Balcony partitions on Breakaway question!

[Distinctive-Destinations]

12 hours ago, sweetgregoryps said:

I think I will just go ask the Ships Hotel Director, face to face when I get there on embarkation .  A manager that actually works on the ship will tell me the actual policy without the “Karen” pre-judgement! Thanks for your input 👍

Good luck with that. You’ll get the same answer as you have gotten here, plus you’ll waste some of your vacation time in the process.

[hallux]

Now that the chief has weighed in, I'll just sit here with my 🍿 and see what other 🤡 thinks the policies don't apply to them.

[Mike A]

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

FWIW. Why does it matter. Policy is policy. Not for you to debate. 
 

I can bring an extension cord for a cpap onto a NCL ship. I am prohibited from doing it on a Royal ship. Policy. 

@BirdTravels I was not debating policy between cruise lines. In fact, I agree with NCL's stance. I was just asking why Princess would allow the partitions to be opened, given the fact that Princess had the fire on the Star Princess, which started on a balcony and spread from there.

 

[Mike A]

11 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

Princess does have sprinklers on every balcony on every ship. Not every cruise ship can claim the same. 

 

Last year, there was a balcony fire on P&O Australia's Pacific Adventure....

 

 

...that started shortly after 3am. If the dividers had been open, the fire could have spread more quickly. 

The Pacific Adventure, was originally the Golden Princess and transferred by Carnival Corp. from Princess to P&O Australia. It's, Grand Class sister was the Star Princess whose fire on the balcony is the reason why all Princess ships have balcony sprinklers and as such The Pacific Adventure has them and helped prevent the fire from spreading.

Edited August 26 by Mike A

[Two Wheels Only]

5 minutes ago, Mike A said:

The Pacific Adventure has them and helped the fire from spreading.

 

Do you believe that dividers do not help at all?

 

If they help, they should remain closed.

 

Or, do you believe that if there are sprinklers on the balcony, cruise lines should allow dividers to be open? If that's the case, I can understand why some lines allow it and others don't. As stated, not every ship has sprinklers on the balcony. 

[schmoopie17]

7 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

As stated, not every ship has sprinklers on the balcony. 

But @ChiefMateJRKis on record as saying he may...or may not...have peed on the stage of Choir of Man. So here's a solution...be his cabinmate, open the balcony barrier and if a fire breaks out, there's your sprinkler. 😜

 

Problem solved...except Mrs. ChiefMate might object.

 

Edited August 26 by schmoopie17

[Mike A]

As I stated earlier in the thread, I absolutely believe the dividers help and should be closed. In fact, I also think all ships should have sprinklers on every balcony too. All I was doing in the previous post was pointing out the fact the Pacific Adventure was originally a Princess ship that had sprinklers on all balconies, and that sprinklers probably helped with the extinguishing of the fire.

[Two Wheels Only]

4 minutes ago, Mike A said:

All I was doing in the previous post was pointing out the fact the Pacific Adventure was originally a Princess ship that had sprinklers on all balconies, and that sprinklers probably helped with the extinguishing of the fire.

 

BOTH the sprinklers and the dividers probably helped. I don't believe that it should be either/or. 

 

5 minutes ago, Mike A said:

In fact, I also think all ships should have sprinklers on every balcony too.

 

I agree. 

 

Watching video of the Pacific Adventure fire, I could see water coming down from above but it only came from one source from what I could see. It didn't look as if the sprinklers were functioning properly but it was difficult to see on video. 

[chengkp75]

5 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

It didn't look as if the sprinklers were functioning properly but it was difficult to see on video. 

There would only be a single sprinkler for each balcony.  The sprinkler system is fully charged with pressurized water, but will only come out at the sprinkler that has had the "pill" melted.  The pill holds the sprinkler head closed until it reaches a rated temperature, it ruptures, and the valve falls out of the sprinkler head.  So, most likely, the sprinklers on the balconies on each side of the fire did not get hot enough to activate.

[mjkacmom]

16 hours ago, turftoe said:

Interesting....my family is on the Breakaway in December too. We booked 4 balcony cabins in a row. (2 sets of connecting cabins) NCL agent who booked the trip affirmed that the dividers could be removed. We took a trip 2 years ago on X and they dropped the dividers then. The agent was expressly asked if NCL could do the same and we were told yes and it would not be a problem. Just make sure that the cabin attendant knows if they aren't done when we board.

It was allowed back in the day, but not in the past 15 or so years.

[Two Wheels Only]

17 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

There would only be a single sprinkler for each balcony.  The sprinkler system is fully charged with pressurized water, but will only come out at the sprinkler that has had the "pill" melted.  The pill holds the sprinkler head closed until it reaches a rated temperature, it ruptures, and the valve falls out of the sprinkler head.  So, most likely, the sprinklers on the balconies on each side of the fire did not get hot enough to activate.

 

Thanks.

It looked unusual to me but as you've stated, a single head going off is normal. 

 

I went back and looked at the video and for a brief second, it looks like a hose is being used which would explain the single spray of water. It's difficult to see and the news outlet focused more on guests talking than the actual video of the fire. 

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/po-cruise-hundreds-evacuated-from-rooms-after-fire-breaks-out-on-pacific-adventure/7f7ac2ce-da80-4545-923d-47dd6b4412d8

(0:16 - 0:19)

[MoCruiseFan]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:40 PM, sweetgregoryps said:

Gonna be on the Breakaway in December! We have a connecting balcony room with my cousin. Are the balcony partitions “hinged” and can the be moved to create an “adjoining balcony with my Cuz “ ? Would be pretty cool “if possible “ !

 

Are they hinged?  Yes

CAN they be opened? Yes
Are you allowed to open them? NO