Inside staterooms in 'S' class ships?

[Sayyadina]

My husband and I are looking at a Bermuda cruise in 2011 and I'm thinking about a J inside on the lower promenade. Didn't see any pictures on the stateroom picture site. Anyone have any comments on these rooms? Better suggestions??

 

...anyone wanna talk me out of an inside stateroom???? :D

 

Seriously, I've only seen one inside stateroom (on the Eurodam) and it was tiny, so I'm a little nervous about spending money on a closet. While we really only need the basics, I would like to be comfortable.

 

Thanks so much!

[Roz]

The inside cabins on the R and S class ships are much larger than on the Vistas and the ships like Eurodam that came after the Vista class. I was in a saltine box on the Noordam (never again) but was perfectly fine with the insides I had on Statendam and Veendam.

 

Roz

[Mary Ellen]

Didn't see any pictures on the stateroom picture site.

:confused: The HAL site DOES have pictures and we've always found our cabins look exactly like the HAL pictures.

[Sayyadina]

:confused: The HAL site DOES have pictures and we've always found our cabins look exactly like the HAL pictures.

 

I did see the pictures on the HAL site, but I've found those to be pretty generic. Outside staterooms, for example, can vary pretty widly depending on where on the ship the stateroom is located. The inside stateroom I saw on the Eurodam didn't look anything like the picture they have up.

[RuthC]

I always take a J-category on Lower Promenade when sailing an S-class ship. Those cabins are larger than the outside cabins across the passageway, and just a bit smaller than the outsides one deck down.

They are handy-dandy to the outside views, not to mention lifeboat drill. The cabins closer to the forward elevator banks are a quick walk home late at night, but still not far from the aft food areas.

Book one, and have no fear. You will enjoy it.

[RuthC]

I did see the pictures on the HAL site, but I've found those to be pretty generic.

Mary Ellen's right---the HAL site pictures of the large inside cabins on S- and R-class ships give an accurate view of the cabins.

I've been in enough of them to know.

[Sayyadina]

I always take a J-category on Lower Promenade when sailing an S-class ship. Those cabins are larger than the outside cabins across the passageway, and just a bit smaller than the outsides one deck down.

They are handy-dandy to the outside views, not to mention lifeboat drill. The cabins closer to the forward elevator banks are a quick walk home late at night, but still not far from the aft food areas.

 

Book one, and have no fear. You will enjoy it.

 

Excellent! I was honestly hoping to hear something along these lines. Thanks, Ruth.

[Sayyadina]

Mary Ellen's right---the HAL site pictures of the large inside cabins on S- and R-class ships give an accurate view of the cabins.

I've been in enough of them to know.

 

Good to know (and I haven't been in enough of them to know! :o) I just saw the picture of the Eurodam inside and remembered what I saw....well, they were not the same. Thanks again.

[mallbucks]

Are the J insides the same on Lower Promenade on R & S class ships.

Thanks.

 

I always take a J-category on Lower Promenade when sailing an S-class ship. Those cabins are larger than the outside cabins across the passageway, and just a bit smaller than the outsides one deck down.

They are handy-dandy to the outside views, not to mention lifeboat drill. The cabins closer to the forward elevator banks are a quick walk home late at night, but still not far from the aft food areas.

 

Book one, and have no fear. You will enjoy it.

[ilovcruisesm]

I stayed in an inside cabin on the Maasdam and I would highly recommend it. The wall behind the beds where the window would be is lit up and a fellow passenger, also in an inside cabin, said he kept forgetting they didn't have a window because the light, behind a curtain, was so realistic. I occasionally caught glimpses of outside cabins while they were being cleaned and they did not seem very different in size or layout to me. If you get a cabin with three berths the third will be a sofa bed rather than a bunk bed. I say get the inside cabin and use the money you will save on souvenirs, a lunch or dinner in the Pinnacle Grill or towards a shore excursion, because there is enough to do throughout the ship that you won't want to spend much time in your cabin anyway.

[RuthC]

Are the J insides the same on Lower Promenade on R & S class ships.

Thanks.

The cabins on the S- and R-class ships are identical in the same category.

There are a few cabins that are different from others in their category, but usually these can be identified on the deckplans. If not sure, a question posted here will bring info.

[SabreSailor]

Go for the inside cabin - they are just fine. The heads seem larger than the outside cabins, probably because they don't have a tub but a stall shower instead. I think on the S-Class they are all the same size except for the "dreaded NN" cabins, which we've been in and frankly thought it was fine, but they are tiny.... but nowhere near as tiny as some of the broom closets on the European or especially Russian river cruises, where you have to coordinate turning around with your spouse....

 

They are especially good for cruises like Russia or Norway where the sun doesn't set and you hate to spend the extra $$ for a porthole that always has the curtain drawn!

[Mary Ellen]

It is the Vista and Signature class ships that vary in the size of the inside cabins. A quick look at the deck plans, easily show they are QUITE different in size among the various categories of inside cabins. The op asked about Bermuda sailings. That is the Veendam, which as I said before, the HAL pictures of her inside cabins look like the cabins.

