Family Suite, No Balcony on Dawn

Looking for information about the perks of staying a Family suite on Deck 12. We usually cruise RC and love their suite benifits, The Norweigen website is very vague about which suites get which perks. Any info would be much appreciated!!:rolleyes:

Looking for information about the perks of staying a Family suite on Deck 12. We usually cruise RC and love their suite benifits, The Norweigen website is very vague about which suites get which perks. Any info would be much appreciated!!:rolleyes:

On the Dawn you get all the suite perks except free liquor and soda that is reserved for the OS and GV. Butler & Concierge services ( additional tips expected over Daily Service Charge they are not in the pool) exclusive breakfast and lunch at Cagney's , VIP cocktail party, priority embarkation, upgraded toiletries and bedding.............

On the Dawn you get all the suite perks except free liquor and soda that is reserved for the OS and GV. Butler & Concierge services ( additional tips expected over Daily Service Charge they are not in the pool) exclusive breakfast and lunch at Cagney's , VIP cocktail party, priority embarkation, upgraded toiletries and bedding.............

........snacks delivered to your suite each afternoon by your butler, iced bottle of sparkling wine, and sparkling water in your suite upon embarkation, priority (balcony) seating for all Stardust Theater shows, linens changed daily.......

The only suites not eligible for suite perks are "mini-suites".

........snacks delivered to your suite each afternoon by your butler, iced bottle of sparkling wine, and sparkling water in your suite upon embarkation, priority (balcony) seating for all Stardust Theater shows, linens changed daily.......

 

The only suites not eligible for suite perks are "mini-suites".

Well priority seating in Stardust on the Dawn was only the OS and GV :(

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

We just returned from the Dawn trip to Bermuda, Family Suite, no balcony, Room #12018. LOVED it. The room was nicely sized for our family of 5----it never felt crowded unless we forgot to put shoes away and tripped on them. . .The Murphy bed was great for two of my kids and the room steward would close it up each day to give us that space back. The sofa bed didn't strike me as super comfy but my 10 yo loved it. That wasn't folded up every day but it didn't get in our way as it was against the glass windows. Our bed was wonderful and there is a folding "wall" on one side and a curtain on another, so you can kind of close off the main bed from the rest of the room. The bathroom was great---double sinks, stand-alone shower and full tub. Lots of storage. Walk-in closet area outside of bathroom. I loved being on Floor 12---right down the hall from the pool and not far from Cagney's where suite guests can eat breakfast and lunch. Our Butler brought us treats every day and the little suite perks really make you feel special. We joke that we've ruined our kids for "real cruising" now that they've had priority treatment for embarkation and seating at shows. Hope this helps!

Cruising out of Boston in September!!:D

This is great to hear. This is our first time on NCL and we have 12016 (Family Suite, no balcony) on the Dawn - August 23 sailing. We have done Junior Suites on RCI but like Mini-Suites they don't get the full perks. I am glad to hear you did not feel the room crowded. We are 4 so each kid gets their own bed. I am looking forward to the Priority Embarkation, which you get with Junior Suites on RCI and made it worth it the last couple of times. I appreciate the information on these cabins.

Well priority seating in Stardust on the Dawn was only the OS and GV :(

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

On both of our cruises in SJ suites, including 2 weeks ago, we had priority seating in stardust. The OS & GV passengers wouldn't come close to filling up that balcony area.

On our NORWEGIAN DAWN cruise to Canada in October, we were invited to priority seating in the theater (left side balcony entering the theater) the concierge was there every night to welcome us. We were in a SJ suite.

Great size suite, never sailed without a balcony, did not miss, on Spirit.

