Think IV cabins are a disaster? Royal is putting them on their newest ship!

[Maria63]

DH & I boarded Beyond yesterday, and it's our first time in IV. We are dedicated balcony-people and were both quite sure we wouldn't much like the IV. Surprisingly enough, we both now find it to be quite nice. The full view of the outside, the sea and the scenery, even though you are inside, is actually rather lovely. The opening/closing mechanism is a bit too noisy though and would need some further development. 

 

(In case someone wonders why we booked a cabin we were sure we wouldn't much like, we had lots of FCCs from covid-disruptions & cancellations that had to be used on something, and Celebrity-itineraries in our parts are rather limited).

[the penguins]

On 9/30/2022 at 1:51 PM, LGW59 said:

And 95% of cruisers are not on CC and the IV rooms are clearly selling, no matter whether its a balcony, veranda, ocean view with a window that opens, it’s still selling.

Selling yes but the long term question or possible problem for X is selling to who and will those passengers book again?

If regular X passengers try the IV but then revert to S or M ships for the traditional balcony that will be a problem. A lot of posters have indicated that they will be doing exactly that including those who book Aqua.

If new passengers to X try IV but only book once again a problem.

Having to continually find new passengers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones.

Finally despite the hype Edge Line ships still have lots of special offers and it seems it's just the Suites and cabins with real balconies that are selling fast and at premium rates not the IV's.

 

[the penguins]

47 minutes ago, Maria63 said:

DH & I boarded Beyond yesterday, and it's our first time in IV. We are dedicated balcony-people and were both quite sure we wouldn't much like the IV. Surprisingly enough, we both now find it to be quite nice. The full view of the outside, the sea and the scenery, even though you are inside, is actually rather lovely. The opening/closing mechanism is a bit too noisy though and would need some further development. 

 

(In case someone wonders why we booked a cabin we were sure we wouldn't much like, we had lots of FCCs from covid-disruptions & cancellations that had to be used on something, and Celebrity-itineraries in our parts are rather limited).

Please repost mid cruise when you have had  a few days to try your cabin fully. Especially interested in if you find the chairs comfortable enough to relax in for a couple of hours. Would there be room for a foot stool? How is the cabin temperature and humidity affected if you have the window open for an hour or so?

These are the main concerns which have put us off the IV's.

Thanks, enjoy your cruise.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

24 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Selling yes but the long term question or possible problem for X is selling to who and will those passengers book again?

If regular X passengers try the IV but then revert to S or M ships for the traditional balcony that will be a problem. A lot of posters have indicated that they will be doing exactly that including those who book Aqua.

If new passengers to X try IV but only book once again a problem.

Having to continually find new passengers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones.

Finally despite the hype Edge Line ships still have lots of special offers and it seems it's just the Suites and cabins with real balconies that are selling fast and at premium rates not the IV's.

 

IV cabins are fine , it is the rest of the ship is a reason not to book an E-class ship 

[the penguins]

20 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

IV cabins are fine , it is the rest of the ship is a reason not to book an E-class ship 

Which for X is basically the same problem. Any Class of ship that cannot/doesn't generate a lot of repeat business is in the end going to fail.

[Maria63]

20 hours ago, the penguins said:

Please repost mid cruise when you have had  a few days to try your cabin fully. Especially interested in if you find the chairs comfortable enough to relax in for a couple of hours. Would there be room for a foot stool? How is the cabin temperature and humidity affected if you have the window open for an hour or so?

These are the main concerns which have put us off the IV's.

Thanks, enjoy your cruise.

 

Thanks, will do!🙂

[Maria63]

On 10/5/2022 at 10:01 AM, Maria63 said:

Please repost mid cruise when you have had  a few days to try your cabin fully. Especially interested in if you find the chairs comfortable enough to relax in for a couple of hours. Would there be room for a foot stool? How is the cabin temperature and humidity affected if you have the window open for an hour or so?

These are the main concerns which have put us off the IV's.

Thanks, enjoy your cruise.

Here's my assessment after 7 days in IV:

 

- The chairs are comfy enough even though they do not recline. The cushion is quite thick and the design imo works okay.

 

- The verandah is a bit narrow and no foot stools are provided. But my favorite position is to place the chairs sideways opposite each other and put my feet up. I can easily sit like this for an hour or more, and read and watch the sea & scenery. If you keep the folding doors open, you can also pull the chairs further back into the cabin and put your feet on the table. (DH says that he very much likes that he can lie on the bed and still have a full view of the outside.)

 

- We're on a shoulder-season Med-cruise, and daytime outside temps have been 20-25C with no notable humidity. We've kept the window open for a couple of hours without noticing any discomfort in the cabin temp. I don't know if it would work in a hotter & more humid climate though.

 

Overall we're very pleasantly surprised by the IV, and would be happy to book it again.

[southernbreezes]

On 10/4/2022 at 6:05 AM, the penguins said:

Selling yes but the long term question or possible problem for X is selling to who and will those passengers book again?

If regular X passengers try the IV but then revert to S or M ships for the traditional balcony that will be a problem. A lot of posters have indicated that they will be doing exactly that including those who book Aqua.