[gebo]

Looking at inside cabins on the deck plan. Does anybody know anything about the L500 cabins?

[ShipsAreTheBest]

I stayed in 529 (with DW and 2 children) on Maasdam in 2004. Last year, we all were in outside (E) 680 on Veendam. The only difference was the lack of window (in 529) and a shower (in 529) instead of a tub. The layout of the room was identical (a queen double, sofa that turns into one single and an upper berth over the queen off one wall), plenty of closets, two small nightstands either side of the bed, and lots of drawer space at the dressing table/desk, one chair, and a small table for room service (or to collect whatever junk a family of 4 has).

 

On the Massdam, we were far forward, on the Veendam far aft, opposite side of the ship. Both areas very quiet (no traffic by the room in both cases, unless someone was going to their own room).

 

Overall, I like HAL staterooms (at least S-class) best, because even at lower price levels you get a fairly large room. They state that the inside rooms are about 182 sq feet (outsides 197). This compares very favorably to a lot of other cruise lines (150-165 in a lot of cases).

 

The other difference between the two was cosmetic - Maasdam had (and still does, at least now I think) original decor. Veendam had just been refurbished in the spring of 2009, and all staterooms were redone, including new tile in the bathrooms.

[mallbucks]

Based on reports here, we've booked cabin J345 on the Ryndam for 14 days. Like you said, handy to outside promenade and a good location overall. Thanks again for the info.

 

The cabins on the S- and R-class ships are identical in the same category.

There are a few cabins that are different from others in their category, but usually these can be identified on the deckplans. If not sure, a question posted here will bring info.

[Petronillus]

I seem to recall from past threads that one disadvantage of inside staterooms is the lack of temperature control. Specifically, I think, it was about pax in verandah cabins propping the doorwall open for fresh air and ocean breezes, but which has the unfortunate side effect of cutting off the a/c in a whole zone of cabins, with a marked effect on the comfort of the inside cabins. Can anyone confirm or otherwise shed light?

[boards]

We have had mostly inside cabins on the main deck on the Statendam, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and they were all the same size and exactly like they are pictured. We have a Cat. J cabin on our next cruise and are very much looking forward to it on the Zaandam. So far we have not had any problems controlling the temperature in the cabin.

[bob brown]

The cabins on the S- and R-class ships are identical in the same category.

There are a few cabins that are different from others in their category, but usually these can be identified on the deckplans. If not sure, a question posted here will bring info.

Ruth! I'm shocked you are giving away hints about your 'secret' cabins!:eek:

[tkwbear]

I seem to recall from past threads that one disadvantage of inside staterooms is the lack of temperature control. Specifically, I think, it was about pax in verandah cabins propping the doorwall open for fresh air and ocean breezes, but which has the unfortunate side effect of cutting off the a/c in a whole zone of cabins, with a marked effect on the comfort of the inside cabins. Can anyone confirm or otherwise shed light?

 

I've only had one inside cabin on a HAL cruise, and that was last summer for 35 days on the Voyage of the Vikings. The cabin was nice, but I had little control over heating and cooling. I noticed when I first entered the cabin in Boston, that the thermostat was set to its warmest setting, and it was cool in the cabin. As we went farther north, it became very cold (55 degrees F, as measured by HAL). I had them turn the dreaded nobs in the ceiling, but that resulted in a hot cabin. After a few more trials, I elected to live with the cold temperatures and sleep under 2 blankets. When we got to warmer waters, the need for the blankets disappeared.

 

I don't think anyone had their balcony doors open when we were in the north, the a/c and heating system just didn't work very well. I was not the only one having problems.

 

That being said, the Maasdam is still a fine ship, and I prefer her to many of the other ships in the fleet.

[RuthC]

Based on reports here, we've booked cabin J345 on the Ryndam for 14 days. Like you said, handy to outside promenade and a good location overall. Thanks again for the info.

That's "my" cabin. Good choice.

[RuthC]

I seem to recall from past threads that one disadvantage of inside staterooms is the lack of temperature control. Specifically, I think, it was about pax in verandah cabins propping the doorwall open for fresh air and ocean breezes, but which has the unfortunate side effect of cutting off the a/c in a whole zone of cabins, with a marked effect on the comfort of the inside cabins. Can anyone confirm or otherwise shed light?

That can (and I'm sure does) happen. I've been in inside cabins that were hot with the thermometer at the coldest setting. Was this due to some inconsiderate passenger leaving their balcony door open? Short of checking every single balcony door on the ship, how are you ever going to tell???

[mek]

Last March we were on the Veendam and had an outside. Looking across the hall, I noticed how similar to our ours the inside cabins were. We're sailing on the Zaandam next week and booked an inside. I'm sure we will be very happy with the cabin; I has an excellent location, which is worth more to me than an outside at the very front of the ship.