Tell me all about your aft balcony experiences!!

[swmichigan cruiser]

I really enjoy the aft facing balconies when I can get a price to justify it. I do have two of them booked a 21 night on the Bliss through the Panama Canal April 2020 and a 13 night cruise on the Breakaway November 2020. As others have said the view is amazing and typically very quiet.

[WAHMto5]

Loved our aft balcony on the Bliss!  Never had any issues. 

[ejnsb]

23 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I think that you were on deck 9....unless you stayed on the Waterfront. 

 

 

Yes 9 of course.

[mismal]

you will never go back to a port view or an inside cabin, extra space even on a regular balcony room is great.  We kick those ready for dinner to the balcony so the rest of the family can get ready.  The best for early morning reading when the rest of the peeps are snoozing since they were out late.  Your room service coffee in your PJ's, a book and the sea, no better way to start your day!

[Xmas515]

On 8/30/2019 at 10:37 AM, FBegg said:

Aft facing balcony on a 15 day Panama Canal cruise, FABULOUS! The best part was not "having" to fight the crowds up on deck to see the locks. Can't imagine doing that particular trip any other way.

 

You will love it, enjoy your cruise. 

 

Excited to read this. We were originally booked on a 9th deck balcony, moved to the 10th and upgraded to aft balcony 10th deck on the Pearl for our partial-transit Panama cruise.  

[Rtuaca]

My wife and I are going to be in an Aft Penthouse cabin on the Pearl on deck #9. It's a first for us. Are the large aft balcony's large also or is that just on the newer ships?

I can't find any pictures of the Pearl aft Penthouse balcony's.

 

 

[luckyinpa]

any pics of the sofa bed open

[coin ops]

Another advantage of the Aft  balcony is the lack of wind.  You can comfortably sit and relax on the balcony at full sailing speed without getting battered by wind.

 

For those Alaska cruisers, the aft balcony makes a great  and private 180+degree Glacier viewing area with any crowds.

 

"Once you go AFT, you'll never go FORWARD again!"   

[fandangocruiser]

On 8/29/2019 at 11:00 AM, Cardex said:

Loved our aft cabin on the Gem! Can't beat that view!! 

 

  

Cardex.. What floor?  We have always loved the aft rooms, but get the higher floors after a bad experience with lounge noise on the Sun 10 years ago and are now paranoid..  We're going on the GEM next week, and only penthouses available are on deck 8.  

Edited September 2, 2019 by fandangocruiser

[SeahawkSiren]

We've had two amazing aft balcony experiences, one on the Sun (aft mini suite) and the other on the Bliss (aft balcony).

 

Here are a couple photos from our aft mini suite on the Sun going through the Panama Canal back in 2016 (we were in cabin 9278).  Such an incredible, unforgettable experience!  While we did move around the ship for different vantage points, nothing beat our own private view from the aft.

 

 

 

And here a some shots from our aft balcony on the Bliss last year for an Alaska cruise.  We were in cabin 12910.

 

 

 

 

 

We did have some soot on our balcony during both cruises but certainly not enough to stop us from booking the aft again.  It was a very minor issue to us.  Staying on the aft, the pros far outweigh any cons IMO.

 

I think you will love the aft balcony experience!  In fact, you may have the same problem we did after being on the aft, going back to side balconies!  😉  Enjoy!

 

 

[biker@sea]

We Experienced a category BD aft on NCL Sun before NCL read these board’s.

 

.

[bonvoyagie]

On 8/30/2019 at 7:37 AM, FBegg said:

Aft facing balcony on a 15 day Panama Canal cruise, FABULOUS! The best part was not "having" to fight the crowds up on deck to see the locks. Can't imagine doing that particular trip any other way.

 

You will love it, enjoy your cruise. 

 

We have an aft suite on deck 10 Gem for our 21 day Panama Canal cruise - started cruising in an aft suite on the Sky love it so much that we have tried to get one every time - however we had to do balconies most of the time - last aft was on the Pearl in 2012.

[Cardex]

18 hours ago, fandangocruiser said:

Cardex.. What floor?  We have always loved the aft rooms, but get the higher floors after a bad experience with lounge noise on the Sun 10 years ago and are now paranoid..  We're going on the GEM next week, and only penthouses available are on deck 8.  

 

10th floor, cabin 10168

[danak13]

On 8/30/2019 at 10:28 AM, Warm Breezes said:

Deck 9 Aft Balcony on the Getaway.  Absolutely loved it....

