The Truth About Forward Facing Balconies on the Royal Princess

Prior to the launch of the Royal Princess there was some discussion about the forward facing balconies located on the decks above the bridge. We got the impression from Princess that access to the balconies would be restricted to when the ship is in port and that the doors would be locked while the ship is at sea. In fact, Princess's description of this "deluxe balcony obstructed" specifically states PART OBSTRUCTED VIEW NON-GLASS BALC RAIL BALCONY ACCESS WHEN IN PORT ONLY .

Here is the truth. We just came off the Royal Princess. We had cabin L101. There are no locks on the balcony doors. The cabin steward does nothing to these doors while the ship is at sea. No one cares if you go out on the verandah. Because of high wind while at sea, it would be uncomfortable to spend any amount of time out there. However, on one of our sea days, there was no apparent wind and we enjoyed the balcony immensely.

Here is the view from Cabin L101 with one specific and one general warning sign.

I hope not too many people book this wonderful cabin, because Princess might get wind and raise the prices.;)

How about photos of the interior?

Much nicer picture than the pictures I've seen of the soot filled aft balconies.

Looks like a beautiful view from the balcony. You had an up-close and personal observation deck! :D

Wow! Looks like a really nice balcony. Nice to hear you had some weather that allowed you to be out there while at sea.

How about photos of the interior?

Here you go:

And a shot of the balcony from the railing:

Thanks! :)

Thanks for posting. We had a similar experience in our deluxe ocean view cabin on the Sapphire Princess--except those cabins don't have balcony furniture. It was the perfect location for viewing glaciers in Alaska. Our neighbor had specifically picked out his cabin months in advance. We lucked out and were upgraded to ours from an obstructed view guarantee.

OP - Thanks for sharing this. This confirms other posts from forward facing cruisers. Great balcony and killer view!!!

Thanks so much for posting. We have the exact same stateroom number booked on the Regal for a Mediterranean cruise later this year so hope it is the same. Also appears that the balcony is significantly larger than the other deluxes.

And the other bonus is that I think your photo is showing a footstool?

Now if they could just have more comfortable lounge chairs!

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I have this exact cabin booked for Regal's 3 nighter from PEV on November 6th so boy have you wet my appetite!

Had a cabin like this years ago on Norwegian Sun overlooking the bow and loved it. Felt like I was the captain of the ship. Beats the stern balconies any day!

Thank you so much!

Worldspan

133 cruises strong

I have this exact cabin booked for Regal's 3 nighter from PEV on November 6th so boy have you wet my appetite!

 

Had a cabin like this years ago on Norwegian Sun overlooking the bow and loved it. Felt like I was the captain of the ship. Beats the stern balconies any day!

 

Thank you so much!

 

Worldspan

133 cruises strong

My pleasure

I figure this forward balcony takes the place of the bow promenade on the Grand Class ships, where I go to the most forward part of the bow, lean and yell: "I'm king of the world!!!!":);):D

Thanks so much for posting. We have the exact same stateroom number booked on the Regal for a Mediterranean cruise later this year so hope it is the same. Also appears that the balcony is significantly larger than the other deluxes.

And the other bonus is that I think your photo is showing a footstool?

Now if they could just have more comfortable lounge chairs!

 

 

 

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Never had a balcony so big. On your verandah you could entertain all the Cruise Critic participants on board. :)

Sounds great thanks.

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It's kind-of fun having a forward-facing cabin. We had 2 forward-facing suites on a different line and really, really enjoyed them. Yes, you get more wind up there but it only became unusable for maybe 6-10 hrs. during the whole week. The rest of the time, it was great.

You definitely get more ship movement too, so if you're sensitive to that, this is not the place for you. We also were told we had to turn off all the lights in our cabin one night and close the curtains so the captain and his officers on the bridge could see to navigate.

I'm a cruising newbie and so when I booked L101 from the TA I never told her the magic words "NO UPGRADE" so when the upgrade fairy came I was totally blindsided ! I was notified by one of our CC roll call members that he noticed my cabin was available. So I called Princess and cried like a baby but had to settle for L103.

