M-Class Deck 11 A1 cabins and the Bungee Cord

There have been posts and suggestions about taking a bungee cord on M-class ships if you are on deck 11 (an A1 cabin). I am currently on the infinity and on deck 11 for the first time…and I now understand why you want to take…actually need to take…a bungee cord or equivalent. This applies only to the new A1 cabins added (deck 11) on the M-class ships.

Here’s the problem. The sliding doors to the balcony only have a lock handle on the inside…the outside has a grab handle, but that doesn’t effect the lock/latch. The doors, being relatively new, slide reasonably freely. If the door is unlatched and the ship is pitching at all from port to starboard (or reverse), the door just opens and closes on its own. If you are outside on your balcony, there is no way to secure the door open or closed…..it just swings open and closed on its own.

Enter the bungee cord….you can hook it around the handle on the outstand and attach the other end to a locking pin they have on the inside and secure the door open. I see no way, bungee cord or anything else to keep the balcony door closed while you are on the balcony, unless someone inside locks you out.

Fortunately, for those of us without a bungee cord, the belt of the provided bathrobe provides a useable, but poor alternative….or I suppose you could use a computer cable if it was strong enough and you didn’t care about it. Perhaps a belt might work…depends on the belt.

For those who say that you have to keep the door closed in order not to effect the A/C system, there is no way to do that…in fact, our door doesn’t even have that notice on it.

I don’t have a ruler (or a bungee cord), but I think you need a 24” bungee cord.

Have you tried sticking a magazine in the closed door to tighten it up?

Necessity being the mother of invention, I have used the suspenders from my Tux.

Not much glamor but it worked:)

The bungee cord is part of my "cruise tool kit" i travel with I take 2 - a large heavy duty one and a smaller light duty one.

Useful for lots of things, a drying line, clamping together unused hangers in the closet to stop clanking in rough seas, holding veranda door open or closed, holding bathroom door open or closed etc. Affixing small luggage to larger luggage with wheels for moving thru customs and airport.

I don't remember having any problem when we were in 2 different cabins in this area (B2B). Is there a danger of the door locking you outside on the balcony? must remember to put a bungee cord in the travel pack.

Yes, those doors do like to lock on their own! We were in 1138 and had to knock on the balcony partition...(wouldn't dare peer over) to ask the honeymooning couple next to us to help set us free!

My strategy was to just leave the door open enough for me to get my hand in and lock it in place from the inside. The air-con still works OK although if someone opens the cabin door it can create a strong breeze which may blow things around in the cabin.

One night we forgot to lock the balcony door and were awoken by the door sliding open and shut when the ship hit heavy seas. The door of the room safe should be kept locked for the same reason otherwise you get an annoying banging noise from inside the cupboard.

How do you reach your hand in and lock it from the inside? (trying to picture this). It can only be locked, from the inside, with the door fully closed (unless you get one of the mistake locking doors).

The problem with those deck 11 cabins is that they don't stay without locking, so if you have the door open even a little (whether you are outside or in) they just roll banging back and forth.

How do you reach your hand in and lock it from the inside? (trying to picture this). It can only be locked, from the inside, with the door fully closed (unless you get one of the mistake locking doors).

 

The problem with those deck 11 cabins is that they don't stay without locking, so if you have the door open even a little (whether you are outside or in) they just roll banging back and forth.

the newer ships (and thus the new Aqua cabins that were added to M class) have sliding doors, perhaps you are thinking of older doors on hinges?

The sliders you can open partway and move the handle up to lock it into position. locking the door basically LIFTS it ip a bit and wedges it tight to the top - it doesn't "latch" onto a clasp.

So one can go outside, close it but for 6" or so, reach in and flip the handle up and it will "wedge" in place, open 6".

Not sure what ships and cabins have hinged doors still, I know the PH on the M Class do, but on Summit my deck 9 AQ had a slider and CS had a hinge.

the newer ships (and thus the new Aqua cabins that were added to M class) have sliding doors, perhaps you are thinking of older doors on hinges?

 

The sliders you can open partway and move the handle up to lock it into position. locking the door basically LIFTS it ip a bit and wedges it tight to the top - it doesn't "latch" onto a clasp.

 

So one can go outside, close it but for 6" or so, reach in and flip the handle up and it will "wedge" in place, open 6".

 

Not sure what ships and cabins have hinged doors still, I know the PH on the M Class do, but on Summit my deck 9 AQ had a slider and CS had a hinge.

