O.K. ,What exactly is a French Balcony?

We just returned from our first river cruise on the Uniworld S.S. Antoinette on which we had a standard lower level (aquarium) cabin. It was small but very nice an adequate. After this cruise we would probably have stayed with Uniworld but I had already booked another cruise with Vantage on the River Splendor. Both these ships have rooms with French Balconies. We have viewed these from the companies online websites and these appear to be large picture type windows which would be very nice, however, I looked at the sides of the S.S. Antoinette , and I did not see any balconies extending from the sides of the ship. We purchased a single room for our adult daughter as a Christmas present and it would be nice to have a room with a large window or balcony for a meeting place. Are these rooms any larger and whats the deal?

A French Balcony is a cabin with a floor to ceiling double glass window, more or less like a patio door. The one side slides open for air or for viewing, but there is no balcony on which to step out. There is a rail midway across the outside of the window to prevent you from falling out, but there are also signs cautioning against leaning on the rail. So, if you are looking for space outside your cabin, you will want a veranda cabin.

Here is a very long thread about French Balconies:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1756065&highlight=french+balcony

Here is a very long thread about French Balconies:

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1756065&highlight=french+balcony

Thanks, it appears that most French balcony cabins are of standard size with a large opening window with a rail to prevent falling.