Radiance of the Seas which balcony room?

[akolasz]

Hello!

 

I just booked room 9256 on the Radiance for the first SB Alaska cruise in 2020 however I am thinking of switching to room 7592 or 7594 for an $800 savings. I'd rather use that $800 towards excursions! Typically my husband and I travel with our young children and other family members so we always go for the bigger balcony so we can have multiple people hanging out however, this cruise it is just my husband and I so I don't think we need the bigger balcony juts for us in Alaska. Any preference on rooms 7592 or 7594 or another recommendation within that same category? Thanks!!!

[Nettee]

I would be worried about the lifeboat covers in those cabins on deck 7.  And the noise from the centrum.  Personally I would go forward for a balcony on Radiance class if I couldn’t go to the aft.  It would probably cost even less.

[cruiseguy1016]

The downside to 7592 and 7594 is that they are right off the centrum. I have never stayed in either of those cabins but I have read that the noise from the centrum can be quite loud and annoying. I HAVE stayed in 9256 and loved it. Being on the corner it gives you the opportunity to look forward a little. You won't be able to see down the side of the ship but you will be able to see forward a little. As far as needing/wanting a balcony cabin for Alaska, I would advise you to consider this. We had a balcony cabin for our Alaska cruise last year and we hardly used the balcony. When there were things to see, we wanted to be on the upper decks where we could move from side to side to view things. If we weren't out on the upper decks, we were in the Viking Crown Lounge where we had almost 360 degree viewing.

[cb at sea]

I would rather be up higher on that ship....the lifeboat covers are right at your feet, and while your outward view isn't blocked at all, your downward view is.  There are some "extended balconies" fore and aft...but you do lose privacy with them, as the balcony divider doesn't extend all the way to the railing.   While EVERY side balcony (no matter which deck) will have the lifeboats below, they aren't "in your face" like on deck 7.

[Desert Cruizers]

I have been on the Radiance 4 times now and always booked a mid ship balcony on the 9th Deck. I wouldn't go any lower then the 8th. because of the life boats.

[akolasz]

Thanks for everyone's opinions. I did look at real photos of the balconies to see the tops of the lifeboats in line with the balcony floor. That I don' think will bother me. I do want a balcony as that is usually how we cruise and even just to have the natural light coming in from the balcony doors makes a huge difference for me. We will be sailing in our very first Ocean View room, no balcony on the Majesty of the Seas going to Cuba this spring. So after that I will be looking forward to our balcony for Alaska! For the Cuba cruise we didn't have a choice as the only rooms with balconies were JS and above and we will be travelling with our children for this one and the JS only sleeps 3 people. So instead we booked two Ocean View rooms with connecting doors just so we could have a little more space for the 4 of us. 

 

The price for 7592 and 7594 is the least expensive price for balconies, there is nothing cheaper. If you were to book the lowest price balcony which room would you choose? We are looing at the May 22, 2020 SB Alaska route. We are adding a 4 night pre cruise tour on to the beginning and that's why I would rather book the least expensive balcony since there will be just the 2 of us and we won't be using the balcony as much as we would on our Caribbean cruises. 

 

[akolasz]

What are your thoughts on 7536, 7534, 7532 and 7530 as they look like they have slight extended balconies?

[dani negreanu]

I've been in 8594. I've "chased" 😀 this cabin for many months, since it's right in the center of the "hump". Excellent views, no noise from the Centrum, no traffic -- location, location, location.

[akolasz]

10 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

I've been in 8594. I've "chased" 😀 this cabin for many months, since it's right in the center of the "hump". Excellent views, no noise from the Centrum, no traffic -- location, location, location.

Thank you! That one is not available but the two on either side is so I have decided to try 8596, 8592, 8598 an 8542 in that order. I am calling now so when finished room #9256 will be open if anyone is interested!

[dani negreanu]

24 minutes ago, akolasz said:

Thank you! That one is not available but the two on either side is so I have decided to try 8596, 8592, 8598 an 8542 in that order. I am calling now so when finished room #9256 will be open if anyone is interested!

 

Take 8596 !!

[akolasz]

Just now, dani negreanu said:

 

Take 8596 !!

I did! It's officially booked and it was $800 less then #9256 that I let go. That is $800 to go towards Alaska excursions instead!

[dani negreanu]

Just now, akolasz said:

I did! It's officially booked and it was $800 less then #9256 that I let go. That is $800 to go towards Alaska excursions instead!

 

Great, you'll enjoy it !!

