Why is an aft cabin so good?

[Rowebote]

I was in 7638. If I could figure out how to post a picture on here, I would post one of my cabin and balcony. I am pretty sure 7140 is identical. It really was great with a nice open view. And for the sail away from Venice (if that is where you are leaving) you will love it. Heck, it was fantastic the entire time! Just look for soot before sitting down. But honestly, when it is there it is small chunks so all you have to do is turn the chair/lounge on the side and brush it off. You don't even need to wash it.

 

Let me attempt to post some pics...

 

Thank you so much! That is exactly what I was looking for. I believe the layouts should be identical as well. The important thing is that the view will be the same. Yes, we are sailing out of Venice and that was one of the reasons for booking the aft cabin. Now I just have to wait sort of patiently for next year... :D

[BecciBoo]

This:

 

 

This:

 

 

And this:

 

View My Video

[leavingforvacation]

We were in a Sunset Veranda in Sept 2012 on the Equinox---expansive and memorable views from the balcony, nice room and area is quiet to foot traffic as mentioned herein. Far from elevators for sure, if that is of concern. We did have moderate amounts of soot everyday! So, we had to clean off the chairs and the table each time we wanted to use the balcony :( Unfortunately, no balcony meals for us as pictured in so many ads...

Also, several decks above there was an outside bar--guess some guests thought it "fun" to throw food items and some reached our balcony.

So my advice: check to see what is above your deck and inquire about the soot; if your ship has it, as ours definitely did...it is annoying and prevents easy use of the balcony for relaxation and for any meals!

[Norwegianlatvian]

No soot for us last week at Jewel of the Seas.

 

on our next cruise with RCI in October 2014.

[Danem7683]

No soot for us last week at Jewel of the Seas.

 

on our next cruise with RCI in October 2014.

 

Ooh which one are you going on? :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Norwegianlatvian]

Ooh which one are you going on? :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

I am so lucky that I got stateroom 8168 at Serenade of the Seas - 9 Night Greek isle cruise:)

 

I believe it can be some nice sail away moments on that cruise as well!

[foxgoodrich]

I may have to have one of those. What did you bring to rig it up? DH used a hammock hanging kit from Academy - about $15. The hammock came from Amazon and cost about $20.

Could I do it myself without a ladder?

Yes - you can stand on a chair on the balcony if you need to (suggest using the sturdy one from in the cabin though!) DH is 6'1" and he was tall enough to just kind of toss the rope through the openings in the beams.

 

Post #22 on this thread shows how the ropes were tied. (We were inspired by BecciBoo's video of her hammock on the same deck 7 corner aft that we had on a Voyager class ship! Once we saw that video...and we had 7388 on Navigator...well, hanging a hammock on that balcony suddenly showed up on Buz's bucket list!) :D

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40183493#post40183493

 

Judy

Edited October 3, 2013 by foxgoodrich

[perfectvacation]

where can you find what the different colored and lettered categories mean?

Edited October 4, 2013 by perfectvacation

[jt1120]

First of all, they are "SHIPS" and not "BOATS." (Sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine, I'll get over it)

 

I think aft cabins are selective because some of them are better than others. I've seen some afts that are about the same size as a regular balcony but they might not have an overhang above you, depending on how the ship is designed. Others have HUGE balconies. I especially like the afts on the M-class ships on Celebrity. They seem to be about as long as the size of the whole cabin! I've never measured them but I will the next time. That is what we like most about certain afts.

 

Plus, as many others have said, the views are better. While in Alaska, we went to the bow of the ship as we sailed up Tracy Arm, then ran back to our balcony and watched it all again in reverse. Very nice!

 

Sometimes, if you're in port and your cabin is on one side of the ship, you might be looking at the water, where in the aft cabin, you're looking at both the land and the sea.

 

Afts are the greatest.

Edited October 4, 2013 by jt1120

[jt1120]

Bill - we have 9660.....love your photo...thanks for posting.

 

Karen

 

Hey Karen!

 

We have 9660 on the 11/23 sailing! You better treat our cabin nicely!

 

BTW, would you be able to scan the Compasses after you get back? It would be so appreciated. We've got lots of newbies on our roll call and wit would really be helpful to them to. Have a great cruise!

[foxgoodrich]

where can you find what the different colored and lettered categories mean?

 

I think best way to figure out the categories/colors for the cabin choices is to look at the deck plans for the ship you're considering. Go to the Royal Caribbean web site, and go to PLAN A CRUISE (the top left button.) Then click on SHIPS. This brings up a page with all the different classes of ships. Find your ship and click on it. Scroll down a bit and click on VIEW THE DECK PLANS.

 

Now you can look at each deck by using the toggle button on the left. You'll see all the different colors of cabins on the deck plan, and there is a key on the left side of the deck plan that shows the letter code/color and a description for each cabin choice on that deck.

 

All decks are different and have different types of cabins, but if you're looking for an aft balcony cabin, you can start by checking deck 7 and move up from there. (For example - if I look at deck 7 on Freedom, I can see there are four E1 balconies (olive green) and four junior suites (turquoise) that are aft.) You can start a "mock" reservation on the RC site to check the availability of a particular cabin.

 

One warning, though, if you look at the virtual tour of different cabins, it will only show you a typical cabin in that category. You won't see how big those aft balconies are - that's info that most of us learn here on CC when other cruisers discuss cabins and show their pics.

 

Hope this helps!

