7688? 1688? 9320? I'm confused!

[Mr. Moonlight]

My wife, 13 yo daughter and I are booking our cabin on the Explorer. As of time of this post, we have our choice of three available cabins, each of which has its benefits. I have been studying the boards exhaustively to try to figure out which would work best for us. While there are a lot of posts on these cabins, I still cannot decide!

 

9320 (D1)is right in the middle of the hump, but the balcony may not comfortably accommodate the three of us. (We loved our oversized balcony on the hump on the Serenade, our first ever cruise this year).

 

7688 (E1) is a corner aft, is about 15 square feet smaller than 9320, but has a huge balcony. It does not have a sofa bed, so my daughter would be relegated to the pullman . . . not sure how that is going to work out.

 

1688 is a supersized D1 corner aft cabin with a large balcony, though the view may be somewhat obstructed.

 

As this will be only our second cruise, I would appreciate any comments from any of you more experienced cruisers which would help us make our decision. Thanks!

Edited July 14, 2011 by Mr. Moonlight

[Bonnie Voyager]

I have been in all three of your choices, and in my opinion, 1688 has the best bang for your buck! 7688, while having a HUGE balcony, has a pretty small cabin for 3 passengers. Plus, your daughter's bed will pull down from the ceiling and hang right over the head of your bed. In 1688 you will have a huge cabin and your daughter will have a full-sized sofa bed to stretch out on. The balcony of 1688 is plenty big for the 3 of you (usually has 2 lounge chairs and 2 upright chairs) and has a GREAT view! I will attach some photos of 1688 below, including a photo of the sofa bed made up as a bed, but I'm sure you've probably already seen many photos. The middle hump D1 cabin would be fine too. It is a normal cabin with a sofa bed, but the balcony is also normal-sized and will only have 2 chairs, so not optimal for a family of 3. Good luck deciding! All choices are GOOD choices, so no matter what you come up with, you will be in good shape!

[Bonnie Voyager]

Here are some photos of 7688 for comparison. If you don't mind the smaller cabin, it is a nice balcony. I included a photo of the pullman bed opened up...

[Bonnie Voyager]

And last, but not least, here are photos I found of 9320 (these are not my photos)....

 

[Mr. Moonlight]

Thanks, Bonnie! I think you may have sealed the deal for us. The balcony on 7688 does seem inviting, but I can't imagine what it would be like to have our daughter hovering over our heads for nine nights at sea. 9320, while very nice, isn't going to cut it if only two of us could be on the balcony at one time.

 

It seems that the balcony opening on 1688 is a bit small, all things considered, it looks like it's the best way to go!

[Bonnie Voyager]

Thanks, Bonnie! I think you may have sealed the deal for us. The balcony on 7688 does seem inviting, but I can't imagine what it would be like to have our daughter hovering over our heads for nine nights at sea. 9320, while very nice, isn't going to cut it if only two of us could be on the balcony at one time.

 

It seems that the balcony opening on 1688 is a bit small, all things considered, it looks like it's the best way to go!

 

The photos don't do the balcony of 1688 justice! It is a very large balcony with a very good view. It also has a nice shaded area in the corner where you are always protected from sun and/or rain. For a 9-day cruise, I think you will be much happier with the larger cabin too! Enjoy!

[reallyitsmema]

1688 is the one, especially with 3 people. We have had that cabin twice on the Mariner and the extra space in the cabin is great. There is plenty of room to get around, even with the sofabed open.

 

The balcony is not as big as 7688 but we still had two lounge chairs, two regular chairs and a small table. We liked that it had shady and sunny areas. The beam that splits it was never a problem for us, just set the chairs up in a way so you won't hit your head.

 

You can't go wrong with 1688.

