Family Suite, No Balcony on Dawn

[bob brown]

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.

I agree, also....the most coveted seats, occupied by the earliest entrants always seemed to be the row in the center, directly behing the cross-theater aisle. It had extra legroom, and was close to the exits.

[lotsofkids]

VA.Plumber..... sometimes it depends what promo is currently being offered at your time of booking. However, with that said, if you check the NCL site frequently and find a better offer they WILL apply that to your suite. You can always get the room rate and promo applied that is being offered (prior to final payment) Do note: if your see a better promo but the room price has increased....you must factor that in, as you will get it as if you are booking new!

I have an SA and SJ booked for the fall and BOTH have $300. Do call NCL directly. (also do a mock booking on their website for a totally new SJ and see if it is offering the $300 for that sailing in SJ's)

[lotsofkids]

Demonyte wrote that the unlimited soda is NOT offered for the SJ suites. I am confused as we had a 2bedroom family suite on the Pearl and were offered unlimited sodas and many other perks.

 

We booked the SA (deluxe owners suite) and an SJ (family suite) for our upcoming cruise and just assumed that both would be getting the soda perk. My heart tells me Demonyte is probably right...but could a few more of you Cruise Critic members chime in before I mention to the "SJ" girls that they won't be having the soda option. Of course, I know it is definitely offered for our SA suite and they can always grab a soda from our room!

 

much appreciated....thanks

Edited July 12, 2013 by lotsofkids

[valleyvillage]

Demonyte wrote that the unlimited soda is NOT offered for the SJ suites. I am confused as we had a 2bedroom family suite on the Pearl and were offered unlimited sodas and many other perks.

 

We booked the SA (deluxe owners suite) and an SJ (family suite) for our upcoming cruise and just assumed that both would be getting the soda perk. My heart tells me Demonyte is probably right...but could a few more of you Cruise Critics "SJ" girls that they won't be having the soda option.

 

much appreciated....thanks

 

The soda perk is only for Owners Suite and above. But the SJ is awesome, even without Pepsi!

[Demonyte]

I too hope that you'll get more definitive answers but SJ suites are the lowest suite category on any NCL ship so after sailing in one, I do stand by my original post. :)

[lotsofkids]

Yep.....just spoke with my NCL rep and she said each ship has different protocols in place. For the DAWN it is only the S1, SA and SB suites that get the unlimited soda perk.

 

oh well....at least we have one fridge stocked!

[goodml]

Sailed in an SJ on Star two years ago and loved it. The space was great. We were on a Pacific coastal repo and the weather was fairly awful till we hit San Francisco. On the rainy days we'd sit by those huge windows and sometimes catch a school (pod?) of dolphins swimming along side the ship. It was amazing. All the years we've been cruising I've looked for sea life out in the ocean and never really seen much more than flying fish until that cruise. Particularly on that itinerary I didn't miss the balcony at all. We've got an aft suite for the same itinerary this year on Jewel so I hope the weather cooperates so we can actually use the balcony.

[CapeCodMama1976]

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!

 

My hubby and I keep saying the same thing. Our cruise is Aug 23-30, it is our first family vacation since our 3 year old was born and our first cruise. We are in 12506 and super excited. Room seems like it will be plenty big for our family of 5 as well. I did have a question, are you able to get milk for the room (our little one still likes it before bed)? Thanks in advance!! :)

[time2cruise1]

My hubby and I keep saying the same thing. Our cruise is Aug 23-30, it is our first family vacation since our 3 year old was born and our first cruise. We are in 12506 and super excited. Room seems like it will be plenty big for our family of 5 as well. I did have a question, are you able to get milk for the room (our little one still likes it before bed)? Thanks in advance!! :)

 

No problem just let your butler know you would like them to keep the fridge stocked with milk.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[vols_159]

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

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

 

Did you try both sides? Both are reserved for suites

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[CapeCodMama1976]

Thanks Jim - much appreciated!! I will be sure to let our butler know :-) I go through milk at home like it's gold!!:rolleyes:

 

I read above that some got $300 OBC for the suite, guess we got lucky (booked real early) because I got $450 OBC!! I plan to get a nice massage, maybe use it for some drinks? Any suggestions on BEST things to use your OBC for?

