Worried about aft balcony!?!

[grins88]

We are currently booked on an aft balcony for our Alaskan cruise on the Radiance. I am worried about this being a good spot for sightseeing. Can anyone give me any advice on this? Our other option is to pay the extra $600 for a junior suite on deck 10. (We are currently on deck 9 in 9658.) Thanks for the help.

[garycarla]

Do a search or go back through messages for the past month, you will see lots of comments about the aft cabins.

 

Good luck.

[sweetiepie9339]

Why does everyone insist on replying to a message by saying "do a search or look thru old messages" thats kinda mean and not very helpful. I for one can't get the search button to work on here most of the time... and maybe they already looked but didn't see a good answer to suit them.

 

Anyway-- here is a more helpful answer:

We are booked on our 1st aft balcony on our Princess cruise to Alaska this May (in 14 days!!!!! :)) when we booked this cabin we did alot of research and asked this same question. The consinsous we got was:

1. On normal at sea days thru the inside passage you will love your balcony- it will have many panoramic views and gives you a chance to see a little more than if you were on the side. And- many people report more whale sightings as they like to swim with the wake.

2. On glacier days you may want to spend some time on a public deck- towards the front of the ship- so that you can see what the naturalist is pointing out. But- when cold--- your balcony will have less wind and will be a good retreat. We plan to spend some time on our balcony and some on public decks.

When do you go? If we are back before you- I will be glad to give you more info from first hand experience.

 

Enjoy your trip!! :)

[CruiseIsGood]

You'll love your aft balcony. Don't change!

[OnlyMe]

Hey guys, I'm wondering the same thing about an aft. We are booked into 7654 Starboard near the back. This cabin has one of the bigger balconys BUT you can't look DIRECTLY down into the water. I don't think this would be a MAJOR problem???? (Anyone know differently?)

 

However, I have noticed that there is an Aft available for our sailing - 7676. I am wondering if the extra cost would be worth it or if we should stick with 7654. We really wanted starboard for viewing BUT what about looking down?? AND the 'obstruction' towards the aft?? You can see 7654 balcony on the webpage below - Ours is 3 balconys more forward (towards the camera) than where the lady is standing.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/142373797/142837850CzRiRS

 

Also, I know I read a post on one of these boards a few days ago about someone actually REALLY DISLIKING their aft cabin.:confused:

 

Any advice appreciated

[mii]

Nex month I will be taking my third trip to Alaska and have never had a aft cabin. We have had balconies toward the middle and toward the aft and can still view all there is to see. We also go out on the promanade deck and if your ship has viewing up from a top deck or out by the pools go for it. If your trip has an glacier viewing the captain will do a 180 or 360 depending on location so no one misses anything.

 

Marilyn

[midnightsun]

Hi OnlyMe,

 

We have aft cabin #7676 booked for our August Alaskan cruise.

I know this information isn't helpful, as we haven't even been on the aft cabin yet, but I took this cabin on the general recommendations for aft cabins - especially for Alaska sailings.

 

My understanding is that because of the scenery you can expect in Alaska as opposed to other itineraries (ie Caribbean), an aft cabin is the way to go.

 

Larger balconies, less wind, no noise and panoramic views.

More walking though, as there are no stairs or elevators toward the back of the ship.

 

For some folks, these cabins are highly coveted and are usually some of the first cabins to be booked.

[SkiCruiser44]

I have had an aft cabin 9660 on Radiance to Alaska and it was by far one of the best cabins to have on the ship -especially Alaska. You have fabulous views of both sides (you don't see where you are going but where you've been) it was awesome. The views were wonderful. I was up early in the mornings and the aft balconys have chaise lounges so you can lay down and cover up with a blanket and watch everything. I saw whales on 2 occasions. When we went into Hubbard Glacier we went to the front of the ship - then as we sailed out we went to our cabin ordered lunch and enjoyed the great views sailing out which were the same as sailing in only in reverse.

