soot on the balconies........ oh yes !

[purescottish]

Just returned yesterday from Liberty western med, and after reading how great the aft balconies were, one became available so we decided to book it... we had cabin 8412 aft, which was a great balcony until day 5.

 

we woke up in the morning to soot everywhere.... we complained to our room attendant who came in and had a look.... he wandered all over the balcony with his hands in the air saying "oh my god, oh my god" (turns out it was his first week doing the aft section) poor man !

he called his supervisor (who also came and had a look) and 4 hours later someone came and hosed it down, later that night we got a bottle of champagne in our room, which was a lovely gesture.

 

Next morning we woke again to the same thing, same reaction from room attendant LOL... and yes 4 hours later it was hosed down again, later that night we were sitting out on the balcony enjoying the sun when we got soaked.... turns out they were washing down the windjammer windows and all the water gathered and spilled over the edge right onto our balcony......... it was like a bucket of water being thrown over us !!!

 

and again, next morning we woke up to find some stowaway pigeons had decided to use our balcony as a toilet !!!...... you really just had to laugh !

 

Anyway the outcome is.... Royal have offered us 35% off our next cruise, which was really good of them. so can't complain too much, but just a heads up that .... YES, soot "can" be a problem if you are booking an aft balcony... would I book one again... No

 

I have added some thumbnails as I can't get the pics to go large.. (the suite next to us was also bad as were all the other cabins on decks 6, 7 and 8

 

 

wendy

[mp2010]

I'm glad you could laugh a bit and didn't let it ruin your whole trip, as some would have! I hate that YOU actually got soaked though!

[reeran]

We had an aft several years ago with no problems except lack of privacy (Windjammer open seating was right above us) Well at least you can laugh about it! :D

[peteukmcr]

Sorry to hear your experiences with your aft cabin on Liberty. We had similar experience on Liberty last year when we were in 8704 but not to the extent you did.

 

Glad you could laugh about it, we wondered about the water and worked out the same as you with the cleaning of the WJ.

 

Would we book another aft, no, especially as the space was completely wasted IMHO as no loungers were allowed on Liberty, despite asking at guest relations. New policy apparently.

[purescottish]

Thanks for the comments....... yes we did laugh, in fact we found it hilarious....

the soaking was a shock though as the water was freezing, they might have warmed it up a bit LOL

 

reeran.... I agree with the no privacy part, deck 9 above us looked directly on to our balcony, so if you happened to be out sitting, they could see the whole of your balcony, and the big structure of the ship passed in an arc over the balcony too so you only got the sun at certain times, the plus part being at least there was a bit of shade, so good and bad together.....

will definately stick to Caribbean sailings on a normal balcony though, and not the med...... felt a bit underwhelmed on that cruise

 

wendy

[purescottish]

I agree pete...the balcony is a lot bigger than a normal balcony and there were 3 of us in the cabin, with 2 normal deck chairs...we asked about a 3rd seat so we could enjoy our breakfast out there, but they told us it was against health and safety ?

The balcony next to ours was smaller and they had 2 of the larger chairs similar to the ones on pool deck, so I think they just make it up as they go along !

 

 

wendy

[lady_cruiser]

We are our first AFT balcony, on another cruiseline, this past March and love it. While we didn't have soot we did have standing water on a small area on it during the week but it didn't stop us from enjoying it.

 

We have another booked for 2013 and hopefully we won't get your problem with the soot.

 

But I have to agree that Royal really came through for you.

[purescottish]

I agree lady_cruiser... royal did come through for us, but it makes me wonder... if this happens a lot and they have to compensate every cabin, surely that must be causing them lost revenue ?

or it's a design fault ?....... but you'd think it would be something they would address.

 

I hope no-one has the problems we did, yes..we laughed but it did bother us deep down, but you just have to go with the flow......so to speak

 

wendy

[teajak]

Another balcony story. We were on the Oasis 2 weeks ago reading on our balcony when small sprays of water hit us,no big deal. I went inside while my DH stayed on the balcony when I heard him yelling.Our cabin steward was 2 balconies forward leaning out over the balcony spraying them with a hose.This was during the day at sea.He and the balcony were totally soaked,no warning,fortunately he grabbed our kindles before they were ruined.I looked to see what it was and yelled to stop and her response was "oh,sorry". Of course I laughed at him.

[sept10dsm]

This is the first I'm reading about this type of problem. I hope since we booked our first balcony and an aft (due to all the rave reviews) we don't have this type of problem! Glad you were able to enjoy and get a future discount as well!

