Cabin Booked ... is it too late to change

[Father of 3]

Hi we are on the Ryndam Jan 2010, we have two cabins at the rear of the ship on the A deck. Is it too late to change your mind on a cabin after a guaranteed room booking.

We are travelling with our 3 younger boys and needed 2 cabins side by side. If I go back to travel agent and pay more for a "better" cabin, or is that cabin area okay. We will likely not spend too much time in the rooms, but have read on here about engine / anchor noise and vibration. Is it possible to change cabins after booking.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

My youngest son is sitting on my knee and keeps asking to see the boat on the computer he is very excited as are we. He wants to be Captain:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

It is not too laye to change cabins -- if there are still other available cabins side-by-side.

You need to talk to your TA.

Remember that guaranteed bookings could mean that on your original booking one of the 2 cabins you have booked coulf be upgraded and you will no longer be close to each other -- not a good idea when children are involved.

Talk to your TA and book specific cabins.

[Father of 3]

I'd better talk to my travel agent, she implied it meant we had those specific rooms guaranteed, but I am sure if we were to be split up my wife would find some way to get the better room, she's smart like that! seriously though we will likely be able to get some room change as the cruise isn't until Jan 2010, I still don't know if it is necessary, could the room location really be that bad?

 

Thanks

[lvtotrvl1]

It sounds like you booked specific cabins, not a guarantee...they are two different things. If you booked the specific cabins, you won't be split up.

[cruisinjudy]

There is nothing wrong with that location, but with a guarantee you don't know where you will be. If you want the rooms to be together you will need to choose specific rooms and not take a guarantee.

[Father of 3]

Hmmm... I will have to check whether they are specific cabins, as we do have the cabin numbers on our booking confirmation or if it just a guaranteed room. You've got me thinking it is a specific room, any case I will check for other side by side cabin availability maybe a little closer midship.

 

Thanks for the great answers

[IRL_Joanie]

Hi we are on the Ryndam Jan 2010, we have two cabins at the rear of the ship on the A deck. Is it too late to change your mind on a cabin after a guaranteed room booking.

We are travelling with our 3 younger boys and needed 2 cabins side by side. If I go back to travel agent and pay more for a "better" cabin, or is that cabin area okay. We will likely not spend too much time in the rooms, but have read on here about engine / anchor noise and vibration. Is it possible to change cabins after booking.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

My youngest son is sitting on my knee and keeps asking to see the boat on the computer he is very excited as are we. He wants to be Captain:)

 

 

Hi Father of 3 and welcome to the boards!! While I do not have any photos of the staterooms for you for the deck you are booked on, I did a google search and found a few photos your sone might enjoy of the Ryndam:)

 

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=Nkc&resnum=0&q=Ryndam&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=4YDKSrvhMJKQsgP70dmhBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=11

 

I also found one Family's Recounting of their Cruise aboard the Ryndam. The Schuck Family that you might be interested in also. At least if the kids like stories with pictures:) Now their Cruise was the Sea of Cortez, but still a nice little read with photos to enjoy http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~schuckwj/cruises.htm

 

Joanie

[CondoDiva]

If you have 2 cabins next to each other with "room numbers" and are upgraded..... they DO keep the cabins next to each other.....It happened to us;)

[Jewel99]

One other thing to consider if you've booked a specific cabin (as we have for our upcoming cruise) is that Holland America offers two types of upgrades. The first are special paid upgrades... and that involves Holland America offering people the chance to upgrade to a higher level of stateroom for a specific price (usually at a savings over what it would have cost to book that category initially). This is usually done in the weeks prior to a cruise in order for Holland America to move people into higher categories so they can sell a specific type of cabin. For example - someone might have booked a specific outside cabin (no balcony). As the date draws closer for a cruise, the people in charge of inventory/upgrades might realize they have tons of balcony staterooms left over but no outside views (and they might have a wait list, etc.). So they offer some people in the outside view staterooms a chance to move up to the balcony and they can then resell the outside stateroom... so it's a great way for HAL to fill empty rooms.

