Spirit AD Balcony pics?

[mrtractor]

.....of your travel agent. Was this a last minute upgrade?

 

Mrtractor@earthlink.net

 

MrTractor<---------isn't too old to learn new tricks............

[bigsweeps]

Just did. No - it wasn't a last minute upgrade for the upsell (between 30 and 45 days out)

[madelinerose]

bigsweeps...I'd love the name also. Thanks!

 

karen@badministration.com

 

Just did. No - it wasn't a last minute upgrade for the upsell (between 30 and 45 days out)

[cosmo1027]

Hi bigsweeps - could you email it to me too? Thanks!

kmcornelius AT lycos DOT com

[mrtractor]

.....extremely sensitive to vibration, I wouldn't worry about that aft location. I'd be more worried about the screeeching of little ones above than I would of that! but then, that's just me.

 

If you are prone to sea sickness, the aft location is probably better than the forward, but it's not the best location for a smooth ride. Not only will you feel some engine vibration and some pitch and roll, you will also feel what is known as "yaw." I guess you might call this "fishtailing." On a ship the size of the Spirit, none of this will be excessive and you would likely only experience this during heavy seas and/or high winds. I don't know what your sensitivity level is, but if you are very sensitive to motion, you may want consider another location. You can't gauge your experience or comfort level against anyone else's.

 

Trouble is, if you want a suite, you don't have to many other choices on location on the Spirit. It's either way forward or all the way aft. I personally LOVE the motion of the ship. We sailed through a cold front on the Atlantic the last night of our last cruise coming home from Bermuda. The dining room was half empty and the bars were pretty empty. We were out there roaming the ship looking for the fun!

 

Sweepster,

I would guess that a lot of the upsell thing depends on the price you paid to start. It doesn't look like there are any suites available. You say they are not in inventory, but why wouldn't they show up on the booking engines? Don't they want to sell them????? :confused: And of course, last minute upgrades are always the best. We've gone from a standard outside to a suite on other cruises. But again, that was on ships with over a hundred suites, not 18. Again, I just think you might be disappointed if you booked a balcony with the idea that you could always upsell to a suite for a couple hundred bucks later on.

 

MrTractor<---------can only go down in category.......:cool:

[KLynnG]

I have appreciated reading all the posts about the suites on the Spirit.Iwas able to book the 10500 suite to Alaska for 6/25/05 in October. I tried to get one of the corner suites but was told they weren't available. I was going to see about an upsell to an AA untill I read these posts but now I think I'll stay right where I am. One question I have is about whether the corner suites may be held by some TA's & look as though they are booked but may come available later if not sold? Is there any reason to think that my TA might be ably to move me into a corner later?

[bigsweeps]

I'm not sure why they aren't in inventory. I noticed about a month ago that EVERY single Spirit cruise through May was showing N/A for the suites. Since I cruise on NCL frequently, I know how inventory moves and this seemed odd that EVERY suite would be sold out for the next 6 months. So I called and kept demanding to talk to someone in the revenue department (they have different systems and show TRUE inventory). They said "huh....that's odd because I'm showing every suite is available for the January 2nd sailing" (I had them check other dates and there was tons of availability). They had no idea why they were off limits to the normal booking engines and frankly didn't seem to care. She said "oh well, I guess the reaccommodations desk will have to deal with filling them when the time comes". LOL! If you call the reaccommodations desk, you will see that they DO have inventory for most of the Spirit 5 and 9 day cruises.

 

But I agree, never book a balcony if what you really want is a suite. Book the lowest you would be HAPPY with and don't count on an upsell.

 

By the way, in case you haven't seen on the other thread.....I won twice yesterday on the Amex Wishlist site. This Thursday they are "selling" 20 Crystal Cruises worth $12,000 for only $1,500. If anyone is dying to get one of these packages, let me know and I'll try to help you out.

[bigsweeps]

KLynnG - You got a great suite - the port side of the ship is the better side for the Alaska cruise. Yes, often the suites are held but free up 60-90 days out (either because the TA's let them go when final payment is due) or the AB's get upsells to AA's (not knowing that the AA's aren't better). Just because they aren't available now doesn't mean they wont be closer to the date.

