NCL Star - Aft Balcony or Mini Suite??? Advice please!

We are about to book 2 cabins on a Panama Canal cruise on NCL Star on 4/2/18. Aft balconies seem to cost about $300 per cabin MORE than mid-ship Mini Suites. I'm wondering if the difference is worth it???:confused:

DH and I have done a PC cruise on Royal, but our friends have not done one. None of us have sailed NCL before so we'd love some advice from some of you NCL experts! The aft balconies we're looking at are on deck 8, side by side (which is great!) but they are directly over the Spinnaker Lounge, which might be noisy at night.

I think the Aft Balcony would be very nice for viewing the canal transit but the Mini Suite is larger, which would be better on a 14 day cruise, and I'm conflicted since I have no experience with NCL cabins. Opinions???? Advice????

Thanks!

Judy

We are about to book 2 cabins on a Panama Canal cruise on NCL Star on 4/2/18. Aft balconies seem to cost about $300 per cabin MORE than mid-ship Mini Suites. I'm wondering if the difference is worth it???:confused:

 

DH and I have done a PC cruise on Royal, but our friends have not done one. None of us have sailed NCL before so we'd love some advice from some of you NCL experts! The aft balconies we're looking at are on deck 8, side by side (which is great!) but they are directly over the Spinnaker Lounge, which might be noisy at night.

 

I think the Aft Balcony would be very nice for viewing the canal transit but the Mini Suite is larger, which would be better on a 14 day cruise, and I'm conflicted since I have no experience with NCL cabins. Opinions???? Advice????

Thanks!

Judy

For us it's worth it as you get 180 degree view and no wind. We only sail aft cabins

We have done Panama cruise twice on the Star and you spend most of your time on balcony so for the two of us a regular cabin has been fine.

No brainer ... AFB. Minis are not worth the extra cost compared to regular balcony.

Thanks, Frank. I am also a huge fan of aft balconies, and as frequent floaters on Royal, we are familiar with all the most desirable afts on those ships. I just feel like a total newbie on NCL! We cruised the canal on Legend of the Seas, and although we had a balcony (side, not aft), we spent nearly the whole day up on the top deck watching the transit. I know the view from the aft balcony would be great on the day we transit the canal, but I also think we'd enjoy the extra space of the Mini Suite.

My experience on Royal has been that Jr Suites (comparable to the NCL Mini Suites I think) are always more expensive than regular aft balconies. Seems odd that the aft balcony on Star is $150pp more than the Mini Suite! I'm curious as to the differences in the two cabins. The Mini Suite is larger, and might have a bigger/better bathroom? View would be better on the aft balcony, but worth an extra $300 per cabin for the aft?

Judy

No brainer ... AFB. Minis are not worth the extra cost compared to regular balcony.

Normally I would agree! But in this case the Aft Balcony costs $300 more than the Mini.

Judy

Minisuite has a tub in the bathroom - balcony has a shower. Room size isn't that much different but you can use google to find videos of each that will show you differences.

My experience on Royal has been that Jr Suites (comparable to the NCL Mini Suites I think) are always more expensive than regular aft balconies.

Junior Suites on Royal get perks. Minisuites on NCL get no extra suite perks.

Both of these cabins are great cabins IMHO. The key point that you made was the location of the aft cabin. Right above the lounge is not desirable because of that. We were in a mini suite last year and loved it....more space was the reason. But, location of the mini is important as well. I don't know if the mini's on the Star are on different decks, but if you can, get one that is not directly below the lido deck mid-ship. Try forward, or aft.

Hope this helps! :D

Both of these cabins are great cabins IMHO. The key point that you made was the location of the aft cabin. Right above the lounge is not desirable because of that. We were in a mini suite last year and loved it....more space was the reason. But, location of the mini is important as well. I don't know if the mini's on the Star are on different decks, but if you can, get one that is not directly below the lido deck mid-ship. Try forward, or aft.

