Virtuosa aft balcony safety

[missthesea]

We are booked as a family in 10416 on the Virtuosa. It looks like a great cabin, with large balcony. Has anyone else here sailed in these aft balconies on the Virtuosa? I'm wondering if they "stair step" a bit and that's why those on deck 10 are bigger than those higher up. Do the aft cabins on 11 or 12 overlook this one (meaning if you fell from one you would land on the balcony one floor down)?

[FrostyJoe]

52 minutes ago, missthesea said:

We are booked as a family in 10416 on the Virtuosa. It looks like a great cabin, with large balcony. Has anyone else here sailed in these aft balconies on the Virtuosa? I'm wondering if they "stair step" a bit and that's why those on deck 10 are bigger than those higher up. Do the aft cabins on 11 or 12 overlook this one (meaning if you fell from one you would land on the balcony one floor down)?

I never sailed on it. But looking at the photo, it doesn’t appear anything to stop a fall.  Especially when the ship is moving forward…please be careful!!!

 

It looks like deck 10 is larger because they added that row of insides on deck 9

[missthesea]

Thank you. I could not find a good image of the aft of the ship, nor factored in the forward movement of the ship. I also didn't notice those insides on deck 9. 

 

[FrostyJoe]

2 hours ago, missthesea said:

Thank you. I could not find a good image of the aft of the ship, nor factored in the forward movement of the ship. I also didn't notice those insides on deck 9. 

 

I believe MSC started installing pretty advanced man overboard detection system (like on disneys ships) starting with the Meraviglia. I’m not sure if Virtuosa got it yet though. Either way, those systems are really safety system of last last resort… kind of really cool how it works though and once calibrated to the specific ship, I understand the system works well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the recent fall/suicide on the seashore was detected immediately by the system first. 
 

I would be extra careful especially with little ones, especially if they can climb on things like chairs.  If the balcony isn’t wide, maybe even consider taking chairs inside to reduce any potential tripping hazard. If it’s wide, I would personally put it as close to the cabin side as possible. 
 

besides for the trip hazard or alcohol

/drug induced stupor, I would imagine it would be very hard to accidentally fall from a balcony of a cabin—especially from solid glass or metal panels.  I’m not sure if virtuosa has the railing type of guards anywhere else on the ship but I would imagine those can be far more dangerous especially with kiddos since it’s easily climbable with older kiddos, and spacing isn’t that narrow for little ones. 

[missthesea]

Yes, we were on the Seashore during the aftermath of the fall you mentioned. That is what is making me think about whether the balconies are terraced in any way, etc. I will have to read about the detection systems. As you said, that is pretty last resort, but I bet it is interesting how they work.

[FrostyJoe]

Yea it’s really cool I think. I saw a docu on it once and problem was really to minimize the false positive detection with waves and all.   MSC advertises (at least on meraviglia) 97 percent detection rate. 
 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/17916-msc-announces-advanced-man-overboard-detection-system.html

 

I hope I and none of us ever have to test the limits of the system 🥴🥴🥴…even if one gets detected it’ll probably take a good 15-30 min until the lifeboat gets to the person — and assuming blunt trauma from the fall didn’t injure someone where they couldn’t float that long… but I am so glad MSC invested in such system and hope it’s something that CDC or the coast guard mandates on cruise ships one day.  Yes most falls are probably alcohol driven or intentional but I would want that system of last resort to give me a fighting chance for survival should I be pushed overboard by some crazy person 

 

Also for us, something about aft balconies triggers some dark thoughts of being “left behind” in the wake for some reason. We had one once and being left behind alone, minimal chance for other Good Samaritan witnesses, and scared until drowning was certainly a thought that came across our mind…I know it wasn’t rationale or realistic but that thought still came into our heads vs any other type of balconies we had 

Edited February 9, 2022 by FrostyJoe