Aft or Premium Balcony

[Benbrook]

I am looking for opinions on a cruise we have booked for next January on the Miracle. This cruise is a surprise for the wife for our 25th wedding anniversary. While we were booking our Panarama  cruise for May 2021 and I stumbled across this cruise and booked it also.I currently have an Aft extended balcony booked but I can get a Premium balcony for only $15.00 more a day. This is our 9th cruise and have always done balconies. Finally was able to book an aft balcony but the Premium cabin is much bigger with a large balcony. What are your thoughts?

[Mt Lassen]

We've stayed in both cabin types on the Miracle and Pride. The premium balcony room is directly behind an elevator, but that was never an issue. We never heard noise from the elevator or the elevator lobby. The room and balcony are much larger than the aft extended. Don't wait to long to book there are only six premium balcony rooms and I think only three are two person occupancy. Our choice having stayed in both would always be the premium balcony 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Mt Lassen

[Chief93]

I have had both.

 

I did not like the aft balcony.  I am aware that many people prefer them, but I did not.  Because it faces the rear, there is no breeze.  The balcony is longer, but not wider.  You can see where you've been, but can's see where you're going.  One positive is that it is quiet, as there is very little foot traffic in the hallways.  You don't usually get a sunset or sunrise view like you do on the side of the ship.

 

The side facing long balconies are awesome.  You get two loungers instead of just chairs.  The room is a little different set up, but it is ok.  It is the only cabin I book, I have two on the Breeze in October.  Maybe.

[SDPadreFan]

We have cabin 6277 booked on the Miracle for our 15 day Hawaii next April. I definitely like the larger stateroom plus longer balcony. It should be very nice for our 8 sea days. There are video tours on youtube that provide a good look at the staterooms. Do pay close attention if you watch the videos. It seemed to me that on Deck 5 - the Premium Balcony's had a narrower balcony than deck 6 or 7.

 

Mt Lassen is definitely correct that those Premium Balconies go fast.

 

Another cabin type to keep your eye on are the new "Hump Balcony's" on the Carnival Mardi Gras and her future sister ships. We had one booked (cabin 9362) for Mardi Gras 16 day repo from New York to Canaveral before it got canceled due to ship yard delays. On the plus side - we got almost $2000 FCC + $200 cabin credit that we applied to our Hawaii cruise. "Hump Balcony" is an RCCL term for the same type feature on some of her ships. We had one on Mariner of the Seas for a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise in 2007 and loved it.

[crusinpsychRN]

1 hour ago, Chief93 said:

I have had both.

 

I did not like the aft balcony.  I am aware that many people prefer them, but I did not.  Because it faces the rear, there is no breeze.  The balcony is longer, but not wider.  You can see where you've been, but can's see where you're going.  One positive is that it is quiet, as there is very little foot traffic in the hallways.  You don't usually get a sunset or sunrise view like you do on the side of the ship.

 

The side facing long balconies are awesome.  You get two loungers instead of just chairs.  The room is a little different set up, but it is ok.  It is the only cabin I book, I have two on the Breeze in October.  Maybe.

 

My thoughts exactly.  Really didn't like seeing where I had been. Actually caused anxiety for some reason.

[Colorado Cruzer]

I won't book an aft balcony or wrap again.  The miracle vibrated 24/7 back in 2017 so I just can't do it.  We had the aft wrap for that cruise and the steward had to remove all the glassware because it clinked together so much.  The dining room also vibrated the whole cruise on the aft.  I would book anything else besides the aft.

[jperry2011]

On 5/3/2020 at 10:33 AM, Benbrook said:

I am looking for opinions on a cruise we have booked for next January on the Miracle. This cruise is a surprise for the wife for our 25th wedding anniversary. While we were booking our Panarama  cruise for May 2021 and I stumbled across this cruise and booked it also.I currently have an Aft extended balcony booked but I can get a Premium balcony for only $15.00 more a day. This is our 9th cruise and have always done balconies. Finally was able to book an aft balcony but the Premium cabin is much bigger with a large balcony. What are your thoughts?

Go for the premium. I've only done 1 aft balcony on the Pride deck 8 and it was horrible vibration most of the cruise. 

[figdu]

Are both rooms Havana access?  I would not want to give that up.

[Benbrook]

2 hours ago, figdu said:

Are both rooms Havana access?  I would not want to give that up

No Havana area on the Spirt class ships

[IcanSeaclearlynow]

What is a hump balcony?  

[SDPadreFan]

It's a section of the ship that bows out in an arch. Because the passageway (hallway) stays in a straight line and the rooms stay the same size, the hump cabins have two unique features. Cabins in the middle of the hump (arch) have the deepest balcony's while those on the edges of the hump get a view that either looks out (as well as forward) or looks out (and somewhat aft). Carnival Mardi Gras (and her future sister ships) are the only Carnival ships that have this feature to date. If you look at deck plans for the Mardi Gras you will be able to see the "hump" cabins amidships (middle of the ship).

 

The benefit is having a much larger balcony (like the aft balcony's on most ships) but you will also have a breeze, where the aft balcony's generally are considered to be stifling hot at times.

 

I believe RCCL was the first to have hump cabins. We were able to snag one on Mariner of the Seas and it was fantastic.

Edited May 7, 2020 by SDPadreFan

[sparks1093]

We had a premium balcony on Glory that happened to be at the aft end (looked out to the side like a regular balcony). We enjoyed the extra space in the cabin and on the balcony. This was for our 25th anniversary and we splurged a little.