A Cabin Live and Learn Experience

You really don't need to do a whole lot of research, there is a wealth of experience and info right here on these threads. We had no idea you could get stung with guarentee 'upgrades' until we were upgraded to a closet with a porthole. A lot of it comes from cruising until you get a sense of what works for you.

We like inside cabins, and we like quiet when we sleep. That means K cabins on the Main Deck or I cabins on the Vernada deck on S and R class ships. On Vista class ships, the J cabins on the main deck are to our liking. I don't want to knock guarentees, they are a great way to find out what cabins you perfer. In nearly all cases we were upgraded to very nice cabins. Now that we know our way around, we select what we want and book it.

Just ask a few questions, and the posters here will pile on the answers.

We gave up the idea of upgrades because our one and only upgrade was to a cabin over a galley, usually keeping me awake until about midnight (past my bedtime). We now always choose the cabin we want and take no upgrades.

Sometimes you just can't choose the cabin you prefer. We've booked guarantee cabin a couple of times because that was all that was available. The first time we did it, the cabin was great. The second time we did it the cruise line told us they were upgrading us - Hah - the cabin was under the pool. This trip (August, will be our third guarantee, don't know our cain yet.

What I didn't know until the cruise line responded to my complaints about being under the pool was that we could have refused that upgrade. Ya learn something new every day!

Really, how would you reasearch this? I do work for living so I don't know how you'd go about that. I don't have a ton of time.

Lorekauf,

I used to live in Florida, moved to California, kept that great travel agent. We do everything by phone and email. Except for March when I was in Florida and we had lunch together!

I'm trying to select a cabin on the Veendam. With all the posts about horrible cabins, I was wondering if anyone has posted information on the following K cabins 582, 584, 581, 585, 589 and 593. It appears that the laundry on the deck above is under 584 and 585. And a white space under 581, 585, 589 and 593.

I can recommend K549. It is one of the sideways cabins and is considerably larger than the other K cabins. On our June 5th cruise my friends were in K549 and my kids were in the much smaller K536 around the corner with 4. K548 is another sideways cabin in the same area. They experienced no noise and the room is close to the forward elevators. My friend loved the mattress. It was her first HAL cruise and she admitted to sleeping in late because the room was so dark and quiet and the mattress so comfy. :D

Diane

I can recommend K549. It is one of the sideways cabins and is considerably larger than the other K cabins. On our June 5th cruise my friends were in K549 and my kids were in the much smaller K536 around the corner with 4. K548 is another sideways cabin in the same area. They experienced no noise and the room is close to the forward elevators. My friend loved the mattress. It was her first HAL cruise and she admitted to sleeping in late because the room was so dark and quiet and the mattress so comfy. :D

Diane

I will take note of those cabins. Unfortunately, they aren't available for the 2013 Veendam cruise. Hard to believe since the information on the cruise was just released. Since it is to Antarctica, those passengers on board a HAL ship probably snapped them up.

We sailed the Maasdam on March 28th, the last cruise before dry-dock. We were in cabin 365 and didn't hear any noises from above.

We spent several weeks in cabin 371 (next door to OP's cabin 373) last fall on Maasdam and heard no noises from above either. Perhaps what the OP experienced was an isolated incident and not representative of what passengers encounter on a regular basis in these particular cabins.

I will take note of those cabins. Unfortunately, they aren't available for the 2013 Veendam cruise. Hard to believe since the information on the cruise was just released. Since it is to Antarctica, those passengers on board a HAL ship probably snapped them up.

That might not be an absolute. HAL plays games with inventory to make sure the get full booking. The cabin you want may not have been 'released from inventory' for booking yet. That is where a good TA comes in handy, because the TA should have the contact at HAL to get them to release the cabin you want for booking.

That might not be an absolute. HAL plays games with inventory to make sure the get full booking. The cabin you want may not have been 'released from inventory' for booking yet. That is where a good TA comes in handy, because the TA should have the contact at HAL to get them to release the cabin you want for booking.

You are correct about the cabin not being released. My TA thought it hadn't been released because HAL wanted to book 3 in the room, but then he went to grab it and was able to get 549 on the Veendam for me. So I learned that it pays to ask your TA to try to get the room not just look at what HAL has listed as available.

