oosterdam aft cabins?

[sj41451]

Any tips for booking an aft cabin

on Osterdam or Zuiderdam. Are any of

them private? They all look exposed

except the very top deck.

Thank you!

Sue

[777steve]

S or SS? I've stayed in Aft S on the Oo and I can speak to those but not the others.

 

Cheers!

 

Steve in Houston

steve777@houston.rr.com

 

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

 

HAL Westerdam 12/12/2004

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Steve, I do not believe there are any SS Aft cabins on any of the Vista class. I could be wrong but I would of considered one for our upcoming Westerdam next March. We really want a large blacony and want to try the Aft cabin. Unfortuately S is not in our budget since we are trying to do at least 2, 7 days cruises a year. I believe that Aft cabins are "A"s or "S"s only.

 

In answer to sj41451 aka Sue, Yes they are all ex posed with some cover near the door. I have never had one myself and am looking forward to having one. In those who have spoke of them, they have all agreed that the levels above have not really bothered them. Yes, they are not overly private but they are more private and quieter than laying by the pool which I often do to read,

Does anyone know aprox. how many feet it is from door to end of balcony on the Upper Promanade Deck? We will be in cabin 4179 which is a VA cat. on the Westerdam.

 

Steve, weren't you in a S on the Veranadah Deck. How deep was your balcony?

 

Lisa L

 

Monarch of the Seas-March 2002 West. Carib.

MS Zuiderdam-April 2003 East.Carib.

Monarch of the Seas-December 2003 Baja Mexico

MS Oosterdam-May 2004 Alaska

 

Till we set sail on the MS Ryndam-Sea of Cortez-November 2004

<center>

 

Till We set sail on the MS Westerdam-Western Caribbean March 2005

<center>

 

href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">

</center>

[sj41451]

Thank you Lisa. I think you are right

about the S and SS. I think the view

will compensate for a little loss of

privacy. I hope you enjoy your cruise!

 

Sue

[sj41451]

Lisa,

 

We took the Sea of Cortez cruise on

the Ryndam last February. Don't miss

snorkling with the sea lions. Los Islotos

was the name of the excursion. It was

incredible.

 

Sue

[777steve]

Oops!!

 

Sorry about that ... I had released my brain from duty for a little while.

 

As stated, there is some loss of privacy - but frankly, it's not like having gawkers standing over the rails trying to get a peek .. it's more like being able to turn around (if you even think about it) and wave up to your neighbors and friends. For purposes of staying out of the sun or dining a little more privately (I'm a train wreck early in the morning with my HAL bathrobe awaiting my first coffee with room service!) .... I just pulled the table closer to the window/door area and it was just fine .. slightly shaded and saving all of those onlookers the horrors of me in the morning.

 

On the other hand - the other 5,000sf of balcony is luxury of the highest order. Frankly, that balcony is what brought us back to HAL for our December Westerdam sailing - same cabin - other side of the ship. We had 5186 on the Oosterdam and will be in 5187 on the Westerdam.

 

I don't know the exact dimensions - we did walk them off .. but I believe the width from the neighbor rail to the port railing was something on the order of 20+ feet (I think closer to 22-25) .. 15 ft or so from door to rail ..and the length down the side was 25 or 28 with a 6 foot depth. Really gargantuan proportions. It gets very windy down the side when we are under full sail because the wind gets free rein ... there is not the normal windbreak that the balcony walls would provide once it passes our neighbors around the corner. But it is wonderful on a moonlit night to go around there (where it is completely covered and private) and let the wind blow the troubles away ....

 

if it sounds like I am anxious to be back aboard, there's a reason - Cabin 5187!!!

 

Cheers

Steve

 

Steve in Houston

steve777@houston.rr.com

 

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

 

HAL Westerdam 12/12/2004

[sj41451]

Steve,

 

Why did you choose the Verandah deck

over the Upper Verandah or Rotterdam

decks? We have the option to choose

from all three and don't know which

to go with. Thank you.

