Help deciding between MM or K stateroom on Zuiderdam

[spacepotatoes]

Hi all! After a lot of back and forth, DH and I have finally settled on the Zuiderdam for our trip to Alaska next summer. Now we are stuck on choosing our stateroom and would appreciate any advice you could provide!

 

We have quotes for both MM (which I believe is a guarantee?) and K category staterooms. The cat K is only $20 more than the MM so that would be our preference, but looking at the locations of those staterooms, I'm a little concerned. The ones on Main Deck are all aft and they are surrounded by a lot of white space. We can live with the vibration and noise of an aft stateroom, we just had a stateroom like that a couple of weeks ago. The white space, I'm not so sure about! Anyone know what that is? I'm assuming it is a crew area? Would it be noisy?

 

The other K cabins are on Upper Verandah Deck, forward. We've had a stateroom that far forward before and can live with that, too. The concern I have with those ones, though, is that they are right by stairs. Are those stairs for crew? They don't like the main stairs that everyone would use, so I'm curious.

 

Our current thinking is that if one of these locations is good for a cat K, we'd go with that, otherwise we'd take our chances with a guarantee. Or, should we consider some other category of inside altogether? Unfortunately, the budget is going to limit us to an inside on this one. Any suggestions from those of you with experience on the Vista class ships would be great! Thanks :)

[BumperII]

We haven't cruised on the Zuiderdam, but we just spent two weeks on her sister ship the Westerdam in a J cabin on the Main deck. There were no vibration or noise problems, and the inside cabins on the main deck are a good bit larger than inside cabins elsewhere on the ship. We really enjoyed the J cabins. If like us, you like inside cabins, I really recommend that you give one of these a try. They are nice.

[fann1sh]

If you book a MM guarantee - in other words, no specific cabin, HAL will assign it - you could be assigned a MM cabin or any cabin category above it. Almost certainly it would be an inside cabin (a remote chance it could be an obstructed view cabin). Your cabin could even wind up being any of the K cabins you're looking at. But there are too many closet sized inside cabins on Zuiderdam. I would never roll the dice with a MM guarantee on this ship, or her sisters.

 

But, are you looking at specific cabin numbers for the K's? Or, is this also a "guarantee"?

 

Listen to BumperII - the main deck J's (ONLY the ones on Main) are the best value on this ship. But, perhaps you're looking at K's because all of the main deck J's are booked? (Or, HAL has a sale on the K's, but not the J's?)

 

Those main deck K's are just as big as the main deck J's, so are also a good deal for square footage.

 

Some of the white space on Main look like crew cabins, rather than service areas. (Singers/dancers/other entertainers are often bunked on the same deck as passengers.)

 

But as for noise/vibration - see the Main deck outside cabins across the hall from the K's are category E? Category E's are usually "safe" cabins on HAL, with none of the problems of a G or H. (On Zuiderdam, it's an obstructed view that makes the G and H cabins less desirable rather than being Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.)

 

The upper verandah K's are tiny. I'd go for a main K instead.

[schoolinmy3]

I agree with the above. Our kids stayed in a j cabin main deck and these are very spacious. More spacious than our verandah on the same cruise. (We had 2 cabins for the five of us) I would book one of these j cabins if possible. The only negative I read here on cc was some noise from lounges from the deck above although our kids did not experience any noise. We were on a Mediterranean cruise and I don't think people were partying until the wee hours. They wouldn't make it to their excursions the next morning. :D

Diane

[fann1sh]

Forgot to mention Joanie's excellent website which shows cabin pictures.

 

I searched the site regarding Zuiderdam and her sisters, and couldn't find any photos of inside K cabins on deck 4, Upper Verandah.

 

However, if you scroll WAAAAY down the page, you'll find pictures and commentary about Zuiderdam K1123 here:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Zuiderdam/Deck-1.html

 

And, remarks about Westerdam K1116 far down on this page:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Westerdam/Deck-1.html

[spacepotatoes]

Thanks for the responses! Joanie's website is great!

 

Our previous cruises have been on NCL, so the HAL categories and deck plans are all new to us. We had a guarantee on our first cruise and it worked out ok but now that we have a bit of experience, we'd prefer to pick our own cabin if we can.

 

We have been comparing quotes from some online TAs, and this particular one has MMs and Ks on sale for the same rate and some nice extras. I was looking at specific K staterooms, not gty. The ones that are available are on Main, aft and Upper Verandah, forward.

 

After reading your comments, I had a look at the price of J staterooms and the difference is not significant so we'll definitely consider that. There's only one showing available on main deck, 1063. It looks like it's an adjoining stateroom. This shouldn't be an issue, though, should it?

[schoolinmy3]

The adjoining j cabins on the main deck have a slightly different bed configuration. Ruth C has posted details previously. I will see if I can find the post.

 

Here is Ruth's post copied and pasted:

"That may be true in some categories, but not all. My J-category on Main Deck was an adjoining cabin, but I had the standard number of closets. The door between cabins was on the opposite wall from the closets. The bed placement was the only difference." Since there are two doors adjoining the thread discussed that noise between the cabins was also not an issue.

Diane

[Storylady]

All Insides, except the Large Inside J and K on the Main Deck and the Large Inside I's are extremely small. They have been described by Ruth as very, very tiny. I would choose a large Inside J or Large Inside K (approx 197 to 207 sq feet) on the Main Deck. The other K's that aren't on the main deck are tiny.

 

Ruth and I were on the Westerdam (all the staterooms on all the Vista Class ships are the same) on the Main Deck---those cabins are fabulous and are the ones pictured on HAL's web site as the Inside cabins. Every person that had an Inside that was not on the Main Deck were very unhappy with the stateroom.

