Anyone had a room on back of ship?

[jnjv]

We are thinking about booking a cabin on the back of the new Jewel, 10th floor for a caribbean sailing. There are rooms above us (cabins) so I'm not concerned with that type of noise, but anyone who has had this location, please tell me if there are any downsides, and if so what are they? There is an elevator and stairs not too far away, so that shouldn't be a problem. But is it noisy because of the wake of the ship? Any info?? Thanks!:)

[wbrumel]

I had a cabin at the very back of the ship once and regretted it terribly due to vibration from the engines and the fact that it was a long walk to everywhere. I'd stick with midship unless the cabin offered at the stern had exceptional amenities not otherwise offered.

[hurrhugo]

We had an aft cabin on Deck 8 of the Dawn. Cat. AE. If I could, I would do it again in a heartbeat!! The only time I felt a vibration was when the ship was in reverse pulling in to dock. Most of the time I slept through that. We did have a door near ours that the crew used, but it wasn't a problem.

Many times we slept with the balcony door open a bit, and the wake never bothered us.

We did have folks next to us and above, but never had a problem with privacy. Those aft cabins really are beautiful.

[estebofarr]

We had an aft cabin on the Princess Sapphire and absolutely loved it. the balcony was HUGE. Hit some very, very rough seas and didn't have the horrid side to side pitching. Do it!

[shoreguy]

Aft cabins are terrible. The view is terrible. The vibration is terrible. Please do not book them. I will save you all and take one of them for you ;)

[vijoge]

Aft cabins are terrible. The view is terrible. The vibration is terrible. Please do not book them. I will save you all and take one of them for you ;)

 

Not to mention all the motion-you will be sick the whole cruise! And the soot. . .and the wind. . .these are the worst cabins on the ship. :p

[cruizinwithkids]

We went on the Sky a couple of years ago in an aft room with balcony. We had no vibration or noise or motion problems but the soon on the balcony was a real issue. Some clothes were badly soiled, though not permanently. I guess if the price was right I would do it again and be more careful about wiping things off before sitting on anything. Other than that I would try to avoid it.

[newcruiser99]

thanks for the replies. unfortunately we are already booked on deck 9 aft. hopefully it won't be that bad.

[jnjv]

Do you mean soot from the engines or where does the soot come from? We can get a room on the back of the new Jewel, in fact we have it booked but am now wondering if I should reconsider - could you please explain what you mean about clothes getting soiled? Thanks so much for any info.:)

[cruizinwithkids]

It was soot from the engines, from the smoke stack. We were careful not to get it into the room but when sitting on the balcony it got on the clothes. It also got on feet so it was an effort to keep it out of the room. I would call it more of an inconvience than anything. There were no problems with the ship that affected the speed or vibration or anything. So I don't think there was a problem with the engine but there was definately soot from the engine on our balcony. Everyday the room steward wiped down the deck but it kept coming back. It was on the Sky in 2003. The ship is now the U.S. flagged Hawaiian ship, I can't remember the name of it now. It wasn't brand new when we sailed but I don't think it was too old. With the Jewel being new it could be completely different.

 

The one thing I don't like about these boards is that certain things bother certain people and not others. I get mad at people whining and then I find out that people got a much better price on a cruise than I did so I decide not to go to the boards anymore. Obviously I'm addicted.

 

If you have a balcony in the back of the ship I am sure you will love it, just keep in mind you may have to wipe the chairs before you sit and be careful not to drag stuff in on your feet.

[jnjv]

Thanks for the explanation, we were excited to be able to get a balcony room in the back of the ship for what we considered a pretty good price, but after hearing about the soot, I'm not sure what to do. Is this a problem on most ships if you have a balcony room on the back? Thanks for any replies.

 

PS I know what you mean about being addicted to these boards, I have learned so much from them. We have never sailed NCL before, so the Jewel will be the first time for us. We loved both RC and Princess, so thought we would try the Norwegian for something different. We just love to cruise, only wish we could go more often!!

[estebofarr]

Never saw a speck of soot!

 

I just wished I had brought slippers or flip flops as I like to go barefoot and the floor mat was hard on the feet. Not a big deal. We were on the 9th deck.

[swoosh2005]

we sailed in an AD on the Dawn and never saw any soot. The balcony was spacious and the cabin was beautiful. I felt more vibration in the AB up forward on previous sails but that never bothered me.

There was a lot of walking as our son's cabin was all the way forward and I can't tell you how many times I ended up walking the wrong way around to get where I was going-Oh well-I needed the exercise I guess.

Can't wait for the next time!

Denise

[pd4st]

Hi,

 

We always book rear-facing cabins when their available. We've not experienced noise or extreme nausea-inducing movement. In fact, we find it to be a very steady ride. And we love the views pulling out of the ports. Also, it's quiet as no one comes to the back of the ship unless their cabin is located there. The balconies are usually bigger (much bigger) and we've never had a problem with soot. We just upgraded to a penthouse suite - and specifically requested it be at the rear of the ship. Vibration is not a problem (not sure I've experienced that either) and the noise from the wake is very relaxing. Just standing at the railing of the balcony on a starry moonlit night with the wake reflecting the moonlight - and you're all alone - is wonderful beyond words. You can tell I'm hooked on this set-up. I also love having a greater than 180 degree view. By the way, you can't beat a rear-facing cabin going through the locks in a Panama Canal crossing. You can almost reach out and touch them. Anyway, good luck and let's face it - anywhere on a ship beats "land cruising" at home. I believe you will enjoy your cabin!

pd4st

[shoreguy]

Hi,

 

We always book rear-facing cabins when their available. We've not experienced noise or extreme nausea-inducing movement. In fact, we find it to be a very steady ride. And we love the views pulling out of the ports. Also, it's quiet as no one comes to the back of the ship unless their cabin is located there. The balconies are usually bigger (much bigger) and we've never had a problem with soot. We just upgraded to a penthouse suite - and specifically requested it be at the rear of the ship. Vibration is not a problem (not sure I've experienced that either) and the noise from the wake is very relaxing. Just standing at the railing of the balcony on a starry moonlit night with the wake reflecting the moonlight - and you're all alone - is wonderful beyond words. You can tell I'm hooked on this set-up. I also love having a greater than 180 degree view. By the way, you can't beat a rear-facing cabin going through the locks in a Panama Canal crossing. You can almost reach out and touch them. Anyway, good luck and let's face it - anywhere on a ship beats "land cruising" at home. I believe you will enjoy your cabin!

pd4st

 

Don't tell people you like them. They are hard enough to book :D Now you have post you were just kidding and those aft facing cabins are as posted terrible :eek:

[montelisa]

What is the aft?

[karfest]

I was in an aft on the Dawn Princess. LOVED IT!!! There is a little vibration but you are on a ship so that should be expected.

 

The others who are saying they don't like it are pulling your leg so they can hoard these cabins as they are difficult to get:)

 

Wait- maybe I should tell yuo how awful they are, too.....

 

--an aft is a cabin in the back of the ship that overlooks the wake. You get a full view of everything and not just one side.

[immargaret]

Those aft cabins are so terrible that I had to beg and plead to get one for my next cruise in April on the STAR.

 

Keep the secret.........let this thread die and get burried in the back pages of CC.

[shoreguy]

Those aft cabins are so terrible that I had to beg and plead to get one for my next cruise in April on the STAR.

 

Keep the secret.........let this thread die and get burried in the back pages of CC.

 

 

I am stuck in one of those on my next Dawn cruise in 2006. I had to book in Aug.2004 to make sure I got stuck with exact terrible cabin I ended up with. Those views and larger balconies can ruin your cruise ;)

[vijoge]

Yeah, I can sympathize. We booked our AE corner cabin on the Star in April 2004 for our June 2005 cruise. I just do it so others don't get stuck with these lousy cabins. :D

[jnjv]

Thank you so much for all your replies. After reading all the responses our decision was a lot easier - we are going to KEEP the aft cabin we have booked. We are really excited to see the new JEWEL. Thanks again!

[MandyGirl]

After seeing a similar thread several months ago - and Shoreguy trashing those aft cabins - our friends and I booked a couple of aft mini-suites next door to each other on the Sun for Alaska. We figured the "long walk" to the aft stairs will be good exercise for the legs and opening the balcony door to walk outside multiple times a day will work the arm muscles. ;) This will be the first aft balcony for either of us and figured we could use the Alaska raingear we're bringing to protect us from the soot flurries. We also read that marine life sometimes likes the wake of the ship - so we'll exercise our eye muscles looking for that. :) Someone else mentioned the proximity from cabin to sports bar for a beverage - so we'll practice timing ourselves (using the stairs) to run up, grab a beverage, and return to the balcony.:D

[cruise mouse]

We also had an aft AE on the dawn in January. We absolutely hated it and so we booked the opposite corner aft ae for next January. Enjoy.

[joyce B]

Thanks for all of this information. We were booked on the Jewel, mini suite forward until I read this. I called my TA and she changed us to an AFT. We are so looking forward to next February. Are these cabins any larger than the other mini suites or is it just the balcony?

 

 

Thanks:D

[paws38]

We hated our Sky AD aft penthouse so much, we had to book an AD aft penthouse for our 9-day Spirit cruise next week. We hope everyone else appreciates our "sacrifice"!