Eclipse AQ cabins - is there *any* sun on the balconies?

[kiwi_sparkles]

Apologies if I'm asking questions that has been asked repeatedly. I've hunted through the reviews, and have a copy of the cabin review spreadsheet but can't really work it out for myself as there seems to be conflicting information.

 

We are looking at booking our very first cruise - Eclipse 7 night Caribbean from Miami on 24 March and would like to book Aqua Class, mainly because of Blu. The restaurant does seem to have mixed reviews, but more good than bad.

The issue is that I adore sitting in the sun, whereas my husband is more likened to a vampire, so I think the balconies in the AQ class cabins will be more to his liking than mine. So, my two questions are:

 

1) Is either port or starboard likely to get more sun than the other? (yes, it's a daft question given it's a round trip, to/from Miami therefore likely to be equal, but I thought I would ask).

 

2) Is there a position on the AQ deck that is likely to get more sun?

 

The reasons for asking the above is I've read that it's almost impossible to find a free sun lounger, so I would really like to be able to get an hour or two of sunshine on our balcony, even if the rest of the day it's in shade.

 

Thanks for your advice! :)

[grayjay]

Hi kiwi_sparkles! Welcome to CruiseCritic! It's a great place to spend time on and quite addictive :D . Lots of members have helped me a lot when we started cruising and had a lot of questions.

Now to yours: We have recently cruised on the "Solstice" which is a sister ship to the "Eclipse". The overhang above the Aqua class cabins really takes away a lot of sun; as far as I remember, it is a bit less towards the front of the ship, but sometimes there seem to be noise issues from the pool and gym a deck above.

If you don't insist to be able to dine in "Blu" I'd personally recommend either a Concierge class cabin a deck below Aqua class or a 1A category: both cabin categories have several cabins on the so-called "hump" = they are cabins with an angled balcony which is deeper than a regular balcony. So one of you could sit in the shade and one more towards the railing in the sun.

And I wouldn't say there are no sun loungers to be had on the decks. When we went to the Caribbean you had to be early to grab one in the best locations, but if you are not picky you'll always find a nice spot to sit or to sunbathe. There are lots of open spaces.

[kiwi_sparkles]

Thanks for the information Grayjay. I'll have a look and see if I can find any available hump cabins in the classes you mentioned as it looks like they are all booked up in AQ. If I can find some then I'll be in a bit of a pickle as I'm really keen on dining in Blu.

 

Oh, decisions, decisions... but at least these are fun decisions to be making!

[Presto2]

Hi

 

Not sure if this helps but as someone who likes to be in the sunshine with a hubby who prefers the shade we found a sunset veranda cabin (aft) was perfect for us on the Silhouette (sister ship). When it was busy on deck it was a great retreat and we always got sun for most of the afternoon. We had thought about Aqua Class but I'd hate to be in the shade so much.

 

:)

[missminnie]

Hi

 

We recently sailed on Solstice which I beleive has same config as the Eclipse. We were a party of 4 and had rooms on both sides of the side in AQ. We stayed in 1527 and the other party stayed in 1520 - both towards the front of the ship.

 

There was no overhang and each cabins enjoyed both sun and shade at different times of the day and depending where we were sailing. There was no noise issues at all from above and we both loved our cabins.

 

This was on a Med sailing and the party staying in 1520 tended to have all the sunrises and we had all the sunsets (1527) from our balconies.

 

We have just booked our next cruise - this time on Equinox and again have chosen cabins nearer the front and chose AQ as loved Blu and can't bear to eat in the MDR every night. Well worth the extra money and perks you get.

 

Hope that helps somewhat.

[CaptData]

If you like the sun and your hubby dosn't then a lounger on the second row rather then the first would be best as you can sit in the sun and hubby can get one in the shaded area just behind you.

 

Congrats on first cruise and welcome to cruise critic.

[Presto2]

Hi

 

We recently sailed on Solstice which I beleive has same config as the Eclipse. We were a party of 4 and had rooms on both sides of the side in AQ. We stayed in 1527 and the other party stayed in 1520 - both towards the front of the ship.

 

There was no overhang and each cabins enjoyed both sun and shade at different times of the day and depending where we were sailing. There was no noise issues at all from above and we both loved our cabins.

 

This was on a Med sailing and the party staying in 1520 tended to have all the sunrises and we had all the sunsets (1527) from our balconies.

 

We have just booked our next cruise - this time on Equinox and again have chosen cabins nearer the front and chose AQ as loved Blu and can't bear to eat in the MDR every night. Well worth the extra money and perks you get.

 

Hope that helps somewhat.

 

That's interesting - am of to check that --- never realised there was any AQ cabin that wasn't 'in the dark' ! :)

[missminnie]

That's interesting - am of to check that --- never realised there was any AQ cabin that wasn't 'in the dark' ! :)

 

This was why we chose them. If you look at the pics of the ships it's the ones at the front of the ship as there is no overhang there and you get a clear view down to the ocean too. But there are some which are under the Gym or other noisy areas so best to always read the reviews first.

 

Like I said 1527 & 1520 were both great and I suspect most around there are good although 1520 was slightly under the gym so the further forward the more noisy it would be. We're in 1533 and 1542 on our next cruise. I've read reviews that say these are good and ones from the original cabins we stayed in to here are all good. Further back and you start to get noise and window washing equipment outside the balcony!

