Extended aft balcony.....huge disappointment

[English-Greg]

Just back off the Dream and tried something new. For the 1st time in 20 cruises, we booked and extended aft balcony after a friend has suggested his family really enjoyed the extra space. Well the space is awesome but there is no PRIVACY! We love to spend time on the balcony and often have breakfast out there. Unfortunately when we got on the ship, we explored the balcony and found that both set of neighbors we already out there and having a chat across our balcony. Are you kidding me? Nope, if any of the neighbors from our deck were out there during the cruise, they would start a conversation. Point of this post is to warn others used to any other balcony, beware there are low walls at the end of the balcony and you may become a spectator to your neighbors conversations!

[Elaine5715]

59 minutes ago, English-Greg said:

Just back off the Dream and tried something new. For the 1st time in 20 cruises, we booked and extended aft balcony after a friend has suggested his family really enjoyed the extra space. Well the space is awesome but there is no PRIVACY! We love to spend time on the balcony and often have breakfast out there. Unfortunately when we got on the ship, we explored the balcony and found that both set of neighbors we already out there and having a chat across our balcony. Are you kidding me? Nope, if any of the neighbors from our deck were out there during the cruise, they would start a conversation. Point of this post is to warn others used to any other balcony, beware there are low walls at the end of the balcony and you may become a spectator to your neighbors conversations!

That's a neighbor issue, possible anywhere on the ship

[English-Greg]

4 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

That's a neighbor issue, possible anywhere on the ship

I disagree. The walls at the end of the aft balconies are a lot lower for viewing purposes. On side balconies, this is not the case and neighbors have to lean out to talk

[coscab]

The corner aft wrap balcony was very private on our last carnival cruise, we have one booked on the breeze coming up in Feb., maybe next time you could try one of those.   NCL aft balconys are usually pretty much quiet but the newer ships have the bass cranked up so loud at the h20 club on the aft that you can hear it well into morning hours even 6 decks down, we will be switching to mid ship balcony when booking the newer ncl ships.

[Elaine5715]

55 minutes ago, English-Greg said:

I disagree. The walls at the end of the aft balconies are a lot lower for viewing purposes. On side balconies, this is not the case and neighbors have to lean out to talk

I have been near families on all decks who prop open cabin interior doors to "have a chat"

[sanmarcosman]

1 hour ago, English-Greg said:

I disagree. The walls at the end of the aft balconies are a lot lower for viewing purposes. On side balconies, this is not the case and neighbors have to lean out to talk

I agree but it gets worse on Vista class with the Havana patio cabins. When you're on the patio you can hear the people on either side of you breathing! And the looky-loos walking past and gaping is annoying.

 

[coevan]

Is that a Havana cabin? definitely would not pay a premium for that

[English-Greg]

10 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

I agree but it gets worse on Vista class with the Havana patio cabins. When you're on the patio you can hear the people on either side of you breathing! And the looky-loos walking past and gaping is annoying.

 

 

wooh....that cabin is off the list too.

 

At the end of the day, everyone has their own preference. On our vacation, I feel there are plenty of times to socialize. Our cabin is not one of these and is a retreat I usually enjoy immensely 

[soonernstlouis]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

Is that a Havana cabin? definitely would not pay a premium for that

Maybe not worth it for the patio cabins, but we felt the semi-privacy of the Havana pool area was worth spending about the same for a Havana interior as the non-Havana balcony suites went for.

[Eli_6]

The Havana aft balconies have full walls. You cannot see your neighbors. I think it is the same for higher up balconies that are aft view on the Vista ships.

 

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

That is a neighbor issue not really a Balcony issue? I mean I am sure they were just trying to be friendly. 

[camorelli]

I think maybe it depends on ship/deck?  We were just on Legend, Deck 4 in an aft extended.  Our walls were the same as side balconies because we were lower.  If you wanted to see or talk to neighbors, you had to lean around just like a side balcony.  The ceiling of ours also went to the balcony railing.  I noticed on decks above us, the ceiling didn't cover the entire balcony and their walls had a slant to them, giving more view/access to your neighbor's balcony.  For us, we only saw neighbors out once the entire cruise... it was when we were docking in Roatan.  So we had an entirely different experience... so quiet back there with zero traffic in the hall by our room.  Sorry you didn't enjoy your aft extended experience.  It was our first time as well and I guess we got lucky with our room location.

[thesmiths]

10 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

That is a neighbor issue not really a Balcony issue?

 

I agree and if it became too much of nuisance I would politely say something.

 

[CarolSW]

Sorry you did not enjoy the location because of the neighbors frequently chatting with each other across your balcony space.  I can see how that would be annoying.

