Lost our Aft Balcony!

[bklsmom]

Last week we booked a Christmas cruise on the Star. My DH wanted an aft balcony, and our NCL vacation Planner sold us an aft balcony on deck 8. I even made sure to ask him if there was anything above or below us that would cause any noise. He told us above us was only other cabins and below us was the on board shops. OK, so we booked it. The next day I was reading on the boards of people complaining about the noise in the deck 8 aft cabins on the Star, from the recent moving of the Spinnaker lounge to the aft on deck 7. I called my vacation planner at NCL, to inquire why he said there were shops below me, when in fact it was now Spinnaker Lounge? He said on "his" deck plans, it shows the shops????? First, why would NCL not update the deck plans for their vacation planners that are selling staterooms to customers? Well, I asked to be moved to deck 10 aft, and was told that there were no more aft cabins available. Hmmm, I was on NCL site, and acted like I was going to book a cruise on this sailing and 3 aft choices came up???? I asked him about this and he said sorry they are all booked. So we had to settle for a balcony mid ship on deck 10. My question, is there a big difference in balcony size from the aft to standard balcony? We've only ever sailed HA (inside), Carnival and Costa. I know on Carnival there was a BIG difference in balcony sizes. Our daughter, who lives in Hong Kong, will be joining us on the Christmas cruise and I'm a bit worried about the 3 of us being able to enjoy the standard balcony with enough room?

[slcreads]

I don't know the answer on the specific balcony size on the aft deck 8 cabins vs the the deck 10 mid-ship balconies. But I have a couple suggestions for you. Since your cruise is still 10 months out, just go ahead and book online one of the deck 10 aft cabins. I think you can make the reservation and put the cabin on hold for 24 hours. Then call into the NCL reservation number and have your deposit transferred over from your other reservation and cancel that reservation. If you can book the aft cabin online, then you have it. The other suggestion would be to research the particular aft deck 8 cabin you current have on these boards. I have seen posts that some of the deck 8 aft cabins are not directly under the Spinnaker Lounge and don't have the noise problem.

 

I hope you can get this worked out and get the cabin you want!

[medicalma'am]

We just sailed the Star in an aft balcony Jan. 27th. YES they are about twice the size of a regular balcony and make the room seem much larger visually. One of my sisters was in a regular balcony and the difference was amazing. The aft balconies are highly sought ofter and the first to go! We have booked a Jan. 2013 on the Star and half of them were already taken (we needed two next to each other).

 

It could be that one of the online vacation sites has purchased those rooms and that is why NCL cannot book them. You could check that out.

[medicalma'am]

Just a note about the deck 10 aft balconies: the noise from the 'bubbles' on the lounger hot tub on deck 11 can be heard from 10230. We were in that cabin and were aware of it being turned on and off. It was not a TERRIBLE noise, but we were aware of it. The terrible part was on Thursday night when the water was a bit rough, at 3 am we heard the chairs up there being moved around and mopping going on. We even heard the mop bucket roll across the floor as the ship rocked, as if left unattended. I don't know if this was a weekly thing or if the water had splashed out of the lap pool.

[MMMD]

First of all I'd book the cruise by myself if I was having trouble with a TA or NCL PCC.

 

If you go to the NCL website you can see all the deck plans and exactly what is above or below you. Did you look at the site yourself? Don't rely on anyone else, look yourself.

 

I booked a first cruise from the site and only got a PCC when I had a few other questions.

 

You can book a 'fake' cabin just to see what is available and if you like where its located book it for real and cancel the other.

 

Deck 10 aft balcony's are deeper, but 4 people can sit on a regular balcony and still enjoy it. Not with a lounge chair, but a regular chair.

 

Hope you have a nice cruise no matter what kind of balcony you have. Personally when we cruised for the first time In January on the Jewel, we had an AD on 10 with a deep balcony. Hardly ever went on it.

 

There were so many places to sit on the ship, both inside and out, that we didn't use our balcony for much more than taking pictures.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[JMHAM1]

Is the AFT balconies being larger only on the STAR? We are preparing to book a NCL cruise and always do a balcony and would love to have a large one. Let me know if it is just a unique feature for this ship or if all the AFT balconies are larger.

[patseacruiser]

10730 is available even on NCL's website so your PCC isn't very bright. Call back and tell him you want that cabin. And then look for a new PCC.

[medicalma'am]

Yes, JMHAM1, most aft balconies are larger. That is why they are fir first to go. Book WAY in advance to get one. They are also in a category of their own and more expensive than a regular balcony.

[Susie51]

Thank you for the advice about aft balconies.

[garycarla]

Why trust the agent on the phone. Go to ncl.com and look at the deck plans yourself.

[slowroller62]

I'm booked on the 4/30/2011 on the Star in room 9732 and my balcony is very large it actually wraps around my room that is why those type of rooms book fast. Go on Ncl web site and you can get the dimensions of each type of balcony Also join NCL roll call on Cruise Critic.com and you will probably find others sailing on the same date as you and they can be very helpful. Also if you want to meet other people on your cruise join The Meet & Greet group.

