The "Suite" Life - Dawn Review - 9/2/11

[biker@sea]

Thanks for the Great review.

Glad you had a good time.:)

[Oville]

Thanks for the review, it was great. We're off on the Dawn this Friday and hope the Virginia you are have written about is the same concierge we've had many times on the Sky out of Miami. She is such a sweetheart!

[Oville]

Thanks for the great review. We are doing this cruise Friday and hope Virginia is the same concierge we've had in the past on the Sky. She is such a sweetheart!:)

 

Just curious, was Cagney's opened for lunch and breakfast when you were in port? I doubt we'll have lunch, but breakfast would be nice.

 

One last question, is this something new that you can order room service from the specialty restaurants? Perhaps we've done it before, just can't remember.

[Oville]

Thanks for the great review. We are doing this cruise Friday and hope Virginia is the same concierge we've had in the past on the Sky. She is such a sweetheart!:)

 

Just curious, was Cagney's opened for lunch and breakfast when you were in port? I doubt we'll have lunch, but breakfast would be nice.

 

One last question, is this something new that you can order room service from the specialty restaurants? Perhaps we've done it before, just can't remember.

[mate]

Thanks for your very interesting review.

 

Do you know if the older suites were refurbished in the same style

as the new suites on deck 12?

 

Thanks

[mrclean1]

Just curious if you hear any noise from the pool area from partying such as the white hot party in the evening hours?

 

The white hot party is in Spinnaker's, so no where close. You can hear some of the music from the deck parties, but only if you are on the balcony, it was not really loud or annoying in any way...

[mrclean1]

Thanks so much for sharing, that was really nice and I enjoyed all the pictures! I leave a week from Friday, 2nd time NCL and 1st time Bermuda. Hope I get some nice scenes from my balcony!

 

You most certainly will.... Our itinerary was changed some due to Hurricane Katia, our early arrival in Bermuda allowed a beautiful view of the close in approach to the island and it's sunrise, yours likely will be in late morning, but still very nice. Our early departure from Bermuda caused us to laze around Cape Cod on our last day, affording us the rare opportunity to see some whales, as prior trips we passed that area in the dark. Watch for schools of flying fish, we saw many of those too...

[mrclean1]

great review............you mentioned quickly about 220 outlets bedside vs 110. Where there several 110 standard outlets through out the rest of the cabin and or is it advisable to bring a coverter. How many of each would you guess?

Thanks in advance.........

 

There was one in the bath I believe, and two or three at the desk area, there were enough of them, just in the wrong place for me:)

[mrclean1]

2boyzmom...

 

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away."

 

love your quote:D brings to mind another I've used in the past,

 

"I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead"

[mrclean1]

Thanks for the great review. We are doing this cruise Friday and hope Virginia is the same concierge we've had in the past on the Sky. She is such a sweetheart!:)

 

Just curious, was Cagney's opened for lunch and breakfast when you were in port? I doubt we'll have lunch, but breakfast would be nice.

 

One last question, is this something new that you can order room service from the specialty restaurants? Perhaps we've done it before, just can't remember.

 

Cagney's was open every day for breakfast and lunch, in port or at sea.

 

I don't think it is new, but I do think it is available to suites only, your butler, if he is half as good as Gian was, they will arrange everything

[mrclean1]

Thanks for your very interesting review.

 

Do you know if the older suites were refurbished in the same style

as the new suites on deck 12?

 

Thanks

 

I have friends that travel with us that are normally suite people, this trip was just the two of us, so I did not see any others and can't say. surely someone else will jump in with your answer.

[WMQueenie]

Love your review and thanks for your help! I called NCL last night and upgraded to a mini-suite for $100 and then they gave us $95 onboard credit because of a promotion going on now! :) So it only ended up costing $5 to go from a balcony to a mini.

 

Then my sister called her TA this morning and upgraded from an obstructed view to one of the new family suites (without a balcony). Her husband is in an electric wheelchair and the ONLY handicap room available was this one. So it was more than she wanted to spend but she is very excited to be in their first suite.

 

Now my question is...because they have suite privileges and we are just a mini - can we eat breakfast/lunch with them in Cagney's or do they have to go it alone...?? Poor them. :o

[fiftyguy]

Now my question is...because they have suite privileges and we are just a mini - can we eat breakfast/lunch with them in Cagney's or do they have to go it alone...?? Poor them. :o

 

The short answer is no. The suite perks are for suite passengers only. What they can do is have their butler serve all of you breakfast, or any meal, in their suite.

[WMQueenie]

The short answer is no. The suite perks are for suite passengers only. What they can do is have their butler serve all of you breakfast, or any meal, in their suite.

 

I kind of figured that would be the answer. Nice to know we can eat with them in the suite. Thanks for the reply!

[realcindylouwho]

MrClean, when you hosted your suite party, was there any cost associated with this (besides any alcohol expense.)? Did you give Gian a tip before or after this event, or include it at the end of the trip?

We've only cruised twice, but they have been in suites and would like to entertain in our suite during our November '11 Pearl cruise. Please excuse me if this is too personal of a question. I just want to be able to compensate our butler correctly for his/her service.

I would love to be able to take more than one cruise a year, since we do have the vacation time, but needing to fly in from the midwest, instead of a short drive that some have (jealous!), makes our travel cost quite high. We have decided to spend a bit more for a suite and max out our enjoyment and vacation expense this way. And the NCL suite perks are fantastic, love, love, love Cagneys!

