Opening the Balcony Partition in our Cabins- Does it Matter?

[Shaded Lady]

We have 2 balcony cabins booked on Lido on the Vista... my daughter and her family are next door, and we confirmed that the partition between the balconies does open for these 2 cabins... our idea was that it would make it easier for my 10 YO grandson to pop over to Grandpa & Grandma's room when he wants/needs to...

 

However I'm having a hard time picturing what the space will look like once the partition is opened... does anyone by chance have a picture of a shared balcony once the partition is opened?

[ray98]

The open divider will seriously impact the views from inside one of the cabins.  I would rather have a small bit of privacy and just use the door.

[sealpup]

here is a photo with the balcony divider back.  this was on the Dream in May of 2018.  it is a nice way to go between rooms without a key but you have to keep the balcony door unlocked

[dmet0225]

This is 4 connecting staterooms with the dividers open.  

[nybumpkin]

We've often had open balcony partitions  between our cabin and our sons' cabin. To my mind the larger balcony is well worth any cabin window being blocked (which happened only one time for us). And we didn't have to get an extra key to sons' cabin or vice-versa to be able to access the other cabin.

[PekingeseLady]

We did it one time on our Hawaii cruise, had the divider opened.  You need to call guest services right away, as they will only open so many on a cruise, I've been told.  My best friend was cruising solo with me and DH.  Well we thought it would make her feel better.  But we were on the side that the view was impacted by the door.  I was very unhappy about that and we had the doors closed.  Felt bad about the extra work for the crew though.

Edited March 23, 2019 by PekingeseLady

[Shaded Lady]

OK thanks for the feedback and the photos... we'll probably go for it to make things more convenient for my grandson... he likes being able to just walk to our door and open the cabin... he'll likely be going to breakfast etc with us, while his folks have a well-earned rest!

 

Pekingese Lady- do you call Guest Services or do you have to go down there in person?

[sealpup]

We just asked our room steward when we first saw him.  Of course we did tip him extra

[Butterbean1000]

20 hours ago, ray98 said:

The open divider will seriously impact the views from inside one of the cabins.  I would rather have a small bit of privacy and just use the door.

The steward can completely remove the partition tibabp is this.  We had 3 stateroom in a row in a couple if cruises and the partition that would block the window was completely removed. Just ask.

[Shaded Lady]

2 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

The steward can completely remove the partition tibabp is this.  We had 3 stateroom in a row in a couple if cruises and the partition that would block the window was completely removed. Just ask.

Good to know, Butterbean! Thanks!

[RWolver672]

On 3/23/2019 at 5:41 PM, Shaded Lady said:

 

Pekingese Lady- do you call Guest Services or do you have to go down there in person?

 

 

On 3/24/2019 at 12:30 AM, sealpup said:

We just asked our room steward when we first saw him.  Of course we did tip him extra

 

For our last few cruises, you could no longer just ask your cabin steward.  Someone from both cabins has to go to Guest Services to request that it be opened.  They will then contact the steward and he/she will open it.

[Stacie.]

We called guest services and they had two guys from what appeared to be the maintenance department come and remove the partition completely. I don't think the cabin steward would be able to remove it all by himself. If you're just getting it unlocked so it can swing open then maybe he could (not sure if that is possible).

[Lottacruises]

Seems like less privacy for the cabins and not a lot more convenience for the grandsons just going to the hallway and knocking.

 

 

[hockeyluver]

This was on the Glory , 

Edited March 25, 2019 by hockeyluver

[Shaded Lady]

Thanks everyone for the updates... and for Lottacruises I understand your feedback, but we've discussed this as a family and feel like this is the best way for us to allow my grandson to move back and forth...

[Stacie.]

Here is our two cabins, 6247 and 6243 on the Glory. I circled the two brackets that stuck out a little and added an arrow to the post where the divider should be. With the divider gone we had no problems with an obstructed view or reduced balcony space. DH, DD13, and I were in one room and DD11, DD14, DS15, and his 14 YO friend were in the next room. It was really nice to be able to get into the rooms without having to use keys, plus it was great to have seating for four people. The other friends we traveled with had inside rooms so they joined us on the balcony each evening for a glass of wine while the kids were doing their own thing. DD14, DD11, and I are early rises so we were able to meet on the balcony and read/journal without having to change out of our PJs and could converse without waking the others up. 

[TG6]

3 hours ago, Stacie. said:

Here is our two cabins, 6247 and 6243 on the Glory. I circled the two brackets that stuck out a little and added an arrow to the post where the divider should be. With the divider gone we had no problems with an obstructed view or reduced balcony space. DH, DD13, and I were in one room and DD11, DD14, DS15, and his 14 YO friend were in the next room. It was really nice to be able to get into the rooms without having to use keys, plus it was great to have seating for four people. The other friends we traveled with had inside rooms so they joined us on the balcony each evening for a glass of wine while the kids were doing their own thing. DD14, DD11, and I are early rises so we were able to meet on the balcony and read/journal without having to change out of our PJs and could converse without waking the others up. 

They took the divider out???  I'm sailing on the Legend and if they did that it would be amazing.  How do you get them to remove it?

[Stacie.]

8 minutes ago, TG6 said:

They took the divider out???  I'm sailing on the Legend and if they did that it would be amazing.  How do you get them to remove it?

Yes, they took it completely out and brought it elsewhere. We just asked if they could open it and they said they could unlock it or remove it and we opted for them to remove it. We did it right away when our rooms were ready and they came and did it while we were still unpacking. I've read here that they only do that for a limited amount of balconies but there seemed to be a lot of balconies with the divider gone (from what I could see when we got off the ship). The people on one side of us had four balcony rooms with the dividers removed and the people on the other side of us had two rooms with no divider.