[dexddd]

Thanks Jim - much appreciated!! I will be sure to let our butler know :-) I go through milk at home like it's gold!!:rolleyes:

 

I read above that some got $300 OBC for the suite, guess we got lucky (booked real early) because I got $450 OBC!! I plan to get a nice massage, maybe use it for some drinks? Any suggestions on BEST things to use your OBC for?

 

It was most likely $300 for booking the room 9 months or more and $150 for some other special they were running.

[lotsofkids]

Yes, I too got $450. Mine was 300 for booking a suite & 150 latitudes bonus.

[KateQ22003]

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).

 

We were on the Dawn the week of the 4th of July in a family suite with balcony, and we got the reserved seats in the theater.

[dexddd]

We were on the Dawn the week of the 4th of July in a family suite with balcony, and we got the reserved seats in the theater.

 

Was Virginia the Concierge? Where were the reserved seats you got exactly and how was she handling it - same as last year?

[KateQ22003]

Was Virginia the Concierge? Where were the reserved seats you got exactly and how was she handling it - same as last year?

 

Yes she was. The reserved seats are on the left hand side of the balcony; Virginia was waiting at the entrance and motioned us through.

[CapeCodMama1976]

Ahhh must have been. I can't recall now :( We did book last summer so it was 9+ months out. I was thinking I had $300 OBC but when I checked my NCL it said $450 which I was excited about that! Not even 100% sure how it works? We can apply it to whatever our bill is onboard?

[Demonyte]

Ahhh must have been. I can't recall now :( We did book last summer so it was 9+ months out. I was thinking I had $300 OBC but when I checked my NCL it said $450 which I was excited about that! Not even 100% sure how it works? We can apply it to whatever our bill is onboard?

 

It will be automatically applied (OBC will be credited to the account in the first few days, you pay normally when purchasing anything) to pretty much every thing else than DSC. So just make sure that you spend at least that amount onboard. :D

Edited July 16, 2013 by Demonyte

[CapeCodMama1976]

I found out we have Virginia for our concierge. Glad to hear she is great!! Can't wait to go. 20 days and counting!

[Hockeylovinmom]

I found out we have Virginia for our concierge. Glad to hear she is great!! Can't wait to go. 20 days and counting!

 

Yes, we have sailed with Virginia before. She is very helpful, just ask! A really nice thing about the NCL suites is the Lavazza coffee maker in the room. The butler sets it up and the coffee is delish! Very easy way to get that first cup in your PJs. This is unlike some other lines, where if you want a good cup of coffee, you must trek down to the speciality coffee shop! Also, if you look closely, you can get "real" fresh ground coffee at the buffet.

I drink a lot of green tea, and last cruise, the butler kept a fresh pitcher for me in the in-room refrigerator! I love the suite life!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ksimpso3]

You will love Virginia!! She is awesome and very friendly. As far as the reserved seating goes, I think the very first row on port side is the only one reserved for OS and GV, then the rows behind it are for other suites. Virginia waits outside every show and will escort you to the area. The seats weren't necessarily the best but knowing they were "ours" (we were in GV) was a nice perk...no going early to get a seat together.

Here is the placard for the reserved seating:

 

 

Here is Virginia:

 

As far as the family suites go, we were able to tour one when we were there in January. They are very large and the bathroom is great. Here are pictures of one with a balcony:

 

 

 

 

the wall that separates bed from living room:

 

[gracett1]

Can anyone tell me if the sofa sleeper and the Murphy bed were comfortable?:)

[DaisyGoldberg]

I found the Murphy bed very comfortable (enough so that even though our initial plan was to swap the "good bed" halfway through, I didn't feel the need to).

 

I've heard the sofa bed is less comfortable. However, it was very nice to sprawl on (as a sofa) and look out the window during the daytime! A very small child could probably use it as a very comfy bed without having the steward make it up as a regular bed.

 

One perk of being in the Murphy bed is the view at dawn!

[rocklinmom]

Do you happen to know if the queen bed in the SJ family suite can be separated into twin beds or not?

[rvsullivan]

Do you happen to know if the queen bed in the SJ family suite can be separated into twin beds or not?

 

None of the large (queen or king) beds in the suites can be converted. They are not like any of the beds in "regular" rooms.