What are the perks for the suites & villas?

[carol459]

WE ARE GOING ON THE STAR N FEB 21..WE HAVE A BALCONY...IF WE UPGRADED TO A SUITE. WHAT ARE THE PERKS. WE HAVE TRAVELED MOST ON RCCL ETC......NEVER A SUITE ON ncl

THANKS

Carol

[bakerintn]

Here is a pretty good review of the suite perks. Note: a NCL "mini suite" does not qualify...they are 'delux balcony' rooms.

 

VIP Embarkation. This is not like other cruise lines' VIP embarkation where there's a shorter line to wait in. No no no, that is for the little people. No, on NCL, a member of their staff will escort you to a special VIP lounge where you sit in club chairs at a desk where they check you in. The lounge has coffee/cookies/juice/sometimes fruit and other snacks(depends on the port/ship). There, you will meet the concierge, who will gladly take any dinner reservations you know you want to make, or will just otherwise be friendly and answer any questions you have, and explain the VIP perks onboard. When the ship is cleared for boarding, you'll be escorted to your cabin by a staff member.

 

2. Free bottle of champagne. You get one in your suite upon embarkation.

 

3. VIP restaurant for breakfast and lunch. One of the specialty restaurants will be designated as a VIP breakfast and lunch room for suite passengers. The breakfast menu is usually more special than the regular dining room, like, french toast made with challa bread, or crabcakes benedict. On top of that they usually have a breakfast buffet with cold items, like fruit, smoked salmon, breads of all types, etc. The lunch menu for this depends on the ship. On some ships it's the same as the regular dining room, on others it's a special menu. But on the ships where it's the same menu as the dining room, we've found the food is better than the food in the main dining room, even though it's the same menu. It's also never crowded in the VIP restaurant and the service is a step above the regular dining room.

 

4. VIP Cocktail Party with the Captain and Ship's Officers. All-you-can-drink free booze at this, which includes real drinks, not the watered-down ones you get at the past-passenger parties. Real schmoozing with the officers, not just the boring handshake.

 

5. Priority dining reservations. The concierge will make dinner reservations for you as far in advance as you'd like (others can only make them so many hours in advance--I think it's 24 hours for regular cabins and 48 hours for balcony and above, or something like that).

 

6. Priority tender tickets. They deliver these to your room. You show them to the person taking tender tickets and get on the next tender that's coming along. You DON'T cut in line with them, or at least, we didn't (it seemed rude to do that).

 

7. The Butler. OMG, I wish we could have taken him home with us. I still miss our butler! He kept our fridge stocked with milk for our son, and would bring us dinner from the dining room AND any of the specialty restaurants, and serve it course-by-course in our suite in a white linen table cloth. He'll do the same with breakfast too, although we liked going to the VIP restaurant instead.

 

8. VIP seating area in the theater. There is a special seating area in the balcony on one of the far sides that is reserved for VIPs, so you don't have to worry about getting there early to get a seat. The viewing angle isn't all that great but at least you know you've got a seat. And if you prefer to sit elsewhere you can still do that.

 

9. VIP Disembarkation. They give you special luggage tags and you can get off whenever you feel like it and your luggage will be waiting for you.