your experience with an Aft cabin

[cruz4evr]

For those of you who have stayed in an aft cabin on the Miracle or any other ship, could you list the pros and cons......DH and I are considering booking one for our next cruise.

We always book a balcony mid-ship but think an aft might be a welcome change.

Thanks in advance! :)

[Antloe]

Pros:

The View

Quiet in the hallways

The view

No Chair Hogs

If you love the sun its very sunny back there but hot

The view

Short walk up to lido deck above and dining room below

 

Cons:

On occasion you might get garbage.

Very hot and sunny during the day

[Bookbug53]

Pros:

The View

Quiet in the hallways

The view

No Chair Hogs

If you love the sun its very sunny back there but hot

The view

Short walk up to lido deck above and dining room below

 

Cons:

On occasion you might get garbage.

Very hot and sunny during the day

 

Would this not depend on the course the ship is sailing? Could you also have the issue of no sun during the day? A con like this could be very subjective. ;)

[Texarribean Chick]

We had an aft only once on the Triumph and went back to Lido deck balconies.

We did not like the aft primarily due to NO privacy. If you are on one of the lower decks and standing on your railing overlooking aft, just turn around and look up and the entire back of the ship is looking at YOU! There is a bit of "no view" area closer to the entrance to the balcony; but if that is all of the privacy you are going to get - then you might as well have stayed on a regular balcony. The view is nice; but you cannot see the port or land for the most part, until you are leaving said island.

 

It's all personal preference - give it a shot. YOU might like it!

[2bfirsttime]

We had an extended aft on the conquest. We spent more time out there than anywhere else, in fact we never made a show, only Made mdr dinner once, we lived out there!!!

 

It was the most peaceful place on earth. It was out own slice of heaven for 7 days!

[SadieN]

Are we talking about any aft cabins or aft-facing cabins?

I'll assume aft-facing cabins. We had two on the Splendor. And OV aft-facing on the Inspiration, and very close to aft-facing on other ships.

 

Look at the deck plans carefully. I know on the Splendor the middle two aft-facing cabins are narrower than the others. Even on the deckplan these are shown as narrower.

 

Pros

-Usually a larger balcony.

-Easy to find your cabin.

-Quieter.

 

Cons

-A long walk to/from the showroom.

-On the Splendor we heard the disco when on the balcony or in the hallway. But not in our cabin.

-Possible vibration from the propellors and thrusters. Depends on many things. Felt vibration on the Elation, Paradise. Very strong vibrations on the Splendor when docking in Long Beach. Didn't feel any vibration on the Inspiration. Possibly because the Elation, Paradise and Splendor have the Azipods and Inspiration has a traditional propellor system? Somebody will come along and answer this question.

-Balconies might not be as secluded depending on the angle of ship.

 

Even with all these cons we prefer to be aft-center rather than forward.

[gobucks_43228]

We loved the aft. I felt/heard the thrusters when docking but my husband didn't. Not enough to keep us from booking again because we are booked on the Breeze!

The view is amazing!!!

[CWcruisers]

I've done 3 aft wraps (VS) on Spirit and Miracle, and aft facing balconies on HAL. Sadie is being kind about slight vibration, there is a good amount of vibration and it is constant while under sail. We have deceided we will move back to regular balconies. We still prefer aft, just not all the way aft.

 

The VS are amazing suites and deck 4 is the way to go.

[Monaco02]

We've yet to sail on Carnival but we had an aft balcony twice - once on NCL Gem and once on HAL Noordam - the things we didn't like would apply to any ship......

 

I know we're in the minority here, but, the sound of the wake got annoying! When we arrived at our first port and "it" stopped it was like AHHHHHHHHH, silence! I prefer hearing the waves against the side of the ship.

 

The other thing is we enjoy the view from the side better than the back. We typically come back from port and enjoy sitting on the balcony and enjoying the scenery, watching pier runners, etc. Both cruises that we were in the aft we couldn't see anything except the sea!

 

There's definitely less wind which can be a negative or a positive, depending on the itinerary. We sailed out of NY in February and were able to use our aft balcony on the first sea day.

[Insel]

Pros:

The View

Quiet in the hallways

The view

No Chair Hogs

If you love the sun its very sunny back there but hot

The view

Short walk up to lido deck above and dining room below

 

Cons:

On occasion you might get garbage. Never had anything but a small amount of soot from the smoke stack

Very hot and sunny during the day

 

We have had an aft on the Miracle 5 times and I would never book anywhere else. We always had full sun, each way. I have dozens, maybe hundreds of pictures of the wake and the view is amazing.

Wherever your cabin is....enjoy your cruise.

[Lejardin]

LOVED the aft cabins. I never find any negatives while cruising and on vacation, at least not enough to actually write it down and pass it on.

 

they are wonderful cabins.

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

I assume you are talking about a true aft with extended balcony. Like pictured here:

 

I personally love them. DH not so much.

 

Pro's:

The view is awesome-especially sunrise/sunset

sunny & warm (I like it warm)

Not so windy like the side balconies on sea days

Bigger balcony

Quiet in the halls

 

Con's:

Soot from the fantail - just put a towel down before you sit

Might get too hot

More vibration when porting

a long walk to front of ship

Balcony not so private since people above can look down on you (see pic)

 

[toby #1]

We had a aft-wrap vista suite on the Legend and it was awesome :) Best suite we ever had, lots of space in cabin and on balcony. No one could see us unless we were right at the rails of the balcony. Hardly any noise at all just a little when they docked, didn't bother us at all. We had two other couples cruising with us in inside cabins and we all hung out on our balcony. It was huge. Love the aft.

