Royal Princess Forward Lido Obstructed Balcony

[alexmom]

At no time during our April cruise was our forward facing balcony too windy to use. One day it was too windy to read my paperback novel, but it was fine for sitting and fine for leaning on the railing and looking out to sea.

 

It was very quiet. The Sanctuary is above you, but I never noticed any sounds drifting down. I never heard any "chair scraping" sounds from there either, both night and day. There is no machinery to make any noise. The Allure parked next to us in St. Maartin and IT was plenty noisy ! They had a steel band and something else going at the same time and the collision of the two was a little grating !

 

I spent several days in my cabin and much of that time on my balcony. The first few days after the sunburn, my family brought me plates from the Horizon Court (so very, very convenient) which I ate on my balcony without wind problems.

 

Several couples from my roll call also came to visit me and enjoyed the balcony too. I can't guarantee that you'll have the same experience with your balcony that I had, but remain positive in your expectation that you will.

 

I don't know, maybe the reason I was able to enjoy so much balcony time is because my long hair is often pulled back off my face or braided. Sounds a bit silly but when I think about it, the whipping of hair (or flags) in the wind is a classic indicator of wind LOL !

 

Your wrap around balcony will have different dynamics from front to side. It may be that when it's windy on the side deck it will be fine on the forward deck. And vice versa. I am a glass half full person and I always find the silver lining too. This annoys the heck out of a lot of people, but I sincerely hope it's helping you !!

[sawtooth]

Thanks ALEXMOM. I am maintaining a positive attitude. I know that we will at least enjoy the entry into and sail away from the ports of call on our balcony.

[CI66774]

In my post above, I meant to say "shouldn't" not "should" as in the poster who will be in L108 "shouldn't" have the wind issues we had on the transatlantic. Fingers moving too quickly and no spell-checking!!!!:D

[sawasdee]

Hi! I've booked L108 on Regal for March Eastern Carib and the L106 is also available. From info on the princess website the 108 seems larger. Have I made the right choice or is the 106 a better choice because it faces more forward? Thanks so much for all the info here!

[dmwnc1959]

Hi! I've booked L108 on Regal for March Eastern Carib and the L106 is also available. From info on the princess website the 108 seems larger. Have I made the right choice or is the 106 a better choice because it faces more forward? Thanks so much for all the info here!

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

Hi! I've booked L108 on Regal for March Eastern Carib and the L106 is also available. From info on the princess website the 108 seems larger. Have I made the right choice or is the 106 a better choice because it faces more forward? Thanks so much for all the info here!

 

 

....P.S. and WELCOME to Cruise Critic!!! I just saw that was your first post.

 

:D

[sawasdee]

Thanks very much! What a great picture! These forward balconies look fantastic!

[bassmaster150]

We were in L107 during our recent Baltic Cruise......it is a HUGE balcony, and the room is rather large as well. Would we book it again, yes we would....however, you have to understand one thing....when you are at sea, the balcony is almost unusable because it is REALLY WINDY up front. Expect 40-50mph winds up front unless the wind is at your back. You can tell how windy by looking down at M107 (which you can see from inside your cabin). There is a wind speed thingy out there that will tell you how windy it is. Doors were never locked in the 12 days that we were on board. We would book the room again in a heartbeat as the balcony is cool when in port.

[CI66774]

Hi! I've booked L108 on Regal for March Eastern Carib and the L106 is also available. From info on the princess website the 108 seems larger. Have I made the right choice or is the 106 a better choice because it faces more forward? Thanks so much for all the info here!

 

Stick with L108. Balcony is much larger and the room is divided into a bedroom and living room. The sleeping around is around the corner and an entirely separate/private space. L106 is fine but L108 is better (IMHO).

[shutterbug63]

Stupid question #5. LOL. :-)

 

The interior of L106, L105, M106, or M105...is it basically the same size as the interior of any other mini-suite on the ship? Or is it larger or smaller?

 

Hard to tell from the deck plans as I know they have some errors.

[sawasdee]

Stick with L108. Balcony is much larger and the room is divided into a bedroom and living room. The sleeping around is around the corner and an entirely separate/private space. L106 is fine but L108 is better (IMHO).

