Balcony neighbor horror stories

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

 

But it got me thinking. The ashtray that RCCL provide you with is pretty big.

And I have noticed that it is not emptied every day. And very seldom washed. This creates a very strong smell after a while and is probably noticable many balconies down wind.

 

So I have started to get it emptied every day and also clean it. Either myself or the steward. This has helped a lot on the smell on my balcony and hopefully also on the closest around me.

 

I do not think the ashtrays attached to the port side rails on the pool decks were emptied and cleaned often enough either on RCL. It does make a difference with the smell, especially if they get wet in a rain shower.

 

Only had a balcony once on another line and my normal sized cafe table ashtray was emptied and cleaned twice a day. Maybe it's like the ice service on RCL and you have to ask?:rolleyes:

 

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[Luvmesomeme]

To those complaining on the chain smokers sitting on the balcony all day smoking.

I do not believe that is possible. It takes abot 5-6 minutes to do a cigarette, but for the sake of the argument, lets say 10 minutes. That makes 6 an hour. A person is awake about 16 hours a day. Which will be close to 5 packets a day.

The procentage of the smokers smoking this amount every day is so small that you would probably have more luck winning in lotto.

 

I have been "accused" to chain smoking and ruin my down wind neighbour balcony time.

Of course when they told me that, I started to wonder. I smoke about a package a day, and on ctuise, probably half of that is on my balcony. And to call that fo chain smoking is in my opinion a bit over the top.

But it got me thinking. The ashtray that RCCL provide you with is pretty big.

And I have noticed that it is not emptied every day. And very seldom washed. This creates a very strong smell after a while and is probably noticable many balconies down wind.

 

So I have started to get it emptied every day and also clean it. Either myself or the steward. This has helped a lot on the smell on my balcony and hopefully also on the closest around me.

 

ps. I am not native speaker and I am writing this without spell/grammar checker on my pad

 

Nothing personal, just wanted to take out the fighting words and hopefully no one will highjack this fun thread:D again.

[awhcruiser]

Everybody needs a hobby. :rolleyes:

Nothing personal' date=' just wanted to take out the fighting words and hopefully no one will highjack this fun thread:D again.[/quote']

[Tucker in Texas]

I am one of those "dreaded" smokers. I bring an ashtray from home that has a "lid" on it mainly to keep the ashes from blowing around but it does help with the odor. One of my "benchmarks" on how good my steward is is if they empty and clean it daily. Most of them do. The ones that don't, then I take the ashes every morning and every evening before make up/turn down and put them in one of those feminine disposable bags in the bathroom they supply and dispose of them in the trash can.

 

I don't like the provided ones they have (which I get about 25% of the time) because they don't empty them and it is hard to lay a cigarette in them.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Chitoryubt]

We went down to the service desk, explained the situation and for ten minutes had to argue with a service rep. who kept telling us that it was "impossible" that our door opened. We were getting more and more annoyed. Finally, a crew member came back to the cabin with us and you should have seen his face when he turned the door handle and it opened right up!

 

Just like the problem we had (except we were locked IN) down to the "you should have seen his face when" moment. :p

[Starry Eyes]

To those complaining on the chain smokers sitting on the balcony all day smoking.

I do not believe that is possible. It takes abot 5-6 minutes to do a cigarette, but for the sake of the argument, lets say 10 minutes. That makes 6 an hour. A person is awake about 16 hours a day. Which will be close to 5 packets a day...

Of course when they told me that, I started to wonder. I smoke about a package a day, and on ctuise, probably half of that is on my balcony. And to call that fo chain smoking is in my opinion a bit over the top.

But it got me thinking. The ashtray that RCCL provide you with is pretty big.

And I have noticed that it is not emptied every day.

ps. I am not native speaker and I am writing this without spell/grammar checker on my pad

You are probably correct that chain smoking all day is likely an exaggeration, especially since the neighbor is beyond a partition and cannot actually time the lighting and extinguishing of the cigarettes. It could still feel that way to the nonsmoking neighbor. Imagine the neighbors have the same dinner and show times, so neither party is on the balcony then, so functionally subtract 3 hours from your 16. If the smoker was on the balcony before and after dinner and show, the nonsmoking neighbor might feel as if the smoker was always there. Imagine rather than one smoker on that balcony, there are four; if each smokes two packs a day, one or more of the four smokers may be out on the balcony smoking. imagine rather than literally chain smoking, each smoker takes a five or ten minute break between cigarettes; tough the cigarette is extinguished in those minutes, the neighbor smells the lingering smoke and butt if he is outside.

[Elvis1209]

Is it possible to start a thread and not have it turn into an anti-smoking campaign?

