Zaandam Panama Canal - January 2023 - Neptune vs. Vista Suite?

[NiceAunt]

Greetings!  

 

Friends of ours want us to join them on the 15 day Panama Canal Cruise leaving from San Diego in January 2023.  They are booked in a Neptune Suite.   Is it worth the cost difference versus the Vista Suite?   This will be our first HAL sailing. 

 

We have never been on a cruise longer than 7 days and certainly have never been on one that is "at sea" for more than 1 day.    I have been on a Seabourn ship in the past, as well as 3 Royal Caribbean ships (the ones with 6,000+ people).   Each time I had a room with a balcony, never a suite.    My husband has never been on a large cruise ship, only a Sea Dream Yacht cruise for 7 days.   Sea Dream doesn't have any balconies at all. 

 

Our friends are telling us it will be worth it for a number of reasons, one of which is the consecutive "at sea" and "Panama" days where we will not be getting off the ship.  Not that we plan to spend the entire time in our rooms, but they said having the extra room -- along with the additional amenities -- will be worth it and we will be glad we did.

Thoughts on this?     

[CruiserBruce]

Only you can decide if it is worth it to you. But a little reading of the benefits of a Neptune Suite, particularly on a longer, hot weather cruise, such as unlimited included laundry,  and I think you will decide it definitely has value to you.

[0106]

Please read about what perks a Neptune suite receives.  Personally,  I don’t think the Neptune is worth $4000 more for the cruise.  They will do a bag of laundry for $20.  It’s great to move around the ship while transiting the canal.  There is a wonderful promenade deck with lounge chairs if you would like to sit out in the shade.  There are plenty of lovely rooms with a variety of activities to occupy you on sea days.  Of course, only you can decide if it’s worth it.

Edited March 29, 2022 by 0106
Word choice

[GeorgeCharlie]

We have sailed in a Vista suite on the Volendam, which is a R-class ship similar to the Zaandam. We found the cabin to be around the same size of a regular verandah cabin on the other classes of HAL ships - that being about half the size of a Neptune suite.

 

Other then double Mariner points, it didn't come with any of the normal Neptune suite benefits, i.e. access to the Neptune Lounge, a private concierge, laundry, etc. The only reason we went with a Vista suite, was that it was the cheapest cabin on the ship which had a balcony!!😞

[Sea42]

16 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Only you can decide if it is worth it to you. But a little reading of the benefits of a Neptune Suite, particularly on a longer, hot weather cruise, such as unlimited included laundry,  and I think you will decide it definitely has value to you.

When you can get unlimited laundry for under $10 a day in any cabin, I don't think that perk is incentive enough to consider when deciding on whether or not to spend thousands more on a Neptune Suite.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

You can buy most of the Neptune perks with club orange or cash for far less than the suite.     Most people on their first cruises on a new ship spend more time outside their cabin and for a PC trip you often go to the bow or stern and switch sides in public areas.   

 

As others have said, only you can decide if it’s “worth it”.