Thank you schoolinmy3 for recommending the cabin.

My experience is with 548 (first HAL cabin), but you'll be happy Storylady. A perfect choice for Antarctica.

My experience is with 548 (first HAL cabin), but you'll be happy Storylady. A perfect choice for Antarctica.

Thanks Fann1sh. Only reason I didn't choose that one was because the laundry was nearby. It is across the hall, but people tend to congregate around the laundry area I have noticed.

We were on the Maasdam for a 14 night New England/Canada cruise from May 28 to June 11. We took a guarantee (first time in 10 cruises).

They assigned us cabin 504. What a disaster! The horrific noises and vibrations every morning when the ship prepared for and completed docking were horrendous! This lasted for about an hour!:(

We complained but were told there were no other cabins available - they were sold out for that week, but would make every effort to change us for our 2nd week. We managed to suffer through this every morning.

Our 2nd week they changed us to 816, which was absolutely quiet and pleasant.

I must say the staff and crew of this ship are the friendliest and do try to be very accommodating. But I will certainly choose my cabin carefully in the future!

Here's a link to a Cruise Critic article that should be of some help:

 

Finding a Cruise Travel Agent

Consider joining the 75 percent of cruisers who book through a travel agent for expert advice and personal service.

Thanks for the link but the info here really is pretty much common sense.

I can barely get my TA to do anything I ask her for never mind know which cabin is bad on EVERY ship. Seems like a tall order. Before someone tells me I should get a new TA she's the best I've found in Calgary. I'd love to live in a city where there was some decent TA's.

Hi Lorekauf,

Sorry to hear that - this always makes me disheartened when I hear these things about TAs. It brings a bad name to all of us in the profession - many of us whom work very diligently for our clients!

I assure you there are some great TA's in our city here including some cruise specialists who deal with cruises and cruises alone and really do go out of their way to make your trip a great one! ;)

Google is your friend. I hope you have better luck for your next cruising adventure and will find a good TA here in the city whom specialises in HAL. Sorry to be circumspect, but advertising or promoting is not allowed on CC here - but there are some agents out there near to you that do care, I promise ;)

I found this post very helpful (and comforting) after having made a non-refundable booking in 366 on the Maasdam. And yes, I did use the search function!

In case it's helpful for anyone else -- I've just returned from the cruise and while we had some noise overhead, it was rather sporadic and not unbearable. It didn't interfere with our enjoyment of the cruise.

Can't speak though for the other cabins in this row, or those on the starboard side.

It does seem the the problem cabins on S class ships (Maasdam, Statendam, Veendam, Ryndam) are on lower prom, starting aft of the cross hallway (cabins 366 and 367). Galley noise affects cabins to the next cross hallway/elevators at cabins 390/389, and a BIT beyond - as noted by atraveller2 noise peters out around 401. Also, starboard is much worse than port as once pointed out to me by catl331/jtl513 (I'm sure others have posted as well). So -

 

- for anyone searching this forum for noisy cabins, the cabins to definitely avoid are 365, 367, 369, 371, 373, 375, 377, 379, 381, 383, 385, 387, 391, 393.

 

Don't know why I'm directing a post at searches, when it seems no one ever uses the search, but....eternal optimist....

I found this post very helpful (and comforting) after having made a non-refundable booking in 366 on the Maasdam. And yes, I did use the search function!

 

In case it's helpful for anyone else -- I've just returned from the cruise and while we had some noise overhead, it was rather sporadic and not unbearable. It didn't interfere with our enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Can't speak though for the other cabins in this row, or those on the starboard side.

Are you aware that this is a six year old thread?

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I am so sorry this happened but I am sure you learned a valuable lesson. One thing I always do is book early, book a refundable fare and always be sure I have cabins above and below my selected cabin. Some of my friends don't understand why I book so early, I tell them, I like what I like and I want to be sure my cabin is in the perfect location for me. Hey the way I book if I need to cancel I still get my money back as long as I cancel before the final payment date and I get the perfect cabin, for me.....

Are you aware that this is a six year old thread?

 

 

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Ha ha ha, nope I didn't realize that and I just posted a reply:p