Pride of America & cat B7 Cabin Questions

[Toddcan]

I normally frequent the Royal boards since my recent cruises have been with them. But, my first cruise was on the Pride of Aloha (NCLA) back in 2006 for our 20th wedding anniversary. I am now looking at a repeat in 2016 on the Pride of America for our 30th.

 

I'm hoping the NCL boards are as helpful as the Royal boards. I did some forum searching which answered a lot of my questions, but here are some outstanding ones.

 

1. I want a balcony cabin, and I see a cat B7 "large balcony" listed. It claims to have a 50% larger balcony. - Can anyone give me their thoughts on this category?

 

2. The "perfect 10" deal on right now is nice, but I've been watching prices on/off for the past 8-10 months for hawaiian cruises in July-Aug. They've normally been in the $2,200-$2,400 per person for a balcony. Now, I see they are $2,980 pp. Sure.. I get $298 as an OBC.. but really? what am I missing? $2,900 pp seems awfully high - yes, I know it's supply/demand and it's hawaii, but like i said.. even for Hawaii - it's high?

 

3. Any little known balcony categories on the America which are great locations/good value?

 

Thanks!

[earlbird]

I normally frequent the Royal boards since my recent cruises have been with them. But, my first cruise was on the Pride of Aloha (NCLA) back in 2006 for our 20th wedding anniversary. I am now looking at a repeat in 2016 on the Pride of America for our 30th.

 

I'm hoping the NCL boards are as helpful as the Royal boards. I did some forum searching which answered a lot of my questions, but here are some outstanding ones.

 

1. I want a balcony cabin, and I see a cat B7 "large balcony" listed. It claims to have a 50% larger balcony. - Can anyone give me their thoughts on this category?

 

2. The "perfect 10" deal on right now is nice, but I've been watching prices on/off for the past 8-10 months for hawaiian cruises in July-Aug. They've normally been in the $2,200-$2,400 per person for a balcony. Now, I see they are $2,980 pp. Sure.. I get $298 as an OBC.. but really? what am I missing? $2,900 pp seems awfully high - yes, I know it's supply/demand and it's hawaii, but like i said.. even for Hawaii - it's high?

 

3. Any little known balcony categories on the America which are great locations/good value?

 

Thanks!

 

We were recently in a B6 large balcony on deck 11, and we really enjoyed the location and the balcony size.

We paid less than that for the cruise/tour which was three nights in Waikiki, with tours included, and the seven day cruise.

[punkincc]

You did not say whether you book direct or with a TA. They can often included extra OBC and sometimes get you a lower cruise price as well.

 

We had an aft facing B1 balcony in August. They also have the large balconies and that awesome aft view. We booked about 18 months out with a TA and then I monitored prices on the NCL website. The prices mostly went up, although there was some price fluctuation in the final weeks before the cruise. I never saw the price for our category fall below what we paid. But with having to book airfare, etc. you don't want the risk of booking last minute.

 

If you book now, you can always get the lower price, if any, prior to final payment. After final, you may be able to get a low cost up sell to even a suite if prices fall.

 

In watching prices, I did notice that the week after our cruise, 8-16, and into September, the prices were significantly dropped beginning several weeks out and I wished we had booked a few weeks further out. Kids going back to school and all equals less demand. You might consider Sept for some additional savings. Check the Hawaii board in the Ports of Call section for some good info on Hawaii and POA.

Edited October 1, 2014 by punkincc

[Toddcan]

I will likely book direct, since that is what I'm used to. Mind you, Royal doesn't allow TAs to discount the cruise fare, so the only differences we see if based on mass bookings, or how much of the commission the TA is willing to give to you. But, that's a good point - I will throw my request out there to see what sticks.

 

Unfortunately, we cannot cruise in Sept. My wife works in the schools, and is tied to kid's vacations.

 

We LOVE aft cabins, so will consider that option too. Are Aft balconies larger than the B6/B7 "Large Balcony" ?

 

Also.. anyone know if there are any loungers on any of these non-suite balconies?

 

In doing the math, I might be better off doing a land based and island hoping on a puddle jumper for a day or two. But, I'm not willing to give up so easily on a cruise yet.. :)

[Toddcan]

Double Post.. ooops.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Toddcan

[punkincc]

I will likely book direct, since that is what I'm used to. Mind you, Royal doesn't allow TAs to discount the cruise fare, so the only differences we see if based on mass bookings, or how much of the commission the TA is willing to give to you. But, that's a good point - I will throw my request out there to see what sticks.

 

Unfortunately, we cannot cruise in Sept. My wife works in the schools, and is tied to kid's vacations.

 

We LOVE aft cabins, so will consider that option too. Are Aft balconies larger than the B6/B7 "Large Balcony" ?