We had a Slider in our C1 Aft Sunset Cabin on The Summit last year... And yes it did move back & forth quite freely. But never locked us out :D

It was my understanding / misunderstanding ??? From another Poster that the NEW Aquaclass A1 Cabins on the M-Class Ships indeed were built more like the units on the S-Class Ships (installed as pods) complete with the S-Class Doors... (but cabins had straight walls, not the swervey ones)

S-Class Doors do indeed function as you have stated... Lock in place a feature that many are not aware of

Either way, when we are on The Connie we will be prepared, as Bungee Cords are part of our Cruise Kit as well

Cheers!

Bungee is being added to pile for next cruise!

I was in 1138 for 14 days and didn't know this about those new doors - we're in it on our next cruise so will utilize that function, thanks!

Our experience on the M-class ships has been that most of the time the door handle works to lock the sliding door at whatever position you want it.

But occasionally we had a cabin where the mechanism was defective and the door would slide, even after positioning the handle in the locked position.

If you open your sliding door part way, put the handle in the locked position and gently push/pull on the door, you will know immediately whether or not yours is working correctly.

I love bungee cords!

I made a clothes line with several bungee cords attached to each other and I twisted them in a way that I can put them over the bathtub with my hand washables on hangers, and each hanger stays in place instead of them sliding into each other.

They are also helpful in attaching a small bag to a larger one going to, from, through airports, etc.

We learned about locking the safe door about day 4 of our first cruise. We finally figured out what was making that noise.

We had the unfortunate experience of being locked out of our balcony on the Summit (one of the "new" aft Aqua cabins) around 11:00 pm one night. Fortunately, there was still one table of four passengers at the Sunset Bar, so I called for their help and then, when they couldn't hear me, YELLED for their help. One of them finally heard me, peered up at me, and realized our predicament. A short while later a crew member entered our cabin and rescued us. It was funny but also a bit worrisome - if we'd been in a port or starboard cabin and no one had heard us, we'd have spent an UN-lovely and cold night on our balcony. We were on a New England/Canada itinerary.

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If you open the balcony door and turn the handle to the lock position, it will sort of hold the door open at that position, but it does not stop it from slamming open/shut when the ship pitches. Sorry, but that is not a solution to this problem

If you open the balcony door and turn the handle to the lock position, it will sort of hold the door open at that position, but it does not stop it from slamming open/shut when the ship pitches. Sorry, but that is not a solution to this problem

It must depend on the cabin because on the Millie last month I couldn't even force the door to shut when the handle was vertical. It locked the door firmly in any position.

If the lock is working properly, it will hold the door at whichever position you lock it, as gek reported.

Otherwise, it won't.

Some only "sort of hold" and others do not hold at all.

That's why I recommended checking it out, not just assume that it will work the same way as the door on your last cruise.

We learned about locking the safe door about day 4 of our first cruise.

The safe door has nothing to do with the closet door opening by itself...it's the clothes drawers that open themselves and hit the large door, causing it to swing open. Even a bungee cord won't stop that noise...you either have duct tape, force something into the door jam to force it to stay closed or live with the noise.

The safe door has nothing to do with the closet door opening by itself...it's the clothes drawers that open themselves and hit the large door, causing it to swing open. Even a bungee cord won't stop that noise...you either have duct tape, force something into the door jam to force it to stay closed or live with the noise.

Essentially it's a maintenance issue. The drawers are designed so that it takes a bit of force to open them when they are properly shut - more than the movement of the ship could normally cause. Through wear and tear the amount of force required is reduced and they will start to behave as you have described.

On the Solstice last year we had a maintenance crew in our cabin one day working on the drawers to fix this issue. We hadn't asked for it and we'd had no problems, they just said it was routine maintenance.

The safe of course is a different issue - it's just working as designed. If you don't lock it it will swing open and hit the closet door.

If it's maintenance then the officer in charge of maintenance on the infinity has no idea of the solution because he said they drawers are just a design defect and there's nothing he can do about them.

If it's maintenance then the officer in charge of maintenance on the infinity has no idea of the solution because he said they drawers are just a design defect and there's nothing he can do about them.

Interesting. Was that an older cabin? The new Aqua class cabins on the Millennium don't have that problem and I've never noticed it on S-class ships.

Does anyone have pictures of the inside of A1 cabins ( M class ) on deck 11 ?

The cabins are identical to the other aqua cabins on deck 9. the only visible difference is the size of the balcony and the overhang above.