Jewel Owner's Suite-Deck 9 or 10?

[albertamom]

Hi everyone! We have never cruised before, but I can't stop reading these boards and looking at the NCL website. I love the look of the owner's suites, and am wondering what you would suggest regarding Deck 9 vs. Deck 10.

 

Deck 9 is that much further from the Courtyard, but did I read somewhere that on Deck 10 you must keep your drapes closed at night so that the light from the cabin doesn't interefere with the bridge crew right above you?

 

Thanks in advance for your help, and any additional info. that you may have about these beautiful suites!:)

[2inTul]

Hi everyone! We have never cruised before, but I can't stop reading these boards and looking at the NCL website. I love the look of the owner's suites, and am wondering what you would suggest regarding Deck 9 vs. Deck 10.

 

Deck 9 is that much further from the Courtyard, but did I read somewhere that on Deck 10 you must keep your drapes closed at night so that the light from the cabin doesn't interefere with the bridge crew right above you?

 

Thanks in advance for your help, and any additional info. that you may have about these beautiful suites!:)

 

The OS on deck 10 is slightly larger than the one on deck 9. The bathroom/dressing/closet area is arranged differently too and does not have the porthole window that the OS on deck 10 does.

[albertamom]

Thanks 2inTul! Interesting about the porthole. I saw a video on youtube which showed the porthole, and I loved it! Any idea about having to keep the drapes closed?

[Fishbait17]

You need to close your drapes in both deck 9 and deck 10 Owner's Suites and AC suites. Deck 10 OS's have a slightly different layout, with a "nook' for the dining table and a slightly smaller living room (because in deck 9 OS's the table is in one end of the living room next to a slider, so better dining "with a view"). The deck 10 bar is located in a different area and is quite a bit smaller than the one in deck 9. Bathrooms are about the same size, but the deck 10 suites have an extra "window" in the bathroom. The forward balcony is slightly smaller in the deck 10 suites. Although I like the layout of the deck 10 suites better, the deck 9 suites offer a bit more privacy from the bridge. On the side balcony of the deck 10 suites, you are directly behind and below the "bump out" observation area of the bridge, and there is a camera pointed down the side of the ship just above and in front of you (they can see the deck 9 side balcony as well, it's just not so "in your face"). The front balcony on the deck 9 suite offers a bit more "not visible from the bridge" space, due to angles of view. Both decks' suites have their good points, and you can't go wrong with either one - they are my favorite suites after the GV. BTW, the floorplan in NCL.com for the Jewel shows the deck 10 suite - imagine the deck 9 suite without the dining nook, but with a longer living room accomodating the table (and the bar against the interior wall rather than next to the sliders). The difference in the distance to the courtyard is negligible, just one more floor on the elevator, and a few more steps down the hall. Hope this helps!

 

Robin

[albertamom]

Thank you Robin! That's very comprehensive!

 

We have 2 kids, who will be 12 and 14 when we travel, and although we have looked at the family villas, I really like the idea of having the two balconies, and a little more living space to spread out in. I assume that because the occupancy of the OS shows as 2-4, there is a sofa bed. We would also need a rollaway (son and daughter won't sleep together), but there definitely seems to be lots of room for that.

 

Does it bother you not being able to have your drapes open at night? Having never cruised before, I have no idea.

[Fishbait17]

Thank you Robin! That's very comprehensive!

 

We have 2 kids, who will be 12 and 14 when we travel, and although we have looked at the family villas, I really like the idea of having the two balconies, and a little more living space to spread out in. I assume that because the occupancy of the OS shows as 2-4, there is a sofa bed. We would also need a rollaway (son and daughter won't sleep together), but there definitely seems to be lots of room for that.

 

Does it bother you not being able to have your drapes open at night? Having never cruised before, I have no idea.

 

The drapes issue never bothered me - the steward closes them when he does the turndown just like in any other cabin, and you will likely never notice. You might doublecheck that the particular cabin/ship/sailing you are looking at actually offers these accomodations for four, as some of the ships have not converted yet (with the sofabed replacement). Also, keep in mind that when you make coffee in the morning, etc, you will be waking up your children sleeping in the living room - this bothers some people but not others. Plus, you will only have one bathroom and one closet while getting ready, showering, etc (you do have an extra very tiny 1/2 bath). We had our children in the adjoining AC suite and balcony cabins. On our next sailing with my MIL, we have chosen the A3 (S4) Family Villa for the privacy factor, so she would have her own space for showering, dressing, etc.

 

Just for fun, you can compare the two layouts by looking at the "360 Virtual Tour"s on the NCL site. The Jewel's 360 tour of the OS living room shows a deck 10 suite. The Jade's 360 tour of the OS living room shows a deck 9 suite.

 

Robin

[albertamom]

Awesome! Thank you! I'll check it right now!