Sa To Ss Suite

[refman]

we`ve always cruised in a SA cat suite but this year we need two cabins so we booked an SS cat.suite for ourselves and a large inside for our daughter and her girlfriend.my question is how big of a difference is it besides missing out on the perks such as priority embarkation, the neptune lounge and dry cleaning to name a few. is there really that much of a difference. thanks in advance. we`re on the oosterdam in june to alaska.

george

[PathfinderEss]

we`ve always cruised in a SA cat suite but this year we need two cabins so we booked an SS cat.suite for ourselves and a large inside for our daughter and her girlfriend.my question is how big of a difference is it besides missing out on the perks such as priority embarkation, the neptune lounge and dry cleaning to name a few. is there really that much of a difference. thanks in advance. we`re on the oosterdam in june to alaska.

george

George, there is about 121 sq. foot difference in size. The SA's are 510 and the SS's are 389. To me it always seems like SS's are about half the size of the SA's but I guess not. The SS are nice cabins don't get me wrong, certainly enough room to move around and with a nice balcony too, you should be very comfortable........but missing the SA perks, wow for me there's alot of difference, if you've never had the perks, ofcourse then you would have no idea what you were missing. Certainly, if you need 2 rooms, I can understand going down to a SS, but my money is on the next cruise you will be back to SA's.

[Moriah]

I cruised to Mexico on the Oosterdam in January in an SS suite, after my 5 previous cruises in SAs. My impressions:

 

The SS was perfectly adequate as far as size. As far as I could tell, the only thing the extra space adds is empty floor space, between the bed and the sitting area mostly, and the little dressing area outside the bathroom, which I always found too dark (and the lighting is dismal) anyway. The extra closet space to my mind is not needed - the HAL staterooms are closet rich. Oh, and of course the balcony is bigger on an SA, but I found the SS balcony to be very nice. And you get the same large double bathroom. So to me the size issue was not a problem at all. As for laundry, with what you save on the SS you could send your entire wardrobe to the ships laundry several times.

 

HOWEVER, the experience as a whole is completely different. The SS cabin is just a "room", and I didn't feel that it offered the "suite life" at all, especially after having been in SA's. For me the whole point to a suite is the service, not so much the size. The Neptune lounge and the girls who work the concierge desk there to me absolutely make the cruise. In the SS, I felt anonymous, compared with known and pampered in the SA where the concierge knew my name and anticipated even my tastes in desserts! That's just my 2 cents. Other people really don't use the Neptune at all and only take the SA for the size of the balcony and the huge King bed. So we are all different. And I had a WONDERFUL time on the Oosterdam in the SS, and I completely understand your consideration in taking the two smaller rooms.

 

What ship will you be on?

 

Moriah