Exel Suites on Mardi Gras

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 hours ago, StolidCruiser said:

 

If you take a look at the deck plans, you'll see what is right above these Presidential Suites.

 

I did - but I'm holding out hope there it's not as exposed as it appears. I guess we'll know next year  🙂

 

Tom

[Bases5]

I would love to have big suite on Carnival. But let face facts.  I can’t afford it. So it’s back to steerage for me.

[gnegron22]

I tried to do a mock booking for one of these for the Northeast Cruise and could not see one avalible, so i went for a Ocean Suite. Honeslty I would take a regular balcony if it wasnt for traveling with a young child. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 hours ago, gnegron22 said:

I tried to do a mock booking for one of these for the Northeast Cruise and could not see one avalible, so i went for a Ocean Suite. Honeslty I would take a regular balcony if it wasnt for traveling with a young child. 

 

There will come a time when they're regularly available (certainly after the next ship in the class comes out). As an extreme example, Celebrity Edge has two "Iconic" suites. During the initial roll out, they were mostly all snapped up (some at $30k+ pp). Now you can book one on multiple sailings, for a mere ~$20K pp   for 7 nights :)

 

Tom

[sailing~wench]

On 4/10/2019 at 8:07 PM, jimbo5544 said:

There are some that allow 5, I have not seen the deck plans to determine how many there and the capacity for them.  

we booked one of the forward corner suites and it accommodates three - which is the main reason we got it. at first the bf, our friend and I had two different forward balconies, then decided to get an ocean suite for the same sail date for the three of us, then with all the covid stuff going on decided to push the date out a year to 2022 but werent able to get the regular Excel suite we wanted so ended up going with the forward corner. i dont understand why only 2 in some of them either when they can clearly fit more than just 2

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

38 minutes ago, sailing~wench said:

we booked one of the forward corner suites and it accommodates three - which is the main reason we got it. at first the bf, our friend and I had two different forward balconies, then decided to get an ocean suite for the same sail date for the three of us, then with all the covid stuff going on decided to push the date out a year to 2022 but werent able to get the regular Excel suite we wanted so ended up going with the forward corner. i dont understand why only 2 in some of them either when they can clearly fit more than just 2

 

Ah - a blast from the past (simpler times!).

 

On 6/18/2019 at 7:30 PM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

I did - but I'm holding out hope there it's not as exposed as it appears. I guess we'll know next year  🙂

 

Tom

 

Or not !  (to reply to myself)!

 

-----

 

Just to update, we opted for deck 15 forward corner. I like the fact that the bridge is right above, and should give us some degree of cover from sun/rain.

 

Tom

[sailing~wench]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Ah - a blast from the past (simpler times!).

 

 

Or not !  (to reply to myself)!

 

-----

 

Just to update, we opted for deck 15 forward corner. I like the fact that the bridge is right above, and should give us some degree of cover from sun/rain.

 

Tom

this is precisely why i chose deck 15 in particular for the Mardi gras - I'm less concerned about getting sun than having some sort of cover and especially not having anyone above us not be able to just look down on our balcony. Discovered that feature in the aft corner balcony on the Dream and then on the Vista specifically chose the aft balcony with no one above for the same reason. That cover is really nice I have to admit - i've been hearing that its supposedly pretty windy on the forwards - have u been in one before and if so did u find this to be true? Honestly I can't see myself being too concerned about that either - will be plenty of other places to hang out on the ship and other things to do than spend the majority of the time on the balcony

[firefly333]

How many posts have there been in the past complaining about no perks for booking suites. C.early some wanted perks. Though impossible to make everyone happy. I see someone says they dont book suites on rcl because no private pool. Lol then another saying they wished it had a separate eating area like coastal kitchen on rcl oasis class. I see a hot line to a concierge. Top suites on rcl say they come with a genie which sounds better to me than calling on the phone. 

 

I doubt there is a suite class that is perfect for every person. 

 

Maybe its just wording, but saying you have a genie sounds better than a hot line to a concierge. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by firefly333

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

34 minutes ago, sailing~wench said:

this is precisely why i chose deck 15 in particular for the Mardi gras - I'm less concerned about getting sun than having some sort of cover and especially not having anyone above us not be able to just look down on our balcony. Discovered that feature in the aft corner balcony on the Dream and then on the Vista specifically chose the aft balcony with no one above for the same reason. That cover is really nice I have to admit - i've been hearing that its supposedly pretty windy on the forwards - have u been in one before and if so did u find this to be true? Honestly I can't see myself being too concerned about that either - will be plenty of other places to hang out on the ship and other things to do than spend the majority of the time on the balcony

 

We've had a few forward cabins - Captain's Suite on some Conquest class ships and a couple Deluxe Owner's Suites on NCL (Escape twice). It really depends on the situation... wind direction,  ship heading, barriers, etc. Never any issues on Carnival due to the barriers, on NCL there were always spots on the balcony where you could avoid strong winds on sea days - but it could present challenges. 

