White space on deck diagram

[CruisinNana]

I have 3 cabins in a row on the JOY.  I was hoping to be able to open the balcony partitions so we had access to all three cabins without going into the hallway.  The cabins are 14736, 14738 and 14740.  On a deck plan website, I noticed a white space between cabins 14738 and 14740 on the deck plans.  It is a very narrow white space and wondered what it could be and if it precludes the ability to open the dividers between the two cabins.  Thanks in advance for your help.

[quillwercruisers]

I don't know what the white space would be, but from what I understand they don't allow the partitions between cabins to be opened. 

[casofilia]

Some form of locker/cupboard for Housekeeping or Maintenance

[cruiserbear55]

56 minutes ago, CruisinNana said:

I have 3 cabins in a row on the JOY.  I was hoping to be able to open the balcony partitions so we had access to all three cabins without going into the hallway.  The cabins are 14736, 14738 and 14740.  On a deck plan website, I noticed a white space between cabins 14738 and 14740 on the deck plans.  It is a very narrow white space and wondered what it could be and if it precludes the ability to open the dividers between the two cabins.  Thanks in advance for your help.

NCL ,or most probably any other line, will not open the partitions for you. Keeping them closed is part of the onboard fire suppression plan, in the eventuality anything should ever happen.

[CruisinNana]

My first time on NCL. I’ve been on Celebrity, Holland America, and Carnival.  Partitions opened on all three.  This is not a deal breaker….just a disappointment.  I do wonder why it is a safety issue on one ship and not all ships!  I do remember one time on Celebrity we had to close them on the Transatlantic part of the cruise, but after the 8 straight days at sea, we were allowed to open them the remainder of the trip.  I have been on several Transatlantic cruises and had opened partitions except for the one I described.  Thanks for all replies!

[chengkp75]

3 minutes ago, CruisinNana said:

My first time on NCL. I’ve been on Celebrity, Holland America, and Carnival.  Partitions opened on all three.  This is not a deal breaker….just a disappointment.  I do wonder why it is a safety issue on one ship and not all ships!  I do remember one time on Celebrity we had to close them on the Transatlantic part of the cruise, but after the 8 straight days at sea, we were allowed to open them the remainder of the trip.  I have been on several Transatlantic cruises and had opened partitions except for the one I described.  Thanks for all replies!

That white space is likely a cabin steward locker or pantry, though there may well be a fire zone division at that point as well.  Either having the crew space between cabins, or a fire zone boundary there will precluded opening the partition to the last of the three cabins.

 

The balcony dividers were made to open, not for passenger convenience, but because of difficulties that fire teams had when fighting the balcony fire on the Star Princess, so they are actually only designed to be opened for maintenance or emergencies.  Some lines have different risk analysis, or allow their Captains more leeway in risk acceptance in allowing the dividers to be opened, as they do provide a windbreak to slow down fire spread.  NCL used to leave it to the Captain's discretion as to how much risk he was personally willing to allow, up to a specified total number of dividers that could be opened, and a maximum number of consecutive dividers that could be opened.  A few years ago, after complaints from those who got their request for opening in "too late", or had a risk adverse Captain, the line made it a corporate decision to not allow any to be opened.

[AmazedByCruising]

22 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

as they do provide a windbreak to slow down fire spread.

 

OK, but then again many people like to connect their balconies.

 

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The balcony dividers were made to open, not for passenger convenience

 

Even if it had nothing to with fire, it is nice for passengers. In my four cruises, having the divider opened between my cabin and the cabin of my cruise mate was a big plus. Just the right amount of privacy, like your own bathroom and messed up bed that you'd want to tidy before visitors enter, combined with a private shared space. On the previous MS Rotterdam, that made our combined balconies at deck 6 exactly as big as the double sized balconies at deck 7. 

 

Is there not a feasible alternative to keeping the dividers closed? It should be minutes for cabin crew or pax themselves to close them when a fire is detected.

 

More advanced would be to drop huge fire resistant curtains for each deck along the length of the ship and smother any fire. 

 

 

[don't-use-real-name]

Norwegian Joy Deck Plans, Layouts, Pictures, Videos (cruisedeckplans.com)

 

Your deck 14 cabins are just aft of the Bridge and with the Viewing wings of the Bridge

sticking out as they do your forward vision is going to be obstructed.

That white space near your cabin could be as chengkp75 has noted could be a

panty - stewards service closet. Since it is only on deck 14 it would not be crew

stairs between decks. The space seems to be same on both port and starboard.

Would not be anything to do with air conditioning ventilation.

Maybe a localized electrical vault.

There are 3 sideways Inside Cabins in the vicinity.

No correlation with cabins on deck 13.

Deck 15 is the Observation Lounge.

#####There are restrooms directly above cabin 14740#####

 

At cabin 14746-14146 there is a cross over passageway - - -

From that point forward it appears that passageways and both P & S are dead ends - no outlet

 

That is all that I can observe from cruise-deck-plans.

