Can I ask a very blunt and nosy question?

[FOURunderFOUR]

In general, those of you who stay in the suites, are you getting good deals or upgrades (i.e. cheaper than the listed prices), are you just splurging for a once in a lifetime vacation, or are you very rich? My husband is a physician with a very good income, and I do not think there is any way we could "afford" a suite. But after looking at the pics of the AB suite....WOW!...I certainly wish I could. I don't mean to sound obnoxious but I would really like to know. I guess we could put it on a credit card and take a few months /year to pay it off. And granted we do have 5 young kids and are saving aggressively for college/retirement. We are also trying to live well within our means and have no debt other than our mortgage, which is relatively small, and our educational debt. But just knowing how the economy is right now, and knowing what my husband makes compared to the average Joe, I just don't know how people are cruising in them. I hope I am not offending anyone. I don't want to. I just want to figure out what piece of the puzzle I am missing.

[arubaaruba]

When we traveled in the Owner's suite back in January, we paid only $220.00 total to upgrade from an already bargain of $900 in a BA balcony on the Sky. Incidently, the Owner's suite beside us had the exact same upgrade from the same BA as us. We considered this a once in a lifetime, and would never be able to consider paying full price.

[jdenn4]

DH and I are not rich, but all our kids are grown and gone , we own our home and cars and have no real bills to speak of. We like the comfort and perks of the suites and spend a lot of time in them. We could cruise more often in less expensive rooms, but we wouldn't enjoy it as much. We don't drink or gamble and don't buy a lot of junk on the cruises....so it probably evens out in the end. The same reason we like NCL is the same reason we like the suites...we like to be comfortable! We've never gotten an upgrade, always book the suite, but we have gotten some pretty good deals through our TA and by booking way in advance.

 

We figure to really enjoy this quality time together after nearly 40 years of raising our kids and working hard. I guess it's all about priorities. Of course we never could have done this when our kids were at home...so give it time...and look forward to the "suite" life in later years :)

[sjbdtz]

In general, those of you who stay in the suites, are you getting good deals or upgrades (i.e. cheaper than the listed prices), are you just splurging for a once in a lifetime vacation, or are you very rich? My husband is a physician with a very good income, and I do not think there is any way we could "afford" a suite. But after looking at the pics of the AB suite....WOW!...I certainly wish I could. I don't mean to sound obnoxious but I would really like to know. I guess we could put it on a credit card and take a few months /year to pay it off. And granted we do have 5 young kids and are saving aggressively for college/retirement. We are also trying to live well within our means and have no debt other than our mortgage, which is relatively small, and our educational debt. But just knowing how the economy is right now, and knowing what my husband makes compared to the average Joe, I just don't know how people are cruising in them. I hope I am not offending anyone. I don't want to. I just want to figure out what piece of the puzzle I am missing.

 

 

When we take "big" vacations, we budget $10 - $20,000 including shore excursions, flights, shoulder-day hotels, food, etc.

 

We don't do those every year, unless things are going well financially. We plan for them, that's all.

 

We've only sailed in an AC Penthouse (meaning it was our nicest suite), and usually sail inside or balcony....but just re-prioritized things.

 

My income is probably similar to a well-established physician in a big city, but we have mortgages on our home & rental properties too...so not rich....

 

Hope that explains.

[bplazo]

Before my daughter went to college we always stayed in suites. We have always gotten an upgrade when the price of the cruise went down and we also cruise at off-peak season. I am also a very penny pinching person when not on vacation and budget well.

[FOURunderFOUR]

OK. Thanks for the info. I really appreciate the replies. I thought for sure I was going to get flamed for even asking.

 

jdenn4 - thanks for reminding me of something to look forward to. Although right now, with 5 kids ages 9mos to 6 years, life with "no kids" seems a long way off. Don't get me wrong, I lOVE my kids! But there are some days (like today, for instance) that I wish my life was a bit simpler (and quieter!!)

