Help My Mom: Valor 7 Day - OV Suite (OS)or Aft Wrap (9C) $200 Difference

[wmjrdn4ever]

Hello

 

We booked a 7 Night West Caribbean cruise on Carnival Valor in September 2011. My wife, 3 year old son and I are in Aft Balcony Verandah 8450. My mom and dad booked the Aft Wrap Balcony right next door - cabin 8448.

 

My mom and dad are in their early 70s and my mother has mobility issues.

 

They have cruised a lot -- the past several times on Royal Caribbean -- but have not cruised since spring 2008.

 

They are considering moving from the 9C Aft Wrap on the Verandah deck to an OS Ocean View Suite midship on the Empress Deck. The total difference in cost between the two cabins is $200: $1009 pp vs $909 pp.

 

A few considerations --

 

My mother will spend most of her relaxing and down time on her balcony. She will eat breakfast there.

 

My entire family is coming on the cruise -- my parents, my immediate family, my sister and her two kids, my brother and his wife and two kids.

 

On Royal suite guests have reserved areas at the shows and can get special consideration for tender boarding - essentially jumping the line. Is there something similar on Carnival?

 

On Royal suite guests have priority boarding -- again jumping the line. Same on Carnival?

 

If my mother and father are in a suite and have priority boarding, will my wife and I be able to board with them since we are just in an aft balcony 8N?

 

My mother can walk; she has a lot of trouble standing still and waiting in lines.

 

If this is the case, the $200 seems like a bargain for her. She is not considering the junior suite because of the small balcony. The aft wrap balcony has a 75 sf balcony and the ocean view suite has a 65 sf balcony. The wrap is 185 sf inside, the suite is 275 sf inside.

 

If the line jumping perks are not available on Carnival, what does your experience say -- is the suite so much nicer and larger than the aft wrap that its worth $200 total to just have a suite?

 

Moving to a Grand Suite would cost almost $1600 more total which is more than they realistically can spend.

 

I have never cruised on Carnival or in a suite on any line. My mom thinks she was on a Bahamas cruise on Carnival and a cruise to nowhere on Carnival in the early 90s, but doesn't remember the line for certain.

 

What are your thoughts? Personally I am leaning toward her taking the suite just for the room.

 

Thanks!

[k2excursion]

Only because of your mom's mobility issues, I might give a slight edge to going with the suite, because of the VIP thing. The aft wrap balcony would be better than the suite balcony, because of the back and side views on one balcony. (Keep in mind, also, that the balcony dividers between your 2 balconies can be opened up to make for an even bigger balcony.) The inside part of the suite would be so much bigger though. Still, 185 sq.ft. is bigger than Royal's basic rooms, at around 160. I'm not sure how much of an advantage a 275 sq.ft. room would be for your mom. It depends on whether she feels she needs that extra space.

 

Guests booked in suites are considered VIP. They get express embarkation and debarkation. If you have tendered ports, they get to jump right on the next tender once they're ready (there is somewhere special they have to go, but that shouldn't be tough to figure out). VIPs do not have reserved seats at the shows (or, if they do, they must not be in very good spots). Technically, only the guests booked in the suite are VIP, so you wouldn't get express boarding with them. I know that I didn't get it when I cruised with friends that were in a suite. But, it never hurts to ask when you get there.

[wmjrdn4ever]

Thanks -- similar "line jumping" options it sounds. She has a permanent handicapped license plate so she wondered if that would help with avoiding lines.

 

I think the suite is a good option.

 

Didn't realize though that out aft balcony and their aft wrap balcony could be opened to make an even bigger run. I had understood that the wrap to the first aft could not open. I don't have anything certain though.

[nybumpkin]

We've had both a suite and an aft wrap. The balcony with 8448 is the largest balcony on the ship - if your mom really enjoys balconies, she'll love this one. And if you'd like to do a family gathering on the balcony, 8448 will fit everyone. (Just a note - the divider between 8448 and 8450 does not open. We had those two cabins booked on Conquest.) The ocean view suite's balcony is 1 1/2 times the size of a regular category 8 balcony - much smaller than 8448's balcony.

