A Cabin Live and Learn Experience

We just returned from the Canada - New England Cruise on the Maasdam (A full review later today). We have sailed on HAL before with mid-ship inside cabins. There were no mid-ship inside cabins available when we booked this cruise, so our TA told us there were mid-ship outside obstructed-view cabins available on Deck 6.

We were booked into Cabin 373. Never again will I book a cabin that is under the kitchen. :( I didn't realize the cabin was located under the kitchen area, until we went to bed. I take partial responsibility for this error, but do think our TA should have mentioned it to us. If noises like moving furniture across wooden floors, a herd of galloping elephants, or a bowling alley don't bother you, then you will be happy with a cabin under the kitchen area!!

The cabin itself was great as was the service and everything else about the cruise. Ear plugs saved the day!!:)

I looked on the deck plans and the space is just left blank. Unless someone had said something I would not have known what took up this space. Sounds like it is always a good idea to look at the deck plans and ask around. Great to hear that everything else was ok.

Sorry to hear that. We had a room underneath the kitchen on the Disney Magic. It was like they were scraping bins of dirty dishes across the floor every night. Something to look out for when booking a cabin.

Cate M.

We just returned from the Canada - New England Cruise on the Maasdam (A full review later today). We have sailed on HAL before with mid-ship inside cabins. There were no mid-ship inside cabins available when we booked this cruise, so our TA told us there were mid-ship outside obstructed-view cabins available on Deck 6.

 

We were booked into Cabin 373. Never again will I book a cabin that is under the kitchen. :( I didn't realize the cabin was located under the kitchen area, until we went to bed. I take partial responsibility for this error, but do think our TA should have mentioned it to us. If noises like moving furniture across wooden floors, a herd of galloping elephants, or a bowling alley don't bother you, then you will be happy with a cabin under the kitchen area!!

 

The cabin itself was great as was the service and everything else about the cruise. Ear plugs saved the day!!:)

I am so sorry to hear that you had one of THOSE staterooms:( I understand it can be anoying and extremely disruptive to a cruise!!!!

I must stand in defense of the TA though (no I am not one myself) as he/she may have never known of this problem.

I would never have known that there are staterooms with noise problems such as you had, if not for this Forum.

Please keep CC bookmarked and check here before you book your next one. I am sure we will be able to help you enjoy the next cruise much better:)

Joanie

Advice our TA gave us long ago: It pays to study those deck plans before booking a certain cabin; however, if you book a guarantee, there's no telling where you'll end up. Sometimes it works out beautifully, but for those times it doesn't. . . .

As you've posted, chalk it up to a learning experience, the hard way. Glad you packed those ear plugs.

I looked on the deck plans and the space is just left blank. Unless someone had said something I would not have known what took up this space. Sounds like it is always a good idea to look at the deck plans and ask around. Great to hear that everything else was ok.

Yes-----always beware of the dreaded white spaces. They can spell trouble.

i do blame the TA - they are getting paid to know these things. maybe not exactly what is in the white space shown on a deck plan, but that generally it is not a good thing to be above or below one. heck - if it was a good thing it would be labeled as a 'feature', not hidden.

live and learn. sounds like you learned a lesson to always, always look at the deck plans. awaiting your review.

Really sorry to hear this. how would you know if the space is white?

come on the boards next time. There are so many knowledgeable people here.

The white spaces always scare me:eek:

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.

That's one reason I scour the deck plans, and try to choose my cabin with

only cabins above me and below me.

On Celebrity Constellation, I let the sales rep talk me into a cabin with a white space (right next door). I was sooooo worried about it, but it ended up being a small space for crew members, and it was the best cabin I've sailed in to date, one of the cherished Concierge Cabins on deck 6 tucked in amongst all the suites, and not a single sound from that space next door. ABSOLUTELY HEAVENLY!

