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"Away" Class Balconies: Hull, Covered, Obstructed


tulch
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Last year we sailed on the Epic. We have lots experience with NCL's smaller/older ships but were surprised to discover how many not-so-great balconies were on the Epic. For example, looking down from many of the mid-ship balconies, one saw lifeboats, not water. In addition, there are the hull balconies, obstructed balconies and uncovered balconies.

 

We are booked on the Getaway in a mid-ship mini. We also are interested in other "Away" class ships. However, I can't figure out the balcony situation on the newer ships. Even when I count the number of staterooms from a particular point, there is no way of knowing what kind of view you have looking down. (Do you see water, lifeboats or someone else's balcony?)

 

Any guidelines, helpful hints or suggestions would be appreciated!

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Smaller NCL ships have plenty of enclosed balconies, Epic would also be included. As someone who likes hanging over the rail and looking directly down these are my observations. Beginning with Epic you see NCL ships with lifeboats hanging over the side of the ship. This did affect downward views from balconies, especially on lower decks. At least with the Away and Away+ class the forward and aft enclosed balconies were minimized. Bliss seems to have lifeboats inboard so no problem there. So for Aways and Escape/Joy just avoid lower deck balconies above the lifeboats, but I see your dilemma as they are not shown on deck plans. From what I remember most balconies between the forward and aft elevators will look directly down on a lifeboat, thus most mid ship minis will look directly down on a lifeboat. Forward of the elevators in my opinion the large balcony cabins don't affect the downward view from above cabins nearly as much. Hopefully someone can give better specifics than that. In general a higher deck balcony lessens the downward view obstruction. From pictures I've seen those exposed large balconies have an excellent downward view.

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Not may people sit on the balcony trying to look straight down. If you are sitting on your balcony, that is nearly physically impossible. So, the balconies are designed to be "unobstructed". The forward "hull" balconies are typically the forward facing Havens suites. The "uncovered" balconies are the coveted "large balconies" or "aft facing balconies" which, to have a large balcony that sticks out of the ship, come at a premium price. The mid-ship balconies right over the lifeboats come at a premium price because those are the rooms people want.

 

So,,, pick the "less desirable" balconies on an upper deck far forward or far aft to minimize those things that bother you. Everyone else is paying extra for those rooms.

 

The Epic was designed to be all balconies (or interior) rooms. No ocean view. That was catering to the fact that everyone wants a balcony. But in reality, very, very, very few spend any appreciable time on them.

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Last year we sailed on the Epic. We have lots experience with NCL's smaller/older ships but were surprised to discover how many not-so-great balconies were on the Epic. For example, looking down from many of the mid-ship balconies, one saw lifeboats, not water. In addition, there are the hull balconies, obstructed balconies and uncovered balconies.

 

 

To my understanding there are no obstructed balconies on any NCL ship. Just curious, what would those exact cabins be on Epic?

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There is a spreadsheet that I found a while back for the Away ships that has all of the cabin info as well as a bunch of photos. It is located here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=38341623

 

The spreadsheet is also found on google docs

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10YW7fMQarer30UCHKqKJ_zLDmbyMTczCTtYf2XRflh8/pub?single=true&gid=0&output=html

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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