Balcony cabin AC on Allure (problem)

This is what was in recent review of Allure:

"Air conditioning - on most other ships with balcony cabins, the sliding glass doors have to be closed for the a/c to work. On the Allure, however, the glass doors have to be closed and locked. That meant that if my wife wanted to sit on the balcony and I wanted to take a nap we had to lock her out so that the cabin didn't get too warm. Also, if one of us was out of the cabin, the other couldn't sit on the balcony without the a/c shutting off."

I think this is a big problem if you have a balcony (as we will on Oct 23).

I copied the above and sent it to customer service on the Royal Caribbean website.

If I remember correctly, on Oasis, there's a sign by the balcony doors that say to close and lock. I had some of the same issues as you...my friend was taking a nap and I wanted to read on the balcony for a while...definitely noticed a difference in room temp going back into the cabin. We just turned the air lower for a while and it didn't take long to cool down again.

This is what was in recent review of Allure:

 

"Air conditioning - on most other ships with balcony cabins, the sliding glass doors have to be closed for the a/c to work. On the Allure, however, the glass doors have to be closed and locked. That meant that if my wife wanted to sit on the balcony and I wanted to take a nap we had to lock her out so that the cabin didn't get too warm. Also, if one of us was out of the cabin, the other couldn't sit on the balcony without the a/c shutting off."

 

I think this is a big problem if you have a balcony (as we will on Oct 23).

 

I copied the above and sent it to customer service on the Royal Caribbean website.

Why did you email that to customer service? This is the way the system was designed to work. Ensuring doors are completely closed and locked seals up the room and the a/c system doesn't have to wastefully work which uses less electricity and less fuel. I know the locking door mechanism is annoying, but this is the way it was engineered so if you want a/c in your stateroom then you must follow the rules.

The ships central control monitors who's door is open and unlocked for security reasons. If you call them to complain that your a/c isn't working they will be able to tell if your balcony door is closed and in the locked position or not.

I agree with the OP. You should be able to go out on the balcony and be able to leave your AC running. I can understand the door needing to be closed, but you should not have to lock it. Perfect example . . . one guest relaxing/reading on the balcony and the other guest taking an nap.

We recently had balconies next to each other on the Oasis for my family of five and was planning on using the balconies to access each other's rooms because they did not adjoin from the inside. We were very disappointed to find out that we could not do that if we wanted to keep the AC on and cabins cool.

I think that RC definitely caught on to the magnet trick that people used to keep their balcony doors open and the AC running. Hopefully someone will find a way around this and post it here ;)

Why did you email that to customer service? This is the way the system was designed to work. Ensuring doors are completely closed and locked seals up the room and the a/c system doesn't have to wastefully work which uses less electricity and less fuel. I know the locking door mechanism is annoying, but this is the way it was engineered so if you want a/c in your stateroom then you must follow the rules.

 

The ships central control monitors who's door is open and unlocked for security reasons. If you call them to complain that your a/c isn't working they will be able to tell if your balcony door is closed and in the locked position or not.

I believe the OP emailed the complaint to customer service so that, hopefully, RCI will see that it is a dumb design. I understand all of the arguments regarding leaving the balcony door open. I also understand that if my DH is on the balcony and I am taking a nap I want the AC to work. It doesn't make sense to me that it should be off just because the balcony door is not locked.

Okay, that's my 2 cents worth on the subject!

We ran into the same problem last week on Allure. While I was getting dressed for dinner, my husband would enjoy a glass of wine out on the balcony. By the time I finished my hair and makeup, the cabin was extremely stuffy and most uncomfortable to stay in. Even with the AC set at it's lowest, it took way too long to cool back down.

This also put a damper on having a nightcap out on the balcony before going to bed.:(

I'm disabled and spend a great deal of time on my balcony while the rest of the family roams the ship or goes ashore. I do enjoy rolling out to the balcony while they are gone, but find the room gets very warm while I'm out there.

If they want to continue the locking door policy to save on fuel ---- why not have a lock that can be opened form BOTH SIDES of the door - then this would serve their purpose and make it workable for all passengers!

All suggestions & complaints can be made to customer service on the Royal Caribbean website. (we need to let them know how we feel!)

