Dawn SJ family suites, with or without balcony - pros and cons?

[urquie]

We are trying to decide on which SJ family suite to get on the Dawn, with or without balcony and any input (other than pricing) would be much appreciated. 🙂

 

We have sailed on the Star, in a family suite, but none of them had balconies.  Loved how spacious those rooms were!  Are the no balcony Dawn suites larger on the interior, than the ones with balconies?

 

Thanks for any info!

 

[don't-use-real-name]

The SJ class suites on the STAR and the DAWN are virtually the same.

The SD Balconies however are different - on the STAR the balcony is smaller and takes away from the cabin interior

On the DAWN the balcony does not do this to that degree but the SJ non-balcony suites are bigger in square footage.

Both ships the bathroom and entry foyer closet space is the same for both the SD and SJ class.

 

For examples of this use this LINK and click on Deck 12:

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/Norwegian-Dawn

 

You can click on the YouTube for videos of the cabins also the little camera icons.

Don't find what you are looking for look on the other side of the ship for a mirror image/photo/video.

Look on the left margin for the classes of suites for comparison

 

Each of these has a king size bed - an uncomfortable convertible couch and drop out of the wall Murphy bed

The 2 cabins closest to the Pool (across from the library) these are handicap outfitted.

The next door neighbor to these have a small diagonal balcony and no Murphy bed.

These 4 cabins are prone to noise from the jogging running track overhead deck 13.

 

The SJ class suites offer the best bang for the buck and are located forward the fwd elevator bank in a low

traffic area - the SD class suites are located just aft of the fwd elevator bank and have foot traffic from the pool.

 

Hope this helps.

 

[nomad098]

On 9/28/2019 at 8:21 AM, urquie said:

We are trying to decide on which SJ family suite to get on the Dawn, with or without balcony and any input (other than pricing) would be much appreciated. 🙂

 

We have sailed on the Star, in a family suite, but none of them had balconies.  Loved how spacious those rooms were!  Are the no balcony Dawn suites larger on the interior, than the ones with balconies?

 

Thanks for any info!

 

 

As a family of 5 we have done both the SJ & SD 

 

Both rooms were almost identical 

 

except you had to climb over the furniture in the mornings to get to the balcony once the beds were put away this was not a problem.

 

The balcony was uncovered so no shade at times and you could be overlooked from above.

 

The worst issue for us was that the balcony room is under the running track and we had runners out at 6am. YMMV

 

If your a balcony person who would use it a lot then a SD is great.

 

Personally for our family the SJ was better, in a slightly better location (no runners), huge windows for the views sitting on the sofa without a balcony partially blocking the view, a short walk to the deck and a better price point about $1000 cheaper.

 

Damon

 

 

 

 

 

 

[daggct]

I can't compare the two for you, but we were in an SJ on the Dawn last week (12012) and I thought it was the perfect choice. You are so close to the public areas on 12 and 13 that we never stayed in the room. There is no noise from above in the morning, we think our room was under an outdoor stairway on 13, it's an unusual space on the Dawn above you-very quiet.

As nomad098 said, they balcony is not very private. Everyone is looking over the rail on deck 13, right onto your balcony. If your sailing has a lot of kids, I would avoid those rooms.

The downside of the SJ is that the windows are very dirty. 

 

Also, on the Dawn the jogging track is aft, near Moderno. 

[urquie]

 Thank you so much for the very informative replies, they are very helpful! 🙂

[goldmom]

If you decide to go with one of the balcony suites, check out youtube videos of the different cabins.  The balcony size and configuration really varies depending on the suite, especially the first and last ones.

[DaisyGoldberg]

The SJ gives you some amazing scenery uninterrupted by a balcony. And the Murphy bed is amazingly comfortable!

[valleyvillage]

The running track turns before the elevator bank. Suites located on the other side don't get those darling joggers. BTW the tarck is supposed to be closed until 8 I believe. 

[BostonGal35]

we had a balcony-less SJ suite on Star and would book it again in a heartbeat.  we dont use the balcony much, we do like it for air at night.  But if you are going somewhere superwarm (as we were, panama canal) you'll run the AC at night anyway. 

[Love my butler]

On 10/7/2019 at 6:58 PM, valleyvillage said:

The running track turns before the elevator bank. Suites located on the other side don't get those darling joggers. BTW the tarck is supposed to be closed until 8 I believe. 

In our experience, the early morning joggers completely ignored the signage.  They would either unhook it or just jump over it, causing an even louder bang to the poor sleepers below.  It gets so bad sometimes the crew builds a wall of chairs and loungers to prevent the rude joggers from ignoring the rules.

[Smong]

On 9/28/2019 at 3:21 AM, urquie said:

We are trying to decide on which SJ family suite to get on the Dawn, with or without balcony and any input (other than pricing) would be much appreciated. 🙂

 

We have sailed on the Star, in a family suite, but none of them had balconies.  Loved how spacious those rooms were!  Are the no balcony Dawn suites larger on the interior, than the ones with balconies?

 

Thanks for any info!

 

Just be aware the balconies in the family suite are completely exposed. No shade no protection from rain and people can see right down on to the balcony from above 

[TheDougOut]

I always mention... be careful of the first non-balcony family suite, as there’s some issues with privacy from the family suite with balcony next door.  

 

Scan toward the end of the vid...