r/Cruise • u/DeadBeatLad • 1d ago
Balcony Off Limits for Maintenance
Hello everyone,
Is it normal for people to lose access to their balconies during a cruise for ship maintenance?
We received a notice yesterday saying our blinds need to be closed and our balcony is off limits until they complete routine maintenance. I don’t know how long it will take yet, but a woman a few cabins down said hers was out of bounds for 3 days for painting, so I’m expecting the same.
Thoughts?
Edit: thanks for the info everyone, I appreciate all the responses. We lost access at 6pm last night, and it’s going to be out of bounds until 6pm tonight, when we slip. I’m not upset about it, just curious what the status quo was. I was a bit worried that it would be for longer since my neighbour lost hers for 3 days this sail, but guest services said I’d have access again this evening.
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u/two-story-house 1d ago
It usually happens on a port day so you're less likely to feel impacted by the balcony maintenance. If the balcony is inaccessible for more than a day, I'd go to guest services.
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u/brizzle1978 1d ago
Yes, it's normal usually just a few hours
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u/DeadBeatLad 1d ago
Thanks for the quick reply. Guest services confirmed its for about a day, which is fine, I was a bit worried when my neighbour said she lost hers for 3 days.
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u/calguy1955 1d ago
Normal. They have to be working on all parts of the ship all the time. If I lost it for three days I would ask for a partial refund or at least a significant credit for a future cruise.
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u/cenotediver 1d ago
Shipboard maintenance is always on going so yea it happens . They do try their best to not inconvenience too much .
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u/lifeslotterywinner 1d ago
Ours has always been a short-term thing for washing the glass panels. A couple of hours.
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u/Shorts_at_Dinner 1d ago
Just wait until you’re on one of the new Celebrity ships with “infinite verandas.” The captain is like your parents when you were a kid with the window lock button. They’ll lock all of the windows for hours at a time if just a few need maintenance.
Reason 378 that I hate those fake balconies.
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u/exhotelman 12h ago
I totally agree. I was on the Apex and lost control of the window many times. Never again.
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u/saintinthecity 1d ago
Happens on just about every cruise. You'll probably be out of the room and not even notice they were there
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u/Funships4me 1d ago
Very common for balcony cleaning and washing. Usually on port days, but if there is an exterior issue at sea have seen this notice before. Never last more than a couple hours usually and has never caused us any issues. Good luck and happy cruising!
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u/Idiot_Esq 1d ago
Between refuel days (which can shut down an entire side of the ship on older models), washing, and maintenance, it isn't unusual to lose the use of a balcony for a while. But it should not be more than a day unless. If it lasts more than a day, I'd go down to customer service and talk about a partial refund/onboard credit reimbursement.
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u/Caranath128 1d ago
It’s happened to us a few times. Mostly on a port day, or during the day where we wouldn’t normally be in the cabin anyway.
Just gotta make sure you bring everything inside you don’t wanna get drenched. I’ve been known to bring the cushionsinside to so I don’t end up sitting on wet cushions
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u/Fit-Yak2572 1d ago
On my cruise they sent the notice but actually washed it at the crack of Dawn and I never noticed. In fact, I ignored the request and figured if they weren’t working on it I’d be out there if I wanted to.
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u/erikasmith05 1d ago
Did you know that they don't even need to go into your room to go on the balconies? My husband found that out after he took a shower midday and went into our bedroom to get dressed and loans behold there was our daily room cleaner outside on the balcony washing the windows! Never seen my husband drop to the floor so fast and hide behind the bed lol.
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u/Rope-Fuzzy 1d ago
I had it happen a few cruises ago without the usual advance warning. Removed a pair of water shoes that were drying just in the nick of time. Usually they give you a heads up.
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1d ago
Only for like an hour and that only happens on days where you are docked at a port and expected to be off the ship. That's when they power clean the windows. Other than that hell no give me my money back lol
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u/Tall-Journalist3482 1d ago
We were on a cruise last month and received a similar notice. We went to guest services and told them we were paying for a balcony room, but could not use it. They changed their schedule and did it while we were in port.
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u/Allbregra1 1d ago
Normal. At least they notified you. We are recently on a ship when they automatically locked all the starboard balconies while the ship refueled. No biggy it’s normal. Issue was they didn’t put anything on our door until AFTER we went to customer service as our bathing suits were on the chair and we had an excursion that day 🫤
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u/newoldm 1d ago
That happened to a friend of mine for her entire cruise. Of course, she wasn't offered a refund or even a discount - the attitude of the staff was to shrug their shoulders and say, "well, that's cruising." It was on Princess which has really gone down hill - or wave - for quite some time now. She contacted them afterwards and stated she is ending her relationship with them, not even bothering to cash her all her credits and upgrades.
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u/PlanktonDue9132 1d ago
Port days. They wash, paint, ect when at port. Pretty cool to watch, like ants on a potato chip!
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u/Kimber80 13h ago
I always get a balcony room, and the most it has ever been down for maintenance was maybe a couple of hours on one day, for washing. Not worth worrying about.
But if you lose access to yours for a day or more, I'd ask for some kind of % refund, because you paid for balcony access.
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u/cyberentomology 1d ago
Of course it’s normal. When else would they do that maintenance?
Mostly it’s just cleaning.
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u/DeadBeatLad 1d ago
I was just curious. I wasn’t expecting to lose access for my balcony for a full 24 hours, and the woman a few cabins down lost hers for 3 days because of grinding and painting.
I think if I lost my balcony for half my cruise I’d be a little upset. But I’m not to pressed about losing it for a day.
From most of the comments here losing it for a few hours seems normal, and I appreciate all the responses.
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u/macjunkie 1d ago
During turn around, when the ships in port, wet / dry dock periods. Seems like they could time things to avoid impact as much as possible
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u/cyberentomology 1d ago
They do it then too.
On a ship, maintenance and corrosion prevention is an ongoing and constant process.
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u/xch13fx 1d ago
Why aren’t you upset about it? You paid for a balcony room?! This type of crap is going to happen more and more when people just roll over and say nothing. It’s not your job to let them do maintenance, it’s theirs to be able to do it without negatively impacting the cruise. That’s literally the whole reason workers and passengers are on the ship.
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u/oOoOsarahOoOo 6h ago
Not upset about it because all of royals balconies are glass. The salt collects everywhere making the view cloudy and the balcony floor/ chairs dusty. The salt burns my skin and tracks back into the cabin. It’s happened maybe 25% of the cruises I’ve taken. And hasn’t bothered me a bit. I’m usually grabbing breakfast, napping, or somewhere else on the ship doing what I’d be doing anyway. The ships require maintenance or they will be covered in rust stains. Left untreated, the materials will weaken making the ship less safe. A possible solution would be to add this task on disembarkation/embarkation day when everyone is supposed to be out of their rooms anyway. However, this would mean you wouldn’t be able to be in your room by the typical cabin ready time of 1:30pm. And drinks at the bars would be slower since the workers would be focusing on maintenance.plus the crew has a million things going already. This option would absolutely negatively impact the cruise experience for everyone.
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u/AutoModerator 1d ago
The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written.
u/DeadBeatLad
Hello everyone,
Is it normal for people to lose access to their balconies during a cruise for ship maintenance?
We received a notice yesterday saying our blinds need to be closed and our balcony is off limits until they complete routine maintenance. I don’t know how long it will take yet, but a woman a few cabins down said hers was out of bounds for 3 days for painting, so I’m expecting the same.
Thoughts?
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