Symphony Virtual balcony issue

[melispsych]

We are currently on the Symphony and booked a virtual balcony specifically because we wanted to be able to hear the ocean and liked the idea of trying something new. When we boarded yesterday we were told there is NO volume with the virtual balcony. We were told when we booked there is a live feed with sound. We went to guest services and they said they are looking into it but we were told by the floor supervisor there has not been volume for a long time. Has anyone been on the ship lately with this kind of room? Does anyone have any suggestion? We are planning to go back to guest services today... we paid money for this room for basically nothing. So disappointed! 

[3monkeys4me]

The virtual balcony in my kids' room on Ovation did not have sound, though I didn't expect it to as I had not read or heard anything about possible sound. 

[renza]

I never heard of sound on any of the ships. We had friends in one on our cruise in June. I just text her and she said there was no sound. 

Edited January 12, 2020 by renza

[time4u2go]

You should show this to guest services.  It indicates that there is audio (or at least should be):

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/blog/an-inside-room-with-a-view/

 

[melispsych]

48 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

You should show this to guest services.  It indicates that there is audio (or at least should be):

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/blog/an-inside-room-with-a-view/

 

I already have this set to show them but thank you! I also have another description from their website 

A Virtual Balcony is an 80-inch high-definition screen inside interior staterooms on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Virtual balconies allow guests to enjoy real-time views and sounds of the ocean and destinations in interior cruise rooms.

 

I guess we will see what they say! 
 

 

[renza]

3 hours ago, time4u2go said:

You should show this to guest services.  It indicates that there is audio (or at least should be):

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/blog/an-inside-room-with-a-view/

 

This states for Quantum not Oasis class

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, renza said:

This states for Quantum not Oasis class

They don't really differentiate ships with sound versus those without sound.  In any event, it's not just for Quantum:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=2329

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by time4u2go

[Ocean Boy]

When these cabins were first introduced I said just wait until people pay extra for them and then the technology goes down.

 

Now we will see how RCI handles this.

[sea shepherd]

I had one of these rooms on Anthem. And it did have sound.it was on low and on the first night I could not figure out what I was hearing. I thought it was the neighbors tv. 

[coffeebean]

5 hours ago, sea shepherd said:

I had one of these rooms on Anthem. And it did have sound.it was on low and on the first night I could not figure out what I was hearing. I thought it was the neighbors tv. 

Can you turn the sound off? In a balcony cabin, with the door closed, you can not hear the ocean sounds. We always sleep with the door closed so the cabin is very quiet.

[LuCruise]

50 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

Can you turn the sound off? In a balcony cabin, with the door closed, you can not hear the ocean sounds. We always sleep with the door closed so the cabin is very quiet.

Was just wondering the same thing. Sound as OP is expecting is nice during the day, but not when trying to go to bed (where you would close your balcony door so true balcony rooms wouldn't hear anything)

[sea shepherd]

1 hour ago, coffeebean said:

Can you turn the sound off? In a balcony cabin, with the door closed, you can not hear the ocean sounds. We always sleep with the door closed so the cabin is very quiet.

Yes there is a volume button on the remote. The virtual screen has its own remote. You can turn the whole thing off. Picture and sound. 

[Bestbubba]

We had audio on our Navigator cruise. On embarcation day we watched the ship being loaded with produce etc and heard the beeping as the drivers were reversing. We really enjoyed our virtual balcony, it was fun. As someone else mentioned, you could switch off the audio as desired. 

[melispsych]

We were told that the a Symphony has never had sound with their virtual balcony and that it’s been updated on the website 🤬The manager at the front desk printed out the floor plan for our floor/room and the description only says view, so he wasn’t willing to do anything. He apologized that we were given the wrong information when we book ( we booked with the casino). We will write a letter to Royal since the full Royal website has not been update and nowhere does it state that it excludes the Symphony when you read the general description of a virtual balcony. They said they are disabling the volume across all of them on the various ships due to passenger complaints. There is a volume button and a mute button! It can even be shut off! Anyways, thanks for the feedback! 

[kruzerci]

13 minutes ago, melispsych said:

We were told that the a Symphony has never had sound with their virtual balcony and that it’s been updated on the website 🤬The manager at the front desk printed out the floor plan for our floor/room and the description only says view, so he wasn’t willing to do anything. He apologized that we were given the wrong information when we book ( we booked with the casino). We will write a letter to Royal since the full Royal website has not been update and nowhere does it state that it excludes the Symphony when you read the general description of a virtual balcony. They said they are disabling the volume across all of them on the various ships due to passenger complaints. There is a volume button and a mute button! It can even be shut off! Anyways, thanks for the feedback! 

That is BS. Thanks for the update 

[melispsych]

1 hour ago, kruzerci said:

That is BS. Thanks for the update 

Agreed! We politely disagreed with him and got no where. We are enjoying the cruise anyway! It’s a beautiful ship! 

[jbethel11]

2 hours ago, melispsych said:

Agreed! We politely disagreed with him and got no where. We are enjoying the cruise anyway! It’s a beautiful ship! 

Reaching out to corporate is a must. Though, if I may ask, what were you hoping to receive for the inconvenience?

[coffeebean]

On 1/13/2020 at 1:18 AM, sea shepherd said:

Yes there is a volume button on the remote. The virtual screen has its own remote. You can turn the whole thing off. Picture and sound. 

Good to know. Thanks for the information.

[zeppgirl]

I never knew they were supposed to have sound.  I don't think it's a huge deal, honestly.  If you have a phone, put some ocean sounds on there as a solution?