Aft balcony was not for me!

[trock]

We were in 6333 on the Miracle, aft and though it was hot.. to me it was worth it.. it was amazing..

There is a bit of an overhang that gives you about 3 feet deep of shade..

 

I threw some towels on the chairs and on the floor and wallowed in the glorious view!

 

 

This is us waving to our friends below.. the aft on the Miracle is graduated..

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last photo you can almost see where the shade ends...

[Megnolia]

I have only read good things about the afts, so I've been wondering if I made the wrong choice when I turned one down. The things you mentioned were all the things I thought of when I decided against it. I'm glad to know I'm not nuts!

 

I also don't think I could handle seeing the wake all the time. I love to be able to watch the water moving past the ship and see the flying fish alongside. I also think I would feel very disoriented if I could not see where we were going.

 

Now I also turned down the L-shaped cabin with extra long balcony. Now that I know there's a double window, I would have liked to take that - my PVP told me there was only a normal window, but I think she's wrong. So instead we booked the most forward cabin on deck 8, right at the bridge, which we really enjoy. I'm sure some people would hate it, so the perfect cabin is all in the eye of the beholder!

[cruisetobeaches]

We had an aft balcony on the Miracle two years ago. No problem with litter or garbage. we cruise in winter, so the sun is welcome since we are from the midwest! the view was fantastic. Noise did not bother us and neither of us are affected by motion sickness. Actually like being rocked to sleep. The downside was the diesel soot that accumulated on the rail and chairs everyday. Our room steward was very good at keeping everything clean out there on a daily basis after we told him about it. The lack of privacy wasn't a big deal to us since dw won't "fool around" on the balcony anyway.......................But, I'm still working on her..............;)

[Woodfaerie]

float'n fanatics- I am from Vernon, so we are neighbors!

[tandemcruzr]

We had an aft on the Miracle, deck 8 last January. Soot, no or little shade, and no breeze while moving. Didn't get trash since not a lot of people hung out at the railing above us on Lido deck.

 

We got 7258 on our upcoming Legend cruise. :D

[NCTribeFan]

I'm sure seeing that wrap next to me will make me very envious, but I simply cannot afford it. It's a stretch to book the 8C! And I don't even want to think about what airfare may be like in another 15 months. :(

 

I may just stick with 5297. Deck 4 has more of an overhang, but it looks like Deck 5 has more than those above. PVP is on vacation, but I've sent him an email to see if a Deck 4 is available.

 

Thanks for the pics. I do believe I can tolerate it back there.

 

Trying to convince one of our Miracle 2007 Roll Call members to book the wrap next to me so we can open the divider and I can use their wrap. ;)

[terri910]

Here's and 'empty' Deck 4 shot with island background.

 

I notice that in addition to the couple of deck chairs and a small table, there is a chaise lounge deck chair on this extended wrap-around balcony. Are these automatically there, or do you have to request one be brought there? Or....do you have to try and sneak one down to your balcony by hiding it under your towel? *LOL*

[MrPete]

Ours were already there. In fact, we had a stack of them. I eventually moved them around the corner. We only needed three.

[CRIRUN]

On my upcoming cruise I have an aft balcony, my friends have the aft wrap, and there is one aft balcony of strangers in between us. I have to assume those people won't be strangers anymore after the first five minutes! ;)

[terri910]

Ours were already there. In fact, we had a stack of them. I eventually moved them around the corner. We only needed three.

Excellent....!!

 

It's a ways off, but we are booked in an aft wrap on the Spirit in Dec. 09....really looking forward to it!

[nvhcpc]

So when you are talking about an extended is that like cabin 6450 on the Freedom? Did you feel much motion and how about noise?

 

Thanks!

[G'ma]

Yes, they're not for everyone. Thank you, thank you, thank you for freeing future ones up for us s

 

You are, indeed, welcome.

 

I am a solo cruiser but must have a balcony. As you can imagine, cruising single is an expensive situation for me anyway. I couldn't really justify paying the difference for an aft. I was tempted a couple of times but didn't.

