AD Romance Suite on the Dawn to Bermuda

[glenellen1]

Has anyone ever stayed in one of these suites? My husband and I are booked in Room 10226 and have no idea what to expect. We are first time cruisers, NCL being our first cruise. Any help would be appreciated.

[cole]

Here are some photos of an AD Romance Penthouse. It may not be your ship, but from my understand they are all basically the same no matter the ship. We have one on the Pearl in May and are looking forward to the nice size balcony.

http://www.depping-design.de/test/thumbnails.php?album=77

B. Cole

[CaribQween]

Has anyone ever stayed in one of these suites? My husband and I are booked in Room 10226 and have no idea what to expect. We are first time cruisers, NCL being our first cruise. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Let's put an end to that right now. You can expect to have a fabulous time :). We were on the February 14th sailing of the Dawn and we stayed in an AD romance suite. We were in 10728. We were also first time cruisers and I have to say that this cruise was the most fabulous time of our lives. We loved it so much. You are going to have a blast. I haven't written a review because I have so much in my head that I want to put in it that I can't figure out how to do it. I would be happy to answer any and all of your questions because I know exactly how you feel and all of the questions you probably have. We were on the Eastern Caribbean itinerary but I can answer any questions that have to do with the ship, suite perks, embarkation and disembarkation, specialty restaurants, the spa, etc. Just feel free to ask.

 

And just so you know, the NCL website shows different pictures of the AD romance suite so figuring out which is correct can be difficult. If you go to Ships, then Click on Norwegian Dawn, then Click on Experience our Staterooms, it will show a picture for the AC, AD, and AE categories. That picture is the actual AD romance suite. However, if you would have clicked where it said "Find your way around the Decks" and then gone to Deck 10 and put the cursor over your suite number, it will show a picture that says "AD", but it is not the AD suite on the Dawn.

 

I can tell you that we loved the suite and I was a little apprehensive about it beforehand. I was afraid it would feel small to me. But, it didn't, especially when you throw back the drapes and open that sliding glass door to your balcony. The balcony is a great size that had a lot of room. You will have two large padded loungers and a couple of small tables. We just loved the Aft. I don't think I'll ever want to cruise again unless it is an aft balcony. As far as the room itself, it is a good size. It didn't feel small. There is a bench at the end of the bed that we took and put under the table that the coffee/espresso machine sits on. By moving that out of the way, it really opens the room up a lot so you're not always bumping around into each other. We never needed the bench because you have the bed, plus the dining table with 4 chairs, plus the sitting room that has the loveseat and the chair with ottaman. I can tell you that we both loved the bed. It was so comfortable and the pillows were great too. The bathroom is a pretty good size compared to everything I've heard about other bathrooms. There is a closet that opens from the front hall and also from the other side which is where the dressing area is and the entrance to the bathroom. That is very convenient to be able to get into it both ways. The dressing areas has a stool, a big wall mirror, and some drawers to put everything in. It also has a blow dryer and a magnification make-up mirror. A lot of people have said that the hairdryers aren't that powerful so they bring their own. I didn't have a problem with it and I'm glad we didn't use up the space to bring ours. The two doors of the closet on the dressing room side are mirrored so you have the full length mirrors. Inside the bathroom, when you step in you're right in front of the sink and vanity, then to the left you have the toilet "water closet" that has a sliding frosted glass door and to the right you have the tub/shower with a sliding glass door. Its nice that you have the dressing area for one person to use while the other is showering or doing whatever in the bathroom. Since you're in the suite, they'll have very nice plush waffle robes for you to use which I loved so much that I bought one for $85 as a sounvenir. You also get Elemis products that I just loved. They'll give you shampoo, conditioner (which you don't get in the non-suite staterooms), and a couple of cleansing bars. Plus, you'll get bath/shower gel and body lotion. I loved the lotion so much. Take advantage of it while you can because when I got home and looked it up on the Elemis website it was $46 for a 7 ounce bottle. But as soon as you run out, they will constantly replace it so feel free to use it a lot ;). In the shower, they also have Elemis body gel and Elemis shampoo in a container on the wall. I don't know if those are the same as what you get in the bottles. But, I do know that I used that shampoo in the shower and for some reason had to use it without conditioner and I loved what it did to my hair. My hair was easier to style and felt so good. I've never had a time when I didn't need conditioner due to static and other frizzing problems. It was awesome. I never used conditioner again on the whole cruise.