 

Radiance is amazing for Alaska 😀 And the tours are expensive... Go with Dyea Dave Tours to the Emerald Lake !!

[2Long2NxtCrz]

We did the Southbound out of Seward on the Radiance at the end of August and I have to agree, the Radiance is a fabulous ship!  The itinerary was great and we lucked into incredible weather.  Alaska's an amazing destination, but expensive.  If you can afford it, I'd take a pre-trip to see some of the interior.

[akolasz]

5 minutes ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

We did the Southbound out of Seward on the Radiance at the end of August and I have to agree, the Radiance is a fabulous ship!  The itinerary was great and we lucked into incredible weather.  Alaska's an amazing destination, but expensive.  If you can afford it, I'd take a pre-trip to see some of the interior.

We are doing cruise tour 3B through Royal Caribbean, that is one of the reason why I was trying to change our more expensive balcony to a less expensive one! This will be our first time to Alaska. My husband and I booked this to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary this past August even though we will be going almost 2 years later! By that time we will have been together 18 years, married for 12. We will be traveling without our children who are very lucky and typically travel with us but not this time! They will be 9 and almost 6 at the time so I'm hoping everything goes smoothly with us being gone for 11 nights!

[Ewing]

I've cruised on Radiance a bunch of times but 7614 (E3) was my favourite balcony cabin by far.

 

I later found out it was an accessible room though but I didn't request that and they refused to change me to another one so I just enjoyed it. It was amazing - and having a full size shower made a huge difference!

 

The lifeboats below meant I couldn't see straight down but that didn't really impact me at all.

 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

1 hour ago, akolasz said:

We are doing cruise tour 3B through Royal Caribbean, that is one of the reason why I was trying to change our more expensive balcony to a less expensive one! This will be our first time to Alaska. My husband and I booked this to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary this past August even though we will be going almost 2 years later! By that time we will have been together 18 years, married for 12. We will be traveling without our children who are very lucky and typically travel with us but not this time! They will be 9 and almost 6 at the time so I'm hoping everything goes smoothly with us being gone for 11 nights!

Congratulations!  I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time.  Our cruisetour was 1B and it was really great!

 

I'm sure your kids will be fine!  We took a trip to Scotland when mine were 9 and 13, a bit older, but they had a great time with the grandparents.

[akolasz]

21 minutes ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Congratulations!  I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time.  Our cruisetour was 1B and it was really great!

 

I'm sure your kids will be fine!  We took a trip to Scotland when mine were 9 and 13, a bit older, but they had a great time with the grandparents.

I originally wanted cruisetour 1B but it’s not listed. I’m not sure if they aren’t doing it or it hasn’t been posted yet. SO I booked 3B which is essentially the same but with 1 extra night in Alyeska. 

[Desert Cruizers]

If I have been lucky to grab a Hump cabin I will go for the center or either side but not the corners. 

[R & T]

Anyone have a picture of 9256?  We have it booked for Hawaii.  Thanks

[Jimbo]

41 minutes ago, R & T said:

Anyone have a picture of 9256?  We have it booked for Hawaii.  Thanks

 

[molsonschooner]

7 hours ago, akolasz said:

What are your thoughts on 7536, 7534, 7532 and 7530 as they look like they have slight extended balconies?

We had 7532 on Radiance a few years ago. No issues for us. I don't even recall if life boats were an issue. I know our balcony was bigger than balconies on deck 9 . Our son was right above it and he was complaining about how much smaller their balcony was.We would book it again

[dani negreanu]

22 hours ago, Desert Cruizers said:

If I have been lucky to grab a Hump cabin I will go for the center or either side but not the corners. 

 

8594, 8596 are smack in the center 😀

[Desert Cruizers]

Yes, I am not always lucky to get those cabins on a Radiance Class. I do have on the Freedom, #8344 for the Daughter & I on our b2b a year from our March 11 Hawaii cruise. It isn't quite center but couldn't get the center cabin for both cruises. We would have ended up over on the Port side way forward on the March 8th, 2020 sailing.

[vacationlover_mn]

We were in a room right by the library, just off of the atrium.  It was noisy the first night.  However, after that someone shut the door by the library at night, and we weren’t bothered by the noise 🙂

 

We were here on the front of the hump, portside, with the bigger balcony.  Loved it 🙂. It was nice to look at the scenery and glacier from our balcony 🙂 

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by vacationlover_mn

[Desert Cruizers]

I wouldn't mind the forward hump but afraid that  on the rear hump your vision is obstructed forward. Since I have never had those cabins I honestly couldn't say.