S1 and S2 Balcony PoleGate: Annoying Obstructions Or Something to Decorate?

[vtcruising]

I couldn't resist starting a thread about the poles on the S1 and S2 balconies that have become a potential issue. Tall-Cruiser brought it up several weeks ago. I had just thought they were annoying because they made the cabins hard for me to count for the "Where's My Cabin?" thread - we didn't have good close ups so I had a hard time distinguishing the borders of the balconies due to there being dividers and then these poles that didn't seem to be consistent. When Tall-Cruiser pointed them out, I realized that they might be annoying when staying in those cabins.

 

omarchs aptly named this whole thing PoleGate and it has become a hot topic of discussion.

 

Tall-Cruiser noticed that in groups of 4 suites, the two end suites did not have an obstructive pole and the two middle ones did.

 

 

Tall-Cruiser also noted that the poles go to the floor of the balcony:

 

 

 

Mcampo realized that her suite has one of the obstructive poles and suggested that we decorate them.

 

 

twodjs pointed out that the pole was evident right from the beginning, as evidenced by the Sky Suite video:

 

 

 

 

I did a little more research and found that the pattern of 4 holds out on all of the groups of S1's and S2's. If there are 8, 12 or 16 suites together, they are grouped in 4 suites with the 2 outside ones not having the obstruction and the two middle ones having the pole on one side of the balcony or the other (looks like it is in front of one of the side windows of the three windows). Here are a couple of sets that are numbered.

 

 

Notice that the CS's on 11 below don't have the same issue.

 

 

to be continued...

Edited September 10, 2018 by vtcruising

[vtcruising]

continued....

 

 

I was concerned about the bed facing the ocean and whether the blasted pole would ruin our view from the bed. This is where it got interesting. If you look at the sky suite plans with the bed facing the balcony, they have a doorway on one side and the bed on the other. When you look at the deck plans, all of the suites have the bed on the side without the obstructive pole (the pole is on the same side as the doorway) so we will be able to see the ocean straight out from our beds (and from the bathrooms when we open the bathroom mirror/window) without the pole in the way. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not! ;)

 

 

Of course in the picture below, they don't show one with a pole.

 

 

 

 

Here are all of the deck plans of the S1's (non-aft) and S2's. The unmarked ones do not have a pole obstruction and the others have a red mark on the side that the pole obstructs. Notice the cabin doorways are on the side of the pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I personally wouldn't panic about this until the reports come back. If you think it will bother you, you could try to switch to one of the ones above that is without a pole (50% don't have the pole). If you can't switch, I think that since the pole is to one side of the other, we will probably be able to work around it, decorate it and hopefully learn to embrace it. :D

Edited September 10, 2018 by vtcruising

[DachshundsRule]

Well, if you look at it from an S-class point of view, at least the pole has moved outdoors!

 

I would be bothered by it, particularly knowing there are S1 and S2s without. If you weren’t aware of that fact, maybe it wouldn’t occur to you to be annoyed? But it is a shame. I also think the vertical white decorative panel (blue on exterior to add uniformity to ship’s exterior) is at the expense of passenger’s enjoyment of an unimpeded view.

 

But the eye has a way of seeing around things and I suspect after the initial disappointed/*** reaction, you’ll stop “seeing” both. And the pole could be a nice place to prop your feet.

[hcat]

Great analysis..hope these threads do not get lost in the future.

 

As I mentioned previously, while EDGE presents many diff cabin styles, it is a bit of a challenge to find a "perfect" cabin. Many have obstructions of varying types, now poles!

 

I think I prefer ships with more uniform choices...balc/ no balcony, hump/ no hump. Folks will have to do alot of research & TAs will have to study hard ...thank you Vt for doing alot of the work .

[hcat]

I do have 2 specific cabins I am looking if we book a 3rd EDGE cruise...for 2020.

 

They are 10205 and 10197...Can you tell me where the beds face,?

 

I also worry about cabins with nothing across from them...see 10205. Sometimes the space is nothing but sometimes they are service areas , mechanicals or pipes...all with their own noises, blowers, whoosing water, clanking of trays, etc some more annoying than others.. maybe the Spreadsheet should have a spot for " What's nearby?"

 

I will probably go by that gen area on our Jan cruise.. to listen. You can learn alot from taking a walk by....

[vtcruising]

Well, if you look at it from an S-class point of view, at least the pole has moved outdoors!

 

I would be bothered by it, particularly knowing there are S1 and S2s without. If you weren’t aware of that fact, maybe it wouldn’t occur to you to be annoyed? But it is a shame. I also think the vertical white decorative panel (blue on exterior to add uniformity to ship’s exterior) is at the expense of passenger’s enjoyment of an unimpeded view.

 

But the eye has a way of seeing around things and I suspect after the initial disappointed/*** reaction, you’ll stop “seeing” both. And the pole could be a nice place to prop your feet.

