Firenze Deck 2 Aft Balcony

[OceanZena]

I booked a deck 9 balcony on the upcoming Carnival Firenze for next year, but they also have a deck 2 Aft balcony that caught my eye and i'm now really curious to get for more info on these cabins. It would only cost me $100 to change to it, but I can't find any photos online of the balcony except for exterior shots of the aft deck. 

Here's a photo of that, and i'm just curious if any of you would pick this type of stateroom sight unseen when there's so little information on them online at the moment? They LOOK appealing to me from the exterior shot, with the only drawback being that it looks like it gets constant full sun on the balcony. I'm really close to switching to this cabin but wanted to hear others opinions on it as i've never seen an Aft balcony on such a low deck before, but it looks like it would be fun. Here's the photo of the exterior...Thoughts? 

 

[OceanZena]

I want to also add the deck plan of these cabins. There's a block of 6 in the middle that are "regular" sized along with a few wonky shaped ones on either side of them so that makes choosing a cabin even more confusing. 

It looks like 2476 & 2497 are a bit more spacious inside, but the balcony outside looks odd. I wish there were photos available of these cabins! (I always go through this when I book a new cruise---I rack my brain trying to choose the best cabin and drive myself nuts while doing so lol). 

 

[Essiesmom]

On cruisedeckplans these cabins on deck 2 on the Costa plans are  classified as cove balconies.  EM

Edited May 12, 2023 by Essiesmom

[OceanZena]

5 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

On cruisedeckplans these cabins on deck 2 on the Costa plans are  classified as cove balconies.  EM

I've never had a cove balcony but do like the photos and videos i've seen of those. And zooming in on the photo above, it does appear that it has a "ceiling" so it appears to be covered. I guess it's too early to find images taken from passengers from on the balcony which is what i'd love to see. 

I'm really close to e mailing my PVP and switching to one of these cabins but can't decide which out of the block to choose from. I'm leaning towards 2476 (2497 on the other side is already taken so maybe that's a sign it's a good one? Or should I be safe and pick one of the "regular" cabins in the middle? Like I said, I always drive myself nuts doing this! 😂

[OceanZena]

Do other Carnival ships have aft cove balconies? I can check those out for comparison I guess. 

[Essiesmom]

6 minutes ago, OceanZena said:

Do other Carnival ships have aft cove balconies? I can check those out for comparison I guess. 

All of the ships from Dream class forward have cove balconies.  Firenze is sister to Venezia, which will be sailing her Carnival inaugural the end of this month.  There is at least one member @IntrepidFromDCDoing a Live from.  Perhaps you could ask on his thread if he could check them out.  EM

Edited May 12, 2023 by Essiesmom

[OceanZena]

9 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

All of the ships from Dream class forward have cove balconies.  Firenze is sister to Venezia, which will be sailing her Carnival inaugural the end of this month.  There is at least one member @IntrepidFromDC, Doing a Live from.  Perhaps you could ask on his thread if he could check them out.  EM

Thanks for that info. I just pulled up Venezia deck plan and it has exactly the same Deck 2 aft balconies as Firenze so i'll find that live thread and ask there. Maybe that member can get a photo shot from an upper deck down onto them. Or if i'm really lucky, they're actually staying in one of those cabins lol. Thanks again. 

 

Edit: Just found his thread but see he won't be on the ship until the 29th so i'll follow along and wait till he's on the ship to ask about those cabins. If I ask now, surely he'll forget by the time he's on the ship. I would if I were doing a huge trip like that! 😄

Edited May 12, 2023 by OceanZena

[csm5986142]

Very interesting - we were just in a cove balcony on the Dream but they did not have any on the back of the ship (those cabins were ocean view w/a window).

We absolutely love the cove balconies on the side of the ship but I don't know if I'd like one on the back.  The airflow/breeze is slightly reduced due to being a cove, and then our aft balcony cabins in general never had much of a breeze, so I'd worry they might get hot and stuffy (I guess it depends on the weather).

I'm curious to hear what you decide!

[OceanZena]

6 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

Very interesting - we were just in a cove balcony on the Dream but they did not have any on the back of the ship (those cabins were ocean view w/a window).

We absolutely love the cove balconies on the side of the ship but I don't know if I'd like one on the back.  The airflow/breeze is slightly reduced due to being a cove, and then our aft balcony cabins in general never had much of a breeze, so I'd worry they might get hot and stuffy (I guess it depends on the weather).

