Club Balcony Suite versus Balcony

[clojacks]

A cruise that we are looking at for 10 days around Iceland, Norway, etc is showing CBS's at $1000 more than a balcony. We recently sailed in a CBS through the Panama canal, but as nice as it was, I don't remember what made it special? What would make it $100 per day per person nicer than a Balcony? This would be in one of the new Prima class ships.

 

[ggTexasGal]

12 minutes ago, clojacks said:

A cruise that we are looking at for 10 days around Iceland, Norway, etc is showing CBS's at $1000 more than a balcony. We recently sailed in a CBS through the Panama canal, but as nice as it was, I don't remember what made it special? What would make it $100 per day per person nicer than a Balcony? This would be in one of the new Prima class ships.

 

Slightly larger room, mostly in the bathroom area.

[MCMC100]

and a bottle of sparkling wine at embarkation plus some chocolate covered strawberries and/or chocolates delivered to your cabin. Oh yeah, your cabin keycard is purple.  

[bomabound]

I believe you get treats to the room twice per week as well as a free bag of laundry.  I book a club balcony for the bathroom.  I like the wider sink area and double size shower, as it just makes getting ready in the morning nicer.

[omahabob]

It isn't a suite, and there is no club, but the balcony is nice and the bathroom is considerably bigger on most ships.

[ScubaKat]

and don't forget the free bag of laundry

 

[kasimir]

In short, as we have done both CBS and normal balcony, I don’t think CBS is worth the premium of $1000, our max premium for CBS is $250 total that we are willing to pay.
Also keep in mind that on the Prima the normal balcony cabins are much bigger already and except for the slightly upgraded bathroom in CBS, all the other amenities we also receive with our platinum status. 
 

Keep in mind that your daily gratuities are also slightly higher with CBS.

[omahabob]

As always, it's a personal preference. My wife was quite happy with the larger balcony and bathroom, and her being happy is worth WAY more than $1,000 to me.

[mcmomny]

Having been in a CBS in March and just finished up in a regular balcony today, my DH and I both agree we will always book a CBS from now on!

That few extra sq ft were missed!

[bomabound]

The daily service charge in a club balcony is actually the same as for a balcony and below.  They are all $20.  Only haven is more at $25.  Prior to the price hike, club balcony was $2 more than balcony and below, but not any more.

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, clojacks said:

A cruise that we are looking at for 10 days around Iceland, Norway, etc is showing CBS's at $1000 more than a balcony. We recently sailed in a CBS through the Panama canal, but as nice as it was, I don't remember what made it special? What would make it $100 per day per person nicer than a Balcony? This would be in one of the new Prima class ships.

 

We have sailed in a CBS and a regular Balcony on the Prima.

 

The bathroom is about the same size with no additional amenities in the CBS. 

 

The CBS room is a little bigger than the balcony. But definitely not worth $1K unless it was something like a M2 Forward Facing Balcony.

 

CBS Bathroom

 

Regular balcony bathroom

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by BirdTravels

[omahabob]

Yeah, the difference in bathroom size for the CBS is very evident on Breakaway class ships, but not necessarily in the other class ships. I didn't originally notice that the OP specifically referred to Prima class. Good catch, Bird.

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by omahabob

[Big_Rich]

We have also debated this too, but have decided it's not worth it for us. We had CBS last year on Escape and although the bathroom was bigger it didn't really make much difference as we were traveling with teenage children anyway and they don't share bathrooms, so it was one in one out sort of system. 

The extra £400 was spent on activities/ arcades on the ship

[elliotlake12]

where ( if there are any) are the extra benefits for Club Balcony suites listed on NCL site? such as free laundry, treats to cabin. In particular for The Escape ?

[Karaboudjan]

I did not see it mentioned yet but with the Club Balcony you should be able to make dining reservations 125 days out instead of the usual 120.

 

Also, since the side-facing CBS on Prima/Viva are on the rounded section the overall size and the balcony size might differ from room to room.  

 

You should also consider that you will be above the Indulge outdoor seating area.  Most of it is hidden under the canopy but you could see and be seen by people at the railing.  However, we were on Deck 10 and never found this to be a bother.  

 

It was a nice cabin, but we are opting for a regular balcony on our next Prima cruise.  We got the CBS for $200-300 more than the balcony when Prima cruises first went on sale, and that is about all the premium that I would pay; I don't consider it to be worth an extra $1000.

[brer111]

The one time we decided to do a club suite when it was called mini suite. The only difference from the balcony was the bathroom size. So for us we just do a balcony midship.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, elliotlake12 said:

where ( if there are any) are the extra benefits for Club Balcony suites listed on NCL site? such as free laundry, treats to cabin. In particular for The Escape ?

 

https://www.ncl.com/why-cruise-norwegian/cruise-accommodations/minisuites-and-balconies

 

[elliotlake12]

thank you

 

[omahabob]

I wonder if things have changed. We got no treats and no bottle of wine.

[phillygwm]

Worth $100, not $1000.  I like the bigger bathroom, bag of laundry, and the goodies.  But go with the balcony then bid for the upgrade.

[D_And_K_gocruising]

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We have sailed in a CBS and a regular Balcony on the Prima.

 

The bathroom is about the same size with no additional amenities in the CBS. 

 

The CBS room is a little bigger than the balcony. But definitely not worth $1K unless it was something like a M2 Forward Facing Balcony.

 

CBS Bathroom

 

Regular balcony bathroom

 

I know you are a LOT more experienced than I am, so are you saying the floor plans NCL shows on their site is wrong?  Because those pics all look like they are from club not normal bathrooms..  Since these are the ones NCL shows??

[omahabob]

The floorplans on their web site are a representative sample. Individual cabins will sometimes vary, usually due to where the cabin is located on the ship. I would go by what Bird posted.

[janice2348]

3 hours ago, omahabob said:

I wonder if things have changed. We got no treats and no bottle of wine.

I would have asked for them, but that’s just me 😁

[D_And_K_gocruising]

9 minutes ago, omahabob said:

The floorplans on their web site are a representative sample. Individual cabins will sometimes vary, usually due to where the cabin is located on the ship. I would go by what Bird posted.

I get it, I just thought that difference between club and non club was the bathroom size.. Gonna be bummed it non club  have the larger sinks, toilet not jammed in the space it shows and the larger shower.. 

[omahabob]

15 minutes ago, janice2348 said:

I would have asked for them, but that’s just me 😁

 

We didn't know about them, so we didn't ask. Didn't want the wine anyway.

 

Your cat looks familiar. This is Puff. She's keeping my iPad warm.

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by omahabob