Infinity A2 and A1 cabins: which one?

Hi all... hubs and I are looking at a November cruise on the Infinity and want to try Aqua class. I see that the A2 cabins are on deck 9 and the A1 cabins are on deck 11, at one end of the ship. Has anyone been up on the A1 section? I see that the movie screen is immediately above, and I am concerned about noise when we sit on the balcony. Plus, I cannot find any information if there is much coverage on the balcony, and I prefer being able to sit in shade.

Does anyone have any opinions one way or the other? Many thanks.

Unless you book the aft cabins on 11, there isn’t much shade. We were in 1141 and loved it (aft with large balcony). We weren’t bothered by the MUTS at all, but this was an Adriatic Cruise, so might be noisier on other cruises.

Deck 9 has lots of shade. Deck 11, except for the true aft (back of the ship) does not have shade. It was noisy the last time we booked true aft cabins because of the deck 12 movies.

We have sailed several times in the cabins on Deck 11, on the side of the ship. We LOVE these rooms. The location is very convenient and the area is very quiet. Be aware that some of the cabins on the sides have a slightly smaller balcony than normal. You can tell which ones if you study the floor plan. They also do NOT have any kind of overhang. So yes, it can get hot out there in the sun. As well, the cabin tends to get a bit warmer than other cabins due to the lack of shade. Our experience with the noise from the side cabins is that if you are on your balcony you can hear the movies/commercials/music playing above, but muffled and not disturbing at all. Unless you are in the far back you cannot hear noise from the bar area. Many AQ cabins have noise issues of varying degrees due to their locations (if not the movie playing, then the pool area, or buffet). It is something you put up with to enjoy the other perks of AQ, but we have never had issues so bad it scared us away from AQ (we love Blu!)

We've sailed on both decks. I totally agree that if you want shade only book an aft on deck 11. 1138 to 1143 are the best Aqua cabins on the M class ships. Newer fittings even with the leaky showers, delightful balconies, and almost no noise from either the Sunset Bar or the movies.

As far as the Aqua class cabins on deck 9, try to avoid the cabins located under the pool area. If you look at the deck plan cabins aft of 9108 on the starboard side and the equivalent cabins on the port side are under the carpeted lido and are quieter. The overhangs from deck 10 provide shade and almost total cover in the rain. Depending on the position of the ship you will get very acceptable light in the cabin.

We've passed up side cabins on deck 11 since we do prefer the covered balconies.

Enjoy your cruise!!!

As others have stated, deck 9 if you prefer shade and deck 11 if you prefer sun.

The side cabins have smaller balconies, but they extend out to the edge of the ship (or close to it), so you can look right down to the water.

Also, the side balconies get breezes, which may be a pro or a con.

The aft balconies on deck 11 have the deeper balconies where you can get both shade and sun. They provide nice wake views looking out to the distance, but it is like looking out at the ocean from the top of a tall building about a block away.

We were greatly disappointed to find that out at Icy Straight Point when humpbacks were up close right behind the ship for most of the day.

In order to to see them, we needed to go down to the deck below, or to a friend's balcony on the back of deck 7 for an even better view, or get off the ship and watch them from shore.

The aft balconies can become unusable on hot weather cruises because you don't get breeze back there. But that can be an asset in cold weather.

We wish the M-class ships had aqua class cabins on lower decks because we like the sights and sounds of being close to the water when we are on a ship, and seeing wildlife, ice floes and such up close and personal, not through binoculars or a zoom lens.

It can be hard to pick a cabin in aqua class on the M-class ships, where they all have pros and cons. So just pick one with the features that appeal most to you.

Thank you all for your advice. I had a gut feeling the level 9 cabins were more suitable for us, so it's nice to get confirmations ahead of time. I'm going to go ahead and book on that level. Cheers! :D :cocktail: