Club balcony suite

[Monica887]

What is a club balcony suite? I usually get a regular balcony. 

[Monica887]

The more I dig, I've found some of the perks. I don't care (much) about a better bathroom. And we are platinum and sapphire so that covers laundry and tender boarding. Anything important that I'm missing? 

[mcmomny]

Depending on the ship the location may not be ideal, for example several of the smaller ships the club balconies are directly under the buffet or sun deck so noise level will be higher.

Having stayed in both the basic and the club balconies before all I missed was the extra space and the free laundry.

 

From NCL web site "Club Balcony Suites provide additional amenities and privileges at no additional cost. Amenities include the option to pre-book onboard entertainment as early as 21 days and dining as early as 125 days prior to sail date, complimentary treats delivered to your stateroom, a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine, and a choice of one valet laundry or pressing service"

 

 

Exclusive Club Balcony Suite Amenities

• Distinctive Purple Keycard
• Pre-book onboard dining as early as 125 days prior to sailing
• Pre-book entertainment as early as 21 days prior to sailing
• 1 complimentary valet laundry
• 1 bottle of sparkling wine upon embarkation
• Treats delivered to your stateroom twice per week.
• Bliss Collection by Norwegian™ featuring fine linens and pillows
• Lemongrass bathroom products
• Bathrobes
• TV, refrigerator, safe, and hair dryer
• Sitting area
• Lower beds arranged as a queen-size bed.
• Coffee maker & ice bucket available upon request.
• 24-hour standard room service menu
• Continental breakfast menu

[KforKitty]

Having stayed in both Balcony and Club Balcony on older ships, I absolutely value having the larger bathroom.  I really struggled in the tiny toilet cubicle in the Balcony cabin on the Star earlier this year.  I also liked the larger sitting area.  
 

However as described by Mcmommy the Club Balcony was below the buffet and we could hear chairs being scraped on the floor.  That was far preferable though to being above a tender boat mechanism (on the port side) on an itinerary with four tender ports!

 

Catherine 

[bkrickles1]

1 hour ago, Monica887 said:

The more I dig, I've found some of the perks. I don't care (much) about a better bathroom. And we are platinum and sapphire so that covers laundry and tender boarding. Anything important that I'm missing? 

I've stayed in club balcony suites my last 2 sailings on Joy and yes, the perks are pretty underwhelming, but the bathroom made it worth it for us.

Double sink and large walk-in shower was a big plus that we really enjoyed.

The free laundry was nice, but unnecessary. And the treats were also nice.

I wouldn't pay a lot for it though.

[vacation44]

We prefer the club balcony suites for the bigger bathroom.    The regular bathrooms (not including the Pr1ma and Viva) are just ridiculously small in my opinion.   Also Platinum, so the included perks do not weigh in in our preference.   We also never had a bad location.

[kittymamma]

We are going to be first timers on NCL and have booked a Club Balcony Suite on Escape, deck 8. It is located, as best I can figure from the deck plan, above the Theater. Have any of you had this location and what has been your experience with the noise from the theater? t

[KeithJenner]

28 minutes ago, kittymamma said:

We are going to be first timers on NCL and have booked a Club Balcony Suite on Escape, deck 8. It is located, as best I can figure from the deck plan, above the Theater. Have any of you had this location and what has been your experience with the noise from the theater? t

We have stayed in the deck 8 club suites quite a few times on similar ships to the Escape and they are excellent. Most are the ones with large balconies (which are huge), but I think there are a few non large balcony rooms there as well.

 

Never heard a sound from the Theatre. I have seen people mention that they did, so perhaps it depends on individual rooms. For us they are very quiet and an excellent location.

[BirdTravels]

On 11/22/2023 at 5:28 AM, Monica887 said:

The more I dig, I've found some of the perks. I don't care (much) about a better bathroom. And we are platinum and sapphire so that covers laundry and tender boarding. Anything important that I'm missing? 

On bigger ships (Epic/Breakaway/Breakaway Plus), the room size is about the same. You  get a bigger bathroom with a full size shower (versus the transporter tube in standard balconies).

 

On Prima class ships, the room is a bit bigger, but the bathroom is about the same. 

 

Yeah, there are a few perks, but as a platinum, you already get your bag of laundry. 

 

We always book CBS rooms on Epic/BA/BA+ ships for the bathroom. As we have gotten older and less mobile, the extra space in the shower is a must. 

 

If that is not a big draw to you, save your money and book a balcony. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by BirdTravels

[pete_coach]

Somewhere I read there are other perks to Club Balcony cabins. I thought I read you get a free laundry bag once a week. Is this correct??

This will only be our third NCL cruise so I am not even sure what "status" we have.

[bkrickles1]

30 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Somewhere I read there are other perks to Club Balcony cabins. I thought I read you get a free laundry bag once a week. Is this correct??

This will only be our third NCL cruise so I am not even sure what "status" we have.

Yes. Free laundry bag midweek. 

[VUCruiser]

We had one on the Bliss...we did think the larger bathroom made a difference to our experience, but if that is not of interest, we did not find many other benefits...we would have done laundry so the free bag was nice but not a lot of $$ value.

