Locked out on balcony

[limoncello56]

On the very first morning of a cruise out of Los Angeles on the Coral Princess, I stepped out of my cabin to enjoy the ocean view from my balcony. Shortly thereafter, I realized that I had managed to lock myself out of the cabin. Fortunately, it was fairly easy to flag down a staff member and request help. In a few moments, the cabin steward was there to let me back into my room, though he was confused as I concerning the cause. So here is my burning question: Does this sort of thing happen often? Thanks.

[notentirelynormal]

Not sure how you would get locked out. The lock has to be manually moved to change it's position. It is NOT an automatic lock. How did you flag down an employee? You were on a balcony, they were in the hallway.

[wwcruisers]

It's rare, but I've heard of it happening occasionally. We had a similarly strange situation on Celebrity Millennium. DH and I got up early one day for a quick breakfast before our scheduled shore excursion. We rushed back to the room to get our things, but could not get into our cabin. Neither of our cards would open the door, although we got the "green light" every time we swiped them. The security officer who who came to open our door asked us if anyone else was in the room. We gave him a puzzled reply of "No -- it's just the two of us." Turns out that the dead-bolt had somehow slipped into place when we closed the door behind us -- and he had to use a real (metal) key to open it. Fortunately, we were still able to make our shore excursion, and we had no further problems with that lock.

[Keith1010]

I have not heard of others locking themselves out but I know of two cases (because they were in the cabin and called down to me) of this happening.

In one case the woman was out on the balcony and the husband did not know that and he locked the door on the way out of the room.

In another case the room stewardess locked the door.

Keith

[celle]

Originally Posted by Keith1010

I have not heard of others locking themselves out but I know of two cases (because they were in the cabin and called down to me) of this happening.

In one case the woman was out on the balcony and the husband did not know that and he locked the door on the way out of the room.

In another case the room stewardess locked the door.

Keith

I locked my DH out on the balcony on Millennium. I was rushing to go to a class, forgot he was out there, and locked the room up, including the balcony door. Oops!

DH managed to attract the attention of someone on a balcony above him and they called a steward to let him in again.

I got a lot of good-natured teasing from our cabin steward, who thought I had done it on purpose!

[KirkNC]

I have heard of it happening before, usually it is a lock malfunction.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I have also heard of people getting locked out on their balconies. It is rare -- but it does happen. Locks can malfunction on ships just like at home.

So far we have never gotten locked out on our verandah.

[Gunner22aa]

Except I didn't accidentaly lock myself out. I was reading on the balcony and DW went off to a spa appointment and locked the door. She was out of the cabin before I could get her attention. Stuck out on the aft balcony for about 2 1/2 hours as we were on the end with no one to one side and the people in the cabin on the other were out. Hot day and not a drop of water. Mother comes home and finds me there and proceeds to tell me she has been looking all over the ship for me and what was I up to. A very sheepish appology when she realized that to get to me on the balcony she had to unlock the door. A quick trip to the bar and a couple of beers later I was fully rehydrated. We still laugh about it after a number of years.

[paul929207]

The balcony door usually requires a good tug to move. I would think it unlikely the ones we have had could lock on their own

[beachbum53]

I wonder if someone has ever gotten locked out on the balcony and they were either in their underwear or birthday suit? That could be very awkward (not to mention embarassing).

[Treven]

Originally Posted by Gunner22aa

Except I didn't accidentaly lock myself out. I was reading on the balcony and DW went off to a spa appointment and locked the door. She was out of the cabin before I could get her attention.

I've never had a balcony, so I don't know. The balcony door locks when you lock the hallway door?

[iheartbda]

Originally Posted by beachbum53

I wonder if someone has ever gotten locked out on the balcony and they were either in their underwear or birthday suit? That could be very awkward (not to mention embarassing).

I know someone who got locked out and REALLY had to go to the potty.

Originally Posted by Treven

I've never had a balcony, so I don't know. The balcony door locks when you lock the hallway door?

Nope.

[corpkid]

Moderately tangent:

I got locked out on my 8th floor condo balcony by the house keeper (I went out there to work while she did her thing - and I'm usually not home during the day). Didn't realize till after she left. (insert many expletives)

Had to wait 5 hours out there for my other half to get home. Best part. I left my cell phone on the table RIGHT inside the door and could see it. Not a happy camper! We have stashed a key out there in the plants just in case.

"Life is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, and the lesson afterwards"

[EdmPair]

Gotta follow this one. If locks never malfunctioned, I might starve. My only balcony room on the Nieuw Amsterdam had a European mortise lock on it. The thumb turn on the inside would throw a bolt and lock up both lever handles. Unless there is a malfunction, this style of hardware can not lock you on the balcony. (A spousal unit locking you out there is not a LOCK malfunction.). I can not comment on the hardware used on any other ship, but guess it would often be similar.

