Advantage of Aft facing BA cabin?

[DaisyL]

OK, I've heard others get very excited about this cabin choice. Please let me in on the news. We have stayed in balcony cabins before but never an Aft facing cabin.

 

I decided to upgrade to a balcony cabin today (had CC OV cabin) and surprise my husband. When I searched for available cabins, I found an Aft facing BA balcony available, called my TA and paid the difference.

 

I really can't wait till March for the cruise and to see the smile on my husband's face. So, let me know why most seem to like this cabin. Thanks ....

[tiggerfan616]

Great sunsets and the sounds of the wake is very peaceful. We will never cruise in anything but an aft cabin

[sottovoce]

Balconies that face aft have little or no wind even when the ship is moving. The wake is calming. You can see both to port and starboard. On deck 10 of Jewel-class ships the balconies are much deeper.

[knjfaith]

which balconies are better deck 10 or deck 11(not talking about the rooms/suites strictly the balconies)?

[BikerAl]

For us, deck 10, as you are not directly under the great outdoors.

 

Al

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

I totally agree with everyone but.... when we had our aft cabin, it was the only time we have ever gotten seasick, even when the waters were calm. It seemed like you could feel the ship go up and down and side to side more. My husband could hardly stand to be in the cabin. It did have a great view, huge balcony and I love the wake, but it is useless if you cannot stay in the room. We tried Bonine, but I felt like I had a hangover all the next day. I realize that aft cabins are like gold, but, sadly, we will not be getting another one. The only good that I can see with this problem is that we don't have to rush to book to make sure we get an aft cabin. We had a BA on the 10th deck. I think the balcony was deeper on the 10th than on the 11th.

[CC Help Michell]

I totally agree with everyone but.... when we had our aft cabin' date=' it was the only time we have ever gotten seasick, even when the waters were calm. It seemed like you could feel the ship go up and down and side to side more. My husband could hardly stand to be in the cabin. It did have a great view, huge balcony and I love the wake, but it is useless if you cannot stay in the room. We tried Bonine, but I felt like I had a hangover all the next day. I realize that aft cabins are like gold, but, sadly, we will not be getting another one. The only good that I can see with this problem is that we don't have to rush to book to make sure we get an aft cabin. We had a BA on the 10th deck. I think the balcony was deeper on the 10th than on the 11th.[/quote']

 

This isn't a small concern. Motion on any ship is greater at the fore and aft ends -- pitch motion (up and down, versus side to side yaw motion). Not everyone loves aft cabins. They have up and down motion -- they sometimes are behind the smokestack/soot droppings when underway -- they may have noise or privacy issues depending on what's above and below -- and since they are leeward of the prevailing winds, they often can be quite warm/hot.

 

On the other side, some folks love that "swish-swish" sound of the wake (fell in love with that on my first cruise and haven't gotten enough of it since!), love the side to side views while in port, and so on.

 

It's like so many things -- a personal preference. I think folks should try a lot of different cruiselines -- and I think folks should also try different cabin locations on the ship. That's when one learns what works for you, and what doesn't. Without that kind of first-hand knowledge, everything else is just "advice" which may or may not fit you.

[Cruise_More_Often]

We've been in aft-facing cabins twice, once in Alaska and once in the Caribbean, and neither time did we experience any real movement.

 

We did experience A LOT of motion in a bow cabin on a northbound repo between LA and Vancouver, but almost nothing on a roundtrip Mexican Riviera cruise in a bow cabin.

[sottovoce]

We experienced very rough seas heading west out of Madeira on our Jewel trans-Atlantic and again from Italy's boot to Athens on Jade, both on deck 10 aft. No big deal, although the champagne bucket and fake potted plant were knocked to the floor on the latter.

 

Know thy stomach.

[DaisyL]

Thanks everyone for answering so promptly. I guess we'll see if we like it or not. I'll be sure to report back after the cruise.

