Leaving balcony doors open

[shipgeeks]

I recall a tiny notice on the frame of our balcony door saying that the door should not remain open.  I have read here on CC that doing so can disrupt the AC in a number of nearby cabins, as well as creating wind problems when the hallway door is opened.

Can anyone weigh in on what the little notice actually says?

Secondly, can any experts explain what happens?

And third, has anyone experienced being the neighbor of an open-door person, or the open-door person himself?  Did management take any steps to correct things?

[njhorseman]

Cruise Critic's resident retired  chief engineer, @chengkp75, has explained what happens when you leave your balcony door open numerous times. 

[LHT28]

please leave the door  closed  especially at night  

surrounding cabins may want their a/c working during the night

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

I recall a tiny notice on the frame of our balcony door saying that the door should not remain open.  I have read here on CC that doing so can disrupt the AC in a number of nearby cabins, as well as creating wind problems when the hallway door is opened.

Can anyone weigh in on what the little notice actually says?

Secondly, can any experts explain what happens?

And third, has anyone experienced being the neighbor of an open-door person, or the open-door person himself?  Did management take any steps to correct things?

1) The notice says pretty clearly that you should not leave the door open.

2) A number of apparently competent posters have explained the negative effect on air conditioning in neighboring cabins.

3) I was on a cruise and experienced very weak A/C - after reporting it to services, I was advised that the problem was caused by a nearby open balcony door.

 

I know from personal experience that there is a blast of wind if the cabin door is opened when the balcony door is open.

[shipgeeks]

2 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Cruise Critic's resident retired  chief engineer, @chengkp75, has explained what happens when you leave your balcony door open numerous times. 

And I am hoping his expertise will surface again, re some recent posts from people who should be reminded/told.  (aka  "I'll do as I please!")

[njhorseman]

2 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

And I am hoping his expertise will surface again, re some recent posts from people who should be reminded/told.  (aka  "I'll do as I please!")

That's why I tagged his name...hoping it will summon him to this thread.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

or the open-door person himself?  Did management take any steps to correct things

 

On the Prinsendam, my traveling companion was an experienced cruiser and knew that the veranda door ought to be kept closed.  One afternoon, for whatever reason, she left it open for awhile (not sure how long, I wasn't in the stateroom at the time.)  She said that after several minutes, our Room Steward came rushing into the stateroom and closed the door and reminded her that the door should not be left open.  She was embarrassed.  

[Aquahound]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

  She said that after several minutes, our Room Steward came rushing into the stateroom and closed the door and reminded her that the door should not be left open.  She was embarrassed.  

 

I agree that one should not leave their balcony door open, but the room steward rushing into the room seems a bit extreme.  Are you sure that's how it happened?

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

I recall a tiny notice on the frame of our balcony door saying that the door should not remain open.  I have read here on CC that doing so can disrupt the AC in a number of nearby cabins, as well as creating wind problems when the hallway door is opened.

Can anyone weigh in on what the little notice actually says?

Secondly, can any experts explain what happens?

And third, has anyone experienced being the neighbor of an open-door person, or the open-door person himself?  Did management take any steps to correct things?

 

The Chief can provide a more detailed technical explanation.

 

As a safety measure, the cabins maintain a slight over pressurisation, so that in the event of a fire, smoke does not enter the cabin from the alleyway. The Air Handling units provide this fresh air to a number of cabins within a fire zone.

 

The fresh air supply is slightly greater than the volume removed by the bathroom extractor fan. Provided the doors are closed, all cabins should be slightly over pressurised.

 

By opening the balcony door and leaving it open, the large opening removes the over pressurisation, so the fresh air supply for that zone takes the path of least resistance and tries to return the cabin pressure to normal. The other cabins get minimal fresh air from the Air handling Unit.

 

Cabins with open balcony doors can be identified by listening for the air whistling under the cabin doors in the alleyway. Open the cabin door with the balcony door open and you create a wind tunnel.

[chengkp75]

To add to Andy's paraphrasing of my description, everyone "knows" that opening the balcony door "shuts off the AC".  But, that is only one of the two AC systems in your cabin.  The one controlled by the balcony door is the one that acts like a window AC in your house, taking air from the cabin, passing it over a cooling coil, and returning the same air to your cabin.  A recirculation AC.  The second system is what provides fresh air to your cabin, and works as Andy states above.  Typically, we would get a complaint or two of warm cabins, and I would send the HVAC guys, or go myself, and walk the passageways near that cabin, listening for the air whistling under the door, and would then knock on that cabin and tell the occupants to close the balcony door, as it was affecting the cooling of neighboring cabins.  And, usually, I don't need to explain too much, since the wind tunnel created when they answered the door has shown them that whatever is not nailed down in the cabin is now on the balcony or overboard.

[capriccio]

We have had cabins with connecting doors when traveling with family and have never had a problem with the wind tunnel effect caused by neighbors keeping their balcony door open.  Last March we had a connecting door in our cabin and experienced what happens.  While we never heard our neighbor's TV or voices, we definitely heard the wind tunnel the first night.  In fact we opened our connecting door to determine what the sound was and I guess the occupants in the other cabin heard us talking.  We hadn't quite decided what to do (call them or the front desk) before the 'storm' stopped and it was never a problem for the next 9 days. I guess they realized the cautionary note on the door was there for a reason.

Edited September 6, 2022 by capriccio

[cruisemom42]

I am curious to hear how this air system is designed to work on the newer Celebrity ships that have the "Infinite" balcony rooms (e.g., Edge, Apex). As I understand them, when the balcony window/door/opening is open, the entire cabin is exposed to the outdoor "fresh" air. 

 

I assume these are designed in some way to not impact others?

[CHEZMARYLOU]

On Celebrity Edge Class ships with the Infinite balcony the a/c will shut off in the cabin if the window is down and the doors to the balcony are open.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I am curious to hear how this air system is designed to work on the newer Celebrity ships that have the "Infinite" balcony rooms (e.g., Edge, Apex). As I understand them, when the balcony window/door/opening is open, the entire cabin is exposed to the outdoor "fresh" air. 

 

I assume these are designed in some way to not impact others?

These ships have a far more expensive AC system for fresh air, where each cabin has a motorized damper on the fresh air supply, that closes when the window is open.  This, of course, builds up more pressure in the fresh air delivery system, and more with each cabin that has the window open.  So, the fresh air supply fan will have a variable speed drive system, to slow the fan down as the pressure increases, and speeds it up when the pressure decreases (more cabins with windows closed).

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

I agree that one should not leave their balcony door open, but the room steward rushing into the room seems a bit extreme.  Are you sure that's how it happened?

 

That's what she told me.  She sitting on the veranda when, suddenly, the Room Steward appeared at the entrance way.  

My friend was hard of hearing, so it is possible that the Cabin Steward did knock on the door and she didn't hear it.  

Edited September 6, 2022 by rkacruiser

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

…

My friend was hard of hearing, so it is possible that the Cabin Steward did knock on the door and she didn't hear it.  

This is what makes the “…steward rushing into the stateroom…” bit credible.