Empress of the Seas forward cabins decks 7 & 8

[mheinrich]

Has anyone ever stayed in the forward/outside cabins on deck 7 or 8? Last time I was on the ship, we found the stairway leading up to the "balcony" that's right outside these rooms. The doors were for emergency use only, but it seemed the people who were staying in these rooms were using them regularly and basically had their own HUGE balcony for the entire cruise. (the actually looked at us like we were intruding when we walked through). So my question is...is it worth booking these "obstructed" view cabins in exchange for having this semi-private balcony just outside your door? Anybody ever stayed in one of these rooms?

[Old Cars]

I haven't stayed in those rooms right across the front, but have stayed in an OV right down the hall a couple of times from the area you are talking about. We used that front area quite a lot on the 3 cruises we have been on on Empress of the Seas. In fact the 1st cruise on her was when she was Nordic Emoress and there were no signs saying emergency exit at that time. This was in 2002. On the deck we stayed on there are Owner's Suites (I think) in each front corner.

 

Our last cruise on her had the signs and we asked about them. We were told the signs were put up because people were complaining about the wind coming down the hallway when the doors are left open. We always closed them behind us and had no problems or any comments from any of the crew. This is one of those "hidden secrets" about this particular ship that many don't know about.

[logan1_2000]

We stayed on deck 7 of the Nordic Empress, the first room to the rear of the centrum OV, 7100, but our friends got dumped into 7032, which was so much smaller, it was really a closet (I think 108 sq. ft. compared to an already tight 139 sq. ft. in our stateroom) and should not be the category it is listed, it should be priced as a lower category. I would caution folks to avoid 7032.

[frogfuzz]

In september on the Empress we were in a end aft jr suite with one of these stairwells next to us. I found it to be very noisey. People would gather at night at all hours talking and being loud. It also seemed to be a popular place to smoke. I think a lot of that was crew. I personally would not pick it for that reason.

[curlyd]

Shhhh! I found out about these cabins from this site and from my boss who was on the Empress last January. He and his wife, although they were on a lower deck, used the "almost private" balcony and said it was wonderful and almost no one was ever on it. So I booked cabin #8000 for our first cruise. 3 months from today!:D

[mheinrich]

Thanks for all the replies! Got the answers I was looking for. Love this board!!

[curlyd]

Also note that cabins on the deck 8 are under the Bridge so nice and quiet, no noise from above.