Aft Balcony vs. Jr. Suite

My wife and I are planning our 20th anniversary cruise on Adventure of the Seas in the summer of 2019, and I'm looking for some advice. We've previously sailed on RC in the past and have been in interior promenade rooms twice, a Jr. Suit once, and a regular balcony.

Right now we are looking at two different rooms. The first is room 9390, which is an aft balcony. Cost would be around $2,200 plus $175 OBC. Room two is room 9618 which is a Jr. Suite on the hump for $2800 plus $200 OBC.

We've had a balcony cabin on the hump before and really enjoyed it due to the proximity to everything. I've never had an aft balcony cabin, but it seems like people really love them.

For those of you that have been in both, or either of these categories, what would you prefer. Right now I'm leaning toward the aft balcony. I really don't know if a Jr. Suite is worth the additional $600, and can you beat the views out the back of the ship? What are some of the positives or negatives of either room?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I sailed in 8690 which is on the corner of the 8th deck and really enjoyed it. As long as you stay in a corner aft, I say go for the aft balcony. The junior suite is nice, but I don't spend a lot of time in my cabin so the extra space is not much use to me. My wife would argue that the closet space makes the JS worth every penny, but I don't spent much time in there either. 9390's balcony will be slightly smaller than 8690, but still bigger than a standard side facing balcony. If you've never been in an aft before, I say you have to do it at least once. As a quick side note, I have been in center aft balconies on Voyager and Freedom class, and didnt enjoy those as much. Too much of the ship superstructure in the way. If another corner aft opened up on another deck I may consider that as the other decks have larger balconies.

We love Aft cabins. In addition to the cost difference we like the large balcony and walking the distance helps considering how much we eat? Yes I know the JS also has a bigger balcony and the room might be bigger but not sure that S worth the cost. We had a hump cabin once and didn't like it because it was near the elevators so it tended to be noisy as people stopped to chat when they got off the elevator. Also music rose from the centrum. your choice in the end.

I’m a huge fan of the extra room in a junior suite. If the cost difference isn’t much I would look at a grand suite so you get all of the suite benefits.

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It all come down to how much you want a huge balcony, which would be the aft choice. That's not a big deal to use, so we would favor the JS on the hump.

We love Aft cabins. In addition to the cost difference we like the large balcony and walking the distance helps considering how much we eat? Yes I know the JS also has a bigger balcony and the room might be bigger but not sure that S worth the cost. We had a hump cabin once and didn't like it because it was near the elevators so it tended to be noisy as people stopped to chat when they got off the elevator. Also music rose from the centrum. your choice in the end.

the walking distance is fine if you are somewhat fit but for people with mobility issues the walk is quite hard on them.We have had a cabin near the back of the ship, I was looking for a shuttle to get us from the elevators to our cabin

We've had 2 aft balconies and one JS. Loved both but for the price delta, I'd take the aft. We don't mind the extra walking as it gives us exercise and allows me a few extra steps to burn off calories. If one has mobility issues, then I'd take the JS.

Google "adventure of the seas 9390". Great YouTube video for reference. The balcony Is half the size of regular afts because it's triangular. Also note the single person door you have to swing open to Get to the balcony along with the porthole... It's not a floor to ceiling sliding Door

No brainer on this one... Take the JS

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Been on both an aft balcony and hump stateroom.

Prefer the location of the hump, and definitely like the additional size of the Jr. Suite. My preference is definitely a hump Jr. Suite stateroom.

I'll usually go for the aft over the hump. I think it's a little quieter and certainly less congested. Besides, with all that extra food I can use a little more exercise.

I LOVE the walk in closet in the JS's...and a tub/shower combo means the bathroom is a bit larger, too. There is a lot of superstructure on this class ship in the aft...so you will not have a "straight down" view to the water...the view of the wake is in the distance. I'd go JS, if it were me.