[BecciBoo]

I have been in all three of your choices, and in my opinion, 1688 has the best bang for your buck! 7688, while having a HUGE balcony, has a pretty small cabin for 3 passengers. Plus, your daughter's bed will pull down from the ceiling and hang right over the head of your bed. In 1688 you will have a huge cabin and your daughter will have a full-sized sofa bed to stretch out on. The balcony of 1688 is plenty big for the 3 of you (usually has 2 lounge chairs and 2 upright chairs) and has a GREAT view! I will attach some photos of 1688 below, including a photo of the sofa bed made up as a bed, but I'm sure you've probably already seen many photos. The middle hump D1 cabin would be fine too. It is a normal cabin with a sofa bed, but the balcony is also normal-sized and will only have 2 chairs, so not optimal for a family of 3. Good luck deciding! All choices are GOOD choices, so no matter what you come up with, you will be in good shape!

 

I agree with Bonnie but still loved the huge balcony in 7388 on the starboard side. But 1688 has such a huge room inside. If room for getting dressed, pullman etc is a big deal breaker then 1688 is your cabin, if lounging on the balcony is more important to you, go for 7688. There is even room to string up a hammock:p

While 1688 balcony is much smaller. Here are pics of both. The one of Todd and I was taken with the camera at the door to the cabin so you can see it's smaller than the hammock pic of 7388.

7388 balcony

1688 balcony Sorry no pic of inside. But it is large!

Edited July 14, 2011 by BecciBoo

[Bonnie Voyager]

BecciBoo, I love your hammock idea! :D Some day I want to try that! And, 7388/7688 are certainly big enough to hold the hammock, for sure! I do want to clarify though...you say in your post that 1688 "has a regular door, not a sliding one". I'm not sure what you mean. 1688 has the same double slider that 7688 and any other balcony cabin has. It is the corner/aft balcony cabins on decks 8 and 9 of Voyager/Freedom-class ships that have the "regular" single door. ;)

 

Here is another photo of 1688, with my husband doing his favorite vacation activity (he thinks 1688 is GREAT for lounging! :))...

Edited July 14, 2011 by Bonnie Voyager

[J & G]

We much preferred 7688 to 1688, as far as the balcony was concerned. We didn't care for the slanted cover or the beam in the middle of the balcony on 1688. However, 1688 is a MUCH larger cabin and was really nice when the weather was too yucky for balcony sitting. I have to confess that we took a roll-up camping table and set it up on the balcony of 7688....it was great for dining and for card playing. Sort of an extension of the cabin, and SUPER for a pre-dinner glass of wine with friends. We used the same table INSIDE the cabin of 1688 for the same purposes.

 

The cabin of 9320 is the same as 7688 but, if I recall correctly, has a nice big round window. And, yes, a walk-through door rather than a glass sliding door. The balcony was very nice....never cruised in that cabin but got to see it on a recent Voyager cruise (we were peeking in as it was being cleaned and the nice lady whose cabin it was, invited us in :o....guess we weren't as discrete as we thought we were).

 

Really, it depends on what you are looking for.....balcony, sun, cabin size, obstructed view (yes, they all have some obstruction....7688 is the worst - 1688 is the best, in that regard), covered vs. uncovered, etc. They are all great cabins in their own way....sort of like our children....we love them all for different reasons! :D

Edited July 14, 2011 by J & G

[Camlott]

On our last cruise we had both 1688 and 7688 on the Voyager. As far as the room goes, 1688 can not be beat for the money!

 

I would not recommend 7688 with 3 people if 1688 is an option.

 

The only drawback I can think of for 1688 was the automatic window washers for the windjammer just above. Every morning around 9 or so, they would wash the windows and water would come pouring onto the balcony. This wasn't a huge deal, but something that deserves mentioning!

 

Going forward, we probably will only book a cruise if one of these rooms are available or at a minimum a deck 10 aft cabin. (1692 was great as well!)

[Puffinater]

We have been in all 3 but it was just two of us so 7688 was better. I would say 1688 for three but just be careful of the overhead beams.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Puffinater

[vickiw0318]

Another vote for 1688 since there are three people who will be staying in the cabin.

