Aft Balcony

[sallybrown2012]

We have had balcony cabins many times, but never an aft balcony.  What are the pros and cons compared to a regular (side of the ship) balcony?  Do you get less wind when the ship is moving?  More odor from the exhaust?  Different feeling of movement?  The ship we'll be on is the Breakaway, if that makes a difference.

[KeithJenner]

19 minutes ago, sallybrown2012 said:

We have had balcony cabins many times, but never an aft balcony.  What are the pros and cons compared to a regular (side of the ship) balcony?  Do you get less wind when the ship is moving?  More odor from the exhaust?  Different feeling of movement?  The ship we'll be on is the Breakaway, if that makes a difference.

Pros:

 

Less wind

Better views (able to see both sides)

Able to just look at the wake.

Less movement

Often bigger balcony

Much nicer all round experience

 

Cons:

Some people report some soot on the balcony (never happened to me in many aft balcony cruises).

Possible noise from Spice H2O if you are on a higher floor (not had experience of this myself, as I have only sailed in aft cabins on older ships).

Some reports of noise when manoeuvring into port (again, never experienced this myself).

 

I've just today booked another aft balcony for a cruise next year. They are our cabin of choice. If you are considering it then I'd strongly recommend giving it a go.

[FLcruisergrl]

Everything Keith said. I never had soot, either. The only negative for us was vibration coming into and leaving port. The views absolutely can’t be beat!

Edited May 31, 2021 by FLcruisergrl

[FLAHAM]

Only negative is the substantially higher price.

[B Midged]

We had one once. We prefer the side balcony so you can turn your head and see where your going, but that’s just us. Enjoy!

[Seany527]

Aft balconies are amazing. At this point, if I can’t be in an aft balcony, I’ll choose another sail date or ship. 
 

Some things to consider when choosing an aft balcony on the Breakaway and Breakaway plus class...Deck 8 wraps around the back of the ship. You don’t want to be too low because then you hear the noise of the Waterfront and you may feel that your balcony is less private. You also don’t want to be too high as the noise from Spice H20 might be bothersome. 
 

Because there is less wind, it also gets a lot hotter back there. I like the heat, but it’s not for everyone. 
 

You also will have one or two lounge chairs as opposed to sitting chairs. 
 

I tried to think of some negatives, but to me there aren’t any. I don’t notice the vibration at all and I personally have never had soot problems. I guess the only negative would be that they are more expensive. 

[nina_930]

Everything said above.  I've never had the soot either.  Was on one cruise that we felt the vibrations coming/going into port, but it was only for a few minutes and I was actually glad one day that it woke me up because I love coming into port.  I've tried to get the higher decks to avoid this, but be aware of what's above you as well.  The vibrations didn't outweigh the views and the sounds of the wake for me though.  

[Two Wheels Only]

6 hours ago, sallybrown2012 said:

The ship we'll be on is the Breakaway, if that makes a difference.

 

Balcony depth differs by deck.

 

The deepest is deck 9.....

 

...and the least deep is deck 13.

 

 

From deepest to least deep, the order is 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13 on Breakaway/Getaway.

 

There are also differences in balcony width as well as bed location (bed near balcony vs. bed near closet).

 

 

[zdcatc12]

5 hours ago, B Midged said:

We had one once. We prefer the side balcony so you can turn your head and see where your going, but that’s just us. Enjoy!

You can put the bridge cam on the cabin tv and just look at that if you want to see where you're going.

[FLcruisergrl]

10 hours ago, Seany527 said:

Aft balconies are amazing. At this point, if I can’t be in an aft balcony, I’ll choose another sail date or ship. 
 

Some things to consider when choosing an aft balcony on the Breakaway and Breakaway plus class...Deck 8 wraps around the back of the ship. You don’t want to be too low because then you hear the noise of the Waterfront and you may feel that your balcony is less private. You also don’t want to be too high as the noise from Spice H20 might be bothersome. 
 

Because there is less wind, it also gets a lot hotter back there. I like the heat, but it’s not for everyone. 
 

You also will have one or two lounge chairs as opposed to sitting chairs. 
 

