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I recommend against it. We were in a similar cabin about a year ago and it was too windy to use the verandah while underway. In fact, you could barely get the door open if you tried. In the evenings, due to the proximity to the bridge, we had to draw the curtains so our light didn't interfere with their vision. So, in the daytime it was like being in an Oceanview cabin and at night it was like being in an Inside cabin. The bathroom was great, though!

Thank you for all of your commentary and pictures - we are about to leave for Singapore, then Hong Kong, then the Westerdam on March 2. I appreciate all of the great information you are sharing with all of us!

My husband and I both got Covid on our cruise in Dec '21-Jan '23. Thankfully we never felt very bad, took Sudafed, and were finished with symptoms in about 3 days. We did receive FCC after about two months. It just appeared in our accounts one day when I happened to be checking on another cruise. Read on if you want to read more about our Covid experience on the Nieuw Statendam. DH started getting congested and had a slightly sore throat about day 9. I felt fine. He self-tested and was positive, so we called the infirmary and they came up and tested us both in our room. He was positive and I was negative. He was told to self-quarantine for at least 5 days and I was told I could go about normal life on ship, just wear a mask. I wore a mask, minimized any trips outside the room, and didn't take the elevator anymore, just in case I was going to get it, too. Two days later, I had the same symptoms and tested positive. Same routine - called infirmary, they tested me, confirmed I was positive and said they would retest me on day 5. DH was tested on his day 5 and was negative. He got to go back to normal life. On my day 5, it was St. Thomas and it's my favorite port. They came and tested me and I was still positive. I was told I could not leave the room until the end of the cruise. I was crushed, to say the least. I felt perfectly fine, would have been very happy to wear a mask (we were wearing them in public areas before we were sick), but I was stuck in the room. They came every day after that and kept testing me, but I kept testing positive, so I ended up missing the entire 7-day second portion of our back-to-back cruise. The ship staff was wonderful. We had terrific room service food, even from Pinnacle and Tamarind. They gave us free wifi and the front desk manager checked on us daily to see if we needed anything. Our room stewards kept our room clean and didn't fear us (they said they were vaxed and not worried.) Getting off the ship was interesting. I self-tested negative the night before disembarkation. Disembarkation Day way day 10 and I had no symptoms, so we planned to fly home (and did). But, we were escorted to a holding area near the forward door of the ship, along with three other Covid passengers and their significant others. Once we were allowed to disembark, we were turned over to the ground staff and then were stuck standing outside in very chilly, windy weather for at least a half hour. We dressed for it, but the others with us were wearing typical light cotton Florida clothes and they were freezing. We weren't allowed to go through the terminal and the gate in the fence was locked and no one could be found with a key. Finally, they decided to walk us to the driveway entrance of the fence. Once on the other other side of the fence, we were pointed toward the taxis and that was it. We truly felt like lepers and that they couldn't get rid of us fast enough. Not a great end to a cruise, but at least we could fly home that day.

Over the holidays 2022-2023, we had a signature suite guarantee and ended up in one of the far forward (SZ?) suites on the Nieuw Amsterdam (5002, I believe). To say I hated it is not too strong. When we booked the cruise, that suite was booked, so I naively assumed we would get a regular SS. Not the case. The room is very oddly shaped, the verandah is also oddly shaped, the railing is mostly metal, the desk/vanity is right by the door and has virtually no view of the ocean, the dresser under the forward-facing window has things permanently affixed to the top (art pieces), so you can't even spread out on it, and the wind when underway made it impossible to even open the door to the verandah much less go out on it. Add to this that you have to close your curtains at dark so that your lights don't interfere with the view from the bridge. On the plus side the bathroom was divine and the best we've ever had on a Pinnacle class ship. I would sooner cancel a cruise than sail in that cabin or similar again. In the daytime it was no better than an ocean view and at night it was essentially an inside cabin. And since I work while traveling, setting up shop at the desk by the door with no view of the water was really disappointing. Please know that I am a major Holland America fan, 5*, and normally giddy with excitement when on a cruise. I seldom complain at all about our cabin, but this was truly awful.

We had Covid on our 18-day holiday cruise that ended on January 14. We noticed that we received our FCC on or just before April 10. I happened to be getting ready to book another cruise and there it was! My husband received 5 days credit and I received 7 days - he tested negative sooner than I did. We quarantined on the ship and had no out-of-pocket expenses or insurance claims, so it was pretty straightforward.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences. I'm currently in Covid quarantine on the Nieuw Statendam, so it's good to know what to expect going forward.

The AARP cards were available this morning and I was able to check out successfully. I hope they work for all of you, too!