Terrible Decision to Reduce Balcony Size on New Ships

[floridalover5623]

In the spirit of keeping this thread alive we have a different rant (although we do agree that the tiny balconies are a silly design). We have cruised on far more then 60 different vessels (of many cruise lines) and we often enjoy sitting at lovely bar that gives us a view of where the ship is going! We are not aware of any other cruise line that fails to have a bar with a forward view! HAL has their "Crows Nest," RCI has their "Viking Crown Lounges" and Princess has their NOTHING!

 

Hank

 

Sure they do but you have to pay for the privilege of the Sanctuary in order to get it. ;)

[need2cruisesoon]

I got an idea, do away with the partitions and there you have your wrap around

promenade deck:

 

Majestic @ Fincantieri, FB photo

[Lvteks]

I agree! I don't spend a lot of time on a balcony but, when I do use one, I want to be able to stretch out on a comfortable lounge chair. I don't want to have to fight those around the pool and noisy MUTS area for one. I go on cruises to relax, not be inconvenienced.

 

I have some mobility issues and have been delighted to rest on my balcony lounge. Now my DH has to elevate his leg. I'm thinking of forgoing my priority destination for needed comforts. It's been a while since I researched an alternative. Any suggestions esp early Jan?

 

Many Thanks and Blessings,

 

Lvteks

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I have some mobility issues and have been delighted to rest on my balcony lounge. Now my DH has to elevate his leg. I'm thinking of forgoing my priority destination for needed comforts. It's been a while since I researched an alternative. Any suggestions esp early Jan?

 

Many Thanks and Blessings,

 

Lvteks

 

Princess has eliminated full-length lounge chairs from even the large Caribe deck balcony cabins of the Grand-class ships over the years, despite their having room for them. They've been replaced with uncomfortable upright chairs whose backs recline a bit and footstools. I'm not sure if the Coral or the Island have full-length lounges with balcony cabins or if you'd need to book a suite to get them on Princess at this point. Perhaps another poster will have a better answer about loungers on Princess.

 

On HAL, last I knew, if you book a Lanai cabin on one of their older ships like the Veendam, you get two reserved full-length classic teak loungers per cabin. The drawback is that they are not on a private balcony, there is a sliding door from the cabin that opens directly onto the lower promenade deck where your chairs are reserved.

Edited September 19, 2016 by SoCal Cruiser78

[runnerodb83]

On HAL, last I knew, if you book a Lanai cabin on one of their older ships like the Veendam, you get two reserved full-length classic teak loungers per cabin. The drawback is that they are not on a private balcony, there is a sliding door from the cabin that opens directly onto the lower promenade deck where your chairs are reserved.

 

Its the perfect compromise for folks who bemoan the lack of full promenade on Royal class ships and who want a larger balcony - and PCL makes money at the same time.

 

However, I don't think it worked well on HAL, so it probably won't happen again.

 

I think the Spirit (Carnival) and maybe Vista (HAL/Cunard) have obstructed balcony cabins which essentially have a french balcony - maybe PCL should consider these also.

[cruiselvr1]

Contrary to this post, the cruise lines do pay attention to their response cards and CC and listen to feedback and make changes. So, yes you can do something about things that strike you as misguided or don't work. Let Princess know.

As long as the balconies fill up, Princess doesn't care. My DW and I will sail the new ships for this reason. We spend most of our time on the balconies.