 

I think that RC definitely caught on to the magnet trick that people used to keep their balcony doors open and the AC running.

If I would hazard a guess (and of course that is all it is), I'd say this system is a direct result of that abuse. Given the sheer number of balconies on Oasis-class ships (inside and out), I can see how much extra the environmental system could be strained.

We ran into the same problem last week on Allure. While I was getting dressed for dinner, my husband would enjoy a glass of wine out on the balcony. By the time I finished my hair and makeup, the cabin was extremely stuffy and most uncomfortable to stay in. Even with the AC set at it's lowest, it took way too long to cool back down.

 

This also put a damper on having a nightcap out on the balcony before going to bed.:(

As long as your nightcap doesn't last for several hours, being out on your balcony with the door closed and in the unlocked position would be fine and would keep your stateroom cool.

All suggestions & complaints can be made to customer service on the Royal Caribbean website. (we need to let them know how we feel!)

Letting them know how you feel is fine, but I doubt any changes will come from your venting to them. These ships have been expertly designed and engineered and come at a cost of 1.4 billion dollars each. The systems in place ensure that resources are used to a minimum while at sea.

And silentbob007 is correct. One reason this system is in place is to discourage people from getting onboard and just leaving their balcony doors open or unlocked.

Letting them know how you feel is fine, but I doubt any changes will come from your venting to them. These ships have been expertly designed and engineered and come at a cost of 1.4 billion dollars each. The systems in place ensure that resources are used to a minimum while at sea.

 

And silentbob007 is correct. One reason this system is in place is to discourage people from getting onboard and just leaving their balcony doors open or unlocked.

I don't consider an email to RCI as "venting". I see it as corrective criticism. I understand that these ships are expertly designed and engineered and cost tons of $$. I also understand that sometimes changes need to be made.

I understand a design that would make it necessary for the door to be closed but NOT locked. In my humble opinion that is a STUPID design and one that was made for the "bottom line" and not the comfort of the clientele.

By the way, I LOVE RCI. It is my favorite cruiseline.

Whoever said that this design is a direct result of pax leaving their balcony doors open is exactly correct.

Despite posting signs requesting balcony doors be kept closed pax insisted on leaving them open for various reasons, taxing the AC. So now, once again, the selfish have ruined it for everyone.:(

I don't consider an email to RCI as "venting". I see it as corrective criticism. I understand that these ships are expertly designed and engineered and cost tons of $$. I also understand that sometimes changes need to be made.

 

I understand a design that would make it necessary for the door to be closed but NOT locked. In my humble opinion that is a STUPID design and one that was made for the "bottom line" and not the comfort of the clientele.

 

By the way, I LOVE RCI. It is my favorite cruiseline.

I agree with you, RCI is my favorite line and the "balcony door closed and locked" policy is stupid. But as Bakincakes said above... "the selfish have ruined it for everyone."

I agree with you, RCI is my favorite line and the "balcony door closed and locked" policy is stupid. But as Bakincakes said above... "the selfish have ruined it for everyone."

As with other things in life, "the selfish have ruined it for everyone." Sad.

We had a Central Park balcony on Oasis, and I loved watching people walking and the floating bar and I don't recall our room getting hot and stuffy.

fyi- This is a comment on Trainman's current Live from the Oasis thread regarding the balcony door/air conditioning issue:

Important Info on the Cabin Air Conditioning System

When we arrived in the cabin yesterday the thermostat was set in the middle between cold and hot.

I immediately reset it all of the way into the blue to the "Frozen Stiff" setting.

3 hours later, the room was still hot!

So I called Maintenance and had a nice long chat with a young lady there.

She was able to check my cabin system remotely on her computer as we spoke. She told me that last weeks occupants had slept with the door to the balcony open every night and that they had left their thermostat set on medium.

Two things must happen for your A/C to work.

- The Master Switch in the room must be "ON"!

- The door to the balcony must be fully closed!

Fully closed means the latch must be shut completely and in the "Straight Down" position!

She told me that our door was not fully latched and I looked across the room and said "Sure it is!" and she said "Nope, go check it!" I Did and it moved maybe 1/8" and when I picked up the phone she told me it is closed now.

