Rotterdam A6172 & A6174

[readinglady]

We are going on a Baltic Cruise this summer on the Rotterdam. Has anyone stayed in Verandah rooms A6172 or A6174? We can't wait for our cruise!

[grannynurse]

Hi Readinglady.

We were in A6174 on our first transatlantic for 17 days in 2003. It is a great location very conveniently located around the corner from the midship elevators (no noise from the elevator).

 

The cabin is long, and narrower than the S suites, the only possible logjam is when someone is sitting at the dresser (with lighted make-up mirror) and someone else wants to go out to the veranda. It would be a problem if the couch was opened out to a bed as there is really no room for the good sized coffee table in the middle of the room (which raises to dining height) when the bed is open. It blocks traffic unless you really move it out of the way.

BTW, bring an extension cord with plug-ins as the only outlet is at the desk.

There is also a shelf for wine glasses, cameras etc at the end of the desk/dresser with cabinets behind it (over the TV)

 

Needless to say we brought a lot of luggage, and never had any crowding. The dresser has 9 deep drawers. The closets have adjustable shelves. There is plenty of room in the bathroom with has a standard sized whirlpool tub, wonderful rainshower head, retractible clothesline, plus a (not deep) glass medicine chest and a storage shelf under the vanity. There are large drawers under the bed, and room to store luggage.

 

We love portside cabins and had wonderful views during our crossing, especially in Prince Christian Sound Greenland. I don't think that the verandas are open to eachother, but I think the steward may be able to unlock the partition. If so you can extend your veranda across the 2 cabins.

 

We had some really stormy seas and felt very little motion in 6174. We had dinner with friends in the penthouse and were really rockin and rollin, but when we got back to our cabin we no longer felt the excessive motion.

 

Enjoy enjoy enjoy

GN

[readinglady]

Hi Grannynurse,

Thank you so much for your input on the cabin. In either 6174 or 6172, we will be using the sofa bed. We are travelling with our 3 daughters (19, 16 & 12.) We will make sure that the sofa bed is put back together during the day. It would be great to have the verandah divider opened. Thanks for the hint about the extension.cord We will sure to bring one. Our travel agent picked out these rooms and I am so glad to hear that you liked the location. We are so looking forward to this cruise and this is our first balcony room.

[grannynurse]

Readinglady,

You may want 6172 as the bed faces forward toward the bow and the bathroom vanity is a little longer. The bed in 6174 faces aft, some people don't like that feeling but it never bothered us.

Your room cards will be keyed for 1 adult in each cabin as that is the way HAL does with kids in a separate cabin. You don't have to sleep apart but that's probably how it will be set at the front office so don't be surprised.

The hassocks open and you can put a disposable bag in for dirty laundry if you don't want dirty laundry in the closet.

Remember to take rain gear and travel umbrellas, we ran into a lot of rain in Europe on both trips. Or you could have a heat wave as there have been 3 in the last 4 years, so much so that many rivers dried up cancelling river boat cruises.

Rotterdam VI is a very classy lady, I'm sure you'll love her. She is our favorite ship, having spent 60+ days on board since 2002.

There were many children on board during our last 35 day roundtrip from NY so I'm sure your daughters will make some new friends on board. There were quite a few teenage girls also.

I wish I were going this summer.

Have a wonderful time.

GN

[readinglady]

Dear Grannynurse,

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the time you took to respond to my post. All of the information is invaluable. You are the best!!!:)

[grannynurse]

Dear readinglady,

I think I missed the boat. I assumed you were booking both cabins.

On the return trip from Amsterdam, my 30 year old son joined us for the voyage home so we were 3 in a cabin. He had all his "stuff" as he had been in England for 10 days prior to joining us. We made it very well space-wise, but I hade some time sharing to do to get ready for dinner. It workrd better than i expected for the 18 days home.

 

I envy your trip to the Baltic, this is still on the wish list for us. We loved Norway, and were "that" close to Russia, but .....

Thanks for your nice comments,

Please let us know about your trip, I'll be waiting to hear all about it and what you think of the Rotterdam. She isn't that different from the layout of Zaandam, which we also like, but as sister flagship, she has a personality all her own.

It won't be long now,

GN

[readinglady]

Hi Grannynurse, No, you did not miss the boat....we did book both cabins, so your advice was great. I will let you know all about the cruise when we get back. My husband spent a year of college in Sweden and a friend of his will take us around Stockholm. He also spent a lot time in all of the places we are visiting and he is very excited to share his experiences with me and our daughters.

[ventru]

We were on the Baltic cruise last year and it was marvellous. Warnemunde was a surprise to us, St. Petersburg great and ofcourse all other cities Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm were great. We travel a lot in scandinavia (Norway, Sweden), so visiting these countries with the Rotterdam was a new experience to us. Unfortunately you cannot visit the fjords (the Rotterdam is too large to do that).

 

I have a question, how is the quality of the sofa bed.We love the HAL beds, and now we (3 friends) share a cabin, so one of us has to sleep on that sofa bed.....

[grannynurse]

Hi Ventru,

If you are in a cabin smaller than the "S" suite, the sofa bed is a single and opens by dropping the back down not like a regular fold-out sofa bed. If the one using it is taller than 5'10 his feet may hang over the end. It's not as comfortable as the sofa bed in the suite but it's not too bad. The steward will make it up every night and put the room back together in the morning.

There is a curtain to close off the area between the sofa and the bed and another one to close off the entry alcove that contains the closets and the bathroom.

GN

[ventru]

We have booked a Large L cabin. Thanks for your information! We will have to "dice" who will have to sleep on the sofa .. :)

 

I do love the HAL beds, and now I heard from my TA they're made in Enschede, Holland. I already asked the USA manufacturer, who formerly made those lovely beds, but I could not order a bed over here in the Netherlands.

[grannynurse]

Ventru,

I may have to back-track on what I said about the cabin layout. I'm not familiar with the L cabins, I was describing the A,B, C cabins. Maybe you should look at the HAL website to see the layout of the inside. The book shows that some large L's have both a sofa bed and a pulldown.

Sorry about the confusion.

GN

[ventru]

Look what I've found even a layout of the L staterooms: http://www.cruisecheap.com/cruisestaterooms.asp?ShipID=73

 

We chose the L because of the 50% reduction, travel with 3 friends now instead of 2 and share the cost!

[Gerd]

:) Hello READINGLADY

 

I just see jour questions about your “Viking and Czars” cruise on July 4 out of Rotterdam.

 

Since I have launched at last November a Roll-Call for this wonderful trip, I am very pleased if you could sign in :

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=252653

 

 

 

Thanks in advance, and best regards

 

G E R D

 

 

 

 

 

Our marvelous cruises :

 

MS Ryndam – Wayfarer – March 1997

MS Noordam - Transatlantic Island Hook - April 2001

MS Volendam - Southern Caribbean - April 2002

MS Volendam - Westfarer Caribbean - April 2004

MS Prinsendam - Windmills & Waterford – September 2004

MS Westerdam - Western Caribbean - April 2005

MS Statendam - Hawaii Circle - September 2005

 

82 days - 22 '839 Nm

 

 

Future Cruises :

 

MS Rotterdam - Vikings and Czars - July 2006

 

MS VEENDAM - Southern Caribbean - March 2007