 

I think a few people are getting 9320 confused with the corner afts on Deck 9 (9690 and 9390). Those cabins do have a door and a round window, but 9320 is a standard hump cabin with a sliding door.

[J & G]

 

I think a few people are getting 9320 confused with the corner afts on Deck 9 (9690 and 9390). Those cabins do have a door and a round window, but 9320 is a standard hump cabin with a sliding door.

 

I didn't look at the deck plans, but also thought the OP was talking about the deck 9 corner afts......ooops.....my bad! :o

[Merion_Mom]

My threesome has had 1688 or its equivalent a few times, and I have to strongly endorse it as your best choice.

 

Bonnie has done an excellent job of illustrating all of them.

 

:)

[pasnowlover]

Bonnie...your posts are terrific...very informative. Thanks.

 

My family (two sons ages 10 and 14 and the hubby) will be in room 1688 for a 5 day criuse to Bermuda in August (leaving from Port Liberty). I like the looks of the balcony of room 1688, as I prefer some shade. I am wondering if you hear noise from the Windjammer above. We are up and out early in the morning, but we all function better if we all get a good night's sleep.

[Bonnie Voyager]

Bonnie...your posts are terrific...very informative. Thanks.

 

My family (two sons ages 10 and 14 and the hubby) will be in room 1688 for a 5 day criuse to Bermuda in August (leaving from Port Liberty). I like the looks of the balcony of room 1688, as I prefer some shade. I am wondering if you hear noise from the Windjammer above. We are up and out early in the morning, but we all function better if we all get a good night's sleep.

 

I have sailed in 1688 many times (as well as it's equivalent on Freedom-class...1700) and have NEVER been bothered by noise. We are "early to bed, early to rise" sort of folk!

[3dogmom]

Here are some photos of 7688 for comparison. If you don't mind the smaller cabin, it is a nice balcony. I included a photo of the pullman bed opened up...

 

I am thinking of switching to this cabin, but it seems like there's a lot of obstruction in the way of the sea views. When you are sitting in the lounge chair, can you see the water/wake? Does this balcony get any sun?

 

Thanks so much!

[cruzinlady1947]

I am thinking of switching to this cabin, but it seems like there's a lot of obstruction in the way of the sea views. When you are sitting in the lounge chair, can you see the water/wake? Does this balcony get any sun?

 

Thanks so much!

Except for this post, this thread is nearly 3 yrs. old......:p

 

Anyway, we just had 7688 on the Explorer in December. I loved the balcony and the obstructions did not bother me in the least. You still get a view of the wake and also an unobstructed view from the side porthole. I spent a lot of time on the balcony.....even in the middle of the night and especially early morning to catch the sunrises.

 

It gets some sun. I wanted it especially for the lack of sunlight for most of the day. I am fair and can't handle much sun.

 

The cabin is your regular sized balcony cabin and nothing special. I think most get this cabin for the balcony alone.

 

Enjoy your cruise, no matter which cabin you decide to take. The Explorer is a great ship and I hate to see it leave NJ.

 

Gwen :)

[Bonnie Voyager]

I am thinking of switching to this cabin, but it seems like there's a lot of obstruction in the way of the sea views. When you are sitting in the lounge chair, can you see the water/wake? Does this balcony get any sun?

 

Thanks so much!

 

If you are asking about 7688/7388 having sea views, the answer is yes. When you are sitting in the lounge chair you can look OUT and see the sea/wake. You just can't look down and see it. Below I posted a photo someone took from 7388 looking out at the sea...

 

[3dogmom]

Thank you both! I switched to 7388. I have a feeling I'll be spending most of my time out looking at the wake.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Bonnie Voyager]

forgot to answer about the sun...while being more of a "shady" balcony, you CAN catch sun throughout the day, based on time of day and direction travelled!