What a bummer, oh well happy anyway

Last June we booked a guarantee (MM interior) on the 12/3 sailing on the Rotterdam. Expected to get cabin assigned a few days before, due to the number of upsell requests I got. Surprise, surprise on Tuesday night (11/21) I got an e-mail from HAL ,"booking confirmation" with my cabin assignment.(cat J interior, so I was happy).

Last night, I got another e-mail from Holland saying "changed booking- reprint your express docs". Not thinking it's Thanksgiving, I thought "oh boy, another upgrade! Merry Christmas to me!". I followed the link to e-docs, and no, the e-mail was just reconfirming what I got on Tuesday night. Ho Ho Ho.

Oh well- by the way, we were assigned one of those sideways cabins- anyone have a thought on those?

Oh well- by the way, we were assigned one of those sideways cabins- anyone have a thought on those?

Those are my favorite cabins on the ship.

Some of the advantages are that the cabins are larger than the other insides, so there is plenty of floor space. Another advantage is that the closets are on different walls, so each person can be at their own closet without getting into the other person's way. Neither set of closets are near the bathroom door, either, so the jam-up around there is eliminated.

There are a couple of disadvantages that are easy to work around. First, there is no privacy curtain near the cabin door, so if someone is coming/going while the other is dressing, it's important to let them know the door is about to open. Speak up if leaving; knock if entering.

Another slight disadvantage is that the bathroom door opens directly into the cabin, with the light switch on the outside. If you go to turn the light on during the night, it could wake the other person. Bring a small flashlight.

I'm confused you were disappointed to be assigned at least the category c abin which you booked and paid for?

Hope you have a wonderful cruise. . Rottterdam is a lovely ship.

From what RuthC described, it sounds like you got a very nice upgrade.

Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks to what RuthC has said and looking at deck plans, we have 1860 booked for our VOV on the Rotterdam next July. It will be the first inside cabin we've ever booked, but it sure looks like a good one!

Have a great cruise!

Last June we booked a guarantee (MM interior) on the 12/3 sailing on the Rotterdam. Expected to get cabin assigned a few days before, due to the number of upsell requests I got. Surprise, surprise on Tuesday night (11/21) I got an e-mail from HAL ,"booking confirmation" with my cabin assignment.(cat J interior, so I was happy).

 

Last night, I got another e-mail from Holland saying "changed booking- reprint your express docs". Not thinking it's Thanksgiving, I thought "oh boy, another upgrade! Merry Christmas to me!". I followed the link to e-docs, and no, the e-mail was just reconfirming what I got on Tuesday night. Ho Ho Ho.

 

Oh well- by the way, we were assigned one of those sideways cabins- anyone have a thought on those?

The same thing happened to me yesterday! Late Wednesday afternoon, I got my guarantee cabin assignment for NA tomorrow. I knew because HAL emailed me a new booking confirmation showing my cabin (finally!). Then yesterday, I got another email from HAL titled, "Changed Booking" telling me my cabin had changed. I checked the HAL website but didn't see any change, and double-checked today just to be sure. Low and behold, there was no change after all. It was just a delayed email stating my cabin guarantee had been assigned.

I didn't have a choice of which level of inside cabin guarantee to book. Mine was a free inside cabin casino offer, so it was totally luck of the draw. I got Verandah deck large inside cabin which also appears to be a sideways cabin. It has cabins above and below, so I hope it's quiet. The cabin is aft and fairly close to the elevators which is my preference for easy access to the aft pool and Lido food areas. I'm cruising solo so it should be adequate space.

Hoping for great weather.

I paid for an MM. I got a cat J. Disappointed because I saw the 2nd email and thought I might have gotten another upgrade.

I paid for an MM. I got a cat J. Disappointed because I saw the 2nd email and thought I might have gotten another upgrade.

Sorry you were disappointed. I was disappointed too because I also thought an upgrade had occurred when I got the second email. I can see there are still ocean-view and balcony cabins available for my sailing so an upgrade seemed plausible. It sounds like you got 4 levels higher, MM to J, and I got 4 levels higher from N to K.

Best wishes for a great cruise!

I think they always send this booking change notification. Seems redundant and I can understand the confusion and disappointment.

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I think they always send this booking change notification. Seems redundant and I can understand the confusion and disappointment.

 

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Thanks, John. I'm just happy to be cruising--cruise number 40 for me! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

I think they always send this booking change notification. Seems redundant and I can understand the confusion and disappointment.

 

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I think HAL likes to over communicate these things, which I think is a good idea.

I got Verandah deck large inside cabin which also appears to be a sideways cabin.

The inside cabins on the Nieuw Amsterdam are an entirely different breed than the insides on the R-class ship. "Sideways" cabins on the NA will not be as I described for the OP on the Rotterdam, so don't expect that info to hold.

I'm confused you were disappointed to be assigned at least the category c abin which you booked and paid for?

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise. . Rottterdam is a lovely ship.

I think you are confused because the OP said they thought that the second email was going to be another upgrade but it was only a confirmation. They Are very happy with their cabin assignment, as noted in their post.

Yesterday morning at about 3 am I had to use the bathroom. As I was going back to bed I heard my iPad beep with a new email. I checked and it was a notification for an "Important Notification for Booking XXXXX". As I only have one booking and that sails in 3 weeks I was suddenly wide awake. I checked the email and it was a change of departure port from Valparaiso to San Antonio. I had however received the same notification on the 12th September and this change was being discussed on the boards at that time.

I do wish that that when they send a second email that the title says something about that is a duplicate of a previous sent email to confirm that it is a duplicate. And because I was wide awake at that point I could not go back to sleep so I ended up checking Cruise Critic.