No more lounge chairs on balcony??

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

We had two on our balcony with over stuffed cushions on the Enchantment back in Jan 2011.

[yj2cute]

Anyone on the Explorer recently have trouble getting loungers?

[rer0322]

I'm just off the Liberty on the 28th and didn't have a lounger. I asked our steward and she told me that it "came from above" that we could no longer have them on our balconies. Very disappointing.

[Jumbiecruiser]

I'm just off the Liberty on the 28th and didn't have a lounger. I asked our steward and she told me that it "came from above" that we could no longer have them on our balconies. Very disappointing.

 

Smart move on their part. What happens when more and more people start asking for this? If you want a lounger then book a cabin where it's part of the balcony furniture. :rolleyes:

[bajathree]

Smart move on their part. What happens when more and more people start asking for this? If you want a lounger then book a cabin where it's part of the balcony furniture. :rolleyes:

 

I kind of have to agree here and am sure that is part of why the change....however....I just don't understand not having a lounger on Oasis class JS's and D1's.....no use booking them IMO if a lounger is not part of the furniture already....whats the use of the bigger balcony then if it doesn't add anything more than what is on the balcony of a standard.

[CaroleSP]

This is our second cruise this year in an oversized balcony and we can't get a lounge chair from RCL anymore....

 

WHY?????

 

First response was it's a fire hazard...ummmm, the chairs that are with the table are made with the same material...bad excuse!!!

 

Ridiculous!! I can't personally believe that when you have JS or an aft balcony with a LARGE balcony that you can't have a lounge chair...

 

I'll be coming up with another answer...guess it's one more item to travel with!! There are lounge chairs out there that are smaller and collapsible...

 

Wonder what RCL will think when everyone starts bringing their own!! LOL

 

We were told it's a new rule this year from RCL...

 

Anyone else with the same experience/???

 

We're on Allure now.....and NO lounge even in the JS with a HUGE balcony...

 

jul

We just got off the Enchantment and we had 2 regular chairs, one table and one lounge chair. We were in a JS.

[philamike]

Hi all -- I posted on March 17 (post # 62) a photo of the aft balconies of Serenade of the Seas, showing that some aft D2 cabins had loungers while others did not, including the cabin that I would be occupying on my March 26 cruise.

 

Well, I arrived in my cabin (7674) and there were two chairs on the balcony -- no loungers. I asked my stateroom attendant if we could get them, adding that we would "of course show our gratitude." Our neighbors in 7676 (also traveling with us) separately asked the attendant, slipping him a $20 at that time. The attendant told each of us that he would need to ask his supervisor.

 

On Day #2, I stopped in the C&A lounge to ask about future cruise booking deals, and because the ship's deck plans were sitting right there, I asked the booking manager why some D2 aft cabins had loungers and others did not. She seemed surprised with my level of knowledge about the issue, and I told her that I had been following an active thread on Cruise Critic. :) She said she was aware of a directive from up above that cabins that did not have fire sprinklers on the balconies would be having their loungers removed, but she didn't know the specifics of the situation on Serenade. (BTW, the aft cabins on Serenade do not have sprinklers.)

 

Meanwhile, we ask for an update from our stateroom attendant -- he asked his supervisor but hadn't received an answer yet.

 

Later that day, my friends and I ran into the Cruise Director (Ricky Mathews) and had a casual chat with him -- we brought up the issue of our loungers, and I slipped in that I'm a Platinum Member and active in Cruise Critic. He took down our cabin numbers and promised that he would let us know one way or the other.

 

Day #3: my friends in 7676 get a call from Ricky -- all we need to do is ask our stateroom attendant for them. They tell Ricky that we already did...two days ago. Ricky responds, "Okay, you will have your loungers today." That afternoon, 7674 and 7676 each have two loungers on them! (Interestingly, the two chairs were left on the balcony as well -- which made me think the loungers were going to be taken away after we departed the cruise.)

 

And the two guys in 7176 (next to 7676) saw us get the loungers, and also requested them -- they got them as well.

 

We never did get the official answer why some aft D2 cabins had loungers and others didn't, but we were glad to have them. (And we did give our attendant a nice tip, as promised.) But there was one casualty -- after we found the loungers on our balcony, we noticed that one of the overhead light shades (the frosted circle of glass) was missing. We think they accidentally smashed it with one of the loungers while carrying it through the cabin. Oops!

 

- Mike :-)

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

This is just me but I don't think you should have to tip $20 to get a lounger, something that used to be a basic piece of furniture on certain size balconies.

 

On Allure, our junior suite balcony had only two chairs even though there were three of us in the suite. Only two passengers are allowed to sit on the balcony at any given time? Well, I think that is really when a cruise line has cut too much from basic comfort for passengers.

 

If fire is a factor, then why can't RCI find balcony furniture that is not liable to catch fire? Or, RCI could stop allowing smoking on balconies, perhaps the single greatest cause I can think of that might cause a fire to break out on a balcony.

[island lady]

 

Or, RCI could stop allowing smoking on balconies, perhaps the single greatest cause I can think of that might cause a fire to break out on a balcony.

