Question - Aft Balcony

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, seaoma said:

Our recent cruise on the NA experienced quite a bit of soot on our aft cabin balcony, along with the slight smell of cigarette smoke and diesel fumes on occasion.  Our balcony floor was actually very dirty and we didn't go outside without shoes.

 

The worst situation was the afternoon leaving Half Moon Cay when some moron above us decided to shake sand from all of their belongings over their aft balcony. The deck railing was covered and it blew into about 1/3 of the balcony, even onto our footstools. First time I've ever experienced that in my cruising career.

I think a whole bunch of people retired during Covid and are now taking their first retirement cruise.  We experienced quite a few firsts on our last cruise. 

[terrydtx]

55 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I think a whole bunch of people retired during Covid and are now taking their first retirement cruise.  We experienced quite a few firsts on our last cruise. 

You are so correct, I retired on my 70th birthday in March 2020 at the start of Covid lockdowns, and we had 2 cruises for that summer and fall that got canceled. We had 2 more in 2021 that also got canceled so we crammed those cruises into last year and this year. We look at it as we lost 2 of our prime retirement years of travel. Our first, first was booking a Retreat cabin on the Equinox in late 2021 with the 125% FCC we got from the canceled cruises.

[Music123]

The only negative we found with our aft balcony was the absence of even the slightest breeze when underway. That may be a plus if you’re sailing in colder climates, but in hot, humid weather, we'd opt for a port or starboard facing balcony to get some air movement.

[weeislayman]

We love these aft balconies.  However, fuel smell and soot is real.  It depends on a number of factors, wind speed and direction, etc.

[kazu]

10 hours ago, seaoma said:

Our recent cruise on the NA experienced quite a bit of soot on our aft cabin balcony, along with the slight smell of cigarette smoke and diesel fumes on occasion.  Our balcony floor was actually very dirty and we didn't go outside without shoes.

 

The worst situation was the afternoon leaving Half Moon Cay when some moron above us decided to shake sand from all of their belongings over their aft balcony. The deck railing was covered and it blew into about 1/3 of the balcony, even onto our footstools. First time I've ever experienced that in my cruising career.

 

Could you share what deck you were on to help others?  I’m thinking the deck 5 aft balconies which are fully covered should escape such a thing.  Thanks.

[seaoma]

19 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I think a whole bunch of people retired during Covid and are now taking their first retirement cruise.  We experienced quite a few firsts on our last cruise. 

 

I do think there are a lot of first timers on cruises lately, but that shouldn't excuse this type of behavior. There are always new cruisers on ships. I was one once and not for a minute would I think it was acceptable to throw or shake something over a balcony railing even if I was on land, much less a cruise ship.

[seaoma]

12 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Could you share what deck you were on to help others?  I’m thinking the deck 5 aft balconies which are fully covered should escape such a thing.  Thanks.

 

Kazu, we were on deck 5. I do think it was like @weeislayman pointed out. It was probably the wind speed and direction. 

 

We were actually not aware of how much soot was on the deck floor until my husband noticed the bottom of my feet on the footstool. We could have asked the steward to clean it often, but chose not to. The sand, however, was another matter. I did not want him thinking that we had made that mess.

 

This was our first aft balcony and our Caribbean route had our deck in full sun quite a few days with no breeze, thus requiring us to not only retreat to the inside, but to pull our curtains at times. We were worried it would heat the cabin. 

[kazu]

4 minutes ago, seaoma said:

 

Kazu, we were on deck 5. I do think it was like @weeislayman pointed out. It was probably the wind speed and direction. 

 

We were actually not aware of how much soot was on the deck floor until my husband noticed the bottom of my feet on the footstool. We could have asked the steward to clean it often, but chose not to. The sand, however, was another matter. I did not want him thinking that we had made that mess.

 

This was our first aft balcony and our Caribbean route had our deck in full sun quite a few days with no breeze, thus requiring us to not only retreat to the inside, but to pull our curtains at times. We were worried it would heat the cabin. 

 

Thanks.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, seaoma said:

 

Kazu, we were on deck 5. I do think it was like @weeislayman pointed out. It was probably the wind speed and direction. 

 

We were actually not aware of how much soot was on the deck floor until my husband noticed the bottom of my feet on the footstool. We could have asked the steward to clean it often, but chose not to. The sand, however, was another matter. I did not want him thinking that we had made that mess.

 

This was our first aft balcony and our Caribbean route had our deck in full sun quite a few days with no breeze, thus requiring us to not only retreat to the inside, but to pull our curtains at times. We were worried it would heat the cabin. 

 

I don't know why I hadn't noticed it in on previous Caribbean cruises, but to get back to FLL, you have to sail north, and the sun really can bake an aft balcony. I kept the curtains closed to minimize heating in the cabin, but even so, the aft part of my cabin was warmer than the rest. But it was only 2 days out of 10, so I still think the aft was worth it.

 

As for the sand, some people have no thought to how their actions affect others. 

[weeislayman]

On a westbound transatlantic, the aft cabin was fabulous.  Every morning the pre-sunrise glow woke us.  Fabulous.  Also from the aft cabin, you can see Gibraltar and the lights of North Africa, all at the same time.  Makes the world seem small....