Bunbun,

Go to YouTube and look up your suite if you want to really get a sense of what it looks like. The pictures on the website are not always reflective of what you are getting. Many people wander around taking very clear videos and then post them so you can start getting excited by actually seeing what you are getting! We are in 12000 in October and can't wait!:) margretha

We just returned from the Dawn trip to Bermuda, Family Suite, no balcony, Room #12018. LOVED it. The room was nicely sized for our family of 5----it never felt crowded unless we forgot to put shoes away and tripped on them. . .The Murphy bed was great for two of my kids and the room steward would close it up each day to give us that space back. The sofa bed didn't strike me as super comfy but my 10 yo loved it. That wasn't folded up every day but it didn't get in our way as it was against the glass windows. Our bed was wonderful and there is a folding "wall" on one side and a curtain on another, so you can kind of close off the main bed from the rest of the room. The bathroom was great---double sinks, stand-alone shower and full tub. Lots of storage. Walk-in closet area outside of bathroom. I loved being on Floor 12---right down the hall from the pool and not far from Cagney's where suite guests can eat breakfast and lunch. Our Butler brought us treats every day and the little suite perks really make you feel special. We joke that we've ruined our kids for "real cruising" now that they've had priority treatment for embarkation and seating at shows. Hope this helps!

Sounds awesome! I am looking at booking same for next Aug. Getting more excited about that than my balcony in 3 weeks. Lol. Which side has the better view? Did you face water or Bermuda?

Bunbun,

Go to YouTube and look up your suite if you want to really get a sense of what it looks like. The pictures on the website are not always reflective of what you are getting. Many people wander around taking very clear videos and then post them so you can start getting excited by actually seeing what you are getting! We are in 12000 in October and can't wait!:) margretha

Concur, there are a couple of youtube vids out there on Cat SJ Family Suites. We were in one on the Star for Alaska in 2011 and fell in love w/ NCL's Suite life! Glacier Bay from the cozy comfort of your suite's couch w/ floor-to-ceiling windows w/ a martini is the way to go!

We are now booked in 12508 on the Dawn for Bermuda in July. We picked that one for best chance not to be under the deck chairs above on 13 and hopefully to be facing the island when we dock, but it just depends on which way the ship pulls in.

The room itself is an awesome value for our party of 5...much less than booking 2 rooms. Plus we had b'fast from the Cagney's Suite Guests menu delivered to our room on the Star every morning vs going to the restaurant--we tipped our Butler ahead of time and wrote down what we wanted, and picked a 9am delivery (after peak for him since he works 10 rooms, I believe).

Concur, there are a couple of youtube vids out there on Cat SJ Family Suites. We were in one on the Star for Alaska in 2011 and fell in love w/ NCL's Suite life! Glacier Bay from the cozy comfort of your suite's couch w/ floor-to-ceiling windows w/ a martini is the way to go!

 

We are now booked in 12508 on the Dawn for Bermuda in July. We picked that one for best chance not to be under the deck chairs above on 13 and hopefully to be facing the island when we dock, but it just depends on which way the ship pulls in.

 

The room itself is an awesome value for our party of 5...much less than booking 2 rooms. Plus we had b'fast from the Cagney's Suite Guests menu delivered to our room on the Star every morning vs going to the restaurant--we tipped our Butler ahead of time and wrote down what we wanted, and picked a 9am delivery (after peak for him since he works 10 rooms, I believe).

We are also booked for 12508 but have to wait until February for our first cruise ever............still thinking we may upgrade to a suite with a balcony.

Well priority seating in Stardust on the Dawn was only the OS and GV :(

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

The priority seats were pretty terrible in my opinion anyhow.....

I would rather endevour to get here a few minutes early and sit on the mai level, not off to the side in the air:)

Stayed in one on the Star and it was great. Wish they put more rooms like this on ships.

Best benefit was breakfast at Cagney's. Nice way to start the day.

The priority seats were pretty terrible in my opinion anyhow.....

 

I would rather endevour to get here a few minutes early and sit on the mai level, not off to the side in the air:)

I agree. After our first experience on that balcony, looking through a pane of tinted glass to see some of the stage, we opted for seats down below for the remainder of the shows. The curved sofa seating on the balconies makes no sense when those at the back end of the curve are facing the back of the theater.

If you book your suite early on, then you'll get the $300 OBC's applied to your room. This makes your suite even more attractive and can make purchasing a suite (with multiple people) almost the same as an inside cabin! We have booked 5 young adults in an SJ for September and after dividing the overall costs, we are sailing VIP for about $834 total costs pp, when deducting the OBC's.

Currently, an inside cabin with taxes is running about $810pp! So for the price of a pizza, we each get a weeks worth of Cagney's for breakfast/lunch, special invitations to the Bridge, Captain's reception, early viewing of the Chocolate Extravaganza, priority boarding/disembarkation, flowers in the room, DVD library, unlimited soda in our mini fridge, champagne etc....

