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Opening door between adjoining balconies


karatemom2
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We are currently on the Encore and we’re so excited for our adjoining balcony cabins we are sharing with family. Our NCL rep assured us that the door between balconies would be opened at our request as it always has on every other cruise we have been on. But when I made the request to our room steward he flatly denied stating that they will not do it. It is a new policy??? I’m just so upset. It’s one of the big reasons we book adjoining balconies so we can enjoy extended family together for scenic cruising. It has never been denied before. I truly don’t get it - they are designed to be opened?!

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21 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

We are currently on the Encore and we’re so excited for our adjoining balcony cabins we are sharing with family. Our NCL rep assured us that the door between balconies would be opened at our request as it always has on every other cruise we have been on. But when I made the request to our room steward he flatly denied stating that they will not do it. It is a new policy??? I’m just so upset. It’s one of the big reasons we book adjoining balconies so we can enjoy extended family together for scenic cruising. It has never been denied before. I truly don’t get it - they are designed to be opened?!

No they are not designed to be OPENED.  They are designed to keep a fire from going from balcony to balcony.  It is not a new policy.

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were they opened for you  on prior ncl cruises? ncl policy is they will definitely "NOT" open the adjoining doors. this isnt new, in 18 cruises from a mid ship mini suite, a haven aft balcony, haven forward penthouse suite, they will not and do not open the adjoining doors. i am sorry you were misinformed, or many the rep just wanted the booking and didnt know what he/she was talking about.

 

it aint gonna happen. they are only opened when there is no one aboard for cleaning purposes only

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It may have been done in the past - - -

Not all cruise lines allow this - - -

Maybe allowed while in port but underway these partition panels must

be secured to prevent unfettered movement

The fire control is a weak excuse as the doors are not draft proof - - -

The basic function is for easy maintenance without going thru the

interior passageway opening each cabin in turn and making a mess in each

On the older ships these partition panels were made of metal and

were a safety hazard to life and limb if not secured

The newer ships the partition is a lightweight composite material - still yet

can cause bruises and pinched fingers 

Some even opened awkwardly in front of the sliding glass balcony door

or can restrict the deck chairs and lounges from being best used in the small space

Each ship and balcony may present a different design

 

BUT the ANSWER is basically "NO" opening the balcony partitions !

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Well I appreciate the feedback. This is our first NCL cruise in 10 years and it wasn’t an issue when we sailed before. But that was a long time ago. I’m just really upset the rep misled me because we may have chosen a different option. 
 

We primarily sail on Princess, have also sailed Carnival and Royal Caribbean and never had any problem having the partition opened between balconies. They have always done so happily. So I was quite surprised that NCL has such a different policy. Too bad for us I guess - I was really looking forward so enjoying the extended space with our whole family in scenic cruising day as we have in the past on other lines. 

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37 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

We primarily sail on Princess...

 

Ironically, it was a fire on Star Princess that lead to many of the changes as far as balcony partition materials and why they can be opened when needed.....

 

tater1800.jpg

 

....and why they shouldn't be opened when not needed. 

Edited by Two Wheels Only
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5 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

We are currently on the Encore and we’re so excited for our adjoining balcony cabins we are sharing with family. Our NCL rep assured us that the door between balconies would be opened at our request as it always has on every other cruise we have been on. But when I made the request to our room steward he flatly denied stating that they will not do it. It is a new policy??? I’m just so upset. It’s one of the big reasons we book adjoining balconies so we can enjoy extended family together for scenic cruising. It has never been denied before. I truly don’t get it - they are designed to be opened?!

Not a new policy.
 

It is the policy that the dividers remained closed for fire safety. 

 

Time to get a new NCL rep. 

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5 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

The fire control is a weak excuse as the doors are not draft proof - - -

The basic function is for easy maintenance without going thru the

interior passageway opening each cabin in turn and making a mess in each

Well, as someone who has actually fought shipboard fires, the fire control concern is not a "weak excuse", as the partition provides a barrier to ship movement induced wind, as anyone who has had a balcony will know, so this wind reduction slows the spread of any fire.  And, secondly, the "basic function" has nothing to do with easy maintenance, the partitions were made to be openable as a result of the Star Princess fire, where the fire teams could not proceed from one balcony to the next without chopping down a partition, which led to the fire only being able to be attacked from one side, the passageway side.  In that fire, the partitions, as well as the balcony furnishings were combustible.

 

It used to be NCL's policy to allow the Captain to decide how many total dividers, and how many adjacent dividers to allow to be opened, based on his risk tolerance.  This led to complaints from those who were not allowed to open their dividers, so the company took the decision out of the hands of the Captain and made a zero policy company policy.  This was several years ago.

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3 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Ironically, it was a fire on Star Princess that lead to many of the changes as far as balcony partition materials and why they can be opened when needed.....

 

tater1800.jpg

 

....and why they shouldn't be opened when not needed. 

Actually, as stated above, this fire was not exacerbated by open dividers, but by dividers that could not be opened, as well as combustible dividers.

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Thanks for posting this, OP.  We have a big family and, have sometimes booked 3 adjoining balconies for the same reason you did.  Like you, we never had a problem in the past with having the steward open the partitions.  It was a great convenience to us as a group as we had a place big enough for all to be together plus we didn't have to appear in the hallway in our pj's.  Not only would it be disappointing, but we would have paid a lot more for 3 balconies instead of putting the kids in an inside across the hall.  Thanks for the heads up and I'm sorry you were upset.  I would have been too.

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On 8/14/2021 at 10:36 PM, karatemom2 said:

We are currently on the Encore and we’re so excited for our adjoining balcony cabins we are sharing with family. Our NCL rep assured us that the door between balconies would be opened at our request as it always has on every other cruise we have been on. But when I made the request to our room steward he flatly denied stating that they will not do it. It is a new policy??? I’m just so upset. It’s one of the big reasons we book adjoining balconies so we can enjoy extended family together for scenic cruising. It has never been denied before. I truly don’t get it - they are designed to be opened?!

 

Balcony partitions can not be opened.  fire hazard.  They are design to be opened for cleaning and maintenance, not for every day use.

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I was on a HAL Alaskan cruise 2 years ago and had 3 adjoining rooms.  They opened our 2 partitions and we had them open the entire cruise.  It was really nice to have the big balcony and socialize while taking in the sights.  Maybe different cruise lines have different policies or have they all changed since then?

 

I guess if that is something one wants it may be good to check with the specific cruise line.  I never knew that this was NCL policy.  Good to know.

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5 hours ago, Rob-Bob said:

Maybe different cruise lines have different policies or have they all changed since then?

It's a policy each line sets for their ships.  Have a gander at the resident Chief Engineer's post earlier in this thread (he used to work ON NCL ships) for an explanation...

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2 hours ago, Seany527 said:

You can actually open it yourself. Just google how to do it. But when you’re done, put the divider back in place. 

 

@karatemom2, it's probably not a good idea to be discovered breaking safety protocols. There are more than enough folks around you on a ship who would be more than happy to turn you in to security for violations. 

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3 hours ago, Seany527 said:

You can actually open it yourself. Just google how to do it. But when you’re done, put the divider back in place. 

there are a number of things you can do that  you shouldnt (smoke in your cabin, try and sneak liquor aboard, bring non-haven guests into the haven, etc) while i am certainly not a goody 2 shoes, ship board rules are in place for a reason. you would have a massive problem, if everyone tried to open their  cabin dividers, and you'd be out of luck if the staff found out and you were nicely escorted of the ship and left stranded in a foreign port.

 

my advice, and i whole heartedly agree with birdtravels, 
"dont press your luck" ! it's not worth it, and yes, there are probably a bunch of people who would turn you in. if you really need to be that close to your traveling companions, i suggest  you pool your resources and book a haven garden villa

 

 

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On 8/16/2021 at 6:39 PM, complawyer said:

there are a number of things you can do that  you shouldnt (smoke in your cabin, try and sneak liquor aboard, bring non-haven guests into the haven, etc) while i am certainly not a goody 2 shoes, ship board rules are in place for a reason. you would have a massive problem, if everyone tried to open their  cabin dividers, and you'd be out of luck if the staff found out and you were nicely escorted of the ship and left stranded in a foreign port.

 

my advice, and i whole heartedly agree with birdtravels, 
"dont press your luck" ! it's not worth it, and yes, there are probably a bunch of people who would turn you in. if you really need to be that close to your traveling companions, i suggest  you pool your resources and book a haven garden villa

 

 


You know there’s no need for the snark. We actually had a Haven Family Cabin booked in May and NCL canceled that cruise. There were none available for this cruise unfortunately and as we are treating our adult children to this cruise so do not need them to “pool” resources with us to upgrade to a Haven, thank you very much. 
 

And yes, this is a shared family experience and we enjoy being together on the balcony and booked thinking that would be the case based on previous experience on other cruise lines (as supported by comments here) as well as what we were directly TOLD by the NCL representative who convinced us to go with two adjoining balcony cabins. 
 

Quite frankly I think some of these responses are rude given that what I asked is the norm on other lines and what was informed would be my experience in NCL. So yeah, I was disappointed! But we respected the policy and now will make informed choices in the future. Thank you to those of you who have been pleasant and understanding in your responses. 

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sorry if you thought it was snarky, the bottom line is that it is against ncl policy to allow the dividers to be opened. live with it or cruise another line that will allow it.

 

it isnt "rude" to tell someone you cant do something that they cannot do.

 

sorry that your entitled self was disappointed. By the way is your name "karen"?

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5 minutes ago, complawyer said:

sorry if you thought it was snarky, the bottom line is that it is against ncl policy to allow the dividers to be opened. live with it or cruise another line that will allow it.

 

it isnt "rude" to tell someone you cant do something that they cannot do.

 

sorry that your entitled self was disappointed. By the way is your name "karen"?

 

Sometimes it’s not what you say but how you say it. Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice. You are too kind. 

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It's actually disruptive to others when people use the balconies as a passageway to get from one cabin to another.  It greatly increases noise and commotion for passengers whose balconies are nearby.  I say this as someone who was also disappointed to discover the "new" policy when we were on a cruise with another couple.  (We didn't want to use the balconies as a passageway, but rather to sit together and experience the view.)

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5 minutes ago, ShelleyQT said:

It's actually disruptive to others when people use the balconies as a passageway to get from one cabin to another.  It greatly increases noise and commotion for passengers whose balconies are nearby.  I say this as someone who was also disappointed to discover the "new" policy when we were on a cruise with another couple.  (We didn't want to use the balconies as a passageway, but rather to sit together and experience the view.)


Our cabin had inside connecting doors so we did not plan to use it as a passageway either. We just wanted to enjoy the expanded space for viewing as well. We spent a great deal of time out on our balconies and it was fine. Just missed that added sense of being able to enjoy it together. 

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1 hour ago, complawyer said:

sorry if you thought it was snarky, the bottom line is that it is against ncl policy to allow the dividers to be opened. live with it or cruise another line that will allow it.

 

it isnt "rude" to tell someone you cant do something that they cannot do.

 

sorry that your entitled self was disappointed. By the way is your name "karen"?

I think you are being unfair to the OP.  Other lines do allow this, she was told by the rep that she booked with that it would be allowed.  It is not her job to determine if the information she was given was correct or incorrect.  Her disappointment here is that she was given the wrong information.

 

Had the correct information been given, than the choice to accept or not accept would be on them to decide before booking.   

I have actually been told this could be done also,  but have never ended up booking side by side balconies to have asked for it to be done. 

1 hour ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Sometimes it’s not what you say but how you say it. Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice. You are too kind. 

 

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17 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:


Our cabin had inside connecting doors so we did not plan to use it as a passageway either. We just wanted to enjoy the expanded space for viewing as well. We spent a great deal of time out on our balconies and it was fine. Just missed that added sense of being able to enjoy it together. 

I can see that - some balconies only have room for 2 deck chairs and cocktail table -

forget the lounge chairs (only one could be used anyway).

Frankly needing more balcony space - gonna havta book a larger cabin with such space.

 

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1 hour ago, karatemom2 said:

 

Sometimes it’s not what you say but how you say it. Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice. You are too kind. 

think nothing of it. it was my pleasure. while i cant blame you if that's what you were told by an ncl rep, we've taken 18 cruises with ncl since 2010, and have always known about their policy. ive spoken with ncl    reps  that had the intelligence of an eggplant, and they had no idea what they were talking about.

 

my suggestion to book a bigger cabin was designed to be neither snarky or insulting, we've book a 2 bedroom many times to include my grandson and his friend. while they werent "adults" they were over 18. now i have booked  a 2 bedroom for this nov and next jan, and on each occasion, one of my good friends is joining us and taking the other bedroom. 

 

the garden villa, while costly, has 3 bedrooms, and can accomodate at least 6 people.

 

so dear karatemom, it was a suggestion issued in good faith, not to be lambasted by you.

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For what it's worth, we had adjoining large balcony cabins on the POA a few years back. They wouldn't open the balcony partitions, but in those cabins marked as "large" balconies, there was plenty of room for 4 of us out there. We had 2 loungers, 2 regular chairs and 2 tables with plenty of room. Could easily knock on the partition in our secret code to let the other cabin know we were ready to head to dinner.

 

So although it's not as ideal as being able to have that extended balcony with the partitions opened, it's still an enjoyable option to spend time together in one balcony.

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