Did you know about the Improved Verandahs? Here's the Photos

[pallamb]

We just came back from the Magic today. While on the cruise the room next to us was having some major renovations done on it's verandah. They sawed off the white horizontal bars. The cast member said the upkeep of the bars is a maintenance nightmare. They rust and have to be repainted all the time. What the castmember told us is that DCL would like to change all the verandahs but Michael Eisner thinks removing the bars would take away the classic look of the ship. The castmember said they are going to take a picture of this remodeled verandah and send it to Michael Eisner and hope he changes his mind. I'm hoping they make the change because when I sat out on my verandah I had to look threw the bars and the unobstructed view would be a great improvement. I'll have my DH post photos of the "new and improved" verandah if they were not posted yet by anyone else. BTW even with the sawing, sanding, smell of fresh varnish and paint next door we had the best time. Patty

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Interesting bit of news. I'll look forward to seeing the photos when you get them posted.

 

[JODIELYN]

interesting... hmmmmm... can't wait to see them

 

[pallamb]

This is the "new" verandah in stateroom 6578. It was interesting watching the change take place.
Please click on the following link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~occschmitter/_wsn/page4.html

Patty

 

[MarkRG]

Interesting.. I agree it'd be a bit more maintainance to deal with, however, I also agree the lack of the bars would very much take away from the classic look. I've done a rendering to see a before/after:

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE FICTICIOUS!!!!!

Before:

After:

 

[Cruise]

Okay.... I just gotta know... how did you get that angle on the first photo? Either someone was leaning waaaaay out, or they were levitating!

That being said, the new design looks great. My only thing would be the safety issue. Though I know plexiglass is durable, there's always the possibility that faulty installation could lead to one of the panes "popping" out. Without the bars, it's a straight shot off the ship.

Julie

 

[AnnMorin]

I was wondering if they did other verandas too? I like the chair alot it looks more comfy!

 

[pallamb]

Hi. I'm Patty's husband, Paul.

I got the first picture by leaning out and holding my camera at arms length.
It would take a lot to push out or break the safety glass. It is no longer plexiglass in at least most staterooms. It is 1/4 inch thick tempered safety glass. I was told the plexiglass was to hard to keep clear with the salt water and tropical sun. To give you an idea, have you ever tried to break the glass out of the side window of a car? This is almost twice as thick.

It may take a little away from the classic look of the ship, but once you get more than a hundred feet or so from the ship, you can't really see the difference.
I think this was the only room that has been done. The chair is the same as the old ones but just a different color.

I took a picture of the veranda as we were getting off at Port Canaveral. I will try to find and post it.

Patty and Paul

 

[Michelle]

Interesting! I wish they would go down that row of staterooms and make the change, I'm VERY near there on our December cruise and I would LOVE the totally clear plexiglas! It's a much less obstructed view and I don't think it detracts from the beauty of the ship at all.

Hope they can convince Michael!

 

[MelissaE1]

Nice shots, Patty and Paul! Thanks for the up to the minute info.

From an aesthetics point of view, I prefer the bars from the "outside" view of the ship, but definitely prefer "no bars" from the verandah! Since you can't have it both ways, I guess my vote would be for no bars. I'll be interested to see how things look at the end of January.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I vote for the safety-glass!!! What sold me was that close up picture of the bars, with all the layers of paint and rust.... Eventually that aging is going to detract from the looks of the ship. The bars do add some 'interest' to the looks of the ship. So, I wondered if they are mostly for looks, and are outside of the glass, then could they maybe use some other material that would be more maintenance free?

Boy, if I could just get upgraded to a verandah, I wouldn't care whether it had bars or not!!

 

[MarkRG]

I would tend to disagree on two fronts:

1) Safety. Plexiglas will not be as safe as steel. Too many variables invvolved. You want to see your 8yo push against the glass and fall right out the side of the ship? Not me.

2) Not notice from 100 yards away? You can notice the railing missing off the rear stack of the Magic from the Port Canaveral cam, a lot more than 100 yards away. Or even from the Two Palms cam. The smaller, white railings would be that much more obvious by their absence.

