Aft balcony vs. mid ship balcony

[thegotogirl]

I also posted this on a "cabin selection tip" thread, but know that everyone doesn't check all boards, and would like to read as many opinions as possible.

 

We are planning to cruise with RCCL on the Voyager next summer. We have been on both the Explorer and the Adventurer, so we're familiar with the ship. We have the opportunity to have a corner aft balcony for the same cost as a midship balcony cabin. Opinions wanted on the advantages and disadvantages of the aft balcony (we have always had a mid-ship balcony). Thanks in advance.

[Teetype]

I also posted this on a "cabin selection tip" thread, but know that everyone doesn't check all boards, and would like to read as many opinions as possible.

 

We are planning to cruise with RCCL on the Voyager next summer. We have been on both the Explorer and the Adventurer, so we're familiar with the ship. We have the opportunity to have a corner aft balcony for the same cost as a midship balcony cabin. Opinions wanted on the advantages and disadvantages of the aft balcony (we have always had a mid-ship balcony). Thanks in advance.

 

If you haven't booked it it will probably be gone by the time you read this. I usually go mid ship too, but when my corner aft was open on Princess, I grabbed it. I've never cruised RCCL but if I did I would go for the corner aft.

 

Advantages should be pretty obvious. Disadvantages a little more subtle. The wake cabins do have the wake "noise" -- I happen to love it. There's also a little vibration in aft cabins not felt in others and a little more motion.

 

It's really a personal thing -- if you want dead silence and as little motion as possible, go for midship.

 

Tee

[CWcruisers]

Tea has it exactly right. I've done aft wraps on Carnival and the other thing is there is not a full roof. You will have to look at the deck plan for your ship to determine what you have.

 

They are awesome cabins and it is a different experience. If the opportunity still is there, book it. Then book something different the next time if you are not fond of it.

[silentbob007]

It would probably be great to try. One thing I did not like about my standard aft balcony is that it seemed to get hotter and have much more direct sunlight than the side balconies I've had. It got so hot, in fact, that I could not go out on it in bare feet during the day.

[tomko2]

We are totally hooked on afts (see photos in the link below). On the Voyager and Freedom class you want to check out the door situation on the corner afts. Some of the higher deck corner afts do not have sliding doors rather there is a single door which may reduce the amount of light in the cabin. We have not had experience with corner afts other than on the Radiance class and they are wonderful. Have booked a corner aft on the Liberty for Jan 2010 so we can try it out.

Aft is awesome!

Kathy:)

[gin_runner]

we would take aft any time. We've taken both and you can't beat aft

 

1. Aft are almost always bigger. We've had aft on the RCI Enchantment 3x and they are wonderfully large balconies. We also had in on the Navigator - not as large, but a lot of room.

2. protection from the wind. When the ship is underway, you don't get the wind sitting aft. On the side, you will often times get so much wind you don't want to be out there.

 

 

I'd take aft any time. Unfortunately, they are almost always more expensive.

[FUN33]

There is no single answer to this question. It depends on the specific ship.

 

If you are on a Royal Caribbean Vision class, don't ever book an aft cabin on deck 6. It is directly above the crews breakroom. They party 24 hours a day and the noise coming up from their outside recreation area will keep you awake for the whole trip.

 

Another problem with almost all aft cabins is that you get soot from the ship on your balcony almost every day.

 

The view aft is wonderful and the balconies are almost always a little larger; however you will get the MAXIMUM motion of the ship in any aft cabin. The closer you are to the middle of the ship and the lower you are on the deck plan the less motion will be in your cabin.

 

We have had almost every location available on ships and after 35 years of cruising, we always get a mid ship balcony, usually on deck 6-10.

[karen sharpe]

I have to agree with Fun33. I am not a big fan of an aft cabin especially on a longer cruise. The views are spectacular and it is at first fascinating coming in and out of port with a full vista but after a while the chugging of the engines especially on docking, the vibrations with the reverse motors and fumes tends to get on your nerves.

[sail7seas]

Simply personal preference and no one is wrong.

 

We had always been mid-ship with our veranda facing on the side, of course,

 

Once we booked an aft Suite and hated the location. We didn't like looking at the wake they way some people are enthralled with it. We really didn't like the feel of the thrusters and the jolt we got every morning when they lowered the anchor chain. The noise and vibration was extreme.

 

Never booked a stern cabin again.

[Dewana49]

We have an aft junior suite booked on the Voyager of the Seas next year. This is a first for this type of cabin.

 

There will be 3 of us and the extra room in the suite will be nice. We are on deck 10 so hopefully we won't feel too much of the thursters. We all love watching the wake. We are looking forward to this new adventure.

 

Togogirl, I'm on the cruise you and your friends are checking into (6-14-09 our of Barcelona).

 

Dewana