 

We did a lot of research on here ahead of time and the packing lists you'll see can be very helpful. Obviously you don't need everything that is shown, but it will help you think about things that you might need that you would have never even considered on your own. Some of the things we found to be very useful was the over-the-door shoe holders with all of the pockets that you can get at Walmart for less than $10. We hooked it over the closet door on the dressing room side and put all of our toiletries and all sort of things in it so it was all very easy to find. The electrical strips that you can plug several things into are a must. There are very few plugs in the room at all. We plugged one in at the dressing table and then could plug in all of our battery chargers and cell phone chargers at night. We wished we would have brought one of those cheap $3 extension cords that you can get at Walmart too. You're not supposed to bring irons, so we took our steamer and a J hook and just hung it over the closet door and then we could just steam anything we needed so easily. It was extremely convenient. An iron would have been so inconvenient because there would have been nowhere to do your ironing on a flat surface. We also took one of those cheap collapsible laundry hampers that you can find at Walmart and just sat it in the closet to put all of our dirty clothes in.

 

We loved our butler who was Ravi. He was just awesome and took such good care of us. We also loved our room stewards too which were Donald and Zaldy. They were so great. They learned our names on the first day and everytime they saw us you got a big smile and they'd ask how your day was.

 

Remember that the mini-bar items in the little refrigerator will cost you a lot if you use them, but if you want to have the room stewards just clear it out the first day so you can use it for your own stuff, just ask your butler right off. We actually stopped at a store and picked up a case of bottled water and soda which we just slapped a couple of luggage tags on and they brought it up with our other luggage. If you drink coffee, you will love the cappuccino/espresso machine. Being in a suite, you get the perk of breakfast/lunch at Cagney's. We thought we would use that everyday, but then we ordered breakfast from room service on the first day and loved it so much that we did that every single day of the cruise. You just take a breakfast card which is in the blue binder on the table and fill in whatever you want. Then hang the card on your door knob before 4:00 a.m. with the specified time you want it and your butler will bring it up at that time. Suites can order anything they want not just from the regular room service menu. Everyone always says that the Cagney's breakfast is so great and recommends both the crabcakes benedict and the french toast. We ordered the french toast and it was the best french toast we ever had. We ordered bacon, sausage, fresh fruit, milk, anything you want, just write it in. We loved eating looking out over the ocean. We either sat at the table eating with the sliding door open or just took it out to the balcony and ate out there.

 

We loved the specialty restaurants. The very first day we asked the butler to bring us menus from all of the specialty restaurants which he just left with us as long as we wanted them. That way we could have them to look at to decide where we wanted to eat every night. The specialty restaurants' menus don't change each day. However, the main dining rooms do change every day (even though both main dining rooms will have the same menu). Therefore while we were out everyday, we would just stop by one of the main dining rooms to look at their menus which are posted outside. We ate at Aqua one night but mostly ate at the specialty restaurants the other nights. We ate at Le Bistro, Cagney's, Salsa and Impressions. We loved them all but we ate at Le Bistro a second time on our last night because it was just so intimate and romantic. We never did have a chance to eat at Bamboo or the Teppanyaki grill.

 

Okay, I could go on forever. I get so excited just thinking about it all again. Like I said, feel free to ask anything. You're going to love it and I'm jealous just thinking about you going. When is your trip anway?