 

The other way that people get upgraded is through the "free upgrades". Once again, it's all based on inventory supply and demand, but it means that Holland America can choose to bump people out of their selected stateroom into a different, higher category. Quite often this means a nice "free" upgrade for people into a slightly higher category, but for some, it isn't always a welcome change. In our situation, we need a stateroom with a bathtub (as odd as that sounds lol). So we specifically had our booking tagged as "do not upgrade us" so we didn't have to worry about being moved into a stateroom that had a shower only, or that might have been in a location we weren't as keen on. If you don't want to risk being moved somewhere else on the ship, make sure your TA has that set up properly on your booking.

 

As others have said - you can book a specific stateroom and say you don't want a free upgrade (which means you're guaranteed that specific room), or you can book a "guarantee" - which essentially means you book a specific category, versus booking a specific room, and you're saying you'd be happy with any stateroom in that category or higher. As such, the use of the word guarantee is a bit confusing, but hopefully I've not muddied things further.

[Father of 3]

Thanks for the great links, that family sure knows how to put together an impressive travel journal. We think it will be great to get the kids out and see as many people and places as possible, it was an opportunity my wife and I just didn't have while growing up. Thanks for the responses

[love_the_sea]

Hi we are on the Ryndam Jan 2010, we have two cabins at the rear of the ship on the A deck. Is it too late to change your mind on a cabin after a guaranteed room booking.

 

When Father of 3 said guaranteed room booking he meant that the rooms/cabins were confirmed. Using the word "guaranteed" means one thing to most of the English speaking world (that you know you will get it) and something different to the English/cruiser-language speaking world ;)

 

If you still want to change (I would, but other people love the back of the ship) and there are other cabins available I am sure your Travel Agent (TA) can help you.

[happyglobetrotter]

 

Quite often this means a nice "free" upgrade for people into a slightly higher category, but for some, it isn't always a welcome change.

 

In our situation, we need a stateroom with a bathtub (as odd as that sounds lol). So we specifically had our booking tagged as "do not upgrade us" so we didn't have to worry about being moved into a stateroom that had a shower only, or that might have been in a location we weren't as keen on. If you don't want to risk being moved somewhere else on the ship, make sure your TA has that set up properly on your booking.

 

 

All outside rooms on HAL have bathtubs (except every other outside room on the Prinsendam) so this 'do not upgrade us' (for fear of losing your bathtub) is not relevant for the 14 other HAL ships.

[RMLincoln]

Father of 3: Welcome to Cruise Critic! If you have rooms in the aft area you will be closer to the elevators than from rooms at midship.

 

Ryndam and her sister ships have only 2 elevator banks: forward and aft. Being in the aft will mean that your staterooms will have less foot traffic going by, and that you yourselves will be walking past fewer rooms, less of a long hallway to walk down, less trying to tame the exuberance of the youngsters.

 

We had side by side cabins in May with our 3 grandchildren and were far forward (only side by side rooms we could get in our price range at the time) and found the lack of traffic and the ease of getting all of us to herded to the stairwell/elevators a plus+ :)

Every location on the ship has is pros and cons, so enjoy the "upside" of wherever you are and have a great cruise.

[Jewel99]

All outside rooms on HAL have bathtubs (except every other outside room on the Prinsendam) so this 'do not upgrade us' (for fear of losing your bathtub) is not relevant for the 14 other HAL ships.

 

Hi there,

 

I'm not sure if I read the deck plans for the Eurodam wrong, and I fully admit I've never looked at the deck plans for the other ships, but it would seem to me from what I can see that there are actually quite a few outside/balcony staterooms that only have a shower (no tub) and even some suites only have a shower.

 

For example - there are 6 VD staterooms on Deck 4 (aft) with shower only, the two SY cabins at the front of the ship on Deck 5 are handicap staterooms, and have a shower only. There's 10 VC rooms on Deck 5 (aft) with shower only, there's some VA and VB staterooms on Deck 6 that are handicap accessible, and have a shower only, plus there's 12 VB staterooms on Deck 6 (aft) that have shower only. While this is still a minority of staterooms, there was still a risk of getting bumped into one of these VC, VB, VA and even SY and SZ staterooms that might have a shower only, so it simply wasn't worth it for us to risk having a stateroom with no tub... it's actually part of the reason we looked into booking with Holland America as most other cruiselines only have tubs in staterooms in junior/mini suites and higher, which were beyond our budget.

