aft cabin questions

[tbmrt]

We've always booked Concierge mainly for the location and footstools.

 

Thinking of doing an aft balcony at some point, but have read about soot on balcony and lack of privacy when sitting in sun on these balconies.

 

Are there any Celebrity ships where the above two factors aren't relevant?

[4774Papa]

We've always booked Concierge mainly for the location and footstools.

 

Thinking of doing an aft balcony at some point, but have read about soot on balcony and lack of privacy when sitting in sun on these balconies.

 

Are there any Celebrity ships where the above two factors aren't relevant?

 

We have had aft balconies twice, once on the Celebrity Century and ones on the NCL Sun for Alaska.

It was great for the Sun and Alaska. I highly recommend it for doing Alaska. Didn't notice that much soot on either ship.

 

One problem that we had on the Century was that we were on the Singapore to Dubai cruise near the equator and it was HOT. We hardly used our balcony, since it was not shaded.

 

Looking at all the Celebrity ships, it appears to me that aft balconies are generally not shaded very well. Some of the luxury suites might have more due to a wrap around deck. I suggest that you look as the stickey here on the cc boards for specific cabins that would have comments regarding good and bad issues.

[lola2013]

We had sunset verandahs last year on Solstice; I would do it again in a heartbeat. There was never any soot and the view sailing for five days from Hawaii to Vancouver was amazing. We chose deck 8 which was not Concierge as we don't see the value in that class. When I asked my cabin attendant if I could have a footstool, which is not included in a standard stateroom, he kindly brought one for me. Extra gratuity? You bet!

[long time lurker]

Aft balcony desirability depends on ship class. We have had an aft on the Silhouette (S class) and and aft on the Summit (M class). I do love the aft location for the views, however I would not do it again on an S class on a hot itinerary. The lack of privacy was not a concern for me, but the lack of shade made the balcony unusable in my opinion. The design of the S class also does not give you any more space on the balcony. The M class aft balconies though are amazing. They are huge (we had a full table, 4 chairs and 2 loungers) and shaded. Well worth the upgrade for aft concierge.

[Olive1950]

I've had AFT cabins on M and S-class ships; never seen soot.

 

Corner aft on Deck 8 on Equinox.

PH on Deck 6 on Connie (2 times), Infinity, and Summit.

 

You will LOVE watcjing the wake from the ship.... intoxicating!!!

 

I always bring some bubble blowers and bubble juice so my friends and I can celebrate each arrival and departure. This past October we were gonna have a 50th anniversary vow renewal ceremony on the veranda, but it rained for the better part of the afternoon.

 

Once again, NO soot!!! Treat yourself to an AFT....

 

[TeeRick]

We had the corner aft on Silhouette recently. There is not a large overhang above so the balcony is sometimes very sunny - but this depends of course on the time of day and direction of the ship. Sunsets were outstanding. Port views were great. Nice cabin. I find it strange that people still talk about soot at the back of ships. Have never seen it. Perhaps in the old days when ships were burning coal!

[Lastdance]

Where else can you say "good AFTernoon?"

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Gordoncruickshank]

We had some soot on the Eclipse last year at the rear of the ship. It was not enough to make an issue of it but there were some. I suspect I should have asked the room attendant to make sure it was cleaned properly and then I would have had no issue with it. It seemed to build up as the two weeks went on.

[tweetylori]

We had a Sunset Veranda on the 8th deck of Silhouette in November and never saw any soot. We could see people below or above us if they were by the railing, as I'm sure folks could see us.

[ClaudiaB]

We've been center aft twice and corner aft 7 times. No soot, and it's sunny but we don't spend time out there in the heat. We get cabins that have cabins both above and below.

If you stand by the rail, sure, people can see you, but if you're back sitting, no. I don't care if they see me, anyway, I'm not doing anything but sitting.

Best place on a ship IMHO.

[Azulann]

No soot and part sun and partly covered on the Constellation C1 aft cabins.

I love the large balcony . Had two sailaway parties on our balcony last summer. :)

[Cruising-Snowbird]

You will not have to deal with soot EXCEPT if the ship is sailing directly into the wind or docked facing the wind.. If the wind is blowing any other direction, the soot will be carried to the side of the ship.

[merlin5353]

We've always booked Concierge mainly for the location and footstools.

 

Thinking of doing an aft balcony at some point, but have read about soot on balcony and lack of privacy when sitting in sun on these balconies.

 

Are there any Celebrity ships where the above two factors aren't relevant?

Aft (Sunset) cabins' verandas in the center have a higher possibility of having soot on them. I've experienced it a few times. Choose the cabins on either side of center to help avoid it.

[makingitwork]

Like :)

[alcpa1]

We've not had a soot issue sailing aft.

