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The great balcony divider debate

Kelliastrubberg

By Kelliastrubberg,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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pe4all

pe4all

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We have had adjoining cabins on Epic, Breakaway, Getaway and Pride of America. On each cruise we ask if our balcony doors can be opened, and have been denied (by both steward and guest services) on each cruise. We will ask again when on Epic in a few weeks. Worth a try to ask, as we have also seen the balcony doors opened - can't figure out how they decide yes or no!!

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Gampy1967

Gampy1967

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I have heard of some people having success however policy states that this is not allowed.

 

 

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Ignorant question perhaps, but why is it not allowed? I don't see the big deal but I am sure that I am missing something.

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ColeThornton Holiday Sharing Rare

ColeThornton

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Ignorant question perhaps, but why is it not allowed? I don't see the big deal but I am sure that I am missing something.

 

 

In addition to giving a bit of privacy to cruisers on their balcony the partitions act in a safety capacity as a firewall to slow down the spread of fire between cabins.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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NCL's stated policy used to be that it was at the Captain's discretion as to how many, and where the dividers could be opened, based on the fire plan and ISM. Many Captain's got tired of getting complaints when some would be opened and others not, so NCL changed the policy to "no" on opening. Having said that, cabin stewards, looking to please their guests, will open them.

 

The fire boundary issue is present whether in port or at sea. The only reason the dividers were made to open at all was because of the Star Princess fire, where the fire teams had to hack their way through the dividers to get from balcony to balcony, fighting the fire. It also eases balcony maintenance (window washing, etc) during turn around day.

 

Even with adjoining rooms, if the two cabins are in different fire zones (separated by those doors in the hallways), then the dividers should not be opened, as this breaches the fire zone boundary.

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Gampy1967

Gampy1967

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NCL's stated policy used to be that it was at the Captain's discretion as to how many, and where the dividers could be opened, based on the fire plan and ISM. Many Captain's got tired of getting complaints when some would be opened and others not, so NCL changed the policy to "no" on opening. Having said that, cabin stewards, looking to please their guests, will open them.

 

The fire boundary issue is present whether in port or at sea. The only reason the dividers were made to open at all was because of the Star Princess fire, where the fire teams had to hack their way through the dividers to get from balcony to balcony, fighting the fire. It also eases balcony maintenance (window washing, etc) during turn around day.

 

Even with adjoining rooms, if the two cabins are in different fire zones (separated by those doors in the hallways), then the dividers should not be opened, as this breaches the fire zone boundary.

 

Ok. This makes sense. I did not think of it along the lines of fire protection. Was just looking at it along the lines of if two people have adjoining cabins and they want the divider opened, then why not. Learn something new every day.

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triptolemus

triptolemus

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Even with adjoining rooms, if the two cabins are in different fire zones (separated by those doors in the hallways), then the dividers should not be opened, as this breaches the fire zone boundary.

 

Are cabins ever adjoined across a fire boundary? I would think that wouldn't happen...

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chengkp75

chengkp75

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Are cabins ever adjoined across a fire boundary? I would think that wouldn't happen...

 

I took adjoining to mean next to each other, not connected. No, there would not be connecting cabins across a fire boundary. But still, the divider will be openable, by regulation, even across the fire zone boundary.

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triptolemus

triptolemus

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I took adjoining to mean next to each other, not connected. No, there would not be connecting cabins across a fire boundary. But still, the divider will be openable, by regulation, even across the fire zone boundary.

 

Gotcha, thanks. Looks like I needed more coffee to understand the difference between connecting versus adjoining.

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Mrs Cruisin Qball

Mrs Cruisin Qball

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For what it is worth, we were on the Escape in January of 2016 and in a group of 7 rooms. We asked the steward on embarkation day and they immediately opened all of the balcony dividers. it was really nice in the early morning when we all had coffee together and in the evening before dinner for a cocktail.

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Kelliastrubberg

Kelliastrubberg

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It's not going to make or break the cruise for sure. I have heard so much conflicting info that I was just curious. We cruised in adjoining rooms a few years ago on carnival and didn't even realize that they could open until like the second to last day. We laughed about it and said how nice it would have been if we had known all along that you could ask the steward to open it.

 

 

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GJustice

GJustice

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We were hanging out in the room late on disembarkation day in June and it was fun to look all the way up the side of the ship "through" the balconies after the cleaning crew opened the dividers on them all. Not on NCL, but anyway.

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LounVal

LounVal

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We had three act rooms in Escape and all our partitions were kept open. Then we were in Epic in January and saw the latch was easily accessible between the door and the frame. We stuck something in there,can't remember what, and lifted it opening the partition. Stayed open all cruise.

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dexddd

dexddd

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We were hanging out in the room late on disembarkation day in June and it was fun to look all the way up the side of the ship "through" the balconies after the cleaning crew opened the dividers on them all. Not on NCL, but anyway.

 

Not sure what you are saying? If you are saying the dividers don't open on NCL that is not true. We've seen the same thing on the day we got on the BA they had the dividers opened and were power washing the balconies from room to room.

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delaware32

delaware32

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Once again, I think it may depend upon the ship. I believe policy is to keep balcony dividers in place. However, on our transatlantic our steward did open the dividers since both staterooms affected gave permission .This was on the Epic .

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