4 suite Comparisons after coming off the NCL Sun to Alaska

[ajohnstu]

Just back from the Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Sun, what a fantastic experience especially as we upgraded to the Owners Suite which was amazing considering it wasn't much more than our original price on the AE minisuite AFT.

 

We were a group of 7 and had 4 different cabins which I will detail at a high level:

 

owners suite:

 

Amazingly comfortable bed, huge bathroom and corner hot tub with separate walk in shower, double sinks, nice big lounge, massive balcony with hot tub - I mean massive, Balcony had two sleepers a table, 4 chairs, 2 small tables. Separate bedroom, changing room too. We also got 3 included litres of spirits, an awesome coffee machine which is better than my nespresso one at home and does seriously hot frothy milk. Complete room service including full breakfast menu. Concierge and Butler. I reckon including our steward and service charges of $24 a day for 2 people we ended up tipping about $600 if you include out butler, concierge, tipping at dinner and tipping room service and drinks. A lot of cash.

 

Aft AE Mini Suite - Wider but no real lounge area

 

I was due to be in this suite and to be honest I would have been disappointed primarily because it was shorter and had NO lounge area. It is 3 windows wide so you have a wider balcony for sure and a great bathroom, great bed but no lounge area. You have a sofa but it faces the bed. The mini suites had NO extra restaurant perks which I found out. I thought Mini suites could have lunch/breakfast with us in IL Adagio the VIP restaurant but our concierge said no way there are too many suite. No big deal so we ate with our familes in the regular restaurants and garden cafe which were better than advertised on cruise critic. Some people will love this suite of course, this is just my opinion.

 

Regular Mini Suite

 

Longer but narrower with 2 floor to ceiling windows with a sliding door. but with it's own proper lounge area and a full bath and great bathroom. The difference between this and the Aft Minu suite are than it felt bigger to me as it was longer and had 4 distinct areas, the bathroom/changing room, bedroom, lounge with tv area and Balcony. The AFT mini suite was Bathroom/CHanging, bed/sofa, terrace so you step out of bed more or less into your balcony which I didn't like for the price.

 

Balcony Suite

 

More or less the same as the mini suite but perhaps a little bit narrower with a drop in bathroom with no full bath. The big change with this suite is the bathroom which is like one of those pod bathrooms, a one piece with only a shower, lots or white plastic, teeny changing area etc. But a bedroom area, lounge and balcony.

 

Review:

 

So to be honest I would prefer a regular mini suite over the AFT AE wider minisuites as you have the distinct areas. The balcony suites are definitely worth using if you are on a budget as all you miss is the bath and a bigger changing area. You can use the hot tub on Deck 12 if you fancy one so you wont really miss the bath for 1 week. Of course if you can get the owners suite which we did you are laughing. We paid only $400 more for the owners suite compared to our very first booking. Of course our price between the 2 of us dropped $1000 over the following 3 months which I was able to negotiate back. So when they asked if we wanted to upgrade for $1400 to the owners suite it was a no brainer.

 

Hope this helps. I will do a further review soon of the whole cruise but rest assured that after arriving on the ship so wound up after being on this site for 3 months working out what to do and when to do it, got I was a pain, the reality is so stress free it's not even worth worrying about it. Seriously, I am a fussy bugger and it was great.

[riggins]

Welcome Back! We were also on the 6/14 Sun and had a great trip. Thanks for your cabin review. What Aft Mini were your friends in? We were in 9278 and my parents were in 0067. Our parents room was much larger than ours . . . easily 3 feet deeper. It had an additional "living room" type chair beside the bad and a desk chair that we simply didn't have room for. I'm assuming our neighbors in 9078 had the smaller suite and that my parents neighbors in 0267 had the larger room. I'm curious about those on deck 8.

 

Thanks

Leslie

[ajohnstu]

my parents were in 0267 I was due to be in 0067 i think. They were wider but squarer so yes the sofa was at the end of the bed. I took plenty of pictures of the owners suite but none of my parents stupidly.

[dexddd]

Can anyone clarify where the bed(s) are in 0067 for the 3rd/4th person? Is it the couch?

[ajohnstu]

Must be although I can't for the life of me work out how you would get it out. Isn't the 0067 the AE Mini suite I was talking about which is basically facing the bed? i.e. no lounge so I can't see how you would get 3 in there to be honest

 

The floor plan for the AE Mini Suite on the NCL site is a flat out lie, at least it is for 0267 and 0067 which are next to each other. Normal mini suites you can sleep more as they are longer and have the separate lounge but not these two suites.

[riggins]

I have some pictures of it pulled out in 9278 that I'll post later today. It was exactly the same couch as in 0067. I'll do my best to describe it . . .

