Hello, I have cruised and loved it four times now, but I've always gotten a balcony room on the side of the ship (due to hearing that there is less motion there). I will be traveling on one of the old Renaissance ships and I'm interested in knowing the pros and cons of fore and aft cabins re: motion, too much wind in fore cabins?, and strangely, my husband thinks we will smell deisel fuel from aft cabin. I've never smelled any kind of fuel on a ship; I don't know if it comes out a smokestack or out the back or....??? Okay, I said it was supid.
It does seem that there would be a GREAT view from those rooms. Would anyone who's been fore and aft on ANY ship please advise? Thanks VERY much! Janed

Janed,

I don't like balcony cabins facing forward at all. Wind is a major issue here while the ship is at sea. On the other hand, balconies facing aft are usually very nice. Not only are they often (but not always!) larger than the balconies of cabins in the same category on one of the sides, but wind is usually not an issue. I have never experienced any kind of diesel smell but soot can be a (minor IMHO) problem on some ships. From my experience with two "R" ships, these vessels suffer from very little vibration, so that shouldn't be a problem, either.

I would book an aft-facing balcony cabin again in a heartbeat!

My all time favorite cruise was in a mini-suite all the way aft on Ocean Princess (Sea, Sun, Dawn class) The balcony faced aft and we had no problem with any fuel smell. The exhaust goes out the stacks not the back. Because the balcony was on the stern..it was much larger than the balconies on the sides. Great suite...Caribe 744