 

Also.. anyone know if there are any loungers on any of these non-suite balconies?

 

In doing the math, I might be better off doing a land based and island hoping on a puddle jumper for a day or two. But, I'm not willing to give up so easily on a cruise yet.. :)

 

We had 2 regular chairs and a small cocktail table as well as two big loungers on our B1 balcony. They are not super wide, but are very deep. Not sure how the size compares to B6/B7s.

 

As far as cruise fare discounts, what you say is true, but some cruise agencies can offer "group" rates when they purchase blocks of cabins from the cruiseline. We have often booked through the travel dept of a big box warehouse store ( the kind you need a membership to get in) for just that reason. Sometimes they have a lower base fare, sometimes not. We go with whoever has the best overall price. I will just say that we got a very significant savings by going through a TA.

[azappraiser]

Just off the POA less than two weeks ago. We had an Aft Balcony... #9200. The balcony is HUGE! There were two chaise loungers, two chairs & a small cocktail table out there and there was still room to move around.

 

Four of us were out there standing side-by-side during the Na Pali coast sail by and were not crowding each other.

 

I wouldn't say this particular cabin category is a bargain, but you certainly won't be disappointed with the balcony.

[earlbird]

Our B6 balcony cabin also had two chairs, two loungers, and a table.

[Toddcan]

Looks like I am going to wait for this "perfect 10" promotion to end before booking. That's crazy that a standard balcony is now $3,000 per person in July-Aug 2016. Again, I've been watching these prices, and they have always hovered around $2,200-$2,400 pp.

 

Yes, I know.. supply and demand. The Hawaiian cruises likely have less repeat customers than say, Caribbean routes. But, that price jump is a little out there, imo.

 

Ah well. I have some time.. the alternatives don't open up for booking until spring 2015. For $6,000, I can do a 14 day back-to-back Eastern/Western in a Royal, Princess or Celebrity balcony. But, i really would like to repeat our very first cruise: Hawaii - yes, I'm willing to pay more, but I have my limits :cool:

[KollaCruise]

I just booked a balcony for $ 869 .. 9 days out for the 13th Dec sailing... wait till closer to departure this ship does not sell out.

 

I have been watching prices now for many weeks. I got the BX balcony, its the least expensive one. It was Excellent value I might get an upgrade to a bigger balcony as there are many balconies still available at this time. Look for a good deal they are out there!

[KollaCruise]

I just booked a balcony for $ 869 9 days out for the 13th Dec sailing... wait till closer to departure this ship does not sell out.

 

I have been watching prices now for many weeks. I got the BX balcony, its the least expensive one. It was Excellent value I might get an upgrade to a bigger balcony as there are many balconies still available at this time. Look for a good deal they are out there!

[azappraiser]

I will likely book direct, since that is what I'm used to. Mind you, Royal doesn't allow TAs to discount the cruise fare, so the only differences we see if based on mass bookings, or how much of the commission the TA is willing to give to you. But, that's a good point - I will throw my request out there to see what sticks.

 

Unfortunately, we cannot cruise in Sept. My wife works in the schools, and is tied to kid's vacations.

 

We LOVE aft cabins, so will consider that option too. Are Aft balconies larger than the B6/B7 "Large Balcony" ?

 

Also.. anyone know if there are any loungers on any of these non-suite balconies?

 

In doing the math, I might be better off doing a land based and island hoping on a puddle jumper for a day or two. But, I'm not willing to give up so easily on a cruise yet.. :)

 

We had an Aft Balcony... and it was HUGE!!! There were two chaise loungers, two chairs & a cocktail table and there was still room to move about. I'm not sure which had more square footage; the cabin or the balcony. We booked 9200, which was perfect. We scored a deal during a Wave Promo & Military Fare... $1999 pp.

 

As for going with the land based option & island hopping from there... consider the amount of (precious vacation) time lost due to airport security; both ways. Then add the cost for flights... last time I looked, a R/T from Honolulu to Lihui (Kauai) was $78.00 pp for each leg.

Edited December 5, 2014 by azappraiser

[KollaCruise]

We are just back from the POA and were in a B7 the balcony state rooms with the huge balcony .. ours were on deck 7 forward.. there are a few of these with the big balcony towards the front of the ship. It was very nice having the big balcony, I dont know if I will pay extra for it. We got ours as a free upgrade.

 

Its more rocky in the front of the ship and directly underneath us were the Mardigrass Lounge, which we thought will be noisy at night, but we did not hear a thing, luckily. The rooms in the front and the back of the ship is not that popular, this ship hits open waters often and it can be rocky. I felt it a few times and had to take meds to cope with the open waters.