Soot on the balcony on Majestic?

[FritzG]

I’ve read reviews about soot on aft balconies on some ships.  We’re looking at an aft suite on Baja deck.  Should we be concerned about soot?

 

[EDDY0827]

On the Majestic now and I saw soot stains on all of the balcony's (suites included) that I could see from the deck at the Wake View Bar, 2 decks worth.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

I sailed in R734 July 25th and there was a little soot day one but none to speak of after that. It was a non issue for me. 

[azbirdmom]

We sailed in an aft corner suite on Caribe deck for two weeks in October 2019.  We had some days without soot but a couple of days it was pretty bad, especially the last day.  I think there are a lot of factors such as wind condition that determine if you will encounter soot as it's not an everyday occurrence.  Despite the soot, we would book one of those suites in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself.  Last week we were in M107 over the bridge and there's no soot up there!  And we would also book that one or its sister cabin in a heartbeat too.

[franktown]

Like others have said seems to be hit and miss.  We had most days with none and a couple with a lot.  The room steward did a good job in cleaning it up.  Just remember not to leave things out on the balcony and don't sit on the balcony chairs until you check for soot.

[Cruise Raider]

We were just on the Majestic and did have some soot on our balcony from time to time throughout the cruise.  Our room steward did a great job of keeping it cleaned up, though.  Of note, there was a mat provided near the door to help keep the carpet clean.  We did put it down when we noticed soot out on the balcony so we wouldn't take it inside onto the carpet in the stateroom.  

Would I get that stateroom again ... in a heartbeat!! 

PS ... we were right next to the corner aft suite on the Baja deck so I can only imagine their experience was similar to ours.  

Edited August 17, 2021 by Cruise Raider

[TW6cruiser]

On 8/17/2021 at 1:08 AM, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I sailed in R734 July 25th and there was a little soot day one but none to speak of after that. It was a non issue for me. 

Hello, could you advise please if your cabin R734 had any cover or not? We are looking to book Alaska next summer and we were looking at the cabins on this deck. Thank you. 

[eyelash]

Does A735 on Majestic have a covered balcony?  Having trouble finding pictures of the aft of the ship where I can tell for sure.  Any info appreciated.  

[trey420]

Don't cruise ships use the worst fuel they can because it's cheap?  You can imagine that stuff puts out lots soot, captain planet probably doesn't like us.  Wonder if breathing that stuff in over time messes with crew health?

[scott4020]

8 hours ago, eyelash said:

Does A735 on Majestic have a covered balcony?  Having trouble finding pictures of the aft of the ship where I can tell for sure.  Any info appreciated.  

 

No the covered balconies are Baja and Dolphin. 

 

Royal instead of Majestic but the decks are the same. 

[4cats4me]

On 8/17/2021 at 10:45 AM, Cruise Raider said:

We were just on the Majestic and did have some soot on our balcony from time to time throughout the cruise.  Our room steward did a great job of keeping it cleaned up, though.  Of note, there was a mat provided near the door to help keep the carpet clean.  We did put it down when we noticed soot out on the balcony so we wouldn't take it inside onto the carpet in the stateroom.  

Would I get that stateroom again ... in a heartbeat!! 

PS ... we were right next to the corner aft suite on the Baja deck so I can only imagine their experience was similar to ours.  

@Cruise Raider

Good to know.   We’ve booked the corner aft on Baja on the Discovery, and I was kind of wondering what the soot situation would  be like back there.  😊

Edited September 5, 2021 by 4cats4me

[Crystabel]

It often depends upon on how the wind blows. We just cruised Alaska on the Majestic Princess in aft corner suite D727 and had no soot whatsoever. It had a partially covered balcony. Previously sailed the Royal Princess in an aft suite and some days got a little soot. Our cabin steward cleaned the balcony twice a day, so it was never a problem. 

[AZ Ocean Lover]

On 9/4/2021 at 11:59 PM, eyelash said:

Does A735 on Majestic have a covered balcony?  Having trouble finding pictures of the aft of the ship where I can tell for sure.  Any info appreciated.  