 

Hope this helps! :D

Yeah...the Minis I saw were on deck 11 which is under the lido deck. I suspect there would be early morning noise with cleaning and chairs being moved around above. I did see that 11660 and 11662 are available, and it looks like those two cabins are above The Video Zone and the Teen Club, so maybe those would be a good choice.

Or we could pay $300 more per cabin for the Aft Balconies which are likely to be noisy at night. (for some reason I think we'd prefer the night noise over Spinnaker Lounge to the early morning noise under the pool deck...;))

We got spoiled with corner aft balconies on Voyager & Freedom class ships on Royal (see DH chilling on the balcony below)...I'm just not sure this aft balcony on Star is worth the extra 300 bucks, but I'm soooo not a fan of early morning noise!

Judy

We didn't have any issues with the chairs in the morning, but the band in the late evening. To be honest though, it was only one night near the end of the cruise.

We were on the Gem when we had the mini, almost dead center mid-ship. The Gem had tables and chairs both port and starboard, and they were cleaned and arranged in the evening, so I can only assume this will be the case on the Star. :D

We are about to book 2 cabins on a Panama Canal cruise on NCL Star on 4/2/18. Aft balconies seem to cost about $300 per cabin MORE than mid-ship Mini Suites. I'm wondering if the difference is worth it???:confused:

 

DH and I have done a PC cruise on Royal, but our friends have not done one. None of us have sailed NCL before so we'd love some advice from some of you NCL experts! The aft balconies we're looking at are on deck 8, side by side (which is great!) but they are directly over the Spinnaker Lounge, which might be noisy at night.

 

I think the Aft Balcony would be very nice for viewing the canal transit but the Mini Suite is larger, which would be better on a 14 day cruise, and I'm conflicted since I have no experience with NCL cabins. Opinions???? Advice????

Thanks!

Judy

BEWARE :

Do Not Book Deck 8 Aft. on Star OR Dawn

lot's of noise from the deck 7 night club below.:loudcry:

.

Judy and Buzz,

We have not stayed in either cabins on the Star but we did have the aft penthouse on 9 (9732) and it was very quiet. Your cabin (if available) would be in the center of the suites. We never heard any noise day or night.

Which ship did you take the picture on. Needless to say i am loving the balcony.

Judy and Buzz,

 

We have not stayed in either cabins on the Star but we did have the aft penthouse on 9 (9732) and it was very quiet. Your cabin (if available) would be in the center of the suites. We never heard any noise day or night.

 

Which ship did you take the picture on. Needless to say i am loving the balcony.

Ah yes...that pic shows the very best balcony of all our cruises! It was 7388 on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. We had that glorious balcony for a wonderful 14 night transatlantic cruise, New Orleans to Rome, we lucked out with wonderful weather in the north Atlantic, and that hammock got a lot of use! (Amazon...about $20...weighs 3 lb. and you need a few bucks worth of rope too...but the result is priceless!)

All of the Voyager class ships and Freedom class ships on Royal have these fabulous corner aft balconies on deck 7 - cabins 7388 & 7688 on Voyager class and 7408 & 7708 on Freedom class. It's actually one of the cheaper balconies - an E1 cabin - and the square footage of the balcony is a bit more than that of the cabin! We hosted a nice sailaway party for 18 people out there one evening...with the hammock in place! It was a fabulous space with both shade and sun, depending on the time of day. So watch for availability of 7388/7688 on Voyager, Mariner, Navigator & Adventure and 7408/7708 on Freedom, Liberty, or Independence of the Seas.

These cabins are hard to get, but we got lucky. We had booked a D1 balcony on that cruise, but I was haunting a certain website that shows empty cabins as I was hoping to score a suite upgrade. (suites had sold out early) I happened to see 7388 pop up as available right before final payment, so we jumped on it and got a reduction in fare and a huge balcony to enjoy. You normally have to book early to get one of them.

If you ever do score one of those deck 7 corner afts, bring along a hammock and have a party....you'll love it!:D

Judy

Thanks for the info. We only sailed on RCCL once eons ago. Our friends love RCCL and have tried to talk us into going with them one time. We really love the casual atmosphere of NCL so it is hard for me to think about another line but one never knows. Just the picture alone sways me a tad bit more.

