Opening balcony dividers

[Two Wheels Only]

6 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

My sister just came back from a European cruise with some friends on MSC and the steward opened the balcony divider for them.  I seriously doubt those balcony dividers would provide much fire suppression since most are open at the top and bottom.

 

They are shaped the way that they are to deflect wind. It's to slow down the spread of the fire. 

 

They have the ability to open to allow the fire fighters to quickly move from one balcony to the next.

 

33 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

They are connecting, I was told by the PCC that the balconies should also be able to be opened, which to me would make sense.  I know there are going to be responses from the experts here that won't be the case.  When we sail I will ask, if it happens it happens :)

 

 

The arrows on the deck plan indicate that the staterooms are connecting.  

 

As for "experts", take the word of a former cruise ship chief engineer (chengkp75).....

 

"It is a safety requirement for all ships on all lines, but there is a mandated maximum number of partitions that can be opened at one time, and a maximum number of partitions in a row that can be opened. NCL used to leave it up to the Captain's decision as to which, how many, and whether, partitions could be opened. This led to complaints when some were allowed, and others not, so the company took it away from the Captain and made a blanket no. This has to do with each Company's ISM (International Safety Management) Code, how it is written, and what the classification society (the insurance underwriters) want to see in the Code. Some class societies, and some P&I insurance clubs are stricter about this than others, which is why it is allowed more on some lines than others.

 

It is a safety hazard, in that the balcony divider acts as a fire break between cabins, and when you open them, you lose that protection from fire spread. The only reason the dividers were made to open at all was not for passenger convenience, but to allow fire teams to access one balcony from another. When dividers didn't open, this was found to be a contributory factor in the Star Princess fire, leading to the severity of the fire." - chengkp75

 

 

As I posted earlier, you might get lucky and your steward might open them for you. It shouldn't be expected no matter what the PCC told you. 

Edited November 22, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[Trevor Fountain]

10 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

They are shaped the way that they are to deflect wind. It's to slow down the spread of the fire. 

 

They have the ability to open to allow the fire fighters to quickly move from one balcony to the next.

 

 

The arrows on the deck plan indicate that the staterooms are connecting.  

 

As for "experts", take the word of a former cruise ship chief engineer (chengkp75).....

 

"It is a safety requirement for all ships on all lines, but there is a mandated maximum number of partitions that can be opened at one time, and a maximum number of partitions in a row that can be opened. NCL used to leave it up to the Captain's decision as to which, how many, and whether, partitions could be opened. This led to complaints when some were allowed, and others not, so the company took it away from the Captain and made a blanket no. This has to do with each Company's ISM (International Safety Management) Code, how it is written, and what the classification society (the insurance underwriters) want to see in the Code. Some class societies, and some P&I insurance clubs are stricter about this than others, which is why it is allowed more on some lines than others.

 

It is a safety hazard, in that the balcony divider acts as a fire break between cabins, and when you open them, you lose that protection from fire spread. The only reason the dividers were made to open at all was not for passenger convenience, but to allow fire teams to access one balcony from another. When dividers didn't open, this was found to be a contributory factor in the Star Princess fire, leading to the severity of the fire." - chengkp75

 

 

As I posted earlier, you might get lucky and your steward might open them for you. It shouldn't be expected no matter what the PCC told you. 

Might get unlucky and contribute to spread of a fire. Don't put peoples lives at risk. keep them shut.

[Two Wheels Only]

9 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Might get unlucky and contribute to spread of a fire. Don't put peoples lives at risk. keep them shut.

 

I agree but whenever I post that it isn't allowed, some people have no idea why (some people know but just don't care). 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Dar & Bob said:

They are connecting, I was told by the PCC that the balconies should also be able to be opened, which to me would make sense.  I know there are going to be responses from the experts here that won't be the case.  When we sail I will ask, if it happens it happens 🙂

 

Time to get a new PCC. 
 

Per prior posts, it is against safety policy to open the partitions. 

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, Dar & Bob said:

They are connecting, I was told by the PCC that the balconies should also be able to be opened, which to me would make sense.  I know there are going to be responses from the experts here that won't be the case.  When we sail I will ask, if it happens it happens 🙂

 

Why would that make sense? That’s not how connecting cabins work, they connect inside (like connecting hotel rooms). You can have a connecting cabin with strangers, they will just keep the doors locked. PCC’s are notorious for giving wrong information.

[Dar & Bob]

8 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Why would that make sense? That’s not how connecting cabins work, they connect inside (like connecting hotel rooms). You can have a connecting cabin with strangers, they will just keep the doors locked. PCC’s are notorious for giving wrong information.

If you wanted a connecting cabin with someone you were traveling with, it wouldn't make sense to you to also be able to connect through the balcony?  

Yeah I knew there would be the naysayers.  I will ask if they open it fine, if not fine.  Geesh!

