Breakaway balcony divider question

[Vacationlover2]

Can you remove the dividers on the balcony if you are side by side with a friend?

 

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[Demonyte]

Opening dividers is forbidden fleet wide for security reasons. Some stewards will allow or even help you opening them in hopes of tips.

[sctexan]

Opening dividers is forbidden fleet wide for security reasons. Some stewards will allow or even help you opening them in hopes of tips.

I'm confused. Are you saying that even the stewards are not supposed to open them but will in hopes of getting tips? I've never heard that having the dividers open is against the rules.

 

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[Demonyte]

I'm confused. Are you saying that even the stewards are not supposed to open them but will in hopes of getting tips? I've never heard that having the dividers open is against the rules.

 

 

Yes, before it was based on discretion of the captain so opening the dividers varied ship by ship but last year NCL HQ made the decision fleet wide.

[stickey_mouse]

This is a major bummer. Our fondest memory of our group cruise on Celebrity was the "mega balcony" we formed by opening the dividers between 10 consecutive rooms. It was awesome and very convenient.

[chengkp75]

The ability to open balcony dividers was mandated by SOLAS after the Star Princess fire, where the fire teams had difficulty getting from one balcony to the next, so opening dividers is for safety and maintenance. The dividers do, however, serve as a fire break, particularly a wind break when the ship is underway, to slow the spread of fire, so Captains were allowed to decide how many total, and how many in a given fire zone, would be allowed to be opened. Dividers between rooms in different fire zones were never to be opened, as this breached the fire boundary. There were many complaints about "uneven" application of this policy across the fleet, so NCL took it out of the Captain's hands and made a fleet wide decision.

 

As stated, stewards will sometimes open them in hopes of getting better tips, but if observed by ship's officers, they will likely be closed.