[CelebrityAgentX]

you can always lie out on the lawn club :p

[dkjretired]

That's interesting - am of to check that --- never realised there was any AQ cabin that wasn't 'in the dark' ! :)

 

OT, they are at night, no lights on any of the balconies on the S class ships...

[librarylady19]

This was why we chose them. If you look at the pics of the ships it's the ones at the front of the ship as there is no overhang there and you get a clear view down to the ocean too. But there are some which are under the Gym or other noisy areas so best to always read the reviews first.

 

Like I said 1527 & 1520 were both great and I suspect most around there are good although 1520 was slightly under the gym so the further forward the more noisy it would be. We're in 1533 and 1542 on our next cruise. I've read reviews that say these are good and ones from the original cabins we stayed in to here are all good. Further back and you start to get noise and window washing equipment outside the balcony!

 

We were in 1519 on Equinox and had lots of sun, also a nice view of the bridge.

We are booked in 1520 for upcoming Eclipse cruise; we love the forward location and proximity to relaxation lounge and Persian gardens.

I was interested to read that your friends were in 1520 and had no complaints about noise. I have been worried that might be an issue.

[missminnie]

We were in 1519 on Equinox and had lots of sun, also a nice view of the bridge.

We are booked in 1520 for upcoming Eclipse cruise; we love the forward location and proximity to relaxation lounge and Persian gardens.

I was interested to read that your friends were in 1520 and had no complaints about noise. I have been worried that might be an issue.

 

Definately no noise at all which is always good. And that balcony always had the best view when in dock! (Of course we weren't jealous ;) !).

 

The cabin was also right opposite the entrance to the relaxation room so they loved it!

[jimmy2x]

OT, they are at night, no lights on any of the balconies on the S class ships...

 

 

It may be off topic, but that is great news!

[librarylady19]

Definately no noise at all which is always good. And that balcony always had the best view when in dock! (Of course we weren't jealous ;) !).

 

The cabin was also right opposite the entrance to the relaxation room so they loved it!

 

Thanks so much!! Only 19 more days....

[sacetornc]

We stayed in 1542 on Equinox and our balcony had plenty of sun. No overhang. Nice cabin!

[Char]

All of the forward AQ balconies from 1501 to 1549 on the port side and from 1502 to 1554 on the starboard side have no "overhang" at all. The balcony roof is only out to the edge of the balcony itself.

If you look at the deck plans you will see that the ship angles in and those cabins aft of the angle have the big overhang.

We have enjoyed our AQ cabins on 5 sailings and they were all in the no overhang area. Plenty of sun and shade depending on which position the ship was in relation to the sun.

[Benita]

We just got off the Eclipse on Saturday. Like you, we love the sun, but hate the crowds around the pool deck. We love spending the day on the balcony. For the Eclipse, I would recommend the port side - you have two days at sea at the end, and while heading north, the port side will get the sun from mid morning until sunset. A hump cabin would be ideal, but then you get the noise from the pool deck above. We chose cabin 1621 because it is sandwiched between two decks with cabins - anything forward from this will be under public areas. I would certainly stay with the AQ as Blu is phenomenal and the best reason for sailing on the ship.

[CathyCruises]

We were in 1552--anything just forward of that would be ideal. Sun on the balcony but not so far forward as to have the gym noise. We had no overhead noise at all; we were right below the part of the spa that is adjacent to the Solarium.

 

On a side note, we did have the extra large balcony, but it made our room really dark--I wasn't crazy about that part. When we looked into the rooms forward of us, they seemed much cheerier. DH and I agreed that we preferred the sunnier rooms.

[cruiserhal]

Apologies if I'm asking questions that has been asked repeatedly. I've hunted through the reviews, and have a copy of the cabin review spreadsheet but can't really work it out for myself as there seems to be conflicting information.

 

We are looking at booking our very first cruise - Eclipse 7 night Caribbean from Miami on 24 March and would like to book Aqua Class, mainly because of Blu. The restaurant does seem to have mixed reviews, but more good than bad.

The issue is that I adore sitting in the sun, whereas my husband is more likened to a vampire, so I think the balconies in the AQ class cabins will be more to his liking than mine. So, my two questions are:

 

1) Is either port or starboard likely to get more sun than the other? (yes, it's a daft question given it's a round trip, to/from Miami therefore likely to be equal, but I thought I would ask).

 

2) Is there a position on the AQ deck that is likely to get more sun?

 

The reasons for asking the above is I've read that it's almost impossible to find a free sun lounger, so I would really like to be able to get an hour or two of sunshine on our balcony, even if the rest of the day it's in shade.

 

Thanks for your advice! :)

 

We just returned from the Silhouette AQ class on Wednesday and in June was in the Solstice AQ class.

 

If you want sun then book the cabins in the forward area of deck 11 but be careful. We were in 1541 and had a LOT of noise from above since we were under the Aqua Spa Cafe kitchen. The person in 1539 had to call the front desk to try and get some of the noise stopped during the night. We have no idea what they were doing but it was loud. Then every morning about 5:30 to 5:45 there was banging someplace. Finally, the balcony got very wet every time they washed the large glass panels above us (daily).

 

On the Solstice we were in the middle of the deck and had no noise or other problems.

 

For our money, we will go back to the middle of the deck and put up with the overhang and white pipes.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Hal