I tried to think of some negatives, but to me there aren’t any. I don’t notice the vibration at all and I personally have never had soot problems. I guess the only negative would be that they are more expensive. 

We had an aft on deck 9 on the Breakaway and never heard any noise from the waterfront. Maybe we got lucky? 

[CWMixer]

We've been front, side and aft: aft (corner) has become our favorite location for all the reasons mentioned.  Never had an issue w/noise, and only had a minor soot issue once due to a combination of wind/rain/upper deck.

Along with relative balcony size as noted above, we prefer the bedroom at the balcony layout: on Breakaway/Getaway, that's only on decks 11 and 14.

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have had aft balconies several times and only had soot on one sailing, and it was a mess!  Only happened on two nights when it rained.   But that wouldn’t stop me from booking one again,  it they are pricey.

[happy cruzer]

A negative might be there will be long walks to the middle and front of the ship.  But you will be closer to places aft which is a positive ??  Depends on where you go to most.

[jingle5616]

We happened into a deck 9 aft balcony on the Star many years ago before they charged a premium for them.  It was a great experience.  For me the only negative was that when the ship was doing 22 knots the sound of the water was a roar, surprisingly loud.  But not enough to annoy me to not want to stay in one again.  Enjoy.

[Darcy03231]

Aft balconies are our preferred cabins.  Never had an issue with soot.  We have felt some small vibrations from time to time, but nothing major or anything that bothered us.

[Sand and Seas]

We have always loved our Aft balconies and never had a problem with them. 

 

Thanks to Two Wheels Only and CWMixer for posting the great pictures above😎

[Seany527]

This is a nice comparison against CWMixer’s post.   Both are corner Haven rooms. This is a picture of deck 12 on the Joy. 
 

Is the extra space nice? Sure, why not. But at the end of the day, both rooms have two lounge chairs and a table with chairs. What’s there really to do with the extra space...lay on the floor? Lol. 
 

[Sailing12Away]

We're *hopefully* trying an Aft HC cabin on the Encore (formerly Bliss) this August to Alaska. We waffled quite a bit between wanting to be in the Haven proper with that observation lounge, but finally decided that the extra space to sit and stare at the beautiful scenery in privacy was what we wanted.

 

Plus we're huge fans of 2 potties in the room. No more doing the tinkle dance while waiting for the Mr to finish camping out on his throne.

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

We're *hopefully* trying an Aft HC cabin on the Encore (formerly Bliss) this August to Alaska.

 

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

Plus we're huge fans of 2 potties in the room.

 

Which deck are you on? If you're on 11 or 14, you'll have the larger master bathroom with a view of the ocean.

[All-ready2cruise]

For those loving their Haven Suites, I understand the wonder of the Haven, however, for me, I'll take the wonder of the aft balcony anytime. 

 

I had a haven suite booked but, was still enthralled with the aft suite or plain balcony and when it came down to it... I decided to change from a Haven HI to a B1 just to experience, again, the wonder of the wake. I know I won't miss the suite experience either so it's a win-win for me. 

[Sailing12Away]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

 

Which deck are you on? If you're on 11 or 14, you'll have the larger master bathroom with a view of the ocean.

14, picked exactly for that reason. When we were in a 2br on the Epic I loved being able to soak in the tub and look out at the water, so we specifically chose the deck that would allow that. I think you had been the one who pointed out in another thread the two different configurations, so thanks for shedding light on that unadvertised tidbit.

 

The bedroom is for sleeping and shagging, the tub is for soaking with a view. 

[Sailing12Away]

1 hour ago, All-ready2cruise said:

For those loving their Haven Suites, I understand the wonder of the Haven, however, for me, I'll take the wonder of the aft balcony anytime. 

 

I had a haven suite booked but, was still enthralled with the aft suite or plain balcony and when it came down to it... I decided to change from a Haven HI to a B1 just to experience, again, the wonder of the wake. I know I won't miss the suite experience either so it's a win-win for me. 

Our room has both, Haven access yet the aft views. So no need to choose one over the other.

[Two Wheels Only]

9 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

The bedroom is for sleeping and shagging...

 

...and the balcony is for both.😉