 

Thank you! I understand winds will be fierce at times. Hopefully in March the Carib seas will be calm- but is it quite likely there will be much more rocking or dipping up front on a higher deck? We've never been on a ship this big!

Thanks again everyone!

[alexmom]

Thank you! I understand winds will be fierce at times. Hopefully in March the Carib seas will be calm- but is it quite likely there will be much more rocking or dipping up front on a higher deck? We've never been on a ship this big!

Thanks again everyone!

 

My son got seasick on his first cruise and we were in a midship Riviera OV. I was very concerned about being in one of the cabins that was both the most forward and highest cabin on the ship. I brought plenty of Bonine, but we didn't use one tablet. The ship is very stable. We sailed March 30th 2014 and we had good weather and calm seas.

 

I have no idea if calm seas is the exception or the rule at that time of the year. Maybe someone else will know that.

 

Always be prepared with the drug of choice for motion sickness. I actually carry a comprehensive first aid kit on all our vacations, land or sea.

[signora]

Just booked L101 for an incredible deal (considering it's school vacation week in Feb. 2016)--thank you everyone!

[jennymaxgirl]

I see my hubby beat me to the response. Yes the balcony door was unlocked for the entire cruise so we had full use of this enormous balcony the whole time. I'll attach a pic of the room now. It was cat DZ deluxe balcony. Hope this helps. :)

 

 

Hi! I know this is an older post, but I wanted to see how you enjoyed the deck on L102 Royal Princess? Looks like we will be sailing at the same time you did in that cabin. We are going to Eastern Carib. Just wondering if the deck was too windy to enjoy? Or was it manageable?

 

Thank you so much!! We are trying to decide if we should take this cabin. It's currently on hold until Saturday for us :)

 

Cheers,

Jennifer

[ToplessPony]

We are staying in L101 on the Regal right now on the Eastern Carib route and have been happy we picked a front balcony. Sitting the wind has never been more then a slight breeze. Standing at the railing the wind has ranged from very slight to windy but we've yet to go out there and have the wind drive us back inside.

 

It is so quiet up front. Most of the time it feels like we are alone on the ship. Very very quiet out on the balcony and in the hallways.

 

Only negative is we do miss the view of the water when sitting reading and relaxing.

 

I think we may look at an aft cabin for our next cruise but wouldn't hesitate to book a lido deck front cabin again.

 

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

[jennymaxgirl]

We are staying in L101 on the Regal right now on the Eastern Carib route and have been happy we picked a front balcony. Sitting the wind has never been more then a slight breeze. Standing at the railing the wind has ranged from very slight to windy but we've yet to go out there and have the wind drive us back inside.

 

It is so quiet up front. Most of the time it feels like we are alone on the ship. Very very quiet out on the balcony and in the hallways.

 

Only negative is we do miss the view of the water when sitting reading and relaxing.

 

I think we may look at an aft cabin for our next cruise but wouldn't hesitate to book a lido deck front cabin again.

 

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for your reply!! I am excited for you to be on your cruise right now. Ha ha. I have to wait until the fall, but am also doing the Eastern Carib route.

 

One more question for you - is the deck nice to use in the evenings after the sun has gone down? Or would it be too windy and dark? I just wonder if we will be so busy that we will not get to use it much in the day....

 

Enjoy :)

 

J. Proctor

[alexmom]

And back to my original question - has anyone sailed in one of these front obstructed staterooms? Would like an idea of just how obstructed when the door is locked.

 

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Wow, it has been written many, many times - the obstructed balconies are not locked. I was in L103 and L105 on Royal Princess and neither balcony was locked, nor did it even have a locking mechanism.

 

I spent most of my time on the balconies hanging over them and watching the ocean, in between reading books. I could not see the ocean while I was sitting down reading. I also need to let you know that I was in the Caribbean, not the Atlantic.

 

The Atlantic can be a beast as winter begins to set in, so besides there being more wind, the wind will be chillier than sailing the warm Caribbean. Having said all this, let me also say that entering and leaving ports in a forward balcony is A-MAZ-ING. Let me reiterate, if your cruise is port heavy, just do it. You won't regret it. If you are talking 3 or fewer ports, meh, maybe spent the money on an Enclave pass - something else on the Royal that gives serious value if you need to relax, detox and disconnect from noise and hustle bustle.