 

The poles in the S Class S1's bothered me at first, but now I like them. We have gotten a lot of mileage when we invite friends to the cabin and have some great pictures. :D I'm not sure how I'll feel about a pole on the balcony or the blue decorative panel, but I'm hoping I will get acclimated rather quickly if we are indeed assigned one of those on the United Way cruise.

 

I also think that on first cruises on the Edge, we will spend less time on the balconies as there will be so much to see onboard. My guess is that your 3 S2's for your family will not be an issue - you are going to have so much fun roaming the ship and spending time in your amazing RS.

 

The good thing is that if they are an issue, we CC people will know which ones to avoid on our next cruises. Since 50% don't have the poles and I have heard the estimate that CC people make up about 1% of a cruise, we should have a good chance of getting one. :D

[vtcruising]

Great analysis..hope these threads do not get lost in the future.

 

As I mentioned previously, while EDGE presents many diff cabin styles, it is a bit of a challenge to find a "perfect" cabin. Many have obstructions of varying types, now poles!

 

I think I prefer ships with more uniform choices...balc/ no balcony, hump/ no hump. Folks will have to do alot of research & TAs will have to study hard ...thank you Vt for doing alot of the work .

I think you are right that there are a lot of variables on this ship - how big of an impact the various issues will have on our enjoyment of a stateroom is yet to be seen.

 

When I think back to all of the staterooms I have ever had, I always had something that I considered a downside with each cabin. It is all about balance - what is most important? Central location, near elevators, high up, better view, more shade, no shade, close to the pool, away from noisy areas? Now on the Edge we have a variety of elevations, overhangs, the MC and now poles on the S1 and S2 balconies. We usually can't have it all, but we can only hope that all of the positives will help balance out the negatives (sometimes it does and sometimes we have decided never to book that cabin/area again).

 

I hope Mcampo and others affected by this will be able to change before the cruise, or if not able to, will be able to enjoy their suite balconies despite this unfortunate design issue.

[vtcruising]

I do have 2 specific cabins I am looking if we book a 3rd EDGE cruise...for 2020.

 

They are 10205 and 10197...Can you tell me where the beds face,?

 

I also worry about cabins with nothing across from them...see 10205. Sometimes the space is nothing but sometimes they are service areas , mechanicals or pipes...all with their own noises, blowers, whoosing water, clanking of trays, etc some more annoying than others.. maybe the Spreadsheet should have a spot for " What's nearby?"

 

I will probably go by that gen area on our Jan cruise.. to listen. You can learn alot from taking a walk by....

 

Good idea about the "What's Nearby" section. I always get nervous about those white areas too.

 

The two S2's that you are looking at (I'm sure you know there are no pole issues :D) look good to me as they are near elevators and on a bump out. 10205 has the firewall on one side, which may be an advantage noise-wise. The two suites are circles below to give a better idea of what is above, below and beside those suites.

 

 

As far as the beds facing the ocean, I have spoken to someone at Celebrity who swore up and down that all Sky Suite beds face the ocean (and all of the press releases and X website info say the same thing). The only reason I am skeptical is that there are 2 renditions of the Sky Suites showing the beds on a side wall. The S2 renditions do show the bed facing the ocean so maybe they actually will (and maybe all will). Another great Edge mystery to be revealed. :D

 

This is labeled as an S2:

[hcat]

Thanks...we are focusing on those 2 or similar cabins.but nothing in the pipeline yet.. Doing an entry level suite on EDGE sounds like a good deal...if they offer all the suite perks

[omarchs]

Thanks for all the info and Vtcruising for the markups!

 

Gave in and made our final payment for our lovely pole balcony room. Nobody so far has given up a pole free sky room on our voyage yet so we will keep looking, but otherwise we are ready for our pole in a few months!

[vtcruising]

Thanks for all the info and Vtcruising for the markups!

 

Gave in and made our final payment for our lovely pole balcony room. Nobody so far has given up a pole free sky room on our voyage yet so we will keep looking, but otherwise we are ready for our pole in a few months!

Pole or no pole, those Sky Suites look wonderful to me. They hopefully will turn out to be a non-issue and we will all be laughing about PoleGate some day. I will post pictures if I get assigned a PG (PoleGate :D) S1, S2 on the United Way cruise in November.

 

I don't know if you saw that Mcampo was able to change her PG suite to a non-PG suite this morning. It pays to keep trying!

[Mcampo]

Thank you for starting another great thread VT! It does pay to keep trying! I have been checking the X website about 4 times a day for the last week. Last week I almost change to a cabin near the MC, to escape the pole, however, my DH talked be out of it. Today, I was having a very busy morning at work and almost didn't check. I am so happy now that I did. While I would have learned to embrace the pole, after I decorated it of course, during our 10 days on the ship, I was irritated overall by its presence for no real good reason. It is going to be interesting to hear the perspective of others as we go. 88 days left and counting!

