Golden Aft VS Suites

I know this subject has been discussed many times and there used to be a thread with pictures of the aft cabins on all ships showing the beams and vents, but when I did a search all the pictures had been removed from that thread so I am sorry if this has been asked and answered before. I am planning an Alaska sailing for 2014 on the Golden and would like to book an aft suite. I would like an opinion, with pictures if possible, of the best aft suite with the least noise and obstruction. I am a balcony lover who spends a lot of time on the balcony. Is there a particular deck you would recommend? I have sailed the Golden before, but it has been a few years. Thank you.

Yes - the better deck is on Dolphin when you're looking into booking Cat. S6 suites. The Caribe ones aren't bad and the Emerald ones are okay too, but you will get some noise from the Vista Lounge below until around 10:15 every once in awhile. The Dolphin ones are quieter and I think the balconies are a little deeper than the Caribe Deck ones (I know for sure they are deeper than the Vista Deck ones). BTW, the beam never bothered us one bit! I don't know why people make such a fuss about that. We even had a deck party out there with about 15 people, no problem.

I agree with Mario. We have stayed in both D736 and D737 more than once and they are our favorite aft suite. In my opinion you can't go wrong with either. We hosted the Ultimate Balcony Dinner on the balcony of D736 once with 8 people and it was a great evening.

Mike:)

Golden D736 on Dolphin Deck was the first suite we ever booked (2010). We have booked two more of these since and enjoy the aft suites. This past December we booked an aft PH on Ruby (Aloha Deck) and decided in the end we lliked the Vista Suites better (liked the fact we are on the side versus stuck in the middle). The Dolphin deck is great as only four cabins in the back of the ship and very quiet.The so-called "obstruction" is not a problem for us. Here are a few pictures.

Golden D736 on Dolphin Deck was the first suite we ever booked (2010). We have booked two more of these since and enjoy the aft suites. This past December we booked an aft PH on Ruby (Aloha Deck) and decided in the end we lliked the Vista Suites better (liked the fact we are on the side versus stuck in the middle). The Dolphin deck is great as only four cabins in the back of the ship and very quiet.The so-called "obstruction" is not a problem for us.

That was the cabin/ship we occupied on our very first cruise and I agree it is far ahead of the aft suites on the Caribbean, Crown, Emerald and Ruby.

Mike:)

Thank you all for responding and for the great pictures. D736 and 737 will be my first choice. Hopefully I will be able to get in and book one of them as soon as the Alaska sailings open up. I guess my second choice would be one of the aft balcony cabins on the corners of Caribe deck. Although I would prefer the space of the suite, I do like that corner aft location and it is only a week. Whichever I end up with, I can't go wrong. After all, I am lucky enough to be cruising Alaska. Thanks again.

Golden D736 on Dolphin Deck was the first suite we ever booked (2010). We have booked two more of these since and enjoy the aft suites. This past December we booked an aft PH on Ruby (Aloha Deck) and decided in the end we lliked the Vista Suites better (liked the fact we are on the side versus stuck in the middle). The Dolphin deck is great as only four cabins in the back of the ship and very quiet.The so-called "obstruction" is not a problem for us. Here are a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

These are great pictures. Did you have only one beam on your balcony???

When we were on the Crown aft Vista suite, don't remember what deck, we had 2 beams.:eek: If you were sitting on the couch it blocked the view. It was very close to the sliding glass door.

The fan blowing sound from the vent, that is constant I thought was worse closer to the middle.

Now we book the mid PH suites on the Caribe or lower decks, due to DH gets motion sickness:eek:

These are great pictures. Did you have only one beam on your balcony???

When we were on the Crown aft Vista suite, don't remember what deck, we had 2 beams.:eek: If you were sitting on the couch it blocked the view. It was very close to the sliding glass door.

The fan blowing sound from the vent, that is constant I thought was worse closer to the middle.