[watchdiva]

We stayed in 10226 during our June '08 Dawn to Bermuda cruise and loved it so much that when we returned home I immediately booked two more cruises in AD suites. CaribQween has given you a great overview of the suite layout and also some great tips. We had a picnic one evening in our suite, with filet mignon and escargots from LeBistro, rack of lamb from the Venetian, lobster tacos from the texmex restaurant and double-chocolate brownies for dessert. We had a blast watching DVD's and eating to our hearts content dressed in jammies - there's something SO decadent about wearing your jammies and eating a double order of escargot from LeBistro:D.

 

Make time to relax on the balcony at night while the ship is underway - the stars seem to stretch into infinity and the moonlight on the water will take your breath away.............

[glenellen1]

You guys are the best. Thank you SO much for all your information and pictures (Michele - you rock - I never expected such a response!). But one more question - I thought you could not bring your own soda on board?

[watchdiva]

We always bring our own Pepsi on board (NCL ships are "Coke" ships) and we don't drink Coke. We usually bring on two 12 packs and if we run out we pick-up more at one of our port stops. Never had a problem at all.......

[glenellen1]

My husband just read your review and he is overwhelmed and very grateful for your detailed information. Thanks for the info on soda. My husband is a mild diabetic and can only drink diet beverages - his tastes lean towards diet sprite and diet tonic water.

 

Also, I was told that we could bring a case of wine on board, as well. Do you find that to be true? I know their is a corkage fee, but I am not wanting to bring the wine to restaurants, just to leave in our room. Since I am told bringing liquor on board is a real no-no we already ordered a bar set-up though a wonderful person named Yulexi in Catering, who was very helpful.

 

Again, thank you so much for your help. Truly appreciate it!

[CaribKng]

You guys are the best. Thank you SO much for all your information and pictures (Michele - you rock - I never expected such a response!). But one more question - I thought you could not bring your own soda on board?

 

For the soda and water, we just stopped by a Winn Dixie in Miami, and put the luggage tags on it that we received in the mail from NCL and dropped it off with our luggage. We didn't have to carry it to the room and they dropped it off and we had it for the duration it was great. I would tell you a little about the room, but I think my wife did it so well I can't add anything to it :D. I'm actually a little jealous....we loved our cruise so much and we are very anxious to go again. Hopefully you will get the same butler we did. Ravi is the best and everyone on cruise critic that has had him in the past rave about him.

[cpcanuck]

We had a picnic one evening in our suite, with filet mignon and escargots from LeBistro, rack of lamb from the Venetian, lobster tacos from the texmex restaurant and double-chocolate brownies for dessert. We had a blast watching DVD's and eating to our hearts content dressed in jammies - there's something SO decadent about wearing your jammies and eating a double order of escargot from LeBistro:D.

 

Okay, now I am curious watchdiva! When you order from various speciality restaurants for one meal in your suite - how do they charge you? Do you get charged the surcharge for each of the speciality restaurants that you ordered from? Or was there a flat fee of some kind?

 

cpcanuck

[CaribQween]

You guys are the best. Thank you SO much for all your information and pictures (Michele - you rock - I never expected such a response!). But one more question - I thought you could not bring your own soda on board?

 

You are very welcome. Like I said yesterday, I'm just all excited thinking through everything again. We both loved it so much. Some things seem like a blur now because it all went by so fast. We had done tons and tons of research ahead of time and I probably spent 8 months or more on here trying to learn everything I could. When the time started coming near for us to sail, we were so darn giddy we couldn't stand it. And I now really understand why all of the people on cruise critic are so willing to share info. It's like you realize that you enjoy cruising so much and you want others to have that same experience also. And you never told us when you're cruise is :).

 

As for the soda and water, it is a written rule that you can not bring it, but it is an unwritten rule that you can and everbody does it. Now, the wine and liquor is a different story. If you bring the wine or liquor, you are supposed to declare it to NCL and pay the fee, and then there is no problem. However, if you try to smuggle it in and they catch you, they will confiscate it and call you down to the "naughty room". They would end up holding it until the end of the cruise and then would give it back to you then. As for the wine, the corkage fee is applicable whether you plan on drinking it in your stateroom or taking it to the restaurant. I absolutely don't encourage breaking rules, but I know a lot of people do smuggle it in their regular luggage and get away with it. If you do that, don't make the mistake of taking it with you to a restaurant because from what I've heard, they will check it closely there.

