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Suite Difference Worth The Money?


FManke

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I know this question is very subjective and probably varies from ship to ship, but is the difference between a Jr suite and Grand 1 bedroom suite worth the price difference? 

On our Greek cruise on Rhapsody in 2020, it's about $1100 per person.

Are the added advantages of being in a "real" suite worth the money besides obviously cabin size difference?

Thanks

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I do not think it is worth it.  I have a Jr. suite booked in Aug 2020 for Alaska, but I would not pay more. However, if you have a regular suite, depending on the ship, you have access to the Concierge Club and Coastal Kitchen or some other suite only access areas.  As a Jr. suite we do not have those perks.  I do not think it is worth the price deference.

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2 minutes ago, twangster said:

On Rhapsody the difference in benefits is simply not worth $1,100 per person in my opinion.  

Put that money into awesome excursions and really enjoy your cruise.   

100% agree on Rhapsody. No major "gold card" suite benefits on this ship. Junior suite will be a great room still. Plus this is a very port intensive itinerary so you won't have a lot of time in your room. 

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I've been fortunate to stay in nice suites a handful of times.  What I remember most about those cruises isn't the cabin but memories made outside the cabin.  Don't get me wrong, a full suite is nice but there are lots of ways to spend money on a vacation that will create lasting memories.  

If I won the lottery, full suites!  Absent of the lottery in my life, no.

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I agree with others here, on small ship this extra cost not worth it, unless you think $1100 for “free” drinks between 4:30pm - 8pm are worth it to you.

The extra space in a GS is nice but Junior Suites have plenty of room so I would go with that.

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Save the money and do some excursions.  The tour of the Vatican in Rome is pricey but so worth it.  If you are in Santorini, Greece do the Amazing Santorini Wine tour.  It is awesome.  And in Athens we did a private tour that was absolutely worth every penny.  And get some nice unique souvenirs.

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  Last year we were able to upgrade from a Jr. Suite to a Loft Suite on the Oasis for about $800 total.  Since we wanted to try a Loft suite for a long time this was well worth it.  In your case I dont think the upgrade would be worth it.  We are on the Harmony this summer and hoping to upgrade again but the cost was about what you would be paying.  Even with the Oasis class ship I dont believe it would be worth it.

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If you watch for deals, you can find GSs for $500-$600 per person more on a 7 day cruise. On any ship I would say this is worth it. The Concierge Club and Concierge services are lovely, including the coffee machine that is free and much, much better than the regular coffee. Also, you often get a free Entertainment Tour, sometimes even a Galley Tour or Bridge Tour, particularly on the smaller ships. Oh, and free room service from the regular MDR menu is a great perk. In fact, I’d rather be in a regular balcony than a JS if I’m concerned about price because I don’t feel the JS is enough better. 

Just my two cents!

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13 hours ago, FManke said:

Thanks to everyone for the advice. This was more of a question for future cruises.

I'm excited for our Jr Suite aft 8th deck. One of only two on the ship with an extra large balcony! .

I’m very much in the class of only doing it on Oasis or Quantum class. We still loved our Junior Suite on Harmony last year, also on deck 8 with a great balcony. But if you find the right deals it’s much easier to make that math work for Sky or even star class. We’re taking some extended family with us next year and with all of the inclusions it almost didn’t make sense to not do it. 

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I have not been in anything higher than a JS, but the way that I figure is if the  cost to upgrade is far cheaper than booking another cruise than it is worth it.  We just got off of Anthem and the cost to upgrade from a balcony to a JS was only $600 total for the both of us, to me that was money well spent since we could not book another cruise with that amount of money and we got the double cruise points.  For the price that you are talking about I do not think that it is worth it whatsoever!  I know that I could easily book another cruise with that cash or have one wonderful trip spending half the amount you would spend on that suite elsewhere!  Stay in your original room and just use the money that you would spend on that suite to book another cruise!!!?

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2 hours ago, bhageerah said:

I have not been in anything higher than a JS, but the way that I figure is if the  cost to upgrade is far cheaper than booking another cruise than it is worth it.  We just got off of Anthem and the cost to upgrade from a balcony to a JS was only $600 total for the both of us, to me that was money well spent since we could not book another cruise with that amount of money and we got the double cruise points.  For the price that you are talking about I do not think that it is worth it whatsoever!  I know that I could easily book another cruise with that cash or have one wonderful trip spending half the amount you would spend on that suite elsewhere!  Stay in your original room and just use the money that you would spend on that suite to book another cruise!!!?

This is our delimma.  We have never even been in a JS but I always look to see if it's worth it to upgrade.  The difference from balcony to JS usually is $700-1000 for non-Oadis ships so seems like a lot.  (Oasis is a lot more on our bookings). We're only platinum but after all our booked cruises we actually won't be too far away from Diamond so it's tempting to just pay the difference for the points alone.

For OP I'm with the others .  The difference is way too much to upgrade when you're already in a JS.  

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2 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

 The difference is way too much to upgrade when you're already in a JS.  

I trust everybody's opinion on this matter, being this will be our first time in a "suite" of any kind. 

That being said, what would be a fair bid for the move up from our Jr Suite to a Grand 1 Bedroom Suite when and if it is available on the Royal Up program on Rhapsody?

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We did our first suite (Grand Suite on Harmony) recently.  We had originally booked a large balcony room.  We decided to upgrade to the GS and were very happy we did.  We do not do multiple cruises a year, so felt this was great for us.  We usually drink beer and wine and occasionally a blended drink, so the free drinks from the Suite Lounge were fine for us.  So we did not buy a drink package as we have on previous cruises.  The Coastal Kitchen, suite lounge, concierge and the Suite Deck were well worth the money for us.  Each person has to decide what works for them and what they are willing to pay for, but we loved it.

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