TA says "Hump Verandas Not Bigger." What would you do?

Not all travel agents know the secrets and tricks - many only know what the cruise line tells them, and Celebrities database does not detail that any Solstice class balcony rooms have a larger size or different shape. Even at the large cruise agency I work for very, very , VERY few agents (even those who have been doing this for 15+ years) would know about the oversized angled balconies on the forward and aft sides of the "hump". You would also be surprised how many travel agents have never even been on a cruise, even those who work for cruise only agencies.

A GOOD travel agent can give first hand recommendations, knows the "secret rooms" and is good at searching out extra discounts or perks, but those are increasingly rare, which is sad. My recommendation - find the rooms you want by using the online resources like Cruise Critic then shop around to see who can offer you the best extras above and beyond what Celebrity can offer. DO NOT book with a "travel agent" that is merely a call center agent, make sure you get an agent you can reach them at an extension and DO NOT book unless you feel confident that they will follow through and follow up. Typically a cruise line reservation agent is as clueless as a travel agent working in a call center, so you may not get better results going directly to Celebrity either.

Last fall we had three balconies' dividers open on Reflection -- it was great. We'd have our own sailaway cocktail hour with ourselves and friends out there. It's one of my favorite things, and makes me sad I can't seem to do it this trip.

 

We opened balcony dividers between triple-occupancy cabins on the Caribbean Princess back in 2007, so I didn't expect it to be this difficult.

A solution may be to book a double and quad connecting rooms, then once onboard the ship have the cabin steward make up the sofa in the double room as a bed. I stayed in a room on the Solstice with my 2 sisters that could accommodate up to 4 and the cabin attendant made the sofa into a bed vs using the trundle or upper berth and she liked that much better.

There's almost always a creative solution :)

...once onboard the ship have the cabin steward make up the sofa in the double room as a bed.

Now THAT is good information.Thank you! Why didn't I think of that? This solves all problems, and my granddaughter (7) would be fine on the sofa.

If we're ever on a ship together, I will buy you a drink. Or seeing as how you may be in Atlanta, I could do that closer to home too!

This conversation illustrates why cruise critic is awesome!!

 

the hump slanted balconies ARE bigger. been in 9292 on it is wonderfully deep.

 

happy sailing.

This old post sure helps illustrate H2OH!'s wonderfully deep balcony in 9292 :)

Now THAT is good information.Thank you! Why didn't I think of that? This solves all problems, and my granddaughter (7) would be fine on the sofa.

 

If we're ever on a ship together, I will buy you a drink. Or seeing as how you may be in Atlanta, I could do that closer to home too!

I just discovered a flaw in my logic however - the only connecting angled balcony rooms on the Silhouette are C1 concierge class, and they are all triple/double connecting rooms :( crap

The standard balconies on the flat part of the hump do offer quad/double connecting rooms. The quad rooms all have a square and a triangle to denote that they have a single sofa trundle bed and an upper bunk.

On the wonderful illustration 2 posts up, it would seem that 9290 and 9292 would work for you -- and there are 15 other pairs just like that (three below and four on the other side of the ship, plus 8 more on the forward edge of the hump)

Sunset Verandahs at the stern of the ship are often described on reviews as larger than in standard verandah cabins but these are usually in heavy demand.

Also the comment by Jim below is correct that the cabin attendant will open the dividers if you have a party in the adjacent two cabins despite absence of a connecting door inside the cabin..........your TA provided the correct answer to the wrong question

The hump verandahs and the ones forward or back of the hump have one major advantage over most standard verandahs.............absence of any lifeboats in the downward view to the water. Minor if you are on a higher deck in any cabin but major difference on the lower decks

One thing we found interesting with the SV....it depends on which class ship you're on....we had one on the Infinity and have one again on the Summit...and the cabins may be the same but the balconies were larger than the one we had on the Eclipse...but the view from them is absolutely marvelous and if there's two people sharing the cabin the balcony is certainly big enough to be comfortable.

