Apex is stunning but our balcony….

[luv2ndhalf]

We are sailing on the Apex now…..The ship is stunning and the crew is fabulous. It is our first time on this class-
we usually sail S class, RS.

Love the interior design, the automation, and all the outlets….BUT, and it’s a big one for me, the balcony is seriously a huge disappointment! It’s small-two chairs and foot stools (no table), and the view is limited. When I look left, all I see is the mechanical underside of the equipment which I believe is used to clean the windows, and across the balcony are the diagonal posts supporting the deck above. The length of the balcony is only the width of the bedroom, not the entire length of the cabin.
just curious if others have stayed in other RS and not had this balcony layout? Is it just this particular cabin? Thanks!!

 

[jelayne]

The small balcony for the E class RS and access through the bedroom have been mentioned many times on CC.  It is a miss on X’s part.  
 

It is unfortunate you weren’t aware of that before you booked.  Hope you enjoy your cruise.

[Lastdance]

I have heard of a few on FB that loved it, but believe it was from Move Up.  Glad you are enjoying everything else about the ship.  Just try not to dwell on the balcony aspect.  Maybe book a different suite on E- class, or return to S.  I usually cruise in Sunset Suite(S1 corner afts).  The Villa is gorgeous if you are okay with stairs.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Lastdance

[canderson]

It's a strange design, to be sure.

It's the primary reason our RS cruises are only on M and S class.

[luv2ndhalf]

24 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The small balcony for the E class RS and access through the bedroom have been mentioned many times on CC.  It is a miss on X’s part.  
 

It is unfortunate you weren’t aware of that before you booked.  Hope you enjoy your cruise.

I had not seen other posts 😬, but probably still would have booked the cabin just because we needed to sail at this time and all the other features of the room are what we like- Big fail on X’s design team! All is is wonderful though!

[as3369]

We sailed in the Royal Suite on Edge in January.  The balcony space was definitely a miss during the design, but we loved every thing else about the cabin.  We also had the opportunity to tour the Penthouse Suite & Edge Villa.  The PS balcony was long but narrow and the EV was a choppy design (but private because of 2 story design).  We originally booked a Sunset Veranda but decided to upgrade to the RS before sailing.  Our travel partner took over our SV and it was very nice!

[luv2ndhalf]

6 minutes ago, canderson said:

It's a strange design, to be sure.

It's the primary reason our RS cruises are only on M and S class.

Agree…. Still love everything else, but I enjoy spending time on balcony-

[Lastdance]

1 minute ago, as3369 said:

We sailed in the Royal Suite on Edge in January.  The balcony space was definitely a miss during the design, but we loved every thing else about the cabin.  We also had the opportunity to tour the Penthouse Suite & Edge Villa.  The PS balcony was long but narrow and the EV was a choppy design (but private because of 2 story design).  We originally booked a Sunset Veranda but decided to upgrade to the RS before sailing.  Our travel partner took over our SV and it was very nice!

Did you bid to move-up?  Those are great deals for quite a few.

[chemmo]

1 minute ago, luv2ndhalf said:

I had not seen other posts 😬, but probably still would have booked the cabin just because we needed to sail at this time and all the other features of the room are what we like- Big fail on X’s design team! All is is wonderful though!

Your reaction is exactly the same as some friends of ours. They loved the ship layout but would never book the RS again. They also mentioned that stargazing was also impossible on their balcony and when they visited the PH the overhang made stargazing difficult too.

[as3369]

2 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

Did you bid to move-up?  Those are great deals for quite a few.

No.. We originally booked an SV, then decided to book a Celebrity Suite about 2 months prior to sail.  We put in a move up bid from Celebrity to Royal Suite, but decided that we didn't want to get "outbid" so just paid the additional upgrade costs to lock in the cabin.  

It was a special trip for us so we spent a little more than we normally would.