There are some itineraries that just absolutely can't be beat in an aft cabin. Alaska if sailing the Hubbard Glacier and/or Icy Straits and Venice are my top two favorites. The only thing that saved my DH when he was confined to the cabin with Noro on a Panama Canal cruise was his view from the aft balcony.

We've had some awesome views during our cruises but afts are my favorite viewing spots.

[Ginnyfyr]

We just disembarked the Reflection (amazing ship!) this morning after a 7 day Caribbean sailing. We were in sky suite 2210. It was right under the outdoor seating area of the Oceanview Cafe, and while we did hear some noise from people moving chairs, it wasn't enough to deter us from booking on deck 12 again. We had zero issues with soot, and, since we were directly below the buffet, our balcony was fully covered so nobody could look in on us. Hopefully my picture will attach correctly - it's our view looking down on the lower decks from our balcony.

[Gonzo70]

M-Class afts are definitely much nicer due to massive size. Still like afts on S-Class though as view is nice. Lack of privacy isn't an issue for me as I don't do anything on the balcony I'd be worried about if someone saw me. I can't imagine any non-covered balconies being private unless perhaps on top deck. S-class are ones that did have a soot issue. On Equinox we had soot most days on our aft corner Sky Suite - some days not much, other days a fair amount, but the steward would do a good job spraying it down and was only a minor inconvenience. You don't hear as much about this past couple of years, so perhaps they figured a remedy. Will try to post a picture of the soot from our balcony, albeit it was a few years ago.

 

Link to photo: https://www.snapfish.com/library/share?w=snapfish_us&c=snapfish&l=en_US#Y-mFeLHvrsJ9lSjlfV_-lg/AUS/27941512355070/SNAPFISH

[villauk]

M-Class afts are definitely much nicer due to massive size. Still like afts on S-Class though as view is nice. Lack of privacy isn't an issue for me as I don't do anything on the balcony I'd be worried about if someone saw me. I can't imagine any non-covered balconies being private unless perhaps on top deck. S-class are ones that did have a soot issue. On Equinox we had soot most days on our aft corner Sky Suite - some days not much, other days a fair amount, but the steward would do a good job spraying it down and was only a minor inconvenience. You don't hear as much about this past couple of years, so perhaps they figured a remedy. Will try to post a picture of the soot from our balcony, albeit it was a few years ago.

 

Link to photo: https://www.snapfish.com/library/share?w=snapfish_us&c=snapfish&l=en_US#Y-mFeLHvrsJ9lSjlfV_-lg/AUS/27941512355070/SNAPFISH

 

Agree, M class afts are in a league of their own :D.

[Olive1950]

I totally agree with Gonzo on the comment about AFT balconies on M-class ships. The wraparound balcony that come with the PH suites cannot compare!!!! They're totally awesome; 1098 sq ft is HUGE!!!!

 

Occasionally an idiot will throw down a banana peel or apple core; but even on a cruise you can't fix STUPID....

[wallie5446]

IMHO there is more view onto the balcony along the side than from above on the Aft. Someone really has to 'lean out'.

[ginnynj]

As a self-proclaimed member of the 'aft cult', we've just returned from a B2B in 9303 on the Equinox and have only positive things to say about the view and cabin. We enjoy the sound of the wake every day, no soot to really talk about and there's a small over hang to protect others from seeing all of the deck and me. Often combining early AM work with afternoons on that deck, we repeatedly book aft cabins. Give them a try, it's a nice stretch of the legs from the elevators but it helps with the cardio and walking off the great dining.

[flgirl]

As a self-proclaimed member of the 'aft cult', we've just returned from a B2B in 9303 on the Equinox

 

Thanks. I just booked 9305 and 9382....couldn't get them next to one another. I'm looking forward to it!

[Cruise Raider]

We've always booked Concierge mainly for the location and footstools.

 

Thinking of doing an aft balcony at some point, but have read about soot on balcony and lack of privacy when sitting in sun on these balconies.

 

Are there any Celebrity ships where the above two factors aren't relevant?

 

We've had aft facing balconies on both the Infinity (deck 8 ... aft corner family veranda) and Solstice (deck 9 concierge) and don't remember any issue with soot on either one of those ships. On both these cabins, the balcony was half covered and half uncovered (near the railing). We used the balcony a LOT on both of these sailings ... but because you won't experience much of a breeze, we used the one on the cooler weather route a lot more. Yes, people can see down onto your balcony but would really have to crane their necks to see you if you were under the covered portion. We didn't think people were all that interested in watching us instead of the sites anyway but did notice sometimes people would call out as they recognized you from elsewhere around the ship ... so I guess they were looking once in a while.

But, the view of the wake really made it worth it. But as above, on a hot weather cruise, it was hard to stay out there for too long before seeking refuge in the air conditioned cabin.