Thanks for these pictures! Since I'm on deck 9 on the Breakaway, I assume mine will be identical to these.  Could I ask what specific cabin yours was?  Also, my only concern is that some people say they could hear noise from Spice H2O parties in the evenings; was that an issue for you?? Thank you! 

[Warm Breezes]

2 minutes ago, danak13 said:

Thanks for these pictures! Since I'm on deck 9 on the Breakaway, I assume mine will be identical to these.  Could I ask what specific cabin yours was?  Also, my only concern is that some people say they could hear noise from Spice H2O parties in the evenings; was that an issue for you?? Thank you! 

We were in room 9918.  We were up with the parties on  a couple of nights so no issue then 😊... but seriously we had no noise issue.  I think you have to be up a few floors to have issues with Spice H20 noise.  I would have thought since we were one floor above the part of the Waterfront that goes across the back we might get noise from there but there wasn't.  There is also a lot of privacy.  You have to be right against the railing looking up to see the decks above and the Waterfront is covered right below you so people aren't looking up at you.

[danak13]

7 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

We were in room 9918.  We were up with the parties on  a couple of nights so no issue then 😊... but seriously we had no noise issue.  I think you have to be up a few floors to have issues with Spice H20 noise.  I would have thought since we were one floor above the part of the Waterfront that goes across the back we might get noise from there but there wasn't.  There is also a lot of privacy.  You have to be right against the railing looking up to see the decks above and the Waterfront is covered right below you so people aren't looking up at you.

Thanks for all the info-that's what I was hoping to hear 🙂

[kaylasnana]

Just got off the Bliss this past Sunday. We had cabin 9923 and loved it as usual. Third or fourth time in an AFT.  We did have a little soot but I just wiped it down and all was fine. First time in an AFT where we had any soot and it wouldn’t stop me from booking again. 

[FunSunSea]

When prices went down we had a complimentary upgrade to the Aft for our Caribbean cruise on the Breakaway in May - Deck 10. Loved, loved Loved it! I do get seasick so was worried about not being mid-ship, however it actually HELPED. No seasick, no soot, loved the engine tremble and especially when pulling into port as it was our 'get ready' trigger - especially loved being able to see 180 degrees when pulling in and out of ports. Going to Alaska end of the month on the Jewel but prices didn't make sense for an aft so I know we will be missing the larger balcony. It was a huge treat for us and I am sure you will enjoy it too. 

[abbiep]

On 9/1/2019 at 5:57 PM, luckyinpa said:

any pics of the sofa bed open

We had an aft cabin on the Jewel.  The balcony was  awesome but when the sofa bed was opened up it was very hard to use the balcony. I cant find any pictures.

[bonvoyagie]

Here is a photo of an aft suite on deck 10 on the Pearl -  it was taken in 2012 and the sofa was brand new. The bed comes out in front of the sofa so yes it - along with the chair, coffee table, as well as the main table and chairs do make it hard to get to the balcony. IMHO these suites are best for only 2 people and even then there is too much furniture. We really loved the SC two bedroom suite where we actually had some room for the three of us to spread out. Our next cruise will be in a similar suite on the Gem - but it will be just the two of us.

[BigRedFan]

On 8/29/2019 at 12:21 PM, danak13 said:

I upgraded our cabin for our Nov/Dec sailing to an aft balcony, deck 9 on the Breakaway a few weeks ago.  I am surprising my SO with the upgrade so I can't talk to him about it but I am so excited to experience it that I need some discussion about it! Tell me your experiences (good and bad)! Is it as awesome as it sounds??? 

We just returned from NCL Bliss"s Alaska sailing and we had an aft cabin.  It was lovely, lots of room, 2 chairs a small table and a lounge chair.

[Sweetnspicy]

My husband and I will be staying in an aft balcony room for the first time in January on the Epic and I am so excited! I didn’t even think about a lounge chair being able to fit. I foresee some long naps out there! 

[Warm Breezes]

I just wanted to add on our Getaway 9th floor Aft we had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a little table.  I’m not sure all that came across in my pictures.

Edited September 6, 2019 by Warm Breezes

[danak13]

14 hours ago, Warm Breezes said:

I just wanted to add on our Getaway 9th floor Aft we had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a little table.  I’m not sure all that came across in my pictures.

Thank you for the info! We are going to spend so much time out there! 

[Smileonboard]

We stayed in an aft facing on the getaway deck 9 - loved it! You will love the peace and view ! Enjoy !