Vista VB vs. VA

[gordons4]

We will be sailing on the Westerdam next year and are currently booked in an aft facing VA on deck 5. We had one of these cabins on the Oosterdam 2 yrs ago. I'm now looking at the 2 aft facing VB cabins on deck 4. We can save about $160--which is $160 to spend on something else. :D

 

From the deck plan it looks like the VB is shorter, but does anyone know how much shorter? And is it that big of a deal? Any other insight on the difference between the 2 VB aft facing balconies vs the VA aft facing balconies would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Sheri

[jtl513]

From the deck plan it looks like the VB is shorter, but does anyone know how much shorter? And is it that big of a deal? Any other insight on the difference between the 2 VB aft facing balconies vs the VA aft facing balconies would be greatly appreciated.

For VB4178 on the Noordam, about 2.5 to 3 ft. The balcony is also a little shorter than the VA next to it. Our longest side was their shortest, so it made about a 1 ft difference in balcony depth. And no, it doesn't make that much difference, because our VB inside was as long as four VAs that we have had on other Vista cruises.

 

One other minor difference with the VB is that the closet nearest the hallway is recessed about three inches from the others, and the hanger bar is oriented front-back rather than side-side. This cuts the capacity about in half because you have 10" of hanger bar instead of 22".

 

See my pics of 4178 at IRL_JOANIE's site: http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Noordam/index.html

[gordons4]

Thanks for the info and pictures--that is very helpful. Did you find the slight smallerness (pretty sure that's a word I just made up :D) to be noticeable/uncomfortable? It seems like the extra 6" at the end of the bed would be kind of nice. :)

 

Also, could you tell me about the balcony coverage? Right now we are booked on deck 5 and I know those balconies are basically completely covered. What is the situation on deck 4? Our cruise is through the Panama Canal, so some balcony shade would not be a bad thing.

 

Thanks,

Sheri

[jtl513]

Also, could you tell me about the balcony coverage? Right now we are booked on deck 5 and I know those balconies are basically completely covered. What is the situation on deck 4? Our cruise is through the Panama Canal, so some balcony shade would not be a bad thing.

Our balcony was about 11' deep at the center (10.5' port side, 11.5 center side) and roughly half of it was covered. Now on the Westerdam I don't know how that would be, because the Noordam always had a steeper slope to the stern right from the start and never got the retro-fit that the other three Vista got.

 

The picture below (click to enlarge) is the Zuiderdam post retro-fit, but the Westerdam is the same. Since decks 4 and 5 were not lengthened at all, I think the overhang of deck 5 above deck 4 is somewhat less than what is on the Noordam ... maybe 4 feet instead of six. If you look at the corner suite verandah, it appears that the deck 5 railing is just above the post joining the two wide panels of the suite divider. I'd say those panels are about 4 to 4.5 feet wide.

 

 

If you are going from the Caribbean to the Pacific, you are actually heading (strange as it sounds) South-East most of the time, and you will have full shade on a deck 5 veranda most all day. But even if you are going the other way you won't have a lot of sun there because the deck 6 railings are directly above the deck 5 railings.

 

However, going through the PC, I strongly recommend that you don't just stay on your veranda, but get out and move around the ship, side to side and stem to stern! :)

 

p.s. - yes, that extra 6" to get by the foot of the bed made it "feel" quite a bit larger.

[jtl513]

Did you find the slight smallerness (pretty sure that's a word I just made up :D) to be noticeable/uncomfortable?

No, because it was about the same length inside as the side VAs that we have had on other cruises. It is the stern VAs that are longer by about 2.5-3 ft from what we've ever had, so we didn't we didn't notice or "miss" it. :)