 

I can't think of one thing we didn't like about it.

[yst347]

On Miracle you can avoid the privacy and too much sun problem by booking on deck 4. The balconies on deck 4 are almost completely covered.

 

If you want to use laundry facilities you should book either deck 4 or 5. The facilities are located aft. It's nice to be able to use the iron without a wait.

[silvercrikhix]

We had a aft-wrap vista suite on the Legend and it was awesome :) Best suite we ever had, lots of space in cabin and on balcony. No one could see us unless we were right at the rails of the balcony. Hardly any noise at all just a little when they docked, didn't bother us at all. We had two other couples cruising with us in inside cabins and we all hung out on our balcony. It was huge. Love the aft.

 

I can't think of one thing we didn't like about it.

 

Ditto! We only book aft! But, um.... You would hate it (I do not want everyone to know how wonderful they are or they'll get even more scarce when we want to book one :rolleyes: ) so shhhhhh keep it quiet would ya? LOL

[mylan]

We are doing out first aft extened on the Dream next Saturday, booked deck 7. I hope there is more privacy up there than on the lower decks.

I have heard talk about the soot, we'll see.

[CrimsonQueen]

We had an Aft Wrap on the Liberty in 2011, and my sisters had the "L" shaped cabin next to ours....so together, our balcony was HUGE!!

 

But a word of caution.....when you board the ship after a day of sun and "all inclusive" :p.....it's a h*ll of a long way to your cabin!!:eek::o

[hill6]

Book on Deck 4. There is an overhang and you are not looked down on. We have had 4239 twice and would book it again without issue.

 

No soot, no trash, no peekers.

[Markmom18]

For those of you who have stayed in an aft cabin on the Miracle or any other ship, could you list the pros and cons......DH and I are considering booking one for our next cruise.

 

We always book a balcony mid-ship but think an aft might be a welcome change.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

I've booked Aft JS Cabins on Mariner of the Seas (RCI) and just love the view!! For our first ever cruise on Carnival, we've booked an Aft Wrap Cabin, looking forward to it.

 

We've found that Balcony cabins have a wind factor, that we happen to like. So, looking forward to enjoying the Carnival cabin...the windy side...and the Aft cabin view....best of both! :)

[Jenbo57]

Here's 4239 on the Miracle. There wasn't much not to love about it. As others have said, the afts on deck 4 are more covered than the others, so you don't have people staring down at you the whole time (unless, of course, you're standing at the railing).

 

[H82seaUgo]

For those of you who have stayed in an aft cabin on the Miracle or any other ship, could you list the pros and cons......DH and I are considering booking one for our next cruise.

We always book a balcony mid-ship but think an aft might be a welcome change.

Thanks in advance! :)

 

if not a wrap cabin, the only + are the views.

 

to us, everything else was negative:

 

noisy on the balcony when moving.

no covering, so no shielding from sun, rain, soot and garbage, except on deck 4.

no privacy from above or the side when standing at the rail, except on deck 4.

limited floor area due to the extreme angle of the balcony rail, except on deck 4.

and last, the omnipresent sway back there, which one must get used to.

[cruz4evr]

Thanks everyone for your comments! :)

[cruz4evr]

Ditto! We only book aft! But, um.... You would hate it (I do not want everyone to know how wonderful they are or they'll get even more scarce when we want to book one :rolleyes: ) so shhhhhh keep it quiet would ya? LOL

 

I needed a good chuckle this morning....thanks! :D

[rajones007]

The no-privacy thing is a design flaw of Carnival ships, in my opinion. When I was on the NCL Star, when we were in Costa Maya we docked in such a position that the aft of the Dream was directly opposite my balcony. And I remember thinking at the time; "heh, it tiers the wrong way. Those poor people. They have to stand with their backs to the wall if they want any privacy." And yes, the people above them do look down. Constantly.

 

I also recall thinking the aft-wraps that some people rant and rave about don't look all that great. All it looks like to me is an extension, barely wide enough to put a chair on. If they were the same price as the others, fine. Otherwise the people paid extra for what amounts is a 12 foot long, 3 foot wide, single-file outdoor hallway. The usefulness of which is negligible. Oh, I don't know. Maybe I need to stay in one to appreciate it, I guess.

 

I'm sure Carnival did all the research and has people smarter than me who did the design work and make the final decisions. It's just my opinion, that's all.

 

We had an aft suite on the Crown Princess and I have to go against the grain and say I don't think I'd ever intentionally book an aft cabin again. (Unless it was deeply discounted, or the last available cabin, or something like that.)

 

The suite life was nice, but the view of the wake gets old after a while. The local scenery while in port was always limited. But most of all was the noise. The noise and vibration during docking was one thing, but the constant sound of the wake while at sea became annoying...real fast. You couldn't talk while on the balcony without shouting. It wasn't relaxing. It was too loud to be relaxing.

 

I said at the time that I loved it, and I did...at the time. Because I didn't know better, and now I have something to compare it to. After having a balcony on the side of a ship, never again will I purposely book an aft balcony.

[Florings]

We had an aft on the Glory. Loved having a lounge chair and sunning out there every day. What I didn't like was the total lack of privacy - not just from above, but either side because the balcony walls slope down to the rail, so if our neighbors were standing at the rail, they could just turn their heads and be looking right at you.

It is very quiet back there as far as hallway noise and I enjoyed the wake sound. Sunset/sunrises absolutely stunning if you were lucky enough to be going the right direction.

No view of the ports - coming and going which I missed.

Inside of the cabin somewhat smaller than the side cabins (room only for a chair instead of sofa).

It's all subjective - the things that bothered me might not bother someone else.