Best Aft Balcony on the Breakaway

[Keata]

Looking for your views on this.  I see on the deck plans that some seem huge.  Would like one that has both loungers and chairs.  Don't really mind if it is lower or higher on the ship (unless soot is an issue).  What was your fav - one that you would book again?  Thanks for your help!

Edited February 17, 2022 by Keata

[cheersforbeers]

50 minutes ago, Keata said:

Looking for your views on this.  I see on the deck plans that some seem huge.  Would like one that has both loungers and chairs.  Don't really mind if it is lower or higher on the ship (unless soot is an issue).  What was your fav - one that you would book again?  Thanks for your help!

9320. Has both loungers and chairs.  

[SimplyAlbert]

We just cruised and were in 12910.  Room and balcony were huge.  However, it is a handicap cabin.  Neither DH or I are handicapped, so we think it we got it because we booked about 5 weeks before the cruise and it wasn't booked so they released it to the general public.

[Dcoy]

The aft Haven corner cabins all have large balconies. 

[japit]

9916 haven aft balcony

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by japit

[Keata]

Looking for regular Aft not Haven category. Thank you!

[japit]

9916 haven aft

[japit]

2 minutes ago, Keata said:

Looking for regular Aft not Haven category. Thank you!

sorry, I do know that the 9th floor on the breakaway aft has the largest balcony's than any other floors.  There is a chart somewhere here, cant find it right now

[Lionkingrichard]

9918 Was great size. That Haven next door(9916) was very large and no one was ever out there.

You Tube

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Lionkingrichard

[SimplyAlbert]

12910

 

[Lionkingrichard]

Is that on the Titanic?😉

[luckyinpa]

unsure if noise from spice at nite is an issue but cant hurt to ask

[Two Wheels Only]

For the standard (not Haven/not wheelchair accessible) aft-facing balconies on Breakaway, there are differences in depth (by deck) and width. From deepest to least deep, the order is 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13. The differences in width vary between bed near balcony vs. bed near closet. Having the bed near the balcony will generally be wider than bed near the closet. Even then, not all "bed near the balcony" balconies are the same width when on the same deck (a few inches different). 

 

 

(using Getaway which is the same sizes/depths as Breakaway)

 

The balcony located port side of the wheelchair accessible stateroom is the narrowest on each deck. The exception is deck 10 which has 2 wheelchair accessible mini-....errr, Club Balcony suites. In that case, the port side one has the smaller/more narrow balcony.

 

I usually suggest the stateroom next to the aft-facing Haven suite. The configuration is bed near balcony (my preference) and the view to the side of the ship is still good. The center (wheelchair accessible) balcony gives the best views to both sides but those balconies should go to those who need them. 

 

For deck, I prefer 12. It offers a good size (2nd deepest) and has a good view. Going lower to deck 9 would give a slightly deeper balcony but the view wouldn't be as good. Going higher would give a better view but the balcony would be smaller/less deep and the possibility of noise from Spice H2O (under normal cruising) at night is a negative. 

 

12306/12906 would be my first choice.

 

9318/9918 would be second. The deck plans have errors so even though the indent shows the bed near the closet (9318), it is actually bed near balcony...

 

(9318)

Edited February 17, 2022 by Two Wheels Only

[SimplyAlbert]

58 minutes ago, Lionkingrichard said:

Is that on the Titanic?😉

 I have no idea how that happened!  It was right-side up on my phone.

[Keata]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

For the standard (not Haven/not wheelchair accessible) aft-facing balconies on Breakaway, there are differences in depth (by deck) and width. From deepest to least deep, the order is 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13. The differences in width vary between bed near balcony vs. bed near closet. Having the bed near the balcony will generally be wider than bed near the closet. Even then, not all "bed near the balcony" balconies are the same width when on the same deck (a few inches different). 

 

 

(using Getaway which is the same sizes/depths as Breakaway)

 

The balcony located port side of the wheelchair accessible stateroom is the narrowest on each deck. The exception is deck 10 which has 2 wheelchair accessible mini-....errr, Club Balcony suites. In that case, the port side one has the smaller/more narrow balcony.

 

I usually suggest the stateroom next to the aft-facing Haven suite. The configuration is bed near balcony (my preference) and the view to the side of the ship is still good. The center (wheelchair accessible) balcony gives the best views to both sides but those balconies should go to those who need them. 