[RNPJN]

Last week we booked a Christmas cruise on the Star. My DH wanted an aft balcony, and our NCL vacation Planner sold us an aft balcony on deck 8. I even made sure to ask him if there was anything above or below us that would cause any noise. He told us above us was only other cabins and below us was the on board shops. OK, so we booked it. The next day I was reading on the boards of people complaining about the noise in the deck 8 aft cabins on the Star, from the recent moving of the Spinnaker lounge to the aft on deck 7. I called my vacation planner at NCL, to inquire why he said there were shops below me, when in fact it was now Spinnaker Lounge? He said on "his" deck plans, it shows the shops????? First, why would NCL not update the deck plans for their vacation planners that are selling staterooms to customers? Well, I asked to be moved to deck 10 aft, and was told that there were no more aft cabins available. Hmmm, I was on NCL site, and acted like I was going to book a cruise on this sailing and 3 aft choices came up???? I asked him about this and he said sorry they are all booked. So we had to settle for a balcony mid ship on deck 10. My question, is there a big difference in balcony size from the aft to standard balcony? We've only ever sailed HA (inside), Carnival and Costa. I know on Carnival there was a BIG difference in balcony sizes. Our daughter, who lives in Hong Kong, will be joining us on the Christmas cruise and I'm a bit worried about the 3 of us being able to enjoy the standard balcony with enough room?

aft bal. on deck 8 is not as big as on deck 10 call the lat. desk and ask for another pcc if you still show rooms in aft avail Deck 10 bal in aft are the largest. but the cabins are the same size as on the sides. Hope this helps

[terrymtex01]

Personally I would be done with the PCC. I don't know why the PCC didn't want to put you in a balcony on deck 10 Aft, but at this point I would not care. I would make sure I got one of those balcony staterooms before they were gone. Call into NCL reservations and ask for a supervisor to assist you if a regular rep cannot make the change for you. I would do what I had to do to make sure I got the cabin I wanted as long as they are available. This is your vacation.. not the PCC's.

[bklsmom]

Thank you everyone for the advise. I too am still showing on NCL site that a balcony on deck 10 is still available. Called my PCC yesterday to add another cabin for 2 more people (Inside) across the hall from our now, mid ship regular balcony. I again asked him to check on the deck 10 aft balcony that is still showing available on NCL web site and he still insisted it is not available???? I think I will take the advise of you all and get a new PCC and try and get the aft on deck 10 with a new inside across the hall from there!!! I did start a roll call for our Christmas Cruise and no one else has joined it yet, so looks like not many folks have booked this cruise yet so we may have the ship all to ourselves, LOL.....Anyway, thanks for so many comments and advise. CC is such a valuable resourse. Always use CC to read about our shore excursions we want to book and always do roll calls....Happy Sailing everyone!

[leekel619]

Thank you everyone for the advise. I too am still showing on NCL site that a balcony on deck 10 is still available. Called my PCC yesterday to add another cabin for 2 more people (Inside) across the hall from our now, mid ship regular balcony. I again asked him to check on the deck 10 aft balcony that is still showing available on NCL web site and he still insisted it is not available???? I think I will take the advise of you all and get a new PCC and try and get the aft on deck 10 with a new inside across the hall from there!!! I did start a roll call for our Christmas Cruise and no one else has joined it yet, so looks like not many folks have booked this cruise yet so we may have the ship all to ourselves, LOL.....Anyway, thanks for so many comments and advise. CC is such a valuable resourse. Always use CC to read about our shore excursions we want to book and always do roll calls....Happy Sailing everyone!

 

This caught my interest so I did my own research and as of right now, there's three aft balconies available for booking on that cruise (Dec 25)

 

Category: Balcony

 

10730 Deck 10 Aft

8676 Deck 08 Aft

8176 Deck 08 Aft

[jagergirl55]

The only aft balconies that are larger on the ship are on deck 10.... The balconies on decks 8 and 9 are barely any bigger than a regular balcony room. They are not "deep" at all and just as wide as your regular cabin. The balconies on deck 10 are about twice as deep as the aft balconies on decks 8 and 9. The standard balcony will be pretty snug with 3 people, it only has 2 chairs, and can't really accomodate much more. IMO if you are able to upgrade to a mini suite, the balconies are twice as deep, and have a lot more room. Also, the pull out couch is a full size, and not a smaller one. Alot more room than a standard balcony. They are basically a larger balcony room.

 

The suites on deck 10 are much larger than the balconies on decks 8 and 9. We've been in suites 9232 9236 and the balconies are not deep at all. You can only have the lounger go long wise on the balcony because it is not deep enough for it to be straight out. Suite 9232 is nice tho, because it wraps around, but it's a very narrow walkway and the rest of the balcony is narrow too. Is it very nice for the view tho.

[rsinj]

I too am still showing on NCL site that a balcony on deck 10 is still available. Called my PCC yesterday to add another cabin for 2 more people (Inside) across the hall from our now, mid ship regular balcony. I again asked him to check on the deck 10 aft balcony that is still showing available on NCL web site and he still insisted it is not available???? I think I will take the advise of you all and get a new PCC and try and get the aft on deck 10 with a new inside across the hall from there!!!