[cw2go]

Hello I also am a little concerned about the aft balcony. For those of you experienced cruisers, I have an aft balcony on the Pearl RT seattle Alaska cruise and I wanted to know will this be too rough for me and should I stick to a center balcony room? I spoke with the rep from NCL and she said that since I am on deck 9 that it will be fine and I will not feel motion because I am far from the water???:confused: I was surprised because I thought the higher up the more sway you felt. Please help, I thought when I got the aft balcony cool beans now I am unsure...Is it really that nice or not?

 

Thank you,

Patty

[mpk218]

Hello I also am a little concerned about the aft balcony. For those of you experienced cruisers, I have an aft balcony on the Pearl RT seattle Alaska cruise and I wanted to know will this be too rough for me and should I stick to a center balcony room? I spoke with the rep from NCL and she said that since I am on deck 9 that it will be fine and I will not feel motion because I am far from the water???:confused: I was surprised because I thought the higher up the more sway you felt. Please help, I thought when I got the aft balcony cool beans now I am unsure...Is it really that nice or not?

 

Thank you,

Patty

 

 

:pLOL , Thats classic...

 

Dont worry you will hardly feel a thing. Since you are going out of Seattle Im assuming you are sailing out around Victoria Island . Here you may feel some movment being on the sea side . But once you are in the inside passage its like glass.

And you are correct about the NCL Rep. , she's a bit off. The higher you are the more you will feel the sea.

Mid ship bottom deck is you most stable. dont do it.

[cw2go]

So I take it you say keep the aft bal.

 

By chance do you know how big the balcony is? Is it larger in an aft bal. than on a side bal room? Also is it covered? Thank you for your help...

 

Patty

[AFT_LOVER]

Normally I woud kill you for telling the Jewel secret aboiut 10, but even a mini on 11 has a smaller balcony as we experienced last November with the upgrade to a mini aft on 11 from an AFT on 10. NEVER AGAIN!

 

 

Balconies that face aft have little or no wind even when the ship is moving. The wake is calming. You can see both to port and starboard. On deck 10 of Jewel-class ships the balconies are much deeper.

[AFT_LOVER]

But AFT only!

 

which balconies are better deck 10 or deck 11(not talking about the rooms/suites strictly the balconies)?

[knjfaith]

how much bigger are 10s vs 11s?

[sos4fun]

We had aft balcony on Deck 10 for RT Jade cruise Barcelona Nov 18th. Despite some rough seas 4 of the 12 days, we didn't find that there was any problem in the cabin, and I'm very prone to seasickness. I took Bonine and Ginger capsules and they did the trick. The balcony is larger than the mini's, and there's more walking-around room. I loved the Aft balcony and would do it again in a heartbeat! There was no noise problem as someone had mentioned, nothing but the quiet swish of the surf. It was wonderful.

[JennAngel9]

DH and I had our first AFT ever on the Gem, I didn't find the motion sickness to be different from anywhere else I have stayed on the ship (with the possible exception of dead center, which I find a slight improvement) and we usually stay about 3/4ths of the way towards the aft end of the ship. However, we did end up voluntarily vacating our room (at night) for an inside cabin b/c we could not sleep with the fairly intense vibration (and also some sound) coming from the bowling alley/club below. If you are a party 'til dawn type person, it may not matter to you, but if you like to sleep before 3am, do not stay directly above the bowling alley-- unless you are a champion sleeper. FWIW, my husband falls alseep extremely easily and even he was distracted by it.

[golf_hawaii]

We had aft balcony on Deck 10 for RT Jade cruise Barcelona Nov 18th. Despite some rough seas 4 of the 12 days, we didn't find that there was any problem in the cabin, and I'm very prone to seasickness. I took Bonine and Ginger capsules and they did the trick. The balcony is larger than the mini's, and there's more walking-around room. I loved the Aft balcony and would do it again in a heartbeat! There was no noise problem as someone had mentioned, nothing but the quiet swish of the surf. It was wonderful.

