Couple of questions for a NCL newbie.

[ctnurse]

My family of four, including my two children( ages 4 and 13) at the time of sailing, are looking at the 14 day Iceland cruise next July on the Jade. We have sailed DCL, and will be sailing RCCL in a few weeks. So this would be our first time on NCL.

 

I am looking at to book either a mini-suite or a balcony cabin. What are the pros/cons regarding either on these types of cabins?

 

Should I book now with the current promotion?( I am thinking to take the UBP and the pre-paid gratitudes.) Or should I wait until closer to sailing date and the PIF date for the best price?

 

Should I just book an Oceanview cabin with the hopes that I can upgrade to a nicer cabin prior to sailing? I know that we will need at least a balcony to be comfortable.

 

How does NCL handle when the price drops? How does that work? Are you able to rebook with the lower price?

 

Anything else I should know?

[FreestyleNovice]

The Jade will be refurbished by that time, so expect a newer ship with other/newer restaurants, take a look at the Dawn to get a good impression of what NCL is up to with the older ships in the EDGE program.

 

Being a smaller ship she won't have all the bells and whistles the newer megaships have, your itinerary is a cooler weather one too so keep that in mind with the kids and keeping them busy. :)

 

Your mentioned cruise is a special one/once in a while one, so I would not bet on upsells or stakeout if you really want a balcony but that's personal. You might be (or not ;)) able to land a upsell.

 

Mini suites on NCL are actually Deluxe Balcony staterooms, no extra perks over a balcony besides some few extra sq ft.

[FreestyleNovice]

Also consider the NCL.EU or .CO.UK websites for booking, last week I read a statement from someone here on CC that they accept "foreign" bookings, assuming you're an US citizen. There's no 18% grat. to be paid on the free UBP for us Europeans but the cruise fare can be higher (calculated into?).

[KeithJenner]

Mini Suites are a little bigger than balcony cabins. If there were just two of you then I would say that it doesn't matter too much, but with a family there are a couple of advantages to being in a mini suite:

 

The little bit extra room will make it less cramped.

 

Access to the balcony itself is a problem in a balcony cabin when the sofa bed is being used. It is much easier in a mini suite. However, I don't know the exact sleeping arrangements for four (there are three of us), so if you are using the drop down bed then this may be different.

 

The negatives to the mini suites are the extra price and that they are all on the same deck, directly below the pool deck. This means that you have to select carefully (I would never take a mini suite guarantee on these ships). You will need to ensure that you aren't below noisy areas. There are quite a few quiet options, but you need to select carefully.

 

As goes timing of booking, it depends a little on your preferences. I always book early, and usually find that the price increases up until after final payment. As we need to plan flights etc and can't be very flexible on dates, last minute booking isn't really an option for us, so booking early works well for us.

 

As for upgrades and price drops, it depends on where you are booking. The US is much more flexible than other areas on this. We are from the UK and don't get to benefit from price drops (not that it is ever much of an issue as prices tend to rise more than fall until after final payment). Cabin upgrades are more likely in the US as well.

 

Obviously this can also impact your decision on when to book, as this is less risky in the US due to being able to adjust for price drops.

 

Just be aware that if you do take a price drop in the future then you are likely to lose any perks (and get transferred to the perks existing at the time of the booking change). Whilst the promos have been around for a while, the general tendency has been for them to be of a lower value. Pre paid gratuities comes and goes, so you could easily lose that.

 

If you aren't booking in the US then the last bit of this reply was irrelevant anyway.

[newmexicoNita]

My family of four, including my two children( ages 4 and 13) at the time of sailing, are looking at the 14 day Iceland cruise next July on the Jade. We have sailed DCL, and will be sailing RCCL in a few weeks. So this would be our first time on NCL.

 

I am looking at to book either a mini-suite or a balcony cabin. What are the pros/cons regarding either on these types of cabins?

 

Should I book now with the current promotion?( I am thinking to take the UBP and the pre-paid gratitudes.) Or should I wait until closer to sailing date and the PIF date for the best price?

 

Should I just book an Oceanview cabin with the hopes that I can upgrade to a nicer cabin prior to sailing? I know that we will need at least a balcony to be comfortable.

 

How does NCL handle when the price drops? How does that work? Are you able to rebook with the lower price?

 

Anything else I should know?

 

just my opinion and other may differ. First of all: the negative and Lord knows I am loyal to NCL: you are going to find the cabins on NCL much smaller than on DCL; maybe not much different on RCCL, depending on which ship. So now to answer your questions;

 

I would book the best deal now and watch throughout the year to see what happens with prices, etc. If they drop you can always get the lower price, but that doesn't mean the same promo will be available. Normally it will be the same. No, don't expect to book something less and maybe get a better cabin later. That is a huge gamble, but of course maybe you are gambler.

 

There is very little difference between the mini suite and a balcony except there is a curtain that divides the sleeping areas. There is a slight difference in the sq feet of the mini suite.

 

Good luck and remember the sooner you book, the better choice of cabins. Also remember the price could go up as you get closer to the cruise date or the perks could disappear. If you know what you want just book it. We often book a year out.

Edited September 26, 2016 by newmexicoNita

[ctnurse]

Thank you all for the great information!

 

We are US citizens living in the EU so I can book on either site, since we have an address and CC for both countries. :) I will have to check out the prices and cancelation policy for both sites.

 

We have two OV cabins booked for RC since my mother will be coming with and she is sharing a room with the children! :cool: So I am not so worried about cabin size on RCCL, but that is my main reason on choosing a balcony or mini Suite on NCL. It might be worth booking a Mini Suite just for the curtain. I loved the privacy curtain on DCL.

 

I already know not to compare NCL and RCCL to DCL. DH and I refuse to spend the ridiculous amount of money for DCL anymore.

[mjkacmom]

Since there are 4 of you, if you want a banging or mini suite, I'd book one, since there are only so many that fit 4 passengers, especially peak season.

[NLH Arizona]

My family of four, including my two children( ages 4 and 13) at the time of sailing, are looking at the 14 day Iceland cruise next July on the Jade. We have sailed DCL, and will be sailing RCCL in a few weeks. So this would be our first time on NCL.

 

I am looking at to book either a mini-suite or a balcony cabin. What are the pros/cons regarding either on these types of cabins?

 

Should I book now with the current promotion?( I am thinking to take the UBP and the pre-paid gratitudes.) Or should I wait until closer to sailing date and the PIF date for the best price?

 

Should I just book an Oceanview cabin with the hopes that I can upgrade to a nicer cabin prior to sailing? I know that we will need at least a balcony to be comfortable.

 

How does NCL handle when the price drops? How does that work? Are you able to rebook with the lower price?

 

Anything else I should know?

I believe the mini-suite is a little larger.

 

You can wait, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the prices will be lower or the promotion will be better, not to mention you might not be able to get the cabin you want.

 

If you would be satisfied with an Oceanview cabin, then you can book that and hope for an upgrade. If you would not be satisfied with an Oceanview, I'd book the category of cabin you would be satisfied with.

[Clay Clayton]

If it makes any difference to you, it would to me, I believe most mini suites have a shower/tub combination rather than a shower stall. For me, the sides of the tubs are too high to easily climb in and out of. With kids, a tub might be easier for you.

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