I'm curious to hear what you decide!

I've always wanted to try the coves anyway so i'm really tempted to change to this aft one. As for it possibly being hot/stuffy on the balcony, I don't think that would be a worry in this case since there's a member with a current live TR here doing the same itinerary saying it's actually chilly out which surprised me. 

And my sailing is for December so if it's chilly on that itinerary in the middle of May, I would imagine it will be downright cold in the middle of December lol. But being from Florida, I welcome that and say "the colder the better!" I'd love to sit on the balcony in a sweater drinking a hot coffee! 

[LaRue1975]

Go to the Vista class ships and look at the Family Harbor aft balcony cabins. You can find videos on YouTube. These would be the same as the ones on the Italian ships with out the family theme. Vista, Horizon and Panorama are the ships to look at. In those aft balconies there is a big “lip” on the back, looks kind of like a swim step to me, lol! So you cannot look straight down into the water but those cabins do look nice. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by LaRue1975

[Eli_6]

15 minutes ago, LaRue1975 said:

Go to the Vista class ships and look at the Family Harbor aft balcony cabins. You can find videos on YouTube. These would be the same as the ones on the Italian ships with out the family theme. Vista, Horizon and Panorama are the ships to look at. In those aft balconies there is a big “lip” on the back, looks kind of like a swim step to me, lol! So you cannot look straight down into the water but those cabins do look nice. 

I don't think those ships have these balconies on deck 2.  I think those are just OV rooms.  No balconies.

 

My biggest concern would be noise. Otherwise, I would think they would be awesome.

[Heartgrove]

Probably a lot of vibration and movement being that far back. Those two odd-shaped staterooms with the bed on a 45 degree angle are different for motion. 

[csm5986142]

1 hour ago, LaRue1975 said:

Go to the Vista class ships and look at the Family Harbor aft balcony cabins.

 

Great suggestion - I found a good video of one of these rooms on Horizon.  It's pretty cool but does not seem to be a cove (at least not like the cove I was in).  I'll try to paste the link below.

 

 

[OceanZena]

50 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

I don't think those ships have these balconies on deck 2.  I think those are just OV rooms.  No balconies.

 

My biggest concern would be noise. Otherwise, I would think they would be awesome.

The Panorama looks to have the same deck 2 aft balconies as Firenze and I found a You Tube video of cabin 2501 and loved what I saw of both the cabin and balcony so I think i'm going to change to this now that i've seen it. 

Here's the video of that. If the Firenze is anything like this, i'll be thrilled with it. 

 

 

[OceanZena]

3 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

 

Great suggestion - I found a good video of one of these rooms on Horizon.  It's pretty cool but does not seem to be a cove (at least not like the cove I was in).  I'll try to paste the link below.

 

 

That's just like the Panorama video I just posted. I really do like these cabins but what is the major difference if it's a Cove? Does that mean it's more closed in? From the exterior shot of the aft ship in my original post here they don't look all that closed in. 

In any case, after seeing these videos i'm now set on changing from deck 9 to the deck 2 aft, though I won't pick one of the wonky type rooms on the sides and will pick one of the regular box type cabin in the middle just to be safe and have no bad surprises. 

[OceanZena]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

My biggest concern would be noise. Otherwise, I would think they would be awesome.

Noise won't be a problem with me. I can sleep in the engine room and not hear a thing. 😂

 

16 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Probably a lot of vibration and movement being that far back. Those two odd-shaped staterooms with the bed on a 45 degree angle are different for motion. 

I decided against those odd shaped rooms and play it safe with one of the middle standard size cabins. I am curious about those, but i'm not bold enough to chance it. When I sail, i'll try and take a peek in one of them and see if I dodged a bullet or not. 

[LaRue1975]

2 hours ago, csm5986142 said:

 

Great suggestion - I found a good video of one of these rooms on Horizon.  It's pretty cool but does not seem to be a cove (at least not like the cove I was in).  I'll try to paste the link below.

 

 

No, the aft cabins on deck two are not coves, they are regular balconies with aft views. I love aft cabins, just not sure about that extra lip thing below. There is definitely vibration in the aft at times and it would be enhanced on deck two. I don’t mind, reminds of the old magic fingers feature on the beds in cheap motels but you don’t need quarters, lol! 