 

We love forward corner balconies... we love aft corner balconies (esp Spirit class ships)... we love balconies!  🙂

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Just now, firefly333 said:

How many posts have there been in the past complaining about no perks for booking suites. C.early some wanted perks. Though impossible to make everyone happy. I see someone says they dont book suites on rcl because no private pool. Lol then another saying they wished it had a separate eating area like coastal kitchen on rcl oasis class. I see a hot line to a concierge. Top suites on rcl say they come with a genie which sounds better to me than calling on the phone. 

 

I doubt there is a suite class that is perfect for every person. 

 

We had a wonderful suite on the Allure, complete with genie. I'd take the suite again in an instant, the genie not so much. Of course, that was during the first few sailings where they had that position - so I'll give a nod to the learning curve. Given the premium though, you'd like to think that they'd have hit the ground running.

 

Tom

[sailing~wench]

10 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

We've had a few forward cabins - Captain's Suite on some Conquest class ships and a couple Deluxe Owner's Suites on NCL (Escape twice). It really depends on the situation... wind direction,  ship heading, barriers, etc. Never any issues on Carnival due to the barriers, on NCL there were always spots on the balcony where you could avoid strong winds on sea days - but it could present challenges. 

 

We love forward corner balconies... we love aft corner balconies (esp Spirit class ships)... we love balconies!  🙂

 

Tom

ah ok thats good to hear! I didn't imagine it would really be that much of an issue just as we had no issue with soot or excessive motion on the aft balconies we've had like I kept hearing complaints of. Either way really looking forward to the corner suite and just being able to cruise again in general!

[firefly333]

29 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

We had a wonderful suite on the Allure, complete with genie. I'd take the suite again in an instant, the genie not so much. Of course, that was during the first few sailings where they had that position - so I'll give a nod to the learning curve. Given the premium though, you'd like to think that they'd have hit the ground running.

 

Tom

Sorry to hear about your genie. I was just commenting and they way its advertised. A hotline doesnt sound as good advertising wise.

 

Of course right now some booked 3k suites and shifted and lifted to 12k suites on rcl., so maybe the price of the suites will factor into expectations. 

 

Some like ck some say menus vary from ship to ship for suite guests. 

 

I am glad to see carnival heard people who wanted some unique perks, not just perks they would get from loyalty like priority boarding. Duplicate perks no good, they needed to be unique. Bottomless bubble is guess ok, but I'd rather get free wine.

[jimbo5544]

5 hours ago, sailing~wench said:

we booked one of the forward corner suites and it accommodates three - which is the main reason we got it. at first the bf, our friend and I had two different forward balconies, then decided to get an ocean suite for the same sail date for the three of us, then with all the covid stuff going on decided to push the date out a year to 2022 but werent able to get the regular Excel suite we wanted so ended up going with the forward corner. i dont understand why only 2 in some of them either when they can clearly fit more than just 2

There must be a full moon, 2nd post in 5 minutes from more than a few months ago.  

[sailing~wench]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

There must be a full moon, 2nd post in 5 minutes from more than a few months ago.  

correct. I am just now seeing this thread since I was looking for something to do with the Mardi gras suites and this is one of the things google sent me to

[jimbo5544]

7 hours ago, sailing~wench said:

correct. I am just now seeing this thread since I was looking for something to do with the Mardi gras suites and this is one of the things google sent me to

Nothing wrong with it, just thought it was weird.  We were supposed to have one of the aft wrap excel suites for a  1/23 cruise, which obviously will not happen.  We jumped on the 2/6 which appears to be first cruise now, but could only get a regular balcony.  We also were on the initial cruise on 8/31 out of Copenhagen in a new suite and that went bye bye also. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

Nothing wrong with it, just thought it was weird.  We were supposed to have one of the aft wrap excel suites for a  1/23 cruise, which obviously will not happen.  We jumped on the 2/6 which appears to be first cruise now, but could only get a regular balcony.  We also were on the initial cruise on 8/31 out of Copenhagen in a new suite and that went bye bye also. 

 

Hang in there - (hopefully) third time will be the charm !!

 

(then there's a back up option for you, if we end up cancelling!)

 

Tom

[sailing~wench]

2 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Hang in there - (hopefully) third time will be the charm !!

 

(then there's a back up option for you, if we end up cancelling!)

 

Tom

oh no! ugh that has to be disappointing especially when u lose the cabin u were hoping to get - as i mentioned earlier when we rebooked we wanted the regular Excel suite on the side of the ship but ended up with the corner forward as the aft corners were taken(and a bit too pricey) and i cant remember if any of the other afts accommodated 3 people. just as well i suppose since it may give us a little more room - have u been in suites before and if so are they that much different than the regular cabins? On Carnival we've had 2 aft balconies and one oceanview and have to say definitely prefer the balcony - afts especially but we will see how the forward works out

[firefly333]

5 hours ago, sailing~wench said:

oh no! ugh that has to be disappointing especially when u lose the cabin u were hoping to get - as i mentioned earlier when we rebooked we wanted the regular Excel suite on the side of the ship but ended up with the corner forward as the aft corners were taken(and a bit too pricey) and i cant remember if any of the other afts accommodated 3 people. just as well i suppose since it may give us a little more room - have u been in suites before and if so are they that much different than the regular cabins? On Carnival we've had 2 aft balconies and one oceanview and have to say definitely prefer the balcony - afts especially but we will see how the forward works out

I think tom and cheryl have had a lot of suites ... and take his whole office along for the ride as memory serves me. 