 

Like I said, if you have any questions about anything, just feel free to ask us. We're more than happy to answer anything and everything for you. And, one bit of advice that I think is very important, is that you know exactly what all of the suite perks are before the cruise so you know if you're not getting what you're entitiled to. I've read on here over and over where people didn't realize they weren't getting something until after the cruise when they are on here. And, you are paying for a suite, therefore, you need to take advantage of all of the suite perks and not be afraid to do so. Some of the perks are just nice to make you feel pampered like the fruit bowl that your butler will replenish every day and the complimentary bottle of sparkling wine in your room at embarkation and an afternoon snack plate that your butler will leave for you. However, there are other perks that are really beneficial such as the priority embarkation (which will be automatic when you begin the cruise), and the priority tendering and disembarkation also. There is no need to stand in the lines when you can have them escort you out. Also, take advantage of the use of the concierge and the butler. We didn't use the concierge much, but they will make all of your restaurant reservations for you, give you access to the VIP section at shows, help with shore excursions, etc. If you're interested in going to the Chocolate buffet right at the beginning and taking pictures before everybody rips into it, they will meet you ahead of time and take you down. The butler will help you with anything you need in your room. If you don't know who to ask about something, ask him/her and they will help you out. When I wanted to buy the robe, I called the spa because they had them on show down there. They told me I had to get it through housekeeping. So we called them, and they called the butler and he brought it to us and it was just put on our onboard account. So if you don't know, ask the butler. Like I said before, we had Ravi and we loved him. You have to be determined on this cruise that you are going to pamper yourselves and be pampered and enjoy yourselves to the fullest. You'll understand when you're standing out on your balcony in your big plush robe, with a glass of sparkling wine in one hand and a chocolate covered strawberry in the other and you're just enjoying the peacefulness of the wake of the ship and watching the sun set over the ocean. It's absolutely fantastic and you won't believe you're doing it :cool:.

[glenellen1]

First and foremost, thank you all SO much for your information.

 

We are sailing out of NYC on June 21st on the Dawn.

 

After hearing from all of you, we are crazy excited!

[CaribQween]

First and foremost, thank you all SO much for your information.

 

We are sailing out of NYC on June 21st on the Dawn.

 

After hearing from all of you, we are crazy excited!

 

One more piece of advice that I would give to anyone is to join the roll call for your specific cruise, if you already haven't done so. You can gain a HUGE amount of information specific to your cruise. You'll find a large variety of experienced cruisers with a lot of great advice. And, usually, someone will set up a Meet & Greet to be held near the beginning of your cruise where everyone can get together for some refreshments and you can meet some of the fellow cruisers that you may have been talking to for several months in the roll call. Also generally some of the officiers and crew members of the ship will come and talk a little bit about NCL, the ship, the cruise itself, and then they'll hold a short question and answer period. During our M&G, the captain, the hotel director, the head chef, and the cruise director plus a couple more showed up.

 

Also, I have attached a few picures of our AD romance suite just to give you an idea of what they look like on the Dawn.

[watchdiva]

Okay, now I am curious watchdiva! When you order from various speciality restaurants for one meal in your suite - how do they charge you? Do you get charged the surcharge for each of the speciality restaurants that you ordered from? Or was there a flat fee of some kind?

 

cpcanuck

 

Venetian is one of the MDRs and their Rack of Lamb was outstanding; the lobster tacos were from the texmex place and no, we weren't charged (but would gladly have paid they are that good:D:D); we were charged the $15/pp for DH's filet from LeBistro and nothing extra for my escargots; the brownies were probably from the buffet but early in the cruise I got hooked on them and our butler made sure that every afternoon when he brought our mid-afternoon munchies that brownies were included. On the first day of the cruise we requested that a small plate of sandwiches, etc be delivered every afternoon around 3 PM or so - our butler made sure that every day it was something different (he asked what types of food we enjoyed and said if we would trust him to choose for us, we wouldn't be sorry and boy was he right).

