Volendam room 7002

[gregma60]

Just booked a 7 day Alaska cruise in August in this cabin.  Anyone have any pics post updates from last dry dock?  Was also wondering if the Bridge which sticks out quite a ways blocks forward views? Also curious about the electrical outlets in this cabin, are they the same one only? This is our first cruise and first time in Alaska, I'm really excited!! Hope I selected a good cabin! 

 

-gregma

[AKJonesy]

Hopefully someone else who has actually booked this stateroom might be able to answer your specific questions.  You are below the SPA so that will be good in terms of no early morning or evening noise.  Here is a review I found on another site.  The only thing it mentions is a bit of noise from staff.  There is nothing on Halfacts or YTube for this stateroom.  Sounds wonderful for you.  

 

"This was our first cruise. It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever experienced. We disconnected and let the world float by - wonderful! I am told we were lucky with the weather given that we had about half an hour of drizzle and nothing more. Our suite was 7002 which is very generous in size. On the plus side you only have another verandah on one side of you and the verandah is large. On the minus there is a staff service door in the hallway outside which occasionally has a fair amount of traffic going in and out which you can hear."

[gregma60]

4 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

Hopefully someone else who has actually booked this stateroom might be able to answer your specific questions.  You are below the SPA so that will be good in terms of no early morning or evening noise.  Here is a review I found on another site.  The only thing it mentions is a bit of noise from staff.  There is nothing on Halfacts or YTube for this stateroom.  Sounds wonderful for you.  

 

"This was our first cruise. It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever experienced. We disconnected and let the world float by - wonderful! I am told we were lucky with the weather given that we had about half an hour of drizzle and nothing more. Our suite was 7002 which is very generous in size. On the plus side you only have another verandah on one side of you and the verandah is large. On the minus there is a staff service door in the hallway outside which occasionally has a fair amount of traffic going in and out which you can hear."

Thank you so much for that info!  It does help a bit.

 

-gregma

[erewhon]

We have stayed over 100 nights in 7002, the bridge does not obstruct forward views, often when we were on the lovely big balcony the Captain would wave to us. 

Re the door to the staff quarters, we rarely heard any noise, sometimes we would be leaving the stateroom at the same time as a staff member left their area, they would always speak with us.

Would be very happy to again stay in this stateroom.

[gregma60]

4 hours ago, erewhon said:

We have stayed over 100 nights in 7002, the bridge does not obstruct forward views, often when we were on the lovely big balcony the Captain would wave to us. 

Re the door to the staff quarters, we rarely heard any noise, sometimes we would be leaving the stateroom at the same time as a staff member left their area, they would always speak with us.

Would be very happy to again stay in this stateroom.

Awesome! Do you recall if there are any outlets by the bed in that stateroom? 

 

-gregma

[erewhon]

3 hours ago, gregma60 said:

Awesome! Do you recall if there are any outlets by the bed in that stateroom? 

 

-gregma

 

@gregma60  we think there were outlets, but it's several years since we sailed on the Volendam.  

Maybe someone  who has recently sailed in a Volendam Neptune suite will be able to help.

Edited March 7, 2023 by erewhon

[DaveOKC]

13 hours ago, erewhon said:

We have stayed over 100 nights in 7002, the bridge does not obstruct forward views, often when we were on the lovely big balcony the Captain would wave to us. 

Re the door to the staff quarters, we rarely heard any noise, sometimes we would be leaving the stateroom at the same time as a staff member left their area, they would always speak with us.

Would be very happy to again stay in this stateroom.

THANKS so much for this information!  We have reserved this cabin and marked our reservation Do Not Upgrade (my PCC thought I was crazy for doing so in this case) as I did not want to chance the location HAL might select.  This puts my mind to rest.

[gregma60]

6 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

THANKS so much for this information!  We have reserved this cabin and marked our reservation Do Not Upgrade (my PCC thought I was crazy for doing so in this case) as I did not want to chance the location HAL might select.  This puts my mind to rest.

I'm really curious what they would think an upgraded cabin would be...  Other than the "apartment" cabin directly across from this one, is there a better one on the ship?

[gregma60]

12 hours ago, erewhon said:

 

@gregma60  we think there were outlets, but it's several years since we sailed on the Volendam.  

Maybe someone  who has recently sailed in a Volendam Neptune suite will be able to help.

No worries!  Hopefully someone will respond.  If not, we will for sure look and update.

[erewhon]

2 hours ago, gregma60 said:

I'm really curious what they would think an upgraded cabin would be...  Other than the "apartment" cabin directly across from this one, is there a better one on the ship?

