Ocean Suite Splurge

[Mother27]

I recently decided to splurge and upgraded our cabin from a balcony to an Ocean Suite on the Radiance in September. I've seen several OS suite video reviews and am excited with the larger bathroom and spa tub. Are there any other "perks" associated with a suite booking? I think I read (can't remember where) that suites include priority embarkation and debarkation. Is that "for real"? :) Is there anything else I can look forward to?

 

DH's health is not what it used to be and this is likely our "last big fling" before we settle into pottering around the house, so I'm trying to make this experience truly memorable.

 

One other thing: I may have found the last remaining starboard suite. Since we're cruising out of NYC, I wanted to make sure to have a ring-side view of the Statue of Liberty as we sail away. Will we be able to view from our starboard balcony?

 

Thanks!

[SDPadreFan]

We thought about getting a suite for next years Hawaii cruise on the Miracle. Over the course of 8 sea days we thought it would be nice to have the extra space. In the end, we decided against it. We were able to score one of the Premium Balcony's on Miracle (# 6277). It's actually supposed to be 230 sq ft plus an over sized balcony so just a little smaller than a Suite (mostly in the bathroom area I think). For a 15 day cruise it ended up being @ 1200 dollars less and we can spend some of that savings on excursions, the steak house, and a few glasses of wine.

 

I think in your situation, you made the right choice.

[kahcruising]

The extra room is so nice to have! If you can afford it, I think that you will really enjoy it. I will add, since you mentioned that your husband is experiencing some declining health, the shower is a tub/shower combo so you have to climb in it like you would a tub. Having the extra room in the bathroom is fantastic though. I hope you have a wonderful cruise!!!

[eastoftheboston]

I didn't take advantage of priority debarkation, but you do get priority embarkation, there's a shorter security line and (at least in Miami) you wait in a separate room with more comfortable chairs and water etc before you board. And you board before general boarding.

 

I was in an OS on the Victory/Radiance and loved it. The bathroom space alone is worth the upgrade, but it's nice in general to have room to move around. 

Also, I have no idea if this feature was in regular cabins too, but when you got up at night, there were motion-activated night lights on the floor so you could find your way to the bathroom without banging into things or turning the lights on. 

[mexicobob]

3 hours ago, eastoftheboston said:

I didn't take advantage of priority debarkation, but you do get priority embarkation, there's a shorter security line and (at least in Miami) you wait in a separate room with more comfortable chairs and water etc before you board. And you board before general boarding.

 

I was in an OS on the Victory/Radiance and loved it. The bathroom space alone is worth the upgrade, but it's nice in general to have room to move around. 

Also, I have no idea if this feature was in regular cabins too, but when you got up at night, there were motion-activated night lights on the floor so you could find your way to the bathroom without banging into things or turning the lights on. 

Have never seen motion activated night lights in a suite or elsewhere. Something new? Maybe not on all ships? Sounds great though. We usually leave the bathroom light on and the door cracked.

[tlreze]

Starboard is the correct side to view statue of liberty out of NYC

 

Suite  perks are priority embarkation, priority debarkation, VIP check in, priority reservations at specialty restaurants, shore excursions and spa, two extra large bottles of water in your stateroom, and one bag of laundry.

Edited February 11, 2020 by tlreze

[Mother27]

Thanks everyone!

[Aplmac]

14 hours ago, tlreze said:

Starboard IS the correct side to view statue of liberty out of NYC

 

And here she is... on our Starboard side as we sailed away!

 

May you have the same perfect weather we had

back in October 2011!

 

[Mother27]

Terrific! Beautiful pics! Fingers crossed for the same beautiful weather.

[eastoftheboston]

18 hours ago, mexicobob said:

Have never seen motion activated night lights in a suite or elsewhere. Something new? Maybe not on all ships? Sounds great though. We usually leave the bathroom light on and the door cracked.

 

There was a motion sensor (and light) at the base of the night stand closest to the balcony, and the second one I believe was at the base of the closet in that dressing area before you go into the bathroom. I've only had these kinds of motion nightlights in certain hotels, so I was happily shocked when I got up that first night in the dark to use the bathroom!