Short Review of Aft cabin on the Island

[laughing husky]

So much has been written about these cabins. Have returned from the last Eastern Med cruise...Rome-Venice before the chip did it's TA. We had booked quite a bit in advance....originally a balcony....About 2 weeks before we were given a chance on an upsell. I know other people on the cruise refused them....for this I am happy....Actually, we were given the choice of several suites...mid ship as well as aft. We thought it was at a good price. I have no idea what they offered it to other people, but the agent seemed surprised when I said yes....I will take the aft. She said a number of people turned it down... It was the first time we have ever been offered an upsell in 15 cruises....and we have never been upgraded...Despite what "everyone" said, we took the aft. I have always loved the aft cabins, and this was such a port intensive cruise that even if the weather was bad, we could look our at the sea...I was also interested whether or not there was as much vibration as people have said. That said, embarkation was easy as pie and when we opened the door, we were so surprised...It was almost brand new. The suite had a huge soaking tub...no jets, but I never missed them....as well as a 2nd shower, with a great rain shower head and great water pressure.....AND....no dreaded shower curtain..The usual accompaniments were there...a larger desk than usual, two large (fairly) flat screen TV's..a balcony and a great view from the bed....and of course, from the couch. The furniture on the balcony was VERY comfortable for me, and a good quality. Not teak, but cast aluminum with thick blue pillow...about 4-6"...the lounge was great and I fell asleep out there a couple of times. The weather was great for us, but then we do live in Alaska...:).. The water in the Med was as blue as I remembered it from the last time I was there. The lido balconies are not fully covered....but the sanctuary is on top and there is about half coverage...or a good 3' or so...As there was no one in the sanctuary that I ever saw, it was pretty darn private. There are two good sized closets in the suite as well as plenty of drawer space. There is a full size mirror also as well as several larger mirrors over one of the desk areas. I was pleased. The one downside....Wished there had been a USB plug or at least an outlet closer to the bed, so I keep could keep my Ipads charging...Now for the import part...The dreaded vibrations the knock things off of the walls and keep you awake....Nothing fell off the walls, The walls did not vibrate, the water did not slosh out of the tub...There was some vibration during the docking process, and one night there were a bit of rough seas and there was some vibration..One it seemed like we were picking up speed and there was a bit of vibration then....but nothing that would stop us from booking an aft suite...Granted, the rear end of that ship is not pretty, but the cabins seem great to me. I have sailed this ship a couple of times prior to its "renovation from hell" There are certainly a few things I didn't like...The gym is horrid..and if that is important, choose another one. It is important to my husband, but it was so port intensive, it would have been hard to fit it in except on a couple of days....So, I think this ship is fine....It is not as pretty as before the facelift, but it is pretty functional. If there were a lot of days at sea, I cetainly would miss the promenade, however, we walked about 10-12 miles a day in ports, and I didn't care about walking to the ship, other than the buffet, which is at the opposite end of the aft end...I was in the cain next to us...the corner one...It has a totally different layout...Two balconies...not connected, and a walk in closet with a fairly large foyer, and a smaller living space where the couch is. The view are good however...The couple expressed to me that there was a bit more vibration in their cabin than in ours....Again...Vibration is very subjective...sorta like food...but if you don't like any vibration....then let me have that cabin....cause I would jump at the chance again....:D

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments. What cabin?

Never saw you onboard. :(

Edited December 6, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[laughing husky]

Keith, I was next door to you...on your left. Did you feel much vibration?

[TracieABD]

Thanks for the review on the suite. That is good to hear. I was on a HAL ship in the aft region, and we had significant vibration. In a day or two we got used to it.

[Colo Cruiser]

Keith, I was next door to you...on your left. Did you feel much vibration?

 

 

Not too bad, mostly thrusters.

[mmckm]

We always stay in aft suites and have never felt the vibration others speak of. Yes the thrusters when docking, but thats to be expected. You will get the same on the front of the ship when docking.

[Colo Cruiser]

We always stay in aft suites and have never felt the vibration others speak of. Yes the thrusters when docking, but thats to be expected. You will get the same on the front of the ship when docking.

 

 

Have you sailed the Island since the changes?

[califgary]

Thanks for this - we are on Island in an aft suite on Lido deck - have read the reviews that say the glasses walk themselves off the table - we love aft and expect various vibrations during operations. Your review makes us feel so much better - thank you!

[compozer]

We were on the same cruise along with the next one. I originally had booked the Lido deck corner suite but changed to the Aloha deck shortly after drydock when it was confirmed that it did not have a wrap around balcony.

The vibration in our cabin was terrible. It depended on the speed of the ship and mainly started in the evening when they increased speed. We really never had a good nights sleep. I thought we were always tired because it was such a port intense cruise but I soon realized that little sleep played a large roll. There were a few nights when our next port was close and we were going pretty slow when it wasn't bad. The second cruise was much worse with the sea days. The last week they gave us an inside midship cabin to sleep in. They said there were engineers currently on the ship trying to fix it and that it really has improved. I noticed one night as I walked the back hall at 2 am that the vibration wasn't as bad as I got to the center of the ship and then it got worse as I got to the other side of the ship. It seems like it is worst in the corner suites so that is why the people in the center hardly had an issue.

 

We have booked aft suites for over ten years so we know the sounds and yes, there was the normal thruster noise when docking and the rocking and rolling in rough seas but this vibration is different, besides the shaking, everything seemed to creak and squeak. We had to pad the glasses on the counter and put our wine and little liquor bottles on the love seat many nights or they riddled like mad. Drove us nuts!!! Some noise may be subjective but in certain cabins, it is a major issue. Our steward said that everyone in his corner suites have complained about the vibration. I am positive that if you had been in our cabin you would have noticed the vibration. We live on our boat most of the summer so we are use to lot of noises and my husband usually falls asleep when his head hits the pillow but not on these cruises.

 

We will never sail on her again. And I agree, the MDR was a nightmare with the extra passengers.

 

Bonnie and Jim, it was so nice getting to know you during our great tours. Kathy did a super job organizing them. Wish we would have had more time to learn about your dogs. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Italy.

[laughing husky]

Hi Kathy, It was nice getting to know you also....We had some good tours didn't we. Yes, my neighbors on the corner had more vibration than we did, but ours was not bad at all. Like Keith said, you could feel it when they had the thrusters going, but that is on any aft cabin....I am sorry that you had to switch rooms, but happy that it all worked out for you. Wished we were able to go on the TA with you, but France was wonderful also....except for the night of the bombing. We were there that night but never felt like we were in any danger. Good thing, cause our embassy was closed down tighter than a turtle....Just had recorded messages....Back home in the normalcy of holidays...

[califgary]

Our cabin is dead center middle on Lido Deck so hopefully vibration will be at a minimum - nothing we can do about it now everything with a balcony is sold out for the Christmas Cruise. Wish me luck!