Cannot remove balcony dividers - safety concern?

Oops, Not true, we were on Serenade 21 days in Feb. and had the dividers open between our room and friends traveling with us.

Thanks for the update. Can you tell me the stateroom numbers you had?

The demarcation line was the Star Princess fire in 2006. Ships built after that point are required to have partitions that are openable, to assist in fire fighting. As you say, most lines leave it up to the Captain as to how many, and how many in a row may be opened.

 

 

 

Having said what I said above regarding post Star Princess, most ships that had openable dividers would not allow the dividers to be opened if the two cabins are in different fire zones (there is a fire door in the hallway between the two cabins). I suspect that the structural dividers you mention are at those locations, and are the line's way of not having to say no to opening a partition that would breach a fire boundary.

chengkp75, what would cause a captain to not allow the balcony dividers to be opened on a particular cruise?

chengkp75, what would cause a captain to not allow the balcony dividers to be opened on a particular cruise?

Some cruise lines, in their International Safety Management Systems, set out how many dividers total, and how many in a row, can be opened and not cause what their Safety Management Team ashore has decided is an unacceptable risk of fire spreading too quickly. Some lines leave this strictly to the Captain, and it boils down to his own personal experience with shipboard fires and personal preference for risk.

While many have debated with me as to the efficacy of the dividers as fire breaks, because they do not extend to the deck or ceiling, or all the way out to the rail, without the dividers closing 70-80% of the area, with a ship moving at 14-20 knots, you get quite a wind tunnel along the stretch of open balconies. With the dividers closed, the fire has to go around (over, under, or outboard) the non-flammable divider, so the fire will be slowed over not having any divider at all.

I was just on the Ovation in a connecting cabin and we had the balcony partition opened by the room steward. Maybe it can only be don with connecting cabins. Just wondering.

Linda

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The Freedom/Oasis/Quantum class ships have dividers that slide into themselves (like sliding shower doors) which don't have the same concerns.

For what it's worth, we were in 7124 onboard Anthem, with the divider to 7126 open. It was a swing-type, folded back and locked into place. The dividers to 7122 and 7128 were the same type.