 

However, if the cabin size is important, the suite is much larger and gives you more room to move around. 8448 is an odd-shaped cabin given its location, but it doesn't sound like your mom's mobility issues would be a problem in this cabin.

 

Passengers booked in suites do get VIP embarkation (although on our cruise last week, the VIP embarkation was so bad that people were getting through the regular lines faster than us). As I understand, however, they do not get priority for tenders unless they're Platinum passengers. I have never seen reserved seating in the main lounge except for disabled passengers.

[wmjrdn4ever]

Thanks for the replies -- like a lot of things, you give something to get something. It was my thought that the 8448 and 8450 dividers could not open -- not sure but I thought I had "heard" that.

[k2excursion]

I don't know which balcony dividers don't open. I don't know where people find that information, but I've heard that some don't open. I just never know which ones. This is the first time I've heard of one that doesn't though. I wonder why Carnival doesn't have that option on every divider.

 

A note on the tendering: for Grand Cayman, it doesn't really matter too much. We're not platinum, but were able to jump right on a tender pretty quickly. We were off the ship within 30 minutes. For Belize, however, if you don't have a Carnival excursion booked, you'd need to wait until all Carnival excursions have been tendered in. That could take a couple hours. The tender ride is extremely long there (while Grand Cayman's tender ride is extremely short). Fortunately, there isn't really much standing around in line. You get a number in the main lounge, then sit and wait for it to be called. (That's how it was done for us there.) Still, for me, next time I stop at Belize, I think I'll make it a "ship-all-to-myself" day. I'm just assuming that you're taking the cruise that stops at these 2, since you were asking about tendering.

[Rosefloater]

 

Guests booked in suites are considered VIP. They get express embarkation and debarkation. If you have tendered ports, they get to jump right on the next tender once they're ready (there is somewhere special they have to go, but that shouldn't be tough to figure out). VIPs do not have reserved seats at the shows (or, if they do, they must not be in very good spots). Technically, only the guests booked in the suite are VIP, so you wouldn't get express boarding with them. I know that I didn't get it when I cruised with friends that were in a suite. But, it never hurts to ask when you get there.

 

Suite guests only get VIP boarding at embarkation and debarkation. That is it. Only Platinum guests get priority tendering.

 

According to goccl: Suite Guests also get guaranteed dining choice.

 

* Suite and Platinum guests will be guaranteed their dining choice.

* Suite and Platinum guests may also confirm dining for three additional cabins.

* If their preferred dining is closed, their request will be entered into the system as a waitlist.

[gail811]

Not sure of the extent of your mothers mobility issues, but keep in mind that the suites have a bathtub/shower combo.They do have grab bars, but a walk in shower may be easier for her. The balcony on the 9C is MUCH larger. I have cruised with my sister (a stroke survivor) and she needs a wheelchair from time to time. Tendering was never a problem; Carnival took great care of her at each port. No VIP boarding, but Carnival assisted us from the moment we got to the terminal until we walked on board.

Check cruisedeckplans.com to see if your dividers open; most likely they do. We have had aft wraps on this class ship and opened ours.

[wmjrdn4ever]

I don't know which balcony dividers don't open. I don't know where people find that information, but I've heard that some don't open. I just never know which ones. This is the first time I've heard of one that doesn't though. I wonder why Carnival doesn't have that option on every divider.

