Has anyone stayed in one of the aft facing uncovered large balcony cabins on a Royal class ship?

[korky1]

We have been lucky enough to have been given a free upgrade from a guaranteed standard balcony cabin to premium deluxe cabin R735 on our upcoming cruise on 24th February on Majestic Princess. Very excited and grateful as never had an aft facing cabin before.  Our only concern is that it is totally uncovered so wondering if it gets any shade at all? It will get really hot on our cruise so hoping we will still be able to enjoy this nice big balcony without getting sunstroke LOL.  Any experience or tips for us would be greatly appreciated. 

[Wishing on a star]

I have not been in one of those.

Are any other premium balconies showing available?

If so, you can make a switch.  Has to be the exact same Category.

 

[DCThunder]

I did a transatlantic in one of these cabins on Enchanted.  The biggest drawback to the balcony isn't a lack of shade, but the accumulation of soot from the ships exhaust.  Little black "pebbles" of burned fuel accumulated on the deck of the balcony and would stain the bottom of feet or shoes.  I had to put a bathmat on the floor inside the cabin to wipe my feet on.

 

Also, as it was this was a TA cruise in April, the weather wasn't all that conducive to balcony sitting so I didn't pay too much attention to the amount of shade.  It was possible to get out of the sun, but you ended up close to the sliding door into the cabin.

[GranJean]

We just finished a Mexico cruise on the Royal with an aft facing cabin on the Dolphin Deck. There was very little overhang shade on the balcony. However the dividers between the balconies did provide some shade.  The balcony was very large.  There was instances of exhaust odor but not overpowering.  
We generally book aft facing cabins and will continue to do so however we will not sail on Royal class ships again for numerous reasons. Bigger is not necessarily better. 

[eclue]

Love the aft rear balconies but on the royal and regal, the soot is a real issue. It gets everywhere..not sure the soot issue is worth the great view of the wake.

[korky1]

Thanks for the feedback.  As Majestic is the same design as the others  you mention I'm guessing we will get some soot too,  fingers crossed not enough to spoil our enjoyment of a nice big balcony.   

[nini]

I looked at photos of the Majestic and it looks like the Riviera deck aft is not covered. However, the balcony is a nice size, unlike the others. Aft is our favorite place to be. Soot has NEVER been an issue!!!

[korky1]

I will post here what are experience of R735 is like after our cruise.  Hopefully it will be a positive one.  Thanks everyone for your input.