We have not stayed in either cabins on the Star but we did have the aft penthouse on 9 (9732) and it was very quiet. Your cabin (if available) would be in the center of the suites. We never heard any noise day or night.

Linda, we are in this cabin on Star from 28th May and really looking forward to it, glad to hear it is quiet.

 

I was haunting a certain website that shows empty cabins as I was hoping to score a suite upgrade.:D

Judy

Could you please give me some hints to direct me to the website? :-)

I'll throw in a couple of thoughts.

You are correct - having done an aft balcony on the Jewel for a Panama crossing, your personal view is terrific.

The worst thing for us was that our balcony would occasionally get some incinerator residue - little burned black pebbly bits - but the steward always cleaned it up.

I cannot speak to how loud it is with Spinnaker below - on Jewel it's just cabins. There is more noise from the water - but it's more like a constant river rushing sound.

I don't think I'd do an aft balcony on other itineraries, but this was the Canal, and I wanted optimum personal viewing.

We have not stayed in either cabins on the Star but we did have the aft penthouse on 9 (9732) and it was very quiet. Your cabin (if available) would be in the center of the suites. We never heard any noise day or night.

 

 

Linda, we are in this cabin on Star from 28th May and really looking forward to it, glad to hear it is quiet.

I thought I died and went to Heaven in this suite with the wrap balcony. You will need to turn your loungers to give room to run back and forth. I would so book this cabin again. Enjoy!

Could you please give me some hints to direct me to the website? :-)

Now you know we are not allowed to do that here on CC, so I'm sorry I can't tell you the website. I can only suggest that you use google and ask to "find open cabins on cruise ships" and I believe google will give you a fine first suggestion. Then you can do your own scan for cabins.

Judy

I'll throw in a couple of thoughts.

 

You are correct - having done an aft balcony on the Jewel for a Panama crossing, your personal view is terrific.

 

 

The worst thing for us was that our balcony would occasionally get some incinerator residue - little burned black pebbly bits - but the steward always cleaned it up.

 

 

I cannot speak to how loud it is with Spinnaker below - on Jewel it's just cabins. There is more noise from the water - but it's more like a constant river rushing sound.

 

 

I don't think I'd do an aft balcony on other itineraries, but this was the Canal, and I wanted optimum personal viewing.

I think we've decided to go with the aft balconies for the view, even thought the location is over the Spinnaker Lounge. My friend who is a TA tells me that the Canal cruises generally have a little older demographic, so she doesn't think people will party all night - haha! And we like the sound of the water, so that's no problem. We also thought the deck 8 location might be handy for O'Sheehan's.

Judy

I think we've decided to go with the aft balconies for the view, even thought the location is over the Spinnaker Lounge.

The TV will be showing the view from the front too, so don't forget to have that on during the crossing.

If the Spinnaker is hopping, you might as well join them!

You will love this cruise - the Canal is fantastic.

My friend who is a TA tells me that the Canal cruises generally have a little older demographic, so she doesn't think people will party all night - haha!

Yup. Much older demographic than 1 week cruises. And the partying really was subdued.

We wandered into the empty teen club area one night to find a couple of bored crew members.

They told us that the week before our sailing, a normal 1 week cruise, they had 700+ kids signed up for various programs. Our cruse - 8 kids. You'd see some young folks here and there, but I'd bet the shift was close to +10 years average age.

And Germans. Lots of Germans. In speedos. :o

Seriously, it seemed much more international all around.

And we like the sound of the water, so that's no problem. We also thought the deck 8 location might be handy for O'Sheehan's.

Judy

Aw yeah!

I'd take an aft balcony over a mini suite any day. A mini suite is basically just a balcony cabin with a bathtub.

For those of you that booked an aft balcony on deck 8 for the Panama Canal cruise. Was the noise really that bad? I also heard it is an older crowd on that cruise and thought it might not be as bad. We booked the only aft balcony left on Deck 8 and wondering if we should keep it or change to a port or starboard balcony. We love the aft! Thoughts?