Is Balcony Maintenance a Usual Occurrence

[whoops]

I am not an experienced cruiser having only gone on two cruises both on the Ventura.

 

Last Friday I returned from a Ventura cruise and for me the enjoyment was impaired by the constant maintenance to and around my balcony on the 9th floor in the 7 series of Superior Balcony cabins. The balconies on this floor stand out from the balconies of the cabins above.

 

On a day in Port I decided not to go ashore and found that I could not use my balcony because the maintenance people wanted to sand down and varnish the rails. That took about a morning because the guys stored their materials there and kept coming onto the balcony for rags, varnish and sand paper. Because of the smell of varnish the balcony couldn't be used for the rest of the day.

 

The next day in Port we walked around the town and came back to the cabin after lunch to read on the balcony. Again the maintenance people decided to do the same to the balcony above but because our balcony stood out from that our balcony got all the dust from rubbing down the rails and were told by the maintenance people to go back into the cabin - an obvious request because of the amount of dust involved.

 

If that wasn't enough at the next port stop the maintenance people then began to rub down the paint around the balcony and doors in the cabins above us so we we were subjected to yet more dust accompanied by scraping noises resembling rubbing finger nails on a blackboard.

 

The next port stop the same happened on the balcony below us meaning reading was an impossibility.

 

Out of the 14 day cruise the balcony was unusable for 4 days so my question is .................................is this kind of maintenance usual on P&O ships and if so do other cruise lines do the same?

 

I should mention that I did not complain at the time because I am the type of person who finds confrontation difficult and did not want my holiday spoiled by unpleasantness.

[john watson]

This is totally untypical of P&O and I should suggest you have been very unlucky. If I were you I would write to P&O at Carnival House and explain the impairment to your holiday and ask if you may have recompense on a future cruise. Upgrade to mini-suite or vouchers etc. I think this would be fair and reasonable.

 

Regards John

[daiB]

Sorry I have seen this type of maintenance on most of my cruises. Not on my balcony but on some part of the ship. The work is constant and cannot be left until the ship has a refit. As the ships are in constant use there is no other time to do this. All other lines are exactly the same.

 

 

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[Josy1953]

We were on Ventura in April and our balcony was done then but the people in the next cabin complained to the reception desk and theirs was left. Presumably when people complain they will leave their balcony until the next cruise. As Dai said it is an on going maintenance on all ship's, passengers would soon start to moan if their balcony was left to rot.

[davenew]

I am not an experienced cruiser having only gone on two cruises both on the Ventura.

 

Last Friday I returned from a Ventura cruise and for me the enjoyment was impaired by the constant maintenance to and around my balcony on the 9th floor in the 7 series of Superior Balcony cabins. The balconies on this floor stand out from the balconies of the cabins above.

 

On a day in Port I decided not to go ashore and found that I could not use my balcony because the maintenance people wanted to sand down and varnish the rails. That took about a morning because the guys stored their materials there and kept coming onto the balcony for rags, varnish and sand paper. Because of the smell of varnish the balcony couldn't be used for the rest of the day.

 

The next day in Port we walked around the town and came back to the cabin after lunch to read on the balcony. Again the maintenance people decided to do the same to the balcony above but because our balcony stood out from that our balcony got all the dust from rubbing down the rails and were told by the maintenance people to go back into the cabin - an obvious request because of the amount of dust involved.

 

If that wasn't enough at the next port stop the maintenance people then began to rub down the paint around the balcony and doors in the cabins above us so we we were subjected to yet more dust accompanied by scraping noises resembling rubbing finger nails on a blackboard.

 

The next port stop the same happened on the balcony below us meaning reading was an impossibility.

 

Out of the 14 day cruise the balcony was unusable for 4 days so my question is .................................is this kind of maintenance usual on P&O ships and if so do other cruise lines do the same?

 

I should mention that I did not complain at the time because I am the type of person who finds confrontation difficult and did not want my holiday spoiled by unpleasantness.

 

I cannot comment on P&O as we have only taken one cruise on the Britannia, and that was brand new.

However, we have been on several RCI and Carnival where this type of maintenance has occurred.

We have been advised, by notice, when the work would affect our use of the balcony and advised to keep the door shut.

We have also has our balcony painted during a port day, meaning that we could not use it also. You will probably fond a disclaimer in the Terms and Conditions.

I think you will be unlucky if you try to claim compensation, but they may give you a gesture of goodwill.

[the english lady]

The problem is when else would the work be done. Except for refits the ship is in constant use. The salty air and spray cause rusting etc. If the work were not ongoing you would soon have rusty metal work.

As you did not inform reception at the time of your unhappiness about this, I feel you would not get very far in trying to complain now.

I know what you mean about confrontation, but as you could have just mentioned it to the reception staff , there would have been no confrontation. The crew would just have been told to leave the balconies around you alone until the cruise had finished.

[whoops]

Thanks for the comments so far.

