Island Princess 11/16/2016 Balcony use restriction

[Rivercity]

Sailing Nov 16,2016 Partial Panama Transit LA Booked PR718, was just notified of restricted use of our Balcony during this transit.

Quote; "As the safety of our guests and crew is our highest priority, access to your stateroom balcony will be restricted during the Panama Canal transit. Please note this will only apply when the ship is in the locks; you will be able to use your balcony at all other times during your voyage."

 

Anyone know more about this? Is it all the PR series cabins Port & Starboard? Information from Princess concerning refit, cabins on Deck 7 is difficult.

Thank you

[IfishSitka]

I think it is due to the ability to touch the walls when you are in the locks. We have a few pictures doing that a few years ago.

[Pam in CA]

I've done quite a few Canal transits and never saw or heard of this. I wonder if it has to do with increased security.

[fishywood]

I've done quite a few Canal transits and never saw or heard of this. I wonder if it has to do with increased security.

 

I believe it has everything to do with the new balcony cabins that replaced the Universe Lounge on Island being the equivalent of three or more decks lower than the next-lowest balcony cabins on Dolphin deck. For much of time inside each lock the balcony will open directly onto the face of the lock walls. We've been in the MDR on Coral while in the locks and saw how you could easily touch the wall through an open window. Pretty big risk of injury while the ship is being raised or lowered.

 

Makes one wonder if the original plans for Island after her refit did not include regular canal transits--and we may have discovered one of the possible reasons the same refit for Coral has been scuttled.

[cb at sea]

You really don't want to stay on your balcony for the transit, anyway....you will miss 3/4 of the sights! During the transit, you should roam the ship...different levels and sides...to get a full view of everything!

[suebob114]

We have friends sailing in January in a Promenade cabin. They have been offered a day at the Sanctuary at no charge. You may want to ask about that option.

[IECalCruiser]

I believe the restriction is for personal safety. This is a photo from our Emerald deck balcony during part of the lock transit. The new Promenade deck balconies would be one deck below us. You would be able to reach out and touch the wall of the lock because you are less than 18 inches away.

 

 

This is a photo looking out of our Plaza deck window on another Panama Canal cruise.

 

Edited November 16, 2015 by IECalCruiser

[partybarbie]

We have friends sailing in January in a Promenade cabin. They have been offered a day at the Sanctuary at no charge. You may want to ask about that option.

 

We have one of these cabins booked for November of 2016. I would love to have a free day in the Sanctuary. :D

 

It's really a shame that people can't be trusted to just keep their hands and arms inside the confines of their balcony. We only have a partial transit though (just going through the Gatun locks) so I don't see it affecting us too much.

[fishywood]

We only have a partial transit though (just going through the Gatun locks) so I don't see it affecting us too much.

 

A partial transit spends the same amount of time in the locks as a full transit. Just twice through the three chambers of the Gatun locks rather than once through the six total chambers of Gatun, Miraflores, and Pedro Miguel locks. So you have to assume the same restrictions will apply. Though a free full day at the Sanctuary sounds like a fair trade-off.

[Essiesmom]

I'm wondering how they are going to prevent you from using the balcony....

I also see a danger of some foolhardy person trying to jump from the balcony to the ground - or a terrorist doing the opposite. Just things to think about. EM

[partybarbie]

I just checked my voicemail and there was a message from Princess Customer Services. The reason we can't use the balcony is because there are going to be cables attached to the ship on the Promenade deck. The cables are used to guide the ships through the locks. It is a safety issue because I guess the cable could come loose and hit someone.

 

Anyway, we are being given our choice of the Sanctuary for the day or a $120.00 shipboard credit. On our cruise, we are spending the night in Gatun Lake (so that would be two days that we couldn't use the balcony) but it's not the entire day, only while in the locks.

 

I think it's a pretty nice offer. We are going to think about what we would like best and give Princess a call back tomorrow.

[CruisingJs]

We have one of these cabins booked for November of 2016. I would love to have a free day in the Sanctuary. :D

 

It's really a shame that people can't be trusted to just keep their hands and arms inside the confines of their balcony. We only have a partial transit though (just going through the Gatun locks) so I don't see it affecting us too much.

 

I'm pretty sure our cruise is going through the the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. The Gatun locks are on the other side of Gatun Lake and are accessed when doing the partial Panama Canal from Fort Lauderdale.

[piper28]

If the cables are going to be near the balcony, then to me that makes a lot of sense why they would prohibit use of the balcony during that time. While not common, those cables *can* snap, and when they do, you don't want to be around them.

 

We had a stop one day in St Maarten that had a fair swell going on (we almost didn't manage to dock - even with lines out and being only a couple feet from the pier). I was watching people get off the ship that day, and a number of people were walking pretty close to the lines to shore. One of the officers came off the ship and saw that and immediately started issuing orders to crew members to start bringing out fencing to keep people away from those lines. Later that day while walking along the pier saw about 4 of those cables from various ships snapped, and those were probably 4" cables or so, so snapping one of those is pretty impressive. Captain wasn't real thrilled, apparently every one of those snapped cables requires an incident report to be filed.

[partybarbie]

I'm pretty sure our cruise is going through the the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. The Gatun locks are on the other side of Gatun Lake and are accessed when doing the partial Panama Canal from Fort Lauderdale.

