Are there bad XL Sea Terraces?

[mfs2k]

I did an upgrade bid for an XL Sea Terrace and I’m wondering if there are bad ones with undesirable locations or limited views I may get “upgraded” to. 

[jon81uk]

Yes there is one at the front of deck 14 where the desk is too close to the bed.

[neverendingcruising]

Some of the XL balconies have an unusual shape and solid metal railings instead of glass. I've also read that some of them have chairs instead of hammocks due to the shape. 

[_tacocat_]

with an upgrade, you may end up with an accessible room, which can be a little different than a standard one. 

 

there are also 2-person XLs and 3-person XLs.  the layout of the 2 person ones feel squishy to me because the static part of the bed is towards the middle of the room, and the rotating couch part opens towards the windows.  they also added wood accents on the wall with the TV because people complained that the original design was too stark, so the TV sticks out a couple inches further than it should.  The desk/table thing is by the window, so you have to walk by it every time you want to go between the bathroom and the desk or balcony.  I either nailed my shoulders on the TV or bonked my shins on the bed trying to avoid the TV every day when we stayed in a 2-person XL.

 

i like the 3-person XLs a lot better - the static part of the bed is by the balcony door, so if you get it made up into a couch during the day, there's functionally more space on the floor than a seriously suite!  the desk is close to the bathroom, so it's nice if you need it for hair/makeup or even just quickly dropping crap in the room when you get in.  the room is also a touch wider than the 2-person, which seems to make all the difference.

[Lustate]

18 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

with an upgrade, you may end up with an accessible room, which can be a little different than a standard one. 

 

there are also 2-person XLs and 3-person XLs.  the layout of the 2 person ones feel squishy to me because the static part of the bed is towards the middle of the room, and the rotating couch part opens towards the windows.  they also added wood accents on the wall with the TV because people complained that the original design was too stark, so the TV sticks out a couple inches further than it should.  The desk/table thing is by the window, so you have to walk by it every time you want to go between the bathroom and the desk or balcony.  I either nailed my shoulders on the TV or bonked my shins on the bed trying to avoid the TV every day when we stayed in a 2-person XL.

 

i like the 3-person XLs a lot better - the static part of the bed is by the balcony door, so if you get it made up into a couch during the day, there's functionally more space on the floor than a seriously suite!  the desk is close to the bathroom, so it's nice if you need it for hair/makeup or even just quickly dropping crap in the room when you get in.  the room is also a touch wider than the 2-person, which seems to make all the difference.

Just to add to this a little, its not just two or three people ones that dictate the layout. They alternate down the corridors and by floor so you can end up with the layout described in either a three or a two person configuration. 

What I would add though is that room itself is better for longer voyages. We have done a "standard" sea view, a cheeky corner, and XL twice. The XL is the best option 90% of the time as you get a larger bathroom, and the wardrobe is a touch larger so you can easy fit two large cases in it and your clothes hanging. 

[CruisingWalter]

20 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I did an upgrade bid for an XL Sea Terrace and I’m wondering if there are bad ones with undesirable locations or limited views I may get “upgraded” to. 

 

Just that you might end up with one that doesn't have a hammock due the shape of the balcony and you may have one of the steel balconies instead of glass. I have to be honest, we have never bid for an upgrade since that practice started because there's generally a reason why we picked that specific cabin in that specific location. 🙂 

[cantgetin]

I'd be upset if I got a room without a hammock....I'd add that to the list of "why we choose the cabin we want."  For our future bookings, I named not only the general area, but the specific cabin we wanted--the same one we were in for that cruise.  It may have been silly, but we liked the room we had, so why not ask for it again?

[_tacocat_]

10 hours ago, Lustate said:

They alternate down the corridors and by floor so you can end up with the layout described in either a three or a two person configuration. 

hmm i thought they were all the same orientation for the 3 person ones.  i've been in a few different XLs and the 3 person ones all had the same layout, and the 2 person one had the squishy layout.  they're offset on each side of the ship every other one, and they're generally the same rooms on decks 10-12.  will have to investigate in the middle of my B2B next week!

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

hmm i thought they were all the same orientation for the 3 person ones.  i've been in a few different XLs and the 3 person ones all had the same layout, and the 2 person one had the squishy layout.  they're offset on each side of the ship every other one, and they're generally the same rooms on decks 10-12.  will have to investigate in the middle of my B2B next week!

