Carnival Miracle - Choosing a Balcony Room

[StarPilot1960]

Man, there are a lot of choices!

 

This will be our first cruise ever. It will be our 18th wedding anniversary as well as our honeymoon - as we never had one yet. What are the differences between all of the Balcony rooms? Are the balconies large enough to sit on and watch the world go by? Is higher or lower better (neither of us suffer from motion sickness)? Bow or stern, port or starboard?

 

9A looks like a good room type? They seem to be tucked behind the elevators. Noise problems there?

 

8I also looks nice with an extended balcony.

 

How do you choose from "Includes stateroom categories: 7A(obstructed view), 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E,8F,8G,8H,8I(extended balcony) and 9A (not pictured) in various configurations."? (http://www.carnival.com/Deck_Plan.aspx?shipCode=MI)

 

Any tips appreciated!

 

Cheers

[cb at sea]

I can't give specific cabin advice, but decide where you will be spending the majority of your time on the ship, and then pick a deck near that! If you plan on being at the pool alot, pick a deck within 2 flights of the pool deck! That way, you won't have to rely on the very slow elevators to go back and forth!

Generally, rooms near elevators and stairs are NOT noisy and are very convenient! Also, midships is a smoother ride!

[figs]

I sailed on the Miracle last year---we were upgraded to an "obstructed view" balcony room on the Upper Deck---which for the floor below us, meant they couldn't see anything. For US, it meant there was a top of a lifeboat sticking up to about knee-level. It wasn't obstructed at ALL, functionally. Cheaper, but I'm not sure how you'd go about ensuring you got the "good" kind of obstructed view.

 

The standard line about seasickness is to stay in the middle of the boat, toward the middle of the decks---ie, the higher/lower the deck and the closer to the back/front, the more the seasick hits. However, my mom has lost her lunch on every boat she's been on, except cruise ships. The stabilizers really do wonders, seasickness isn't so much a worry unless you hit really bad weather. Bring some pills with you, you've got a 95% chance of being perfectly OK.

 

Part of my group on the Miracle had an Aft balcony room---on the diagrams, they're the long ones facing the rear of the boat, ie, running parallel with the boat, not facing either side, overlooking the boat's wake. If seasickness isn't an issue (it's a little more wavy back there, but not bad by any means), I'd definitely recommend it. The balconies are extended with LOTS of space, and looking over the choppy wake at sunset is totally worth it. If I book again, I'm going to try to get one of those rooms.

 

The other standard advice is not to book on Panorama Deck, as it's directly below the Lido (fun, pool/sun/restaurants deck), and you might get some noise issues.

 

Our balcony was definitely large enough to watch the world go by. Two deck chairs and a small table, and you could rest your feet on the glass balcony when sitting (if that helps get a picture of how large it was). They aren't "dining al fresco" big, but to sit and read a book (my fav), they're perfectly cozy.

 

Good luck! The Miracle was a lot of fun.

[Sandi149]

Congratulations on your anniversary!! :)

 

You are going to love the Miracle. My husband and I sailed on her last year and had a wonderful time. We had a balcony cabin on Deck 5, cabin 5204 to be exact, midship right by the atrium elevators. It was a wonderful location. Never heard any noise from the elevators either.

 

The difference with the balconies, is that some are obstructed so those will be less money than the balconies with the full view. The higher the deck will also be a bit more money. Category 8A through 8D are all the same except they are located on different decks. The others are extended balconies and are a little bit larger.

 

Then there are those aft balcony rooms which people absolutely love, especially the wrap arounds but they usually get booked up really fast because there are only a few of them.

 

Whichever cabin you choose, you are going to have a great time.