Pros and cons of aft facing balcony cabins

[PowerMalc]

What do experienced cruisers think of aft facing balcony cabins.

I'm looking at a cruise on either 'Azura' or 'Ventura'.

 

What are the pluses and minuses of having an aft facing balcony cabin?

My thinking is that it would be out of the wind when sailing but does the ships engine exhaust fumes tend to sweep down to the stern

[cruiseluvva]

We have just returned from the Azura repositioning cruise having had C749. It was wonderful. The balcony was completely sheltered which meant we avoided any possible rain - although we didn't actually have any - and most of the wind too.

 

We had sun each and all afternoon, despite having been told we wouldn't get any at all.

 

You do hear some noise from the wake, but we like that, and we didn't notice any vibration or fumes whatsoever.

 

Having had aft facing cabins on 7 or 8 occasions, I think you could say we like them!

 

Go for it.

[tartanexile81]

We were on Ruby Princess last year and had our first aft cabin (B749) and we absolutely loved it. We've been lucky enough to get an aft cabin again when we're on Azura (C753). Have a look at the Ultimate Aft Thread http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=808951&highlight=ultimate+aft+thread on this website and it will give you lots of information about aft cabins on Ruby Princess etc which are sister ships of Azura and Ventura.

 

 

The Pros

• You get views of both port and starboard, and it's fantastic at sailaway.
  
• The location of the cabin is very quiet and very private (no passing 'traffic')
  
• The balcony on Ruby was HUGE (4 loungers and 2 tables and still lots of space)
  
• The view over the wake is very relaxing.
  

The Cons

• There weren't any for us, but I guess some people might think it's a long walk to get to the Atrium etc. We're always happy to walk a bit after all that good food!
  
• Some people say soot floats down but again we saw no evidence of this on the balcony and we were aboard for 2 weeks.
  

I agree with cruiseluvva- Go for it!

[jeanlyon]

I have no argument as I have never had one of those cabins, but have any of you been in rough weather in an aft facing cabin, because you are at the worst part of the ship in a storm?

[tartanexile81]

I have no argument as I have never had one of those cabins, but have any of you been in rough weather in an aft facing cabin, because you are at the worst part of the ship in a storm?

 

When it gets a bit rough it always feels worse to us when we're in Footlights or the Crows Nest right at the front. We've never crossed the BoB in an aft cabin, but we've been in cabins near the back and always been Ok even when it's been pretty rough.

[Hal 500]

If there is any movement then it is more noticable but its never bothered us, nor have we felt any adverse effects from the vents. They balconies are larger and sheltered from the wind. The only down side I can think of is you need to walk more but that's no bad thing with all the food on offer.

 

We have an aft this coming Friday on Azura and our friends have the adjoining cabin so we are either side of the vent. All I can say is I would choose aft every time if I could. Be aware of the beams that run through some of the aft balconies and are highlighted in the thread mentioned. We had one last month on Ventura and it didn't bother us at all, there was still bags of room.

[cruiseluvva]

I have no argument as I have never had one of those cabins, but have any of you been in rough weather in an aft facing cabin, because you are at the worst part of the ship in a storm?

 

Yes and it was fine - certainly nowhere near as awful as being forward.

[Dorset Cruiser]

We had an aft cabin on Ocean Princess in the Med last October - the sea was so rough one night that I was actually thrown out of bed - I have never been so terrified in my life:eek: I thought it would put me off of cruising for life, but it hasn't as we have just come back from Ventura transatlantic. We did not have an aft cabin, however, and I doubt I ever will again. If you run into rough seas when in an aft cabin, it can be a very hairy ride, so be warned. Wonderful cabin though:D

[tom_uk]

What do experienced cruisers think of aft facing balcony cabins.

I'm looking at a cruise on either 'Azura' or 'Ventura'.

 

Make sure you do your homework on exactly which cabin you're going to book. A number of the aft facing cabins on Ventura & Azura have a wide, floor-to-ceiling vertical stanchion obstructing part of the balcony - have a look at some pictures of the stern of either of them (or indeed the Princess equivalents) and you'll see what I mean.

[caber]

I would get one in a second!

 

We had B748 on Crown Princess, the same format of ship. The two sides, B748 and B749, in my opinion are the best for size and position of balcony. Our friends were in B750, with the beam, but it was very big, despite the beam. B752 was a little smaller but still good.

 

The balconies were sheltered and we didn`t find the movement to be too bad at all. It bounced a bit in rough weather but not enough to put me off booking it again.