[hallux]

1 hour ago, AmazedByCruising said:

It should be minutes for cabin crew or pax themselves to close them when a fire is detected.

Yeah, because the first thing to mind when a fire is detected is "let's go find the open balcony dividers and close them".  Not to mention that passengers won't always be in the vicinity of their cabins to react quickly to close the dividers.

 

2 hours ago, AmazedByCruising said:

OK, but then again many people like to connect their balconies.

Sure, might be nice (and it was done for family members on a Royal Caribbean ship).  However, as was noted before if there's a maximum number allowed can you imagine being one to ask AFTER the max is reached?  I bet you'd be upset that others got their request granted and now you can't.  So, to fix that it seems NCL implemented a maximum of 0 allowed open.

 

COULD they allow it?  Probably, but they've chosen not to.  It's their ship, they can write the rules.  If you don't like them, find a cruise line that suits your wants...

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, AmazedByCruising said:

It should be minutes for cabin crew or pax themselves to close them when a fire is detected.

Let's see.  First, you need to know which ones are open,  Then you need to find a crew member with the proper key card to get into the cabin (either the assigned cabin steward, or the proper supervisor, as master keys are strictly controlled), then notify them to go to the proper cabin and have the proper tool to close and latch the divider.  Or, page the passengers whose cabins are affected to get them out of the bar and to their cabin to close the divider.  All while taking that crew member away from their assigned fire duties, or while trying to evacuate pax and crew from the affected areas and muster pax and crew for accountability.  Like most of your thoughts, nice ideas, not real practical.

 

I won't even touch the fire curtain.

[CruisinNana]

10 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Norwegian Joy Deck Plans, Layouts, Pictures, Videos (cruisedeckplans.com)

 

Your deck 14 cabins are just aft of the Bridge and with the Viewing wings of the Bridge

sticking out as they do your forward vision is going to be obstructed.

That white space near your cabin could be as chengkp75 has noted could be a

panty - stewards service closet. Since it is only on deck 14 it would not be crew

stairs between decks. The space seems to be same on both port and starboard.

Would not be anything to do with air conditioning ventilation.

Maybe a localized electrical vault.

There are 3 sideways Inside Cabins in the vicinity.

No correlation with cabins on deck 13.

Deck 15 is the Observation Lounge.

#####There are restrooms directly above cabin 14740#####

 

At cabin 14746-14146 there is a cross over passageway - - -

From that point forward it appears that passageways and both P & S are dead ends - no outlet

 

That is all that I can observe from cruise-deck-plans.

Very helpful!  Thank you. 

[AmazedByCruising]

 

12 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Like most of your thoughts, nice ideas, not real practical.

 

I know you know that I don't really put those ideas on CC to announce that I've found the brilliant solution the companies never thought about, but to understand why it is not. Thank you again!

[Kat747]

Sorry to jump on an old thread but we are considering one of these cabins and noticed the white area as well. I just wondered if you found out what it actually was on your cruise. Many Thanks

 

[happytotravel]

Hi All,

A lot of folks don't realize how dangerous fire is on a ship.  Much more than in a house fire on land and often that results in disaster.  I know no one wants it to happen.  It really spoils a holiday.  Please everyone just follow the rules set out by the ship as there's a good reason behind them all.

Thanks, happytotravel

[don't-use-real-name]

5 hours ago, Kat747 said:

Sorry to jump on an old thread but we are considering one of these cabins and noticed the white area as well. I just wondered if you found out what it actually was on your cruise. Many Thanks

 

Not many guests spend the time observing what is what with the WHITE spaces on the deck plan.

Are there crew movements using that white space ?

Any signage - Emergency Fire Station - Main Utility shutoff valving - Air Conditioning/Ventilation etc.

When you get on board be that Curiosity that killed the Cat and Satisfaction brought it back !

HOWEVER don't be going into areas marked Crew Only -

Watch the cabin cleaning crew if that is where their service cleaning carts and etc. are kept.

 

Something this won't pick your interest too much is the bathroom clean out closets that are

near the cabin doors in the passageways - In almost all cases the bathroom utilities are

mounted and accessible to the wall that is on the other side of the passageway - this for

ease of access to fix the problems with diapers and things that should not have been placed

in the sewer system. Just one of the casual observed features of the ship and made noticeable

when a guest messes with the system.

 

So what is behind those white spaces ?

Perhaps Emergency (crew) stairs escape routes

Crew service pantry closets

Mechanical - Electrical Utility service vaults

Air Condition vents 

Elevator access points

Just some of the things that could be in the white spaces - - - - -

 

If you look at the cruisedeckplans and are a premium member use the DRAG-DECKS feature

to see what might be over-under your cabin or other location to know if you are getting into a

good NOISE free area or other desirable aspect. 

 

[UKstages]

On 12/6/2021 at 5:25 AM, chengkp75 said:

I won't even touch the fire curtain.

probably for the best... it can be very very hot!