How to make an IV feel like a regular balcony

[Cruise till you drop]

We booked an IV for Jan 2025 on Beyond and will be our first IV.

 

My feeling is that it will seem more like an room with a big window as opposed to a regular balcony.

 

We like being outside on a balcony, feeling the breeze and listening to the waves, having almost a separate area to hang out other than the room, and seeing the endless sea and horizon

 

Question - any advice on how to make an IV feel like a regular balcony so we can better enjoy what we like about outside balconies

 

PS - all the SV’s on our cruise are booked, otherwise that’s what we would have selected.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[PTC DAWG]

1 minute ago, Cruise till you drop said:

We booked an IV for Jan 2025 on Beyond and will be our first IV.

 

My feeling is that it will seem more like an room with a big window as opposed to a regular balcony.

 

We like being outside on a balcony, feeling the breeze and listening to the waves, having almost a separate area to hang out other than the room, and seeing the endless sea and horizon

 

Question - any advice on how to make an IV feel like a regular balcony so we can better enjoy what we like about outside balconies

Book an SV. 

[Cruise till you drop]

Just now, PTC DAWG said:

Book an SV. 

Sorry I edited my post to say all SV’s are booked.  We’ve been on 2 SV’s and have another booked for Jan 2025 so we know

[cruisestitch]

There’s not much you can do.  The IV isn’t suited to your preferences.  Have you looked at the porthole verandahs instead?

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

My feeling is that it will seem more like an room with a big window as opposed to a regular balcony.

There's a good reason for that.

[Cruise till you drop]

Just now, cruisestitch said:

There’s not much you can do.  The IV isn’t suited to your preferences.  Have you looked at the porthole verandahs instead?

What is a porthole verandah ?  Do they have them on Beyond ?

[ladylemondrop]

3 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

What is a porthole verandah ?  Do they have them on Beyond ?

This may help- 

 

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, Cruise till you drop said:

What is a porthole verandah ?  Do they have them on Beyond ?

The porthole veranda is also called on other cruiselines as a hull or cove balcony cabin and is a TRUE veranda with an real outside space, albeit a bit enclosed and narrow since it's within the ship's superstructure. You'll find it in the same section as other Veranda cabins when selecting a cabin. The only other drawback is they are either all the way forward or aft.

[kwokpot]

13 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

We booked an IV for Jan 2025 on Beyond and will be our first IV.

 

My feeling is that it will seem more like an room with a big window as opposed to a regular balcony.

 

We like being outside on a balcony, feeling the breeze and listening to the waves, having almost a separate area to hang out other than the room, and seeing the endless sea and horizon

 

Question - any advice on how to make an IV feel like a regular balcony so we can better enjoy what we like about outside balconies

 

PS - all the SV’s on our cruise are booked, otherwise that’s what we would have selected.

You answered your own question. IV cabins are indeed an oceanview cabin but the window opens. It includes a few interior design elements, change in flooring, the bifold doors, to simulate an outdoor space. But make no mistake, it's no different than sitting next to an open window inside your house since that's exactly what you're doing in an IV cabin.

Edited August 27, 2023 by kwokpot

[basenji56]

Marketing genius by Celebrity. 
 

Remove real verandas to reduce drag and save fuel. And convince many cruisers that it’s an enhancement because you get some extra cabin space. 

[PTC DAWG]

18 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Marketing genius by Celebrity. 
 

Remove real verandas to reduce drag and save fuel. And convince many cruisers that it’s an enhancement because you get some extra cabin space. 

Have you sailed in one?  I still want to try one to see for myself…

[cruisestitch]

Celebrity marketing

[Cruise till you drop]

5 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Have you sailed in one?  I still want to try one to see for myself…

We haven’t sailed in an IV so this will be our first time.  I guess I’m a little anxious given we’ve always had a real balcony and there’s not much positive press on IV’s so far.  But they do get booked up so how bad can they be.  
 

Plus lately we’ve been traveling with groups of people and really haven’t been spending as much time on our balcony as of late.

 

So we think it’s worth a try.

[Mark_T]

8 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Have you sailed in one?  I still want to try one to see for myself…

The fact the A/C goes off when you open the window killed the idea of even trying it for us.