 

J

[big green]

We are semi-retired-- we book far in advance and I usually get 15-20 per cent

off with military, latitudes and TA discounts and OBC. --I think on the longer cruises we get better discounts- of course all of our children are thru college etc. We try to cruise at least twice a year.

 

Suites spoil you and it is hard to move down.

 

 

Big Green

[sparks1093]

OK. Thanks for the info. I really appreciate the replies. I thought for sure I was going to get flamed for even asking.

 

jdenn4 - thanks for reminding me of something to look forward to. Although right now, with 5 kids ages 9mos to 6 years, life with "no kids" seems a long way off. Don't get me wrong, I lOVE my kids! But there are some days (like today, for instance) that I wish my life was a bit simpler (and quieter!!)

 

J

 

Just wanted to chime in and say we have 5 sons aged 12 to 17 and the great migration starts next year. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not an on-coming train). Fortunately for DW and I my income will be peaking when half the kids are gone, so we are looking forward to cruising much more often and in a higher category of cabin (but I do have to say sailing in a suite doesn't really appeal to me, unless someone else is paying for it).

[veggie59]

Our kids are out of school...but we still have not sailed in a suite. We have not sailed in a balcony. We have sailed inside, outside, and promenade (on RCL). We tend to only be in our cabin for a short time and would rather not spend extra money on something that would be wasted. I would rather sail more often.....but everyone is different. Do what you feel is comfortable for you......cabin wise and dollar wise. :)

[mochatacoma]

When we traveled in the Owner's suite back in January, we paid only $220.00 total to upgrade from an already bargain of $900 in a BA balcony on the Sky. Incidently, the Owner's suite beside us had the exact same upgrade from the same BA as us. We considered this a once in a lifetime, and would never be able to consider paying full price.

 

Did you mean paying only $900 for BA balcony? Per person? All inclusive? How did you get that rate?

[InTheCruisingYearsOfLife]

We are also trying to live well within our means and have no debt other than our mortgage, which is relatively small, and our educational debt. ... I just want to figure out what piece of the puzzle I am missing.

 

Sounds to me like you have the puzzle pretty darn well figured out: kudos to you for keeping out of debt!

 

In our case, the answer to your original question is that we scrimped, saved, and splurged on our first cruise and revelled in the mini-suite we got. Then we got onto the Compass Reward credit card program (yes, I live with credit cards, but I pay them off every month. To me, a credit card has nothing to do with money management, but everything to do with cash management, and understanding the difference is key to financial survival) and that program paid $3000 of our second cruise. For our upcoming Alaskan cruise, Compass Rewards provided $1500 of it, and we backed down from a mini-suite to a balcony (though we got a primo AFT deck-10 balcony! yipee).

 

Now that the Compass Reward credit card has been ash-canned -- to "better serve" us with a 1% "World Perks" piece-o-crap credit card, instead of the 3% cruise kitty, we'll have to figure out a different way to pay for future cruises. And though my moniker might portend that I'm a cruising nut, once every two or three years fits the bill for me. In other years, I prefer to do primitive wilderness camping and kayaking, which fortunately is a lot cheaper. (The food isn't as good though.)

[lambs2]

Our kids are out of school...but we still have not sailed in a suite. We have not sailed in a balcony. We have sailed inside, outside, and promenade (on RCL). We tend to only be in our cabin for a short time and would rather not spend extra money on something that would be wasted. I would rather sail more often.....but everyone is different. Do what you feel is comfortable for you......cabin wise and dollar wise. :)

 

We're with you, veggie 59, kid's all on their own, home paid for, yet we have only had a balcony cabin one time in all our cruises - and that was a FREE upgrade. We would rather be able to cruise two or three times a year than just once paying the BIG bucks - plus all the extra tips for the butler and concierge. This is a very personal decision, but we have lost a LOT of our retirement savings in the market in the last couple years, so feel very fortunate that we are able to cruise at all!