 

For deck, I prefer 12. It offers a good size (2nd deepest) and has a good view. Going lower to deck 9 would give a slightly deeper balcony but the view wouldn't be as good. Going higher would give a better view but the balcony would be smaller/less deep and the possibility of noise from Spice H2O (under normal cruising) at night is a negative. 

 

12306/12906 would be my first choice.

 

9318/9918 would be second. The deck plans have errors so even though the indent shows the bed near the closet (9318), it is actually bed near balcony...

 

(9318)

Thank you so very much for this very detailed explanation!

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks to good information we read here in the past from Two Wheels Only, we have cruised Breakaway/Getaway in category B1 (Aft Balcony) on both decks 9 & 12.

 

Both have plenty of room for two loungers & two chairs.   Yes, view is better from deck 12.

 

[trex-de]

On deck 10 on Breakaway in September. To be on deck 12 on Getaway next month. Looking forward to compare. 

[Turtles06]

In October, not having been on a ship since January 2020, we decided to make a last minute booking on the Breakaway (as in, two weeks prior to sailing!).   We'd never sailed on an Away Class ship before, and so we were totally unfamiliar with the cabins, except that I recalled from reading here on CC that the regular balconies were absurdly tiny, so those were out.  I did some quick research here -- thank you all -- and quickly narrowed our search down to aft-facing balconies on Decks 9 and 12, since they were the largest (deepest).  Our preference is for cabins above and below us, so that led us to Deck 12; 12308 was available, and so we booked that.

 

As the photo below shows, we did have a very large balcony, with plenty of deck furniture.  We wound up spending a lot of time out there, especially since the ship was unable to dock in Bermuda for 2 of our 3 scheduled days there.  The cabin itself, however, was pretty narrow.  Also, when the beds were put together as we'd requested, there was almost no room between the bed and the balcony door. 

 

I'll note that we were able to hear music from Spice H2O at night, even inside our cabin with the balcony door closed.  That was a surprise, since we were so many decks below.  It didn't bother us, because it was pretty chilly outside at night, the ship wasn't full, and so the parties didn't go on that long.  But I'd caution anyone new to the Away Class who might be interested in these aft-facing cabins to do more research on that issue.

 

None of the negatives I've mentioned affected our enjoyment of this cruise! 

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Keata]

@Two Wheels Only What would be your 1st choice on deck 9 on the Joy?  Thanks in advance!

[Two Wheels Only]

29 minutes ago, Keata said:

@Two Wheels Only What would be your 1st choice on deck 9 on the Joy?  Thanks in advance!

 

For Joy, 9376/9976 or 9378 because I prefer the bed near the balcony. The staterooms next to the Haven suites also give a better view towards the side...if you're willing to look over a little bit.

[luckyinpa]

any soot issues/smells on BA? last week on getaway senior staff acknowledged the issue and said it's hopefully going to be fixed soon. he stated water added to the exhaust makes it heavy and fall on us vs going up in the air 

[Bakedzd81]

On 2/17/2022 at 11:45 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

For the standard (not Haven/not wheelchair accessible) aft-facing balconies on Breakaway, there are differences in depth (by deck) and width. From deepest to least deep, the order is 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13. The differences in width vary between bed near balcony vs. bed near closet. Having the bed near the balcony will generally be wider than bed near the closet. Even then, not all "bed near the balcony" balconies are the same width when on the same deck (a few inches different). 

 

 

(using Getaway which is the same sizes/depths as Breakaway)

 

The balcony located port side of the wheelchair accessible stateroom is the narrowest on each deck. The exception is deck 10 which has 2 wheelchair accessible mini-....errr, Club Balcony suites. In that case, the port side one has the smaller/more narrow balcony.

 

I usually suggest the stateroom next to the aft-facing Haven suite. The configuration is bed near balcony (my preference) and the view to the side of the ship is still good. The center (wheelchair accessible) balcony gives the best views to both sides but those balconies should go to those who need them. 

 

For deck, I prefer 12. It offers a good size (2nd deepest) and has a good view. Going lower to deck 9 would give a slightly deeper balcony but the view wouldn't be as good. Going higher would give a better view but the balcony would be smaller/less deep and the possibility of noise from Spice H2O (under normal cruising) at night is a negative. 

 

12306/12906 would be my first choice.