 

You are soooo right on!! :D

 

Sheeez....stop the cause and eliminate the whole fire threat.

Bring us back our loungers....and stop the fire hazard. Why do 10% of the people dictate to what the 90% of us have to do without??

 

Or do those "fire hazard loungers" just spontaniously combust or something?? :eek: ;)

[pbinn]

I am going to be really bummed if we do not have them..going on the freedom of the seas and our first corner aft balcony on deck 7 just for that reason ! I would gladly have changed my reservation months ago when the balcony guarantee went down $300 a person, but I wanted to make sure we had that bigger balcony ! Guess we will just have to wait and see when we go in May

[Slowboat2]

Sorry do you mind if I ask, did you tip when you asked or when you got the lounger? I would love a lounger on my next cruise. Thank you!

 

Sorry about taking so long to reply. I don't mind you asking at all.

 

When the steward said she wasn't supposed to get one, but she said she would see what she could do, that's when I tipped her.

[jujucruisegirl]

Can anyone off the Navigator chime in on lounge chairs on the balcony in a D1 or JS cabin????

We were on NOS January 2011, E1 deck 8 aft corner balcony.

We had 2 chairs, 2 loungers and a table. The loungers were dark

blue and quite worn out.

[kevink]

Just off Allure in a D-1: I asked the steward for one lounger on day #1; he acted like it was a new request he'd never gotten, but two hours later he showed up with one. Victory!

 

---

Kevin

[EaglesRock]

 

If fire is a factor, then why can't RCI find balcony furniture that is not liable to catch fire?

Aren't the loungers made of the same plastic material as the chairs on the balconies? If the loungers are a fire hazard, why are the chairs not equally hazardous?

[LuckiePuris]

I seem to recall reading a cruise review somewhere on CC where it appears that RCI have had so many complaints about the lack of lounge chairs on balconies, that they are beginning to meet requests for loungers. Can anyone confirm this / they read this too?

 

With the larger hump cabins on Radiance class ships, directly next to the elevators, the balconies appear to be quite large. Would we be able to get lounge chairs if we have these balconies? I have previously seen reviews with photos of the same balconies, with two loungers, two chairs and a table.

 

Sorry about taking so long to reply. I don't mind you asking at all.

 

When the steward said she wasn't supposed to get one, but she said she would see what she could do, that's when I tipped her.

 

Thank you for your response, much appreciated! Sorry if it sounded like a silly question but wasn't sure when was the appropiate time to offer a tip. Would you say $20 be an adequate tip for the room steward assisting with a lounger request?

[cadburysmom]

Just off the Navigator yesterday and am HAPPY to report that my aft balcony (cabin 9692) contained not one but TWO lounge chairs!! :D

 

All aft balconies within my view had them too so for anyone sailing the Navigator soon, never fear!! :)

[Helen]

I am going to be really bummed if we do not have them..going on the freedom of the seas and our first corner aft balcony on deck 7 just for that reason ! I would gladly have changed my reservation months ago when the balcony guarantee went down $300 a person, but I wanted to make sure we had that bigger balcony ! Guess we will just have to wait and see when we go in May

 

We will be on the same cruise with you and also payed extra for an aft on 10 to be able to LOUNGE...will be upset if they aren't there but will push to add them if they aren't!

[grand isle joe]

.......I would be afraid that I would go out onto my balcony and some CHAIR HOG would have found my chair and covered the chair with their personal items in order to reserve.:eek: Sooooo RCL is just trying to enforce its' policy of no reserved chairs.;)

[Slowboat2]

Thank you for your response, much appreciated! Sorry if it sounded like a silly question but wasn't sure when was the appropriate time to offer a tip. Would you say $20 be an adequate tip for the room steward assisting with a lounger request?

 

It was not a silly question at all.

I tipped her $10 just for that request.

[pbinn]

We will be on the same cruise with you and also payed extra for an aft on 10 to be able to LOUNGE...will be upset if they aren't there but will push to add them if they aren't!

 

Hopefully we will not have to go in the middle of the night and swipe them off the pool deck ! haha

[island lady]

Hopefully we will not have to go in the middle of the night and swipe them off the pool deck ! haha

 

There are currently two teams.

 

The "midnight requistion team" and my "morning coffee walk team".

Join us anytime you would like! ;)

[island lady]

.......i would be afraid that i would go out onto my balcony and some chair hog would have found my chair and covered the chair with their personal items in order to reserve.:eek: Sooooo rcl is just trying to enforce its' policy of no reserved chairs.;)

 

 

 

Loved it!!

[hammer52]

They might add a 3rd group, The ones they escort off the ship for stealing lounge chairs from the pool deck.!

[39august]

And as we all know, many CSA's, even at C&A society, don't know what is actually going on with RCI ships. So I wouldn't count on "Marge" being correct! However, this brings up a thought. I wonder if "Marge" would send me an e-mail guaranteeing me a lounge chair on my next suite balcony. I sure had to ask for one last month on Serenade! (but I did get it that same day.)

[pbinn]

I just read a review on the Freedom and two different people told me they did have lounge chairs on their aft balconies and posted pics. Guess it may depend on the ship you are on.