Pros and cons of front of ship

We’ve been in haven several times on upgrades. Had a penthouse once and balconies the other. All were aft and we loved them. It’s not just for families and groups. It’s excellent for a couple who enjoys private time in uncrowned areas. Restaurant is as good as the premium steakhouse on the ship. Would do again in a heartbeat. You get such personal service.

I;ve done Forward-facing rooms on Oasis, and Allure, and have one scheduled for December '24 on Independence.

Generally, we've always enjoyed them, and have never experienced more or less motion than other locations onboard.

Just be aware that on many ships, leaving the balcony doors open turns OFF the A/C.. Back in the day,, we'd try to sleep with the balcony doors open...sound of the ocean etc....not anymore tho...we still start our day with the freebie continental breakfast, delivered early..(get it while its still free, depending on the ship and the cruiseline that is)...course if the balcony door is open and the cabin door gets opened, you now have a typhoon from the companionway...........thats the hall for you lubbers heheheheh..

I too have heard good reviews of the Haven cabins, but have never stayed in one. Generically speaking - I prefer the aft as the balcony doors can be open most of the time. Never stayed in the front, but I have heard the windows MUST be closed while at sea AND the forward curtains must be closed at night so the Bridge is not negatively impacted. The video I saw for the Getaway had a very small side balcony. That is a positive (even though small). Keep reading reviews from past cruisers. I am partial to the aft cabins. Best wishes. Enjoy !!

Well I've been on both those ships, (BREAKAWAY AND GETAWAY)..several times each...and never even been tempted to "bid" on anything, up to and especially HAVEN. Had enough conversations with HAVEN types to realize its geared toward families and groups..don't like the atmosphere, and I'll let it go at that...besides , you're bidding on unsold or cancelled cabins..as far as the bow goes, about half the time we do a midshipos balcony, the other ships we've been on we tend to gravitate towards the aft and/or corner wraparounds. As you can tell, it all depends on whose review you happen to read...from your origlinal post itself your "heard" both good and bad...I don't like the wind/weather at the bow. If you're on either of those ships, spend a little extra and buy VIBE passes instead.

Sorry that I cannot comment on Haven as we have never done Haven. We usually do midship balcony. Once we went cheaper on RCL Anthem and booked an interior virtual balcony but we upgraded to a front facing cabin. Those have windows instead of balconies but the space of the balcony is still there so it has a bit more interior room. It was ok but the view was limited. This was our first and only non balcony cruise and much prefer the balcony