My First Aft Balcony - what should I expect?

[Magic City Cruiser]

Oh, My! We cruised for 5 years. Then, splurged on a Balcony. I'm not sure I'll ever go back to OV!!

[GeorgiaMomof4]

16 hours ago, Magic City Cruiser said:

Oh, My! We cruised for 5 years. Then, splurged on a Balcony. I'm not sure I'll ever go back to OV!!

 

 

That's funny - we are the exact opposite.  We booked our first cruise in 2004 in an OV guarantee cabin

and got upgraded to a balcony cabin (they did those things waaaay back then and it was free not an 

upgrade).  Anyway, that spoiled us to a balcony - which was good PR on Carnival's part I suppose.

However, we started fostering in 2005 and did not cruise again until 2011 but our cruises in 2011

and in 2012 were balcony cabins as well.  Starting in 2014 we went to OV cabins but we have

cruised at least 2 times a year give or take since then instead of just 1 time a year.  We've had a

balcony cabin or 2 mixed in - 1 on the Magic on the Lido deck forward which was awesome

and last May I received a call to upgrade from an OV on the Fantasty to a Grand 

Suite and did it because it was for my daughter's college graduation.  I'm really looking forward to

this aft balcony cabin.  If money were no object - I'd definitely have a balcony cabin every time...

Maybe one day!!

 

 

[GeorgiaMomof4]

18 hours ago, sailingwithfriends said:

I believe the Sunshine might be different than other ships with the aft balconies, not just the aft-wraps. My friends were in the cabin next to ours. They were on the very back next to the aft-wrap on Deck 6. We opened the divider between the two balconies. They had an overhang that was almost the entire length of the deck.  

 

I was enjoying your Sunshine review from a few years back and wanted to ask if you remember where you

purchased your battery operated doorbell or what brand it was?  That's an awesome idea and I wouldn't have

thought about it!

[ProgRockCruiser]

19 hours ago, sailingwithfriends said:

I believe the Sunshine might be different than other ships with the aft balconies, not just the aft-wraps. My friends were in the cabin next to ours. They were on the very back next to the aft-wrap on Deck 6. We opened the divider between the two balconies. They had an overhang that was almost the entire length of the deck.  

 

Here's a photo of the Sunshine from a similar point of view as the one above I posted for Liberty.  Also Deck 7.  The Sunshine overhang is indeed a bit bigger than Liberty's.  Deck 6 would have been similar, from what I could see from above.

 

[crusinpsychRN]

I didn't like the aft balcony. Didn't like seeing where I had been, would rather see where I'm going.

[sailingwithfriends]

5 hours ago, GeorgiaMomof4 said:

 

I was enjoying your Sunshine review from a few years back and wanted to ask if you remember where you

purchased your battery operated doorbell or what brand it was?  That's an awesome idea and I wouldn't have

thought about it!

I purchased it at Lowe's. We use it everytime we have a balcony and sail with friends. I only put it out side the door when we are going to be on our balcony.  Sorry, I don't remember the brand. I found it in the section with the normal wired door bells.

 

[mexicobob]

We had an aft wrap on The Legend to Alaska couple of years ago.  Fantastic cabin.  Balcony of all balconies.  Never saw the people above us.  Incredible experience.

[Twintowngirl]

We did an aft balcony on the Magic a couple of years ago. It came available after we had booked something else and we snapped it up a few months before we cruised. We didn't stop to think that we were right above a spot that playing music until late in the evening...or early in the morning. It also was too hot to use for most of the day with no shade at all. It was an experience that I can check off of my bucket list but not a cabin type that I would book again. Live and learn!

[AFuncruiser]

A long walk....

[ProgRockCruiser]

3 hours ago, AFuncruiser said:

A long walk....

 

I've seen others make this comment - the aft stairs/elevators are not that far away, and you are then nicely placed for aft Lido activities (including quick access to the buffet for to take coffees and pre-breakfast snack back to the room), aft restaurant dining, or aft promenade deck bars.  I like being aft!

[coevan]

When boarding at ports, you always board forward on the ship, it's a long walk. 

[brtls5]

Anyone know how much overhang kn the Valor? Particularly deck 8?

[ProgRockCruiser]

31 minutes ago, coevan said:

When boarding at ports, you always board forward on the ship, it's a long walk. 

 

Ah, well, I board at most once per day, while I go elsewhere in the ship many times per day, so I would put the walk associated with re-boarding at a lower priority, in general.

 

However, I will admit there was one time last cruise where we got off the ship and I (luckily immediately) found that my GoPro battery had died (maybe I forgot to charge it), and the dash back to the room to swap for a charged one and then to get back to the dock for an excursion was, um, "invigorating"...

[GeorgiaMomof4]

On 1/18/2019 at 5:54 PM, sailingwithfriends said:

I purchased it at Lowe's. We use it everytime we have a balcony and sail with friends. I only put it out side the door when we are going to be on our balcony.  Sorry, I don't remember the brand. I found it in the section with the normal wired door bells.

 

Thank you - my husband actually found us one today at Harbor Freight I believe.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

I’m not that concerned about the walk.  Lido dining and MDR are just a short walk down the stairs or a short ride up the elevator.  We’ve actually stayed in the newer rooms on deck 5 on the Sunshine before and loved the location.  That’s one reason we booked the aft balcony this cruise - so we could be on deck 5.