[KLynnG]

Thanks for your reply. I'll keep watching the travel sites & will tell my TA to transfer me to 10502 or 10002 if one becomes available

[DavidNDC]

Probably a longshot, but has anyone stayed in or seen balcony cabin 9656?

[bigsweeps]

A friend of mine was in 9650 - just a few doors down and from what I saw, all those rooms were identical. What did you want to know?

[DavidNDC]

Bigsweeps, thanks for your reply.

 

I have questions about two things.

 

First, we bought our cruise last minute, day after Thanksgiving, for the Jan. 2 Spirit through one of those Internet wholesalers. We bought a balcony and just sort of arbitrarily got 9656 so I am curious about it.

 

Second, I have researched and researched and researched and I can't for the life of me figure out that there is much difference, if any, between balconey categories BA, BB, BC, BD, BD, BE or BF.

 

We honestly probably wouldn't consider an upgrade to a suite....on another ship, yes definitely, but maybe not on the Spirit because of the laws of supply and demand! We just might not consider the price it would probably cost.

 

But what if NCL calls and offers an upgrade from our current BD to a BA? Is it even worth it? I am just thinking that a balcony is a balcony is a balcony...

[bigsweeps]

There are slight differences in balcony cabins on the Spirit. Some of them (I forget which categories) have extra square footage and a larger sleeper sofa. The top one shows the single size sleeper and the bottom one shows the sleeper for two. I think you can tell by how many people each balcony stateroom sleeps. If the agent says it holds 4, you get a larger room.

 

http://164.109.173.140/spirit_slideshow/pages/P5220403_JPG.htm

 

http://www.maritimematters.com/superstarleo5.html (scroll down to the balcony photo)

 

I'm on the Spirit the 2nd also - and I got an upsell last week. Let's just say it isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, what I paid is less than the cost of dinner for 2 at the alternative restaurants twice during the week with a cheap bottle of wine. I know there are still AB and AC suites available - but you won't see them in inventory if you look online - you can only get them through the reassignment desk.

 

I personally don't think an upsell from your room to any other balcony is worth anything. I would almost guarantee you could talk them into an upsell into an AC suite for what they would offer as an upsell on the balcony to a BA.

[DavidNDC]

Bigsweeps:

 

Thank you for your wise counsel -- very cool that we're on the same cruise! Paula and I would love to hook up with you for a drink.

 

Another guy on our cruise, Mike, was offered an upgrade from balcony to penthouse suite for $350 pp or $700 overall. My take is, he considered it hard and was tempted. But I think he and his s.o. had a connecting cabin with another couple, so that mitigated against it.

 

I am amazed that with the demand for suites in the cruise industry, and the fact that there are only 18 or so suites on the Spirit, that there would even be suites still available for our sailing! Maybe the fact that it is just after the holidays and *just* a five-day cruise influences this.

 

I'll tell you though: this is Paula's first cruise and, as she put it, "I wouldn't know the difference" between a window and a balcony or between a balcony and a suite. I opted for the balcony and would rather spend the money that I could on a suite on maybe buying her a dress or some jewelry on the last day of the cruise. I know that sounds sappy but I would rather spend the money that way then on a suite....don't get me wrong, I'm by no means poor, but my nonprofit job in D.C. only stretches so much!

 

But you know....to cruise, I would even go for an inside cabin!

[bigsweeps]

Ouch! $700 is insane for a 5 day! They must have just been throwing that out there to see if there were any takers. The prices go down as the cruise gets closer. My upsell to an AB suite was a fraction of that (and when I say fraction - we're talking smaller than 1/2 of his offer) There were still plenty of suites available when I got my upsell - there were 3 AB's (out of 5) and 5 AC's (out of 8). The suites were never put into inventory (little secret....that's why all of the Spirit cruises show up as N/A for suites at travel booking sites.)

 

Being Paula's first cruise - it's probably better that you don't get a suite - because after she has one she will never settle for less. ;-)

 

I'm a frequent NCL cruiser and have had upsells on my past 8 or 9 cruises - so I'm getting pretty good at convincing the people at the upsell desk to give me a bargain. <grin>

[MichaelW1]

Great review comets from the Spirit!