Magic Spa Balcony - Privacy question

[TMWTim]

On our Magic Valentines Day cruise we got a nice discounted room comp while playing in the casino. One stipulation was we had to book within 14 days of debarking. Anyway, we just recently booked and with the room discount along with the military discount we ended up getting a deck 12 spa balcony as apparently that is all they had left. Cruise is May 5th.

My question is, after researching many threads that are a year or more old, what is the current state of privacy on a Spa balcony? I have read that people above can look down and see you and I have also read that the Magic has already solved this problem with metal bars. Does anyone have a update? There is a good chance I can get us moved down to deck 11 but if there really isn't a privacy issue we would rather stay on 12 to be close to the spa. Point blank, topless sunbathing is a bonus but if there is a privacy issue then we need to take that in to consideration.

Thanks so much for any info. I appreciate it.

[cruisinJenF]

I don't think metal bars could fix the issue. The deck juts out on 12 and the deck above just looks right onto the balcony if you look down because its pushed out. It's a VERY clear view- unless they have covered it with an awning no bars will block it. I would move to a deck 11 Spa balcony if that's important to have people not looking down on you on your deck. Deck 11 is just as close to the spa really- there is a little glass elevator or stairs that takes you right up to it on 14. You wold have to go up a deck to get to it anyway on 12.

Have a good cruise!

[Riley's Mom]

We were in cabin 12044 on the Magic last May and loved the cabin. We are booked in another Spa balcony this May. TO answer your question, Yes the people on the deck above can AND do look down onto your private balcony. But they can only see the area of the balcony closest to the railing.
Unless you are standing at your railing I don't think they can see you.

It does get quite hot during the day with direct sunlight on the balcony.
I do wish they would cover the Spa balconies.

In response to the previous poster, I don't know of any Spa balconies on Deck 11. The Spa balconies are only located on deck 12.
Deck 11 has interior spa cabins.

[cruisinJenF]

There are spa balconies- spa Suites and spa interiors on deck 11.

Here is a list of all Cloud 9 spa cabins.


Interior: Category 4S on Deck 11
11207
11208
11211
11212
11216
11217
11219
11220
11223
11224
11227
11228
11231
11232
11233
11234
11238
11239
11241
11242
12008
12012
12018
12022
Sky View (obstructed): Category 6S on Deck 11
11201
11202
11203
11204




Ocean View with Balcony: Category 8P on Deck 11
11209
11210
11214
11218
11222
11225
11226
11229
11230
11235
11236
11237
11240
11243
11244
11245
11246







Ocean View with Balcony: Category 8S on Deck 12
12001
12002
12003
12004
12005
12006
12007
12009
12010
12011
12014
12015
12016
12017
12019
12020
12021
12023
12024
12025
12026
12027
12028
12029
12030
12031
12032
12033
12034
12035
12036
12037
12038
12040
12042
12044




Ocean Suite: Category SS on Deck 11
11205
11206
11215
11221

[TMWTim]

Yeah that was what CCL was saying as well. There are spa category cabins on 11 as well. We chose 12 as it was the same comp as 11 and figured we might as well be on 12 closer to the actual spa. We didn't realize, at the time, that someone thought it would be OK to have those 12 balconies viewable from people up above. To me that oversight was pretty bad on the designers. Spa, relax, privacy, serenity...oh wait, people above you can view your balcony

We will give Players Club a call on Monday when they reopen and see what they can do. I would rather downgrade and free up that spa cabin for those that would really want it but the ship, as far as balconies goes, is booked solid. No worries.

Thanks for the info guys.

[dancergirl_lt]

We were recently on the Magic in a Spa cabin on deck 12 in January. We were also concerned about how visible the balcony would be to those on the Serenity deck above. We soon noticed that it was not a problem at all and that it never bothered us. The sun that the balcony receives since there is no covering on the top of the balcony is very nice. We went to the Serenity deck and attempted to look over but honestly you really can't the way it is setup. The Serenity deck is set back far enough where it makes it difficult to look down and there are glass windows preventing you from being able to lean over. We greatly enjoyed this deck and would choose it again for future cruises.

[Spaniel Lover]

We were in a spa balcony cabin on deck 12 of the Magic last August, and I never even once noticed any privacy problem at all.

I don't see how there could be a problem. Directly above deck 12 is the spa itself... all indoors... no railings or any way that anybody on that deck could look down on to the deck 12 balconies. The deck above that is the Serenity deck... and as you can see in the following photo, it's enclosed in glass, so there's no way someone could lean over and look down in to your balcony.

I would say that if there is a privacy issue at all... and I really don't think there is one... it would ONLY be when you are standing right up against the railing of your deck 12 cabin balcony. Standing right up against the railing, you MIGHT be able to be seen if there happened to be someone up on the serenity deck at that exact instant who was standing up next to the glass and trying to look straight down.

But really... when you've been to the Serenity deck... how often have you seen people standing up next to the glass looking down? They're always lying down in the loungers.

[TMWTim]

Thanks so much for the added replies and picture. I read recently in a post I dug up after a google search, dated over a year ago, that there wasn't any glass there and it was just the basic railing. Who knows but thanks for clearing that up for us. We will stick with the cabin we have.

[finzup-kt]

thanks for the info and picture.. is it safe to assume the breeze is the same way??