 

My particular gripe is that my cabin stood out from the cabins above (cabins that are overlooked by all the cabins on the other floors)meaning we got all the dust from any work done on the higher floors. Because the balcony on my cabin is so large - about 2.5 times larger than a standard balcony - we received a disproportionate amount of the dust and was used as a convenient place for varnish and other materials to be stored meaning workmen were walking in and out all day long.

 

Given that I could not use my balcony for 4 of the 14 days it seemed to me that this was unacceptable but perhaps I am wrong but question why I should pay for a balcony for 14 days when I could only use it for 10 all on a Select Price fare.

 

For the record I did not mention compensation. I was enquiring about whether such maintenance is usual but I must admit the more I think about it the more aggrieved I feel.

 

Any further comments would be welcome.

[john watson]

I think I was the first poster to mention compensation and in this respect a complimentary upgrade on a future cruise for example is reasonable in my opinion. Realistically on your next cruise I should think somebody will be upgraded and they may have just been randomly selected in a total stroke of good luck and no real reason, hence my suggesting you make contact.

 

Regards John

Edited May 12, 2016 by john watson

[Pink-belle]

Thanks for the comments so far.

 

My particular gripe is that my cabin stood out from the cabins above (cabins that are overlooked by all the cabins on the other floors)meaning we got all the dust from any work done on the higher floors. Because the balcony on my cabin is so large - about 2.5 times larger than a standard balcony - we received a disproportionate amount of the dust and was used as a convenient place for varnish and other materials to be stored meaning workmen were walking in and out all day long.

 

Given that I could not use my balcony for 4 of the 14 days it seemed to me that this was unacceptable but perhaps I am wrong but question why I should pay for a balcony for 14 days when I could only use it for 10 all on a Select Price fare.

 

For the record I did not mention compensation. I was enquiring about whether such maintenance is usual but I must admit the more I think about it the more aggrieved I feel.

 

Any further comments would be welcome.

 

In answer to your original question, Yes regular maintenance is carried out on balconies and staterooms during sailings. We gave always been made aware of these works by either our room steward or a note delivered to the room.

 

I understand that you feel unhappy about not using the balcony as you wished, but it is not possible to address those issues now as the time has past.

 

There would have been no need to "complain" to those doing the maintenance, you could have spoken directly to the front desk. You easily could have advised them of your intention to stay on board whilst in port, and requested that your balcony not be used as the storage area. I actually find that a bit odd, how long did they leave their supplies there? I would have expected them to do one, then move along to the next room.

 

On Azura a couple of years ago, there had been a water leak, which meant they had had to lift some carpet, and installed 2 big industrial drying units outside our aft facing balcony. We had no problem with the mini assult course to reach our room, but by 2 am, when I still hadn't managed to get to sleep, I telephoned the front desk and asked if they could be switched off. 10 minutes later they were gone. The next morning I received a note asking me to contact one of the officers, I did, he apologised for the disturbance, and actually asked between what times it would be convenient for them to run.

Based on my experience, I am sure if you had mentioned it when it was an inconvenience, the crew would have worked around the issue with you.

 

You can't realistically raise a complaint, when no one was given an opportunity to rectify the issue at the time.

[daiB]

Fully agree, if you have a problem say something there and then. Go to the front desk and ask for the customer service manager if they cannot resolve the problem. If you leave it until you come home then anyone in Southampton has to collect information from the ship regarding what went on. Perhaps some of those involved moved on after your cruise and getting that information takes time. If you resolve it on the ship getting all the information takes a much shorter time.

 

 

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[whoops]

Thanks again.

 

One of the reasons I didn't complain at the time was because the issue was not solely to do with my cabin. Any work on any cabin above mine resulted in dust landing on my balcony as it protruded beyond all those above. With the best will in the World I very much doubt that P&O would agree to stopping work on about 10 cabins because of an objection from me. I accept though that I should have tried but didn't want to make an issue of it as it would probably have dominated my thought for the rest of the trip.

 

However, I recognise that P&O must undertake maintenance and it was just my bad luck that they decided to concentrate on my area of the ship.

 

I have never complained to anyone about anything in the past but have decided to complain to P&O on this occasion as I think it is unreasonable to expect me to be deprived of a facility for nearly a third of a holiday that cost me over £3500.

[daiB]

Thanks again.

 

 

 

One of the reasons I didn't complain at the time was because the issue was not solely to do with my cabin. Any work on any cabin above mine resulted in dust landing on my balcony as it protruded beyond all those above. With the best will in the World I very much doubt that P&O would agree to stopping work on about 10 cabins because of an objection from me. I accept though that I should have tried but didn't want to make an issue of it as it would probably have dominated my thought for the rest of the trip.

 

 

 

However, I recognise that P&O must undertake maintenance and it was just my bad luck that they decided to concentrate on my area of the ship.

 

 

 

I have never complained to anyone about anything in the past but have decided to complain to P&O on this occasion as I think it is unreasonable to expect me to be deprived of a facility for nearly a third of a holiday that cost me over £3500.