[annieuk]

We were in the same cabin as cruiseluvva, on the cruise before, and I would agree with everything she says. We have now had aft cabins on Oceana, Arcadia and Azura and would always choose one if possible. The only noise was the wake of the ship which was lovely to hear. We enjoyed that cabin so much we have booked it again for next year.

 

Carole

[kevinyork]

I would choose midships over an aft cabin anyday for a cruise across the Biscay. It can be unpredicatable at anytime and I would not wish to risk a choppy crossing turning into a pretty horrible one due to being in an aft cabin. Yes a midship balcony may not equal those aft however at least I'm less likely to be throwing up over it.

[cruiseluvva]

I would choose midships over an aft cabin anyday for a cruise across the Biscay. It can be unpredicatable at anytime and I would not wish to risk a choppy crossing turning into a pretty horrible one due to being in an aft cabin. Yes a midship balcony may not equal those aft however at least I'm less likely to be throwing up over it.

 

Of course we all make our own choices, but in fairness I have to add that we had a very rough crossing over the Bay in an aft cabin on Arcadia - and we found it was no worse there, than anywhere else.

[PowerMalc]

Really appreciate all the helpful answers, thanks.

 

We have decided to take an aft balcony cabin, preferably B748 or B749 on Azura or Ventura probably in Sept or Oct 2012.

Its a present to ourselves to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary:D

[cruiseluvva]

Hope you have a wonderful time.

[caber]

Good choice. Have a lovely time and Happy Anniversary when it comes. :)

[bazzaw]

I HATE aft facing cabins - and will never go on a cruiseship that has them again.

They may be lovely for those staying in them - but for me (as a passenger) they spoil the use of the upper decks. I like ships where you can go from Promenade deck to the very highest upper decks - externally, without having to go inside the ship and go up via a lift inside a block of apartments -- ALA Arcadia. Give me a ships designed like Oriana and QM2 anyday -- Pooey to all ships with aft facing balconies!! :)

 

Barry

[suebubbles]

Really appreciate all the helpful answers, thanks.

 

We have decided to take an aft balcony cabin, preferably B748 or B749 on Azura or Ventura probably in Sept or Oct 2012.

Its a present to ourselves to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary:D

 

 

 

 

We had B749 on the Azura in Feb to Caribbean have to say it was fantastic so much so that we have now booked Ventura for Feb 2013 tried to get B749 again but was already booked so managed to get the other corner B748 so very excited about it go for it you will not regret it

[poole]

Have you any idea about aft cabin D 734 on Azura? From the deck plan it has a longer balcony than the other aft-facing balcony cabins, but there is nothing to denote a beam coming down into the balcony as shown in some of the pictures. However, all those facing aft seem to a bit smaller than the same grade facing "sideways". Perhaps that is only a "printer's licence"!

[poole]

Do you know whether Azura has the stanchion on the balcony (D 734)?

[OldJerseycruiser]

Poole

If you go to https://ask.pocruises.com/resources/carnivaluk/fleet/ve_d734 you will see a picture of the obstruction on Ventura, Azura's sister ship.

[poole]

Hello Cruiseluvva

 

You say (April 2011) that your balcony on Azura was "completely sheltered", but then you say that you had plenty of sunshine. Did the sunshine actually reach the balcony?

 

Regards.

 

Poole

[cruiseluvva]

Hello Cruiseluvva

 

You say (April 2011) that your balcony on Azura was "completely sheltered", but then you say that you had plenty of sunshine. Did the sunshine actually reach the balcony?

 

Regards.

 

Poole

 

Perhaps I didn't make it clear. We had a "roof" over all of the balcony, but travelling back across the Atlantic, we had sun shining into the balcony, not from above, all afternoon, moving from east to west. It worked well for us.

[poole]

Perhaps I didn't make it clear. We had a "roof" over all of the balcony, but travelling back across the Atlantic, we had sun shining into the balcony, not from above, all afternoon, moving from east to west. It worked well for us.

Cruiseluvva - many thanks. We have booked D 734 for a World in 2013, but are a bit worried that there may be an obstructin beam on the balcony, and that there will be no open-air if the balcony is fully covered. Any ideas?

 

Regards.

 

Poole

[thranite]

Cruiseluvva - many thanks. We have booked D 734 for a World in 2013, but are a bit worried that there may be an obstructin beam on the balcony, and that there will be no open-air if the balcony is fully covered. Any ideas?

 

Regards.

 

Poole

 

What about this?

 

;):D