We were just in A736 last week and it did not have a balcony.  See if you can change to one that has one (I believe Dolphin has them).  When it was sunny it was almost too hot to sit out there and of course when it rained it was unusable.  It also does not have foot stools where the balconies below us had them.  

[brisalta]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:06 AM, trey420 said:

Don't cruise ships use the worst fuel they can because it's cheap?  You can imagine that stuff puts out lots soot, captain planet probably doesn't like us.  Wonder if breathing that stuff in over time messes with crew health?

 

There actually are international regulations regarding the bunker fuel that can be used on ships and the regulations have been tightened up over the years. For example see

https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/Pages/Sulphur-2020.aspx

 

In US Coastal waters they have to use an even cleaner fuel.

 

The next generation of ships are switching to different types of fuel such as LNG.

 

[Mrs Clooney]

On 8/18/2021 at 3:45 AM, Cruise Raider said:

We were just on the Majestic and did have some soot on our balcony from time to time throughout the cruise.  Our room steward did a great job of keeping it cleaned up, though.  Of note, there was a mat provided near the door to help keep the carpet clean.  We did put it down when we noticed soot out on the balcony so we wouldn't take it inside onto the carpet in the stateroom.  

Would I get that stateroom again ... in a heartbeat!! 

PS ... we were right next to the corner aft suite on the Baja deck so I can only imagine their experience was similar to ours.  

We are booked in B736. Deluxe balcony Aft. Is the balcony covered like some of the lower decks. If so. Does that mean less soot?  

[Mrs Clooney]

Bbbb

[chengkp75]

On 9/9/2021 at 12:12 AM, brisalta said:

 

There actually are international regulations regarding the bunker fuel that can be used on ships and the regulations have been tightened up over the years. For example see

https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/Pages/Sulphur-2020.aspx

 

In US Coastal waters they have to use an even cleaner fuel.

 

The next generation of ships are switching to different types of fuel such as LNG.

 

Well, as the article states, the regulations are for reducing sulfur oxide emissions, which has very little to do with soot emissions.  Soot is caused by incomplete combustion, and virtually every fuel, if not completely burned will result in soot particles.  As noted in the IMO article, while the new fuel requirements worldwide have reduced sulfur in fuels by 86%, it still allows use of residual fuel, which due to it's "long chain" hydrocarbon molecules lead to heavy soot particulates if not completely combusted.  These soot particles adhere to heat transfer surfaces (boiler tubes and turbocharger blades), which causes less heat transfer, and less fuel efficiency, so the soot needs to be removed.  The soot you see on ship's balconies is not from normal combustion of the engines, it is from maintenance procedures.  "Soot blowing" and "turbocharger cleaning" are daily practices used on the ship daily to remove this soot and improve efficiency.  This results in a short duration, highly concentrated soot discharge that frequently settles on the balconies.  Even ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel (which is used in the North American ECA) can cause sooting of heat transfer surfaces, and lead to this soot problem, though much reduced.

[Cruise Raider]

17 hours ago, Mrs Clooney said:

We are booked in B736. Deluxe balcony Aft. Is the balcony covered like some of the lower decks. If so. Does that mean less soot?  

 

We were in B737 and the balcony is very large and only partially covered.  I didn't really think the soot was a huge problem when put up against that wonderful view ... but they did put a mat inside by the sliding door so we didn't drag it in onto the carpet.  

Also, our room steward cleaned it every day and he always had a lot of it to clean up.  His mop was definitely dirty when he finished his daily cleaning on the balcony.  So, if any soot would bother you, those aft cabins are probably not the balconies for you.  

[nini]

On 9/8/2021 at 8:29 PM, AZ Ocean Lover said:

We were just in A736 last week and it did not have a balcony.  See if you can change to one that has one (I believe Dolphin has them).  When it was sunny it was almost too hot to sit out there and of course when it rained it was unusable.  It also does not have foot stools where the balconies below us had them.  

A735 and A736 both have balconies.