The walk to the "aft" isn't enough to make a difference in your calorie consumption...but it is a PIA if you tend to run back and forth to the cabin a lot during the day. Something closer to midship is much more convenient!

IThe walk to the "aft" isn't enough to make a difference in your calorie consumption...but it is a PIA if you tend to run back and forth to the cabin a lot during the day. Something closer to midship is much more convenient!

Party pooper. Let me dream!

I appreciate all of the replys and information. It doesn't sound like I could go wrong with either room.

Mobility isn't a problem for either of us and I really would like to experience an aft balcony at some point, but the convenience of being close to the stairs, plus that additional room is tough to pass up.

The problem we have with those aft balcony cabins is the l-o-n-g hallway walk. :(

We've had 2 aft balconies and one JS. Loved both but for the price delta, I'd take the aft. We don't mind the extra walking as it gives us exercise and allows me a few extra steps to burn off calories. If one has mobility issues, then I'd take the JS.

I'm falling in line with JTB here. I did have a nice hump JS on Adventure, but we got a steal on it 700 days ahead of time. I know have a corner aft with big Balcony on Jewel, a shorter walk and it would cost be about $600 to go to the JS on that ship. I'm staying put and I enjoy the walk.

I love the corner aft balcony cabins. The balconies are much bigger than regular (and JS, by the way) balconies. There will be room for a lounger plus a couple of chairs and a small table. The corner balconies allow you to look around the side slightly so it gives you a little bit of a view to where you're headed. The views of the wake are spectacular. I've never stayed in a JS so I can't comment on them.

The corner afts on deck 9 are smaller than those in the center aft. Much smaller. Don't like the lack of sliding glass door either. There is a beam down the middle of the balcony that you have to duck your head to miss. Would never stay in one again. If you could get a corner on another deck or a middle on deck 9, you would have a much nicer balcony. We have done many aft facing balconies over the years. But we now prefer the larger room, the much larger bathroom and the walk in closet of JS's. You can always go to the aft on the promenade deck and watch the wake if you like. On most ships there will be some loungers back there.

The balconies are much bigger than regular (and JS, by the way) balconies.

Totally incorrect information.. per previous posts on this thread, this cabin in question has a much smaller balcony.

Scroll ahead to about 1:15

AuKeJ4rO6Dg

Totally incorrect information.. per previous posts on this thread, this cabin in question has a much smaller balcony.

Scroll ahead to about 1:15

 

AuKeJ4rO6Dg

I wouldn't say it was "much" smaller. Looks about the same. I would also say the balcony on the aft has more usable space.....especially with the lounger sticking straight out.

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I wouldn't say it was "much" smaller. Looks about the same.

Nope... take the next door balcony and cut it approximately in half diagonally. Peer your head around the corner to your next door neighbor and you get this... there are many threads here on cruise critic discussing the two cabins and the balcony issues

kXorKMLflHo

Nope... take the next door balcony and cut it approximately in half diagonally. Peer your head around the corner to your next door neighbor and you get this... there are many threads here on cruise critic discussing the two cabins and the balcony issues

kXorKMLflHo

I thought we were comparing the corner aft balcony vs a side JS as per the OP.

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I thought we were comparing the corner aft balcony vs a side JS as per the OP.

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Ah... ok, I get you now. Yes, agreed. My response was to Cruiseguy who says all aft balconies are larger.

I love the view from aft, but JS much nicer cabin with much nicer bathroom and walk in closet, flip a coin

We just got back from Navigator on Friday and had 1390 which is a Deck 10 aft balcony. We loved it. I fell asleep on the loungers the first 2 nights (no I wasn’t drunk) and spent about an hour the first sea day just watching the world go by. The extra walk added all of a minute to and from the cabin and did not bother us. We even carried our food down from the WJ when we couldn’t find seats and ate on the balcony . . .needless to say I’d do it again.

I had one other thought. Are any of the aft facing jr. suites available? Maybe you could get the best of both worlds . . .

Being the incurable point seeker, I’d have to take the JS for double points..