Front, side or Aft facing cabin

[AJ86]

Hi All,

 

I am looking at booking an Alaskan cruise with Princess to and from Seattle in September.

 

For views from the cabin would you suggest a forward facing, side facing (normal) or an Aft cabin. All types would be balcony.

 

Nothing special like wrap around balconies as the budget won't stretch that far.

 

What would you pick for best views from the balcony?

 

Thank you

 

 

[RSF Cruiser]

We always get aft balconies. The view when leaving the glacier or port is beautiful. While at a glacier or coming into port, we like to be on deck and see the views from all angles, but when leaving, it's so relaxing to sit on the balcony, have a snack/drink, and enjoy the views. Plus, with an aft balcony, you get protection from the wind. Although the air might be cool to cold, there is little to no wind.

[Paula_MacFan]

Agree 100% with the aft cabin suggestion above for all the same reasons.  

[donaldsc]

5 hours ago, AJ86 said:

Hi All,

 

I am looking at booking an Alaskan cruise with Princess to and from Seattle in September.

 

For views from the cabin would you suggest a forward facing, side facing (normal) or an Aft cabin. All types would be balcony.

 

Nothing special like wrap around balconies as the budget won't stretch that far.

 

What would you pick for best views from the balcony?

 

Thank you

 

 

 

Makes no difference to me.  I am always on deck when there is something  interesting going on outside.  That way I can move from side to side as necessary.

 

DON

[chipmaster]

All things being the same ( cabin / price ) side no question, at least one direction you have a long time of sailing for enjoying private viewing.   As to when the ship is sailing and your view is sub-optimal you just go outside, LOL.      

 

We had a side, balcony, didn't really think it was worth it orginally, but we sat outside for a few hours, enjoyed the sun and how the coast line just passed for hours and hours, can't get that on aft, the scenery is always going away, LOL

[bjbear]

8 hours ago, RSF Cruiser said:

We always get aft balconies. The view when leaving the glacier or port is beautiful. While at a glacier or coming into port, we like to be on deck and see the views from all angles, but when leaving, it's so relaxing to sit on the balcony, have a snack/drink, and enjoy the views. Plus, with an aft balcony, you get protection from the wind. Although the air might be cool to cold, there is little to no wind.

 

I also get aft balconies. I know everyone says you can go up on deck and see everything but I've found it is so crowded you can't see much, much better on my aft balcony.

[crystalspin]

We tend to choose mid-ships for two reasons: in Alaska we have gone on smaller ships (S and R class Holland America ships) so for a smoother ride, and on any ships so when we set out for any particular place namely Crows Nest, theatre, or dining room, the distance is never more than half the ship's length.

 

On the glacier viewing days, the ship will turn so everyone gets a view. 

[geoherb]

We were lucky to be given an upgrade to a cabin with a forward-facing balcony on one of our Alaskan cruises. It was wonderful. We had uninterrupted viewing of the glaciers as the captain positioned the ship for people on both sides to see. When the ship finally turned to leave, we went out on the public decks. The people with aft cabins did not get a great view of the glaciers except as the ship was leaving.

[Langham1865]

I took a trip to Alaska on the Eurodam in August 2018.  I love that they opened the bow deck for part of Glacier Bay.  With that being said, the investment in an aft facing balcony,  I have never used a balcony so much as on this trip enjoying the scenery  If I only do Alaska once, I'll be happy that I did the Aft facing balcony. Though I do want to go back.

[compozer]

aft

 

I have always wanted to try a bow cabin but we are out on ours all the time.   Would not like the wind on most cruises but Alaska might be the time to try one.

[Nilbog]

Aft balcony, all the way.

[Vagabond Knight]

For Alaska, it's all about the view and for us, aft is the way to go.  We had an aft corner wraparound balcony for both our previous Alaskan cruises (they're much more affordable on Carnival) and spent the vast majority of the time we were onboard out on our balcony.  We have a cruisetour booked with Celebrity for 2021 and booked as soon as the Alaskan itineraries 2021 went online to ensure we could snag an aft cabin.  It's not the HUGE wraparound that we had on Carnival, but is a good amount larger than standard or Concierge balconies on the side of the ship and offers the amazing aft view that allows you to see what's happening on both sides and behind the ship.  Our TA notified us last week that we could "upgrade" to Aqua class (which has an "enhanced" special dining room and which we've booked for our last three Caribbean cruises) for the same price right now, but we turned it down to keep our favorite location for Alaskan wildlife and scenic viewing.

 

[cpb]

My wife and I haves traveled to Alaska twice both times out of Seattle. We booked a balcony cabin on the starboard side. The starboard side offered us a closer view of the coastline. We had fantastic views from our balcony on the way north. However, we would venture up onto the open decks for those time when something special was occurring.
I enjoyed the morning sun light coming into our cabin, getting a cup of coffee and sitting on the balcony watching our arrival into ports.
Other types of cabins may offer better views, but for us the cost factor limited us to the balcony cabins.
You will enjoy the trip no matter what type of cabin you book.
Cliff (cc’s cpb)


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[Decpl]

For our 2017 Alaska cruise south bound we had a Forward Port and it was fantastic, was on the 8th deck.Spend morning with coffee on balcony and afternoons with adult beverage on balcony. Too beautiful to miss. Have 8-7-20 cruise south bound book that's no to promising

[Vagabond Knight]

38 minutes ago, cpb said:

 

You will enjoy the trip no matter what type of cabin you book.
 

 

Absolutely agree!

[Jimbo]

Another vote for aft..........but hope you mean sailing in September 2021......cause don't believe any large ship is sailing there this year.

[gerig]

On 5/7/2020 at 4:22 PM, Jimbo said:

Another vote for aft..........but hope you mean sailing in September 2021......cause don't believe any large ship is sailing there this year.

I have an aft vista suite cabin booked for May 2021 and I can hardly wait.

[Vagabond Knight]

18 hours ago, gerig said:

I have an aft vista suite cabin booked for May 2021 and I can hardly wait.

 

Which ship?  Corner aft Vista?

[gerig]

43 minutes ago, SunsetPoint said:

 

Which ship?  Corner aft Vista?

Star princess yes corner on dolphin deck

[kayehall]

16 hours ago, gerig said:

Star princess yes corner on dolphin deck

Thank you!!!  I have been trying to remember which Princess ship I saw these on.  Is this the only ship that has them?  And only 2 in the aft section of the ship?  These look like awesome balconies!!!  

[Jimbo]

Check out the Celebrity Infinity Family Veranda Corner Aft Balcony Cabin if you want a large cabin and a large Balcony.

 

Looks exactly like this one on Summmit

 

 

[Vagabond Knight]

Except that you can't reserve the Family Verandas for just two people, can you?

[gerig]

11 hours ago, kayehall said:

Thank you!!!  I have been trying to remember which Princess ship I saw these on.  Is this the only ship that has them?  And only 2 in the aft section of the ship?  These look like awesome balconies!!!  

Definitely looking forward to it especially since we will be out of the wind.  I'm really not familiar with princess.  I have only cruised 5 times.  Chose princess to see glacier bay.

 

[gerig]

27 minutes ago, SunsetPoint said:

Except that you can't reserve the Family Verandas for just two people, can you?

Sometimes they let you.  I had one of those cabins on the summit.  The end balconies are huge but I really liked having pocket doors separating the bedroom from living room.  I had a concierge class stateroom and was lucky enough to downgrade as get this balcony after final payment.