 

Guess that's why they make chocolate AND vanilla ice cream!! HA!!:p

[PeggySand]

I have enjoyed reading this thread very much. We have cabin #4237 on the Spirit for our upcoming 10th anniversary Hawaiin cruise 10/06/08. It is the aft wrap-around on, I believe, the starboard side. We have never booked a suite before, and when our pvp told me this cabin was available, I jumped on it (hehehe, even before consulting with hubby!) The cruise is a 12-nighter, so I know we will get much use from that huge balcony. I am very glad there is a large overhang because too much sun is not good for me, either. My only concern is how much soot we will have, but still looking forward to the experience with much anticipation. I am happy to see the deck loungers in the pictures that have been posted. I was afraid we would have to "sneak" some up ourselves!! Does anyone know if the sound of the wake is still very loud even with the doors shut? Since we have had some problems with neighbors that smoke on previous cruises, I believe that should not be a problem at the aft of the ship. Anyway, thanks for this fun thread everyone!

 

PeggyS

[LHP]

Thanks for the info.

 

I would have never thought about the sun and heat!!

 

(Not that Mr Tightwad would spring for a balcony ~other than Alaska~anyway!)

[terri910]

Peggy S.....hubby and I will be disembarking while you're waiting to board the Spirit!

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise -- I know we're planning to! :)

[marci4tony]

Cruising the river vs Cruising the caribbean?

 

My druthers...

 

My idea of the Snake River is in a rubber raft with a bunch of friends in MAY!! Outside of JACKSON HOLE!! White-water, baby!! White-water!! And then there's the fishing...

 

I love the ocean, the surf, the ecology, the beaches - So, from this redneck in Idaho - I'm still LANDLOCKED!!

[kcslim]

I am REALLY enjoying this thread! We have booked an aft cabin on the Spirit, departing SD on 10/27. Our friends are in the wrap right beside us.. and we are going to RUN and try and have the divider taken down.

 

Mr. Pete.. the photos you posted... I understand the wrap balcony, but did you by any chance have the divider taken down? Was the second photo.. the full view of both balconies?

 

We are on Deck 6, so I know that the cover will be minimal.. thank you for the info on how hot the deck/rail might be. I've read BOTH comments of soot/no soot, trash/no trash.. so I guess it's the luck of the draw. But, I do know that the cabin stewards do such a great job, should not be a problem for long.

 

I'm so anxious to do this... I certainly will post back and let you know if aft was for me or not, as well.

 

Great review, without bashing the afts!

 

Karen

[madaamt]

I have an aft wrap on the Miracle booked for next year. I got cabin 4237 can't wait this will be our 1st suite..

[MrPete]

Mr. Pete.. the photos you posted... I understand the wrap balcony, but did you by any chance have the divider taken down? Was the second photo.. the full view of both balconies?

 

I've lost track, but here's a pic when the divider is swung open, toward the camera, being held against the wall by the lounger. But the floorspace of the cat 8C is blocked by the lounger as well

 

click to enlarge

[kcslim]

Thank you so much! obviously, we'll be able to keep the door open.. but if we get there early enough, we may be able to take the whole divider down.. great photos!

 

Karen

[scperk]

Thanks for the info.

 

I would have never thought about the sun and heat!!

 

(Not that Mr Tightwad would spring for a balcony ~other than Alaska~anyway!)

We've decided we could go on 3 cruise for what 2 balcony cruises would cost us...we've had balcony and we are never in the room..I use it for a drink while DW is getting dressed for dinner, and have only had 2 balcony cruises...Dennis

[7toEleven]

Peggy S.....hubby and I will be disembarking while you're waiting to board the Spirit!

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise -- I know we're planning to! :)

 

 

We will be waiting to embark while you are disembarking!!

 

We were in Europe almost at the same time last year too. Maybe some day we will meet on the seas!

[REDZONE]

Our last several cruises have been on aft too. We loved the aft wrap 8268 Spirit. Not much privacy, but what a view. Dec we have 4237 on Miracle, we can't wait.

[booboo4031]

We book an aft balcony whenever possible and we love it. We've never had a problem with debris. We do wipe the chairs in the morning in case there's a little soot on the chairs from the overnight sea mist but it's never been a big problem. We have an aft balcony on the new Carnival Splendor next May and I can't wait! We're right around the corner from aft for Alaska in a few days.

Diane

[bakechef]

We were also on the legend last week!

 

We had our first balcony(not aft), and I doubt we will spring for one again. It was a very hot and steamy week and we just didn't use the balcony very much. The other problem was that even with the curtains closed, when the sun came up it often heated up the room a little bit, the bed closest to the door was affected the most, my partner woke up sweating every morning, even with the A/C maxed.

 

Now if we were going on a cruise to Alaska or the baltics, I may spring for one again. I guess it will be OV or insides for us!

 

MAC