Judy

[Iluvcruising2]

Plenty of pics of our Aft balcony on the Voyager of the Seas here -

 

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/09/voyager-of-seas-new-zealand-milford.html

 

http://guitar123foodandtravel.blogspot.sg/2013/09/voyager-of-seas-new-zealand-sounds-part.html

[ckrobyn]

I have stayed in aft JS 1100 on the Radiance and LOVED it :)

I have stayed in aft JS 1706 on the Freedom and LIKED it :)

I have stayed in aft JS sixteen ninety four on the Adventure - the number nine key is broken on my keyboard LOL :cool: Anyways, I wasn't thrilled with the view because of the superstructure....

 

Now we are booked in the Royal Family Suite on the Explorer next month and I'm worried because of the superstructure - we are on deck nine. This was a fantastic opportunity through the upsell fairy, so we couldn't turn it down. We are 2 people in a suite that sleeps 8.

 

Anyone have pics they can share?

[cruzinlady1947]

 

Now we are booked in the Royal Family Suite on the Explorer next month and I'm worried because of the superstructure - we are on deck nine. This was a fantastic opportunity through the upsell fairy, so we couldn't turn it down. We are 2 people in a suite that sleeps 8.

 

Anyone have pics they can share?

 

Try this website for pics:

 

 

Voyager-Class.com - Cabins

 

 

Gwen :)

[theavonb]

We've only had one aft, and it was the mother of all afts: Freedom class, deck 7, corner aft. I would take that again in a heartbeat!

 

But, I do have to say that I would never book deck 6 freedom class, (even the family suite). Deck 6 sticks out proud from deck 7, so those on deck 7 can just look down, and see about 1/3 of the balcony on deck 6. That's a deal breaker for me.

 

Hubby and I have 7708 next April, we had to book a year in advance to get it. Our first aft and so looking forward to it. Can't believe how big this balcony is. I know where we will be spending our time.

[aberthelot]

[NavalCruiser]

Just wondering why these are now becoming prime cabins on ship on the newer boats they are becoming suites & above.

 

In my opinion, they could be great, but they have some faults which make them less appealing than they might appear at first glance.

 

When we sailed to Hawaii on the Celebrity Century (a lovely ship, and a cruise I would really like to do again), we were in one of the aft cabins. We had a following wind which must have been very close to the sames speed as the ship, so there was no airflow at all on the balcony. Since the stern balconies on Summit are very deep, the balcony was almost stifling, and we spent very little time there.

 

Also, stern balconies may be overseen by a bar on the deck above, and, unless they are very deep, may not be very private.

 

For my wife and I, we'll never do a stern balcony again.

[Capt. Mike]

As I look at the number of overweight people on a cruise, maybe everyone should have a aft cabin so they can get a little excerise. People so concerned about having to walk or need to be close to an elevator. Why. My wife and I are in our late 60's and we never ever take an elevator. I get people needing an elevator for physical problems but climbing stairs for the rest of us is good for you. Try it some time.

We do have two aft cabins booked but as a retired sea captain I can tell you that the fantail can be the most pleasant place on a vessel to be and enjoy your pipe.

[jasmiarowski]

Space, space and more space. It is an entire room to live in, especially on sea days. I would book it always if available. Yes, it usually is a walk to the elevators, but it is worth it. I also don't care who is looking down at me. If I was upstairs by the pool I would be visible too. Just keep your clothes on and enjoy it.

[icesk8tr]

On our upcoming cruise we have 4 aft roms in a row. It will be our first aft JS and I hope we like it. The family is almost ready to go. We may ask to open the partitions between our balconies.

 

Depends on the ship on if they will open the partitions. One Carnival ship we had the 4 aft balconies, and they would not open the partitions because of the wind in the back and there was no tie down for the doors. When we had the wrap and the 3 cabins along the side we did get the partitions open between all of the cabins and had a HUGE balcony. It took longer to get to one end of the balcony to the last room than if you went through the hallway!

[KG1924]

We really enjoyed the one that we had on the Carnival Dream.We did get vibration when pulling in to ports on the last 2 days (wasn't bad....except that it was VERY early in the morning!!) and we also had soot the last 2 days as well, making the balcony pretty much useless. Ours was an aft wrap on deck 8 (I think...can never remember the cabin numbers!!) so it was more narrow (got wider the further down you were) but we fit 16 people comfortably out there for sail away, all along the railing.

 

Personally, I would book one again but I don't "have" to have one. IF we ever go on Carnival again (that's a big IF) we probably would because I feel that their balconies are pretty small, at least on the Dream class in comparison the RC ships I've been on. We really enjoyed the extra space out there. Considering out next cruise will most likely be the Allure, I'm pretty sure any aft cabin is out of our reach $$$$ :eek:

[estoyer]

It gets you away from the Old Folks!

[MrsB05]

You do know that on Radiance Class there is a GS on the corner aft.(1600). The bad news is that it's very hard to get.

 

We snagged 1600 for our upcoming cruise on Serenade. I can't wait; booked it over a year and a half ago! I've heard a lot of pros and cons about that particular GS but am willing to give it a go.

 

We've been in 1102 and 1104 on Radiance Class before and loved the view. We've had no trouble with soot or too much wind or people up in the WJ staring at us or throwing things at us or anything like that. Don't mind the walk one bit and love the quiet.

 

We're trying aft JS 1406 on Freedom next October.

[SRV FAN]

I have stayed in aft JS 1100 on the Radiance and LOVED it :)

 

So excited to see you LOVED your cabin! Can you tell me more, please?

 

We have JS 1100 booked on the Serenade OTS ..... are they the same or similar?

 

What is it you LOVED about it?

 

Is there any shade?

 

I am worried the noise from the Windjammer might be an issue..... :eek:

 

Thanks!!!!!

[FoxyTerrier]

Corner aft on a Panama Canal cruise is great as you can see the locks from the side and back. Much more interesting to view what's happening in the back of the locks.

 

Book Noordam 7142 and you can't go wrong. Our favorite cabin of all and we book it when ever we can.