[Rockfan2]

Originally Posted by beachbum53

I wonder if someone has ever gotten locked out on the balcony and they were either in their underwear or birthday suit? That could be very awkward (not to mention embarassing).

Almost but not quite.

My DH and I love the aft cabins that were classed as inside but are now classed as outside because they do have a window.

On the Navigation deck, no balcony but we do have the full aft deck just outside our door. We come home after closing the casino on a formal night. DH changes out of his tux and is in his tidy whities and house coat, mixes our cocktails and we head out to the aft deck.

We're ready for a second round and he asks me for my room key. Why would I have my key? I'm still dressed but my purse in inside our cabin. DH didn't think to tuck a room key in his pocket so I go off to the front deck to get a duplicate key to get back in. Front staff were fabulous as always and give me a new card key. Only problem is that I am notoriously bad at directions and can not find my way back to our aft deck without taking the scenic route

Finally met up with DH and second round was served and key in pocket.

Rockfan2

[Happy ks]

Every balcony cabin we've stayed in, you have to force the door closed and push down with quite a bit of effort to lock the door. The only way I could see someone being locked out is if someone else inside locked them out.

The only time anyone ever got locked out of onto our balcony was my Aunt. She insisted on coming into our cabin prior to going to dinner. I told her my husband was in the shower and would be out in a few minutes to get dressed and he would like privacy. She said that was OK with her, she would just sit on the balcony. So, she went out there and I informed her I was locking the door so there wouldn't be any surprises. I guess I would have checked on her if she had knocked on the door, but she just sat there for 15/20 minutes.

[limoncello56]

I had no idea there would be so many replies to this matter. After reading everyone's comments, I can tell you this was just an odd combination of mechanical failure (the lock may have been half-way engaged when the door was pulled shut) and my own naivete - one should never fully close the door when out on the balcony. As one of the posters noted, life is a hard teacher.

A couple of words of clarification. It was my excellent fortune to have a balcony with no cover, which meant that my balcony could be easily seen by passersby on the walkways above. And I could get a reasonably good view of the upper upper deck walkways. It didn't take long before a crew member walking the exterior walkway on the Lido deck above was spotted. Once he learned of my predicament, he told me he would notify his supervisor. In a few minutes my affable cabin steward was in my room, unlocking the balcony door and letting me back inside.

By recounting the story here I had hoped to get the curious incident out of my system and reflect on the many positive aspects of the cruise, including the responsive crew who got me out of a seemingly inexplicable situation. Perhaps the lesson I should take from this is that travel, even on a cruise ship, is still full of mystery. Thanks for all your comments.

[fleckle]

Originally Posted by limoncello56

On the very first morning of a cruise out of Los Angeles on the Coral Princess, I stepped out of my cabin to enjoy the ocean view from my balcony. Shortly thereafter, I realized that I had managed to lock myself out of the cabin. Fortunately, it was fairly easy to flag down a staff member and request help. In a few moments, the cabin steward was there to let me back into my room, though he was confused as I concerning the cause. So here is my burning question: Does this sort of thing happen often? Thanks.

If that ever happens to you on a Celebrity cruise, the solution is very easy.

You only need to light up a cigarette on the balcony and someone from security will be there instantly.

[5326jan]

Originally Posted by limoncello56

I had no idea there would be so many replies to this matter. After reading everyone's comments, I can tell you this was just an odd combination of mechanical failure (the lock may have been half-way engaged when the door was pulled shut) and my own naivete - one should never fully close the door when out on the balcony. As one of the posters noted, life is a hard teacher.

A couple of words of clarification. It was my excellent fortune to have a balcony with no cover, which meant that my balcony could be easily seen by passersby on the walkways above. And I could get a reasonably good view of the upper upper deck walkways. It didn't take long before a crew member walking the exterior walkway on the Lido deck above was spotted. Once he learned of my predicament, he told me he would notify his supervisor. In a few minutes my affable cabin steward was in my room, unlocking the balcony door and letting me back inside.

By recounting the story here I had hoped to get the curious incident out of my system and reflect on the many positive aspects of the cruise, including the responsive crew who got me out of a seemingly inexplicable situation. Perhaps the lesson I should take from this is that travel, even on a cruise ship, is still full of mystery. Thanks for all your comments.

LOL, I'm sure the cabin stewards have had to rescue passengers from much worse scenarios! No need to be embarrassed!

[OCruisers]

Originally Posted by fleckle

If that ever happens to you on a Celebrity cruise, the solution is very easy.

You only need to light up a cigarette on the balcony and someone from security will be there instantly.

Note to self: Take a pack of cigarettes and a lighter whenever going out on balcony. (Buy cigs & lighter if needed.) Should should work now on Princess too!

LuLu
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