Jade Aft Suite Deck 9 or 10

Well it hasn't taken long to post another question. We were booked today in a corner aft suite (port deck 9) at the suggestion of the NCL cruise consultant. There was mention of a 'wrap around' deck which sounded great. Doing some research here I believe what I learned (I am still not comfortable with how the NCL ships match up) was that the corner suite balconies do not wrap around but are 'sided' and that the deck 10 balconies are larger and therefore more desirable. It looked as though a deck ten aft suite (not corner) was available and I sent an e-mail to initiate a change. Just would really appreciate some confirmation that my conclusions were correct and that the deck ten would be the way to go.

If the 'wrap around' balcony comment is not accurate it will hardly be the first time I received some incorrect info and also I would have appreciated a heads up from the agent on the larger deck 10 balcony.

Anyway thanks a ton for any definitive information.

I can only tell you for certain that the Deck 10 AFT balconies on the Jewel ARE much deeper than Decks 8 or 9.

:)

Yes Deck 10 suites are larger than decks 8 and 9 because of the balcony The rooms are the same size. The two end suites have smaller balconys (about 20 sq ft - I lost the e-mail from my TA) than the middle ones - I asked my TA to look into this as we had a corner suite and moved into a middle. As for "wrap around" I don't think so - the ends of the balcony are covered. Perhaps you could stick your head around and look down the side of the ship.:D

This is a photo of the aft of the Jade; as you can see, the "corner" aft balconies do not wrap. (For orientation purposes: the woman in the middle of the pic is standing on the balcony of 10668)

The balconies on Deck 10 ARE deeper; here's the balcony of Suite 10666

Here's a view of the Jade from the port side also showing that the "corner" aft balconies do not wrap:

I think you made a great decision to switch to a suite on Deck 10; have a great trip!

(photos by turtles06)

Wow,

Thanks everyone especially Turtles 06. Can't ask for more info than that, pictures and all. It puts the cruiselines 'agents' to shame and shows off waht a tremendous tool these forums are. Now Turtles 06 can you tell me what the wattage of the reading lamps are near the bed and the full contents of the mini bar (just kidding of course but you probably have a pretty good idea).

Just booked the last Deck 10 suite- agent confirmed that balcony was about 35 sq. ft. larger. When I asked about the "wrap around" balcony on the corner suites she had mentioned she said that some ships had it but wasn't sure about the Jade since she had not been on it. Clearly it appears that few if any ships have a wrap around balcony (it is a neat idea). I don't mean to be unfair but as nice and hard working as many of the cruise agents seem to be, you would think that they would know the details of the ships or at least have ready sources of information at their disposal. Sounds like they get the same deckplan as we find online and that is as far as it goes.

Thanks again for the information.

Just booked the last Deck 10 suite- agent confirmed that balcony was about 35 sq. ft. larger. When I asked about the "wrap around" balcony on the corner suites she had mentioned she said that some ships had it but wasn't sure about the Jade since she had not been on it. Clearly it appears that few if any ships have a wrap around balcony (it is a neat idea). I don't mean to be unfair but as nice and hard working as many of the cruise agents seem to be, you would think that they would know the details of the ships or at least have ready sources of information at their disposal. Sounds like they get the same deckplan as we find online and that is as far as it goes.

 

Thanks again for the information.

The Norwegian Star is the only ship that has true (90 degrees) wrap around aft balconys only on decks 8 & 9. Other ships may have a balcony that affords a slight view to the side but they do not wrap completly around.

The aft balconys on the Jewel class ships (Jewel, Jade, Gem & Pearl) on deck 10 are indeed the largest.

I remember on the Sky that the corner aft penthouses sorta wrapped around to the point where you could stick you head out and see forward a bit at least on deck 10.

Just booked the last Deck 10 suite- agent confirmed that balcony was about 35 sq. ft. larger. When I asked about the "wrap around" balcony on the corner suites she had mentioned she said that some ships had it but wasn't sure about the Jade since she had not been on it. Clearly it appears that few if any ships have a wrap around balcony (it is a neat idea). I don't mean to be unfair but as nice and hard working as many of the cruise agents seem to be, you would think that they would know the details of the ships or at least have ready sources of information at their disposal. Sounds like they get the same deckplan as we find online and that is as far as it goes.

 

Thanks again for the information.

Glad you found the photos helpful.:)

As for NCL's phone reps, unfortunately, they are limited by the limited info that NCL gives them, it's not their fault. (Some of them are actually in Phoenix and may never even have seen these ships! :eek:)

Case in point: a couple of years ago, we were booking a balcony cabin pretty far forward on the Jewel. Had it not been for CC, I would never even have known that if you go too far forward on the Jewel (and her sister ships), the balconies are partially enclosed. This info is NOT available anywhere on NCL's deck plans.

