Carnival Says OK to Prop Balcony Doors Open

[sanmarcosman]

Carnival's brand ambassador says leaving the balcony doors propped open won't affect the temps in OTHER cabins. I've read to the contrary here by a recently retired Merchant Marine Chief Engineer. What are the facts, please?

" I was asked if it is OK for people to sleep with the balcony door open? The answer is yes, you can, and it doesn’t actually affect the air-conditioning in any other cabin, except yours." 

Edited February 22, 2023 by sanmarcosman

[CarnivalShips480]

I think the problem is that the air conditioning in your own cabin will keep running, which wastes a lot of power. There is a sign on the balcony doors not to do it.

[ColeThornton]

I would listen to @chengkp75 over the "brand ambassador" in matters related to engineering and ships systems.

[sanmarcosman]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

I would listen to @chengkp75 over the "brand ambassador" in matters related to engineering and ships systems.

Yes, that's the member here I was thinking of. I hope they will see this and comment. Thank you

[ray98]

Funny....I have received this info first hand when dealing with an interior cabin that struggled to go below 80 at night directly from an engineer on board when the problem escalated above the maintenance guy they sent first.  He flat out told me that was the problem and went down the hall until he found the offending balcony cabin which he located due to air moving from the hallway under the door.

[StephPS79]

There are definitely warnings on the new ships stating that the air cuts off when the balcony door is open, but don't think the older ships have this "feature."  I still haven't fully decided if I believe the little warning signs, or if they are just there to persuade.  I'll say recently on the Glory in an interior room, the hallway was quite warm, while our room was frigid.  I'd find it hard to believe that a cabin with an open balcony door would impact other rooms by all that much, unless propped open, but I can see how inefficient this would be in a particular room, thus the push to keep doors closed.  

 

I did see the post from John Heald saying it was okay to sleep with the door open, which I found to be a bit odd...maybe they are taking the stance that the open door is better than the bed on the balcony lol...

 

 

[ninjacat123]

I like having the difference of an air conditioned room and a balmy balcony, so I keep the door shut.

[SailawayKC]

I thought there was a magnetic switch on the door that disconnects your room's AC if the door is open. I know this is true for NCL ships but I don't remember now on Carnival ships.

[chasinraynbowz]

I just got off the Celebration and can confirm that the AC does go off if you leave the balcony door open.  My cabin mate loved having the door open so she could listen to the waves.  Our cabin stayed warm when she propped the door open.

[kelkel2]

On the Mardi Gras I 100% can confirm that if the balcony door is open the air conditioner doesn’t run. So I think maybe it’s a newer feature. But if you’d prefer the ocean breeze/sound I guess it’s not hurting anything but the temperature in your own room. 

[jerseyjjs]

I would venture to guess Heald is referring to the sliding glass doors that Carnival FINALLY put on their most recent builds.  Not the heavy swing doors that one needs a bungee cord or cabin furniture to prop open.

[Cruiser_1977]

I would love to hear from Chengp75 or the like. I believe, after reading several blogs, this site and the other social media platform, that this is newer technology. Meaning if you're on an older ship it's unlikely to be true unless the ship has somehow been retrofitted. 

[Elaine5715]

[kdr69]

53 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

probably referring to the older ships as this was dated 2019.  On Celebration if you open your balcony door the AC system to your room shuts down. 

[EngIceDave]

3 hours ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

I think the problem is that the air conditioning in your own cabin will keep running, which wastes a lot of power. There is a sign on the balcony doors not to do it.

No, it won't. It shuts off when the door is open.

 

I think Mr Heald's comment applies more to the newer modular design ship cabins. Cabins are modular plug and play units now days

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

1 hour ago, jerseyjjs said:

I would venture to guess Heald is referring to the sliding glass doors that Carnival FINALLY put on their most recent builds.  Not the heavy swing doors that one needs a bungee cord or cabin furniture to prop open.

Which ships exactly? Excel class only?  Vista class?

