Balcony Partition Removal

[chengkp75]

16 hours ago, BillOh said:

Many people here will quickly reply, "Its at the Captain's disgression" but I have a hard time believing the captain would get involved.

While the Captain may not get involved with which particular cabin divider could be opened, it is indeed at the Captain's discretion, as it is a safety concern.  The balcony dividers are designed and designated as fire breaks, to slow fire passage between balconies due to the wind.  They were never designed to be opened for passenger convenience, but as a result of the Star Princess fire, where fire teams could not transit from one balcony to the next to fight the fire, so the dividers were required to be made to open for fire emergencies.   Some class society rules, and some classes of ship may have numbers for the total number of dividers that can be opened at one time, or the number of dividers in a row that may be opened.  Also, any divider between cabins that are in two different fire zones (one of the passageway doors separates the cabins in the passageway), the divider will either not be able to be opened, or will not be allowed to be opened, as this breaches the fire zone boundary.

[Nemomof3]

It's not about the size of the balcony it's the banging around and possible sliding of the partition. We were near the front on Liberty and we had such high winds ours came unhooked and actually slid back and forth. It could definitely be a safety issue. The winds were so crazy my husbands sea pass slipped out of his hand on our balcony deck 12 was blown we thought out to sea but somehow it landed on an open deck and was returned to customer service about the same time a new one was being issued. I would have never believed it if it hadn't happened to us.

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, Nemomof3 said:

It's not about the size of the balcony it's the banging around and possible sliding of the partition. We were near the front on Liberty and we had such high winds ours came unhooked and actually slid back and forth. It could definitely be a safety issue. The winds were so crazy my husbands sea pass slipped out of his hand on our balcony deck 12 was blown we thought out to sea but somehow it landed on an open deck and was returned to customer service about the same time a new one was being issued. I would have never believed it if it hadn't happened to us.

So why did you let this (banging around) bother you..close or re-latch it yourself or ask your steward to do it ??

[Nemomof3]

5 minutes ago, Ashland said:

So why did you let this (banging around) bother you..close or re-latch it yourself or ask your steward to do it ??

We did relatch it I was responding to yes in fact it COULD be a safety issue if someone was on the balcony which is why some captains on some sailings MAY not allow them to be open. The banging was mostly at night and we did get up and shut it a couple times then reopen it in the morning it was loud enough to wake us up on more than one occasion. Again it was about WHY this may or may not be allowed.

[Ashland]

10 minutes ago, Nemomof3 said:

We did relatch it I was responding to yes in fact it COULD be a safety issue if someone was on the balcony which is why some captains on some sailings MAY not allow them to be open. The banging was mostly at night and we did get up and shut it a couple times then reopen it in the morning it was loud enough to wake us up on more than one occasion. Again it was about WHY this may or may not be allowed.

Weather and sea conditions change at a moments notice...anything "could" be a safety issue during sailing....policies are flexible day to day...night to night.

[csnarpy]

We always sail with the kids in one room and us in another. We always have the divider opened. 

 

On an Oasis class ship, when the steward opens the divider, it is locked in the open position and cannot be closed without the steward closing it.  There is no banging or sliding open and closed because it is secured in the open position, even in the worst weather.

 

On our last cruise, on Symphony, we had a group of people and had six balconies opened up in a row. lol

Edited August 6, 2020 by csnarpy

[Momofshan]

On 8/6/2020 at 12:20 PM, csnarpy said:

 

 

On our last cruise, on Symphony, we had a group of people and had six balconies opened up in a row. lol

We did that with 4 balconies in a row (parents) and 4 insides across the hall (kiddos).  Had some seriously fun expanded balcony parties! 

[Ashland]

18 minutes ago, Momofshan said:

We did that with 4 balconies in a row (parents) and 4 insides across the hall (kiddos).  Had some seriously fun expanded balcony parties! 

We also did that with the four last aft Boardwalk balconies on Harmony.

[flpenguin]

Hoping to do this on the Serenade for our Alaska cruise Sept. 2022.  First time booked a grand suite next to friends grand suite.

[Ashland]

4 hours ago, flpenguin said:

Hoping to do this on the Serenade for our Alaska cruise Sept. 2022.  First time booked a grand suite next to friends grand suite.

Sorry, but I don't believe the balconies open on Serenade.

[ONECRUISER]

20 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Sorry, but I don't believe the balconies open on Serenade.

You're right, they do not

[bajathree]

With the constantly changing protocols in the new COVID world I wouldn't just assume that opening the balcony dividers is going to be an option. I have been hearing of people getting e-mails and last minute notifications of their cabins being moved to space people out for social distancing. So apparently not even actually getting the cabin you booked is on the table now.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

Sorry, but I don't believe the balconies open on Serenade.

 

2 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

You're right, they do not

Yep, any ship built before the Star Princess fire in 2006 is not required to have partitions that open.

[lauren28]

Has anyone been allowed to have partitions opened in the era of covid?! (Specifically on Allure!) 

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

Answer is "it's possible."  We have sailed with adult kids and grandkids on Allure and Oasis and with midship adjoining cabins it's never been an issue.  In fact one time we had three cabins open.  However, if you look at the photos of the ships you will see there are some structural beams at points and those can't be opened.  Mostly it shouldn't be an issue, but it will be decided and done once on board so there's no set answer.    

[Momofshan]

11 hours ago, bajathree said:

With the constantly changing protocols in the new COVID world I wouldn't just assume that opening the balcony dividers is going to be an option. I have been hearing of people getting e-mails and last minute notifications of their cabins being moved to space people out for social distancing. So apparently not even actually Lgetting the cabin you booked is on the table now.

I truly hope they don't do that with our 10/3/21 Liberty sailing.  My thought is....since it's a group booking with our family's 4 cabins in a row, they wouldn't move us around?   That's my hope at least!! 🙈

Edited August 29, 2021 by Momofshan

[bajathree]

7 hours ago, Momofshan said:

I truly hope they don't do that with our 10/3/21 Liberty sailing.  My thought is....since it's a group booking with our family's 4 cabins in a row, they wouldn't move us around?   That's my hope at least!! 🙈

Someone reported their parents being only 2 cabins away from them and they were still notified that due to social distancing their cabin needed to be moved.

[matj2000]

3 hours ago, bajathree said:

Someone reported their parents being only 2 cabins away from them and they were still notified that due to social distancing their cabin needed to be moved.

 

I am glad we got Royal Caribbean to save us from ourselves....

[Ron Don]

On 8/4/2020 at 12:45 PM, dawnelda said:

I don't know that the aft balcony dividers can be opened on Oasis class. They can't be opened on Freedom or Voyager class.

We were on the Liberty a couple of years with 3 other couples.  We had 4 GS's in a row, if you would.  We had our cabin steward open our dividers for the week....it was wonderful.  

[pcur]

On 8/4/2020 at 10:18 AM, BubbaBoat said:

That it takes an Act of the Captain to approve something so frivolous 

Not so frivolous.  I was told once they didn't like opening the balconies because of fire hazards:  a fire can spread more easily.  They may have changed this, but there are still safety policies and maritime rules involved.