 

More space and a bath tub to date. That's why many have been asking for some unique perks for suites, ones that people dont have have as loyalty perks and get anyway. Their own area and pool is a nice step in the right direction so they can compete with ncl and rcl. Nice cabins but nothing for perks. This is a good step imo toward being competitive. 

[sailing~wench]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I think tom and cheryl have had a lot of suites ... and take his whole office along for the ride as memory serves me. 

 

More space and a bath tub to date. That's why many have been asking for some unique perks for suites, ones that people dont have have as loyalty perks and get anyway. Their own area and pool is a nice step in the right direction so they can compete with ncl and rcl. Nice cabins but nothing for perks. This is a good step imo toward being competitive. 

good point with the dedicated area and pool especially since it seems like the pools they do have (at least on the Mardi gras) arent nearly as big as some on smaller ships. Might help to spread out how many people would actually be using them.

[go fish 44]

wow, I am surprized that no one even mentions the wonderful perks that MSC Yacht club offers.  It is trully a ship within a ship.

Your own restaurant, your own pool, your own barbecue, by the pool and all the free drinks you want, beer, wine and hard liquor and your mini fridge filled daily all included in your cruise price.  We have cruised on MSC in Yacht club and it puts all other cruises to shame,   For us it has been on the Seaside out of Miami and Meraviglia.

[angiem0217]

How is this different than the Havana area?


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 9/19/2020 at 5:11 PM, go fish 44 said:

wow, I am surprized that no one even mentions the wonderful perks that MSC Yacht club offers.  It is trully a ship within a ship.

Your own restaurant, your own pool, your own barbecue, by the pool and all the free drinks you want, beer, wine and hard liquor and your mini fridge filled daily all included in your cruise price.  We have cruised on MSC in Yacht club and it puts all other cruises to shame,   For us it has been on the Seaside out of Miami and Meraviglia.

For $1200 extra per person on a 7-day cruise, going from approx $500 to $1700 (Interior cabin, random date in Jan 2021), it better be a ship within a ship.  Considering Cheers would be about $400 pp extra, I guess that other $800 is what I would pay to separate myself from the hoi polloi.

 

I guess I'm just not that type.  Yikes!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We really enjoy the "ship within a ship" concept such as The Haven on NCL. Granted, there is a price to pay, but to turn down the hustle and bustle just a tad can be worth it.

Tom

[ProgRockCruiser]

50 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

We really enjoy the "ship within a ship" concept such as The Haven on NCL. Granted, there is a price to pay, but to turn down the hustle and bustle just a tad can be worth it.

Tom

OK, so this has me intrigued.

 

On every Carnival cruise we have been on, if we wanted to escape the hustle and bustle, there were always places we could go: Serenity, or one of the quieter pubs or bars, or a remote part of one of the decks, like the so-called "secret decks" at the front of the main cabin decks.  For meals there is the Steakhouse or the sushi joint (always seems quiet, though not empty).

 

Are these exclusive areas on the NCL or MSC ships a very different experience?  Is it quieter spaces with more attentive personal service and better quality food/drinks?

 

Sorry, this is going a bit off-topic, but I am truly trying to compare to what Carnival offers, including such areas as Havana as a previous poster mentioned.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

21 minutes ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

OK, so this has me intrigued.

 

On every Carnival cruise we have been on, if we wanted to escape the hustle and bustle, there were always places we could go: Serenity, or one of the quieter pubs or bars, or a remote part of one of the decks, like the so-called "secret decks" at the front of the main cabin decks.  For meals there is the Steakhouse or the sushi joint (always seems quiet, though not empty).

 

Are these exclusive areas on the NCL or MSC ships a very different experience?  Is it quieter spaces with more attentive personal service and better quality food/drinks?

 

Sorry, this is going a bit off-topic, but I am truly trying to compare to what Carnival offers, including such areas as Havana as a previous poster mentioned.

 

I can't speak to MSC, but the NCL experience is something you'd have to try for yourself. The Haven restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is approaching specialty dining - and leagues above the MDR in terms of ambiance,  level of service, food quality. I've never sat by or used the pool within the Haven, but it's definitely more a serenity deck experience. The lounge and bar is a nice place to meet and have a drink or two. The concierge there can usually assist with all sorts of reservations and other matters.

 

Darn... I'm starting to miss the experience now !!!

Tom