 

We leave for the Pearl in 35 days in another suite and we are counting the days........

[flacity49]

Michelle,

 

My husband and I are booked in this suite for our November cruise. Thanks for the pictures. I know this is a sticky subject with a lot of people, but we are not sure how much is an appropriate tip for the butler and other staff. Any info you can provide will be helpful. By the way, we live in Miami and went to the port today (we have a Harley) to take some pictures of the Dawn and other ships. Wanted to get on and go.

[glenellen1]

Michele,

 

Thank you so much for the pictures! Totally appreciated!

 

Gail

[CaribQween]

Michelle,

 

My husband and I are booked in this suite for our November cruise. Thanks for the pictures. I know this is a sticky subject with a lot of people, but we are not sure how much is an appropriate tip for the butler and other staff. Any info you can provide will be helpful. By the way, we live in Miami and went to the port today (we have a Harley) to take some pictures of the Dawn and other ships. Wanted to get on and go.

 

You'll love that suite. You all make me so jealous because I loved our cruise so much and I want to go back. I knew beforehand that we would love everything about the cruise, but I just never realized the extent of how much I would love it. I just couldn't believe the feeling I got when I was standing out on the balcony looking at the ocean stretching out endlessly. It was such a feeling of peacefulness.

 

Ok, now on to the sticky subject of how much to tip the butler, concierge and other crew members, which is definitely a tough one. Everybody has a different idea of what is right. I've seen in a lot of threads on the subject and there is a really wide variety of opinions out there. Some people have a whole system for calculating how much to give and some people just always give a flat amount. I certainly wouldn't want to give you a dollar amount because I think every situation is different. But, I can tell you some of the things we thought about when we were trying to decide how much to give each person. And remember, this was our very first cruise on any cruiseline, so we didn't have any experience and we didn't have anything to compare the service we got against.

 

As I wrote in another thread, I think once you're in the situation, you'll just be able to feel what is right. One of the most important things to consider/remember, is that the butler and concierge are not part of the tipping pool that your $12 per person per day service charge goes to pay for. I believe the reason for that is because only a certain group of passengers will get any benefit or much benefit from their services. Obviously, if you're not in a suite, you won't get butler service. However, the room stewards, wait staff in restaurants, etc. do serve everyone therefore they are all part of the tipping pool. Now, that doesn't mean that if you get great service that you believe is up and above what is normally required that you shouldn't give them something extra. It just means you don't have to do it. Also, remember that when you order drinks (including sodas or water) there is an automatic 18% gratuity already added on to your bill. And, if you get spa treatments, there is also an 18% gratuity already added on which goes towards the tip. I think in some cases, people forget that a gratuity is already added into the bill.

 

Another thing for people to consider is when deciding on the butlers tip, is how many people were in the suite. In your case, you are in a suite for only 2 people. However, some of the larger suites hold 4 and the villas hold quite a few. So people should consider how many people the butler is taking care of in their suite. Also, if you have cocktail parties or dinner parties where the butler will be serving a large group, then you would want to tip accordingly for those services. We didn't use the butler for anything out of the ordinary, however, we found the butler to just be really personable and attentive and he really did a lot of little special things to make our cruise really nice. Therefore, we tipped him accordingly to say thank you for all he did. We also found that our 2 room stewards were really great and they were also very attentive and personable and we felt they deserved tips up and above what they would get through the tipping pool system. We just felt that all three of them really contributed to making our cruise vacation the very best it could be. And we also realized how many hours these people worked. We would see them when we first got up in the morning and they would still be working hard late at night. We heard that they work 6-7 days a week and at least 15 hours per day, but it really seemed like even more than that. They all learned our names on the very first day and every time they saw us they would call us by our names and ask how we were doing and if there was anything they could do for us. It just made everything seem that much nicer to see their bright, cheery smiles all throughout the cruise and to see how hard they were working constantly. We sort of looked at it like we had paid quite a bit to have that suite and therefore we shouldn't skimp on the tips for those people that did an awful lot to make sure our vacation was fabulous, no matter how good or bad their day was going. We really felt appreciative of how hard they worked to make sure we enjoyed ourselves and without them, I can honestly say we wouldn't have had nearly the great time that we did.