 

If you see that it is available on the website, then I don't understand why you just don't book/hold it? Then call and tell them to switch you.

 

I just went on the site, was one button click away from putting a hold on 10730 - there is no payment/deposit required to hold it for 24 hours.

 

What are you waiting for if that's what you really want?

 

7-Day Western Caribbean Round-trip Tampa

Ship: Norwegian Star

 

Embarkation port: Tampa

 

Embarkation: Dec 25, 2011

 

Disembarkation: Jan 1, 2012

 

Ports of call: Tampa; Roatan; Belize City; Costa Maya; Cozumel

 

 

Total Price: $2,778.24

USD 2778.24

Number of guests: 2

 

...., Howard

...., ......

 

Stateroom type: B1

 

Stateroom: 10730

 

Cruise Deposit$500.00

Payment Due:

Feb 28, 2011 02:43 PM ET

 

...or you can request a courtesy hold.

 

We will store your vacation selections so that you can return later to complete your reservation. We will hold this information for you until the deposit due date shown above. To complete your reservation, visit the My NCL section of our website, select the reservation from your list of cruises and select "Make Payment".

 

Hold My Request

 

 

Howard

[Sauer-kraut]

The standard balcony will be pretty snug with 3 people, it only has 2 chairs, and can't really accomodate much more.

 

On the SUN we had 3 adults in the port side balcony cabin, it really wasn't tight at all, we just sat on our beds. There were 3 chairs on the balcony waiting for us when we first entered and there was still room for the small table, but it was very rare that all 3 of us were out there at one time.

[bklsmom]

OK everyone, now I'm really confused:confused: I just called NCL, and asked about that aft balcony on deck 10, and was told it was not available. Then when I said on the web site it is showing it is available, they stated that if I wanted to book it that way I could, but if once I booked it, it wasn't available they would put us in another aft balcony of their choice....which would be on deck 8, one of the original ones we had booked:( Is this a Ploy by NCL to get people to book the aft, and then NCL change it to deck 8 aft?

Yesterday we called our PCC at NCL and booked another room, inside room, adding another person to our reservation, and moving our daughter out of our room and into the inside room with my mother in law. So although I'm a bit taken back by the aft cabin situation, I guess we are ok with the mid ship balcony and an inside cabin across the hall from us. However, being our first NCL cruise, (we are platinum with Carnival) it's not sitting well with me. I know I will love the cruise, how can you not, just not a good start with NCL.

[rikatine]

I have booked all my cabins online at the NCL website with noooooo problem. No need for a PCC runaround.

[Mishelle427]

This is my first experience with NCL and I must say I had a problem with the PCC. I booked an aft penthouse suite on Pearl for April and was told it was handicap but I was not told just how much the room is different than the other penthouse suites. All PCC said was the doorways were wider, no tub and handrails in bathroom. Thank goodness for this site. I found lots of posts and pics of that room and it was horrible. I tried to switch the room with my PCC within 48 hrs of booking and she said no can do. She pretty much said too bad you are stuck with it. I called a supervisor and switched to a mini suite and got money back. I will never use a PCC again.

 

Call a supervisor...they will help.

[cooncat_mom]

We're doing our first NCL on the beleagered Dawn (after the drydock!) and I wasn't impressed with the PCC's either. I do most of the research and usually book online (have been lucky with PCC's on Carnival - got some knowledgable ones), did everything myself for RCI, and used a PCC for NCL since I wanted to link bookings and couldn't figure out how to do that on the website. The PCC put the other folks in whatever room came up and was surprised that I had an actual plan for where our traveling companions should be! He managed to not link our bookings, and subsequently when I called to change cabins for a Deck 10 Aft PH that suddeny became available, could not figure out why I wanted to change since I had a balcony already! I called late at night and talked to a different PCC...and am sailing in that Deck 10 Aft. If the poor Dawn can't go anywhere still, I will simply SIT on my aft balcony and stare at Boston Harbor with a drink in my hand! :D

I do think it's easier without a PCC....

[Music City]

Yes' date=' JMHAM1, most aft balconies are larger. That is why they are fir first to go. Book WAY in advance to get one. They are also in a category of their own and more expensive than a regular balcony.[/quote']

 

Aft-Facing Balcony cabins (Category B-1) and Mid-Ship Balcony cabins (Category BA) are the same size, 166 square feet, but the balcony itself is larger on the Aft-Facing cabins.

[cndycruiser]

Aft-Facing Balcony cabins (Category B-1) and Mid-Ship Balcony cabins (Category BA) are the same size, 166 square feet, but the balcony itself is larger on the Aft-Facing cabins.

 

Why does the website show balcony cabins (in general) at 203 square feet? where did you come up with the 166 square feet? I am speaking of the Star btw

[Music City]

Why does the website show balcony cabins (in general) at 203 square feet? where did you come up with the 166 square feet? I am speaking of the Star btw

 

That is the total square feet including the balcony (166+37=203).

 

Pull up a cruise itinerary at ncl.com, select a category and when the list of available cabins appears, click on the cabin number. A box will appear with the square footage along with a general picture and some other information.