 

 

Your choice but I still feel it would have been far easier on the ship and you may have seen some more concrete results. I would not have put up with it for 4 days. Do not expect any quick resolution because of the reasons I have given.

 

 

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[insanemagnet]

I would not have put up with it for even the first morning, but I think you were foolish not to at least log the issue with reception.

 

As to whether they would have stopped work or not, that would have been P&O's decision, but since the maintenance guys told you not to use your balcony, if they chose not to stop work then they have effectively locked your balcony out if use for that period.

 

If they did that, then a hefty apology is due.

 

However since you said nothing...

[the english lady]

As painting goes on all the time, if the poster had complained at the time I am sure some resolution that worked for everyone could have been reached.

However as myself and others have posted instead of at least logging it with reception, you chose to continue , with pando having no idea how you felt. As you said nothing they could think you were happy with it.

Complain if you must, but suggest you don't try the it was out of bounds for 4 days, as their first question would quite rightly be, did you tell reception, why did you not mention on the first day.

It would be interesting if could could post how you got on..by the way they have a 21 day turnaround for complaints.

[gadabout60]

I'm with the others here - you should have said something, and perhaps they could have worked round your time offshore

 

Interestingly we had a similar problem on the Celebrity Eclipse last summer when they were doing work on the funnel. Certain cabins suffered a lot of banging. We complained and it did become a bit confrontational and they were only supposed to do the work at certain hours but they didn't keep to it. It stopped after 4/5 days.

 

I did complain when we got back and got future cruise credits - which I have used on a cruise we are going on next week

[Clodia]

They did my balcony on Oriana 2 years ago; it was out of use for 2 mornings while I was ashore, but they always took all their gear away and replaced the furniture by about 1 o clock; we just had to be careful not to touch the rails while the undercoat and varnish dried. I wasn't that happy but at least they did it while we were ashore.

The passengers next to us complained about the work as they were staying onboard, and theirs was not repainted.

[Florry]

I agree parts of the ship need to be maintained, and I have seen this in public areas on many cruises. I would be extremely annoyed if I was prevented from use and enjoyment of a balcony. The reason for this is that I paid for the privilege of a balcony and as such should expect it to be useable at all times. As far as maintenance goes I think P&O should simply not sell cabins on a rotational basis when work needs to be carried out. I fully appreciate that this would impact bottom line but it is something they need to factor in to pricing. I only get one long cruise a year, invariably it costs a significant amount of money and I would not be prepared to compromise. All I can say is you can try to make a retrospective complaint but sadly as you didn't raise it onboard I'm not sure you will achieve much. I have found that the definition of customer service onboard and shoreside are two very different things.

Edited May 12, 2016 by Florry

[annieuk]

You really should have said something while on board. Two of our table companions on Oceana (we got back today) had their balcony rail, removed for replacing so they couldn't use the balcony at all. They asked at Reception how long this would take and a representative of the Hotel Manager visited them in their cabin, apologised for the inconvenience and then they received a bottle of Champagne sent up to their cabin! They were very understanding and said they realised that when a ship is constantly at sea these things have to be done at some point. It was done on a Port Day so for most of the day they were ashore.

[tartanexile81]

We had maintenance work on our Oceana balcony in Feb after one of our neighbours complained to Reception and everyone around us got their balconies painted and rails varnished. It was really annoying because like the OP we had constant flakes of paint and banging from cabins above and around. However I have to say I thought Oceana was in poor condition and the only way to improve this is to carry out this essential maintenance all the time. The Promenade deck was never open completely all the way back across the Atlantic because the rails were removed, rust drilled off then the rails replaced and re-varnished. Frustrating yes but necessary.

[Eglesbrech]

We had exactly the same issue as the OP and registered our dissatisfaction on board. They did very little about it and continued with what (in my experience) was not just standard maintenance which one can expect but akin to a refit. There were a lot of contractors onboard throughot the cruise doing pretty major works. We also had issues with water, plumbing and flooding as did our neighbours.

 

The matter is now with P&O here in the UK. I got a letter from the ship confirming the constant disruption as a fact and now I am awaiting an answer.

 

We would have been as well with an outside cabin for all the use we got of our balcony. One day it looked like it was snowing as the paint chips came down from on high!

 

For issues like this you really do need to say something whilst onboard.

[Presto2]

We always book a balcony cabin and we spend a lot of time on there - particularly on sea days, after returning from a hard day on an excursion and when we just want to relax in the peace and quiet. If I thought that this was going to be ruined by someone hammering and banging doing maintenance I'd be furious and would most definitely make my feelings known.

 

Last year on Oceana I remember one of my favourite memories was being on my balcony, glass in hand, reading my Kindle looking out at stunning Kotor and hearing nothing at all ------ just silence. It was very special. You can't bottle that. If someone had been knocking and banging then the reason for my choice of balcony would have been lost ........