CruiseDeckPlan.com provides a fantastic way to compare ships and decks on a specific ship. You can pull the deck above and the deck below over the deck you are interested in booking. Immediately you can see potential problems by just lining up staircases. Any white space is a crew space/work area not a passenger area and is probably a red flag! If you see a white space next to the dining room and that area is above your cabin "STAY AWAY" there is a good chance it is a kitchen area. Also stay away from large white spaces in the center of the ship toward the stern, these are engine room spaces. The lower down you go around these spaces you bet there will be more noise and HEAT.

We were under the galley last year on the Ryndam, but it only kept us awake till about 10:30 pm! Was our first experience with an outside cabin - booked as part of a group, so this year, we booked directly with HAL and got our favorite, Main deck, inside cabin, mid-ship. Sleeping was great--in fact one Sunday morning we missed Mass as we slept till 8:30 am.

We were booked into Cabin 373. Never again will I book a cabin that is under the kitchen. :( I didn't realize the cabin was located under the kitchen area, until we went to bed. I take partial responsibility for this error, but do think our TA should have mentioned it to us. If noises like moving furniture across wooden floors, a herd of galloping elephants, or a bowling alley don't bother you, then you will be happy with a cabin under the kitchen area!!

 

The cabin itself was great as was the service and everything else about the cruise. Ear plugs saved the day!!:)

We spent several weeks last Fall in Cabin 371 on the Maasdam and do not remember hearing noises indicating that we were under a galley. I don't think we even considered what was on the deck above us.

Initially, I was not thrilled about our location on Lower Prom but we wanted to get on this particular sailing and had limited options. As it turned out we really liked this location and cabin.

We sailed prior to the Maasdam's Dry Dock so perhaps changes were made in the galley areas during that time resulting in excessive noise from the deck above.

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.[/quote]

 

 

Hey lorekauf, move east to Ontario! I have a great TA, who works for a large cruiseship;) chain, & is located right across the street from me! :) (Plus, you would enjoy far less severe winters here)! :D

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.

There is no law that says your TA has to be in your city Lorekauf. There are some great ones out there that are quite knowledgeable and if you do most of your own research (which I am sure you do), there are some good internet TA's that offer great incentives:D

We spent several weeks last Fall in Cabin 371 on the Maasdam and do not remember hearing noises indicating that we were under a galley. I don't think we even considered what was on the deck above us.

 

Initially, I was not thrilled about our location on Lower Prom but we wanted to get on this particular sailing and had limited options. As it turned out we really liked this location and cabin.

 

We sailed prior to the Maasdam's Dry Dock so perhaps changes were made in the galley areas during that time resulting in excessive noise from the deck above.

I also sailed on the Maasdam this February and had LP cabin 401 for 25 days had no problem sleeping, a slight bang so now and then but nothing excessive.

I always book an outside cabin on Lower Promenade on HAL, you can pretend of having a huge balcony without paying double the price.

Don't have a regular TA but shop the net for the best price and prefer to do my own homework. ;) We Dutch are frugal ya know!

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There is no law that says your TA has to be in your city Lorekauf. There are some great ones out there that are quite knowledgeable and if you do most of your own research (which I am sure you do), there are some good internet TA's that offer great incentives:D

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.

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.[/quote]

 

 

Hey lorekauf, move east to Ontario! I have a great TA, who works for a large cruiseship;) chain, & is located right across the street from me! :) (Plus, you would enjoy far less severe winters here)! :D

Unfortunately I have a job that doesn't transfer well to working in Ontario.

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....

great recap Fannish. It would probably be helpful if this type of stuff was on Joanie's website. Searching on the boards can be difficult.

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.

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....

This was great. Can you do the same for R class and Vista Class Ships?

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....

Does anyone know about noisy cabins on the A Deck of S and R class ships? Someone mentioned E781 as being under the recycling area--below A Deck. Someone has already posted that you should beware of white spaces towards the aft area. I was just wondering for future bookings if there are any other areas on the A or Dolphin Deck that one should be aware of.

I'm not sure that all of the TA's are aware of areas of a ship that should be avoided. Exception would be brick and morter TA's that specialize in cruising. Those TA's that have been too many cruises to count---they would know and warn their clients.

I guess, we all should be posting our pictures and comments on noises encountered in the cabins we cruise to Joanie.

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.

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

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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.