[pete_coach]

1 hour ago, bkrickles1 said:

Yes. Free laundry bag midweek. 

Thanks, that is good to know.

One bag for the cruise or one each week?

We are on a 15 day cruise.

[kittymamma]

Thanks for the replies. We are of the active, over 80, age group and think the larger bathroom ( shower) in the Club Balcony Suite will fit our needs nicely and was the draw for booking the category. This one does have the larger balcony as well. My concern was for the noise from the theater but it seems that it will not be an issue and certainly not something that would keep us from enjoying our first experience with NCL....we usually cruise Disney and RCL so looking forward to trying something new. Thanks again.

[CCJack]

7 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

 

 

8 hours ago, kittymamma said:

We are going to be first timers on NCL and have booked a Club Balcony Suite on Escape, deck 8. It is located, as best I can figure from the deck plan, above the Theater. Have any of you had this location and what has been your experience with the noise from the theater? t

We were just on the Joy in one of those deck 8 club suites.    We did hear the theatre but not very much, and it did not bother us or keep me from sleeping.      Location is also very good in terms of access to things on the ship.   We had the large balcony.  However I would have rather had a normal balcony.   The large balconies are very large but skinny and very deep.   I felt like when standing in your cabin  looking our your glass door it had tunnel vision and really restricted your field of view of the ocean as compared to a normal balcony.    Of course if you are at the railing on the balcony the view was fine.  We were on the St. Lawrence Seaway in September so it was too cold to be out there most of the time.  So it depends on where you are sailing to..   Also note that these balconies are uncovered where as normal sized balconies are covered by the balcony above... the covering helps in terms of wind / rain protection IMO.

 

That said, we really didn't have any major complaints with the cabin..  

 

Have fun.

[kittymamma]

Yes, the half covered balcony will take some getting used to but I will remember that we can be observed from above and dress accordingly. 😁

[IAcruising]

The treats are nice. The early (125 days) booking for dining can be a real plus. But it's all about the bathroom. Two adults can stand side by side at the sink, and the shower lets a 230 lb. guy freely move around. For about $400 or so (average), we won't ever go back to a regular balcony.

 

[kittymamma]

Thanks,. We did book our specialty restaurants at the 125 day mark which was quite nice and were able to get times and dates that we wanted.

[CCJack]

23 minutes ago, kittymamma said:

Yes, the half covered balcony will take some getting used to but I will remember that we can be observed from above and dress accordingly. 😁

It is not half covered.   the larger bathroom pushes your floorpan outboard as compared to the cabin above.   So your glass doors are directly below their balcony railing...

 

BTW, it was our first NCL cruise after mostly cruising on RC and Celebrity.   I was pleasantly surprised with NCL.  Especially the food... excellent across the board,  MD, Specialty and even buffet was very good ....better than RC.    Entertainment not so much... I think there was some budget cutting in the entertainment department !

[kittymamma]

If I don't have to plan the menu, shop for groceries and prepare the meal, it will be delightful no matter what.  As for the balcony, I must have misunderstood but it is a minor inconvenience. Still looking forward to see what NCL has to offer and I'm sure we will find it most enjoyable. Thx for your input.

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, IAcruising said:

The treats are nice. The early (125 days) booking for dining can be a real plus. But it's all about the bathroom. Two adults can stand side by side at the sink, and the shower lets a 230 lb. guy freely move around. For about $400 or so (average), we won't ever go back to a regular balcony.

 

We agree....the price is not much more and well worth it.

[vacation44]

9 hours ago, kittymamma said:

We are going to be first timers on NCL and have booked a Club Balcony Suite on Escape, deck 8. It is located, as best I can figure from the deck plan, above the Theater. Have any of you had this location and what has been your experience with the noise from the theater? t

We have stayed in this location three times and have never had a noise issue.   Booked this location again for February.

[kittymamma]

2 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

We have stayed in this location three times and have never had a noise issue.   Booked this location again for February.

Thanks...very reassuring.

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Somewhere I read there are other perks to Club Balcony cabins. I thought I read you get a free laundry bag once a week. Is this correct??

This will only be our third NCL cruise so I am not even sure what "status" we have.

Hi Pete,

Log on to your NCL account. 

Hit the drop down for "My Account" and click "Latitudes Rewards".

It will show your status.

[cruiser2015]

4 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Thanks, that is good to know.

One bag for the cruise or one each week?

We are on a 15 day cruise.

Here's the scoop:

 

Exclusive Club Balcony Suite Amenities

• Distinctive Purple Keycard
• Pre-book onboard dining as early as 125 days prior to sailing
• Pre-book entertainment as early as 21 days prior to sailing
• 1 complimentary valet laundry
• 1 bottle of sparkling wine upon embarkation
• Treats delivered to your stateroom twice per week.
• Bliss Collection by Norwegian™ featuring fine linens and pillows
• Lemongrass bathroom products
• Bathrobes
• TV, refrigerator, safe, and hair dryer
• Sitting area
• Lower beds arranged as a queen-size bed.
• Coffee maker & ice bucket available upon request.
• 24-hour standard room service menu
• Continental breakfast menu