Enjoyment of a cruise for regular pax vs suite pax

[petesweet]

There has to be a lot of you out there because the largest amount of cabins on the ship are balconies, oceanviews and insides. I want to hear from you about your cruises. What you thought about the service the food? What did you think about the buffet?

 

I can't afford a suite never will be able to afford a suite, and I just want to know that I am going to have great food, good service and be treated with respect.

 

Oh my, you are in for a treat! I always cruise in an inside cabin--not because I cannot afford a balcony cabin or a suite but because I CHOOSE not to spend my money on the place I sleep.

 

Others will differ, because they choose to enjoy the living space they have paid for. That's great. People differ. You will find lots of activities available out and about on the ship, and you will meet lots of nice people and crew members that you might not meet if you stayed in your cabin a lot of the time.

 

Some people need to get away from it all, and that's why they cruise. They have hectic jobs and need to crash. Others (like me) need the stimulation of the activities.

 

Some people like to be waited on. I personally don't. I love having attentive waitstaff in the dining room, and I love the nice things the cabin stewards do for me, but I am satisfied with the minimum.

 

Your food will be the same, no matter where you sleep. Your excursions will be just as exciting. The crew will treat you with the same respect. You will definitely not be a second-class citizen.

 

One other thing: A lot of the people on Cruise Critic are experienced cruisers. After your 20th cruise, your desires are different from your first cruise.

 

 

(P.S. We not only always stay in an inside cabin but we also choose the inside GUARANTEE in order to get the cheapest rate. We have NEVER been disappointed in our cabin location, and we have cruised a LOT. Some people--most people--like to choose a particular cabin.)

[insidecabin]

Ditto everything Inside Cabin said except - our next cruise is our first inside cabin. We just couldn't afford a higher category and given the choice between waiting another year or going inside - inside won hands down. I'm a bit claustrophobic so I'm hoping it'll work out....

Adapt to your cabin.

 

Insides,

 

Treat the ship as you extended cabin, consider the spa pass, if the weather is right the great outdoors or the sky high(or whatever they are called on your ship) make a great balcony substitute

 

make sure the cabin is in a good location for your outside cabin activities near the elevators is our choice.(next is near the spa so OH is happy)

 

Spend time out and about, look for the spaces that meet your requirements.

 

The other benifit if ready for it is the dark, let your body decide your sleep patterns.

[petesweet]

Ditto everything Inside Cabin said except - our next cruise is our first inside cabin. We just couldn't afford a higher category and given the choice between waiting another year or going inside - inside won hands down. I'm a bit claustrophobic so I'm hoping it'll work out.... I hope you are pleasantly surprised.:)

 

Anyway, our one Courtyard Villa experience was a free upgrade at port. It was only a one-nighter but it sure gave us a taste of the high life! Two Suite drawbacks for us, if you can call them that, were that the cabin was SO lovely we didn't want to leave it and we were too embarassed to take advantage of the "perks". I kept nipping out and picking up snacks, wine etc. and each time I was scolded by the, I suppose, butler? Very good-natured scolding of course but, he felt it was his job to run around after us - which I suppose it is. But, still, we felt too weird picking up the phone every time we wanted a little something though, so I think Suite Perks are wasted on The Nice Family. That would be me.

 

As for waiting for a table at the main dining rooms, gosh, I can't think of a nicer place to be waiting for 20-30 minutes or so! Pretty much every diningroom we've been to is near a venue that has live music. It became part of our routine to go at the busiest time for dining (about 7:00 - just after dropping our DD at the Kids Club). We'd request a really nice table for 2 - knowing that would extend the wait - then take our pager and head to the nearest pub or cocktail bar for a pre-dinner drink and to hear some great music. It got to the point where we were disappointed if they actually had a table ready for us as soon as we arrived! What a terrific attitude to have!

 

What I'm saying is just a repeat of what many here will tell you. A cruise is like anything else - it's what you make of it. It is such a wonderful, carefree feeling to be in this floating village where every turn offers up views or food or games or classes or ports or spa treatments or hot tubs. All of these things are common to every guest on board, not just Suite passengers. What's not to like?

 

Nice sentiments from an obviously nice (Nice) person.:D

[DMH15]

Nice family - you would be nice to meet on a cruise. You do sound very nice. I hope you have a great cruise!

[slyfox0113]

Okay everyone. I'm new to cruising and I am going to be taking my very first cruise on NCL Star to Mexico in October. I chose NCL because of Freestyle, every since they started freestyle cruising I knew they were the cruiseline for me. It has taken several years for me to be able to afford to go on a cruise. I was able to book my cruise back in January found this board shortly after and have been reading and studying this board daily since January.

 

I am hoping that I am not coming to a wrong conclusion but what I seem to be noticing as an outsider looking in, is that if you can afford a suite you have a wonderful time the food at Cagney's for breakfast and lunch is to die for. The cabin stewards are great and attentive and the whole cruise is just fantasic.

 

Then I read questions, statements and reviews that say they were on a ship and had a good time and the food was okay but not great and the main dining rooms were crowded they had to wait in a long line. Then some have said that the cabin stewards never came by to fill the ice bucket or they asked for something from the cabin steward and the cabin steward disappeared never to be seen again.

 

I understand that suite passengers paid more and should get special service. And I am sure I am going to get flamed for this but I just want to know if there are any of the people out there who always cruise in the balconies, the oceanviews and the inside cabins who feel they have wonderful cruises with great food and good service.

 

There has to be a lot of you out there because the largest amount of cabins on the ship are balconies, oceanviews and insides. I want to hear from you about your cruises. What you thought about the service the food? What did you think about the buffet?

