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Locked out on the balcony on the Summit

miched

By miched,
in Celebrity Cruises

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miched

miched

Posted
Posted

Just got off the Summit.

 

First day in the cabin I went out on the balcony while my wife took a shower. It was rather cool and windy. Went to go back into the cabin to get a jacket and found that I was locked out. Had to wait until my wife got out of the shower for her to open the door.

 

There is a design flaw. When the handle is down the door will lock and there is no handle on the outside. This will happen when you try to pull the door shut as you leave. There is a rather shallow indentation on the outside of the door but no handle. The door doesn't slide very easy so you reach around the door and pull on the inside handle and while doing so you pull the handle down. You will now be locked out. I showed this to the attendant and he agreed saying it happens. I told security and was told it happens and hopefully someone is inside or on another balcony.

 

I have been on many ships with different cruise lines sailing over 30 times and this is a first for me. This was in a AQ cabin that has just been "refurbished". You think that they would have corrected this.

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sswright

sswright

Posted
Posted
Just got off the Summit.

 

First day in the cabin I went out on the balcony while my wife took a shower. It was rather cool and windy. Went to go back into the cabin to get a jacket and found that I was locked out. Had to wait until my wife got out of the shower for her to open the door.

 

There is a design flaw. When the handle is down the door will lock and there is no handle on the outside. This will happen when you try to pull the door shut as you leave. There is a rather shallow indentation on the outside of the door but no handle. The door doesn't slide very easy so you reach around the door and pull on the inside handle and while doing so you pull the handle down. You will now be locked out. I showed this to the attendant and he agreed saying it happens. I told security and was told it happens and hopefully someone is inside or on another balcony.

 

I have been on many ships with different cruise lines sailing over 30 times and this is a first for me. This was in a AQ cabin that has just been "refurbished".

You think that they would have corrected this.

 

Oh dear what room did you have?

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L11

L11

Posted
Posted

OMG, that happened to us years ago on Infinity. We left the sliding door open while we went out on the balcony and the rolling of the ocean slid it closed again. Thankfully, our neighbors were on the balcony and they called the room steward to let us back into our room.

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ellbon

ellbon

Posted
Posted
Just don't close the door all the way! Leave an inch or so!

 

 

i always leave my balcony door open when i am sititng oitside for any reason... the OP's poat is one reason, othgers are getting drinks and snacks out there..

i travel alone too.

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Karen@Steve

Karen@Steve

Posted
Posted
i always leave my balcony door open when i am sititng oitside for any reason... the OP's poat is one reason, othgers are getting drinks and snacks out there..

i travel alone too.

 

You can always put a rolled up towel in the door to keep it from closing. Won't hurt the door or you if you step on it.

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evestrauss

evestrauss

Posted
Posted

My husband and I were on the Summit to Bermuda in 2010. When we cruise, we like to have wine and snacks on the balcony around 6:00 as we have late dinner seating. So one evening in Bermuda, we were out enjoying our little cocktail party and when I went to go back into the cabin for something, I realized that the door into our cabin had locked. We sat out there for a little while until one of our neighbors came out onto their balcony. We asked her to please call someone to tell our room attendant that we were locked out which she said she would do. We waited several more minutes and realized that no one was coming. I assumed that she called and told them that we were locked out of our room (not that we were locked out on the balcony), and when the room attendant came to our door and saw no one out in the hall, he figured we got in already.

 

Eventually, we wound up calling Celebrity's main office in Florida and asked them to call the ship and let them know that we needed rescuing. Finally, our room attendant let himself into our room and opened the balcony door for us to let us back in. Thank goodness we had my husband's Blackberry with roaming internet and calling abilities!

 

I knew we would be rescued when our steward came in to turn down the bed when we should be at dinner, but that would have been a couple of hours. We were in a CC on deck 9. I still laugh when I think about this, but when we are on the Summit in October, we won't shut the balcony door completely.

 

Eve

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Fixit2010

Fixit2010

Posted
Posted

Normally there is an override bolt or switch at the top corner of the door frame on the inside where you can change it from fail safe to fail secure, i.e. If it locks or not when i is closed and the handle rotated.

 

Having worked on many many locks in my high security days, (shhhhhh I can't say more) it would surprise me if this was more than a one off door with a fault. I would have imagined there would have been some test or standard to prevent this type of misfortune, otherwise staff would be running all over the place just to release guests from their verandas

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excitedofharpenden

excitedofharpenden

Posted
Posted
Normally there is an override bolt or switch at the top corner of the door frame on the inside where you can change it from fail safe to fail secure, i.e. If it locks or not when i is closed and the handle rotated.

 

Having worked on many many locks in my high security days, (shhhhhh I can't say more) it would surprise me if this was more than a one off door with a fault. I would have imagined there would have been some test or standard to prevent this type of misfortune, otherwise staff would be running all over the place just to release guests from their verandas

Not correct in this case. On the M-Class ships there is a high level child proof latch on the inside that can be dropped to prevent the door from being opened. Unfortunately by poor design if the balcony door is closed with any force this latch can fall closed, thus in the right circumstances locking you out. In the past I have taped the latch open. The S-Class are better designed and the child proof latch has to be twisted to lock it in place.

 

Phil

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mferranti

mferranti

Posted
Posted
The poat still seems like the best solution. I have never seen anyone post about having a problem using one, or heard about any trouble with them on the ships.
Can I pack my poat in a carryon, or does it need to go in checked baggage?
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