Pole or no pole, those Sky Suites look wonderful to me. They hopefully will turn out to be a non-issue and we will all be laughing about PoleGate some day. I will post pictures if I get assigned a PG (PoleGate :D) S1, S2 on the United Way cruise in November.

 

I don't know if you saw that Mcampo was able to change her PG suite to a non-PG suite this morning. It pays to keep trying!

[Tall-Cruiser]

-vtcruising - Great job starting this thread. The information you provided here will definitely serve people well when booking a Sky Suite.

 

I wonder whether the engineers in designing the ship had a dual role for the pole. 1- As a "support pole" as most of us see it today. 2 - If hallow, are there electrical or other stuff going through it? Notice how the poles are aligned to the side walls (blue outer) of the IV below. Anyway I may be making too much of it, but it's fun guessing with these construction photos.

[vtcruising]

-vtcruising - Great job starting this thread. The information you provided here will definitely serve people well when booking a Sky Suite.

 

I wonder whether the engineers in designing the ship had a dual role for the pole. 1- As a "support pole" as most of us see it today. 2 - If hallow, are there electrical or other stuff going through it? Notice how the poles are aligned to the side walls (blue outer) of the IV below. Anyway I may be making too much of it, but it's fun guessing with these construction photos.

Interesting! That sounds like a possibility .... We are going to drive people nuts on the ship with all of our questions. I think I will ask the Retreat concierge if I can meet with someone that can answer all of these burning questions. I can't wait to tell them about PoleGate! :D

[Lastdance]

Another wonderful and intriguing topic-VT. I guess our S1 corner afts do not have a pole outside to worry about, but just a large balcony? As mentioned above, I was very use to the pole on S Class ships, but understand about wanting to go “pole free” too!

 

Now I wish my DH and I were also doing the December cruise, but now I must wait for our TA in April. However, I certainly will learn a lot before that cruise...thanks for educating so many of us!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Mcampo]

I just check the X website and there are 5 pole free S2 cabins that have opened up if anyone is interested. I am also going to post this on the roll call for 12/9.

[iflyjets]

continued....

 

 

I was concerned about the bed facing the ocean and whether the blasted pole would ruin our view from the bed. This is where it got interesting. If you look at the sky suite plans with the bed facing the balcony, they have a doorway on one side and the bed on the other. When you look at the deck plans, all of the suites have the bed on the side without the obstructive pole (the pole is on the same side as the doorway) so we will be able to see the ocean straight out from our beds (and from the bathrooms when we open the bathroom mirror/window) without the pole in the way. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not! ;)

 

 

Of course in the picture below, they don't show one with a pole.

 

 

 

 

Here are all of the deck plans of the S1's (non-aft) and S2's. The unmarked ones do not have a pole obstruction and the others have a red mark on the side that the pole obstructs. Notice the cabin doorways are on the side of the pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I personally wouldn't panic about this until the reports come back. If you think it will bother you, you could try to switch to one of the ones above that is without a pole (50% don't have the pole). If you can't switch, I think that since the pole is to one side of the other, we will probably be able to work around it, decorate it and hopefully learn to embrace it. :D

Thank you for marking the deck plans and posting this. It was immensely helpful.

 

If this is accurate, then we are in the lucky group that is pole free, albeit with a structural beam and solid wall next to us, but that is where cabin dividers are anyway.

[iflyjets]

We originally had another S2 booked midship, but moved forward many months ago to be closer to the retreat area for convenience. When I first saw the exterior views, I was worried about my decision to move.

 

Well, ironically, according to the nicely highlighted deck plans, our former cabin had a pole right in the center of the balcony while our current cabin does not. So, overall, it was a fortuitous decision to move months ago.

[hcat]

Good move !

[iflyjets]

Good move !

Pure luck;)

[omarchs]

Thanks everyone for their info!

 

We just moved from 10144 to 10141 so per VT’s markups we have avoided the balcony pole.

 

I did say to the rep we have no idea if any exist in the cabins which would be more of a problem in my mind if the support was in the cabin rather than the balcony. Only time will tell :D

[vtcruising]

Thanks everyone for their info!

 

We just moved from 10144 to 10141 so per VT’s markups we have avoided the balcony pole.

 

I did say to the rep we have no idea if any exist in the cabins which would be more of a problem in my mind if the support was in the cabin rather than the balcony. Only time will tell :D

 

Glad you were able to move!

 

Hopefully no poles inside the suites - PoleGate#2 ?

[Cruise a holic]

following Will check my cabin for a pole

[hvsteve1]

Thanks everyone for their info!

 

We just moved from 10144 to 10141 so per VT’s markups we have avoided the balcony pole.

 

I did say to the rep we have no idea if any exist in the cabins which would be more of a problem in my mind if the support was in the cabin rather than the balcony. Only time will tell :D

We're in 10141 on Dec. 6. If you're after that, I'll post my impressions.

[iflyjets]

We're in 10141 on Dec. 6. If you're after that, I'll post my impressions.

We are January, so yes, please post:)