 

Lol, I was wearing my Barbie hat. ;)

[cruisehappy001]

Lol, I was wearing my Barbie hat. ;)

 

OR... were you PARTYing too much! LOL! ;)

 

One year away for this exciting cruise! :D

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Mark

Edited November 17, 2015 by cruisehappy001

[Corfe Mixture]

I guess it must be cables. In the past, they have not restricted access to the Promenade area during the transit, except where folks are working and this working area has been forward and aft, but not midships.

 

As the new balconies are aft, the restriction is probably needed for safety as, if a cable ever snapped under tension, it could cut a person in half in the blink of an eye. Free access to the Sanctuary for folks in those cabins sounds to be a good deal/compromise.

 

FWIW, I don't agree with the view that you would not want to use a balcony during the transit. Apart from when you are in the locks, when you want to be forward or aft for at least one set of locks, the views tend to be on the side for most of the transit and you won't want to spend the whole eight hour transit walking around the ship. It is particularly nice to be able to sit on you balcony, taking tea and enjoying the views as you go through the canalised section. In short, it is, IMHO, a day when the benefits of having are balcony is at their best.

[partybarbie]

OR... were you PARTYing too much! LOL! ;)

 

One year away for this exciting cruise! :D

 

Happy Cruising!

 

Mark

 

Probably a little of both. ;)

[Rivercity]

If the Sanctuary Offer is to All in the PR cabins, and most accept, it could get crowded. Any thoughts on this? Thank you all for your in-put, it is appreciated..

[IECalCruiser]

...FWIW, I don't agree with the view that you would not want to use a balcony during the transit. Apart from when you are in the locks, when you want to be forward or aft for at least one set of locks, the views tend to be on the side for most of the transit and you won't want to spend the whole eight hour transit walking around the ship. It is particularly nice to be able to sit on you balcony, taking tea and enjoying the views as you go through the canalised section. In short, it is, IMHO, a day when the benefits of having are balcony is at their best....

I agree. Other than when transiting the locks, most of the interesting views are on the east side. I would recommend a port side balcony on a westbound transit and a starboard side balcony on an eastbound transit,

[kdvillines]

This is the message that I received from Princess regarding our upcoming cruise on the Island Princess in late April 2016...

 

Please be advised that due to operational and safety reasons, guests in BE-category cabins located on the Promenade deck will be unable to access their balcony while the ship is in the locks on Canal transit day.

 

When traveling through the canal, heavy cables are attached to the ship to help guide the vessel through the locks to maintain its correct position. As these cables are strung near the Promenade deck, as a safety measure access to these balconies will be restricted during the Panama Canal transit.

 

Please note this only applies to Promenade deck balconies, and will only apply when the ship is in the locks; guests will be able to use these balconies at all other times.

 

If you are in a balcony cabin on any other deck, please disregard this message.

[Colo Cruiser]

This is the message that I received from Princess regarding our upcoming cruise on the Island Princess in late April 2016...

 

Please be advised that due to operational and safety reasons, guests in BE-category cabins located on the Promenade deck will be unable to access their balcony while the ship is in the locks on Canal transit day.

 

When traveling through the canal, heavy cables are attached to the ship to help guide the vessel through the locks to maintain its correct position. As these cables are strung near the Promenade deck, as a safety measure access to these balconies will be restricted during the Panama Canal transit.

 

Please note this only applies to Promenade deck balconies, and will only apply when the ship is in the locks; guests will be able to use these balconies at all other times.

 

If you are in a balcony cabin on any other deck, please disregard this message.

 

 

We changed cabins on our upcoming cruise because of this.

[bigchid]

We've done PC twice, once on Coral and on Island (before mod) and the aft prom deck was blocked off durring transit both times. My guess is for line handling safety.

[pablo222]

For much of time inside each lock the balcony will open directly onto the face of the lock walls. We've been in the MDR on Coral while in the locks and saw how you could easily touch the wall through an open window. Pretty big risk of injury while the ship is being raised or lowered.

 

You can easily touch the lock chamber walls from the promenade deck.

Will they be closing that off, too?

[Colo Cruiser]

We've done PC twice, once on Coral and on Island (before mod) and the aft prom deck was blocked off durring transit both times. My guess is for line handling safety.

 

 

Each corner of the Promenade deck was roped off forward and aft.

 

The steel cables to the locomotives ran along the deck in those area's.

 

We touched the walls of the canal from our Emerald balcony which was second from the back.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[Soon2Be2]

I’m leaving on Jan. 9,2018 for a 15 day cruise thru Panama Canal. Booked thru an online travel agent two months ago & discussed at length the best balcony on the port side. All done & paid for; all checked in online, excursions & restaurants booked well in advance. A week before departing I signed in & decided to go deeper into the site & I found under “Notifications” the Promenade Deck Balcony Advisory! What? None of the 18 balcony’s that are on the 7th deck will be able to use their balcony during the complete Panama Canal crossing! I had planned to not do an excursion on this one day & to just relax & sit on our balcony. Why was this restriction not red highlighted? I received no communication of any kind !

Completely unacceptable! Never again for Princess Cruises!