Regular Balcony or Aft extended balcony

[vilacr]

Hello CC!!! My family (DW and DD) and I are cruising on the Conquest May 28, 2016. We have mostly ( 7 of our 10 Carnival cruises) cruised with balcony cabins on the lido. I was wondering if a jump to an aft extended balcony(empress) is worth the extra expense. Also considered a suite but quickly realized that money can be used for more important matters :D

[wickedhangover]

I will only book aft extended. I also don't bother with the corner suites, I'm not convinced that the added cost is worth it.

 

pros/cons are hard to list so you may want to search, there's been a few good threads that talk about the two options.

 

I prefer to be far away from everything, in a quiet location. aft extended meets this well. I like to sit outside at night and look at the stars, side balconies aren't quite the same for this unless you have a spa balcony without anything overhead.

 

That said, I find that so many people rarely use their balconies at all. It's like a bunch of gophers, they all poke their heads out when arriving or departing a port but the rest of the time they're not around.

[mafiadon]

I always get an aft balcony but mostly the corner wrap if I can get it. We love the larger balcony and so much less traffic and the views from the back are great

[vilacr]

Sounds like an aft is the way to go. Calling my pvp today. Thanks for the input.

[teaach]

Be careful of ext arts on Empress on the Breeze. Cabins 7440 and 7447nex to the corner wraps are much smaller cabins~, no sofa or coffee table. Balcony is still big. I was unhappy with the smaller cabin, so make sure your details of the cabin say sofa and coffee table or u will get stuck with the smaller cabin.

[Folsom]

Also on the Freedom (I assume all Conquest ships) the center aft cabins right above the comedy club are about a foot more narrow than other balcony cabins. It is very tight getting around the foot of the bed.

 

Cheers

-F-

[ibcnusoon]

We loved our corner wrap, it was wonderful for us when we had our children and parents in the aft-extended and the L-shaped bowling alley cabins on opposite sides for 5 port intensive southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan.

 

If I were to book a balcony, I would book the aft-extended again (unless the wrap is a little more money). Aft-extended's are nice on cruises from ports north (like NYC) because the sun is warm back there. We had a great time on an NCL cruise back there in the sun while the rest of the ship was freezing and wearing sweatshirts and pants. It was fun bumping into people at the buffet all bundled up.

 

That said, the aft's get warm and are great for sitting out and people or star watching. I like them better than the side balcony's where it tends to be winder and cooler at all times of the day.

 

That said, we have been spoiled by the Cloud 9 Spa amenities that I have been willing to give up the afts, and even the balcony cabins in lieu of access to a balcony outside on the panorama deck.

Edited February 15, 2016 by ibcnusoon

[vilacr]

There are two aft cabins available on the empress 7449 and 7451. Any of you know if these are smaller rooms? There will be 3 of us in the cabin.

[vilacr]

We loved our corner wrap, it was wonderful for us when we had our children and parents in the aft-extended and the L-shaped bowling alley cabins on opposite sides for 5 port intensive southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan.

 

If I were to book a balcony, I would book the aft-extended again (unless the wrap is a little more money). Aft-extended's are nice on cruises from ports north (like NYC) because the sun is warm back there. We had a great time on an NCL cruise back there in the sun while the rest of the ship was freezing and wearing sweatshirts and pants. It was fun bumping into people at the buffet all bundled up.

 

That said, the aft's get warm and are great for sitting out and people or star watching. I like them better than the side balcony's where it tends to be winder and cooler at all times of the day.

 

 

 

That said, we have been spoiled by the Cloud 9 Spa amenities that I have been willing to give up the afts.

 

 

 

Afts get warm? That may be a deal breaker.

[Yvonne]

I loved our aft extended balcony on our Conquest cruise. We had stateroom #7453. It had a table and two chairs plus a lounger. I am one who wants quiet time each day away from the crowds so we have almost always had a balcony for our cruises, at least the 7 day and longer ones. Always enjoyed the side balcony, but that aft balcony just spoiled me so much. We cruised out of New Orleans and it was wonderful being out there watching us moving along down the river for several hours before getting out to sea, to be able to see from side to side was great! And pulling into and leaving ports of call was great to watch from there too. I tried to read out there, but would find myself just watching the water and re-reading the same sentences. :) Loved having breakfast from room service out there every morning too. We cruised in January and it never got too hot to be out there, maybe it would in the summer I'm not sure. There was shade sometimes though, so that would help in the summer.

 

I wish we could have gotten an aft extended balcony for our upcoming cruise, but I think they generally get snapped up pretty quickly.

[Drazil65]

We only cruise midship deck 7 (mostly) or above, balcony. We are in the camp that wants to see where we are going not where we have been (aft!), but to each his own.

 

That being said, hands down on an OS if you can swing it, totally worth the money for us, the extra room (there are 3 of us), the separate dressing area, the huge bath and whirlpool tub, double sinks (great for the kiddo when we were getting ready brushing teeth) and the extra space on the balcony, loved it all!!! Now it is very hard to go back to a balcony but I guess we will rough it until I can get another deal for OS :D!!!!

Edited February 15, 2016 by Drazil65

[wickedhangover]

Afts get warm? That may be a deal breaker.

 

The aft extended balconies, in direct sun, can be unbearably hot. I call it a blast furnace. You don't get much of a breeze, if any.

 

I still love those balconies but there are some afternoons where I could only last about 10 minutes out there. But I do better in cold weather so maybe I'm not the best gauge. On beach days, I'm under an umbrella most of the day. For those that can take the sun/heat, probably not an issue.

[GalFitness19]

I've had aft balcony, regular balcony and suite. The suite is preferred, of course, but not the aft so much for me. The cabin is so far from everything as I like to be closer to the action, and more importantly, I prefer to see where we're going as opposed to where we've been. Port side balcony is my preference. The deeper aft balcony is nice, but I just prefer midship standard balcony instead..

[KatPem]

There are two aft cabins available on the empress 7449 and 7451. Any of you know if these are smaller rooms? There will be 3 of us in the cabin.

 

We had 7449 on the Liberty in August. It wasn't a smaller room. I loved parts of the aft...the main one being the lounger!!! I have four kids in year round sports. I am not all about being in the center of the action on a cruise but like to lounge. We are trying the bowling alley balcony on our next cruise but I really enjoyed having the aft. In the middle of the day it can get warm with the sun beating down on you but I enjoyed it way more than I didn't. Definately prefer it over a regular balcony, just for the lounger.

[vilacr]

The aft extended balconies, in direct sun, can be unbearably hot. I call it a blast furnace. You don't get much of a breeze, if any.

 

I still love those balconies but there are some afternoons where I could only last about 10 minutes out there. But I do better in cold weather so maybe I'm not the best gauge. On beach days, I'm under an umbrella most of the day. For those that can take the sun/heat, probably not an issue.

 

 

The heat is a deal breaker. I was lied to once many yrs ago (engineers don't work :) ) that was one of the biggest lies I was ever told....lol A lot of what I do is in the Alabama heat. So a hot stateroom is not for me...this is a vacation after all.