NCL Suites on the Sun Questions

[MrTractor]

Those of you who have sailed on NCL, the Sun specifically or its sister ship the Sky.........

We are considering upgrading from a BC balcony room to an AC Penthouse Suite for our upcoming cruise if the cost is reasonable.

Can anyone tell me if there are any special "priviledges" or amenities available only to Penthouse Suites. For example, butler service (at what cost), concierge services (appropriate tips and what they do for you), bottles of liquor included (I've heard that some suites on the Norway have this) or any other nice bennies. I know the room is a lot larger, more tasteful and has a larger balcony.

We are new to all this "Suite Stuff". Just getting a balcony was a stretch for us. But, hey, life is short in "the age of terror" and we figured, "Why not!?"

Then again if I have to ask how much, maybe I don't belong there anyway ;8>).....

MrTractor<-----------wonders what it would be like to be rich for a week.....

 

[M Burton]

Mr Tractor,

A few years ago I got the chance to stay in a suite, and now I will never go back to a regular stateroom. The first time I had a penthouse, after that the owners suite. It costs quite a bit more but I think it is absolutly worth it.

First off they provide you with three bottles of liquor for the week, your choice of which kinds. the fridge in the room is replenished daily with pop, mixers, water etc.

You are assigned two butlers that carry phones for you to call them. They are there for you from 6am to midnight. When we first got into the state room the conceriege came by and introduced herself and the butlers. We tipped each of them 20 bucks and for the rest of the week they treated us like kings One evening we had 8 people to our suite for a cocktail party and the butler acted as the bartender and served a ton of finger foods (no extra cost!) We tipped him very well for that, he helped make the evening wonderful.

The conceriege books all your land tours so you do not have to wait in line to sign up. Also suite people are the first off of the ship in all ports and the first on any tenders. They can also assist you in booking future cruises.

Staying in a suite gets you invited to the captains quarters for drinks and to meet the bridge crew. I am 6feet 4inches tall and weigh 240. The bridge crew all made me look small!! Most of them, including the captain are well over my height and look like football linebackers!!! Also staying in the suite gets you a bridge tour, while in a port, and also a tour of the kitchen.

The suites have large bathrooms and walk in closets, fresh flowers and fruit bowls daily and a tray of hordorves (did I spell that right?) every evening before dinner.

The owners suite also has a second half bath! The penthourse suites have a king size bed, or two regular beds, a large couch, two chairs, and a dining table. It has a large screen tv with a dvd player and a couple of hundred dvds available from the conceriege (adult dvds also).

Try and stay in a penthouse suite on the front of the ship, they are the biggest. The penthouse is about 14 feet wide and thirty feet long, the outside deck is huge! you can easily fit 8 or 10 people on the deck. The deck has a table and 6 chairs with two more lounge chairs. The owners suite is around 500 sq feet with a seperate bedroom, dining room, and wet bar. The owners suite also has its own hot tub outside on the deck. The owner suite outside deck is much smaller than the penthouse deck due to the design of the ship.

I caqnnot tell you how wonderful it was to stay in a suite, it was well worth the extra dollars and I will always stay in one. I know everyone says you hardly stay in your room but what a stay it is. Every evening before dinner we would sit in the hot tub for awhile and also before going to bed, it was sooooooooooo wonderful. The fresh fruit and bottle water was great to take with us when going off of the ship and the butler would make us boxed lunches to take off the ship with us so we didn't spend money on food in any port. Also, in the suites you can order off of any restaurant menus for the food in your room, once we found out the butler would serve us breakfast, on the dining table with a linen table cloth, every morning - we never ate breakfast in the restaurant again. On lobster night we ate on the outside deck and ordered 3 lobster tails apiece. Staying the suites also gets you first crack at booking massages in the spa and hair salon.

I am not rich, just your average working joe but I work extra hours to be able to afford the suite life. I will never go back to steerage again. I have been on both the sun and the sky, but I prefer the sky. I sail her every january and some times to alaska in the summer. I never tire of it or visiting the same ports, it its just so relaxing. By taking the same ship over and over you do not feel the need to always stop n shop in the same ports and I either stay on the ship or go to the beach to snorkel or hire a private cab to take us for a ride to other than tourist things.

Have a great time!!!

Mike

 

[MrTractor]

Wow! I had no idea there was all that much difference! I'm sure I'll have a heck of a time going back to an inside cabin. But for now I want to get as much as I possibly can out of this chance to enjoy "la dolce vida".

I decided to upgrade to a Penthouse Suite #9076 and it may be a surprise to my wife for our anniversary. It is at the rear of the NCL Sun. I chose this particular room because it was between passenger decks. The only other ph suites available were right below the Garden Cafe (directly above us) or at the bow of the ship. I had heard from a cruise board that the bow cabins were difficult to use while the ship was in motion due to the wind. Also, the only ph suite was the AB category for about $250 more. I know, what's $250 when you've already spent $3,000 plus expenses, but it seemed like the best cabin at the time. Large deck, lots of room, the same service and amenities as the AA cabins and, of course, more than I can really afford. But what the heck, life is short in "the age of terror". I went for it......

Mike, could I ask you a couple of questions?

Does one compensate the butlers like one would the cabin steward? Do I now have three sets of tips to pay? Or is this supposed to be part of the package and any tips above and beyond the normal are optional? Just trying to do the right thing.

We are travelling with another couple who did not upgrade to a suite. Can I have them join us for dinner, cocktails, hors d oeurves, etc. in our cabin without difficulty? Would they mind getting them tender tickets, box lunches, shore excursions while they are getting ours? Can we wangle an ivitation to the Captains quarters for them if we are invited? We want to hang out with them, even though they are in steerage, HA!

Is it fair to keep this from my wife until the cruise? Will she kill me when she finds out all the stuff she should have brought so she could look good for all the cocktail parties with the Captain?

Thanks for all the great info!

MrTractor
In Locust Grove, VA

 

[M Burton]

They do not specifically charge you more tips becaquse of the butlers. Like I said we tipped the concierge (the queen of getting your friends into the captians quarters, the kitchen tour, shore excursions, and tender tickets) and the butlers the day we sailed (20 bucks each) so we were assured better than average service. I think by doing that we had no trouble getting our friends into some of the perks. By all means invite your friends to your cabin for dinner, when you set it up with the butler tip him 10 bucks or so. when he got us the four box lunches on port days I tipped him 5 bucks each time. all in all I think I gave the main butler about 100 in tips for the week, but remember I had that cocktail party with 8 guests and that deserved a bigger than average tip. The one butler worked his butt off for us and I figured the extra money was well worth it. Besides the daily tip charge on your bill I spent about 200 bucks on tips. 100 for the one butler, 20 on the butler who did far less, 50 to the concierge for getting two friends into the invite type events and booking their excursions, she also got them first off the ship passes the day the cruise was over, and 30 to the cabin steward who brought enough shampoo and soap and stuff to fill a suitcase.

By all means do not tell your wife, she needs no excuse to buy more clothes to keep up appearances!!! Beside the look on her face when she sees the room you book will be priceless!!! believe me I know cuz that is how I did it, but I also created a monster!!!!!!!!

I have learned that with the type of third world employees the ships hire, that sometimes pre tipping really opens them up to going the extra mile. We got to know our one butler so well that he told us some of the suite stayer swho use him every day don't even tip. He mentioned that working class americans are much better tippers than the high income, self made snobby types. I hope all this helps!

Mike