[DonnaK]

Thanks for the comments....... yes we did laugh, in fact we found it hilarious....

the soaking was a shock though as the water was freezing, they might have warmed it up a bit LOL

 

reeran.... I agree with the no privacy part, deck 9 above us looked directly on to our balcony, so if you happened to be out sitting, they could see the whole of your balcony, and the big structure of the ship passed in an arc over the balcony too so you only got the sun at certain times, the plus part being at least there was a bit of shade, so good and bad together.....

will definately stick to Caribbean sailings on a normal balcony though, and not the med...... felt a bit underwhelmed on that cruise

 

wendy

 

This is why we don't care for aft balconies on Freedom/Voyager class. We had the water problem every morning, and we hated the obstruction from the structure of the ship. It felt to us like overlooking a construction zone. We also felt that the balcony got oppresively hot because there was no cross breeze to temper the heat.

 

We'd much rather have a smaller balcony on the side of the ship with a totally clear view and a breeze.

[emelvee]

We've only had one aft balcony, on a Carnival ship...and were very disappointed in the amount of soot we encountered. Had to clean off the chairs each time we went onto the balcony, and watch where we put our hands to avoid getting them filthy. At that time, I told myself we'd never do an aft balcony again, but I know now that this problem isn't always an issue.

[rjrpar]

Recently returned from the Explorer and an aft balcony. Did not have any soot problems but didn't like the aft for other reasons - the view and the long walks.

[sept10dsm]

Recently returned from the Explorer and an aft balcony. Did not have any soot problems but didn't like the aft for other reasons - the view and the long walks.

Which deck were you on? Glad to hear no soot problems! We booked our first ever balcony on Explorer this fall.

[leaveitallbehind]

In our cruising experience, we have had stateroom locations literally everywhere else on the ships except the aft and with wanting to try that, we currently have two JS's (1706 / 1406) reserved on our upcoming Freeedom cruise. Have been reading this thread with great interest as one of the questions we had was with the view based on the design of the ship. I'm hoping that as this is the highest deck that the view would be least affected by this. (staterooms less recessed from the structure, less strucure above, etc.).

 

But never thought of the soot and water - or other - potential issues. Again maybe recessed as far under the WJ as they are, this may not be an issue? We still plan to keep this location as we want to experience the only remaing location not yet tried, but obviously some questions have been raised. Any additional comments or experiences - especially from anyone who has been in either of these staterooms - would be appreciated. Thanks!

[xcell]

I don't think giving discounts will cost them much in revenue...

 

You save 35% on the next cruise you might consider a larger room and spend more. Or you might think that since you saved 35% you will spend more on drinks, excursions, gifts, spa treatments, etc... In the end, unless you don't drink, stay on board and only eat at the free restaurants, don't buy any gifts for anyone...well, then they lose out (but I am sure that someone else will cover that for them).

 

Any ways, I am glad that they took care of you...customer service keeps you coming back...and they get you again!!!!

[reeran]

I agree pete...the balcony is a lot bigger than a normal balcony and there were 3 of us in the cabin, with 2 normal deck chairs...we asked about a 3rd seat so we could enjoy our breakfast out there, but they told us it was against health and safety ?

 

 

We like to book the hump balconies and if the chase lounges aren't there we slip the cabin steward some cash and they bring them ...no problem. We usually end up with 2 chases, a table and 2 chairs. I think it depends on who the stewards and how much they want to accommodate the guests.

[irishgal432]

In our cruising experience, we have had stateroom locations literally everywhere else on the ships except the aft and with wanting to try that, we currently have two JS's (1706 / 1406) reserved on our upcoming Freeedom cruise. Have been reading this thread with great interest as one of the questions we had was with the view based on the design of the ship. I'm hoping that as this is the highest deck that the view would be least affected by this. (staterooms less recessed from the structure, less strucure above, etc.).

 

But never thought of the soot and water - or other - potential issues. Again maybe recessed as far under the WJ as they are, this may not be an issue? We still plan to keep this location as we want to experience the only remaing location not yet tried, but obviously some questions have been raised. Any additional comments or experiences - especially from anyone who has been in either of these staterooms - would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

We had both the D1 corner afts on deck 10 on Liberty and had no problems with soot or water. Although one day I did have a sewage smell from the burning of waste, but that depends on which way the winds blows and only lasted a few hours in the afternoon. I think they are recessed enough not to have any issues. I would not give up your aft JS's.

[purescottish]

It's hard to explain and the pics I can put on are only thumbnail size...... but I have found a few on my daughters ipod...

we were on deck 8, so the structure (let's call it an "arc") was about 7 feet in height so was above us.... deck 9 would be looking down on this, but on the day the water came down, there was a german couple out on thier balcony and she put her hands out as if to gesture "is it raining" so she obviously felt it too.

above that was deck 10 which is tucked under the windjammer and covered, so I don't think it was a problem up there......... it just seemed to be decks 6, 7 our deck 8 and possibly 9.

