Verandah & keeping door open at night

[DIS_MIKE]

I thought it would be interesting to get some input and perspective from some fellow DIS cruisers on this. Of course the weather and humidity can play a major part in this, but I tend to keep my verandah door open as I enjoy the sea air and hearing the waves at night.

Naturally this does not apply to those with kids as it is major a safety issue/concern.

EDIT: Added two new poll choices after discussion to make it more balanced.

Appreciate all the input!

 

[Dug720]

No - but not because of a pelican.

Because there are signs that the door should be kept closed (obviously other than to go onto the veranda and into the room). Because keeping it open affects the air conditioning for all the cabins in your block - including Inside and/or Ocean View which have no way of getting fresh air.

But also, it creates a vacuum in the room. When I was on the Brilliance of the Seas for 12 nights in the Med, the first morning my room (a forward-facing Ocean View) was a little warm, but I chalked it up to the larger window getting more sun onto the bed. Well, I was chatting with my stateroom host and we could hear a whistling coming from a cabin close by. A couple of minutes later, the deck supervisor came to check a report of some hot cabins and he heard the whistling and said "Well, that solves the hot cabins mystery..." as his radio cracked with a report that someone had called saying they were stuck in their cabin - the door would not open. Guess which cabin. Yep. The one with the whistling sound. He knocked on the door and we could hear them yell "We can't get out!" He said "Close your balcony door." Whistling stopped, and the door opened to a somewhat sheepish looking person. He then proceeded to politely but firmly explain that the balcony door was to be kept closed except when using the door to prevent getting "stuck" in the cabin AND to not penalize other passengers by messing up the air conditioning system. I never heard whistling from that cabin again, and my temperature (which I had not called about) in my cabin cooled dramatically.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I thought it would be interesting to get some input and perspective from some fellow DIS cruisers on this. Of course the weather and humidity can play a major part in this, but I tend to keep my verandah door open as I enjoy the sea air and hearing the waves at night.

Naturally this does not apply to those with kids as it is major a safety issue/concern.

There are a couple of signs asking you not to leave the verandah doors open.


The short answer is - don't do it. The air conditioning system is set up in blocks (areas) onboard the ship. If you leave your door open, the air conditioning for the all the rooms in your area to have problems with their air conditioners.

If you're interested in the long answer, I've copied the explanation from a person who's been a chief engineer on ships for years:
All modern cruise ships are designed with many fire safety features to save your life in case there is a fire onboard.

One of those features is air pressure.

Cruise ship cabins are designed to have a slightly higher air pressure inside the cabin than outside the cabin. If there is a fire outside your cabin, the over-pressure inside will cause smoke and flames to move away from your cabin rather than move into it.

This system works great until you or your neighbors open the balcony door.

With the balcony door open, the air pressure drops in your cabin. The A/C system is designed to compensate for the lower air pressure by pulling air pressure from your neighbors' cabins into yours. This also pulls the cool air from their cabins into yours. And if your neighbors are smokers, it also pulls their smoke into your cabin.

The problem is that with your balcony door open, the A/C system never is able to compensate for the lower pressure. It keeps pulling more and more air from your neighbors, trying to compensate for your cabin. That's when all your neighbors start calling the front desk to complain that their A/C is not working properly.

A few cruise lines tried to counteract this problem by installing magnetic switches on the balcony doors. These magnetic switches automatically turned off ventilation to the cabins that left their doors open, making it safer and more comfortable for those smart enough to read and follow the signs on the door asking them to keep it closed.

Then some genius found a way to circumvent the system by placing a small magnet near the magnetic switch on the door, making his neighbors uncomfortable and less safe, but ensuring he could leave his balcony door open and have A/C at the same time.

The cruise lines gave up and removed the magnetic switches. Now you can leave your door open and ruin your neighbors' cruise without the help of the magnet.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

My apologies as I thought by turning off the AC I wouldn't be bogging down the system. I had no idea I would be impacting the comfort level of other cruisers.

Well now I know! and will no longer do it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My apologies as I thought by turning off the AC I wouldn't be bogging down the system. I had no idea I would be impacting the comfort level of other cruisers.

Well now I know! and will no longer do it.

I'm not sure you can turn off the air conditioners on DCL ships. This is the thermostat on the Dream

This is the thermostat on the Wonder


They only go "colder" or "warmer", no "off".

 

[DIS_MIKE]

Well I'm learning a lot tonight! Thanks PrincessShmoo. As for the AC...I always assumed the green light was a standby light because heat illuminates red and cool illuminates blue.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Well I'm learning a lot tonight! Thanks PrincessShmoo. As for the AC...I always assumed the green light was a standby light because heat illuminates red and cool illuminates blue.

It probably just indicates whatever the default temperature is onboard.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

I changed the poll so you can switch up your vote.

 

[GPaLarry]

Another down side to keeping your verandah door open happens when you open the main door to your stateroom and you have decorations all over it...whoosh, off they go into the hall. This has happened to me several times and you just have to get your timing down right. So, if you see a dolphin off your verandah, just remember not to invite your neighbors to pop in for a look while the glass door is open unless you have door decorations held down with industrial-strength magnets which will probably cause a kerfuffle with TSA scanners. Maybe a porthole stateroom is the answer. Cruise on...