[luv2ndhalf]

2 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Your reaction is exactly the same as some friends of ours. They loved the ship layout but would never book the RS again. They also mentioned that stargazing was also impossible on their balcony and when they visited the PH the overhang made stargazing difficult too.

Lol……… no stargazing at all 🥺! I almost feel claustrophobic because of overhang-I’m glad others are sharing their thoughts on the PH too….. We are booked to sail E class RS again in Feb (booked before this trip) -I had thought about seeing if PH was available, but now that I know the balcony isn’t much better I can’t justify the extra cost 😞

[TeeRick]

We found the CS on Edge to have a narrow balcony too.  Two armchairs- and no footstools or even room for footstools.  There was a round full height table with two dining chairs.  No lounge chairs or room for lounge chairs.  We considered it a miss too.  The CS on M-class also has a long narrow balcony (added on later).  So we by far prefer the CS balconies on S-Class.

[danceswithphones]

4 hours ago, luv2ndhalf said:

equipment which I believe is used to clean the windows

I think the window washing rig lives in that spot most of the time. Balcony size put me off the RS and we ended up with the only Edge Villa left. It's right above that equipment.

[canderson]

1 hour ago, luv2ndhalf said:

Agree…. Still love everything else, but I enjoy spending time on balcony-

Makes a particular difference on our annual TA cruise where we get the most use of it.

[delondin]

Is there a hot tub on the balcony like on the other classes? 

[djh]

I absolutely hate the balcony on the Edge class RS. Last time we were on Edge, I had asked for a lounge chair and they had to stack all of that heavy uncomfortable furniture in one corner in order for it to fit. We are on the Apex in June in an RS (booked years ago) and we have so far been unable to upgrade since all the suites are sold out. I’ll try a move up and keep my fingers crossed! 

[luv2ndhalf]

1 hour ago, delondin said:

Is there a hot tub on the balcony like on the other classes? 

No….. there is barely room for two chairs 

[luv2ndhalf]

1 hour ago, danceswithphones said:

I think the window washing rig lives in that spot most of the time. Balcony size put me off the RS and we ended up with the only Edge Villa left. It's right above that equipment.

What were your thoughts on the Villa?

[danceswithphones]

16 minutes ago, luv2ndhalf said:

What were your thoughts on the Villa?

We will be in an EV on the Beyond in November. 200+ sq. ft. balcony vs 72 sq. ft. for the RS. 

[chemmo]

Do any Sky Suite rooms have a decent balcony?

Alternatively are there any none suite rooms that have a decent balcony?

[MomC2L2]

We were on the Apex in January in a sunset veranda cabin.  If the balcony is important to you those are the ones to reserve. We had 2 loungers and a small table with two chairs. Great for sunsets and star gazing! 

[danceswithphones]

4 hours ago, chemmo said:

Do any Sky Suite rooms have a decent balcony?

There are a couple of excellent E-Class Sky Suite videos on YouTube. I'm booked in a S1 Sky Suite on the Ascent for 2024. Deck 9 near the elevators to the Retreat. I chose 9163. 

[garyl62]

Good to read through all this info. We considered a RS for next March on Apex but we stepped back to a CS to get a larger balcony. Then we have a Sunset Sky Suite booked after that. Sounds like we'll be better off with the aft cabin 

[George C]

Edge class balconies are definitely smaller in general, we had penthouse on edge totally covered , no way to get sun, much prefer the royal suite on M class. But everything else about the suite was perfect and the retreat makes up for the smaller balcony. We do have a very large corner aft sky suite on beyond in November, but long walk to retreat and Luminae.

[chemmo]

4 hours ago, danceswithphones said:

There are a couple of excellent E-Class Sky Suite videos on YouTube. I'm booked in a S1 Sky Suite on the Ascent for 2024. Deck 9 near the elevators to the Retreat. I chose 9163. 

Thanks…We usually book RS or PH on S class but the balcony does mean a lot to me. It looks like if we want to do Edge class a SS may be the way to go and then supplement with a speciality dining package.