Royal Princess, Suites at front of ship: light polution rules?

[brianlojeck]

I'm thinking about booking one of the front-most suites (B101, B102 would be examples, although there are 4 decks with these rooms) for the 4-day Ensenada run in 2019.

 

 

I know some princess ships with front-facing rooms have rules that require black-out curtains at night to avoid interfering with the bridge operations.

 

 

I'll be pretty grumpy if I can't use my balcony at night.

 

 

Does the Royal have such a rule, or will I be safe?

 

 

Spoke to a princess rep, who said I should be good, but he didn't exactly sound certain...

 

 

 

Thanks!

[Outerdog]

You can use the balcony, but must remain mindful of light pollution, as you mentioned. Keep the lights in the cabin very dim, and use a little handheld flashlight if needed and you should be fine. I doubt the interior cabin lights would even be a problem for those balconies above the bridge. I can see how the exterior balcony lights could be a problem, though. Keep those off.

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1977490

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes just keep the lighting dim when opening and closing the door/curtains.

[Outerdog]

Also, be mindful of someone opening the main cabin door while the balcony door is open. It turns the cabin into a wind tunnel. This will happen while underway and can happen while docked if the wind is right. This can also cause the cabin door to slam violently and can result in injury. Be careful!

[brianlojeck]

Thanks!

 

 

That room (L101) specifically warns of limited access at sea, while the rooms I'm looking at (below the bridge, decks 8-12 roughly) don't... so I'll assume I'm GTG.

 

 

Appreciate the rapid reply!

[Outerdog]

The rooms below the bridge do not have balconies.

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Royal_Princess_%289038666095%29.jpg

[Hlitner]

We just spent 2 weeks in cabin R102 on the Regal. That is the closest cabin to the Bridgewing. There was not any info in our cabin asking us to observe special procedures at night.

 

Hank

[rkacruiser]

You are wise to think about this possible need to keep curtains closed.

 

A number of years ago on the S. S. Statendam (circa 1957), I had a forward facing stateroom under the Bridge. Returning to the cabin to dress for dinner after sunset, I found the curtains over the window closed. I pulled them open. Within a very few minutes, there was a frantic stateroom steward at my door. "The Bridge called! The Bridge called! Close the curtains!" He rushed into my cabin and pulled the curtains shut. This was a learning moment for me to be sure. And, I made sure that I did not open those curtains during the night again.

[Colo Cruiser]

The rooms below the bridge do not have balconies.

 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Royal_Princess_%289038666095%29.jpg

 

 

Light pollution is light pollution. ;)

I would imagine if the cabin is affected by these restrictions (balcony or otherwise) it will be noted somewhere as is the above photo of a balcony door. As well as an attentive Stewart.

[Outerdog]

Light pollution is light pollution. ;)

I would imagine if the cabin is affected by these restrictions it will be noted somewhere as is the above photo of a balcony door. As well as an attentive Stewart.

 

I moved past light pollution. I was pointing out that those cabins do not have balconies because OP mentioned being able to use the balcony and also mentioned "limited access". I thought they might not be aware they were looking at staterooms below the bridge which do not have balconies.

[Colo Cruiser]

I moved past light pollution. I was pointing out that those cabins do not have balconies because OP mentioned being able to use the balcony and also mentioned "limited access". I thought they might not be aware they were looking at staterooms below the bridge which do not have balconies.

 

 

Personally it would not be an issue for me either way.

[Bill B]

The suites the OP is referring to have a forward-facing window and balconies to the sides. Pax may be required to keep the window curtains drawn at night, but light pollution from the balcony should not be an issue. The "limited access" may be due to wind.

[brianlojeck]

I moved past light pollution. I was pointing out that those cabins do not have balconies because OP mentioned being able to use the balcony and also mentioned "limited access". I thought they might not be aware they were looking at staterooms below the bridge which do not have balconies.

 

I'm looking at suites on the corner of the ship that do, indeed, have balconies.

[Saint Panda]

Hi, we were in A101 on the Majestic Princess recently which has a similar design I think. The balconies in these cabins are on the side of the ship (long but narrow) and there is no issue with accessing them during the night. There is a large forward facing window that looks straight out but there was no sign advising that we had to have these drawn at any stage. The cabin was directly under the bridge and we were worried about noise but it was very quiet.

[Colo Cruiser]

Hi, we were in A101 on the Majestic Princess recently which has a similar design I think. The balconies in these cabins are on the side of the ship (long but narrow) and there is no issue with accessing them during the night. There is a large forward facing window that looks straight out but there was no sign advising that we had to have these drawn at any stage. The cabin was directly under the bridge and we were worried about noise but it was very quiet.

 

 

Good to know.....thanks.

[Bill B]

The cabin was directly under the bridge and we were worried about noise but it was very quiet.

 

They don't have many wild parties on the bridge. ;)

[RedEarth]

I've often wondered how light from the forward facing cabins actually affects the bridge. I was in L107 on the Royal last year, and I don't think that there was anywhere that a light on the balcony or in the room would actually shine directly into the bridge, although we did have the warning sign about keeping it dark outside. The only thing I can think of is that it might shine down and illuminate the area down on the bow around the crew pool, which would be in view of the bridge and possibly cause a distraction at nighttime to the bridge officers? Most nights it was far too windy to go out on the balcony anyway, so it wasn't a problem for us.

 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[caribill]

I've often wondered how light from the forward facing cabins actually affects the bridge. I was in L107 on the Royal last year, and I don't think that there was anywhere that a light on the balcony or in the room would actually shine directly into the bridge, although we did have the warning sign about keeping it dark outside. The only thing I can think of is that it might shine down and illuminate the area down on the bow around the crew pool, which would be in view of the bridge and possibly cause a distraction at nighttime to the bridge officers?

 

The lookouts on the Bridge are basically staring into almost total darkness. Even a small amount of light from a forward facing cabin greatly reduces their ability to see what is out in the ocean.

[chengkp75]

I've often wondered how light from the forward facing cabins actually affects the bridge. I was in L107 on the Royal last year, and I don't think that there was anywhere that a light on the balcony or in the room would actually shine directly into the bridge, although we did have the warning sign about keeping it dark outside. The only thing I can think of is that it might shine down and illuminate the area down on the bow around the crew pool, which would be in view of the bridge and possibly cause a distraction at nighttime to the bridge officers? Most nights it was far too windy to go out on the balcony anyway, so it wasn't a problem for us.

 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

The lookouts on the Bridge are basically staring into almost total darkness. Even a small amount of light from a forward facing cabin greatly reduces their ability to see what is out in the ocean.

 

This is correct, that is why other ships are completely blacked out at night. Every light on the bridge at night is a red light, not a white light, as these affect night vision less than white light. It's not a distraction, it is the reduction of night vision that "light wash" on the forward part of the ship causes.

[geoherb]

We were in A102 on the Royal last December. We asked our cabin steward to leave the front window shade up. He did. No one from the bridge ever called to let us know the lights interfered.

[RedEarth]

Thanks for the info. This is completely understandable, when I'm driving my car at night I have the illumination on the instrument panel dimmed to the lowest possible level for the same reasons.

This is correct, that is why other ships are completely blacked out at night. Every light on the bridge at night is a red light, not a white light, as these affect night vision less than white light. It's not a distraction, it is the reduction of night vision that "light wash" on the forward part of the ship causes.

 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk