Worries about the size of Sun's Aft Balcony stateroom

[DeRon]

Hi guys, we booked on the Sun...Nov 4th on an Aft Balcony stateroom. Has anyone been in these or have pictures of these? From what I've seen, they are tiny. Smaller than a normal balcony room.

 

Would love advice, thoughts and pictures! Thank you!!

[Jamisonke]

Hi guys, we booked on the Sun...Nov 4th on an Aft Balcony stateroom. Has anyone been in these or have pictures of these? From what I've seen, they are tiny. Smaller than a normal balcony room.

 

Would love advice, thoughts and pictures! Thank you!!

 

My parents were in an aft suite on the Sun for a cruise we did a few years ago. I vaguely remember the neighboring aft balconies to be a good size. They were at least as large as the midship balconies. I don't think you have to worry about them being any smaller than any others of a similar category.

[DeRon]

Thank you, but I am most concerned about the room size (not the balcony itself).

 

:)

[Clay Clayton]

We sailed in 9277 on Sun for 14 days and didn't have an issue. The stern balconies are only very slightly smaller than other balconies on Sun. I think something less than 5 square feet which works out to be only 2 or 3 inches narrower along the long dimension. The much larger balcony and the sound of the wake, the views and the great location more than make up for any small loss of interior space, IMHO. If you want a really really big balcony on Sun, take a look at the two forward facing ones on Deck 11. We were in one of those last October and they are wonderful. Basically the size of the penthouse suites except no perks and a regular bathroom.

[Sauer-kraut]

Are you comparing sun aft balcony cabins to sun midship balcony cabins or NCL cabin size to other cruise line cabins?

 

If it is the latter you will find that the SUN has larger cabins than the rest of the NCL fleet.

[Silver Girl]

We sailed in 0266 in December 2010. The cabin was smaller than the standard balcony cabin on the Sun in that the desk area did not have drawers like the other balcony cabins, and the couch was shorter. The balcony is much larger, which we loved. And, of course, you have the fabulous aft view. There was plenty of storage for us despite the lack of drawers, and the two of us were very comfortable.

 

I have pictures here: http://travel.webshots.com/album/579401946UbJhwg

[DeRon]

Wow Silver Girl! That helped a ton. Thank you!

[Silver Girl]

Wow Silver Girl! That helped a ton. Thank you!

 

You're welcome! I'm glad I could help. As Clay said, though, you might also want to take a look at the two forward-facing cabins on the 11th deck. We stayed in one in December 2011, and I came home and booked the same cabin for September 2013! I do love the view from the aft, but I really loved all the extra room and the huge balcony, and you do have a wonderful view. Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy the Sun as much as we do.

[fame9300]

Are you doing the Panama Canal?

[DeRon]

Are you doing the Panama Canal?

 

Not doing the panama canal. We are going to:

 

St Thomas

Barbados

St Lucia

Dominica

St Martin

[DeRon]

You're welcome! I'm glad I could help. As Clay said, though, you might also want to take a look at the two forward-facing cabins on the 11th deck. We stayed in one in December 2011, and I came home and booked the same cabin for September 2013! I do love the view from the aft, but I really loved all the extra room and the huge balcony, and you do have a wonderful view. Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy the Sun as much as we do.

 

Silver Girl, what about the soot? I see it in the pictures. Easy to wipe off? Or does it smear everywhere? And is the balcony floor stained this way, or was it just from that week of soot?

[Jamisonke]

Silver Girl, what about the soot? I see it in the pictures. Easy to wipe off? Or does it smear everywhere? And is the balcony floor stained this way, or was it just from that week of soot?

 

We also have had problems with soot whenever we've been aft. NCL has a mat in place for you to wipe your feet when coming in from the balcony. We found the soot to be a major reason for not booking aft again.

[Silver Girl]

Silver Girl, what about the soot? I see it in the pictures. Easy to wipe off? Or does it smear everywhere? And is the balcony floor stained this way, or was it just from that week of soot?

 

Our cabin steward really tried, and occasionally either he or someone else attempted to wash it away, but nothing seemed to work. It was there when we boarded and there when we disembarked. If the floor got wet, it became a nasty mess, which we tried not to track inside. We put down our beach towels on the chairs when we used them. We were directly under the Great Outdoors but didn't get much debris from there. Most of the mess came from the soot and, for that reason, I wouldn't book a stern cabin on deck 10 again. I don't think you'd have the same problem on the lower decks.

[Pokeraddict]

We were in an aft balcony cabin in 2008 for 19 day South America cruise and the room was just fine and as big as the average NCL balcony cabin excluding POA.

[Jamisonke]

Our cabin steward really tried, and occasionally either he or someone else attempted to wash it away, but nothing seemed to work. It was there when we boarded and there when we disembarked. If the floor got wet, it became a nasty mess, which we tried not to track inside. We put down our beach towels on the chairs when we used them. We were directly under the Great Outdoors but didn't get much debris from there. Most of the mess came from the soot and, for that reason, I wouldn't book a stern cabin on deck 10 again. I don't think you'd have the same problem on the lower decks.

 

My parents were in an aft suite on deck 9 and they had the problem, too. I don't know that any aft balcony will be soot free.

[petitcanard]

I'm not able to add anything of value whatsoever DeRon, just wanted to say I hope you enjoy your cruise! We're booked on the Sun for the same itinerary Dec 16 :) We're on deck 10, balcony but forwardish 0211. Hope your cabin works out ok - many people seem to really love aft cabins :)

[DMH15]

We were in stern 9076 for 14 nights in 2009 with not a smidge of soot!

[Clay Clayton]

We had minor soot but not a big deal. We always put a pool towel down on the chairs just in case. Certainly not a reason to not book these great rooms...IMHO.

[Silver Girl]

My parents were in an aft suite on deck 9 and they had the problem, too. I don't know that any aft balcony will be soot free.

 

I guess I've been lucky in that I've stayed in six aft cabins and this was the only time I ever saw soot. I'd book an aft cabin on the Sun again, only not on the same deck.

[DeRon]

If you want a really really big balcony on Sun, take a look at the two forward facing ones on Deck 11. We were in one of those last October and they are wonderful. Basically the size of the penthouse suites except no perks and a regular bathroom.

 

Thanks for the heads up on these rooms! We are booking one of these forward balconies! They look awesome!

[woozlebear]

Thanks for the heads up on these rooms! We are booking one of these forward balconies! They look awesome!

 

 

1202 is wonderful, sailed in that cabin twice.

 

Susan

[dexddd]

We had soot on 10 aft but it wasn't every day, maybe about 1/3 of the days.

[Clay Clayton]

Thanks for the heads up on these rooms! We are booking one of these forward balconies! They look awesome!

 

You're welcome....they are great, enjoy!