[mjkacmom]

4 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

If you wanted a connecting cabin with someone you were traveling with, it wouldn't make sense to you to also be able to connect through the balcony?  

Yeah I knew there would be the naysayers.  I will ask if they open it fine, if not fine.  Geesh!

You were the one who gave false information about the symbols indicating the balcony being open, when in fact those symbols mean the cabins open to each other internally. Several years ago, NCL instituted a new policy that they would no longer open up the dividers. Before this policy, all you needed were cabins next to each other to have connecting cabins, because you could just leave the dividers open. Yes, you can ask, but you have no better chance in having them violate the policy for you than anyone else in a balcony.

[Love my butler]

1 hour ago, Dar & Bob said:

They are connecting, I was told by the PCC that the balconies should also be able to be opened, which to me would make sense.  

 

Big surprise that your PCC gave you incorrect information.  That's pretty normal.  His/her language is intentionally vague and misleading.  'Should be able to be opened'.  Examine that statement for a minute.  They should and can be opened, but according to current NCL policy they WON'T be opened.  The PCC should know that and probably does, but gave you the easy answer you wanted to hear.

[Dar & Bob]

3 minutes ago, Love my butler said:

Big surprise that your PCC gave you incorrect information.  That's pretty normal.  His/her language is intentionally vague and misleading.  'Should be able to be opened'.  Examine that statement for a minute.  They should and can be opened, but according to current NCL policy they WON'T be opened.  The PCC should know that and probably does, but gave you the easy answer you wanted to hear.

Yep, and as I said - I can and will ask.  If I ask they can say no, if I don't ask I definitely won't know.  To the OP just ask - you have nothing to lose.   

 

I now know why people have thousands of posts LOL 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

33 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

If you wanted a connecting cabin with someone you were traveling with, it wouldn't make sense to you to also be able to connect through the balcony?  

Yeah I knew there would be the naysayers.  I will ask if they open it fine, if not fine.  Geesh!

 

The "symbol" means nothing as far as the balcony. There are balcony dividers that open even without that symbol. There are connected staterooms without the ability to connect the balconies. The ability to open has a purpose and it isn't for guest enjoyment.

 

Knowing that it isn't allowed and knowing why it isn't allowed and knowing what purpose those dividers serve is usually enough but some people continue to ask. There's nothing stopping you from asking.

 

You may believe that connecting staterooms should have connecting balconies but many non-connecting staterooms have the same balcony partitions. Those shouldn't be open, either. The partitions are for maintenance and emergency.

 

Yes, other lines may do things differently.

Yes, NCL used to do things differently.

 

People posting are giving the correct/current information. The PCC is trying to secure a sale. Whom should you trust more?

Edited November 22, 2019 by Two Wheels Only

[odens_14]

I'm not sure if they're all this way but on a prior cruise the opening "lock" was simply a square hole and not keyed in any way.  My car key fit in diagonally and I was able to open it myself.   so what we did is when we wanted to sit on our balconies together we opened it up, but always closed it when we were done.   That allowed us to socialize together with our family neighbors when we wanted, but also kept the fire protection and privacy when we didn't.

[ray98]

Connecting cabins have nothing to do with balcony dividers.  How do you think they have connecting insides?  They all use the same connecting doors just like a hotel.

Edited November 22, 2019 by ray98

[nextcruiseonmymind]

On our Alaskan Cruise last summer on HA The room steward open them for us. Worse mistake we ever made. We couldn't stop them from clanging around on whatever we propped them open with.

 

I'll never ask again!

[Love my butler]

10 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

Yep, and as I said - I can and will ask.  If I ask they can say no, if I don't ask I definitely won't know.  To the OP just ask - you have nothing to lose.   

 

I now know why people have thousands of posts LOL 

 

You just now figured that out?  Wow.

[kenzie]

We have had the balcony dividers opened on Princess and RCC, most recently January on Harmony OTS & Princess Royal, NCL we have sailed 6 times and they are the most un-accommodating. 

 

[Trevor Fountain]

56 minutes ago, kenzie said:

We have had the balcony dividers opened on Princess and RCC, most recently January on Harmony OTS & Princess Royal, NCL we have sailed 6 times and they are the most un-accommodating. 

 

You mean they are the most safety conscious and health and safety compliant?

[kenzie]

On 11/23/2019 at 12:13 PM, Trevor Fountain said:

You mean they are the most safety conscious and health and safety compliant?

no I do not agree with you at all 

 

[Two_UW_Badgers]

I once traveled with a group on the Escape in three balcony cabins in a row. Two were connected with an interior door and the balcony divider between them opened. We were in the third cabin which also had an angled balcony and it was a solid panel between ours and the two that connected. There would have been no way to open it. The balcony divider between the other two was opened on first request.