 

Elvis

[Clarea]

Is it possible to start a thread and not have it turn into an anti-smoking campaign?

 

Elvis

Yes, but only if it turns into a formal attire or tipping thread.:rolleyes:

[Paul65]

Is it possible to start a thread and not have it turn into an anti-smoking campaign?

 

Elvis

 

Of course, but probably not if the topic of the thread is "horror stories" about balcony neighbors. Issues with smokers is bound to come up with that topic.

 

Does it bother you, or do you enjoy it (as I see you are resurrecting a thread that's been dormant for a week and a half)?

[Aquahound]

Is it possible to start a thread and not have it turn into an anti-smoking campaign?

 

....or have it resurrected from the dead to continue the smoking debate? ;)

[WetToes]

Anyone got a light?

[NightOne]

Anyone got a light?

 

I am not allowed to talk about lights or light fixtures. :(

 

A light from a cigarette lighter...now maybe I can talk about that. :)

[Luvmesomeme]

Of course, but probably not if the topic of the thread is "horror stories" about balcony neighbors. Issues with smokers is bound to come up with that topic.

 

Does it bother you, or do you enjoy it (as I see you are resurrecting a thread that's been dormant for a week and a half)?

 

I guess when you decide to start a thread about a question that you have, you really should think long and hard about what the title should be and what could possibly come of it. :rolleyes:

[EleanorNoway]

Horror stories.... What have your experiences been?

 

We have always had a balcony...but only one horror story. This is NOT an anti-smoking response (both my parents smoked as did I in my younger years ... I truly understand the addiction and desire that comes with it)

 

It is however related to the smokers in the cabin next to us. They were advanced in age... (guessing late 60's early 70's) and both probably lifetime smokers. Or at least that was our impression. The smoke was downwind so it never bothered us. The horror of it was their HACKING!

 

HOLY COW!!!! it sounded like they were coughing up fur balls or parts of their lungs! And it was pretty much non stop! They rarely left their room... preferring instead to spend all their time on the balcony .. COUGHING AND HACKING, CLEARING THEIR THROATS AND SPITTING UP LOOGIES. :eek: Needless to say the sound effects were pretty disgusting. By day two of the cruise we started referring to them as Mr & Mrs. Hackenberry. When my spouse or I wanted to sit on our balcony... one of us would laughingly ask... are the Hackenberries outside? Needless to say our balcony didn't get much use.

 

On the plus side... we still tell the story at parties and get a lot of laughs... doing our impressions of the Hackenberries! :p

 

That said... we still book balconies to this day... wouldn't cruise any other way.

[NKsDogWalker]

We had pot smokers near us. Mom looked at me and said, "how do u know what pot smells like." :rolleyes: although I never smoked it myself... I went to college I know what it smells like.

 

We often talk to our neighbors. On Christmas Day last year as we pulled into Port in Cozumel we were on our balcony opening gifts and having breakfast. We called out "Merry Christmas" to the balconies across port on the other RC ship. That is a great memory. :D

 

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[rtw222]

My horror would be having a balcony next to former smokers.

 

99% of people who have never smoked do not seem to have an issue with OUTDOOR smoking as long as you aren't doing it very close to them. (i.e. smoke right near their face)

 

Former smokers are a whole different ballgame.

 

What they say:

 

"That smoke bothers me"

"That smoke stinks"

"I don't like the smell of smoke"

 

What the really mean:

 

"Man that smoke is tempting the hell out me. I could go for a cigarette right now. Damn you for tempting me."

 

:)

 

Former smoker here. Not tempted at all. Just realize what a disgusting and harmful habit it is! Glad I quit, breathing feels great.

[Desertbelle]

We have cruised around 19 times and have had balconies all but 2 times. We love having a balcony and can't imagine not having our own little piece of heaven on a cruise. We have only had one problem with a neighbor and it happened in November of 2011. This is the story I posted on the Cruise Critic forums back then. It still makes us laugh when we speak of it:

 

We are a week off the Freedom, we did a B2B including Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time.