[mrclean1]

Love your review and thanks for your help! I called NCL last night and upgraded to a mini-suite for $100 and then they gave us $95 onboard credit because of a promotion going on now! :) So it only ended up costing $5 to go from a balcony to a mini.

 

Then my sister called her TA this morning and upgraded from an obstructed view to one of the new family suites (without a balcony). Her husband is in an electric wheelchair and the ONLY handicap room available was this one. So it was more than she wanted to spend but she is very excited to be in their first suite.

 

Now my question is...because they have suite privileges and we are just a mini - can we eat breakfast/lunch with them in Cagney's or do they have to go it alone...?? Poor them. :o

 

It would be like fiftyguy says, I don't see how you could get into Cagney's though a butler served breakfast would be nice too:D but if Sis gets in tight with Virginia, who knows what might happen, they have a lot of discretion....

[mrclean1]

MrClean, when you hosted your suite party, was there any cost associated with this (besides any alcohol expense.)? Did you give Gian a tip before or after this event, or include it at the end of the trip?

 

We've only cruised twice, but they have been in suites and would like to entertain in our suite during our November '11 Pearl cruise. Please excuse me if this is too personal of a question. I just want to be able to compensate our butler correctly for his/her service.

 

I would love to be able to take more than one cruise a year, since we do have the vacation time, but needing to fly in from the midwest, instead of a short drive that some have (jealous!), makes our travel cost quite high. We have decided to spend a bit more for a suite and max out our enjoyment and vacation expense this way. And the NCL suite perks are fantastic, love, love, love Cagneys!

 

There was no additional charges for his set-up and tear-down, of course booze is your responsibility. He did ask if I thought I had enough on hand, and I thought I did, but he said if we needed more wine to just call him and he would immediately run it up. I did not tip him until the last night of the trip and factored all of his work through the week into it.

 

If you e-mail me privately I'll let you know how I figured it, don't want to post it here as I'll probably get flamed regardless of the amount.... I followed the guidelines of a friend who is a suite traveler (more than 8 times) and then added some more because I felt the service went above and beyond in every way.

[islandgirlejfan]

Good to see a picture of Gian! He was our butler on the Pearl two years ago! He is absolutely SOOOOO awesome! Virginia was our concierge on the Sky....good to hear she's still around. She was so helpful to us! :) Sounds like you had a fabulous time! :)

[criseshore]

Did you notice any noise from the pool area from deck music/parties at night?

[mrclean1]

Did you notice any noise from the pool area from deck music/parties at night?

 

No, there were times we could hear it, only with the balcony door open, and it never was bad.

[WMQueenie]

Hi MrClean1 ! My sister & her husband also had Gian for their butler and they LOVED him! He was so attentive to their every need. My BIL is paralyzed from a stroke, in a power wheelchair and can not speak. But he sure loved all the attention he got from Gian with his "Mr Tom! Mr Tom!" Gian went above the call of duty helping out when my sis needed assistance now and then.

 

They were the first ones to stay in suite 12032 - handicap accessible room with no balcony. They preferred no balcony as it makes Tom nervous for some reason. They were perfectly happy with the floor to ceiling windows! She did think there was a lot of noise from the floor above them when the lounge chairs were moved about late at night and early morning, but would stay in that suite again.

[mrclean1]

Glad to hear they hada great time!

[JMHAM1]

Loved your review. I always intend to write one and post it when I get back but I am always too busy playing catch up at work. It may also be because I am not looking forward to my cruise. I have a tendency not to hop on here until I have one booked.

 

Of course at this time I have TWO booked. I will also take a cue from you and do a daily outline while on board so it makes it easier to write once I return.

 

Looks like you had a wonderful time!

[Hamptonsailor]

Well Mrclean1,...I have to say a sincere THANKS to you for such an incredible review of your experience in the new SD suite. My wife and I are 5 time NCL cruisers now and this next one in January will be our second as "Penthouse Suite" passengers. We had a deposit holding our 8th floor Aft Suite with a few more days to decide if we wanted to go that route again or venture off to discover the new SD suites....not finding any info on the net, I found you here and it was like the review was written exactly for us! :)

 

Happily, we have given back our 8th floor Penthouse for the room next to yours for our Southern Caribe itinerary in Jan...we had an awesome experience on the 8th, dont get me wrong,....but 10 days, more space, everything NEW, for much much less???...are you kidding me?...of course we take the new SD's!....its like NCL has made a mistake with the pricing of these SD's for their Jan 15th sailing...we saved nearly 1500 switching!...other sailings have this room priced 800 more per person.

 

Question:

 

Did you happen to ask Gian how long he would be servicing the SD's on the Dawn?...we're hoping to have him this Jan....curious who our concierge will be as well...

 

Thanks again,...this decision (based on your review) has injected such a renewed enthusiasm for our upcoming holiday aboard the Dawn...our 3rd time aboard AND this itinerary! :D

[mrclean1]

Hamptonsailor, glad it helped you and you enjoyed it! I've gleaned much great info here at CC and am happy to give back. I think you made a great choice. I've heard a lot of buzz about deck 8 being really noisy at night with Horizen being moved to deck 7 aft.

 

Our 6th NCL adventure will be a 14 day on the Star in Oct. 2012, we are currently booked in a deck 11 mini, but also have a hold on a deck 10 aft suite, and are trying to decide now.... What is your sailing date?

 

Mary Lee and I usually book our trips spur of the moment, at the last minute. We spend a great deal of time in South florida in the winter and are talking about taking the Dawn sometime mid January to late February, you never know, we may see you aboard. Oct. 2012 is a long time to wait to cruise.....:D

 

Steve