 

Sue

[777steve]

If you are booking an S category, there is substantially more room in the suites on 5 than on the others. 5186 and 5187 are at 365 or so square feet as compared to a low of 315 on some of the others. I think the balcony may be larger as well but that's a perception. You can get the actual footages of each cabin by going through a booking on HAL... when you get to stateroom selction you can see the actual square footage for a particular cabin by clicing on "Stateroom Details" once a cabin number has been selected ... you can repeat that as often as you need to but you will quickly see the standards.... these numbers compare to a normal side S at something on the order of 393 square feet of actual cabin floor space.

 

Hope that helps....

 

Cheers!

 

Steve in Houston

steve777@houston.rr.com

 

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

 

HAL Westerdam 12/12/2004

[sj41451]

Thanks Steve.

That makes it more clear.

Do you book on the HAL site?

 

Sue

[777steve]

You're welcome .... and no, I do some validation on the HAL site - and I have done the booking process, but I had some snafus with transferring to my agent. I use an agency in California that I learned of here. Here's the link if you're interested. I always use Livia - she is very pleasant and I've had prices that I'm happy with. Sometimes I-cruise and others may post prices that appear to be better .. but when the onboard credits are added (and other things) I find a better value and don't mind spending an extra $20.00 when all is said and done to have person I know I can access, knows her business and will look out for my interests.

 

American Way Cruise Vacations

 

 

Cheers!

 

Steve in Houston

steve777@houston.rr.com

 

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"

 

HAL Westerdam 12/12/2004

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Steve, Thanks for the info, I am now excited, that will be a pretty large balcony. Granted we will not be as wide as your balcony being an "A" but will still have a large balcony.

We also choose the lower deck because it appears that the Upper Promenade and Verandah Deck Aft cabins look to have a large balcony and room. We were on the Verandah Deck for both the Zuirderdam and the Oosterdam. It will be different being on the Upper Promenade Deck. Does any have know for sure if these decks do have larger cabins and balconys or is it an optical illusion?

 

The web site below gives sq. ft. for each cabin the only thing I am unsure of is if it includes balcony space in the number.

http://www.myovscruise.com/cruises/cruisedefault_nolist.jsp?cobrand=10999&pid=0&langrecno=1&sessionid=5342D20B83FAAFE7C1467C629433247F.tomcat&javascript=&jsessionid=5342D20B83FAAFE7C1467C629433247F.tomcat&webpagerecno=972

 

Sue, I will definitely check on the snorkel with the Sea Lions. We are looking forward to going on the Ryndam.

 

Lisa L

 

Monarch of the Seas-March 2002 West. Carib.

MS Zuiderdam-April 2003 East.Carib.

Monarch of the Seas-December 2003 Baja Mexico

MS Oosterdam-May 2004 Alaska

 

Till we set sail on the MS Ryndam-Sea of Cortez-November 2004

<center>

 

Till We set sail on the MS Westerdam-Western Caribbean March 2005

<center>

 

href="http://www.escati.com/counter98/free_time_codes.htm">

</center>

[emptynester]

I just got off the Oo yesterday. Fabulous cabin! Stayed in SS class room 6063 (starboard side). Very large room with a huge balcony (had large round table and two chairs AND a smaller table with two more chairs. All of the side facing cabins are very private because they have solid panels for privacy on the balcony. Only the aft, rear-facing cabins lacked privacy because they can be observed from any deck above, including the public decks.

[dexter]

We just booked an aft suite cat: S on Zuiderdam 6156. The cabin above us can see us if we are close to the rail, but there is still enough room for privacy. I think the lack of privacy is far outweighed by the total square footage of the balcony. The partitions between the balconies extend straight up and out to the rail unlike the Constellation which was curved and left plenty of viewing area between balconies. Any aft cabin is the way to go. We've had 7 or 8 guests out there and it wasn't crowded.