 

A note on the tendering: for Grand Cayman, it doesn't really matter too much. We're not platinum, but were able to jump right on a tender pretty quickly. We were off the ship within 30 minutes. For Belize, however, if you don't have a Carnival excursion booked, you'd need to wait until all Carnival excursions have been tendered in. That could take a couple hours. The tender ride is extremely long there (while Grand Cayman's tender ride is extremely short). Fortunately, there isn't really much standing around in line. You get a number in the main lounge, then sit and wait for it to be called. (That's how it was done for us there.) Still, for me, next time I stop at Belize, I think I'll make it a "ship-all-to-myself" day. I'm just assuming that you're taking the cruise that stops at these 2, since you were asking about tendering.

 

Yes Belize, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Roatan.

[wmjrdn4ever]

Suite guests only get VIP boarding at embarkation and debarkation. That is it. Only Platinum guests get priority tendering.

 

According to goccl: Suite Guests also get guaranteed dining choice.

 

* Suite and Platinum guests will be guaranteed their dining choice.

* Suite and Platinum guests may also confirm dining for three additional cabins.

* If their preferred dining is closed, their request will be entered into the system as a waitlist.

 

Interesting.

[Rosefloater]

Interesting.

 

Yep. I never knew this until I looked up what else Suite guests might get besides priority embarkation and debarkation.

 

Guess it's true - you DO learn something new everyday!:D

[KruznKel]

Hello

 

We booked a 7 Night West Caribbean cruise on Carnival Valor in September 2011. My wife, 3 year old son and I are in Aft Balcony Verandah 8450. My mom and dad booked the Aft Wrap Balcony right next door - cabin 8448.

 

My mom and dad are in their early 70s and my mother has mobility issues.

 

They have cruised a lot -- the past several times on Royal Caribbean -- but have not cruised since spring 2008.

 

They are considering moving from the 9C Aft Wrap on the Verandah deck to an OS Ocean View Suite midship on the Empress Deck. The total difference in cost between the two cabins is $200: $1009 pp vs $909 pp.

 

A few considerations --

 

My mother will spend most of her relaxing and down time on her balcony. She will eat breakfast there.

 

My entire family is coming on the cruise -- my parents, my immediate family, my sister and her two kids, my brother and his wife and two kids.

 

On Royal suite guests have reserved areas at the shows and can get special consideration for tender boarding - essentially jumping the line. Is there something similar on Carnival?

 

On Royal suite guests have priority boarding -- again jumping the line. Same on Carnival?

 

If my mother and father are in a suite and have priority boarding, will my wife and I be able to board with them since we are just in an aft balcony 8N?

 

My mother can walk; she has a lot of trouble standing still and waiting in lines.

 

If this is the case, the $200 seems like a bargain for her. She is not considering the junior suite because of the small balcony. The aft wrap balcony has a 75 sf balcony and the ocean view suite has a 65 sf balcony. The wrap is 185 sf inside, the suite is 275 sf inside.

 

If the line jumping perks are not available on Carnival, what does your experience say -- is the suite so much nicer and larger than the aft wrap that its worth $200 total to just have a suite?

 

Moving to a Grand Suite would cost almost $1600 more total which is more than they realistically can spend.

 

I have never cruised on Carnival or in a suite on any line. My mom thinks she was on a Bahamas cruise on Carnival and a cruise to nowhere on Carnival in the early 90s, but doesn't remember the line for certain.

 

What are your thoughts? Personally I am leaning toward her taking the suite just for the room.

 

Thanks!

 

As you can see from this pic.. Conquest and Valor same class of ship the partition does not open it is a metal bulk head... also consider it is a long walk back to the aft of the ship.. and they do allow disabled people priority boarding as well..

 

[wmjrdn4ever]

Not sure if it matters but its my pet peeve to have someone ask a question, get responses and then never let me know what the resolution is!

 

So my mother did the upgrade and booked Oceanview suite 7282. I think she will like the extra room.

 

And my wife is kind of strangely happy they are not right next door to us anymore.

[Fun, Fun 44]

Let Carnival before you cruise your Mother has a difficult time standing and they will have a wheelchair for her. You won't be able to keep during the cruise, but use it to get on/off the ship.

Kat