[2Cruise4Ever]

Whenever we sail with our kids we always get an AB penthouse. We figure what the cost will be about a year ahead and then divide that total by 12. That's how much we put away each month so that once we sail, it's already paid for. We're not rich by any means. But, we didn't mortgage ourselves to the hilt. Our house is very small, but it suits our needs for now. And, the extra money left at the end of the month goes to savings and travel.

[FLAHAM]

Bear in mind that, although suites are a common topic of interest on CC and are interesting to read about, suite passengers represent a very small fraction of all cruise passengers.

[HMK8273]

We book things as far in advance as possible. We already have a Deluxe O/S booked for 2011 - so we can figure out the money between now and then. So that is one thing to consider.

 

If we know we want to go anywhere, we start looking and jump on any deal we can get - got an amazing deal on an O/S for Baltic Capitals - but it is such a long story .

 

We don't have kids - so no big expenses there, we have one home with a mortgage and between our two salaries plus we get to take 4 weeks of vacation without any issues on the money end. Are we rich? Heck no - we just know where to concentrate our money. But it doesn't hurt to own a portion of a profitable small business - so the extra money goes towards cruises or house projects.

 

I think bottom line - prioritizing is key - kids or no kids. If we had kids in college, I don't think we would be cruising like we are at any level of cabin - but we are pure DINKs - double income, no kids.

 

But we have never been upgraded or upsold to anything because we typically book the suites. Started with an AC on the Jade , then moved to an O/S on the Sun and Deluxe O/S on the Epic after that. So upgrades wouldn't help us - we would rather pay for it than cross our fingers for 1 to 2 years hoping for the upgrade fairy.

[VegasMark]

Hi Folks - I find this thread to be very interesting. If I may, I'm wondering why those of you that do cruise in suites wouldn't cruise twice as often in a balcony or maybe three times as many cruises in an interior? In other words, are the perks of a suite that much better than cruising way more often? Thanks!:)

[islandgirlejfan]

My husband works in the computer industry and is fairly well paid, but really not well paid enough to afford the upper end suites without the help of an upsell.:D We booked an AE and have been saving for it for a year. We have one child who is my child, but actually a young adult still living at home. The other two children are finishing up school and married out on their own.

 

In two years, I will be at four weeks vacation and we look forward to being able to go places for a longer period of time and still be young enough to enjoy it, which was one of the reasons we had our children at a younger age. What wasn't part of the big plan was the brush I had with death four years ago to this month. My life changed the days following. Time has become a very precious thing to me. My hubby and I have always been very hard workers and if it takes us saving for a low end suite, that's what we will do because I feel we deserve it.:cool:

 

And to the OP with the younger children, enjoy your days with them because before you know it, you are sitting at graduations and weddings wondering what the heck happened to the time. While their future is important, it's also just as important for you to enjoy your hubby and family. We took our children on a cruise back when they were all in elementary school. We scrimped and saved to do it. There were 5 of us in an inside cabin, but to this day it was the very best money we ever spent! It really means something when they reflect back and say *do you remember the cruise we went on?*. I have VHS tape of it and they like to look at it every so often. They had a choice between Disney World and a cruise and they selected the cruise.

[blitheone]

Well, day-um, having read the thread title, I popped the popcorn and settled in for a cool NORWEGIAN SCANDAL thread (i.e.: "Have you ever had a fling with a crew member?").

 

Okay, there is *something* good about getting older--the kids are out of the house and everybody's diplomas are on the wall (okay, to tell you the truth, I *think* mine fell behind the refrigerator). We did, after scrimping and saving and gnashing of teeth, bring our then-teen-twins on our first cruise to Alaska, and, as god is my witness, i shall nevah share an OV cabin with three males again!!!!:eek:...well, unless they're Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Brad Pitt. But now, as empty-nesters, we make every effort to sail in a suite.

 

Luckily (?), my Beloved gambles (he'd never set foot in a casino until the boys were close to finishing their degrees), and NCL's Casinos at Sea program has helped to make his hobby far more palatable to me because they give us rather decent discounts on our bookings. Otherwise, we'd be frantically trying to sneak onboard and sleep in the lifeboats.