[Essiesmom]

5 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

No, the aft cabins on deck two are not coves, they are regular balconies with aft views. I love aft cabins, just not sure about that extra lip thing below. There is definitely vibration in the aft at times and it would be enhanced on deck two. I don’t mind, reminds of the old magic fingers feature on the beds in cheap motels but you don’t need quarters, lol! 

Those were the same motels where you put a quarter in to watch an hour of TV…. EM

[OceanZena]

I decided to just go for it sight unseen and e mailed my PVP this morning to change the booking. I was too afraid of choosing one of those oddly shaped cabins, and they looked weird inside them on You Tube videos of the cabins on the Horizon (which btw has a video of each and every one of those aft deck 2 balconies on Cruisedeckplans, so if you're interested in what they look like inside, that's the place to look!)

 

I chose cabin 2478 and think i'll be happy with it. I've never had an aft facing balcony, nor one so close to the water before so it'll be a whole new experience along with the different itinerary out of L.A. 

 

After doing so many sailings from my home port of Pt. Canaveral to the Bahamas, it's definitely time for a change of scenery. 

[LaRue1975]

7 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Those were the same motels where you put a quarter in to watch an hour of TV…. EM

I don’t remember using quarters for the TV, that’s funny! 

[LaRue1975]

36 minutes ago, OceanZena said:

I decided to just go for it sight unseen and e mailed my PVP this morning to change the booking. I was too afraid of choosing one of those oddly shaped cabins, and they looked weird inside them on You Tube videos of the cabins on the Horizon (which btw has a video of each and every one of those aft deck 2 balconies on Cruisedeckplans, so if you're interested in what they look like inside, that's the place to look!)

 

I chose cabin 2478 and think i'll be happy with it. I've never had an aft facing balcony, nor one so close to the water before so it'll be a whole new experience along with the different itinerary out of L.A. 

 

After doing so many sailings from my home port of Pt. Canaveral to the Bahamas, it's definitely time for a change of scenery. 

That’s fantastic, I think you will really enjoy it! I have been looking at the Firenze too, Long Beach is our home port. What itinerary are you doing? The Long Beach port is very nice too and well run. The terminal is spacious and comfortable, it is the in the dome they built to house the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughs plane. Also, the Queen Mary is adjacent, is newly renovated and the hotel is re-opening this month. I highly recommend staying there before or after your cruise. I don’t think I can squeeze Firenze in until 2025 but I definitely look forward to sailing on her. Enjoy your cruise and time in California! 😎

Edited May 13, 2023 by LaRue1975

[OceanZena]

31 minutes ago, LaRue1975 said:

That’s fantastic, I think you will really enjoy it! I have been looking at the Firenze too, Long Beach is our home port. What itinerary are you doing? The Long Beach port is very nice too and well run. The terminal is spacious and comfortable, it is the in the dome they built to house the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughs plane. Also, the Queen Mary is adjacent, is newly renovated and the hotel is re-opening this month. I highly recommend staying there before or after your cruise. I don’t think I can squeeze Firenze in until 2025 but I definitely look forward to sailing on her. Enjoy your cruise and time in California! 😎

I've been busy lately and out of the loop so I only learned about the Firenze this week and loved what I read and saw of it so had to book it. I love the idea of an Italian themed ship and can't wait to do this one. 

The itinerary is the 4 day Catalina/Ensenada sailing and both places i'd really love to see. Catalina especially as I love places you can easily walk around on foot sightseeing and shopping. 

I will check out the Queen Mary hotel since i've always wanted to visit there. This will be a Thursday embarkation, so I plan to arrive L.A. on Tuesday evening and have all day Wednesday to do a quick Hollywood tour (I have my heart set on visiting the Santa Monica Pier) so I may do Tuesday night in a Hollywood area hotel and then Wednesday at Queen Mary. 

 

[Essiesmom]

2 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

I don’t remember using quarters for the TV, that’s funny! 

That was early 50s, before TVs were standard in motel rooms.  We didn’t even have one at home.  I was in 6th grade before we got a TV, and I was out of college before my father bought a color TV.  EM

[Richiii3]

I'm going to be in one of these rooms in July. Please let us know how it is and what it ends up being classified as.