Rear staircase?

[shofer]

We are looking to book a cabin on the Reflection but the deck plan does not show stairs for passenger use in the aft portion. We see a very nice aft cabin but don't know if we want to have to walk to the center in order to walk up and back again even if we are capable.

 

On the M-class there are 3 staircases on each passenger deck making transit between decks easy. This will be our first cruise on a S-class ship.

 

I'm sure there is someone out there with the answer.

 

Sue

[Tiggertastic]

there are 2 sets of stairs - one in the centre and one near the entrance to the theatre so no there is not a set at the aft

 

We were in the last cabin before the relaxation area and it was a long walk but the exercise was welcome

[Karynanne]

The walk from the Aft to the mid-ship stairs/elevators isn't that long. You get use to it after one day. I actually liked it. After a full meal, it was good to walk off the calories...or at least that's what I told myself.

[dkjretired]

The rear stairs are really not mid ship, its more like the ship is broken into thirds.

[mferranti]

We did an aft on Equinox once.

 

We will never do it again.

[akowilm]

We were aft on Reflection and you DO get used to the walk......I had a Persian Garden pass and went for an hour each day while DH took his afternoon nap and that was a bit of a haul, one end to the other, but gave me a great excuse to have that mast burger every afternoon, and several Molecular Bar concoctions each night as well! Keep in mind the balconies on S-class aft are not nearly as large as on the M-class ships....

[jagoffee]

We are looking to book a cabin on the Reflection but the deck plan does not show stairs for passenger use in the aft portion. We see a very nice aft cabin but don't know if we want to have to walk to the center in order to walk up and back again even if we are capable.

 

On the M-class there are 3 staircases on each passenger deck making transit between decks easy. This will be our first cruise on a S-class ship.

 

I'm sure there is someone out there with the answer.

 

Sue

 

The rear stairs are really not mid ship, its more like the ship is broken into thirds.

 

Yes, you can get an idea from the deck plan.

 

We cruised in an AFT cabin on a Solstice Class ship and we did not find it to be a problem, but obviously it is a personal choice.

 

One of the really nice feature of this class ship is the separation of the the stairs/elevators from the cabins, so there is no disadvantage to being closer.

[shofer]

Thanks everyone for the input. I love the M-class ships but have to try S-class. Maybe we will just opt for a center cabin. Haven't booked yet. Waiting on my travel companion for dates and hoping for another 123 offer from X.

 

Sue

[CathyCruises]

We had the opposite experience--booked the FV all the way forward and I detested the long walk to get anywhere. I am not a patient person and it was agonizing to have to go so far. Sure I guess the additional exercise was good but it was a mental misery to me.

 

Last cruise we booked right at the midship elevators and it was fantastic, I loved the location and will always be close by in the future. It really made my cruise!

[mferranti]

It's not so much the distance that's the issue; I just find long walks in narrow corridors lined with stateroom doors tedious.

[ClaudiaB]

Our very favorite cabins on S class are the aft cabins, in particular the corner aft ones. We LOVE that there is no congregating back there, that there is a nice walk, and that it's private. The view is amazing. It only takes a few minutes to get to the stairs, and we like the exercise. Even the walk the entire length of the ship isn't bad. For instance, if you walk from the aft cabin to the forward elevators by the Sky Lounge at the front, it's takes only a few minutes.

We've always avoided cabins by the stairs and elevators. To us there is nothing so urgent on our vacation on a cruise ship that makes us need to have instant access to stairs or elevators.

Obviously if there are mobility issues, it's probably not the best idea, although on one of our last cruises on Eclipse there was a man who used a walker who had the aft cabin next to ours and he liked the walk too. Just took him longer, but like he said, he was on vacation, no rush, no worries.

But I shouldn't be touting the advantages of these cabins because then everyone will want one....

[phoenix_dream]

There are definitely pros and cons to a far aft location. It would definitely not work for our mobility impaired senior relative - she could not handle the distance. It can also be very, very inconvenient if you just want to pop back to your room to pick up something, or if you have forgotten something. On the plus side it is more quiet, and the walk is good exercise. Just know what you are getting into and decide from there.