We did NOT want such a balcony, and so I asked my PCC to confirm that the cabin in which we were interested was a regular balcony, not an enclosed one. He was "pretty sure" we were okay, but he told me that he and his colleagues had no info from which they could actually tell or confirm this. He then emailed the ship and had someone on board go up to the cabin and check!!! How pathetic that he had to resort to that (though of course I was happy with his effort on my behalf). The fault is NCL's, not the reps.

I don't know what I'd do without Cruise Critic!

Enjoy your deck 10 suite. I'll leave you with one more photo; this is the interior of Jade 10666:

(photo by turtles06)

Question about 10666 on the Jade. I had 10666 on the Gem and the balcony and chairs were wet every morning (it never rained, so I don't know why they were so wet), making it useless for a long time. Does 10666 on Jade have the same issue?

Question about 10666 on the Jade. I had 10666 on the Gem and the balcony and chairs were wet every morning (it never rained, so I don't know why they were so wet), making it useless for a long time. Does 10666 on Jade have the same issue?

The reason your balcony was wet every morning is because sometime between 2 and 4 am, they must hose down the Garden Cafe.

We were on the Jewel's deck 10 Aft Balcony twice and both times, we had to remember to keep everything under the "covered" portion of the balcony at night to keep the lounge chairs from getting wet.

We were looking forward to staying in the Star's aft balcony because it does not have an outdoor cafe above the aft balconies, but opted to change to a forward suite instead. :D

I am sure all the Jewel Class ships must have this same problem.

The noise from the water hitting the balcony woke me up several times, that is how I assumed that they were hosing down the Outdoor

Cafe because it was obviously NOT raining.

Decks 8, 9 or 11 are not bothered by this, only deck 10 because it sticks out much farther than deck 11. On the other hand, it is nice to have a balcony that is at least 3 feet deeper than the other decks.

:)

I just booked on the Jade and was guided to the 9th floor as well. My TA said the 10th floor might have issues because of the buffet located above and that 9 might suit me better.

But... now I'm wondering if I should switch to the 10th floor to get the bigger deck (so it can hold lounge chairs). So other than the hose down waking you up and making everything wet if you leave it out, are there any other cons that I should be aware of?

I just booked on the Jade and was guided to the 9th floor as well. My TA said the 10th floor might have issues because of the buffet located above and that 9 might suit me better.

 

But... now I'm wondering if I should switch to the 10th floor to get the bigger deck (so it can hold lounge chairs). So other than the hose down waking you up and making everything wet if you leave it out, are there any other cons that I should be aware of?

As noted above, we were on Deck 10 on the Jade. I don't remember any significant "hosing down" or other problems with the balcony, nothing that woke us up, and certainly not anything that would justify giving up the much deeper balcony for a smaller one on Deck 9. The buffet is not over Deck 10, but over Deck 11. (In fairness, I will add that we were in the Med during the winter, so the Great Outdoors wasn't used much, but again, that's still two decks above, not one. See the pics above that I posted.)

If there's a concern about the deck chair cushions getting wet at night, stack them up next to the balcony door!

I can only speak from my own personal experience, of course, but if we were going to sail in one of these suites again, I would again pick Deck 10 over Deck 9 because of the balcony.

Whatever you decide, have a great time!

I changed from the 9th floor to the 10th floor - but I only have an aft balcony - not a PH suite. But if the deck on the 10th floor even has a chance of being bigger and it was the same prices - then I didn't risk anything :)

Before I make the change, I want to confirm that I'm booking the aft balcony, not the aft PH. Given that I'm only do the aft balcony - does floor 10 still have a bigger balcony?

Yes, deck 10 B1 Aft Balcony cabins (only 2 of them) DO have a larger balcony then the B1 AFT Balcony cabins on decks 8 and 9.

Enjoy your cruise, we did in one on the Jewel in 2010 and then again in 2011. This year we were fortunate enough to be able to sail on the Star and for the same price as our B1 Aft Balcony on deck 10 we were able to move to a forward Penthouse Suite (Category SE).

We would sail in one of those aft balconies in a heartbeat.

There are mini-suite cabins above you, so your TA is steering you incorrectly. The Deck 11 mini-suites will be between you and the Garden Cafe.

I am talking about the STERN AFT balconies on deck 10 not an "aft" balcony towards the rear of the ship.

Are we talking about the same cabin categories?

I am probably just wrong, she was probably talking about the mini suites - because I inquired about them because they were only 150pp more. Those must of had the noise.

If I had to choose between the two (and noise was not an issue), I would pick the one that had a bigger balcony - which I understand to be deck 10.

Have I mentioned that I just LOVE the help on this site?

Thanks!

I am probably just wrong, she was probably talking about the mini suites - because I inquired about them because they were only 150pp more. Those must of had the noise.

 

If I had to choose between the two (and noise was not an issue), I would pick the one that had a bigger balcony - which I understand to be deck 10.

 

Have I mentioned that I just LOVE the help on this site?

 

Thanks!

I have one of the Deck 10 Aft (B1) balconies booked for our upcoming cruise on the Jade. Take a look at this thread that I had found. It has some good photos in it. Don't miss the ones that are links in post#7.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1304555&highlight=10668