No, the 2 person layout isn't the same on all 2 person XL Cabins. 

First pic is Squishy XL cabin, Second pic is non-Squishy XL cabin. 

[AtSeaWithChris]

14 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

No, the 2 person layout isn't the same on all 2 person XL Cabins. 

First pic is Squishy XL cabin, Second pic is non-Squishy XL cabin. 

What is the squishy vs non squishy. They look the same except for the bed closer to balcony vs door. 

[_tacocat_]

20 minutes ago, AtSeaWithChris said:

What is the squishy vs non squishy. They look the same except for the bed closer to balcony vs door. 

that orientation makes it squishy, and you can't see on the PDF floor plan on their site (but you can see it on the fire/safety floorplan on the back of the doors) that there's an itty bitty slant in one of the walls of all the cabins - that means every other XL cabin has a scootch more elbow room than its "non squishy" neighboring cabin. 

 

last year, VV added the wood elements behind the TV because people complained that the rooms were too cold-looking/plain, and that bumped the TV out a couple inches. if you need to get from the bathroom or door to the table/desk thing, you have to dodge the TV a little or you'll nail your shoulder on it every time.

 

additionally, if you get your room made up with the couch during the day, the "non squishy" layout provides WAY more floorspace to move around than the "squishy" layout because it opens towards the room not the balcony.

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, AtSeaWithChris said:

What is the squishy vs non squishy. They look the same except for the bed closer to balcony vs door. 

It's hard to see in the photo I took but there's no room to squeeze by the TV at the foot of the bed without hitting the TV with your shoulders unless you shimmy and tilt your torso away from the TV. It's annoying as hell and as _tacocat_ (love the screen name!) explained it was made worse by adding the decorative wooden slats which pushed the TV out further another few inches. What they should have done was left the TV mounted to the wall and installed the slats around it. 

[Lustate]

7 hours ago, kwokpot said:

It's hard to see in the photo I took but there's no room to squeeze by the TV at the foot of the bed without hitting the TV with your shoulders unless you shimmy and tilt your torso away from the TV. It's annoying as hell and as _tacocat_ (love the screen name!) explained it was made worse by adding the decorative wooden slats which pushed the TV out further another few inches. What they should have done was left the TV mounted to the wall and installed the slats around it. 

If you think thats squishy... Cabin 14334Z is very narrow. Below is the pic of the bottom of the bed and how close it is to the desk... Good luck getting past! 

 

[_tacocat_]

8 hours ago, Lustate said:

If you think thats squishy... Cabin 14334Z is very narrow. Below is the pic of the bottom of the bed and how close it is to the desk... Good luck getting past! 

 

jeez that is ridiculous!!!

[Shep_Proudfoot]

So does anyone know if cabin 11322 (Valiant Lady) is “squishy” or “not”? My TA did not state if A or Z so unsure.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Shep_Proudfoot

[_tacocat_]

4 hours ago, Shep_Proudfoot said:

So does anyone know if cabin 11322 (Valiant Lady) is “squishy” or “not”? My TA did not state if A or Z so unsure.

if Z, i think it's the squishy, if A, its the not (and also an ambulatory cabin so may be oriented a bit differently).  you can check your reservation on the website/app to see what room you've been assigned.  you can also have your TA change your cabin to a different one on 11 or another deck if you want the roomy 3 person version.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

13 hours ago, _tacocat_ said:

if Z, i think it's the squishy, if A, its the not (and also an ambulatory cabin so may be oriented a bit differently).  you can check your reservation on the website/app to see what room you've been assigned.  you can also have your TA change your cabin to a different one on 11 or another deck if you want the roomy 3 person version.

Looks like it’s A so ambulatory. May have to change that out…thanks!

[cantgetin]

26 minutes ago, Shep_Proudfoot said:

Looks like it’s A so ambulatory. May have to change that out…thanks!

Ambulatory is very different than accessible.  The only differences between ambulatory and regular cabin is more bars on the wall and a fold down seat in the shower.    There are a lot of differences between accessible and regular; I can totally understand why someone who doesn't need an accessible bathroom wouldn't want one.