 

Btw, if anybody out there actually *has* had a fling with the crew, I've got more popcorn...

 

Janet

[watchdiva]

Hi Folks - I find this thread to be very interesting. If I may, I'm wondering why those of you that do cruise in suites wouldn't cruise twice as often in a balcony or maybe three times as many cruises in an interior? In other words, are the perks of a suite that much better than cruising way more often? Thanks!:)

 

For DH and I, we'd rather cruise once a year in a suite than more often in a balcony. We spend more time in our suite than out on deck and with the extra space and incredible service we've always experienced we come home from our cruise feeling relaxed and happy.

 

After our first experience on the Dawn in an AB suite during her inaugural year, DH decided that it was the "suite life" or nothing and that he'd prefer to cruise less often but always with a butler:D.. no complaints from me on that one.

 

We book early and I've always been happy with the rate and the OBC's that we negotiate. Someone once said always book the category that you'll be happy in and that's what we do. The times that we've been upsold were just icing on the cake - from one level suite to another.

[islandgirlejfan]

Hi Folks - I find this thread to be very interesting. If I may, I'm wondering why those of you that do cruise in suites wouldn't cruise twice as often in a balcony or maybe three times as many cruises in an interior? In other words, are the perks of a suite that much better than cruising way more often? Thanks!:)

 

For us, it's prioritizing our hobbies, many of which are expensive ones and having enough vacation time to cover them. I used to have an Elton John fund I have since given up mainly because I am tired of hearing his hits over and over when he has so many songs that he could be playing. I will start that fund again if he starts shaking it up some....I don't expect that anytime soon.

 

My hubby and I love Miatas and hope to buy a third one sometime in the future. We travel to club meets and regional events. We will be attending Miatas at the Gap the last weekend in July in NC/TN. Our outlay of money when we go is food, gas, lodging, and things for our car while we are at events, so it's not a cheap hobby. That leaves our travel. If I know he is going on a great trip, I save for that. We would like to take a cruise a year if at all possible and since we are only plan on doing it once a year, the low end suite will work. We love the space and the perks...they are worth it to us! :)

[marelind]

On our first cruise we booked aB2B2B: an AG mini-suite for a 7-day Alaska, an AD for a 1-night CTN, and an AF min-suite 4-night Pacific Coastal. Two weeks before we left we took an upsell for the Pac. Coastal to an AA Owner's Suite. That was an eye opener!

 

As many have said, it's hard to go back. So a year and a half later, when we were going to book our long desired Panama Canal cruise a year ahead of time, we decided to splurge for the AA and save up for final payment. Then we found a great deal on a 5-day on the Majesty and the AA was within our budget, so we took it.

 

How have we done it? Our first cruise experience was our first vacation in a looooong time. Finding the discretionary income when we were raising one child (much less 5!) was nearly impossible. Now that our son is just finishing an inexpensive (relatively speaking :rolleyes:) college, we are ready to travel more. Given some health issues, I'm just not willing to wait for "later" to travel with my husband. We'll make it work financially speaking.

[WinnieinWA]

Hi Folks - I find this thread to be very interesting. If I may, I'm wondering why those of you that do cruise in suites wouldn't cruise twice as often in a balcony or maybe three times as many cruises in an interior? In other words, are the perks of a suite that much better than cruising way more often? Thanks!:)

 

To me the suite life is the exception to the rule. I cruise in an inside when I go solo but prefer a suite when I travel with my adult, married kids. The extra room is priceless for happy hours and I love having a butler and concierge. The other suite perks don't hurt either!:)

 

To the OP.... I only started to cruise on a regular basis after my 4 kids were out of college, out of the house and on their own. I book far in advance for my suites but get bargain basement rates on my solo cruises as I can go at the drop of a hat.:)

[DMH15]

