thread once we do our cruise with how it went.

 

Rocklinmom: Were they very accommodating when you requested the Suite perks for all of you? Or did they act like it was a hassle and/or did they think you were trying to game the system? I think it is crazy that some of their biggest suites only support up to 3 guests.

[Sparkygirl]

Contact the pre-cruise concierge desk and ask this question of them. In our case we requested limited perks be extended to family that was not booked in our cabin which was granted for embarkation day only which was our request for my step children's mom and stepdad. My minor stepdaughter was booked in a non suite with her mom and stepdad, she was allowed to join us for breakfast etc on the days the kids were with us versus with their mom.

 

 

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[JMHAM1]

Call a PCC and get them to do it. We are a family of 8 and were struggling getting an adult in each room. On the Spirit, those connecting balconies are designed to extend the occupancy of the adjoining suite. Your PCC should be able to book the two adults in the suite with one kid and have the other two kids in the balcony next door or all three kids in the balcony. The kids will get the suite benefits.

 

We found though when we had the kids with us that it was rare that they went with us to Cagney's. I think we may have done one breakfast and two lunches with the kids. The kids were just too busy with the kid activities or with friends they met on the ship to waste time with a sit down meal with the old folks. We did enjoy having the priority tendering and priority debarkation and embarkation. I don't think that having the kids there would impact anyone's enjoyment of their suite benefits. People just like to complain!!

 

Have fun!!

[IluvZ]

Hello,

Two of the three times we have been in the Spirit there were families booked in this exact configuration and all the family members had the suite benefits. The Spirit is such a great ship but the rooms are limiting for larger families. The concierge and butlers are use to these situations and seemed to handle them well. I would recommend those side suites, too. We liked those much better than the forward, larger suite.

[TampaCruisers2007]

Thank you everyone for your advice today! I think we will book one of the side suites with connector through our PCC when they open up in a few weeks.

[rocklinmom]

No problems whatsoever with all of us having the suite benefits. No one even asked.