 

@gregma60  A few years ago, 7002  and 7004 became  category SB, before that all the Neptune Suites were SA.  Nothing about the suites changed except for the category name.  I thought that something must have changed in the stateroom, but no, the stateroom was exactly the same as previously 

 HAl probably thinks an upgrade would be to an SA below the noisy section of the Lido!

[gregma60]

3 hours ago, erewhon said:

 

@gregma60  A few years ago, 7002  and 7004 became  category SB, before that all the Neptune Suites were SA.  Nothing about the suites changed except for the category name.  I thought that something must have changed in the stateroom, but no, the stateroom was exactly the same as previously 

 HAl probably thinks an upgrade would be to an SA below the noisy section of the Lido!

Only thing I can see is that they are just a bit farther away from the neptune lounge? Closer to the crew door? 

 

I take it, all sa/sb rooms are exactly the same size and same balcony sizes? 

 

-gregma

[3rdGenCunarder]

Yes, SA and SB are the same. I had one of the forward Neptunes on Maasdam and had no problem with the location. I was under the Lido on Amsterdam and had no noise issues. Under the pool has a risk of noise because of loungers being dragged around on the hard floor.

[erewhon]

4 hours ago, gregma60 said:

Only thing I can see is that they are just a bit farther away from the neptune lounge? Closer to the crew door? 

 

I take it, all sa/sb rooms are exactly the same size and same balcony sizes? 

 

-gregma

 

 

@gregma60  we were told that the two staterooms are SB because they are so far away from the Neptune Lounge..........did not seem far to us!

 

[DaveOKC]

18 hours ago, gregma60 said:

I'm really curious what they would think an upgraded cabin would be...  Other than the "apartment" cabin directly across from this one, is there a better one on the ship?

Awhile back all the Neptunes were in the "S" category.  Then HAL created SA and SB  for the smaller ships.  IMO, the reason for this was to allow HAL to market "guarantee" Neptune cabins (the SBs) at a bit lower price and when you called to book they would try to up market you to a SA so that you could select your specific cabin (for a few hundred dollars more of course).  A pure marketing ploy.

 

As others have stated, these two SB cabins on the Volendam are identical to the SA cabins (except a bit further from the Neptune Lounge) and in some respects are better due to a lower probability of experiencing noise from above.

 

[semibeater]

I agree with the opine of OKC. I booked SB guarantee on Zaandam (sister) for upcoming Can-NE this summer. No worries about getting NS anywhere as they are all good. Current SB bookings will probably be offered SA upsells for more $ as SB's are sold out currently. Once in a NS you won't want anything else IMO.

[gregma60]

9 hours ago, erewhon said:

 

 

@gregma60  we were told that the two staterooms are SB because they are so far away from the Neptune Lounge..........did not seem far to us!

 

That's what I figured.  I guess what...  10 steps further from the Neptune Lounge is too far to be considered an SA?  lol

 

-gregma

Edited March 8, 2023 by gregma60

[gregma60]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

Awhile back all the Neptunes were in the "S" category.  Then HAL created SA and SB  for the smaller ships.  IMO, the reason for this was to allow HAL to market "guarantee" Neptune cabins (the SBs) at a bit lower price and when you called to book they would try to up market you to a SA so that you could select your specific cabin (for a few hundred dollars more of course).  A pure marketing ploy.

 

As others have stated, these two SB cabins on the Volendam are identical to the SA cabins (except a bit further from the Neptune Lounge) and in some respects are better due to a lower probability of experiencing noise from above.

 

It's the exact same for the Sandals resorts that we stay at pretty much every year for our anniversary.  They come up with VERY creative ways to change room categories, create more, etc for the same reason.  "Upgrades".  The interesting thing is when I booked this (middle of last year), this room was a bit more expensive than the "SA" rooms.  Thought it was because there was only one on the entire ship.  Looking at other sailings, it seems as if 7002 is the first to go and is very difficult to get.

 

-gregma

[gregma60]

29 minutes ago, semibeater said:

I agree with the opine of OKC. I booked SB guarantee on Zaandam (sister) for upcoming Can-NE this summer. No worries about getting NS anywhere as they are all good. Current SB bookings will probably be offered SA upsells for more $ as SB's are sold out currently. Once in a NS you won't want anything else IMO.

Sounds about right.  Thank you for the info, I agree completely.  I wonder what the criteria is.  If you are over 50 feet from the Neptune Lounge they consider it a lower class?  

 

-gregma