 

Looking down the way, there is a big blue area at the back of the balconies on deck 6, and below that where the chairs and table are in the picture was the staff smoking area, which didn't bother us at all, but you could occasionally hear thier disco at night if your balcony door was open,

 

you can see the "arc" on a few of the pics and above the guy hosing our balcony

 

wendy

[debshomespun]

We have a corner aft on our Explorer cruise to Bermuda on deck 7. Trying another corner aft on Independence on deck 8. We had a corner aft on Serenade on deck 8 and loved it. We will see how the Voyager and Freedom class differ from Radiance class. Just trying out the different locations. We have had mid hump on several of our cruises. Knowing we will have the long walk back to the aft, I won't have to feel so guilty about all those great desserts I will eat on our cruises!

[leaveitallbehind]

We had both the D1 corner afts on deck 10 on Liberty and had no problems with soot or water. Although one day I did have a sewage smell from the burning of waste, but that depends on which way the winds blows and only lasted a few hours in the afternoon. I think they are recessed enough not to have any issues. I would not give up your aft JS's.

 

Thanks for your resonse - as well to purescottish and debshomespun. We do not plan to give the locations up - and your comments basically confirm what we thought about them being recessed and on on the top deck. Whether it turns out to be a great experience or something other, we do want to experience the view, etc., and like the larger balconies, etc. It is odd that this class ship has this "arc" style design v. the Radiance class where they follow the full outside contour of the ship. But again, being on 10 v. a lower deck may lessen the impact of that.

 

I appreciate your comments - happy cruising to all!

[purescottish]

and to make it very clear to certain posters reading this thread.. I did not ask for compensation, nor did I complain to guest services but to my room attendant, to make him aware that there was a problem with the balcony and the dirty carpet, which anybody would have done

 

and yes..... I am very grateful for the 35% discount but at no point did I ask for or expect it, and that is why I will be doing my 9th cruise with RC,

 

and I'm not bragging about it, I just want other cruisers to be aware that soot can happen, and water can happen, and pigeons can happen LOL.

imagine if I had left a washing out overnight, that would have been really funny and would have topped off the cruise perfectly !!!

 

Thanks for all the replies,

wendy

xx

[CVU]

I agree pete...the balcony is a lot bigger than a normal balcony and there were 3 of us in the cabin, with 2 normal deck chairs...we asked about a 3rd seat so we could enjoy our breakfast out there, but they told us it was against health and safety ?

The balcony next to ours was smaller and they had 2 of the larger chairs similar to the ones on pool deck, so I think they just make it up as they go along !

wendy

We were on the Liberty in an Aft cabin with no soot in April on our 14 nt TA but they are extremely strict about lounge chairs etc. We had a huge balcony too!

After reading many CC posts since we got home, it seems They are the only ones with these rules!!!:confused: Other ships I read have 2 chairs and 2 lounge chairs on large aft baclonies.......the Liberty excuses made no sense at all!!! We talked to officers too and they even came and measured our balcony. I guess the other ships have a different safely rules/regulation about aft balconies?

 

Sorry you couldn't get another chair, Jr and Suite cabins on Liberty have lounge chairs and we even saw a 'clothes line' on one Suite aft balcony with things hanging on it. More a safety issue we thought?!

[Big_G]

and to make it very clear to certain posters reading this thread.. I did not ask for compensation, nor did I complain to guest services but to my room attendant, to make him aware that there was a problem with the balcony and the dirty carpet, which anybody would have done

 

and yes..... I am very grateful for the 35% discount but at no point did I ask for or expect it, and that is why I will be doing my 9th cruise with RC,

 

and I'm not bragging about it, I just want other cruisers to be aware that soot can happen, and water can happen, and pigeons can happen LOL.

imagine if I had left a washing out overnight, that would have been really funny and would have topped off the cruise perfectly !!!

 

Thanks for all the replies,

wendy

xx

 

I don't think it would be fair to criticize you if you had gone to guest services. That was pretty nasty. Maybe Liberty needs a tune-up and a ring job.:D

[purescottish]

we saw a few clothes lines as well, and were quite surprised with that, as it is a safety issue, more so than a chair, our room attendant said we could take our room chair out if we wanted, so that kind of answers the safety issue LOL

 

anyway I don't want to scare people off booking an aft, and anyone that has one booked for the future, I hope you have a wonderful time... personally I will stick with a side one for the breeze and a look at the ocean. which will hopefully be from Oasis next year

 

wendy

x