I say settle because 2 of our role call members have L102 and 104. We were going to have a meet and great for our role call. (it's a really small roll call!)

I'm bringing champagne and ordering OJ and strawberries for mimosas. How cool if we could have opened our 3 balconies to our tiny roll call for sail away and mimosas.

And FYI, I deliberately picked L101 simply so I could stand as close to the middle front of the ship and shout "I'm Princess of the world" while John from L102 took my photo.

I'm a cruising newbie and so when I booked L101 from the TA I never told her the magic words "NO UPGRADE" so when the upgrade fairy came I was totally blindsided ! I was notified by one of our CC roll call members that he noticed my cabin was available. So I called Princess and cried like a baby but had to settle for L103.

 

I say settle because 2 of our role call members have L102 and 104. We were going to have a meet and great for our role call. (it's a really small roll call!)

 

I'm bringing champagne and ordering OJ and strawberries for mimosas. How cool if we could have opened our 3 balconies to our tiny roll call for sail away and mimosas.

 

And FYI, I deliberately picked L101 simply so I could stand as close to the middle front of the ship and shout "I'm Princess of the world" while John from L102 took my photo.

Are you on the 26-day TA/Europe/Baltics cruise?

I'm a cruising newbie and so when I booked L101 from the TA I never told her the magic words "NO UPGRADE" so when the upgrade fairy came I was totally blindsided ! I was notified by one of our CC roll call members that he noticed my cabin was available. So I called Princess and cried like a baby but had to settle for L103.

 

I say settle because 2 of our role call members have L102 and 104. We were going to have a meet and great for our role call. (it's a really small roll call!)

 

I'm bringing champagne and ordering OJ and strawberries for mimosas. How cool if we could have opened our 3 balconies to our tiny roll call for sail away and mimosas.

 

And FYI, I deliberately picked L101 simply so I could stand as close to the middle front of the ship and shout "I'm Princess of the world" while John from L102 took my photo.

Bring some triple sec too. Add a little to each Mimosa. YUM:):)

Sunrise in the Caribbean (taken with an iPhone 5.)

I'm a cruising newbie and so when I booked L101 from the TA I never told her the magic words "NO UPGRADE" so when the upgrade fairy came I was totally blindsided ! I was notified by one of our CC roll call members that he noticed my cabin was available. So I called Princess and cried like a baby but had to settle for L103.

 

I say settle because 2 of our role call members have L102 and 104. We were going to have a meet and great for our role call. (it's a really small roll call!)

 

I'm bringing champagne and ordering OJ and strawberries for mimosas. How cool if we could have opened our 3 balconies to our tiny roll call for sail away and mimosas.

 

And FYI, I deliberately picked L101 simply so I could stand as close to the middle front of the ship and shout "I'm Princess of the world" while John from L102 took my photo.

Are you sure the partitions can be opened on these forward-facing balconies? Just wondering if they can be opened on both sides, one side or no sides. ???

Are you sure the partitions can be opened on these forward-facing balconies? Just wondering if they can be opened on both sides, one side or no sides. ???

The last photo in Post #6 shows one partition door.

Are you on the 26-day TA/Europe/Baltics cruise?

No, the Royal is in the caribbean in March. I could never leave my cat for 26 days either !!

Much nicer picture than the pictures I've seen of the soot filled aft balconies.

Aft Balconies/Suites Are Most Sought After Accomodations Aboard Any Ship!Although Rumored That The Royal Has Had Some Problems With Soot,They Are Resolving The Issue And You Can Bet That The Regal Will Not Exibit This Type Of Issue At All!:rolleyes:

The last photo in Post #6 shows one partition door.

That is correct. There are partition doors on both sides, at least from L101.

Thanks for posting this. I have an aft booked for October.. I am now going to torment myself with the decision of whether or not to switch to a forward facing balcony. I am assuming your cruise on the Royal was a Caribbean cruise?

Dana