Aft Balcony...yay or nay

[smalltowngirl504]

This will be our first cruise...yay!!! We are debating an aft balcony Ive read some reviews on the matter, and they all seem to lean towards no, I was wondering the PROS and CONS of an aft balcony and also deck 7 or 8.. if you could choose..:confused:

 

Thanks so much for your input!

[chaser84]

We had a deck 6 aft wrap for our Alaskan cruise and I would not have traded it for any other room on the ship!! Never had any issues with litter from above as some on other cruises have posted and I loved being able to see the scenery on both sides of the ship.

 

You feel some pretty decent movement but only when waves are 7-10 ft. which was pretty much our day at sea but we loved it!

 

I have only been on this one cruise so would hope someone who has been in both a side and an aft can compare.

 

Alaska is one beautiful place!!!

[bills blasters]

We have had an aft balcony 6 times, and love it. Would be hard to go to a side balcony again. The view from back there is fantastic. You can see good in 3 directions. Plus when you pull in and out of ports you usually have a great view of the ports. Seems like most of the ports, the ship backs in, so you have the best seat in the house. Plus, the balconies are a little bigger. They are the same length, but deeper. Just seems more roomier for 2 people to sit out.

Plus, there is hardly any wind on the back.

Can't think of anything bad to say about an aft balcony.

Claudia

[CorvetteLady]

What ship are you thinking about?

 

We had an aft on the Conquest, deck 7, it was nice but I missed being able to see what was happening on the side of the ship. Sometimes you couldn't see the sunrise or the sunset depending which direction the ship was sailing. On the Conquest class the aft is sloped so you can see all the balconies below you.

 

Our last cruise on the Triumph we had an aft wrap and I loved it. I could see the wake of the ship but also the side of the ship, plus the balcony was about 75 ft. total.

[bills blasters]

I would choose deck 7 for sure. You have rooms above and below you, so less noise. I think deck 8 might get a lot of noise with the aft pool area above. The deck chairs scraping around might be kind of loud.

Claudia

[98Charlie]

We've had insides, ocean views, balconies, afts, and aft wraps. It's all good and we go with the best deals available.

 

I wouldn't worry about an aft or aft wrap. We've never had the litter problem that some have had.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Charlie

[houstoncruisers2001]

We've had insides, ocean views, balconies, afts, and aft wraps. It's all good and we go with the best deals available.

 

This is the best answer.......it's all good.

 

We've had a variety of cabins as well. Sure the aft balcony we had was great.

Then we went back to an inside cabin so we could do a B2B. Anywhere on the

ship beats sitting in my office...as I'm doing right now.

[tandemcruzr]

We had an aft on the Miracle, deck 8. Loved the views of the wake. Didn't feel any extraordinary movement.

 

But, no breeze when underway (got quite warm on sea days); soot on furniture and deck which our room steward cleaned regularly (even put a towel down inside our balcony door so we wouldn't track it into the room).

 

Glad we did it, but have used mid-ship port or starboard balconies since.

 

Will be trying out a Cove balcony on the Dream in November.

[gail811]

Another lover of the aft cabins. As for which deck to choose, you did not tell us which ship you are sailing on. In most instances though I think deck 7 would be your better option because you will be sandwiched between 2 passenger decks and less likely to have noise issues above or below.

[chicy724]

We had this same dilemma when planning our cruise. We went with a midship balcony- because of possible vibration. Many said that you can feel vibration when in aft or forward. Although being higher up diminishes this a bit.

 

If vibration is no problem for you- go for it. If I didn't think it'd be a problem for me, I would have chosen the aft balcony because it's bigger and watching the rear wake would be beautiful. It is also quieter back there (from what I've been told on here) because there is less traffic. But I can't say it was noisy midship anyways. We were on deck 7.

 

When we were on Triumph, in the dining room for breakfast, on deck 3, we felt a lot of vibration. We didn't spend much time in aft on higher decks so it is hard for me to compare the difference.

 

So in my opinion, if you don't mind the possibility of vibration- go for it!!!

[FloridaLaura]

I love aft balconies..I never had the aft wrap, just the "normal aft balconies" Here is a picture of last years Legend Cruise to the Western Carribbean sailing out of Tampa...off in the distance is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It is so relaxing on the balcony! By the way..I have on a halter dress lol..the last person who saw this pic thought I was Naked on my balcony..its private, but not that private. LOL

[FloridaLaura]

Ahhhh cant wait til November 13th!

[dfmeeks]

We'll be on our 1st aft wrap on the Triumph in March. We typically reserve a balcony but spend so much time on it relaxing that I thought a wrap would be a good surprise for DH. I chose a cabin on the verandah deck so that it would be easy to run up 1 deck for breakfast & lunch, & bring our culinary treasures back down to be enjoyed on our balcony. I'll let you know how it works out :)

[iCorpRoadie]

Aft, or Aft Wrap. Have my second AftWrap in Dec, can't wait. One floor down from my first one (7th) But I would never do anything but an Aft(wrap)

[drosphot]

As a previous poster pointed out, soot collects and no breeze in the aft when underway. An aft wrap gives you a breeze on the side and the view of the wake.