 

I know that this really probably didn't get you any closer to knowing how much to tip each person. There was recently a thread that was all about tipping for the butler. You could probably put "tipping" or "tipping butler" into the search and find many different threads concerning this. Like I said before, you'll actually see that some people give their actual method for calculating tips right down to the dollar amount they attribute to each specific kind of service. That might help you a little more. Good luck. I'm sure you'll know what is right when the time comes.

[flacity49]

Thanks Michele. This is our 4th cruise. We were upgraded at the dock on our 1st cruise to a penthouse on Princess. We were not upsold and did not have any idea what extra to tip. We gave him $75.00, as we were told that he was part of the tip pool on Princess. However, everything I read about NCL says they are not part of the pool. Do not want to offend anyone, however, I will take into consideration how much service they do supply before I leave anything. Thank again.

[McDebbie]

Thanks so much for the pictures of the AD suite and all the information. We got upgraded (for a price) to the Owners Suite on the Sky and now can't ever imagine going back to just a balcony. :D DH says I am now a suite snob. One thing we really liked was breakfast and lunch in Cagneys. We will be in an AD on the Pearl for our Alaska cruise in August, one thing I have not seen mentioned is if the balcony actually wraps around some to the side. The deck pictures make it appear so but I have not heard first hand accounts or seen pictures.

 

Thanks for all the info, now I am getting so excited to be in that robe on the balcony!

[watchdiva]

We'll be on the Pearl next month and have an AD and I'll post pix when I return. I understand your question about the wrap balcony but to the best of my knowledge neither end suite balcony wraps around to the side.

 

The AD balconies are very large though - friends on our last Pearl cruise had an AD and there was more than enough room for 2 full-sized loungers and small table with a little room to spare.

 

The views from the AD suites cannot be beat and DH and I are counting down the days..........

[CaribQween]

Thanks so much for the pictures of the AD suite and all the information. We got upgraded (for a price) to the Owners Suite on the Sky and now can't ever imagine going back to just a balcony. :D DH says I am now a suite snob. One thing we really liked was breakfast and lunch in Cagneys. We will be in an AD on the Pearl for our Alaska cruise in August, one thing I have not seen mentioned is if the balcony actually wraps around some to the side. The deck pictures make it appear so but I have not heard first hand accounts or seen pictures.

 

Thanks for all the info, now I am getting so excited to be in that robe on the balcony!

 

I'm so jealous. When we came back from our cruise, I felt such a let down because it was all over. We had researched and planned for so long and then once the cruise got here, it just zipped by so fast. We've realized the best thing to do is to start planning our next cruise :D.

 

Alaska in an AD would be heaven. We're trying to decide if we want our next cruise to be to Alaska or if we want to do a Southern or Western Caribbean cruise first and then do the Alaska cruise. Once our Eastern Caribbean cruise was all planned, I actually started researching for Alaska. I was actually getting to a point where I wished we had scheduled the Alaska cruise as our first cruise because I wanted to do it so bad. However, once we were actually on our cruise, I just loved it so much and now I think we're leaning towards doing the Caribbean again. Tough decisions here.

 

As for the wrap around balcony, from what I've seen and read, some of the ships actually do have the wrap around if you're on the end. We had actually wondered if the Dawn did because you could see the balcony wrapping around in pictures but it turned out that there was actually a divider there with a door that they didn't open. I just looked at a picture of the Pearl's aft and it's not even open there. Once you get to the end of the last balcony, then it is enclosed as you curve around to the side of the ship. Try www.webshots.com for pictures and just put in NCL Pearl Pictures. One of the aft will come up. And, don't worry, you'll love it anyway.