Jr Suite or Balcony

[Bleueyes44]

What are the benefits of booking a Jr Suite as opposed to a Balcony ?  I have a chance to Royal Up for next to nothing on Odyssey sailing in October.  

[AustinCruise]

Jr suite has a larger closet, bathroom, and earns more points (but points for RoyalUp are issued at the booking class, not the upgrade class)
 

I think tips are higher in a jr suit. 

Edited August 19, 2021 by AustinCruise
Clarified points as mentioned by tcasey59

[POAII Cruiser]

We just got off the AOS and did the Royal Up from a balcony to a Junior suite. There aren't o lot of benefits with the junior suite. Priority check in which is negligible with the assigned check in times. They do permit you to check in at any time. There is a bigger balcony and a larger cabin with a walk in closet. Not sure if the balcony cabins have one but there is a small refrigerator. Also get a tub and "enhanced' shampoo and body wash. No access to suite lounge. 

[POAII Cruiser]

Jr. Suite doesn't earn double points if you get it through Royal Up.

[keyboardjunkie]

1. Basically more cabin and balcony space.  A JS is about 1 1/2 the size of a regular balcony cabin. 

2. Most JS have a bathtub whereas a balcony has a shower only.

3. A JS will NOT get you access to the Suite Lounge.  Neither will a balcony.

4. When you are awarded a Royal Up, you will not earn the C&A point bonus.  For example, right now if there are two people in a balcony, each person earns 2 points per night.  If you were originally booked in a suite for two people, you would earn 4 points per person per night.  However, if a Royal Up bid is accepted and moves you from a balcony to a JS, you will still only earn 2 points per night per person.

5.  A JS usually comes with a coffee pot/kettle in the room.  A balcony does not.

6.  The closet is much larger in most JS.  Most are walk-in closets.

 

I hope this helps!

 

[Bleueyes44]

Thanks so much everyone for the prompt answers.  I think i'll stick with my balcony doesn't seem worth it .  You'd think I'd know the difference been cruising a long time but never wanted to try it. 

As a matter of fact I leave tomorrow for Seattle , boarding the Ovation on Friday.

[keyboardjunkie]

5 minutes ago, Bleueyes44 said:

Thanks so much everyone for the prompt answers.  I think i'll stick with my balcony doesn't seem worth it .  You'd think I'd know the difference been cruising a long time but never wanted to try it. 

As a matter of fact I leave tomorrow for Seattle , boarding the Ovation on Friday.

Have an absolutely marvelous time! No matter what room you have, you will enjoy Alaska to the fullest!

[topnole]

1 hour ago, Bleueyes44 said:

Thanks so much everyone for the prompt answers.  I think i'll stick with my balcony doesn't seem worth it .  You'd think I'd know the difference been cruising a long time but never wanted to try it. 

As a matter of fact I leave tomorrow for Seattle , boarding the Ovation on Friday.

Not sure now,  but pre Covid jr suite got you access to the Coastal Kitchen for dinners only.  So on ships with a CK, that is one nice perk beyond cabin size.  

[Bleueyes44]

I think CK in not available right now because of reduced capacity.   If I  were able to access it then I'd do it.

My daughter actually received a Royal up offer right after I posted.  Hers was not as good a deal as mine , about a hundred more.  She did bid because there will be 3 people in her cabin that extra room matters.

 

[Hogbay]

Forget the silent auction bring back the fairy 😇🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️🧚

[davekathy]

11 hours ago, Bleueyes44 said:

Thanks so much everyone for the prompt answers.  I think i'll stick with my balcony doesn't seem worth it .  You'd think I'd know the difference been cruising a long time but never wanted to try it. 

As a matter of fact I leave tomorrow for Seattle , boarding the Ovation on Friday.

Bon Voyage. 🥂

[CruisingHusker]

Another option is to call Royal and price out an upgrade yourself not using Royal Up. You would get the double points and sometimes it’s less than the minimum Royal Up bid and you can choose your cabin. I did this on an upcoming sailing and it was $50 less than the minimum bid x2 and I got the cabin I wanted. 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, CruisingHusker said:

Another option is to call Royal and price out an upgrade yourself not using Royal Up.

Shhh.....RCI won't like you mentioning that.