I have also had an aft cabin on Celebrity M class ships - again they are great. We are booked on Infinity in June to Alaska and have an aft balcony on deck 7 and my aunt has a corner FV cabin. There are no greater views - especially in Alaska than the aft cabins. The sound of the wake is like listening to a waterfall - very soothing. Relax and enjoy these gem cabins!! There is really not much difference in the motion back there at least not enough to make it worth giving up.

[grins88]

Thank you so much for all of your comments. I feel sooooo much better about our cabin selection now. I am going to now just be confident that I have made the best choice and go spend that $600 on a helicopter tour.

Sweetiepie, we are going in September, so I will be anxious to hear about your trip.

Thanks again.

[Budget Queen]

Why does everyone insist on replying to a message by saying "do a search or look thru old messages" thats kinda mean and not very helpful. I for one can't get the search button to work on here most of the time... and maybe they already looked but didn't see a good answer to suit them.

 

Anyway-- here is a more helpful answer:

We are booked on our 1st aft balcony on our Princess cruise to Alaska this May (in 14 days!!!!! :)) when we booked this cabin we did alot of research and asked this same question. The consinsous we got was:

1. On normal at sea days thru the inside passage you will love your balcony- it will have many panoramic views and gives you a chance to see a little more than if you were on the side. And- many people report more whale sightings as they like to swim with the wake.

2. On glacier days you may want to spend some time on a public deck- towards the front of the ship- so that you can see what the naturalist is pointing out. But- when cold--- your balcony will have less wind and will be a good retreat. We plan to spend some time on our balcony and some on public decks.

When do you go? If we are back before you- I will be glad to give you more info from first hand experience.

 

Enjoy your trip!! :)

 

 

 

I do not find the "search" comment mean. for those of us who post information on this board the time involved is considerable. If the information is available through a past post that is loaded with comments such as this one was- it is a good suggestion. And since you haven't gone yet- you have some mis information in your post- whales- DO NOT swim with the wake. It's the white sided pacific dolphins and dalls porpoises.

[sweetiepie9339]

As I said before- I was only passing on the info that I was given on this board... and I did have several people tell me that they saw "whales" swimming in the wake. Besides- who made you Queen of Whales? Did you tell them that they are never ever aloud to swim thru the wake of a cruise ship? I am sure it could be a possibilty that on a few occasions whales have done this... and someone saw it and told me of here on this board. If it is a "mistake" in my post I am sorry...

I too provide "info" on this board- for the other places I have been-- only because I enjoy doing so- when I am bored of it I stop and move on. Budget Queen- If you don't enjoy giving information- even to a question that has already been asked- then stop giving it. It simply is not helpful in my opinion to get a responce that says "search yourself- good luck". I understand that much of the info on here seems repetative to those of us who have been watching this board for months... but for someone new- why make them spend hours trying to go back over the past 6 months of info? There are many people on here willing to share there info.

[wolfie11]

Humpback whales, which are the most common whales sighted in SE Alaska, do not swim in the wake of a cruise ship. The whales winter in Hawaii, and migrate to Alaska in the summer. They are in Alaska for one reason - to eat. They go to Hawaii to breed and give birth in the warm waters (and possibly to escape predations by orcas). But they don't eat in Hawaii the entire time they're there. They eat almost constantly in Alaska, feeding on small forage fish like herring and capelin. They may surface in the wake of a cruise ship and may even target small fish stirred up by the ship's passage, but they don't follow ships.

[midnightsun]

So potentially humpback whales could be seen in the wake of a ship?

[Starbuck1]

SweetiePie... your name hardly does you justice.

 

If anyone on this forum has made it what it is by providing accurate, articulate information, it's Budget Queen. I've read hundreds of her posts and am amazed at the amount of knowledge she's aquired as a seasoned cruiser. The best part is she's willing to spend her valuable time posting here and passing on information to anyone who asks.

 

I concur with the point she makes about alot of info being on this forum already. Some people don't want to do ANY investigating themselves. The LEAST they could do is spend 30 minutes searching previous info so others don't have to reply to the same questions over and over and over.

