Sailing from Louisiana? Cruise Line Balcony Policy Changing

At least one major cruise line that offers sailings from the Port of New Orleans has announced a significant change for guests who book balcony rooms onboard. The change has been greeted positively by guests of the line who have responded to queries posted on social media sites.

The policy change is a reflection of an issue that many guests have brought to light through previous sailings. In order to understand why the change was needed you have to consider a seldom thought of aspect of sailing on a cruise ship.

One aspect of cruising that many who enjoy that mode of travel often comment about is "unpacking once". When you're on a cruise you don't schlep bags from one hotel to another each day. The hotel, aka the cruise ship, comes along with you and your room stays the same.

However, one big difference between a cruise ship and a land-based hotel is this. With a cruise ship, you never know where you're going to be parking. And in some cases in ports such as San Juan Puerto Rico, Miami Florida, or San Diego California your ship could be anchored just a few feet away from another cruise ship.

And if you have a balcony then your room is literally a few feet away from another cabin on another ship. Since some people like to sleep with the balcony curtains open you could find yourself waking with guests from another vessel staring directly into your bedroom.

Another issue that can arise with a balcony room is when the ship's staff needs to clean the balcony and its transparent railing. This is another opportunity for a stranger to be staring directly into your bedroom if your curtains aren't closed.

In the past cruise lines such as Carnival, the line that is making this adjustment for their guests, would place a reminder card with the daily activity brochure. Many guests toss those "guides" to the wayside until they need them. Unfortunately, that means they miss the note that a window washer is coming by. And it's quite possible the poor window cleaner could get more than an eyeful because the "reminder" wasn't noticed.

Carnival Cruise Line's solution to the "don't look over the balcony because they are naked" conundrum is to communicate balcony maintenance via a door hanger. That's almost impossible for a guest to miss and it has probably saved the eyesight of many a window washer since they revamped the policy.

We realize that this "policy" change isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things but as someone who has walked out of the shower naked in full view of the Holland America Rotterdam as we sailed into the Panama Canal, I can tell you a reminder to be modest would have been appreciated.

And for those of you who think no one can see you naked in your cruise bed on the open ocean, I can tell you the window cleaners and balcony cleaners can and will. Thankfully, they don't offer comments or critiques, but I bet they have some stories to share in the crew cabins on the decks below.