[EngIceDave]

1 hour ago, JennyB1977 said:

I would love to hear from Chengp75 or the like. I believe, after reading several blogs, this site and the other social media platform, that this is newer technology. Meaning if you're on an older ship it's unlikely to be true unless the ship has somehow been retrofitted. 

I believe this to be true.

 

My understanding is that in today's newer ships, the cabins are modular. They can be literally pulled out and replaced like a Lego block.

 

AC is self contained as is all other electrics and plumbing just pops together.

This is why everything seems exactly the same, it is

[Elaine5715]

4 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

I believe this to be true.

 

My understanding is that in today's newer ships, the cabins are modular. They can be literally pulled out and replaced like a Lego block.

 

AC is self contained as is all other electrics and plumbing just pops together.

This is why everything seems exactly the same, it is

All of the staterooms are modular including the older ships.

[EngIceDave]

Just now, Elaine5715 said:

All of the staterooms are modular including the older ships.

Yes, but I think the AC is modular in the newer ships.

Older ships, the cabin was modular, but AC was central, and cabin plugged into the central AC that served that whole section of the ship.

That's how whole decks or sections would go down and not individual cabins.

[Elaine5715]

15 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

probably referring to the older ships as this was dated 2019.  On Celebration if you open your balcony door the AC system to your room shuts down. 

If so, he needs to be very specific.  That may apply to two ships (?)  if true, but people will believe it is true on all ships.  

[Elaine5715]

Just now, EngIceDave said:

Yes, but I think the AC is modular in the newer ships.

Older ships, the cabin was modular, but AC was central, and cabin plugged into the central AC that served that whole section of the ship.

That's how whole decks or sections would go down and not individual cabins.

If you read the insert I posted, Chief explains it very well.  

[EngIceDave]

I'm not out to bag on anyone, just saying how I understand it is now and was.

 

 

[EngIceDave]

1 minute ago, Elaine5715 said:

If you read the insert I posted, Chief explains it very well.  

Got it

[Elaine5715]

Just now, EngIceDave said:

Got it

Chief has posted numerous times about this so if anyone does a search, his knowledge is incredible.  I can keep up on the HVAC but he loses me on the electrical systems.  

[chengkp75]

Okay, opened this thread twice, so I can scroll through posts and answer them as I see them.

 

I will stand by my statements that there are two AC systems in each cabin, one that merely recirculates the cabin air, and which is turned off when the balcony door is open.  The other is the fresh air supply system, that brings cooled air from outside, and which supplies AC to whole banks of cabins, and which will affect the cooling of all the cabins in the bank, if a door is left open.  I will not say definitively that this applies to ships, like Carnival's, that I have not been on, but I will say that this has been the standard technology for ships built from 1990, at least, onwards.  And, there are not that many of those still around.

 

While I won't say that Heald is wrong, I will say that he very well may not have asked the right question to get the right answer.

 

As I say, yes, the AC for your cabin, which is very similar to a window AC unit in your house in that it merely recirculates the air in the cabin while cooling it, does shut off when the balcony door is open.  However, if you open the balcony door, and then hold a tissue up to the air vent, you will see that (typically to one side of the vent or the other) there is still air flow.  This is the second system, and they run the ducting parallel and use one vent.  This system supplies all the cabins on one deck, between fire doors, so maybe 30-40 cabins.  See the linked post above which describes the overpressure that this system builds.  

24 minutes ago, EngIceDave said:

No, it won't. It shuts off when the door is open.

 

I think Mr Heald's comment applies more to the newer modular design ship cabins. Cabins are modular plug and play units now days

This has been true for cabins since the '90's, this is not something new.  However, even something that is "plug and play" has to "plug" into something, whether it is water, sewage, electricity, or HVAC.  Once the cabin is installed, the HVAC ducting is run from the central systems to it (both the fresh air supply system, and the bathroom exhaust system.

Edited February 22, 2023 by chengkp75