 

FYI - I would much rather have information first hand from Queen than information you are "just passing on what was given from other threads".

 

Respectfully, Starbuck

[Bsan1221]

Can someone please explain the difference between Aft and whatever the other one is called..????

[calee]

Sweetiepie said..........

 

"when we booked this cabin we did alot of research"

 

At least you got it right and did research, some newbies need to be lead to the search feature and learn to use it. Budget Queen has 5000+ posts and not many of those are questions asked, but questions answered. Is it unreasonal to first refer someone to use search for answers to what may be a general question.....afterall that's why the search feature exists, is it not??

[calee]

Can someone please explain the difference between Aft and whatever the other one is called..????

 

Aft is toward the back(stern)

Forward is toward the front(bow)

Port is the left side(facing forward)

Starboard is the right side (facing forward)

[sweetiepie9339]

Can someone please explain the difference between Aft and whatever the other one is called..????

 

As the other poster said- Aft means towards the back. Most of the time when people are talking about there "aft" cabins they are speaking of the ones on the very very back of the ship- (ie the flat part that over looks the wake and where you have gone). Atleast thats what I think they mean... ;)

[mason525]

I'm w/ Sweetie P. Plenty of questions get asked repeatedly but don't respond if u don't want to. Newbies shouldn't be shot down for asking something they want ro know. (also loved the "Queen of Whales" quip.

[Budget Queen]

I do know a lot about whale behavior having whale watched for years, including going out on multi day research boats. Sorry you think I'm an idiot. But again for clairfication- you would NEVER see a humpback swimming in the wake, nor likely orcas. They tend to avoid ships anyway. AND I'll be willing to bet your so called informents were viewing Dalls Porpoises, not whales. Here's a web site for you to review if you choose to.

 

http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas-web/kids/mmp/dalls_fun.htm

[gigivic]

We will be on our 2nd aft corner balcony in 2 weeks to Alaska. Went to W. Caribbean last year and had a corner wrap balcony. This is by far superior to any other cabin I've had. Romantic and the best views. Wonderful choice.

[twokids2]

I know for a fact the wave runners like to ride in the ships wake:eek:

[grins88]

First of all, let me say that I had no idea such an innocent question would create such a fuss. Can't we all just get along.

Secondly, Budget Queen, I have read many of your posts, and I greatly appreciate your expertise on these boards. My DH and I have never yet been to Alaska, and I am trying to make this a most memorable experience, so thanks for all of your wisdom.

That being said, I must say that if you do not enjoy posting information more than once, there is a simple solution, just don't do it. Then the people who do want to answer the question can and we all will be happy. I like others understand that these boards are often repetitive, however, the search option is not the most refined out there, either. When you search for something, (for example aft cabin) you will get any thread in which an aft cabin was even mentioned making it very time consuming to weed through all of the information and get your answer. So, IMHO I would rather just ask my specific question and get a direct answer than having to spend hours siphering through this and that to piece together my answer.

Finally, I would like to make a point about the "newbie" comment. Just because a person does not have hundreds of posts under their name, that does not necessarily mean that they are a newbie. I have been reading these boards for several years to gain information about upcoming cruises. The simple fact is, I rarely post unless I have a good bit of information or if I have a very important question that I want answered (case in point). So, to classify me as a newbie (or infer that I am simply a moron who doesn't know what she is doing on these boards---"Uh, how do you use this computer again????") is very unfair. But even if I were a "newbie" and had a pressing question that I wanted answered, should I not also have that right. The last time I checked these boards were open for anyone to post as they wish. If you don't want to participate in a particular thread, then there are literally thousands of others to choose from. So, before you decide to bash someone for simply asking a legitimate question, I would ask that you just leave that thread and move on to another.

To all of those offering help with my dilema, I greatly thank you. And I apologize for the long dissertation, but I felt it necessary.

[Budget Queen]

Good grief.

 

On this board, upper right- under the search option, I just wrote aft balcony the posts came up and the information there MAY be of interest???

 

For clarification- I POST OVER AND OVER the same information, and nowhere did I complain about posting.