Star Princess Balcony Info-Ship cannot provide details. HELP!

[liveinhope]

We are very excited about the possibility of going with our extended family on the star princess, including our 2 & 4 yo, but are concerned about the balcony staterooms. Princess could not provide any details. Does anyone have experience with this ship regarding:

• height of deadbolt
  
• height of balcony railing
  
• ease of opening the balcony door
  
• number of rails on balcony
  
• balcony reinforced with glass? or made of metal?
  

Thank you in advance! I am very nervous!!!

[crusinmama06]

Go to www.webshots.com and do a search for "Star Princess balcony"

 

Then go to the Princess board and ask people to post pictures of their balcony cabin on Star Princess. :D

 

I haven't been on Star Princess. But I can assure you that no child has ever fallen off a ship's balcony. Common sense goes a long way. Most people don't call a hotel and demand details on their balconies before booking. ;)

 

I can tell you as we go on our 11th ship, all of the balcony doors have been hard for even me to open. All of the locks have been hard to navigate. And if the ship did have a metal railing (as we encounted on Carnvial Sensation), then the kids just stayed off the balcony. We never leave them out there anyway. They can't open the doors. So no worries.

 

We give the same advice to all worried parents. Do your research. But rest assured, you will not have any problems. ;)

[cb at sea]

A 2 and 4 yo will NOT be able to open that door on their own. And they won't be alone anyway, right? Don't worry so! I bet your kids haven't gotten out of your home and fallen off the deck or porch!

The railings are generally bust-height for me (5'4"). You'd have to THROW the child off the balcony!

[OnTheBrink]

Most people don't call a hotel and demand details on their balconies before booking. ;)

 

That is SUCH a good point! :)

[calikak]

A quick search on Flickr came up with this photo:

 

 

I haven't been on Star Princess, but I've been on Golden Princess which is her sister ship. The balcony doors are very heavy sliding glass doors and as Michele said, they're hard for adults to open, let alone kids. If I remember right, they had a handle (not a round knob) that you twisted one direction to lock and the other direction to unlock.

 

As for the balcony itself, the size and furniture configuration depends on which deck you're on, but the railing will be a solid piece of plexiglass that comes up above waist height on an adult, topped with a wooded railing.

 

You'll of course need to use common sense and watch your kids to make sure they aren't trying to climb furniture to get up on the railing or something, but if their feet are on the balcony floor, I can't see how they could possibly fall overboard.

[Tggrtoes]

Here's a pic of 15 month old DS (who is 33 inches in height if that helps) last month standing on the deck chair on our Sapphire Princess. Also attaching pic of him jumping off the chair so you can see his height vs. balcony railing. Not sure it's the same as your ship, but am guessing it's very similar in height. FIL was worried about balcony - as op said, your child won't be alone in the room and the doors were hard for me too and the plexiglass is quite high. Definitely recommend the balcony. It saved our sanity throughout the cruise!

[junglejane]

I agree that the balconies are high and the doors are not that easy to open. Of course, a toddler should never be left unsupervised on a balcony.

 

What deck are you on? The decks on the Grand class Princess ships are staggered. I've never heard of a kid falling off a cruise ship, but worst case scenario he or she would fall on a deck below if you are on Aloha, Baja or Caribe. Look at this thread on a similar topic where I posted a picture.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=14098583&highlight=#post14098583

--Junglejane

[kimmimom]

was visiting CA with his twin brother and younger sibling (and parents). The twins are age 5 (one is in my dd class). They were staying in a hotel with a balcony on the third floor. I don't know the circumstances (supervision or not, etc), but the one twin fell down 3 stories onto the cement. This happened back in Sept. He survived thankfully with no brain damage, but he had a severely lacerated spleen and broken bones and had to stay in CA for a couple months b/c it was not safe for him to travel. The family hopes he can be cleared to ride in a car to/from school this month (4 months after the injury).

 

Just a reminder for everyone who gets a balcony on a ship or at a hotel, do not let kids out of your eyes for a minute. Personally I also would not let them stand on anything on a balcony b/c it only takes a second for an accident to occur and being higher up could make it easier to accidentally fall. We have a rule that when we on heights (decks, top of stairs, etc) that feet must remain on the ground.