Now, while it might be nicer view obstruction wise from inside the cabin, I wouldn't want that at the cost of it more resembling the other dozen cruise chips out there. The Disney ones are distinctive, and I'd really like to see them remain that way.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Two pictures from March 2002:

Above: An "old look" verandah on the Disney Magic

Above: Plain glass verandahs on the Radiance of the Seas

Here's my opinion: The classic-looking Disney Magic deserves classic-looking railings. Sure, the old ocean liners such as the Queen Mary didn't have private verandahs, but generally they did have railings with horizontal bars on those decks that had walkways along the exterior. To me, the verandahs on the Radiance of the Seas look too modern. I like the Disney Magic as it is.

What's next? Removing the Victorian "gingerbread" ornamentation on the buildings of Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom because they, too, are a maintenance nightmare?

 

[Hopkins]

I agree with you both. I much prefer the classic look and the Magic and the Wonder have that look. To make the verandahs look like the Radiance of the Seas (nice picture) will definitely detract from the look. On this, I hope Eisner holds his ground. For once, he'll be infavor of spending more money and not cutbacks. At least I hope so.

MarkRG: I think you and me are the only ones that miss the railing on the aft smoke stack since the fire in March. I don't know why Disney hasn't replaced those railings up on the smoke stack, yet. In my opinion, it really looks awful without them.

Tina

 

[cruisnfamily]

I love the "new" look and hope that they do go forward with this throughout the ship. I think it makes the view from the veranda much nicer. That is more important to me than the view of the veranda.

 

[inkkognito]

I kind of go both ways on this...I like the visibility through the plexiglass if you are on the ship, but I also love the classic look of the Wonder and Magic.
Oh well, I guess it's not much of an issue for me anyway, since my favorite stateroom is 5650 and the verandah is solid metal...either way, there will be no changes to that stateroom!
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Wishing on a star]

Wow!

Werner, GREAT pictures. Boy, the new proposed verandahs on the Magic would look almost exactly like the verandahs on the Radiance! Right down the the chairs. The bars do look great!

Okay DCL, still think you could find a way to replace the bars with a more maintenance friendly material?

 

[Lisa F]

I would be really surprised if Eisner went for it. When we cruised last January, in one of the navigator series talks, the officers talked at length about just how much Eisner wanted to buy the Normandy because he wanted that classical look for a ship. It took a LOT of argument to convince him that the way to go was to build a new ship that had modern systems and conveniences but could be styled in a classical way. Eventually he gave in when he saw convincing concept sketches, but apparantly it was a tough battle. He really does seem interested in the details as I remember the models for the villas at the wilderness lodge having to be completely redone after he had visited and decided he wanted a slightly different shade of red to be in the carpet and the whole thing had to be redesigned around that.

Then again who knows what will happen if he listens to the all mighty dollar. But I'd still be surprised. This is the company who created a fake smokestack to create symmetry!

I love the argument about the gingerbread on mainstreet. Unfortunately that argument wins out in many real houses

Lisa

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by Sonya Francisco
I love the "new" look and hope that they do go forward with this throughout the ship. I think it makes the view from the veranda much nicer. That is more important to me than the view of the veranda.

Please allow me to offer another perspective on Sonya's comments. (Please don't consider this an attack on Sonya, just a different opinion.)

I really don't think the view from the veranda would be any better if the horizontal bars were removed. When on the verandah enjoying the view, I think most people take in the view above the railing rather than looking through the glass. The glass has sea spray on it and light reflecting off it. So the view above the glass is the good, clear view anyway.

The horizontal bars hide very little of the total view, but they contribute to the character of the verandah. They reinforce the "classic ocean liner" theme not only when looking at the ship, but also when sitting or standing on the verandah. If you look at my photo of the verandah earlier in this thread, you may (or may not) share my opinion that the bars add to the ambience of the verandah and the theme of the ship.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

I like the bars, so I hope they leave them. Two reasons - classic look and at least the feeling of being more secure.

Deb