 

I have been convinced that the Main Deck Vista Suite on a Spirit class is "da bomb" so I think I have to go with it for New Years Eve 2012 going into 2013. :D

[cathyz]

We had an aft wrap on the Pride, the huge deck and aft and side views were fabulous. We had no issues with trash or cigarettes (deck 7), but did have lots of problems with vibration in the cabin. Stuff would move around so much that I had to get up every night to move bottles and things around so they wouldn't clank together all night. Not sure if I'd get a regular aft cabin, but would do a wrap again, it's worth the noise.

[Blondie008]

I love aft balconies..I never had the aft wrap, just the "normal aft balconies" Here is a picture of last years Legend Cruise to the Western Carribbean sailing out of Tampa...off in the distance is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. It is so relaxing on the balcony! By the way..I have on a halter dress lol..the last person who saw this pic thought I was Naked on my balcony..its private, but not that private. LOL

 

Stunning pic Laura, and not naked or not..you look beautiful:)

Reminds me of a pic I had done when I was 18, it was on front page of newspaper, my father freaked!!! I had on a "boob tube", he claimed I was topless...oooooooh family ruptions LOL!!!

Great pic... sums the ambience up perfectly and makes me think of our forthcoming aft;) (although.... we might well be naked:eek: )

[soccersharon]

I vote "yay" for aft..deck 7 on any Conquest ship. Did not notice any soot or litter - I was too busy being in awe of the ocean wake :)

[NotWthOutablcony]

LOVE LOVE LOVE our aft balconies!!! Its the only room type we prefer! We actually prefer the Upper Deck 6 as its the closest balcony to the water. I don't want to look down onto neighbors, just wake! You'll love the aft, its wonderful! Sometimes a slight bit more motion than midship rooms but if you're not highly aggitated by motion, it wont bother you in the least.

[gelo7]

I vote yay.

[Grits53]

I've been on 15 cruises and all parts of the ship. My favorite cabins have been in the aft. The cons would be that the balconies are not as private as the side balconies. You will occasionally have things dropped onto the balcony from above....usually ice cream & cigarettes. You have farther to walk to the main show lounge, which is in the front of the ship. You will also have farther to walk to the gangway where you get on and off the ship while at ports. (But farther to walk = more exercise to burn those excess calories!) There is some vibration and noise from the engines, and some people call this a con, but I call it a pro. I sleep better in an aft cabin than anywhere else, including at home!

The pros are that the balconies are bigger. I don't like a lot of wind, and the aft facing balconies have hardly any wind. The view of the ship's wake is so peaceful! Love it! Less hall traffic and therefore less noise (talking, kids running, etc.). Very convenient to the aft dining room, aft lounge (karaoke & comediens there), and Lido aft, where you have the pizza, grill, & ice cream, along with the aft pool and hot tubs.

Definitely deck 7 for less noise from above and below, since there are only guest cabins above and below. The noisiest cabin we ever had was on deck 8 aft, because every night, the crew would drag the tables and chairs around above us, I guess to mop the floor. Second noisiest cabin we ever had was on deck 6, above the lounge below. It wasn't so much the music from the lounge, but we were beneath a door to the bar storage area, and it slammed constantly at night. :rolleyes:

[jayscore]

I can't wait 'till next April when we will be enjoying our fifth aft cabin. (And this time we finally sprang for the aft wrap suite!)

Gee, I guess you can tell what my vote is!;)

[nanuak]

Aft-wrap all the way!!! We like 6483 on the Conquest class, but have moved up a floor to 7459 for our upcoming Magic cruise.

 

I hope I don't regret the decision to move up a floor; but with the wrap-around promenade on the Dream class, I was kind of worried about being only a floor above.

[RMM34667]

We had an aft balcony on deck 5 on the Legend last year. I LOVED it. My sister really had a hard time sleeping with the vibrations.

 

When we recently started talking about a cruise for this November the Legend was considered and my sister asked.. "do you think they fixed the noise?" I laughed and told her I doubt it since I think it was normal for being aft and lower.

 

This year I am sharing a cabin with my parents. We booked an inside on the Destiny, but I'm hoping to upgrade us to a balcony when we get a little closer (and hopefully the price drops). I'd love to do another aft but I'm worried they might be a little bothered by the vibrations and the LONG walks. I swear I lost weight last year just from that.

 

But I would do an aft in a heart beat if I had the chance.

[norcalal]

My last four cruises were aft but I do not recommend them.

 

They are haunted... they are so far back of the ship the hallways are always empty.

 

The sights and sounds of the sea consume you.

 

Should you happen upon one you are doomed to searching future cruises for aft vacancies...in short you are hooked and should without any delay, look for a twelve-step program to help you deal with this.