Crys b to the L

Is your Marina deck cabin a true aft facing cabin or is it side of ship?

True aft I believe. M724.

Hi, All! We are just back from our cruise, and I promised a report regarding aft balcony. . .

We sailed in R732 (deluxe balcony) on the Royal Princess to the Eastern Caribbean, 9 April 2018. I love the outdoors, so we choose this room for the large balcony, but I'm not sure we'd choose the same cabin location again, at least on this ship.

Cruise was great overall, but I'll try to be extra-picky here, just to provide info.

So, the mixed review regarding aft balcony:

 

Pros

• Balcony Size: Aft cabins have larger balconies than most others on the ship. All aft balconies are extra-wide, but many are also very deep. Ours was approximately 10x12.
  
• Sound: We loved the sound of the wake. (Some people won't.) From our 14-floor cabin, the wake noise was loud but relaxing, like a white noise machine on high volume. I had no trouble falling asleep out there. :-) Excessive vibration was never an issue.
  
• Semi-Privacy: Great to have private outdoor space for sail-away. Plenty of room for three people to enjoy breakfast on a return sea day. Note, the aft cabins on Marina Deck sit directly below the bar and, therefore, have less privacy than lower decks. Our Riveria cabin was just one level lower, and although we could be seen from above, it was never intrusive. Some lower level aft balconies have partial overhangs and greater privacy.
  

Cons

• No Shade & No Breeze: Our deck had no overhang, and the sun baked us during the day -- especially as the ship headed east, with afternoon sun beating down. There was also ZERO breeze. (No joke, I had a tablecloth and my beach umbrella out while we were underway on the Atlantic.) Leaning out over the rail afforded a slight breeze, but in general our aft balcony was absolutely still, adding to the heat. This was a negative for us but may be a perk for others.
  
• Plume & Fumes: The ship's exhaust plume, obviously, trails to the rear while underway, meaning it hung directly overhead or slightly aside our balcony. The plume only slightly discolored the sky during the day, but at night, it considerably hazed over the sky and hindered star-gazing. Fumes were sometimes noticeable -- and when they were, smelled less like fuel than old soot (e.g., cleaning out the fireplace). The smoking deck was two floors above us, and we did get occasional whiffs of cigarettes but nothing overly obtrusive.
  
• SOOT: For us, soot was the primary fault of our aft balcony. (We read this had been an issue in the past but, understanding the problem had been mitigated during dry dock, took the chance and booked for the extra space.) I believe the issue has to some degree been lessened, but it has certainly not been altogether fixed. Let me emphasize that soot was not an overwhelming issue -- but, it was bad enough to make me reconsider our cabin choice. The details:
  
  • Soot fell on our aft balcony the entire time we headed to windward/east. It was never an issue on the return trip.
    
  • The soot mostly fell in small flecks, like cracker crumbs, although occasional chunks were the diameter of quarters.
    
  • When we remembered, it was easy enough to wipe down the furniture and rails and put towels on chairs. Our feet and slippers were perpetually filthy. (Before learning to wipe down the chair, I blackened a favorite skirt and white blouse. Neither cleaned on first wash, but I'll keep trying. Grumble.) Our room steward was very kind and did what he could to clean after we made the request. But clearly, this is a design issue, not a housekeeping miss.
    
  • If you are on the ship and want to see a "soot sample", pay attention to the public track on Sports Deck. Our balcony looked much the same way, although Sports Deck seemed to get a more regular swabbing.
    

Again, overall this was a great cruise -- any complaining above undertaken with intent to inform, rather than whine. :-) We would do the same cruise again in a heartbeat. Next time, however, I'd look for a different cabin, avoiding aft, or ship, with larger standard balconies. (Others may be giddily happy aft, with the heat, sun, and extra space!)

Thank you so much for such a great review! We are booked for our first cruise ever this November on the royal. We were put in an aft cabin on the marina deck and were very concerned until reading this thread! It's hard to find any info at all about these cabins, and we were seriously considering trying to move until reading this thread.

Thank you again. You've put us at ease 😀 we'll just remember to always bring a towel onto the balcony.

Thanks all.

Since my original post, I tried contacting princess, but my cabin category was sold out.

I then found a TA that I signed up with to do the dirty work of price drop watching for me. He managed to get us moved. Aft deluxe balcony still, only now we're on the marina deck right under the horizon court terrace 😕

The new cabin should be quieter, but I've read that people on the terrace can look over the rail and see you from the terrace. I've also seen a few people post about the terrace being one of the main smoking spots, and the smell coming down to the balconies below 😭

Hoping now that either someone cancels and we get moved again, or prices drop and we can upgrade to a mini suite for a reasonable price.

Hi all!

This is going to be out first cruise! We were both super excited until we learned that I made one mistake when I booked. I wasn't able to select my cabin with the promotion I booked. They just recently assigned us our cabin. We are on the Emerald deck at the very back of the ship, room 732, right above the dance floor of the lounge.

Has anyone here had experience in this room? I'm concerned about how much noise wellw hear through the floor, as we aren't night owls, and my wife is a light sleeper.

Thanks for any advice!

Oh, and I already called to see about moving. Princess says that cabin class is fully booked.