If new passengers to X try IV but only book once again a problem.

Having to continually find new passengers is much more expensive than retaining existing ones.

Finally despite the hype Edge Line ships still have lots of special offers and it seems it's just the Suites and cabins with real balconies that are selling fast and at premium rates not the IV's.

 

Besides this board, everyone I talked about on The Edge loved Aqua Class staterooms. Good luck trying to get an Aqua Class even if you book a year out (this should prove me right), you guys need to get over it if you do not like it book something else. Lots and lots of ships with the old fashion verandas.

[Wedgeh]

I really liked the IV, wasn't the biggest fan of edge. It really comes down to how you use the balcony usually I think.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Wedgeh said:

I really liked the IV, wasn't the biggest fan of edge. It really comes down to how you use the balcony usually I think.

what didn’t you like about the Edge?  If you have an IV, most have no choice but to use it differently than a traditional balcony

[Wedgeh]

6 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

what didn’t you like about the Edge?  If you have an IV, most have no choice but to use it differently than a traditional balcony

 

We sailed a side-to-side with Regal Princess and I really missed the choice of lounges that Regal had (though I prefer the Celebrity experience in many other ways), if the Martini bar was full there were very few other options. It wasn't an issue we had on Silhouette last summer, though since that was sailing at maybe 30-40% we may have been spoiled by the two sailings we had last year.

When we have a traditional balcony we probably use it more like an IV (large window, occasionally go out to see the sights) and would very rarely sit out for any length of time so I guess that's why the IV suits us better than most.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, Wedgeh said:

 

We sailed a side-to-side with Regal Princess and I really missed the choice of lounges that Regal had (though I prefer the Celebrity experience in many other ways), if the Martini bar was full there were very few other options. It wasn't an issue we had on Silhouette last summer, though since that was sailing at maybe 30-40% we may have been spoiled by the two sailings we had last year.

When we have a traditional balcony we probably use it more like an IV (large window, occasionally go out to see the sights) and would very rarely sit out for any length of time so I guess that's why the IV suits us better than most.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[the penguins]

8 hours ago, Maria63 said:

Here's my assessment after 7 days in IV:

 

- The chairs are comfy enough even though they do not recline. The cushion is quite thick and the design imo works okay.

 

- The verandah is a bit narrow and no foot stools are provided. But my favorite position is to place the chairs sideways opposite each other and put my feet up. I can easily sit like this for an hour or more, and read and watch the sea & scenery. If you keep the folding doors open, you can also pull the chairs further back into the cabin and put your feet on the table. (DH says that he very much likes that he can lie on the bed and still have a full view of the outside.)

 

- We're on a shoulder-season Med-cruise, and daytime outside temps have been 20-25C with no notable humidity. We've kept the window open for a couple of hours without noticing any discomfort in the cabin temp. I don't know if it would work in a hotter & more humid climate though.

 

Overall we're very pleasantly surprised by the IV, and would be happy to book it again.

Thanks for doing that very useful.

From your description you were comfortable because you took over the whole space (your DH using the bed).

Other posters have commented on ;

the noise of the windows opening and the time it takes. Any helpful comments on that?

[kwokpot]

38 minutes ago, the penguins said:

the noise of the windows opening and the time it takes. Any helpful comments on that?

What exactly do you want to know about this? Is it noisy and a little slow opening and closing the window? Yes, but only when you open and close the window. What else do you need to  know about this? It's not going to keep you up at night with people randomly opening and closing the windows at all hours night and day, if that's what you're afraid of. It's REALLY nothing to be concerned about. 

[Maria63]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

Thanks for doing that very useful.

From your description you were comfortable because you took over the whole space (your DH using the bed).

Other posters have commented on ;

the noise of the windows opening and the time it takes. Any helpful comments on that?

 

It's by mutual choice really, or at least my DH has never indicated he'd prefer the chairs instead of the bed. But if he did, I'd be happy to have the bed or the sofa instead. You could both share the verandah though by pulling back the chairs and putting your feet on the table, I think there's enough room for 2 pairs of feet.🙂 As I already noted in my original post, the mechanism is a bit too noisy indeed. If our window is open we can hear the next-door neighbours operating theirs, but when it's closed we haven't noticed any disturbances from other cabins.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Usually when we cruise now there is usually a group of at least  ten people  and we can be from all over North America and the UK 

Even if things are not up to par , the enjoyment of meeting up friend again make up for any problems 

[deliver42]

My understanding is some decks have IV's and some  have regular balconies. I think we'll have to see when information is available from Royal.

[Harrisonkid]

Not a fan either....im guessing these 'balconies ' help on fuel economy as the wind drag my be improved 

[deliver42]

If it winds up that's all they have, I'll stick to the Oasis or Quantum Classes.

[Sandy1975]

I did 12 cruises on regular verandas before my Edge cruise back in 2019. I really enjoyed the IV rooms in edge and looking forward to my IV  veranda in Apex  but I'm wondering if this is just my memory because it was my most recent cruise. Then covid hit and now I feel like everything will feel like new so it will be interesting to see if I still like the IV room. I'm even wondering if cruising is for me anymore so my upcoming cruise will test a few things.