Now we book the mid PH suites on the Caribe or lower decks, due to DH gets motion sickness:eek:

Hopefully this picture answers your question. You can see the beam on the left in reference to the sofa. The beam has never bothered us as we're usually out on the balcony, not viewing from inside.

Thanks, everyone, for the good thoughts and great pictures.

I have stayed in D736 on the Star, which is the Golden's sister ship.

This is a great suite! Enjoy!

Bon voyage :)

Thanks' date=' everyone, for the good thoughts and great pictures.

 

I have stayed in D736 on the Star, which is the Golden's sister ship.

 

This is a great suite! Enjoy!

 

Bon voyage :)[/quote']

 

I'm so glad you like D736 on the Star. We will be in that suite for 15 days sailing to Hawaii for Christmas! Our first time in a suite and we are really excited.

We stayed in E733 on the Golden. Granted this is one deck below the one you reference, but we did encounter some problems with noise in this suite which you should be aware of just in case the Emerald deck is the only one available.

First of all, our cabin was directly above the Vista Lounge and we could clearly hear the music until 10 pm every night. Most nights it was not a problem but on the couple of nights we went to bed early, it was. Others have said that Dolphin deck directly above was fine, so maybe that extra deck is sufficient to make a difference.

Another issue to be aware of us the water noise caused by being too close to sea level. We went up a couple of decks to see if it made a difference and it does. Water noise? What I mean is that it isn't the soft, gentle waves that we love to hear with our balcony door open while we sleep. This was more like the sound of a waterfall. It was quite loud. Again, a couple of decks up made a temendous difference.

Personally, next time I would go up at least one if not two decks higher if I were staying in one of the aft suites.

I'm so glad you like D736 on the Star. We will be in that suite for 15 days sailing to Hawaii for Christmas! Our first time in a suite and we are really excited.

Enjoy Hawaii!

Just returned from a Hawaii cruise (Sapphire), and I found that the aft rooms were great! Amazingly enough, the aft rooms seemed more stable in rough weather. Definitely a benefit! Enjoy D736 in Hawaii! Enjoy!

Aloha and mahalo :)

We stayed in E733 on the Golden. Granted this is one deck below the one you reference, but we did encounter some problems with noise in this suite which you should be aware of just in case the Emerald deck is the only one available.

 

First of all, our cabin was directly above the Vista Lounge and we could clearly hear the music until 10 pm every night. Most nights it was not a problem but on the couple of nights we went to bed early, it was. Others have said that Dolphin deck directly above was fine, so maybe that extra deck is sufficient to make a difference.

 

Another issue to be aware of us the water noise caused by being too close to sea level. We went up a couple of decks to see if it made a difference and it does. Water noise? What I mean is that it isn't the soft, gentle waves that we love to hear with our balcony door open while we sleep. This was more like the sound of a waterfall. It was quite loud. Again, a couple of decks up made a temendous difference.

 

Personally, next time I would go up at least one if not two decks higher if I were staying in one of the aft suites.

The issue of noise, or lack thereof, is a personal preference. Noise for some is a soothing sound for others.

On the Star, in E733, I never heard even a peep from Vista Lounge.

I personally like the sound of the aft wake.

I am sure these things did bother you, so all please be aware that it is a matter of personal preference. I would love to stay in Star E733 again.

We stayed in E733 on Sapphire. That ship has Club Fusion under it and we didn't hear a thing... but the stage was not directly under us. As for the wake, it seemed loud to us the first day but we just got used to it and loved the waterfall affect it put off. I loved going out on the balcony to read but my problem is the sound of the water and the rocking of the ship always caused me to fall asleep. :) And actually when you close your balcony door, it does a good job of keeping the wake sound out of the cabin. Dave

Hi There,

Does anyone know if the D736 & D737 are anything like C751 on the Grand Princess. My DH and i will be in Suite C751 on the Grand Princess to Alaska in Sept. 2013. We booked over a year in adavnce. We tried to get D736 or D737 but they went right away.

thank you

cindi :):)