To Suite or Not to suite!

[apples1996]

We are going with a group of 14 cabins on the Carnival Fantasy out of Mobile on April 10th. We currently have an inside room with a porthole window. We were thinking about paying to move to a suite. Why? The room we are currently in only holds two people and we want to add our 11 year old daughter. Why? This will be my 6th cruise and I have never had a suite before. Why? This will be my DH's 3rd cruise (previously we had a balcony on the NOS and and inside on the Disney Wonder) and he raved about having a balcony on the NOS and the only balconies on the Fantasy are the suite rooms.

 

Problem---the affordable ones are listed as having obstructed views. Has anyone been on this ship in one of those suites that could give me some insight? I would love to hear an EXPERIENCED person's view on this. I realize there would be more square footage in the room and a balcony, but is there anyting else we would be gaining?

 

Thanks in advance for your wonderful help.

 

Sharon

Kentucky

[apples1996]

Oh no! I must stay on the first page so someone can help me.

 

Sharon

Kentucky

[firefly333]

I havent heard much good about the cat 11s, on Fantasy class ships. The new balconies being added as as good as the cat 11s, and so much cheaper. Seems to me to be a shame to pay so much for a suite that many have obstructed views. The only upside is a bathtub, if you use one. (I dont, I like a shower).

[Cruzman]

Yes the cat 11 obstructed views result from one of the lifeboats that is mounted at eye level. The upside to those cabins is that they actually offer more privacy than those with clear sea views. You also get a fridge and priority boarding with the suite.

[scchasgal]

We are going with a group of 14 cabins on the Carnival Fantasy out of Mobile on April 10th. We currently have an inside room with a porthole window. We were thinking about paying to move to a suite. Why? The room we are currently in only holds two people and we want to add our 11 year old daughter. Why? This will be my 6th cruise and I have never had a suite before. Why? This will be my DH's 3rd cruise (previously we had a balcony on the NOS and and inside on the Disney Wonder) and he raved about having a balcony on the NOS and the only balconies on the Fantasy are the suite rooms.

 

Problem---the affordable ones are listed as having obstructed views. Has anyone been on this ship in one of those suites that could give me some insight? I would love to hear an EXPERIENCED person's view on this. I realize there would be more square footage in the room and a balcony, but is there anyting else we would be gaining?

 

Thanks in advance for your wonderful help.

 

Sharon

Kentucky

 

We were in a cat 11 on the Sensation last Chrismas prior to the balconies being added to some outside cabins. The Fantasy class ships have small cat 11's. The balcony I could not move around without my DH going back into the cabin first. On the other class of ships the outside cabins are the same size at the cat 11 on fantasy.

Fantasy only has balconies on cat 11 and 12 as they did not add them during the evolutions of fun and other upgrades made during the last drydock.

 

If you want pictures just email me at scchasgal@comcast.net as the pics here are small when I upload them.

[travelntreats]

We are going with a group of 14 cabins on the Carnival Fantasy out of Mobile on April 10th. We currently have an inside room with a porthole window. We were thinking about paying to move to a suite. Why? The room we are currently in only holds two people and we want to add our 11 year old daughter. Why? This will be my 6th cruise and I have never had a suite before. Why? This will be my DH's 3rd cruise (previously we had a balcony on the NOS and and inside on the Disney Wonder) and he raved about having a balcony on the NOS and the only balconies on the Fantasy are the suite rooms.

 

Problem---the affordable ones are listed as having obstructed views. Has anyone been on this ship in one of those suites that could give me some insight? I would love to hear an EXPERIENCED person's view on this. I realize there would be more square footage in the room and a balcony, but is there anyting else we would be gaining?

 

Thanks in advance for your wonderful help.

 

Sharon

Kentucky

You are probably talking about the Cat. 11 suites and the stateroom is not really any larger than an oceanview and the balcony.... well lets just say it is :::tiny::::. If you have had other Balconies on other cruises, I think you may be disappointed with this category stateroom as I can hardly understand how CCL considers these "Suites" ! If you book them, watch out for the obstructed staterooms i.e. lifeboats.

[momof4boys]

We have only stayed in a cat. 12. We looked at the 11s during our first cruise to see if we wanted to go a little cheaper. IMHO NOT worth it. Can you do a guaranteed 12-- and not pick your actual room so you could get an unobstucted view? It seems to me there is not too much difference in those two choices.

 

We love the cat. 12 ..... having coffee and tea on the balcony every morning--watching the ship pull into port--lovely! Also the bathroom is so much bigger as is the closet space!

