If you like to cruise in style, then there’s one class of cabin you might be considering: a suite.
On a cruise ship, suites vary widely. Whereas a balcony or an interior cabin may have small variations, but be largely the same from one room to the other, it’s not the same with suite cabins. Here, the difference can be what’s essentially a balcony cabin with a little more space all the way to apartments with multiple bedrooms, private hot tubs, and more.
Now if money were no object, then we’d all sail in the nicest suites on the ship. But these rooms definitely carry a higher price tag, which begs the question of if suites are worth it on a cruise.
Having sailed in them personally and toured many more, here are our thoughts.
How Much More You’ll Spend on a Suite
So how much will you spend on a suite? That’s actually hard to pin down, but we can give you some idea. The issue with pricing is the widely different suite options, giving widely ranging price options.
For instance, we found a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas with a price of $1,316 per person for a balcony cabin. The most basic suite started at $2,447, or about $1,100 more per person. The highest-end room (the two-story “Star Loft” suite) ran $13,393 per person.
On Norwegian Cruise Line we spotted a cruise aboard Norwegian Getaway with a price of $1,204 per person for a balcony, but suites ranging from $1,304 (just $100 more!) to $7,304 per person.
Carnival Jubilee has a cruise with balconies priced at $1,129 per person, but suites priced at $1,769 for the same trip.
You can see why it’s tricky to tell you a certain amount more you’ll pay for one of these high-end rooms. However, in general you should expect them to start about 50% more than the cost of a balcony cabin. The top end of what you’ll pay is practically unlimited. In fact, Royal Caribbean offers one suite for about $75,000 per week!
The Benefits of a Suite (Not Just a Bigger Room)
With that extra money, you also get a number of benefits. These will vary from line to line and it may make a difference what tier of suite you book (some of the top-tier rooms may have benefits regular suites don’t get). That said, here are some benefits of suites that you can expect on most cruise lines:
Larger/Nicer Room: First things first, if you’re booking a suite, it’s likely because you want a room with more space and that’s nicer overall. Typical balcony cabins measure around 160-180 square feet. Suites can range from slightly larger than that to literally a couple of thousand square feet, depending on the ship and the room you choose. Some even come with multiple bedrooms, which is a far cry from a regular cabin on the cruise ship.
In addition, the rooms are generally upgraded when it comes to amenities and the décor. Expect nicer furnishings, including in some cases everything from a bidet to a piano to a private hot tub on the balcony. You can also expect higher-end design compared to other rooms on the ship.
Extras (Drink Packages, Wi-Fi, and More): It’s not just the room you get when you book a suite. Cruise lines offer a number of extras as an incentive to stay in these rooms. These will vary from line to line, but often you can get things like the drink package, wi-fi, VIP boarding and priority reservations as a perk. Some of the highest-end suites can have personal butlers. Others include specialty dining or other perks with your cruise.
For things like drink packages and wi-fi, if you planned on buying these anyway, then you’ll want to factor the cost of them when pricing out a suite.
Private Areas: What’s becoming a more common benefit with booking a suite is private “suite-only” areas on the ship. Typically all passengers get full access to the ship. Now, many ships are creating pool areas, lounges, and restaurants that cater only to suite passengers. These spots provide a dedicated area with smaller crowds and a more sophisticated ambiance for this group to enjoy.
For example, new Celebrity ships feature a lounge with snacks during the day and a pool deck area with its own pool, loungers, and space away from the rest of the passengers onboard.
When Are Suites Worth It?
There’s no doubt that with suites you pay more, but you also get more. But are they worth it? That’s going to depend on your circumstances, but here are some idea of when you’ll be more likely to get your money’s worth.
Traveling With a Larger Group: Sailing with a large group? It could be that tips the scales in favor of booking a suite. Typical cruise cabins are built for two but sleep up to three or four. Suites can offer much more space, meaning you may be able to book one suite instead of multiple traditional cabins and still have space for everyone. This can reduce the price per person for these high-end rooms considerably.
You Value Exclusivity: Do you like to cruise but still wish you were able to sail with fewer people? Having a suite can give you the best of both worlds, making the extra cost worth it. First, you get the amenities and activities of a large ship. But as we mentioned above, many ships now have special areas (often dubbed a “resort within a resort”) that are dedicated solely to suite guests.
In some cases you can have a much more private sun/pool deck. You can have restaurants other passengers can’t access. You can even have your own lounge serving breakfast and snacks. So you get the benefits of a large ship but also the exclusivity of private areas.
So if you’re someone that values having smaller crowds, then a suite may be well worth the cost.
You Enjoy the Finer Things in Life: Some people just enjoy the finer things in life. If you’re one of those people, then you will likely be happier with the cruise when staying in the suite and find the extra cost well worth it.
Should you be the type that regularly enjoys fine dining, or you drive a luxury car, or you stay at high-end hotels, it could be that you would be disappointed with the typical cruise cabin and the overall experience. After all, a large cruise ship is made to appeal to the masses, not the top 1%. Suites, however, are definitely made to appeal to high-end customers.
Drink Package Buyers: Were you planning to get a balcony cabin and buy the drink package? In that case, a suite could be worth the money. Not every suite comes with a drink package, but some do. In that case, it could be that when you add up the cost of the regular cabin and a drink package, upgrading to a suite may be only a small amount more.
One Thing to Consider When Booking a Suite
Whether or not to book a suite can be a major choice that can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars more than other rooms to thousands of dollars more. That’s why we think it is important to mention one thing to consider.
It’s true that when you pay more for the suite, you do get more — you get a nicer and larger cabin, more perks included, and generally a better experience overall.
However, the vast majority of your cruise will be the same. You’ll most often be eating at the same restaurants, you visit the same ports, see the same shows, play in the same casino. We’d estimate that apart from the actual room itself, about 80-90% of your cruise will be the same as someone staying in a considerably less expensive room.
Our Personal Experience Staying in a Suite
During the cruises we’ve taken, we’ve stayed in everything from a basic interior cabin all the way to a suite. Meanwhile, we’ve toured many more of these high-end rooms.
In full disclosure, when sailing in a suite, it’s been on short trips that were complimentary from the cruise line. So what did we think?
First things first, the experience was top-notch. The suites offer space and amenities that are unmatched by other cabins on the ship. Compared to a normal cabin, the rooms are just “sexier” and much more than just a simple place to sleep and get ready for the day like a traditional cabin. We also enjoyed having a dedicated pool area only for suite guests that saw smaller crowds than the rest of the ship.
All things being equal, we’d sail in a suite every cruise. However, things aren’t equal — namely the price tag on these rooms.
For us, the considerably higher cost of suites is hard to swallow. We find that most cruises we are out and about, not hanging out in the room. So coming back to a large, well-appointed cabin is nice, but not a must-have given the limited time. In general, we are also the type to look for deals and be considerate of where we spend money, so we may spend more conservatively on a cruise than most.
To us, we completely get why people want to pay up for these cabins and don’t blame them a bit. For us personally, the price tag is normally too steep. A few hundred bucks more than a balcony cabin? Sign us up. But when the prices start to get into the thousands more for a cruise, the math doesn’t work for us.
