E vs. HH Staterooms on Maasdam...help?

[Sayyadina]

My husband and I are on the verge of booking a spring cruise on the Maasdam. He won't go unless we have a stateroom with a window. I've been looking at prices, and I'm a bit confused by something: the E category staterooms (deck A) are actually cheaper than the HH (lower promenade, obstructed view). Can someone tell me why this could be? It just seems strange. Do the Es smell bad or something? :p Just kidding. I was hoping someone could shed some light on this so we knew better what we were getting into.

 

JodyM

[Roz]

As with real estate, it's location, location, location. The Lower Prom is generally considered a more desirable, convenient location than A Deck (steerage :D ). That's the simplest explanation I can give you.

 

Roz

[HAL92]

The Lower Promenade is deck 2 or 3 and is a much more desireable location, as it is not in the "low-part" of the ship. The cabins are about the same size, but the HH also have a real window, even know it has an obstructed view, and the E cabins have a porthole or very small window. Like in real estate: Location, location, location are the three most important things. The A Deck is the lowest passenger deck, very close to the water line (steerage :D), and on some of HAL's ships, is a crew-only deck that is used for boarding tenders.

[Sayyadina]

I thought it was something along these lines. Thanks!

[Sweetdreams]

We booked rather last minute (for us anyway-60 days out) and took advantage of a promotion for L stateroom on aft lower promenade. This turned out to be a great choice for us. We were close proximity to everything and loved being on 6 steps to access of port or starboard. We often had our "own" huge verandah to ourselves complete with teak loungers!

[boards]

Are the windows of the "E" cat. really only porthole windows? From the magazine I thought the window configuration showed there were regular windows. We were thinking of booking an "E' cat. but were hoping for more than porthole windows.

[HAL92]

Most of the outside cabins on all HAL ships on the very lowest passenger deck(A deck) have only porthole windows. Ons ome ships where the E cabins are above A deck, they might have regular windows but they are still very small and much smaller than a window that you would get on Lower Promenade Deck.

[Lisa63]

Our category E cabin on Maasdam's A deck had a window, not a porthole.

 

The only negative was that we heard some buzzing noises from below when we pulled into port. Other than that, it was a nice, quiet cabin. The added bonus was that we were always the first in the elevators. :)

[cdkempton]

Category H and G are the only ones that have port holes on A deck and Main deck. This is according to the new cruise brochure (the large one) for Apr 2005-2007 for Caribbean, Mexico & Panama Canal. The HH cat seems to be the only listings for fully obstructed views. The pricing in the new brochure shows HH as the least expensive of the outside staterooms. I think if you're looking at the prices on the HAL web site, you may want to speak with a HAL rep to confirm the pricing. The web site could very well be incorrect. I've noticed several discrepancies in the past. It has never stopped me from booking a cruise, however, and, if you are booking online, you will see the final $$ before you accept. Go for it! and have a wonderful cruise. The E cat is just fine.

[ekerr19]

Well, I think the cabin designations are definitely changing... we've been in most of the outside cabins at one time or another (all on S class ships) and really never had an "obsructed" view... I'm not sure what an obstructed view would be, other than the view of a lifeboat... the Noordam III had some of the worst configurations and weird sightlines, but we loved her none the less. :)

 

DH once selected the most forward cabin on Main Deck (Veendam) I thought it would be awful, but we loved it.

 

On our Maasdam 2004, we were in an E and it was fine, we booked so late and were taking the kids, we got the last outside quad cabin - had a great view. :)