advice on aft cabins/oosterdam

[nancyonmaui]

Hello all. Thinking about booking a cruise on HAL Oosterdam from Australia to New Zealand this Feb/March 2013. Any advice on aft cabins on this ship ? Think it would be great to have such an ocean view but worry about privacy. Anyone with experience here ?

Also, will be using a cruise compete agency to book this. Any recommendations or stand outs ? Would appreciate all advice as this is only my second cruise ( booked first one after finding this site and appreciated all of the helpful hints I received)

Mahalo :)

[pax2]

Hi there I had us booked in for Oosterdam Jan sailing in Aft cabin. There is a real following of cruisers who love life at the stern because of the view of the wake and because of the larger balconies. This is why I booked a stern cabin. The more I thought about it the more I was put off. As you have seen there is little privacy back there and even if you get high enough up you can still be seen from pool deck and your view is down onto other peoples balconies and not of the ocean. The other issue that worried me was sea sickness as there is allot of movement back there ( think of the sea saw model). In the end I cancelled and booked a cruise with a cabin right midship and a completely private balcony with view of nothing but ocean when you look down. The factors of stability, privacy and a better view down won over the extra balcony size for me.

[cjm66]

We reached a similar conclusion as pax2 after some research over on the Holland America Board. We elected for mid ships also. Some love the aft cabins - sun, lack of wind - the view. Others dislike the overlooking and being overlooked and the location at the rear especially in rough seas. It seems to come down to whatever rocks your boat. (Sorry!) I found a page of images on Google that could help.

 

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=aft+cabins+on+oosterdam&start=10&hl=en&sa=N&prmd=imvnsfd&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=_qEpULvwGKO6iQfokIHQBA&ved=0CGMQsAQ4Cg&biw=1093&bih=498

 

The other balcony cabins with privacy issues are those that are adjacent to the glass lifts that jut out about midships. We are looking forward to being back on a HAL ship after 7 years. Forgot to say that the rules of Cruise Critic do not allow us to post recommendations for travel agents. Colleen

[Australian family]

You would probably be surprised that you can book the cruise here cheaper than in the states. We are booked on the Oosterdam, and did have another booking until our cruise was cancelled, and both times we purchased the cruise here than what you could in the USA.

 

I don't think I would be keen on the AFT, we found sitting in the back of the dining room on the Volendam that we felt sick looking at the back. But sitting on the side we were fine.

[ceejay3377]

I agree with much of what has been said. I am booked on the Oosterdam in January and we were originally looking at an Aft cabin, but scored a Suite for much less in a quick two week price reduction back in May. Had that not occurred we would have stuck with the Aft, as we don't really get sea sick, and like the idea of the extra space and sunshine. If you are after a large veranda, there are a couple of "secret" cabins that have double width verandas, and would probably be cheaper than the VA Aft cabins. These are VD category on deck four (4164 and 4166). They are either side of some service stairs and the verandas apparently run the full length of the cabin and then they each share the veranda space in front of the service stairs.

 

(Probably shouldn't have said anything, because I was eyeing these off for myself as well, and now the secret is out ;)).

 

On the HAL Board Joanie has a 'sticky' on the different cabin types. She has put together a pretty good site explaining the different categories for different cabin types (plus lots and lots of past passenger photos) and it is worth a look.

 

You might like to post this question on the HAL board too, there are certainly plenty of opinions there! :p

 

Cheers,