We booked a 2bedroom family suite a couple years ago to Alaska and had 6pp in that room. (it had 2 bathrooms) and loved it. However, the back room is probably better for kids than adults. We were spoiled by the suite life!

For this September cruise.....we actually booked BOTH the Deluxe DOS (SA) and the (SJ) family suite/no balcony. Us older women 50 & up are in the DOS and the younger ladies 30 & below will be in the family suite! Neither rooms have a balcony....(which I would prefer), but the view and the perks are a compelling tradeoff!

FYI: when we 1st booked our Alaska cruise in 2011, we had 2 adjoining balconies with 3pp in each cabin. Closer to the cruise, and sometime after final payment the unsold suites had a price drop. Trading in the 2 balconies for the 2-bedroom suite was almost a lateral swap (as it's price lowered) so it was a no-brainer to upsell ourselves. Sometimes the difference between traveling coach and traveling 1st class is only a matter of thinking outside the box!

-diane

We have booked 5 young adults in an SJ for September and after dividing the overall costs, we are sailing VIP for about $834 total costs pp, when deducting the OBC's.

Currently, an inside cabin with taxes is running about $810pp! So for the price of a pizza, we each get a weeks worth of Cagney's for breakfast/lunch, special invitations to the Bridge, Captain's reception, early viewing of the Chocolate Extravaganza, priority boarding/disembarkation, flowers in the room, DVD library, unlimited soda in our mini fridge, champagne etc....

....

For this September cruise.....we actually booked BOTH the Deluxe DOS (SA) and the (SJ) family suite/no balcony. Us older women 50 & up are in the DOS and the younger ladies 30 & below will be in the family suite!

Just to clarify to others "not in the know" ;) -- Unlimited soda and the bottle of champagne are perks exclusive to DOS (SA) and GV (S1), they are not available to Family suites (SJ). Lower suites get a free bottle of cheap sparkling wine but every soda taken from mini-fridge in a SJ suite will be billed to the onboard account.

From some of the posts over the years the balcony reserved seating scenario seems to depend on ship and/or concierge. The last time I was on the Dawn, the reserved seating marked with bronze placards and signs on both sides were reserved for GV, DOS, and OS (same on the Star).

However, I asked Virginia on the Dawn since she had an area reserved in the balcony for all suite guests on the port side - basically one lane/aisle that was behind the traditional reserved seating. She said that is what she normally does. On the trip prior on the Star, Patrick didn't do this and kept it to the GV/DOS/OS only in the two sections on each side in the balcony.

Also, since the Star and Dawn added the DOS, it is very possible to fill up the placarded reserved seating with GV/DOS/OS passengers based on maximum occupancy of those rooms (I did the math one time and how many seats were there and it left like 1 or 2 empty seats IIRC).

And on embarkation day, you have a special check-in line, and will be personally escorted to your suite. Or, it they are not ready, to Cagneys for lunch.

On the Star last December, they have a "Pillow Menu". If that isn't pampering, but it works on us.

Enjoy!!!!! :)

We made reservation yesterday for 2014 cruise in Dawn SJ class. Just wondering if OP made res. through NCL or not? My PCC would only give me $150.00 even though the NCL website clearly states that all suites receive $300.00.

We made reservation yesterday for 2014 cruise in Dawn SJ class. Just wondering if OP made res. through NCL or not? My PCC would only give me $150.00 even though the NCL website clearly states that all suites receive $300.00.

If you are more than 9 months out have them use discount code "SUITEOBC" and you will get the $300. Not sure if its combinable with the dash sale but you should get at least the $300

If you are more than 9 months out have them use discount code "SUITEOBC" and you will get the $300. Not sure if its combinable with the dash sale but you should get at least the $300

Yes it is. We have DASHSALE, WAVE13 and SUITEOBC for our upcoming 2014 repo cruise in one of Dawn's SJ suites. :)

We made reservation yesterday for 2014 cruise in Dawn SJ class. Just wondering if OP made res. through NCL or not? My PCC would only give me $150.00 even though the NCL website clearly states that all suites receive $300.00.

You should receive $300 OBC. Call your PCC back.