 

On a plus note for those of us who love those cabins, thanks!  Fewer folks vying to book those!  I appreciate the assist LOL!

 

But wait....maybe you are trying to steer folks away from that location?!?  BRILLIANT!  <insert wink wink nudge nudge here> 

 

Either way......THANKS for your review!!

 

[Eli_6]

I went and looked and on the Vista ships, the divider is full height.  With that said, people above and below can see you.  

[coevan]

now that's nice and private

[Bluesgirl21]

My parents were once in an a deck 6 aft extended balcony on the Magic.  One evening they were sitting out on the balcony when a fairly large splash of water came down from above.  At first they thought, how rude!  But later realized that it most likely came from an overzealous worker squeegeeing the water off the lido pool deck above.  Gross!🤮

[sanmarcosman]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

now that's nice and private

on the sides only

[Warm Breezes]

3 hours ago, Bluesgirl21 said:

My parents were once in an a deck 6 aft extended balcony on the Magic.  One evening they were sitting out on the balcony when a fairly large splash of water came down from above.  At first they thought, how rude!  But later realized that it most likely came from an overzealous worker squeegeeing the water off the lido pool deck above.  Gross!🤮

We had that in a Cove Balcony on the Magic.  Luckily no one was sitting on our balcony  or had anything sitting out there when it happened (we were inside and saw it happen) or we would have gotten soaked.  It was a beautiful sunny sea day and we couldn't use our balcony for a few hours after that because everything was wet.

[jerseyjjs]

3 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I went and looked and on the Vista ships, the divider is full height.  With that said, people above and below can see you.  

 

Not much for shade though.

[Eli_6]

@jerseyjjs No, there is no cover at all.  No shade or shelter from rain.  

[pjhootch]

On 12/15/2019 at 6:34 PM, sanmarcosman said:

I agree but it gets worse on Vista class with the Havana patio cabins. When you're on the patio you can hear the people on either side of you breathing! And the looky-loos walking past and gaping is annoying.

 

 

That is awful!  It looks like zoo enclosures where the animals on display can go inside to escape the tourists.  🙂.   I would hate that for certain.  

 

To the OP, I understand what you are saying about aft extended balcony. I booked one ONCE.  We enjoyed it okay and did not have neighbors talking over us.  But I prefer regular balconies more because I have more privacy and found it to be cooler overall.  The aft extended balconies get more sun, and I got a sunburn on my very first sea day (like an idiot) and then could not stand to be in the hot sun for the rest of the trip. Totally my own fault, but lesson learned.

 

We also had noisy neighbors with what seemed like a small herd of kids in the cabin next to us.  They did absolutely nothing wrong- they were just a big family that used their balcony a lot.  And because the balcony is bigger, the dragging of chairs and moving of furniture made more noise.  Again, the family did not do anything they should not have done but the big space and lower walls definitely made the noise factor feel more intrusive.  

[SRQbeachgirl]

We have our first aft balcony cabin booked for our next cruise, but I'm taking the lack of shade and breeze as a positive, since it will be Alaska. I'm not crazy about the lower partition walls, but hopefully it will be a warmer location, while also allowing us to see more scenery than we would from a port or starboard balcony. 

[jimbo5544]

11 hours ago, pjhootch said:

 

That is awful!  It looks like zoo enclosures where the animals on display can go inside to escape the tourists.  🙂.   I would hate that for certain.  

 

To the OP, I understand what you are saying about aft extended balcony. I booked one ONCE.  We enjoyed it okay and did not have neighbors talking over us.  But I prefer regular balconies more because I have more privacy and found it to be cooler overall.  The aft extended balconies get more sun, and I got a sunburn on my very first sea day (like an idiot) and then could not stand to be in the hot sun for the rest of the trip. Totally my own fault, but lesson learned.

 

We also had noisy neighbors with what seemed like a small herd of kids in the cabin next to us.  They did absolutely nothing wrong- they were just a big family that used their balcony a lot.  And because the balcony is bigger, the dragging of chairs and moving of furniture made more noise.  Again, the family did not do anything they should not have done but the big space and lower walls definitely made the noise factor feel more intrusive.  

Lol, animals?  Best rooms in the fleet, the only”animals”  that can walk by are your neighbors that also booked a HC room

[quickrate]

32 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Lol, animals?  Best rooms in the fleet, the only”animals”  that can walk by are your neighbors that also booked a HC room

That still doesn't negate the fact that there is no privacy on the Havana balcony's which is exactly why we will never book them. We use our balconies a lot, it's where we go when we want privacy and no socializing with our neighbors. We get plenty of social time when out and about the ship. I realize for many people they love these cabins. To each their own.

Pat