Dawn vs. Jewel

[Family Travel Story]

Italian restaurant now costs $15 per person.

 

Oh well, it's still a great deal for the great outdoors. Nothing like a decent meal al fresco.

[Ron_L]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

 

I think we've narrowed it down to the Jewel out of New Orleans on Dec 8th. I'm just waiting for my wife to agree :D

 

As I'm reading reviews for the various NCL ships it seems like most people are sailing in suites or penthouse cabins. There is no way we can afford those. The Ocean View cabins seem small (161 sq. ft. vs. 185 sq ft. for our cabin on the Breeze). Will we be disappointed in an OV? A Balcony is within reach, but I'm concerned about the motion higher up in the ship.

 

Also, are there perks for the higher priced cabins that make them a better value?

[jlacy1987]

Thanks for the input, everyone!

 

I think we've narrowed it down to the Jewel out of New Orleans on Dec 8th. I'm just waiting for my wife to agree :D

 

As I'm reading reviews for the various NCL ships it seems like most people are sailing in suites or penthouse cabins. There is no way we can afford those. The Ocean View cabins seem small (161 sq. ft. vs. 185 sq ft. for our cabin on the Breeze). Will we be disappointed in an OV? A Balcony is within reach, but I'm concerned about the motion higher up in the ship.

 

Also, are there perks for the higher priced cabins that make them a better value?

 

Our first cruise was on Spirit in an OV cabin. It was 157 sq ft, compared to 161 on Dawn and Jewel. For the two of us, it was perfectly comfortable. I've attached pictures of it. If you are concerned about motion, try picking a cabin that's in the middle of the ship. We chose Deck 8 Mid. We had never sailed before and had no idea if we would be seasick or not. We only felt rocking one night and that was because of rough seas. And even with that, neither of us felt sick.

[Demonyte]

As I'm reading reviews for the various NCL ships it seems like most people are sailing in suites or penthouse cabins.

 

That is just an illusion because first of all the number of suites is a small fraction of all cabins on the ship. :D Secondly the suites might seem to be everyones choice of cabin as they to generate much discussion about the perks and people are asking often how to do this and that when having had booked their first suite after numerous cruises in lower cabin categories.

 

I personally know of some members here that do at least five cruises a year, usually book a lower class to begin with and then upgrade if they'll get a good deal closer to the cruise - many times they end up cruising in the original cat but sometimes they score high and get upgraded to a suite for very little $$$ after price drops before the cruise that hasn't been selling that well. While these kind of nice people are active here on the forums, they do not write reviews. Also majority of the passengers onboard do not even know about CC's existence.

 

Will we be disappointed in an OV? A Balcony is within reach, but I'm concerned about the motion higher up in the ship.

 

Also, are there perks for the higher priced cabins that make them a better value?

 

If you have the right attitude to begin with, I don't think that you will be disappointed in any cabin. The experience will mostly be what you make of it. Many cabins will be on the smaller side but that hasn't stopped thousands of passengers having absolutely amazing cruise experiences before. :) Personally I'd go for the balcony for just the possibility of fresh air and sounds of ocean.

 

For our next two cruises that are 1 night apart, we have a fwd balcony for the Epic and mid ship obstructed OV for the Pearl and to be honest, I'm looking forward to the Pearl cruise more because I know that I love that ship and I'll manage just fine without balcony on her.

 

Only "real" suites (cat codes with a first letter 'S') have special perks, for all other cabin classes the difference between same category groups is the cabin placement and in some cases the bed configuration and/or connecting door to the cabin next door.

[Ron_L]

That is just an illusion because first of all the number of suites is a small fraction of all cabins on the ship. :D Secondly the suites might seem to be everyones choice of cabin as they to generate much discussion about the perks and people are asking often how to do this and that when having had booked their first suite after numerous cruises in lower cabin categories.

 

I personally know of some members here that do at least five cruises a year, usually book a lower class to begin with and then upgrade if they'll get a good deal closer to the cruise - many times they end up cruising in the original cat but sometimes they score high and get upgraded to a suite for very little $$$ after price drops before the cruise that hasn't been selling that well. While these kind of nice people are active here on the forums, they do not write reviews. Also majority of the passengers onboard do not even know about CC's existence.

 

Yeah, I understand all of that. I would love a low cost upgrade but I cant count on that so I want to be sure that we'll be happy where we are just in case.

 

If you have the right attitude to begin with, I don't think that you will be disappointed in any cabin. The experience will mostly be what you make of it. Many cabins will be on the smaller side but that hasn't stopped thousands of passengers having absolutely amazing cruise experiences before. :) Personally I'd go for the balcony for just the possibility of fresh air and sounds of ocean.

 

For our next two cruises that are 1 night apart, we have a fwd balcony for the Epic and mid ship obstructed OV for the Pearl and to be honest, I'm looking forward to the Pearl cruise more because I know that I love that ship and I'll manage just fine without balcony on her.

 

Only "real" suites (cat codes with a first letter 'S') have special perks, for all other cabin classes the difference between same category groups is the cabin placement and in some cases the bed configuration and/or connecting door to the cabin next door.

 

We loved the cove balcony on the Breeze and I would grab a balcony again in an instant. Right now it's over $200 per person to go from an OV to a balcony and I'd rather spend that on drinks, excursions, specialty restaurants, etc.

 

Thanks for all of your help!

[Ron_L]

Our first cruise was on Spirit in an OV cabin. It was 157 sq ft, compared to 161 on Dawn and Jewel. For the two of us, it was perfectly comfortable. I've attached pictures of it. If you are concerned about motion, try picking a cabin that's in the middle of the ship. We chose Deck 8 Mid. We had never sailed before and had no idea if we would be seasick or not. We only felt rocking one night and that was because of rough seas. And even with that, neither of us felt sick.

 

Thanks for the pics!

[Ron_L]

Thanks for all of the information, gang! We just booked the Jewel Western Caribbean out of New Orleans for December 8th, 2013! We took advantage of the current promos and booked a port hole and received an upgrade to a mis hip ocean view on deck 5, some OBC and 50% reduced deposit.

 

I have a lot to learn about NCL, so expect more questions. :rolleyes: