K
Karry
Guest
Do the balconies have a "see thru window" on them? All of our Carnival cruises did, but our recent cruise on the RCL VOS had cement from the railing down.
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S
Snowblower
Guest
Yes, clear light blue plastic from handrail to deck just like other Princess ships. Can see thru no problem.
K
Karry
Guest
Oh, what a relief! I couldn't figure out why VOS had the bottom "covered up." We had to keep getting up and down to look out at the ocean. i just called it my "exercise of the day" lol. How I complain...ah, to be out there again....March 5th seems a long way away.
L
Lady Jag
Guest
I believe the majority do have the blue-ish plexiglass stuff instead of the metal wall like the Voyager Class ships. The only ones that might have some of the metal base would be those at the very aft or stern of the ship, but I'm not sure. When we were on the Island's sister, the Coral, we didn't notice any metal bases at all. Here's a side picture so you can see the way it is:
<img src=http://www.cruise-addicts.com/picturepost/image.php/2412/thumbCopy_of_Copy_of_Alaska_287.jpg>
<img src=http://www.cruise-addicts.com/picturepost/image.php/2412/thumbCopy_of_Copy_of_Alaska_287.jpg>
S
Snowblower
Guest
Lady Jag does brings up a good point that I didn't cover. Just about all of the balconies have the blue see thru plastic. There are a couple locations at the rear of the ship that are metal. These are metal and not see thru plactic because they "turn" the corner (balcony is on the side and rear of the ship). They have done this for safety reasons. As long as you are not in the very last stateroom to the rear you should get the see thru plastic balcony.
K
Karry
Guest
Cabin we were on on VOS was mid ship. Had white painted cement from rail to floor. The cabin to our right also had white painted cement barrier between balconies for "privacy." But the cabin on the other side had cloudy plexiglass barrier and the people kept their balcony light on day and night and it shined thru. Definitely a mood stopper! I finally put a note in their mail slot asking them to turn it off if they are not using it. It went off for about an hour one night! On the last day my husband saw them coming out of the cabin and said they must have been in their 80's if they were a day and the steward said they requested the drapes be kept closed at all times. So they probably didn't even realize the light was on. Why would you get a balcony cabin and keep the drapes closed? Light or no light, cement barrier or not, I sure would like to be out there right now!!!
D
DJA
Guest
I believe this is the explanation for the solid outer walls on the balconies of certain ships and not others.
In many cases, the solid balcony walls are for structural reasons, and I believe that is the case on the Voyager-class ships. Because of their extreme height above the water line, the Voyager-class ships could not be fully constructed of steel because they would become extremely top-heavy causing them to roll excessively.... or even all the way over. To solve that problem, the lower portion of the ship is made of steel, but the upper portion is made of aluminum, thereby making the bottom heavy and the top light, solving the center-of-gravity problem. As for the balconies, I believe at least some, if not all of those decks are made of aluminum, and to make the ship rigid they needed to build more of a "web" around the outside of the ship. Having all that space taken up by glass...which is essentially open space from a structural perspective... would not provide the rigidity needed on those outer walls.
One recent exception was the Queen Mary 2 -- it was built entirely of steel to better deal with the stresses of North Atlantic crossings and to make it last longer. To counteract the top-heaviness problem, they built it much wider. The QE2 has 5 upper decks made of aluminum.
In many cases, the solid balcony walls are for structural reasons, and I believe that is the case on the Voyager-class ships. Because of their extreme height above the water line, the Voyager-class ships could not be fully constructed of steel because they would become extremely top-heavy causing them to roll excessively.... or even all the way over. To solve that problem, the lower portion of the ship is made of steel, but the upper portion is made of aluminum, thereby making the bottom heavy and the top light, solving the center-of-gravity problem. As for the balconies, I believe at least some, if not all of those decks are made of aluminum, and to make the ship rigid they needed to build more of a "web" around the outside of the ship. Having all that space taken up by glass...which is essentially open space from a structural perspective... would not provide the rigidity needed on those outer walls.
One recent exception was the Queen Mary 2 -- it was built entirely of steel to better deal with the stresses of North Atlantic crossings and to make it last longer. To counteract the top-heaviness problem, they built it much wider. The QE2 has 5 upper decks made of aluminum.
L
Lady Jag
Guest
DJA - I've read that also - much of the ships' top portions are made of lightweight aluminum. I know our cabins on Deck 8, midship had the metal bases on the balcony. Must be the higher up ones that have the plexiglass I guess.
Karry - I can see why it would bother you with the balcony light on. I think I would've asked the steward to turn it off. They probably wouldn't even noticed. Maybe they were too old to figure out how to turn the light off? :grin
Karry - I can see why it would bother you with the balcony light on. I think I would've asked the steward to turn it off. They probably wouldn't even noticed. Maybe they were too old to figure out how to turn the light off? :grin
K
Karry
Guest
Very interesting. Thank you for that info. Well, it's too late now to ask that couple to turn off their light lol. The ship and the entire week was fabulous, so I'm not going to let a little thing like that ruin the memories. Yes, in retrospect I should have talked to the steward, but I didn't realize the situation until the last day. Live and learn.
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Lady Jag
Guest
I can just hear my DH saying "old people should be shot!". :lol :lol :lol Ofcourse, when he's old, he'll change his mind! :lol :lol :lol
T
twocat
Guest
Does anyone know if one need a bungy cord to hold the balcony door open. I heard they close atomatically. Help please? Actually going on Coral but I know the ships are the same. Thanks
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DJA
Guest
If you mean the door from the cabin to the balcony -- no, it's a sliding door that pretty much stays where you leave it. If you mean the door between adjoining balconies -- they tend to swing in the breeze, you can just put a chair in front of it, or tie it back if you want.
One note on the sliding door -- if you're out there and there's nobody inside, leave it open a crack. Occasionally if you slam it shut, the latch will catch just enough to lock you out. ...and of course, you can get locked out there by your cabin-mate if they don't know you're there when they leave the cabin. You'll end up yelling to other people out on their balconies to call your cabin steward. We also had a "climber" once who hopped over a couple of rails to get to our balcony so we could let her in. She was 17 years old -- apparently fear wasn't on her priority list yet....
One note on the sliding door -- if you're out there and there's nobody inside, leave it open a crack. Occasionally if you slam it shut, the latch will catch just enough to lock you out. ...and of course, you can get locked out there by your cabin-mate if they don't know you're there when they leave the cabin. You'll end up yelling to other people out on their balconies to call your cabin steward. We also had a "climber" once who hopped over a couple of rails to get to our balcony so we could let her in. She was 17 years old -- apparently fear wasn't on her priority list yet....