 

Thanks for the assurance! Nothing like motion sickness to ruin a great vacation. :eek: Since fresh air is the best thing for motion sickness, the balcony itself might lessen the chance of feeling ill...

 

As for the comment about being farther "away from the water". I fully agree. It was the waves splashing the window on my OV cabin and the water moving "sideways" past me in my peripheral vision, that made me queasy last time in a mid ship cabin!

 

Bonine knocks me out, so I am going with the scopolamine patch this time!

[krsw44]

Is the aft BA balcony bigger on the Dawn deck10, (which is under the fitness center) than on aft deck 9? Which is better BA aft deck 10 or 9

[candygirl27540]

10 !!

[suzyed]

I totally agree with everyone but.... when we had our aft cabin' date=' it was the only time we have ever gotten seasick, even when the waters were calm. It seemed like you could feel the ship go up and down and side to side more. My husband could hardly stand to be in the cabin. It did have a great view, huge balcony and I love the wake, but it is useless if you cannot stay in the room. We tried Bonine, but I felt like I had a hangover all the next day. I realize that aft cabins are like gold, but, sadly, we will not be getting another one. The only good that I can see with this problem is that we don't have to rush to book to make sure we get an aft cabin. We had a BA on the 10th deck. I think the balcony was deeper on the 10th than on the 11th.[/quote']

I prob shouldn't say this...'cause we like to keep it a secret....shhhhh!

We loved, loved, loved our aft cabin! Grrrrr! We don't want a stampede to the afts...but I think you made a wise choice.

We did not experience ANY movement, the sound of the wake lulled us to sleep each night, the scenery is a beautiful panoramic view, no noise or rowdy kids running down the halls, etc, etc. AND, when we were on the Star, you can smell all the delicous aromas coming the bakery below....heavenly!

Have a wonderful time...you will probably never look at cruising the same way. Let us know what you think!

[suzyed]

Hello I also am a little concerned about the aft balcony. For those of you experienced cruisers, I have an aft balcony on the Pearl RT seattle Alaska cruise and I wanted to know will this be too rough for me and should I stick to a center balcony room? I spoke with the rep from NCL and she said that since I am on deck 9 that it will be fine and I will not feel motion because I am far from the water???:confused: I was surprised because I thought the higher up the more sway you felt. Please help, I thought when I got the aft balcony cool beans now I am unsure...Is it really that nice or not?

 

Thank you,

Patty

Don't worry! We have been mid, forward, ALL the way forward, and aft. Mid is fine, forward is ok, ALL the way forward was HOT (caribbean cruise), high, low, Aft was the BEST!!

We were on deck 8 aft (stern)on the Star to Alaska and it was wonderful!

[DaisyL]

I am the original OP and am so excited about our aft balcony although it's deck 8 on the Jewel... I received my documents this week and the paperwork only states the cabin number and 'aft'. I'm hoping to keep the aft balcony cabin a surprise for my husband.

 

So far, so good... I'm wondering at what point he'll figure it out. With the new 2.0 Freestyle and the different designation he'll probably find out when we register for the cards at the pier. It would be great if he didn't find out until we are walking to the cabin. What do you think?

 

Again everyone, thanks for all the comments.

[suzyed]

I am the original OP and am so excited about our aft balcony although it's deck 8 on the Jewel... I received my documents this week and the paperwork only states the cabin number and 'aft'. I'm hoping to keep the aft balcony cabin a surprise for my husband.

 

So far, so good... I'm wondering at what point he'll figure it out. With the new 2.0 Freestyle and the different designation he'll probably find out when we register for the cards at the pier. It would be great if he didn't find out until we are walking to the cabin. What do you think?

 

Again everyone, thanks for all the comments.

I think you will be able to keep it secret until you get to the cabin, unless you are in a suite. Cause if you are in a suite, you get priority boading and meet the concierge and butler, etc.

Good luck..you will have a wonderful time! Let us know if you kept it a surprise! ;)