 

BTW....an inside room doesn't usually have a port hole so I am wondering if your room is actually an outside room with a porthole or an inside room--no view?

 

Happy cruising!!

[apples1996]

Thanks for all of the comments. From my understanding, I do have an inside room with a porthole window. When I initially started this group I was told there were about 7 inside rooms left that had porthole windows for an inside price so a couple of us booked these rooms. I was just really wanting a balcony for my DH but I don't want to go for it if the rooms are not worth it. I would rather save my suite option for another cruise with better options. Are the lifeboats blocking your view of the water?

 

Thanks for the pic. We chose this cruise because it was drivable for the teachers at my school which makes it more affordable for their families. Last year I went on the Voyager of the Seas with my 10 year old and I know we are in for a totally different ship setup, but many of the people I am taking with me this will be their first cruise, so they will have nothing to compare it to.

 

Maybe I should just pay the additional $50 and just get a regular oceanview room and skip the suite this time.

 

Thanks,

Sharon

[firefly333]

Thanks for all of the comments. From my understanding, I do have an inside room with a porthole window. When I initially started this group I was told there were about 7 inside rooms left that had porthole windows for an inside price so a couple of us booked these rooms. I was just really wanting a balcony for my DH but I don't want to go for it if the rooms are not worth it. I would rather save my suite option for another cruise with better options. Are the lifeboats blocking your view of the water?

 

Thanks for the pic. We chose this cruise because it was drivable for the teachers at my school which makes it more affordable for their families. Last year I went on the Voyager of the Seas with my 10 year old and I know we are in for a totally different ship setup, but many of the people I am taking with me this will be their first cruise, so they will have nothing to compare it to.

 

Maybe I should just pay the additional $50 and just get a regular oceanview room and skip the suite this time.

 

Thanks,

Sharon

 

The full oceanview will be exactly the same size as what you have now, 185 s.f. ... but at least there are some that hold 3 people. Its too bad the port holes only hold 2 people.

[gargoyle999]

BTW....an inside room doesn't usually have a port hole so I am wondering if your room is actually an outside room with a porthole or an inside room--no view?

 

The cabins with portholes are called "Interior Porthole" cabins and were changed to category "PT" after the recent category reshuffling. They are considered to be insides with portholes rather then outsides with tiny windows. Probably because the portholes are more like tubes from what I've read and not really much of a window to look out of. More to let some light in.

 

We'll have one in November on the Imagination. It will be my first "inside" cabin so I'm interested in checking it out.

[A&Jfamily]

I am not sure the Cat 11 is worth it...now the Cat 12, that is a totally different thing and the way to travel on the Fantasy class ships.

[jettasmom]

We where on the Fantasy last year in December. While we didn't have a cat 11 room. We could see the balconies when walking on the deck. The last day at sea my DH and I went for a morning walk to watch the sun rise. I looked up and saw a gentleman sitting in his bathrobe on his cat 11 balconey. I can guarantee that the only view he had was of us. The boats stacked in front of his balconey made it impossible for him to see the ocean.

 

I think he was a little embarrassed when he realized that people on the deck below him could see him.

 

I'd save my money for other things. We'll be back on the Fantasy in March and can't wait.

[apples1996]

I think we will just pay the tiny difference and move to an oceanview. Looking at ship layout it appears the lifeboats are right there and I wouldn't want to pay to stare out a lifeboat.

 

Thanks to all.

Sharon

[CanWeGoYet?]

I was in a cat 12 on the Imagination recently - the cabin was decent sized but not huge. A little larger than the size of a standard hotel room at a howard johnson. There was a pole in the room, but the walk in closet was nice & spacious. The bathroom was small I thought, not as small as in the standard ship cabins but not large or plush by any means. The suite my parents had on the Pride was so much nicer, really no comparison. We got a great deal on the suite by booking early, the price nearly doubled close to sailing. I think the suite was fine for what we payed, but to me it would not be worth a lot more.

[bonniemari]

Cat 11 on Fantasy-not worth it.

 

If you can go with the Cat 12-it is well worth the money for 3 people in a cabin.

[bean-si]

in Dec. '08, I was in V3 ( cat. 11) on the Fascination...loved the location, and the roomier room :) balcony was so tiny we had to turn chairs sideways, so both of us could sit. also going forward from our cabin, ther was an almost deserted deck..what a view. We had no lifeboats in our way, and could actually look down into the bridge...we also got priority departure from the ship, and and priority boarding. very very nice. having sailed with and without a balcony, I will never sail without one again. I like to smell the sea air, have some quiet at times, and watch the ocean.