[IRL_Joanie]

Thanks for the great links, that family sure knows how to put together an impressive travel journal. We think it will be great to get the kids out and see as many people and places as possible, it was an opportunity my wife and I just didn't have while growing up. Thanks for the responses

 

Thought you'd like it and the photos for the young-ens:)

I've been accused of sometimes giving more info than asked for, but find that it is often better to give more so people can see/read more for their enjoyment:D

[IRL_Joanie]

Hi there,

 

I'm not sure if I read the deck plans for the Eurodam wrong, and I fully admit I've never looked at the deck plans for the other ships, but it would seem to me from what I can see that there are actually quite a few outside/balcony staterooms that only have a shower (no tub) and even some suites only have a shower.

 

Quite true.... Here is a link to the Eurodam Deck Plans for the entire ship. Those Staterooms marked with an * are shower only, such as Deck 1 F 1000 through F 1010 just small sample.

http://book.hollandamerica.com/pdfs/fleet/next/ed.pdf

 

Joanie

[Mary Ellen]

All outside rooms on HAL have bathtubs (except every other outside room on the Prinsendam) so this 'do not upgrade us' (for fear of losing your bathtub) is not relevant for the 14 other HAL ships.

There is a possibility that they could be upgraded to a HA cabin (available on all HAL ships). They have roll-in showers. If a bathtub is a requirement, the 'do not upgrade us' IS relevant.

[Tess111]

Hi there,

 

I'm not sure if I read the deck plans for the Eurodam wrong, and I fully admit I've never looked at the deck plans for the other ships, but it would seem to me from what I can see that there are actually quite a few outside/balcony staterooms that only have a shower (no tub) and even some suites only have a shower.

 

For example - there are 6 VD staterooms on Deck 4 (aft) with shower only, the two SY cabins at the front of the ship on Deck 5 are handicap staterooms, and have a shower only. There's 10 VC rooms on Deck 5 (aft) with shower only, there's some VA and VB staterooms on Deck 6 that are handicap accessible, and have a shower only, plus there's 12 VB staterooms on Deck 6 (aft) that have shower only. While this is still a minority of staterooms, there was still a risk of getting bumped into one of these VC, VB, VA and even SY and SZ staterooms that might have a shower only, so it simply wasn't worth it for us to risk having a stateroom with no tub... it's actually part of the reason we looked into booking with Holland America as most other cruiselines only have tubs in staterooms in junior/mini suites and higher, which were beyond our budget.

 

My hubby has to have surgery on his foot next week, which is 1 month before our cruise, and I suspect that he will only be able to use a shower. Do you know which rooms on the Eurodam only have bathtubs? We have a guaranteed verandah, and will request a specific room if necessary. (I didn't know that he would be going for surgery when I booked the cruise. If I knew, I wouldn't have booked it. Hubby tried to ask for the surgery to be in January when we got back from our trip, but surgeon and doctor said it should be done sooner.) I will also talk to TA about this.

[kyriecat]

From the deck plans, it looks like verandahs VC5171 and 5174 thru 5183 (verandah deck) are shower only. Also VB6146, 6148, 6150,6154, 6158, 6162, 6153, 6157, 6161, 6165, 6169, 6173 (upper verandah deck). You might ask your TA if any of those are available and see if you can get one. It looks like all the other verandah cabins have bathtubs instead of showers. Please note that all of the cabins with showers are close to the stern (back) of the ship so you might feel more motion if you are prone to seasickness. Cabins with shower only is indicated by the astrick (*) by the cabin number.

 

[sapper1]

Thanks for the great links, that family sure knows how to put together an impressive travel journal. We think it will be great to get the kids out and see as many people and places as possible, it was an opportunity my wife and I just didn't have while growing up. Thanks for the responses

Hi Father of 3----Welcome to Cruise Critic. This is the first time I have seen another poster from Saint John on the CC boards----one from Grand Bay but you are the first SJ. We live in Millidgeville. Hope you have a great cruise.