 

9318/9918 would be second. The deck plans have errors so even though the indent shows the bed near the closet (9318), it is actually bed near balcony...

 

(9318)

YES! Heading out on 6/5 on 12306. The NCL advisor himself was surprised by the huge-ness of the balcony (I forget actual square footage but it was sig. more than deck 11 or 13). Really looking forward. 

[ltmguy]

On 2/17/2022 at 10:45 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

For the standard (not Haven/not wheelchair accessible) aft-facing balconies on Breakaway, there are differences in depth (by deck) and width. From deepest to least deep, the order is 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13. The differences in width vary between bed near balcony vs. bed near closet. Having the bed near the balcony will generally be wider than bed near the closet. Even then, not all "bed near the balcony" balconies are the same width when on the same deck (a few inches different). 

 

 

(using Getaway which is the same sizes/depths as Breakaway)

 

The balcony located port side of the wheelchair accessible stateroom is the narrowest on each deck. The exception is deck 10 which has 2 wheelchair accessible mini-....errr, Club Balcony suites. In that case, the port side one has the smaller/more narrow balcony.

 

I usually suggest the stateroom next to the aft-facing Haven suite. The configuration is bed near balcony (my preference) and the view to the side of the ship is still good. The center (wheelchair accessible) balcony gives the best views to both sides but those balconies should go to those who need them. 

 

For deck, I prefer 12. It offers a good size (2nd deepest) and has a good view. Going lower to deck 9 would give a slightly deeper balcony but the view wouldn't be as good. Going higher would give a better view but the balcony would be smaller/less deep and the possibility of noise from Spice H2O (under normal cruising) at night is a negative. 

 

12306/12906 would be my first choice.

 

9318/9918 would be second. The deck plans have errors so even though the indent shows the bed near the closet (9318), it is actually bed near balcony...

 

(9318)

 

[ltmguy]

Just now, ltmguy said:

 

 

On 2/17/2022 at 10:45 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

For the standard (not Haven/not wheelchair accessible) aft-facing balconies on Breakaway, there are differences in depth (by deck) and width. From deepest to least deep, the order is 9, 12, 11, 10, 14, 13. The differences in width vary between bed near balcony vs. bed near closet. Having the bed near the balcony will generally be wider than bed near the closet. Even then, not all "bed near the balcony" balconies are the same width when on the same deck (a few inches different). 

 

 

(using Getaway which is the same sizes/depths as Breakaway)

 

The balcony located port side of the wheelchair accessible stateroom is the narrowest on each deck. The exception is deck 10 which has 2 wheelchair accessible mini-....errr, Club Balcony suites. In that case, the port side one has the smaller/more narrow balcony.

 

I usually suggest the stateroom next to the aft-facing Haven suite. The configuration is bed near balcony (my preference) and the view to the side of the ship is still good. The center (wheelchair accessible) balcony gives the best views to both sides but those balconies should go to those who need them. 

 

For deck, I prefer 12. It offers a good size (2nd deepest) and has a good view. Going lower to deck 9 would give a slightly deeper balcony but the view wouldn't be as good. Going higher would give a better view but the balcony would be smaller/less deep and the possibility of noise from Spice H2O (under normal cruising) at night is a negative. 

 

12306/12906 would be my first choice.

 

9318/9918 would be second. The deck plans have errors so even though the indent shows the bed near the closet (9318), it is actually bed near balcony...

 

(9318)

If you we’re choosing between Regular Aft or Club Extra Large Balcony which one you u choose? 
European cruise.  Only started in Haven. 

[Juncti]

We did an aft on Breakaway, might have actually been the room in the video posted earlier in here. We would never do it again.

 

2 major issues we had. 

 

Soot - It was thick and blanketed the balcony in a layer. You walked out there barefoot your feet were black when you came back in. Lean on the railing and your arms had soot on it. Loungers, forget about that with all the soot. Last sea day was really only time it was usable at all because they came through at the last port and hosed it all down or something. Not sure what they did we just got a notice that there would be work that day and the deck seemed cleaner after.

 

Motion sickness - If you suffer with that at all, avoid the aft. I don't, but my wife does and she was pretty much down and out for days and that was with the patch and some of the pills. She hated it, even more so that the balcony she wanted was unusable and the room location made her sick.

 

We stick to midship these days, the view was great, obviously, but the problems outweighed it big time.