Gem rooms 10500 or 8630

Has anyone stayed both aft and front on the Gem or another Jewel class ship? I have stayed in an aft balcony room 4 times, but not a suite. I have stayed in the 2 bedroom on the Gem and now have an choice between rooms 10500 and 8630. This will be for a 10 day out of NY in March. The pros of the aft is that it has the wake, little wind and quiet. I am a little concerned though about the 8630 being above Bliss. Never having stayed in the front, I am not sure if it is better. I know the wind is strong at times and we will have 5 sea days. Any help from anyone on these rooms would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I wouldn't want to be above Bliss though others say they have not heard noise from it.

You will feel more motion in the front of the ship if the sea is rough.

Just off Gem today! Short review to follow later today.

10500 is a great room with a great view. Good size balcony. Nice view of stars at night due to lights being off at the bow.

I have stayed in 10500 and would again if I could afford it.

We alternate between the aft suites on 9 and 10000/10500. I love aft for the reasons you said: quiet, wake and less wind. Last year we had 10500 on Jewel out of NOLA we had no wind the entire trip and practically lived on the balcony including most evenings with door open(lights off/curtains closed)

Out of NY in March could be quite windy and bumpy but for me that might win out over being above Bliss as I'm an early to bed gal....

I wouldn't want to be above Bliss though others say they have not heard noise from it.

 

You will feel more motion in the front of the ship if the sea is rough.

 

Just off Gem today! Short review to follow later today.

Thank you again for the M&G. I really loved the Gem. I was in the front in 9004 & it was a bit rough last eve, I was trying to have a glass of wine before supper & had to keep chasing it across the table. When we got back to the suite a glass container with cotton balls was smashed all over the bathroom floor but compared to earlier in the night when I was in the gift shop & a couple of bottles flew off the shelves & smashed this was minor. I ran into an elderly lady in the elevator who said she had been on 30 plus cruises & she had never "been bounced around like this before" :)

We did a 7-day out of NYC in June '13 in 10500. It was a little windy while underway, but seated, the wind wasn't an issue. I have some pics linked in my sig if that would help your decision.

Thanks for the info on this guys.

Thank you again for the M&G. I really loved the Gem. I was in the front in 9004 & it was a bit rough last eve, I was trying to have a glass of wine before supper & had to keep chasing it across the table. When we got back to the suite a glass container with cotton balls was smashed all over the bathroom floor but compared to earlier in the night when I was in the gift shop & a couple of bottles flew off the shelves & smashed this was minor. I ran into an elderly lady in the elevator who said she had been on 30 plus cruises & she had never "been bounced around like this before" :)

You're welcome and it was fun. I also posted a review of our cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2189038

Water was rough that night for sure and I have definitely experienced rougher on other cruises, but it's a rare occurrence for us it seems.

Just found this post, so you've probably already chosen your cabin. But for others considering a Penthouse suite either fore or aft, we've been in both. Each has a similar layout. Our favorite feature is that the closet can be accessed by 2 sides. Here are some pros and cons.

Penthouse Aft was our first suite, so it holds a special place in my heart. Deck 10 has slightly smaller cabin, but largest balcony of the Aft penthouses, so we always choose deck 10 for the balcony space. Pros are being mesmerized by the wake, and little wind. Con is that there will be some soot, especially after a sea day. Just remember to check the railings and furniture for it, so you don't get your clothes dirty. You can ask your steward to clean it, or do it yourself. I usually take out a cabin robe and drape it over the lounger. We'll be sailing in a penthouse aft this coming December, so will be curious to see if the new scrubbers being installed on the Gem makes a difference.

Forward Penthouses offer humongous balconies on deck 9 that can hold a party for 20 people:D and fantastic views from the bow. You feel like you ARE the bridge, which is awesome coming into and leaving port.

Con could be that most balconies are entirely on view to the bridge, and the wind. As someone earlier mentioned, though, wind won't be much of a bother if you're sitting down. You also have to watch that the balcony door and cabin door aren't opened at the same time, as it creates a wind tunnel that is awesome! The biggest con, for us, is that the door and curtains must be closed at dusk, so light from the cabin doesn't show on the bridge. Still, we love the forward suites, too, and are sailing in one next week.

Patricia

Stayed both forward and aft on the gem

Prefer forward. I was on deck 10

didnt really experience a lot of wind

You have to keep curtains closed at night because of light in the room effecting the bridge

Not sure why though.

No a lot of privacy on balcony since you are under the bridge. The balcony is huge.

Either way you can't go wrong.

Has anyone stayed both aft and front on the Gem or another Jewel class ship? I have stayed in an aft balcony room 4 times, but not a suite. I have stayed in the 2 bedroom on the Gem and now have an choice between rooms 10500 and 8630. This will be for a 10 day out of NY in March. The pros of the aft is that it has the wake, little wind and quiet. I am a little concerned though about the 8630 being above Bliss. Never having stayed in the front, I am not sure if it is better. I know the wind is strong at times and we will have 5 sea days. Any help from anyone on these rooms would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hey, let me know if you book 10500. We have 10664 so we'll be sort of neighbours. Same cruise in March 2016. We sailed from NY in 2013 in an aft balcony in March. It was quite cool and we were glad to have almost no wind as we sailed the harbour. I have been in cabins in the front on other ships and find the front to be noisier.

Thank you again for the M&G. I really loved the Gem. I was in the front in 9004 & it was a bit rough last eve, I was trying to have a glass of wine before supper & had to keep chasing it across the table. When we got back to the suite a glass container with cotton balls was smashed all over the bathroom floor but compared to earlier in the night when I was in the gift shop & a couple of bottles flew off the shelves & smashed this was minor. I ran into an elderly lady in the elevator who said she had been on 30 plus cruises & she had never "been bounced around like this before" :)

You have brought back memories of our cruise out of New York in March 2013. The first night & second day south were extremely rocky! A freak snowstorm had hit the Washington area and we had to sail by of course. The captain kept apologizing but what could he do. I have never heard so many crashes of dishes as we did that night in the MDR. Poor waiters couldn't hold on to the trays. At one point it seemed like the DR ceiling was where the wall should be. It was scary. Back in our room we found broken glass right in the middle of the carpet from some water glasses. No one could come to clean up as there were many other worse breakages to clean up. So we picked up what we could and laid the luggage mat over the smaller pieces of glass so we wouldn't step on anything in the night. And, wow, did the bungee cords I had brought ever help. Tied the cupboard doors together so they couldn't keep banging open and we slept like 'angels', being rocked to sleep.

Oddly whenever I look back over the many cruises we have done that cruise actually stands out as the very best one! Our cruise critic group met several times over the 10 days and some of us even ended up eating dinner together. Great group of people.