Our opinion of the aft balcony

OK, we just got back from the Miracle last Thursday (the 11/05/08 cruise). We stayed in aft balcony cabin 6333 on the Empress deck (not the wrap - just extended). Since so many inquire about the aft balcony, I thought I'd give the opinion shared by me and my husband. This was our sixth Carnival cruise, third balcony and first in the aft.

As always, we loved our balcony but in the end we decided that we prefer a balcony on the side. Here's the pros and cons -

1 - We enjoyed the view of the wake, but with the aft balcony we couldn't look straight down to the water because the rear of the ship is sloped. I like standing at the railing looking down into the water, so for me this was a problem.

2 - You could get some sun on the aft balcony, which on one hand is nice but it does cause it to be rather hot back there. Plus, when it rains my husband likes to sit on the balcony during the storm and he couldn't do this with an aft balcony because there's only a couple of feet of overhang.

3 - If you stand at the railing of the balcony you get a little bit of breeze, but not much. We missed the breezes coming from the ocean.

4 - If you have smokers on the balconies under you, the smoke will drift up. There was a cigar smoker on the deck below us and that nasty stench drifted up every time he was out there. He smoked a cigar out there at least once a day too and always at sailaway. It really put a damper on using the balcony for us. I wish people had more consideration for others.

5 - Being able to see a panoramic view was nice, but you also don't get to see much of the port when you arrive. My husband pointed out that this was a peeve of his.

6 - There was more motion back there, but it didn't bother us. We're not prone to motion sickness.

7 - Because the back of the ship is slanted, you do lose part of the extended balcony because of the slant. Not a big deal for us, but just thought I'd point it out.

Overall we loved the balcony of course, but next time we'll just book one on the side.

I didn't like aft myself. I don't want to see where I've been but rather where we're going.

I agree but disagree. Isn't that the way it usually happens. We've had 3 aft balcony and will stick with them. Never a side one or a forward one for us.

Having a side balcony makes me feel like I have blinders on. The only thing you can see is up, down and straight out. I love the panoramic view of the aft balconies. We love seeing the ports when we leave. And since we are rarely awake when we arrive, this is not an issue for us. We prefer the leaving view versus the coming in view.

I agree with your husband about the raining. I love to sit out on the balcony when it's raining. it simply reminds me how small we are in this big world when you're watching the rain hit the big blue ocean. But I love to do that at home too. Sitting on the porch while it rains.

I love the heat so the hotter the better for me. If the pools are too crowded, I just layout on our balcony. There is peace and quiet and no kids running around everywhere.

I understand the smoking thing. And I detest cigar smoke so I'm with you on that one but I have to honestly say that has never been a factor for us. Knock on wood.

We personally feel there is less movement on the back of the ship than anywhere else. Maybe we've just been lucky. My DH has severe motion sickness and he wears the acupucture wrist bands the entire trip (they are a godsend and work miracles - we would never be able to cruise without them). If he felt more motion back there, we would have to get a cabin elsewhere.

So there's my opinion. It's great to hear different views. I'm glad you still enjoyed the balcony though.;)

Well, I booked Miracle 12/09 extra early so I could lock in an aft (5297) while they were still a Cat 8C. The only balcony I've had was on Miracle last December (7192, extended portside; wouldn't pay for that again as I also like the unblocked view straight down into the water).

It was recategorized to an 8I just after I booked. Then I moved down to 4230 after reading some threads about it being so sunny.

Now, with the current sale code, I got $200 pp price reduction, so am paying the 8A price, which makes me very happy.

I do realize that I may not get as much sun as I want being on Deck 4, but with 4 sea days, I can drag my butt up to one of the other decks. Plus, if it rains, I can use the balcony. And if it's sunny, we'll get some shade. Deck 4 should also give a better view of the water and has more useable space since it doesn't have the slant.

Hopefully, adding Ginger to Bonine has cured me of my motion sickness (used it for Miracle and Glory and had no problems; we'll see how it works on a smaller ship in a couple of weeks).

Do you have any pics of the cabin? I've found a ton of the wrap balcony cabins but very few of the "plain" aft. Thanks for posting.

Aft balconies are terrible. No one should ever even think about getting one. You would have to be an idiot to even think about it.

(leaves them all for me)

I agree but disagree. Isn't that the way it usually happens. We've had 3 aft balcony and will stick with them. Never a side one or a forward one for us.

 

Having a side balcony makes me feel like I have blinders on. The only thing you can see is up, down and straight out. I love the panoramic view of the aft balconies. We love seeing the ports when we leave. And since we are rarely awake when we arrive, this is not an issue for us. We prefer the leaving view versus the coming in view.

 

I agree with your husband about the raining. I love to sit out on the balcony when it's raining. it simply reminds me how small we are in this big world when you're watching the rain hit the big blue ocean. But I love to do that at home too. Sitting on the porch while it rains.

 

I love the heat so the hotter the better for me. If the pools are too crowded, I just layout on our balcony. There is peace and quiet and no kids running around everywhere.

 

I understand the smoking thing. And I detest cigar smoke so I'm with you on that one but I have to honestly say that has never been a factor for us. Knock on wood.

 

We personally feel there is less movement on the back of the ship than anywhere else. Maybe we've just been lucky. My DH has severe motion sickness and he wears the acupucture wrist bands the entire trip (they are a godsend and work miracles - we would never be able to cruise without them). If he felt more motion back there, we would have to get a cabin elsewhere.

 

So there's my opinion. It's great to hear different views. I'm glad you still enjoyed the balcony though.;)

Every thing you said is my opinion as well, even down to my DH having severe motion sickness.

We love an aft, have one booked for our up coming Freedom Cruise in Feb. `09.