 

Biker, who wonders how many overpay not realizing they can undercut the Royal Up fairy.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, CruisingHusker said:

Another option is to call Royal and price out an upgrade yourself not using Royal Up. You would get the double points and sometimes it’s less than the minimum Royal Up bid and you can choose your cabin. I did this on an upcoming sailing and it was $50 less than the minimum bid x2 and I got the cabin I wanted. 

 

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Shhh.....RCI won't like you mentioning that.

 

Biker, who wonders how many overpay not realizing they can undercut the Royal Up fairy.

Whenever we book a cruise, we always price out all of the categories we would potentially upgrade to on the same day. Since prices tend to rise the closer you get to final payment date we have rarely seen one of those categories go down in price from what they were when we originally priced them. If we have an opportunity to do a RoyalUP bid, we never bid any more than 50% of the original delta between what we booked and what we would have paid if we chose the higher category right out of the gate.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Since prices tend to rise the closer you get to final payment date we have rarely seen one of those categories go down in price from what they were when we originally priced them.

While that may be true, that may not apply inside final payment. With so many folks seemingly winning min bid Royal Ups, the possibility of even cheaper self upgrades is probably there, as evidenced by @CruisingHusker. All of this is skewed from "normal" by the COVID era CWC and other factors.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

While that may be true, that may not apply inside final payment. With so many folks seemingly winning min bid Royal Ups, the possibility of even cheaper self upgrades is probably there, as evidenced by @CruisingHusker. All of this is skewed from "normal" by the COVID era CWC and other factors.

Have not seen that scenario play out recently. We have a GS booked for 10/17, and when i looked yesterday, it would cost us about $3000 to upgrade to a CLS (about the same as when we originally booked). We just received a RoyalUP invite and the minimum bid on a CLS is only $400/pp.

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Have not seen that scenario play out recently. We have a GS booked for 10/17, and when i looked yesterday, it would cost us about $3000 to upgrade to a CLS (about the same as when we originally booked). We just received a RoyalUP invite and the minimum bid on a CLS is only $400/pp.

80-90% of the cruising public books and sails in something other than full suites - pricing for suites is a whole different ball game, even in the COVID era.

Edited August 19, 2021 by Biker19

[OfcSupport]

13 hours ago, Bleueyes44 said:

I think CK in not available right now because of reduced capacity.   If I  were able to access it then I'd do it.

My daughter actually received a Royal up offer right after I posted.  Hers was not as good a deal as mine , about a hundred more.  She did bid because there will be 3 people in her cabin that extra room matters.

 

We are currently on the Odyssey in a junior suite. We have access to the Coastal Kitchen at dinner only with a reservation.

[CruisingHusker]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

80-90% of the cruising public books and sails in something other than full suites - pricing for suites is a whole different ball game, even in the COVID era.

My self upgrade was from a Junior Suite to a Grand Suite. 

[mizLORInj]

We had a Jr Suite on Anthem.  There were 3 of us and we appreciated the extra space and the 2 bathrooms.  Balcony furniture was an upgrade and the larger balcony was nice.  

[orville99]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

80-90% of the cruising public books and sails in something other than full suites - pricing for suites is a whole different ball game, even in the COVID era.

We don't always sail in full suites, but haven't sailed in any category lower than a JS in years.

[keyboardjunkie]

As MIZLORInj has stated the JS on the Anthem (we are speaking about the Anthem, other ships have different configurations) has two bathrooms.  One is designed with a sink and toilet (no bathing feature) and the other is a full bathroom with a large shower.

 

I thought is was important to point this out in case there might be someone considering this room and was not familiar with it. 

[sixbirches]

19 hours ago, Bleueyes44 said:

What are the benefits of booking a Jr Suite as opposed to a Balcony ?  I have a chance to Royal Up for next to nothing on Odyssey sailing in October.  

If you can book a Jr Suite with the large balcony, you’ll like it. the balcony is gigantic. Ours had 2 full size lounge chairs on it. The room is also bigger. the Spa Jr is ok, but not much larger than a regular balcony. Still a nice room.
Both entitle you to book Coastal Kitchen for dinner, as long as it’s not full. And double cruise points.

All good perks 

[CaroleC]

This is the size of a JS large balcony on the Anthem:-