 

We had a lovely balcony cabin which we enjoyed, but for the first time we had neighbors who were not so neighborly. On our second leg of the cruise we got people in the next cabin who fought and yelled and screamed almost every night. Usually if we made noise on our balcony (moved a chair or coughed) they would quiet down and they didn't stay up late, the arguments seemed to be mostly in the late afternoon and evening when we were dressing for dinner or just back from a port, but one night they were really going at it. I almost called security because it seemed to be coming to blows (we heard things being thrown and maybe someone getting pushed around. The woman was very much the aggressor and she was very loud and had quite the nasty mouth. My husband and I were playing cards on the bed, killing time to dinner, trying to make the best of a bad situation. The woman was seriously mad and using the f-word repeatedly, cussing and screaming, saying some very nasty things to her husband and then suddenly she says, "I'm a classy lady and I expect to be treated well." My husband and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Gave us the best laugh of the cruise!!! Indeed, she was pretty classy!!:rolleyes:

[impatientlywaiting]

I know you enjoy it, but surely you know there are others who find the smell of cigar smoke to be pungent and/or unpleasant. Sadly, the moving air may waft the smoke in such a person's direction, rather than wafting it all off to the sea (Murphy's law?). A sensitive person may even smell the lingering smoke on their clothing later. That is likely the reason cigar smoking is restricted as per the FAQ's "Pipe and cigar smoking is only permitted within the Cigar lounge. (If no Cigar lounge exists on a particular ship, there will be a designated area for pipe and cigar smoking)." My nose is not so sensitive, but I still appreciate cigar smokers following the policy.

 

Of all my balcony cabins, only once did smokers bother me: on a TA cruise there were four chain smokers next door to me. They seemingly spent much of the cruise smoking on their balcony. I was downwind, and betwen the four of them, they produced a fair bit of smoke. Even then, their very loud voices and painful-sounding coughs were as likely to drive me inside as was the smoke. Of course, they were well within the rules, and I suspect the smoking and socializing were major parts of the cruise experience for them. So without a word to them I simply found other spots to enjoy the fresh ocean air.

 

Fortunately for those of us who can't be around cigarette smoke starting January 1, 2014, no more smoking on balconies on RCCL ships! YAHOO!!!

[cruzincurt]

Last cruise, loud neighbor carrying on a conversation with his father on a balcony two decks below.

[tiessa]

My only problems with balcony neighbors have been a couple who drank a lot and insisted on singing at the tops of their lungs. Of course, they weren't good singers! We just laughed a lot although some quiet time would have been nice.

 

We also had a couple next to us on one cruise who wanted to bond and do things with us. We just wanted to do our own thing. Everytime they heard our balcony door open they were hanging around the partition to chat.

 

As for smoking, I only smoke about 4 a day on my balcony. Once I heard neighbors complaining so I tried not to smoke while they were out. If I did smoke when they were out, I would wet a paper towel and blow the smoke into the we paper towel. It absorbs the smoke so it goes nowhere. I just did that in a pinch.

[nanwel]

Only cruised once without a balcony - love them, but sometimes the aft ones are not very private - people above you can look down into your balc. - never book them.

Once had a problem with a strong light at night - found out it was mine - turned out my room steward was turning it on each night when he turned down the bed, and I did not find the switch for a couple of days, it was behind the dressing table hinged mirror!

When they get doing crazy lound "entertainment" at the pool, I find solace on my lovely peaceful balcony!!

Love to pull out the dressing table stool to put my feet up and make my own chaise lounge out of assorted furniture pieces.

Smokers were something we had to put up with in past - seems cruise line fires are putting a damper on those - not sure if they were cause of some of the recent fires or not!

[Jim M]

Betcha I can top the list:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Lido balcony on the Carnival Breeze this past April...out there in the morning enjoying the sunrise and my coffee, when the neighbor (male) decides to come out...It's all good. Well, I think people forget that the glass windows under the railing are reflective, so yes, you can see what they're doing. I start to hear some weird noises, and yes.....this guy decides to start pleasuring himself, right on his BALCONY, while his wife and daughter were asleep in the room:eek::eek: DH came out, and went RIGHT BACK IN, as he was laughing too hard to stay out there....We couldn't make eye contact with him for the rest of the cruise:D

 

wouldn't shake hands either!! :D

[gerif]

Last cruise, loud neighbor carrying on a conversation with his father on a balcony two decks below.

 

You should have pointed out that there was no charge to use the room phone to call between cabins!

[lrn2cruise]

We were AFT on FOS 8412.

 

If you are AFT, you kind of need to become one with your AFT neighbors.

By saying that, I mean:If you go out in the morning in your jamjams, the balconies above you can see you. If you turn around, you can see them.

Your AFT balconie is not totally private and you have to think before you go out (or dont care)

 

On deck 8, I could see down into the Deck 6 suite (I think Presidential Suite?????) and a young child was nakkie and I could see him. He wasnt there for long.

 

I saw a video on youtube of a group of teen (maybe college kids) in the extended hottubes and there was a nakkie woman on her balcony and the kids videotaped her. let's just say, it looked like she had some surgeries and was not ashamed of her "New" apperance and was waving to the kids, etc. it might still be on youtube.

[jstraw20]

I don't know if that video is still there, but wow there are plenty following that general theme including "adult" behavior in the pool deck hot tubs. Damn! :D