A virtual balcony is a different kind of inside cabin, because Royal Caribbean wanted to fix the biggest problem cruisers have with it.
After two decades of Royal Caribbean cruising, I’ve sailed in many different cabins. This includes everything from cheap interior staterooms on the oldest ships to a Junior Suite on the newest cruise ships.
When booking my recent cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, I was intrigued by the option to book a Virtual Balcony stateroom. Of all the cabins I’ve sailed in, I’ve never booked the unique stateroom.
When Quantum of the Seas debuted as the flagship vessel in Royal Caribbean’s new Quantum class, every interior stateroom featured a virtual balcony. As the Quantum class expanded with new cruise ships, Royal Caribbean continued incorporating the technology. Now, you can find virtual balconies on a select number of cruise ships in Royal Caribbean’s fleet.
As such, I was surprised to find a decent price for one of the inaugural voyages on Ovation of the Seas from Los Angeles. For $1,411, I was able to book a 5-night cruise in an interior cabin with a virtual balcony. This would also be my mom’s first time sailing with a virtual balcony.
We were curious if the virtual balcony would feel gimmicky, or if the technology would actually enhance our stateroom experience. After five nights onboard Ovation of the Seas, I’m not convinced the technology is worth the hype. However, I would probably book one again if the price was right.
Royal Caribbean invested heavily in the virtual balcony technology.
Although technically still considered an interior cabin, Royal Caribbean first introduced virtual balconies on Navigator of the Seas before expanding to other vessels. Surprisingly, the cruise line said at the time that focus groups found the technology to enhance their stateroom experience, with many preferring the virtual balcony over an oceanview cabin.
The virtual balcony technology was considered groundbreaking when it first debuted over 10 years ago. The floor-to-ceiling HD screens stream real-time views from outside the ship. Interior cabins have no window, so you typically can’t see outside views until you physically make your way to an outer deck.
The screens are 80 inches and are designed to have the illusion of a true balcony experience by making the cabin feel less cramped. Royal Caribbean invested heavily in the technology with a continuous feed from RED Epic cameras that are mounted around the ship.
The complex technological process involves cameras capturing real-time footage, which is transferred to a server room and then onto each individual cabin screen. With this, your virtual balcony screen matches the ship’s actual movement.
Royal Caribbean collaborated with experts from MIT and Harvard to design the technology. The cruise line claims it can even reduce motion sickness. Royal Caribbean describes the virtual balcony as “having crystal clear imagery on the screen” to depict a lifelike view.
Truthfully, I had no idea Royal Caribbean invested significant resources into the virtual balcony technology. Because of this, I had some higher standards for my stateroom experience on Ovation of the Seas.
I wasn’t immediately blown away by the virtual balcony.
After boarding Ovation of the Seas in Los Angeles, we were excited to see what the virtual balcony experience would entail. When we first entered the stateroom, we could see the live footage of the ship docked at the Los Angeles World Cruise Center with a direct view of the Battleship USS Iowa Museum.
The video feed accurately portrayed the grey sky outside, which we learned is called “June Gloom” in California. There was a fake balcony superimposed onto the live footage, which added to the balcony illusion. But, you really couldn’t mistake the virtual balcony for an actual one. It’s pretty obvious that you’re looking at a TV screen, essentially.
After reading about Royal Caribbean’s investment in this technology, I did expect the video quality to be more impressive. Ovation of the Seas was built in March 2015, so the technology is more than 10 years old at this point. This could be contributing to some of the graininess on the screen. Either way, I did expect the feed to feel more realistic.
We couldn’t figure out how to turn the screen off before going to bed.
By the time we returned from dinner, the virtual balcony was showing the darkness outside of the ship. According to Royal Caribbean’s website, guests have the option to turn off the virtual balcony. We looked for an easy mechanism to turn the screen off during the first night, but we didn’t have any success.
Instead of turning off the screen at night, you can pull curtains in front of the screen, just like you would with a real balcony. We did find this to be a little comical that we had to draw the curtains each night. It almost felt like putting my fake baby dolls to bed when I was a kid!
There was still a small glow coming from the screen, so we used a fridge clip that my mom had packed to keep the curtains closed. We were thankful she packed the clip, as we prefer the room to be pitch black. After all, this is one of the biggest perks of booking an interior cabin!
We decided to clip the curtains together each night to ensure our room would stay dark. The small glow could be a nice illumination for those who need to navigate the cabin throughout the night, though.
The virtual balcony was more impressive once we arrived in Cabo San Lucas.
During our day at sea, the virtual balcony feed was unsurprisingly boring with the grey sky. We noticed the screen would glitch occasionally and even show a black screen a few times. However, once we arrived in Cabo San Lucas, the screen was more exciting with actual footage of our port.
Our virtual balcony showed a stunning view of the rugged mountains near the beach. Because we had an overnight in Cabo San Lucas, we were able to enjoy the beautiful view of the beach on our virtual balcony for two days!
It was easy to see the weather was beautiful and sunny with our virtual balcony - one of the biggest perks of having this technological feature in your stateroom. Although we had sunny weather for both days of our cruise, this could be particularly useful when cruising in more rainy climates, such as Alaska.
Instead of navigating to one of the outer decks to check the weather, you can simply check your virtual balcony. Of course, you won’t be able to actually feel the temperature, and it’s no substitute for a real balcony’s fresh air.
Other than our virtual balcony, the stateroom was a standard interior cabin.
I’ve cruised in many different interior cabins, and Royal Caribbean has some of the best in the cruise industry. Ovation of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean’s newer ships, relatively speaking.