I started on the Norway in an inside cabin. I went with a group and knew nothing about cruises. I am claustrophobic so when I saw that room I about died! I stayed up dancing until the bars closed so I would fall asleep from sheer exhaustion. I progressed to outsides with windows - no portholes. That was fine, or so I thought. I cruise with my mom and she became very I'll and it was sheer torture being in those close quarters (think Vick's vapor rub and coughing 24/7). We decided we needed at least a balcony. When we booked the Dawn we got a mini-suite, which was the best stateroom available, since we booked late. Actually it is a deluxe balcony - no perks. I went ahead and booked the AC aft penthouse on the Sun because of the raves on CC. It was wonderful. My mom and I agree that we prefer to cruise less but in a suite. Not only do we prefer to have our own space, the butler and concierge take care of all the details I used to do for myself and my mom. Now we both get a real vacation. Our next is a CV, which we are looking forward to. My mom thinks of the ship as a destination in itself and does skipsome ports. She does nap (almost) every day. We do like to spend time in the stateroom... I bring a mini blender and make frozen cosmos with the NCL bar set up. My mom gets around kind of slow so we enjoy the calmer suite breakfast and lunch venue or some ensuite meals. Reading or photography (and video) while lounging on the balcony is something we enjoy. We would not prefer to cruise more often in other cabins.

 

Mom is retired. Sold the house after my dad died and lives in a high-rise in downtown Dallas. I own my home. It's tiny, we I mean cozy. But it's just me and the pup. I don't make a ton of money, but it's not bad either. I've been on the job going on 19 years. Great employer with wonderful benefits, but like so many cut-backs this year. I have no doubt when things get better perks will return. In the meantime, drive a 4 year old SUV which was my first new car in 2005 in 20 years, but instead of trading it in now I will keep it for a few more. I live frugally, use coupons at grocery and restaurants. I think the #1 reason I can afford to travel is that I have no kids. I was married for 5 years but he was always hunting and fishing, so that might be why? I love to travel.

[jdenn4]

I also had 5 kids..they are now 29-37 so I know where you are! We never had vacations like this when the kids were young. DH spent those years in the Military and we had more "fun" cheap family vacations, when DH wasn't working 3 jobs and going to school lol. After raising them, putting them through college, one elite gymnast and all the other stuff kids do....and many many years spent living on a shoestring.

We now have the disposable income to vacation the way we have always wanted to.

 

I could never get DH to go on a cruise...but for our 40th anniversary last summer, he told me to pick what I wanted to do and I chose a combination trip to New York and a cruise to the Bahamas. He told me to go first class all the way (something we've never done befor), and I chose an AB penthouse on the spirit. He went along with it ( making up for all the anniversaries he was gone or forgot or we just couldn't afford to do anything lol). ....well he was blown away by the Suite and the service and was immediately hooked on cruising ( I'd been a couple times with my mother). The next Cruise we tried was in a mini-suite...he thought he'd like to cruise more often than in more luxury, but by now he was spoiled and was really disapointed in the mini. We have been on 4 cruises so far this year ( 3 in suites one in mini) and have a repo back on the spirit in Oct ( in the same suite we had befor). We just love being spoiled in those suites. We debated the more for less or the suite life..and really decided on the suite life for us. (btw this year was unusual..we won't be cruising so much after the first of next year...but it's been great while we have been able to!). We really like hanging out together in the suite or on the balcony...so we really do spend a lot of time in the room. If you don't spend a lot of time in the room then it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend the extra money on a suite IMO...

[swedish weave]

We're with you, veggie 59, kid's all on their own, home paid for, yet we have only had a balcony cabin one time in all our cruises - and that was a FREE upgrade. We would rather be able to cruise two or three times a year than just once paying the BIG bucks - plus all the extra tips for the butler and concierge. This is a very personal decision, but we have lost a LOT of our retirement savings in the market in the last couple years, so feel very fortunate that we are able to cruise at all!

 

We have the same outlook as you. We retired many years ago, and cruise 6 to 8 times a year by booking low priced cabins. On special occasions, we book a balcony, but most of the time, the daily cost of a balcony or higher category does not appeal to our tastes.