Help with Alaska cabin choice

[StLucia]

We are booking an Alaska cruise for June 2015 on Infinity. For the best balcony experience which would you recommend, port or starboard?

Thanks for your help.

[milamber]

Depends on your itinerary. If it's a round trip Vancouver or Seattle then it really doesn't matter as starboard will be best for some of the trip and port for the rest. If it's a Northbound cruise - say Vancouver to Seward, then starboard has a slight edge, for Southbound, port.

 

Bear in mind also that for much of the time the scenery will be on both sides anyway. Also, the whales will always be on the other side, whichever side you pick :)

[jelayne]

Book a cabin at the back of the ship- great views and love watching the wake when there is nothing else to see

[win1]

AFT! You get 180degree view. We love 9162 on the Infinity. We were there for the summer solstice spent so much time on the huge balcony ended up with sunburn on our smiling faces. Thanks for letting me remember a beautiful memory. Winnie

[TeaBag]

I believe Infinity will be replacing Century on the Alaska schedule in 2015 and she will be sailing return from Vancouver. You will be able to see the inside passage (wonderful scenery) from both sides of the ship. I don't think you need to worry about which side you are on except for cabins near the outdoor smoking areas which are portside.

[shipgeeks]

We had a balcony on our Alaska cruise and used it less than two hours of the whole ten days. The views from the open decks are 1000 times better than any balcony. We would not book a balcony again.

[MustBCruzn]

Also, the whales will always be on the other side, whichever side you pick :)

 

LOL! This has always been my experience on each of our several AK cruises!:D

[alcpa1]

Any aft cabin is totally the best option. However, for the Infinity I'd choose one on deck 8 or 9. The new deck 11 cabins are over the Sunset Bar and further back from the true aft. They're fantastic for most itineraries but if you want to really experience what is swimming behind the ship go lower.

We've stayed in both areas including a Panama Canal cruise on the Infinity deck 11 aft. We've also done a lower aft balcony in Alaska.

If you want just a balcony cabin then port or starboard really doesn't matter. You sail at night and if you are doing a glacier the ship will do a 360 so the views are great from any area.

Have a great cruise to Alaska.

[StLucia]

Thank you all for your help. Looks like starboard to avoid the smoke or aft on a lower deck for the views. Just one thought, what is the sea normally like on this cruise, I know the aft can be rather bouncy in rough sea. Also do the aft cabins suffer from soot, we had one on anther ship and it was dreadful.

Thanks again.

[teecee60]

We are booking an Alaska cruise for June 2015 on Infinity. For the best balcony experience which would you recommend, port or starboard?

Thanks for your help.

 

Save the money, book an inside cabin, and spend EVERY AVAILABLE *S*E*C*O*N*D* topside with a 360 degree view, as opposed to the limited 180 degree view from a tiny balcony.

 

(didn't see the above post by "shipgeeks" until after submitting this, but they are spot on.)

 

If you just HAVE to have a balcony 1136 and 1139 are the best two, at least they offer 270 degree views.

Edited June 30, 2014 by teecee60

[Keith1010]

My experience is that it does not matter.

 

The best views will be from the open deck where you can move from side to side.

 

Keith

[TeaBag]

I don't think soot is a problem on the M class afts.

 

The only rough water we had on an Alaskan cruise was out of Sitka. I don't think Infinity will go that far on a 7 day cruise. Ours was a 10 day return to Vancouver. I wish they would do more of those.

[StLucia]

I take your point about the open deck but we like having our own access to fresh air. Got a wonderful view of whales from our balcony when we went to Hawaii. Sorry can't find 1136 and1139 on Infinity.

Thanks for your help.

[phoenix_dream]

As to rough water, as a general rule (and there can always be exceptions), a cruise round-trip from Vancouver will almost always have water as smooth as glass. A round-trip from Seattle may have some rough seas going 'around the bend', but certainly not always. The one time we tried it, it was very calm. A trip one-way up to Seward may have some rough water in-between the last port across the ocean towards Seward.

 

Regardless of the seas, at the very aft of the ship there can be some vibration (more pronounced on M class) and some side to side rocking. Seasoned cruisers who don't get motion sick often don't even notice this and may say they never felt it at all. I am very sensitive to motion and have always felt it on the several cabins I have sailed in aft (but unless seas were rough it did not bother me). On an M class ship I would definitely take the chance on an aft cabin in Alaska. On S class we decided against it partially because of the consistent reports (albeit not on every cruise/cabin) of soot on the balcony. We decided on a regular hump C2 balcony.

 

It is my opinion also that unless you choose the far aft, it really does not matter where your balcony is as the best views are definitely on deck.

[teecee60]

I take your point about the open deck but we like having our own access to fresh air. Got a wonderful view of whales from our balcony when we went to Hawaii. Sorry can't find 1136 and1139 on Infinity.

Thanks for your help.

 

They are the two farthest aft corners, of the new aqua class cabins installed on the top deck during "solsticization."

Edited July 1, 2014 by teecee60

[StLucia]

They are the two farthest aft corners, of the new aqua class cabins installed on the top deck during "solsticization."

 

Thanks for that, found them now.

[msferg05]

We are booked on that ship next year, also! We keep going back and forth about whether we should've saved the money and booked interior or window. This is for our 10 year anniversary and (honestly) probably more than we should spend, so I'm really hoping it's great. We selected 9154.

Edited July 9, 2014 by msferg05