Hump vs Aft - what's your fave?

[sweetlove13]

I'm booked in a hump balcony on Jewel for the end of November. I see that there's a couple aft balconies available and they have the huge balcony. Contemplating switching but a) not sure about being so far from elevators, and b) remember someone complaining about cigarette smoke on an aft balcony. I would love the huge balcony and the aft view though.

 

Your thoughts and opinions please!!

[CRUISEBOY305]

I've sailed on humps before and love it. Sailing on my first aft balc. in 2016. Can't wait.

[CRUISEBOY305]

9256 is a popular aft balcony on Radiance, if it's available on your sailing I would grab it.

[RocketMan275]

Go with the aft balcony. We don't cruise in anything else. The 'long' walk will do you good and it's not that 'long' anyway.

[CRUISEBOY305]

Go with the aft balcony. We don't cruise in anything else. The 'long' walk will do you good and it's not that 'long' anyway.

 

lol....that's a good enough reason.

[shipshape sam]

Never sailed a hump, but besides the size of balcony I would think the wind would be the same as for a similar port or starboard balcony.

 

Stern balconies if not on the stern/port or stern/starboard are neat for a couple of reasons IHMO. Less wind and wake viewing.

 

Given the wake/view, I might always opt for a aft cabin vs midship.

[cruisingsince94]

We have had a hump more than once and enjoy it. That being said, many rave about the aft cabins. Until now we have not managed to sail one but we have one booked for spring of 2016.

As for smoke it can happen on any balcony. It seems to be better with the new smoking policy but there are some who still light up. A call to guest services gets them a visit from security. If someone is willing to pay the $250 fine I guess they will ignore it. I do know that on a recent cruise that someone did indeed ignore the warning, got the fine, and was disembarked for repeated violations.

[Clarea]

Don't care for aft. Too much vibration and a long walk.

[cruisingsince94]

9256 is a popular aft balcony on Radiance, if it's available on your sailing I would grab it.

 

Thats the cabin we booked on Brilliance for 2016. My wife and I are very excited to experience it. It so happens to be during our 22nd wedding anniversary and I hope it lives up to the reputation they have gotten on Cruise Critic! :D

[CRUISEBOY305]

Thats the cabin we booked on Brilliance for 2016. My wife and I are very excited to experience it. It so happens to be during our 22nd wedding anniversary and I hope it lives up to the reputation they have gotten on Cruise Critic! :D

 

I have it for Serenade in 2016 :D

[cruisingsince94]

Don't care for aft. Too much vibration and a long walk.

 

After the noise fiasco we just had in a JS on Vision I will gladly take the vibration over stomp, crash, bang, boom, power-washing etc. :eek:

[cruisingsince94]

I have it for Serenade in 2016 :D

 

Awesome! :D Love Serenade! We did a 10 night on her in Europe. We are on her in 81 days for Christmas week. My wife wanted to go down the Mississippi one more time before RCI pulls out.

[cb at sea]

Hump...so convenient!

[CRUISEBOY305]

My wife wanted to go down the Mississippi one more time before RCI pulls out.

 

yeah...what a shame. Sailing out of NoLA was always on my bucket list. Hope RC will reconsider some day

[Justmekaren918]

Just off Vision 8088 wrapped corner aft and wow! It was beyond awesome! Will not be in a middle hump til March 2015.

[Justmekaren918]

I have it March 2016! [emoji41]

Can't wait to be back on Brilliance.

[OCruisers]

Hump to avoid the l-o-n-g walks! :D

LuLu

[JimAOk1945]

We enjoy having a "hump" cabin but don't always get one since they seem to sell out quickly.

 

You might enjoy seeing pictures of one we were in a couple of years ago. My wife takes pictures during our cruises and makes them into slide shows for her website. I'll insert a link below for those who might like to see the room and the balcony.

 

She also took pictures looking up at the balcony from a tender. The angle of picture gives you a better idea of how the "hump" looks. The balcony can be seen near the end of the slide show.

 

Mariner of the Seas ~ Hump cabin 1320

Edited October 1, 2014 by JimAOk1945

[OSUZorba]

I've always been on the hump and love them. I like being about to look straight down and watch the wave hit the hull. You also get a good view forward or aft (depending on side of hump). The location relative to the stairs is really nice too.

 

I had booked an aft corner on Navigator for NYE, but about 30 minutes after I booked it I realized I wouldn't be able to look straight down on the side (I knew I couldn't aft), I wouldn't be able to look straight, so I rebooked to a hump. I think cancelled that cruise for Serenade, so it doesn't matter anyways ;).

 

The complaint about smoke I've heard is actually soot from the engines. It can land on the aft balconies. Most pictures I've seen it looks like a mild annoyance, but I've see one set of pictures where it was awful and would've ruined the balcony for a lot of people.

[gw2fll]

I have sailed both and enjoy both.

 

Aft: Love the view, could sit on the balcony for hours and watch the wake. It is great in the evenings / at night to watch the stars and when leaving port. Another benefit is usually you get a larger (deeper balcony) depending on the ship and room. The walk is annoying at first, but it is quieter at the end of the hall and the hallway gets "shorter" as the cruise progresses.

 

Hump: Enjoy the hump cabins, in particular the center / forward portion of the hump. When selecting a hump cabin I tend to be fairly selective of which cabin to avoid others from being able to "see into" the balcony (hence target center portion of hump). The location to the elevators is also a great benefits. No, you do not hear the elevators; however, occasionally, you will hear noise from the hall as people leave the elevator lobby and forget others might be trying to sleep.

 

Sorry, not much help but what I will close with is as long as I am on a cruise I am happy.

[beerman2]

Will be sailing on FOS this Sunday and have an aft for the first time. Hoping we enjoy it as much as midship balconies .

[shutterbug63]

Aft hands down. View is spectacular and it feels very private. We had an aft balcony on the Indy.

 

Had a hump balcony on the Allure. It's nice too, but it didn't feel quite as private as there was much more foot traffic going by. View was nice, but not as nice as the aft.

 

It's also more "value" to me to have an aft. It's nice to pay the same price as a balcony on the side of the ship but have WAY more balcony space.

[JACH77]

We had an Aft Junior Suite Balcony on the Explorer and loved it. There was no vibration or noise.

[alfaeric]

We are huge aft fans- just got off the Brilliance from 1602. Massive balcony.

 

Vibration- it's not much an issue on Radience class ships- with the gas turbines, there isn't much vibration. You do notice it a lot on Vision ships- but we seem ok with that.

 

Smoke/Particulates- again, thanks to the gas turbines, there isn't much smoke/particulates that will get to your balcony- there IS one diesel that runs, but it's small. Vision- some of them do make PM, and we've had it bad when tendered at Coco Cay. Still- it's cleaned up really well.

 

Motion- this one is a problem in rough seas- the aft does move. But in good water (most of the time in the Caribbean), it's not a problem.

 

Walk- yea- not a big deal to us. We walk for hours at ports- a few extra steps on the ship isn't a big deal.

 

If you want to at least try one, the Jewel would be a great one to try. It's only a week.

 

Our favorite aft balcony of all time was on the Rhapsody on an Alaskan cruise- were we had a wrap around- we were out there for 5 hours one day looking at the scenery. Just amazing.

 

Worth a try, IMHO.

[Loves_Dogs]

Definitely HUMP! You can have your aft. Cruised once back there, it's not for me.