 

The part of the couch that you normally sit on slides forward on the frame about 3 feet, the same depth as the couch itself. When the seat is slid forward, it opens up a hole underneath. The pillows and linens are stored under there. Then the back of the sofa folds forward and down to meet the back of the seat part. The room steward then adds a mattress pad, and sheets. The sleeper's head goes on the end nearest the sliding glass doors. So, the bed is the same length as the couch and twice as wide. The room steward has to move the coffee table to free up the space necessary to open it. My 6 and 7 year olds slept in it just fine, but I wouldn't want to sleep there! The side of that is essentially the seat of the couch is really hard. The other half was fairly soft. I can't imagine two adults trying to sleep on it for a week!

 

Hope that helps!

[big green]

Just back from the Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Sun, what a fantastic experience especially as we upgraded to the Owners Suite which was amazing considering it wasn't much more than our original price on the AE minisuite AFT.

 

We were a group of 7 and had 4 different cabins which I will detail at a high level:

 

owners suite:

 

Amazingly comfortable bed, huge bathroom and corner hot tub with separate walk in shower, double sinks, nice big lounge, massive balcony with hot tub - I mean massive, Balcony had two sleepers a table, 4 chairs, 2 small tables. Separate bedroom, changing room too. We also got 3 included litres of spirits, an awesome coffee machine which is better than my nespresso one at home and does seriously hot frothy milk. Complete room service including full breakfast menu. Concierge and Butler. I reckon including our steward and service charges of $24 a day for 2 people we ended up tipping about $600 if you include out butler, concierge, tipping at dinner and tipping room service and drinks. A lot of cash.

 

Aft AE Mini Suite - Wider but no real lounge area

 

I was due to be in this suite and to be honest I would have been disappointed primarily because it was shorter and had NO lounge area. It is 3 windows wide so you have a wider balcony for sure and a great bathroom, great bed but no lounge area. You have a sofa but it faces the bed. The mini suites had NO extra restaurant perks which I found out. I thought Mini suites could have lunch/breakfast with us in IL Adagio the VIP restaurant but our concierge said no way there are too many suite. No big deal so we ate with our familes in the regular restaurants and garden cafe which were better than advertised on cruise critic. Some people will love this suite of course, this is just my opinion.

 

Regular Mini Suite

 

Longer but narrower with 2 floor to ceiling windows with a sliding door. but with it's own proper lounge area and a full bath and great bathroom. The difference between this and the Aft Minu suite are than it felt bigger to me as it was longer and had 4 distinct areas, the bathroom/changing room, bedroom, lounge with tv area and Balcony. The AFT mini suite was Bathroom/CHanging, bed/sofa, terrace so you step out of bed more or less into your balcony which I didn't like for the price.

 

Balcony Suite

 

More or less the same as the mini suite but perhaps a little bit narrower with a drop in bathroom with no full bath. The big change with this suite is the bathroom which is like one of those pod bathrooms, a one piece with only a shower, lots or white plastic, teeny changing area etc. But a bedroom area, lounge and balcony.

 

Review:

 

So to be honest I would prefer a regular mini suite over the AFT AE wider minisuites as you have the distinct areas. The balcony suites are definitely worth using if you are on a budget as all you miss is the bath and a bigger changing area. You can use the hot tub on Deck 12 if you fancy one so you wont really miss the bath for 1 week. Of course if you can get the owners suite which we did you are laughing. We paid only $400 more for the owners suite compared to our very first booking. Of course our price between the 2 of us dropped $1000 over the following 3 months which I was able to negotiate back. So when they asked if we wanted to upgrade for $1400 to the owners suite it was a no brainer.

 

Hope this helps. I will do a further review soon of the whole cruise but rest assured that after arriving on the ship so wound up after being on this site for 3 months working out what to do and when to do it, got I was a pain, the reality is so stress free it's not even worth worrying about it. Seriously, I am a fussy bugger and it was great.

 

This is a little confusing--regular balcony cabins are not considered suites.

Mini suites are mini suites --so what was the class of the regular mini suite?

The Sun HAS ONLY TWO LEVELS OF MINI SUITES--SO WHICH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

[ajohnstu]

NO NEED TO SHOUT

 

When I say Balcony I just mean balcony room of course not suite.

 

The mini suite is pretty much the same as a balcony room but it ius a bit wider and has a much bigger bathroom with a full bath.

[newmexicoNita]

great comparison on the 4 types of suites or as you said, the balcony cabin. I am glad you enjoyed your cruise, and were able to relax.

 

Nita

[dexddd]

Thanks for clarifying on the 3rd/4th bed.

[magenandmax]

We have a balcony mini suite on the Star going to Alaska in September. I called to find out about upgrading but was told it was better just to stay where we are. So, do you try to upgrade at the dock when boarding? Please let me know the easiest way or is this room really OK. We have never cruised to Alaska before and this is a first time. Also, have never had a mini suite, have had a suite but on another ship. All help or advice is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Sandy

[ajohnstu]

Whatever mini suite you have you will love it and have a great time.

 

Upgrades are by phone and they generally call you unless you call and upgrade yourself.

 

Seriously, relax you will have a wonderful time.

 

Check out my Alaskan Slideshow I just knocked up.

 

Norwegian Sun Cruise 14th June - Slideshow