Grand Princess, Deck 12 Stateroom

[karin5]

My sister and I are planning a California Coastal cruise on the Grand Princess for 2016. We are considering a stateroom on Deck 12, Aft. Has anyone had experience staying on the Aloha deck? Is it really noisy? Any other drawbacks? We noticed this deck is a bit cheaper, than a few decks down, and were wondering why. In the past, we stayed on Caribe, but thought we'd try Aloha deck. Thanks.

[partybarbie]

My preference is to book the aft end cabins. There's less foot traffic in the hallways and one has easy access to the One Five Nightclub, the Horizon Court, and the adult's only pool.

 

The only drawbacks are a little more motion and sometimes one can hear the chairs scraping the deck (when the wait staff are moving them around).

[XBGuy]

Karin, Deck 12 Forward is my wife's favorite. The forward and after sections of the ship are less expensive because in those areas you get the most up-and-down motion from the sea. People who are sensitive--i.e., they tend to get seasick--avoid those areas. You feel less motion in the midship cabins, and, so, the cruise lines charge more for those cabins.

 

Regarding the being in the higher up decks, I think that the higher up you are, the more you would feel sideways motion if the ship rolls a bit as it hits sea swells. So, again, that would explain why the higher up decks are priced less than the lower ones.

 

Typically, on the California Coastal cruise, the ship moves so slowly (to save fuel) that, unless you hit a storm, you can barely feel the movement. Last October traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco, we hit a little squall that caused some passengers distress.

 

Regarding noise, I can say that the only noise we hear way up front is from the ship's bow hitting sea swells. I'm guessing that you are wondering about noise from the decks above. I really can't say, but I would be a bit surprised if you can hear activity from the public rooms that are in the back. Although, if you have a balcony, and you leave your sliding door open, and there is a particularly boisterous group in that bar that is at the rear (a real possibility if you are traveling during spring break), you may be able to hear them.

 

I hope somebody with better experience than I have chimes in.

[Cruise Raider]

Just got back from the Grand and booked the last aft cabin on the port side of the ship on the Caribe deck. While the staff was fabulous, this was the most unstable ship on which I have ever booked. It wasn't all that stormy out and there weren't even white caps but our room shook like crazy...surprised we weren't thrown out of bed at least once. It was so rough back there on this ship and we oftentimes book aft cabins, so didn't feel this was normal considering the weather conditions.

It is quiet except for the knocks and creaks of the ship and our entire room shook when a neighboring cabin had their balcony door open when the stateroom cabin door was slammed shut. It was violent enough to wake us up for sure....but think that could happen anywhere on the ship. I do have bruises all over my arms from running into those hand railings in the hallways. I even was stepping out of the stateroom bathroom when the ship made a sudden jolt that sent me careening me to the floor. Someone mentioned that a great deal of stability was lost when they removed Skywalkers.

Having sailed many times on the Star and a few times on the Golden, I would tend to think this could be a valid statement, however, I didn't ever book that far aft on those sister ships. There was so much creaking and knocking of the ship while moving that the seas might have been rougher than I estimated and to be fair, some of what I viewed as instability might have been due to my room choice.

You will have easy access to the One5 Lounge, the aft pool and seating areas as well as the Horizon Court, though.

 

Anyhow, we are booked for this ship again for the summer and am glad my room is more centrally located. You can decide for yourself, though, if you think that it might be too rough for you and your sister.

[KruzPrincess]

My sister and I are planning a California Coastal cruise on the Grand Princess for 2016. We are considering a stateroom on Deck 12, Aft. Has anyone had experience staying on the Aloha deck? Is it really noisy? Any other drawbacks? We noticed this deck is a bit cheaper, than a few decks down, and were wondering why. In the past, we stayed on Caribe, but thought we'd try Aloha deck. Thanks.

 

You didn't mention which cabin category you're looking at. There are pros and cons to the Aloha deck aft cabins. Personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons, but you may not agree. The biggest pro is the location. If you go aft and up a few steps you will be on the aft deck at the Terrace Pool. Go up another flight of steps and you will be at the back of the Horizon Court and the Al Fresco bar. It's a very convenient location. Aloha balconies are fully covered. On the con side, it's possible you may hear noise from the Horizon Court above such as chairs moving, etc. You probably won't have late night noise, but you may have early morning noise. Many people say they aren't bothered by any noise, but some may be more sensitive than others. Some cabins may have more noise than others. Also, the doors that lead to the Terrace pool have some history of banging loudly especially if it's windy outside. Some people leave their balcony doors open and this can cause a wind tunnel effect in the hallway which makes those doors slam. If you have a cabin far aft on Aloha deck you may or may not hear those doors slamming. Overall, I think this is a really good location as long as you know there may be some noise.