td_route66

People are always asking why they should use a TA instead of booking themselves....I think you may have found a good reason why;)

As it is we did use a travel agent to book the rooms, when we followed up with him he said he had no info on the obstruction.:mad:

I have connecting cabins 7166 and 7168 booked for our Serenade cruise in January, 2011. My parents are next door in 7170. I was able to find photos of 7170 here: http://www.*****/view_room.php?r_id=60058

My question is: Is the ledge that I see on the other side of the balcony railing part of the ship or lifeboat covers? It looks like part of the ship to me. When I look at photos of the whole ship, I don't see lifeboats that far stern. Does anyone know? It doesn't really matter too much since I probably won't be able to switch due to needing connecting cabins. I just like to know what to expect before I go. I know that these cabins are over the Safari Club stage and that we may get some noise as well. The one benefit is that the balconies are very large and have lounge chairs.

You might be OK, I noticed that some of the cabins forward and aft had a no obstruction. You could see down to the water no lifeboats. Sorry I don't know what cabin numbers where in the clear.

The RCL Website indicates which cabins have obstructed views, so it's a good idea to check if that's important to you. Also, you can get great views from the deck anytime you want, even if you are in an inside cabin.

I'm looking at the RCL deck plan for deck seven. Don't see where they indicate obstructed view. Where did you find the notation?

That really does kinda suck. I thank you though for letting us know. Actually, I like you booked a 7th floor balcony for my Southern Caribbean cruise on Serenade and recently noticed someone had posted about the obstruction. I was able to book a ninth floor bigger cabin AND the balcony prices have dropped so I only am paying 25 bucks more with no obstruction AND am still midship where I prefer so, again thanks for posting the info. Sailing in 76 days!

The bigger cabin and higher up is better, for $25 that's great. Have a great trip, I'm sure you will.

You don't really have that problem on the higher floors. Sorry you didn't like it but the Radiance is one of our favorite ships and we were on in May and probably had one of the best balcony's ever (10th floor). Next time, ask on these boards for picture of the room you might book to see if there are any negatives, etc, imho

We booked another Royal Caribbean cruise for September on the Explorer of the Sea, cabin 9592. I don't know how to link to it but I've posted a request for info on this forum under "Explorer balcony obstructions". Additionally Royal Caribbean said when they get a chance, they'll take a digital photo from the balcony on Explorer and send it to me. Hopefully I'll get something. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1225255

Cabin 7128

Don’t get me wrong, the June 4th 2010 cruise to Alaska was wonderful despite my disappointment with the view. Great service, good food and a great ship but the view out of our cabin was disappointing.

Our cabin along with the surrounding cabins (left, right and above) are above the lifeboats, a canopy covers the lifeboats, so what you see when on your balcony is non accessible 15 foot (approx) canopy beyond your railing. No view below the cabin and no view of the water. Side note: while leaving Juno there was a whale swimming alongside the ship, we couldn’t see it, until it swam away from the ship and far enough to clear the canopy. We didn’t bother to investigate the balcony prior to booking the cruise, we’d had a balcony on Freedom and that one was fabulous. Made the assumption that the balcony on the Radiance would be equal, we were wrong. I think like most cruisers we started out on our first cruse in an inside cabin. Next cruise moved to an outside and then finally made the move to a balcony on the Freedom of the Seas. It made a big difference on Freedom and was well worth the extra money but I don’t think it’s worth the extra on Radiance and maybe its sister ships. You might want to check it out before you book.

Attached are two views.