The lessoned learned yesterday was if we don't have the door to the balcony completely closed we won't have any A/C!

This is what was in recent review of Allure:

 

"Air conditioning - on most other ships with balcony cabins, the sliding glass doors have to be closed for the a/c to work. On the Allure, however, the glass doors have to be closed and locked. That meant that if my wife wanted to sit on the balcony and I wanted to take a nap we had to lock her out so that the cabin didn't get too warm. Also, if one of us was out of the cabin, the other couldn't sit on the balcony without the a/c shutting off."

 

I think this is a big problem if you have a balcony (as we will on Oct 23).

 

I so agree with this. Was a problem for us as well.

I believe the OP emailed the complaint to customer service so that, hopefully, RCI will see that it is a dumb design. I understand all of the arguments regarding leaving the balcony door open. I also understand that if my DH is on the balcony and I am taking a nap I want the AC to work. It doesn't make sense to me that it should be off just because the balcony door is not locked.

Okay, that's my 2 cents worth on the subject!

I agree, it is dumb. Shutting the door should suffice...it is stupid that it has to be locked.

We were on Oasis last November and this would have been really annoying if the weather weren't unseasonably cool for the Carib.

I think it is also a "pain" to have to lock the door. And I agree there should have been a method to open the locked door from the balcony. At this time there isn't and those that like to nap while their cabin mate enjoys the balcony will have to do without AC.

Pax love to leave their balcony doors open to "sleep"..they leave them open and leave their cabins to go ashore or wander the ship...despite being asked by RCI NOT to do those things they continued their practices, even though they knew they might be impacting the AC in neighboring cabins. They didn't care because it was all about them. So now everyone has to deal with a ridiculous situation.:(

although an inconvenience , its really not that big a deal:rolleyes:

we are smokers , and for two weeks we dealt with the a/c situation , it didnt take very long to recool the room after we were having a drink and/or a smoke on the balcony:)

the only time it really sucked was when we left the room for a couple hours one day , and i accidently turned the master switch off and it was quite a hotbox when we returned....my fault of course:D

btw ...loved the ship & a B2B is the way to go if you can swing it:cool:

dave

Is the AC problem just on Oasis/Allure or is it on Liberty (Freedom class) as well? My husband likes to take a nap between returning from shore and dinner. I normally will read on the balcony while he sleeps, but I will occasionally go back into the cabin for a drink or whatever. Hubby likes a cold cabin to sleep so he would be upset if the AC doesn't work while the balcony door is unlocked. On the other hand, I will be really mad if he locks me out so the AC will work, especially if he wakes up from his nap, decides to go out for a snack, and forgets to let me know.

I think Dinkachu is right - there should a lock on the outside (maybe with the keycard) or some way to be on the balcony and still have the AC running.

Is the AC problem just on Oasis/Allure or is it on Liberty (Freedom class) as well? My husband likes to take a nap between returning from shore and dinner. I normally will read on the balcony while he sleeps, but I will occasionally go back into the cabin for a drink or whatever. Hubby likes a cold cabin to sleep so he would be upset if the AC doesn't work while the balcony door is unlocked. On the other hand, I will be really mad if he locks me out so the AC will work, especially if he wakes up from his nap, decides to go out for a snack, and forgets to let me know.

 

I think Dinkachu is right - there should a lock on the outside (maybe with the keycard) or some way to be on the balcony and still have the AC running.

I would also like to know whether this is true on Freedom. My husband likes to sit on the balcony with a drink while I'm getting dressed for dinner. I REALLY don't want to deal with no AC while using a hairdryer, electric curlers,etc.!

I know this will sound super stupid, but I'm going to have my first balcony in October on the Oasis, so bear with me. What happens if both people are out there, so clearly it's not locked from inside. No AC?

I know this will sound super stupid, but I'm going to have my first balcony in October on the Oasis, so bear with me. What happens if both people are out there, so clearly it's not locked from inside. No AC?

Yup, you got it . . . . no AC when the balcony door is not locked. But, just keep the door shut to help keep the cool air inside. And, also, remember DO NOT turn the "master" switch off when leaving your cabin or you will lose your AC.