As for removing the partition between 2 balconies, I can attest to that from our last cruise in March when we were 2 couples side by side in SV and asked our steward if the partition could be removed. When we came back from dinner it was done. (Notwithstanding that the ship rules clearly state that this partition may not, under any circumstances, be removed):D

One thing to be kept in mind with the SV cabins on the S class ships is the distance to the nearest elevator bank. I have difficulty walking long distances and it never occurred to me that the Eclipse would not have an elevator bank mid-ship, aft and forward like the M class. But they only have 2: mid-ship and forward....and the walk from the aft cabins is half the length of the ship...every time you leave the cabin!

We have the first slanted cabin on the hump and the next two regular balcony cabins , can the dividers still be opened up ?

We were in 9294, still huge way bigger than our buds in their Aqua cabin.

We have the first slanted cabin on the hump and the next two regular balcony cabins , can the dividers still be opened up ?

It's hard to tell from the diagram PP posted but I don't see why not. They don't remove the entire partition...just the portion that goes out to the railing, creating a walkway between cabins ....it's wide enough to walk from one balcony to the other and if you're standing at the railing you can see each other but you couldn't like set up the table with 4 chairs around it. One thing to note is that you each have access to the other's cabin through the balcony door. We found it very convenient because we shared stuff but we were next to my family...don't know if I'd do it with someone I didn't trust completely.

1075 --beautiful cabin and the verandah IS bigger

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Since only the two of us will occasionally sit on our verandah, the size isn't important to us.

:confused: Is the verandah size all that important?

Larger veranda allows a lounger laid out vs chair. Larger verandas allow shifting forward/backward to control exposure to sun and/or wind, rain.

Issue with SV aft cabins on S-class is shallow overhead cover, so very hot in strong sun or little cover in rain. HAPPY CRUISING

It's hard to tell from the diagram PP posted but I don't see why not. They don't remove the entire partition...just the portion that goes out to the railing, creating a walkway between cabins ....it's wide enough to walk from one balcony to the other and if you're standing at the railing you can see each other but you couldn't like set up the table with 4 chairs around it. One thing to note is that you each have access to the other's cabin through the balcony door. We found it very convenient because we shared stuff but we were next to my family...don't know if I'd do it with someone I didn't trust completely.

Thanks, that's ok we are all family and close friends that I'd trust with my life

I wound up doing research on an airline site, looking for an adjacent Quad and Double. Most of the 1A category was still available, so I chose 7241 and 7243, the first and second rear-facing cabins off the hump. Not actually adjoining, but adjacent, so we can open the balcony divider for shared space. We'll have the sofa made up in the double for our granddaughter and we're all squared away.

I booked through X certified vacation planners and got the offer I wanted; classic drink package and OBC, and 50% deposit. The kids have classic non-alcoholic drink package, but I don't see that on my invoice yet. I'll give it a day or two to see if it shows up.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions - you're all so very helpful and appreciated.

I wound up doing research on an airline site, looking for an adjacent Quad and Double. Most of the 1A category was still available, so I chose 7241 and 7243, the first and second rear-facing cabins off the hump. Not actually adjoining, but adjacent, so we can open the balcony divider for shared space. We'll have the sofa made up in the double for our granddaughter and we're all squared away.

 

I booked through X certified vacation planners and got the offer I wanted; classic drink package and OBC, and 50% deposit. The kids have classic non-alcoholic drink package, but I don't see that on my invoice yet. I'll give it a day or two to see if it shows up.

 

Thanks to all who offered suggestions - you're all so very helpful and appreciated.

Great! I'm glad you figured out something that will work for you. I think you will really appreciate the adjacent balconies with the divider opened up.

Great that you found a solution! Now find a good TA to switch this booking to, and get some OBC to enhance your perks!

One thing we found interesting with the SV....it depends on which class ship you're on....we had one on the Infinity and have one again on the Summit...and the cabins may be the same but the balconies were larger than the one we had on the Eclipse...but the view from them is absolutely marvelous and if there's two people sharing the cabin the balcony is certainly big enough to be comfortable.

There are no SV cabins on M class ships :confused:? I think you are getting confused with either C1s or FVs ;).

There are no SV cabins on M class ships :confused:? I think you are getting confused with either C1s or FVs ;).

You're right about that...we were in SV on the Eclipse and concierge o(not sure if it was 1-2 or 3) on Summit and Infinity. I was incorrectly under the impression that all of the aft cabins were called SV to distinguish them from port or starboard side cabins. Thanks for the information.

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