NCL Pearl MA,MB,B4 .. confused ??

[room with a view]

Hi, 

We are looking to  book the Pearl and are considering Deck 10 ... a midships  balcony family cabin .. not connecting, for the two of us. ... 10536 

Is there much difference between a club balcony and a family cabin .. there does not seem to be club balconies on deck 10 ??

 

We prefer deck10 .. between decks than deck 11.

 

thanks for any advice .. Best wishes.

[MeHeartCruising]

For just 2 of you, their wouldn't be much noticeable difference with the possible exception of the fact that the Club Balcony Suites have a small bathtub with the shower.  The Family Balcony cabins just have a standard shower.  If you're not a bath person, I'd pick the cabin that has the location/price you want.  

 

I'm not sure how accurate the cabin renderings are on the NCL website, but the Club Balcony appears to have a larger sofa (because it might serve as sleeping for 2 people).  In the Family, the sofa appears to be smaller (because it probably only sleeps 1 person, since there appears to be a pullman bed for guest #4).  The sofa size probably isn't important to you with only 2 people.  

[Turtles06]

OP: The "club balcony suites" used to be called "mini suites."  Keep in mind that they are NOT suites for purposes of suite perks and amenities.  They really are deluxe balcony cabins.   There is a good deal of info about them in various threads (e.g., interior size, etc.).    The bathroom, as noted in the comment above, has a tub/shower combo, not a stand alone shower.  The tub is very narrow (probably suitable for kids), and the wall of the tub is extremely high.  For short people and folks with knee or other mobility issues, climbing in and out of the tub to shower can be a hassle, especially when the ship is feeling the motion of the ocean.

 

As you have observed, the club balcony suites are on Deck 11, under the noisy and potentially noisy public spaces of Deck 12.   We prefer to have cabins above and below us, and enjoy Deck 10 on the Jewel class ships (of which the Pearl is one) for that reason.

[KeithJenner]

If we were sailing as a couple on a Jewel class ship then I would certainly book a balcony over a mini suite. The attraction of the mini suite to us at the moment is that the sofa bed is bigger and also doesn’t block the balcony door when in use. As a couple this doesn’t make any difference.

 

Even with the sofa bed issue we still steer clear of the mini suites due to their location. There are some which have quiet venues above them, but it’s still a potential issue.

 

In your position I wouldn’t even be considering the mini suite/club balcony.

[room with a view]

Thanks everyone . that's the decision made with your help . 

I've looked at photos and would not use a bath tub ,much prefer a walk in shower. 

Nice to see a post from you Keith, we were due on the refurbished Spirit but it was cancelled , so never had a chance to see what it  is like. ... will miss those glass elevators . We met up a couple of times when we were on Christmas/ New Year cruises.

thanks to everyone .

[KeithJenner]

5 hours ago, room with a view said:

Thanks everyone . that's the decision made with your help . 

I've looked at photos and would not use a bath tub ,much prefer a walk in shower. 

Nice to see a post from you Keith, we were due on the refurbished Spirit but it was cancelled , so never had a chance to see what it  is like. ... will miss those glass elevators . We met up a couple of times when we were on Christmas/ New Year cruises.

thanks to everyone .

Yes, I remember it well.

 

We are booked on the Spirit in August. Not quite totally given up hope yet, but it's a long shot.

[room with a view]

On 3/3/2021 at 8:07 PM, KeithJenner said:

Yes, I remember it well.

 

We are booked on the Spirit in August. Not quite totally given up hope yet, but it's a long shot.

Something that's bothering me, Keith is this talk of Ship Bought Excursions .. that we won't be allowed off the ship if we haven't purchased a NCL excursion .

You know what it's like in "tender " ports when everyone is crammed into the boats and everyone is pushing in the Qs . Coming back on board is the same ... wonder how NCL are going to operate "social distancing "???

[KeithJenner]

11 minutes ago, room with a view said:

Something that's bothering me, Keith is this talk of Ship Bought Excursions .. that we won't be allowed off the ship if we haven't purchased a NCL excursion .

You know what it's like in "tender " ports when everyone is crammed into the boats and everyone is pushing in the Qs . Coming back on board is the same ... wonder how NCL are going to operate "social distancing "???

 

Yes, that is potentially a big issue for us.

 

We have decided that if the Spirit sails in August and we are allowed to travel then we will be on it, even if that means having to spend all 10 days onboard. However after that then cruising would be out for us until we can get off the ship independently.

 

Hopefully it will just be a short term thing (if it is a thing at all - as far as I know it is just speculation at the moment). We much prefer to do our own thing and only do excursions (NCL or privately arranged) if there is a specific reason why that works best in a port.

[room with a view]

On 3/9/2021 at 1:58 PM, KeithJenner said:

 

Yes, that is potentially a big issue for us.

 

We have decided that if the Spirit sails in August and we are allowed to travel then we will be on it, even if that means having to spend all 10 days onboard. However after that then cruising would be out for us until we can get off the ship independently.

 

Hopefully it will just be a short term thing (if it is a thing at all - as far as I know it is just speculation at the moment). We much prefer to do our own thing and only do excursions (NCL or privately arranged) if there is a specific reason why that works best in a port.

Don't think we would like to go to the Greek Islands and not get off the ship. The alternative being to take an NCL excursion that rarely take you where you really want to go. I have memories of a Casablanca NCL tour that took us to the mosque (briefly) and then to a shop selling trinkets and carpets for a hour and half.

We won't make the booking until we have more information.

[LadyBerard]

You can go to https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ and see many pictures that people have submitted for many different rooms on just about all the cruise lines and ships.   Click on "Public Site" or join for a small fee and then click on "Member Site."

 

[room with a view]

Thanks .. I'll check it out .