[basenji56]

9 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Have you sailed in one?  I still want to try one to see for myself…

Yes, several times. I put up with them because the Edge class ships are otherwise very nice. But the IV is in no way an improvement over a real veranda. 

[ebtrip]

Had booked the Beyond for our upcoming cruise in 3 weeks.  When I found out the Aqua class was IV, I canceled that cruise and change to my old time favorite Equinox. X is catering to the younger generation.  Us old timers are being left behind.  We’ve been sailing on X since 2007, after many years with Princess and Holland.  The past 2 years we’ve  sailed on Viking Ocean 4 times and will be cruising our 2nd time in March on Azamara in Japan. 

[hcat]

we  make it work..trade off for AQ Class if we cannot get the S: with real balcony

 

get the bed by  the bathrm.. keep bi folds open..turn chairs to face inward  most of time.  This give a  nice open  area. (these cabins are long and narrow,)

 

we enjoy the open window  for views/ phots when we  go in and out of ports or want to see the sea or sky..

 

you have more privacy and quiet with walls on the sides..

 

trying it is the only way to know

[Mark_T]

6 minutes ago, hcat said:

trying it is the only way to know

I did hear right though that the air conditioning is off if the window is open?

 

It was that part that convinced us that we didn't need to try it to know, as often one of us is on the balcony while the other remains in the cabin...

[Cruise till you drop]

Just now, ebtrip said:

Had booked the Beyond for our upcoming cruise in 3 weeks.  When I found out the Aqua class was IV, I canceled that cruise and change to my old time favorite Equinox. X is catering to the younger generation.  Us old timers are being left behind.  We’ve been sailing on X since 2007, after many years with Princess and Holland.  The past 2 years we’ve  sailed on Viking Ocean 4 times and will be cruising our 2nd time in March on Azamara in Japan. 

 

That’s what confuses me most is the money you spend on Aqua Class and it’s only with an IV.  Very odd in my opinion

[cruisestitch]

11 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

I did hear right though that the air conditioning is off if the window is open?

 

It was that part that convinced us that we didn't need to try it to know, as often one of us is on the balcony while the other remains in the cabin...

Yes you heard right.  Since you like to have one outside and the other inside, IV is not for you 

[jelayne]

We have always booked cabins with a balcony but tried a IV on the Edge and liked it.  
We have found that for us the balcony gets used very little during the day when in hot climates.  So maybe 30 minutes for me in the morning with a cup of coffee. Occasionally a glass of wine before going to dinner and that’s about it.

The extra space in the IV was very nice when we had our traveling friends in for a glass of wine before dinner.  

[mauimary]

We had one on our Transatlantic on the Beyond this past April. We always get Sunset as we book early. This time we changed ships and could not get a SV.  We went in with an open mindset for us and made it work. Our bed was by the closet and bathroom so it made the room bigger. We enjoyed sitting in the sunshine in our room as well as having the extra room.  We actually ended up liking it more than we thought we would. It was conveniently located by the elevators so much easier to just make a run to drop things off to our room than the SV   For us we decided we will still choose a cruise even if we cannot get the SV. 

For sitting outside we used the Magic Carpet or Sunset Bar area.  Don’t get me wrong we still prefer the SV . Have had two of them on the Beyond. 
We have a B2B2B next year of which cruise 1&2 are in a SV and cruise #3 is in an IV. We are however waitlisted for the SV.  

Edited August 27, 2023 by mauimary

[thebutlerdidit]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

The porthole veranda is also called on other cruiselines as a hull or cove balcony cabin and is a TRUE veranda with an real outside space, albeit a bit enclosed and narrow since it's within the ship's superstructure. You'll find it in the same section as other Veranda cabins when selecting a cabin. The only other drawback is they are either all the way forward or aft.

And as illustrated in the video, they can have major obstructions.

[gordylad]

how do you make a cow look like a sheep.........impossible

[D. B.]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

Have you sailed in one?  I still want to try one to see for myself…

We did an IV on Edge and I Hated It! BUT my wife liked it so we will be in an IV on Beyond Jan. 2,2024 but only 6 nights or I would have stood my ground.

 I’m not a fan of the Edge class ships mostly because they don’t have a forward facing sky lounge.