Balcony Rooms of the back of the Ship - Are they Rough Sailing?

[cruzin4us]

Hi,

I'm contimplating getting a room of the back of the ship because they appear to have slightly larger balconies. Is this true?

We are heading to South America around the Horn and I heard sailing can be rough at times. :eek:

Do any of you have any pros/cons about these rooms? We are sailing on the Infinity.

Please give me your input.

Thanks!

Laurie

[ISABELLA]

We never had back of the ship balcony, but our friends did and they did not complain about being rough. but it was noisy. This was on Infinity to Hawaii.

[mahdnc]

Yes, the aft balconies are coveted for their large space and view. We had an aft balcony aboard Infinity and it was terrific (we have booked another aft cabin aboard Constellation for later this year). The ride was not noticeably worse back there. We were in the Carib then, I cannot comment about how bad the seas will be sailing around South America.

[cruzin4us]

I was worried about the noise too.....hmmm

Quandry....bigger balcony or noise????

[Karynanne]

We've had Aft balcony cabins, and will again in 3 weeks on the Constellation...We were on Deck 7 (Vista), and found the balcony fantastic, and virtually no noise at all. As far as motion...it just depends on where you sail. If you're prone to seasickness, then a mid-ship cabin may be better for you. I take Bonine if seas are rough. The Aft cabins can feel the motion a bit more than mid-ship.

 

Karyn

[amyr]

We had an aft balcony on Millie on her most recent transatlantic. For a CC cabin, these are some of the best. The balcony is so large you could waltz on it, and having two lounge chairs in addition to two chairs and a big table is fantastic.

 

There are a few drawbacks. We had pretty rough seas, but I'm not sure it was worse in the aft than anywhere else. I actually enjoy rocking and rolling, so it was fine, but it was rough for days. The beds face port to starboard, so with the rolling it was feet up/head up. I'd rather roll side to side. Also, the starboard engine shuddered terribly, and the bed shook like we'd put a quarter in it for five days. In addition, with the shudders came a creaking in the metal ceiling panels that improved only slightly when we stuffed napkins in the creases. It was noisy even over earplugs. This was on Millennium, and we were hearing rumours that the starboard engine was having problems, so this may well have been a one time occurance.

 

I would absolutely book that cabin again in the Panama Canal, Caribbean, or Alaska, but might think twice about another transatlantic back there. JMO, of course:)

[msiowa]

We had a deck 7 aft on Summit this past summer and it was quiet and smooth sailing all the way. And the balcony was huge! Perfect for wrapping up in warm blankets (from the pool deck) on a lounge chair and watching the beautiful scenery float by.

 

Happy sailing.

Joanie

[DRnTR]

We were on the Century last week and had an aft cabin on deck 10. There was some vibration but it did not bother us, and my wife is prone to getting sea sick.

As far as rocking motion we felt no more in the aft than we did in midship or forward and there was considerable side to side rocking. In the pool we saw the water rise then lower as much as a foot as the ship rocked from side to side.

[mahdnc]

We were on the Century last week and had an aft cabin on deck 10. There was some vibration but it did not bother us, and my wife is prone to getting sea sick.

 

We also had an aft cabin on Century and Mercury. The vibration/noise from the ship's propulsion is alot less on Infinity. For us there was very little noise in our Infinity aft cabin period.

[lynn247]

I think it depends on the sea. We sailed last minute on Zenith. NYC to Bermuda. Only cabin left was Florida deck, as far forward as you can get. Seas were very rough, I thought the crashing waves were telephone poles hitting the side of the ship. (What did I know!! :confused: It was my first cruise. That's what it sounded like to me!!:o ) Once we passed bad weather, everything was fine. I also sailed Florida deck mid-forward, smooth seas, no problem. Sailed Carnival Legend corner aft panorama deck, smooth seas, wonderful, Loved It the most, also another aft cabin also Legend, again smooth seas, no problem. Enjoyed all my cruises, even the rough one, they are what you make of it.

[davis0056]

We've had aft cabins on all of the M class ships, ususally on deck nine. We've sailed in aft cabins from Hawaii to Mexico, thru the Panama Canal from San Diego to Florida, the transatlantic from Dover to New York, round trip from/to New York for New England, the Eastern Caribbean, and we're scheduled for the Mexican Rivera at the end of the month and back to New England this fall and planning Alaska next year. These are just our cruises that are in aft cabins. I don't think I need to tell you how much we enjoy them. We've been known to change cruise dates just to get an aft cabin. They aren't rougher or noisier than other cabins. But don't tell anyone how great they are, its already hard enough to book one.

We also suggest you do a search for 'aft cabins'. There's lots of threads on the subject.

 

Dave and Elaine

[Druke I]

Gross generalization of course, but aft cabins usually ride smoother than forward cabins -but sometimes have more vibration due to placement of propellor shafts, etc.

 

Reference Cape Horn - it isn't always rough. We went around the Horn 3-15-06 on Regal Princess, and it was quite smooth until we got farther North along the Chilean coast, where we did have a bumpy ride for about 36 or so hours.

 

The trip 'round the Horn is great - enjoy!

[cruzin4us]

Well, I've taken all your advice, and we upgraded to the CC cabin. It made our decision easier when I found out we could get a cabin on the aft of the ship on the 9th deck. Somebody most have canceled because all the other cabins were booked on the aft.

[lisiamc]

We had a small, unexpected drawback with our aft balcony. We were beside the two FV cabins on the port side, and the corridor outside our cabin became a hangout for gaggles of teens and 'tweens sometimes.

 

One of our neighbors had room service every day and put the tray outside our door, for reasons which escape me (I guess they thought it looked trashy outside their own door!:confused: ), and the kids usually ended up knocking the remnants of food out of the plates and grinding them into the carpet near our door.

 

A couple of times when it got loud and crowded out there, I opened up the door and stared at them for a while - didn't say anything, just gave them a fishy stare. It worked: they went elsewhere (probably muttering about that mean old bag, but hey, they left!).

 

I don't think this is normally a problem for aft cabins, probably just luck of the draw that the "popular" kids had the cabins next to us.

 

Lisa

[cavkc]

Bear in mind the Penthouse Suites on the Millennium class ships are at the aft - if it made a great deal of difference you would have thought they wouldn't put the 'best' cabins there.