 

I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise !!

[alexmom]

Thanks for your reply!! I am excited for you to be on your cruise right now. Ha ha. I have to wait until the fall, but am also doing the Eastern Carib route.

 

One more question for you - is the deck nice to use in the evenings after the sun has gone down? Or would it be too windy and dark? I just wonder if we will be so busy that we will not get to use it much in the day....

 

Enjoy :)

 

J. Proctor

 

I got mixed up and thought bigenna was the last post ! Sorry I didn't catch your question. We had plenty of moonlight in March 2014 because the moon was full less than a week after our cruise finished. Early in the cruise it was wonderful to watch the stars. Only 1 day was too windy to keep me out there.

 

One very important thing at night in the forward cabins is to keep the curtains drawn, you are directly above the bridge and if you let too much light spill out onto your balcony, they will let you know. We were careful and had no visits from the bridge crew, but I'm sure others have.

 

I hope that helps. You will love the views from the balcony. Someone else wrote about how quiet it is up there - I spent several mornings watching the sun come up and it was like being alone on a big sail boat, quiet with just the soft sound of the bow slicing the water. Yup, I just felt my blood pressure drop a few notches remembering it !

 

Oh, one more thing I've forgotten to mention in any of my posts. I had brought a small flameless candle with me. Upon reflection, I'd have brought 2 or 3 in various sizes, or just 3 tea lights. Not enough light to bother the bridge but enough to create an "atmosphere".

[tuffyiscruisin']

We tried to book these forward facing Deluxe Balconies on Royal for our Med cruise next year but was told by princess that they are DZ which means your cannot book specific cabins and they are Guarantees. Is this correct what is others experience with booking this cabins?

Edited March 20, 2015 by tuffyiscruisin'

[lcpagejr]

Untrue... Just booked a cruise recently on the Regal and and M101 and M102 both came up as available when I used an internet booking agency as well as E103 for the DZ category.

[dchip]

We tried to book these forward facing Deluxe Balconies on Royal for our Med cruise next year but was told by princess that they are DZ which means your cannot book specific cabins and they are Guarantees. Is this correct what is others experience with booking this cabins?

 

Certainly was not true for us. We booked our DZ cabin (L104) several months ago. I sure hope they haven't changed the booking process. I can't wait to cruise in this cabin!!

 

Cheers, Denise

[alexmom]

We tried to book these forward facing Deluxe Balconies on Royal for our Med cruise next year but was told by princess that they are DZ which means your cannot book specific cabins and they are Guarantees. Is this correct what is others experience with booking this cabins?

 

This is news to me, we were able to book the exact cabins we wanted - but that was then (2013) and maybe it's been changed. As word of these extraordinary cabins got out, maybe Princess has realized all the generated demand has created a "cash cow", and they're trying to figure out how to use them to generate extra income.

 

I would double check with Princess. I would even ask for management to clarify what the Princess booking agent is saying.

 

Good luck !

[ToplessPony]

Thanks for your reply!! I am excited for you to be on your cruise right now. Ha ha. I have to wait until the fall, but am also doing the Eastern Carib route.

 

One more question for you - is the deck nice to use in the evenings after the sun has gone down? Or would it be too windy and dark? I just wonder if we will be so busy that we will not get to use it much in the day....

 

Enjoy :)

 

J. Proctor

 

Very nice in the evening! According to the TV we were going 21 knots last night and 6 of us on two balconies were having conversations in normal voice. We are on Lido and the string of lights that run down the middle of the ship ends just above the balcony. That and the moon provided just the right amount of light.

 

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

[dchip]

Very nice in the evening! According to the TV we were going 21 knots last night and 6 of us on two balconies were having conversations in normal voice. We are on Lido and the string of lights that run down the middle of the ship ends just above the balcony. That and the moon provided just the right amount of light.

 

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the update. We board the Royal on Sunday. Cannot wait to cruise in the forward facing cabins!!!!!

 

Cheers, Denise

[johnmik1]

Certainly was not true for us. We booked our DZ cabin (L104) several months ago. I sure hope they haven't changed the booking process. I can't wait to cruise in this cabin!!

 

Cheers, Denise

 

We have sailed in this cabin twice for a total of 17 nights.