However if the op prefers a side balcony, that is fine too.

That is why we pay our hard earned money to Cruise so we can all be happy.;)

Aft balconies are terrible. No one should ever even think about getting one. You would have to be an idiot to even think about it.

 

(leaves them all for me)

Couldn't have said it better myself :D :p ;) !!!

Cheryl

Not all ships have the same aft balconies...that's the problem. Our aft on our Celebrity Infinity cruise was HUGE yet I've seen pics of other people's aft balconies and the balcony wasn't much bigger than any other on the ship.

Having a side balcony makes me feel like I have blinders on. The only thing you can see is up, down and straight out. I love the panoramic view of the aft balconies.

I don't understand this statement...:confused:... in addition to up (but not much up because we always book a high deck), down (love, love, love looking at the ocean straight down!) & straight ahead at the horizon, I also can see very much forward and very much aft on the ship. All one needs to do is stand at the balcony rail and look left or right!

Aft balconies are terrible. No one should ever even think about getting one. You would have to be an idiot to even think about it.

 

(leaves them all for me)

My feelings exactly! :D

We had an aft balcony on the Conquest. My in-laws were in the cabin next to us and we thought we would open the partition and have a really big balcony. Well we got the one that had a bulkhead between the balconies, plus our cabin was smaller, didn't have a sofa, and when we wanted to watch TV we had to sit on the side of the bed. I was not happy, I like having somewhere besides the bed to sit.

I did like watching the water behind the ship. I could not see the sunrise or sunsets, couldn't see much when we were in port. I would not book another aft balcony. Now if it was the only balcony available I would take it, but I wouldn't choose it.

Compared to the balcony we had on the NCL Spirit, Carnival's balconies are spacious.

Well, I booked Miracle 12/09 extra early so I could lock in an aft (5297) while they were still a Cat 8C. The only balcony I've had was on Miracle last December (7192, extended portside; wouldn't pay for that again as I also like the unblocked view straight down into the water).

 

It was recategorized to an 8I just after I booked. Then I moved down to 4230 after reading some threads about it being so sunny.

 

Now, with the current sale code, I got $200 pp price reduction, so am paying the 8A price, which makes me very happy.

 

I do realize that I may not get as much sun as I want being on Deck 4, but with 4 sea days, I can drag my butt up to one of the other decks. Plus, if it rains, I can use the balcony. And if it's sunny, we'll get some shade. Deck 4 should also give a better view of the water and has more useable space since it doesn't have the slant.

 

Hopefully, adding Ginger to Bonine has cured me of my motion sickness (used it for Miracle and Glory and had no problems; we'll see how it works on a smaller ship in a couple of weeks).

 

Do you have any pics of the cabin? I've found a ton of the wrap balcony cabins but very few of the "plain" aft. Thanks for posting.

I have cabin 4230 booked for my June Miracle cruise. Please write about it and maybe include some pics if you can when you get back from your cruise. Have a wonderful trip.

Aft balconies are terrible. No one should ever even think about getting one. You would have to be an idiot to even think about it.

 

(leaves them all for me)

Ha Ha, and the corner afts are even worse!

I have cabin 4230 booked for my June Miracle cruise. Please write about it and maybe include some pics if you can when you get back from your cruise. Have a wonderful trip.

I'm not on Miracle until NEXT December, so it's you who will have to post a full review with a gazillion photos when you return in June! :D

But if anyone has any Spirit-class aft cabin/balcony photos, feel free to share now!

I'm not on Miracle until NEXT December, so it's you who will have to post a full review with a gazillion photos when you return in June! :D

 

But if anyone has any Spirit-class aft cabin/balcony photos, feel free to share now!

Review yes.....photos.....no...I'm computer stupid and have no clue how to put photos on the computer. LOL

Most of these issues go away if you book deck 4! :)

Most of these issues go away if you book deck 4! :)

:eek: I just booked an aft onthe Miracle on deck 8 :rolleyes:

I just booked an aft on the empress deck of the liberty. This will be my first aft balcony, so if anyone has booked on this ship I would appreciate any opinions and or photos.

Thanks

I'm not on Miracle until NEXT December, so it's you who will have to post a full review with a gazillion photos when you return in June! :D

 

But if anyone has any Spirit-class aft cabin/balcony photos, feel free to share now!

Ask and ye shall receive: http://jjj.dyndns.org/~cruise/cabin5268.html

These pics are of the Legend (Carnival) cabin 5268 in Oct. 2005.

Enjoy!

GP

:eek: I just booked an aft onthe Miracle on deck 8 :rolleyes:

OOPS! You'll have the LIDO dwellers right over your head! :eek:

OOPS! You'll have the LIDO dwellers right over your head! :eek:

Ooops...my mistake!! I'm not on deck 8 (too many cruises booked I am confused) I am only on deck 5 in a category 8C *shakes head*

Aft balconies are terrible. No one should ever even think about getting one. You would have to be an idiot to even think about it.

 

(leaves them all for me)

I,m with you love to see posts with people complaining about afts{in fact i also hate to read positive reviews on them as well;keep thinking i,l never be able to get one now;)}

So everyone,stay away from aft balconys.You wont like them!!!!!!!!!!:)

Our upcoming cruise on the Miracle (Jan 16) is in the same room as the OP (6333). I am not about to cancel. I am looking forward to trying the aft balcony. Then I may have an opinion on the topic - I am pretty sure we will like it.

OOPS! You'll have the LIDO dwellers right over your head! :eek:

Been there :rolleyes: 8268 on the Spirit. 4237 on the Miracle in 18 days.

I like hearing different opinions, especially on these boards since I come here for information.