As such, the cabin reflected the ship’s modern design, with a clean, functional layout and smart use of space. The color palette was modern with blue hues, soft neutrals, and light wood finishes. This made the cabin feel clean and fresh while still being warm and welcoming.
Our interior cabin on Ovation of the Seas was surprisingly comfortable and spacious. The layout featured two twin beds, which were already separated upon our arrival. We each had our own small nightstand with a few small shelves to use, which we appreciated. By pushing the nightstands together, we felt like we had more space for storing our bedside belongings.
Connectivity was another design element that we appreciated in the cabin.
On the vanity, there was a charging strip with multiple plugs and outlets. As newer cruise ships continue to include more USB options, just be sure to pack any necessary cords or adapters, like USB-C converters, so you’re covered. We still packed our European outlet extender for more plugs, as most of our cords are now USB-C instead of traditional USB.
There was also an outlet located next to the bed, but only on one side. If you choose to separate the beds, this setup isn’t the most convenient, especially if you’re the one without access to the outlet.
Because of this, I usually charged my phone in the evening while winding down, then unplugged it before falling asleep. Because the location made it a bit awkward to keep plugged in overnight, this could be inconvenient for some.
There was also plenty of storage.
One of my favorite features of Royal Caribbean’s newer cabins is the storage above the bed. The overhead storage is particularly useful, although storage is plentiful throughout the cabin. Under the flat-screen TV was a dresser with multiple drawers, which my mom used for unpacking.
I ended up using the majority of the closet, which included more shelving and hanging space. This is also where the cabin safe was located. I was able to unpack my carry-on suitcase comfortably and used the bottom of the closet for dirty clothes.
There was also a small cooling fridge, and we used this mainly for keeping our bottled water chilled. I always appreciate Royal Caribbean providing bottled water in the stateroom for loyalty members. We were surprised to find an electric kettle with a selection of tea and coffee on the counter, as I’ve typically only seen this on European sailings.
While the stateroom wasn’t huge by any means, the cabin felt thoughtfully arranged. We had room to unpack and move around without constantly bumping into each other.
The addition of the chair for sitting was a nice touch, although it quickly turned into a place for us to throw our clothes and bags. Overall, our stateroom was a well-designed space that made the most of its square footage.
The bathroom in our cabin was compact but efficient.
Our virtual balcony cabin included a standard in-suite bathroom for an interior cabin. Just like the rest of the stateroom, the design felt clean and modern. The bathroom featured a warm-toned tile floor, a glass-enclosed shower, and a long, narrow sink counter that made smart use of the limited space.
Storage was better than expected thanks to open shelving beneath the sink and a couple of shelves beside the mirror. We had plenty of room for toiletries, although we both utilized our hanging cosmetic bags on the doors.
The shower had decent water pressure and came with a handheld wand, which was great for rinsing off after a long port day. We noticed the shower drained slowly on the first night, so we requested our cabin steward to have this looked at. By the next evening, the shower was draining like normal.
Most importantly, the bathroom was well-maintained. For an interior stateroom, it definitely checked all the boxes, and the larger shower was appreciated. It’s still a cruise ship bathroom, so you won’t be stretching out, but it didn’t feel cramped.
Our cabin location under the kids’ club was the worst part of the experience.
For this cruise, our cabin was 10521, which was located on Deck 10 towards the front of the ship. I don’t mind being located further towards the front or the back. However, our stateroom was located directly under Adventure Ocean: Royal Caribbean’s childcare and youth programming club.
Thankfully, I packed my travel-sized sound machine to play (or blast) white noise each night. I also packed earplugs to drown out the noise further. The noise was minimal in the night, but we could start to hear ruckus around 8 a.m. each morning. Thankfully, it wasn’t too disruptive, and we were glad we came prepared to make sure we got a good night’s sleep.
Our neighbors weren’t as lucky, though! We met a nice family from Australia staying in our hallway. By the second morning, she told us they could hardly sleep from all of the noise in Adventure Ocean above them.
In the future, I definitely wouldn’t choose to book another room under Adventure Ocean. I prefer booking cabins that are surrounded by other staterooms to eliminate noise and disruption. I want to sleep on vacation, and not return from my cruise feeling drained and sleep deprived.
It's a nice change from a standard inside room
Overall, we enjoyed our stay in the Virtual Balcony interior cabin. It was our first time trying this type of cabin, and the live footage from outside the ship definitely made the space feel less closed in. The screen was a unique touch that added some pizazz to a standard interior cabin.
Additionally, being able to see the live footage from outside the ship enhanced our experience. We enjoyed watching the ocean, but it was especially fun when we arrived at our port of call in Cabo San Lucas in Mexico.
The virtual balcony also served a practical purpose. We found ourselves checking the virtual balcony in the mornings to get a sense of the weather before heading out for the day. It was also a quick way to tell if the ship had arrived in port yet.
However, we couldn’t figure out how to turn the screen off. It would be nice to have a switch where you can easily turn it off before going to bed. Instead, we relied on the curtains and our chip clip to keep the glow from being too distracting. Pulling the curtains in front of the screen each night made the experience feel a little gimmicky, and I would have preferred just turning it off at night.
Because of Royal Caribbean’s investment in this technology, I did expect the footage to be crisper. The video looked grainy at times, which could be related to the ship’s age. Technology can age quickly, so this could be contributing to the lower quality footage.
Ultimately, I wouldn’t spend extra to have a virtual balcony in the future. If the price were the same, or even cheaper, I would definitely book this type of interior cabin again. It certainly doesn’t replace a traditional cabin balcony with fresh air, but it does jazz up a standard interior stateroom.