 

I can't afford a suite never will be able to afford a suite, and I just want to know that I am going to have great food, good service and be treated with respect.

 

I took my first cruise 14 years ago with my family and 20 friends, I was in an inside cabin on Celebrity to Bermuda. I think my cabin was lower than the crews quarters. It was very tiny, four of us were in it and we had a great, great cruise. My second cruise was many years later and we upgraded to an oceanview and got my children an inside, great cruise, lots of fund. Next cruise to Caribbean, splurged on a balcony, really enjoyed it and swore I would always have one. We recently took a cruise this past March on Norwegian and booked a balcony once again and I loved the cruise so much we booked it again for next March, this time in a Penthouse Suite. I am a snob by no means nor do consider myself one of the elite. It will take me a year to save for the cruise but I really wanted to try a suite. I am happy with everything on the ship from the food whether a buffet or in the dining room or room service, to the entertainment to the shows. I love cruising and bottom line no matter what type of room you are in you will love it. If I love the suite that much I will probably book another because every year I want to cruise but it will take me that long to save! Happy cruising.

[islandgirlejfan]

Until our cruise on the Sky last October, our cruises were always inside cabins and we always had a blast! We chose to take our three kids and we jammed five of us in a cabin on our very first cruise.:eek: My kids talk about that cruise to this very day which is why I wanted to take it. I wanted my kids to be able to remember a wonderful week out of their life floating around the Caribbean and have fond memories of their parents. When we sailed back in the early 90's, it was really just coming into vogue to take children because cruise lines were realizing there was a big market there.

 

When you have three kids, money is something you often don't have, so we didn't book a balcony until this last cruise and we ended up paying for an upsell to a suite that we enjoyed immensely! I booked a suite for our next cruise on the Pearl because of that experience because we can afford an AE on NCL.

 

As my hubby travels for his job, we have a lot of stresses and I will just say that the time we spent laying on on the aft balcony just talking and relaxing was some of the most enjoyable and stress free time that we had last year. We're not high maintenance, very middle class and really could have lived without the butler and the concierge, but the quiet time in Cagney's was really appreciated, especially after working hard on my daughter's wedding. Add in there some family issues with my parents and brother, it was just nice to have that peace and it became a major factor in booking an AE for this upcoming cruise. One thing is for sure, I became an aft bum on the cruise we took on the Sky! :p

 

We intend to take a Panama Canal cruise for our 30th anniversary in 2011 and presently I am considering booking on Princess or Celebrity. I will be happy just to have a balcony stateroom on either of them, because anything over 6K to me is another Miata in my driveway and their suites aren't cheap!

[LindaKE]

We now always opt for a balcony because we like being able to sit outside in our own area. To us, for the most part, the suite perks aren't things we're willing to pay extra for and probably wouldn't use anyway. We tend to like plain home cooking better than fine dining but can always find something to eat. We usually plan one speciality restaurant and choose it on a night when the menu has less appeal than other nights. We love cruising and feel very pampered and spoiled by the crew. As far as we're concerned, a cruise, in whatever type cabin, is the ultimate vacation.

[COCat]

We have cruised in a Ocean View, Balcony and Suites. Never had a bad cruise yet. It's all about the attitude you bring with you. We have found the food in the main dining rooms to be very nice. The pay-for restaurants are very nice and well worth the cost. A nice treat you should try.

 

Enjoy your cruise and report back on how it was.:)

[dtracker]

Ditto everything Inside Cabin said except - our next cruise is our first inside cabin. We just couldn't afford a higher category and given the choice between waiting another year or going inside - inside won hands down. I'm a bit claustrophobic so I'm hoping it'll work out....

 

Anyway, our one Courtyard Villa experience was a free upgrade at port. It was only a one-nighter but it sure gave us a taste of the high life! Two Suite drawbacks for us, if you can call them that, were that the cabin was SO lovely we didn't want to leave it and we were too embarassed to take advantage of the "perks". I kept nipping out and picking up snacks, wine etc. and each time I was scolded by the, I suppose, butler? Very good-natured scolding of course but, he felt it was his job to run around after us - which I suppose it is. But, still, we felt too weird picking up the phone every time we wanted a little something though, so I think Suite Perks are wasted on The Nice Family. Oh, breakfast at Cagney's was nice but, again, we just felt strange in there - hobnobbing with the people who'd actually paid for the privilege.

 

As for waiting for a table at the main dining rooms, gosh, I can't think of a nicer place to be waiting for 20-30 minutes or so! Pretty much every diningroom we've been to is near a venue that has live music. It became part of our routine to go at the busiest time for dining (about 7:00 - just after dropping our DD at the Kids Club). We'd request a really nice table for 2 - knowing that would extend the wait - then take our pager and head to the nearest pub or cocktail bar for a pre-dinner drink and to hear some great music. It got to the point where we were disappointed if they actually had a table ready for us as soon as we arrived!

 

What I'm saying is just a repeat of what many here will tell you. A cruise is like anything else - it's what you make of it. It is such a wonderful, carefree feeling to be in this floating village where every turn offers up views or food or games or classes or ports or spa treatments or hot tubs. All of these things are common to every guest on board, not just Suite passengers. What's not to like?

 

What a N-I-C-E family (I guess that is your name though, isn't it?) :) You've got the attitude down pat! Life is so wonderful on board, I could care less if I'm in an I/C or not. Thanks for the breath of fresh air, Nice family! :D I think if anyone deserves the sweet life and not have to pay for it, you guys do.

 

DT