[luvcruisn']

I had J1024 on the Oosterdam a few years ago; I was upgraded from an M guarantee. It was a wonderful cabin - lots of room, with a huge sofa. It was 3 cabins away from the Show Lounge, but I never heard any noise from there.

[BumperII]

The guarentee booking is a great idea until you get a feel for what you are comfortable with. We booked guarentees and have happily upgraded many times, getting stung only once with an upgrade to a closet with a porthole. In the process we were all over the ships, and were able to find out what works best for us and the way we cruise. We found that we like the Main deck, catagory K on R and S class ships, and catagory J on the Vista ships. By the way, it was the onboard travel consultant that pointed us to the J cabins. Nice lady!!!

[spacepotatoes]

I had J1024 on the Oosterdam a few years ago; I was upgraded from an M guarantee. It was a wonderful cabin - lots of room' date=' with a huge sofa. It was 3 cabins away from the Show Lounge, but I never heard any noise from there.[/quote']

 

Thanks for mentioning this! I was wondering about that because J1063 is 3 cabins from the atrium and along the corridor leading to the theatre. I'm glad noise isn't an issue.

 

We'll definitely be looking at Main Deck more closely and considering options there, thanks for all of your advice! I do have to laugh a bit about the cabins higher than Main Deck being closet-sized because here's what DH and I just spent 4 days in (on the NCL Sky):

 

Our teeny, tiny stateroom by adomokos, on Flickr

 

Now THAT was a closet :D

 

According to the dimensions on HAL's website, even their smallest insides will be larger than this, so I think we'd be happy either way. But we certainly love the idea of all the extra space on Main Deck!

[spacepotatoes]

oops, double post!

[RuthC]

Thanks for mentioning this! I was wondering about that because J1063 is 3 cabins from the atrium and along the corridor leading to the theatre. I'm glad noise isn't an issue.

The J-category cabins on Main Deck are separated from the Atrium by a cross-passageway, and some walls. No noise from there at all. There's also a public restroom, and a steward closet at the end of the cabins, before you get to the Atrium.

 

One thing, and one thing only, to be aware of on Main Deck forward of the Atrium: Shore Excursions meet in the Show Lounge. People arrive on starboard side (generally, they tend to trickle in), and leave on port side (in a mass). It can get congested there then.

[fann1sh]

Welcome home RuthC. We've missed you, especially on threads like this.

[RuthC]

Welcome home RuthC. We've missed you, especially on threads like this.

Thanks. Got in yesterday--still not sure what time zone my body is in. Had a 19-hour flight over 12 time zones from Singapore.

[spacepotatoes]

The J-category cabins on Main Deck are separated from the Atrium by a cross-passageway, and some walls. No noise from there at all. There's also a public restroom, and a steward closet at the end of the cabins, before you get to the Atrium.

 

One thing, and one thing only, to be aware of on Main Deck forward of the Atrium: Shore Excursions meet in the Show Lounge. People arrive on starboard side (generally, they tend to trickle in), and leave on port side (in a mass). It can get congested there then.

 

That is good to know, thanks for pointing this out! We have decided on Main Deck but still deciding between that one J stateroom that's available or trying our luck with the aft K cabins.

[spacepotatoes]

Just wanted to share my excitement - we booked this morning :D

 

After all that debate, we just weren't happy with the locations of the available cat K and J cabins on Main Deck so we ended up going with a cat L on Verandah deck. My parents will be taking this cruise this July in the same category cabin so if they have any complaints, we've got lots of time to change ;)

 

We're so looking forward to Alaska and our first experience with HAL!

[fann1sh]

Spacepotatoes, I'm puzzled what location objections you had to main deck, and why you consider verandah deck to be a better location choice.

 

You've seen the pictures of the main deck J and K cabins. If you scroll down, you'll find pictures and comments on L5164 on this page of Joanie's:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Westerdam/Deck-5.html

 

versus K1116:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Westerdam/Deck-1.html

[spacepotatoes]

Spacepotatoes, I'm puzzled what location objections you had to main deck, and why you consider verandah deck to be a better location choice.

 

You've seen the pictures of the main deck J and K cabins. If you scroll down, you'll find pictures and comments on L5164 on this page of Joanie's:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Westerdam/Deck-5.html

 

versus K1116:

 

http://joanjett2000.topcities.com/HAL/Westerdam/Deck-1.html

 

I did see the photos on Joanie's site and I agree, the K stateroom is a very nice size compared to the L. Size isn't a big deal for us, though, both of those cabins are bigger than what we've been used to on NCL!

 

The biggest factor in deciding was that DH doesn't want to sail in an aft cabin again, otherwise we would have gone with one of those K cabins on Main Deck. I sleep with ear plugs so it made no difference to me, but the noise and the vibration on our last cruise really turned him off of the aft. The one J stateroom that was available made me a little nervous because it sounds like it will be a higher traffic area than what we're used to. So far, we've enjoyed being in hallways where no one really goes unless their cabin is there. As we get more experienced, I'm sure we'll get braver :)

[Essiesmom]

I have to say that the pictures of K1116 on Westerdam are mine. I liked that cabin so well that I am booking Nieuw Amsterdam for April 30,2012, and booking this early so that I can get that cabin. It was that or 1125, which is further aft. I didn't find much motion aft, and it was so handy to go up a couple of flights to the MDR, and zip up the elevator to the buffet. I really liked the placement of the bed better than in a connecting cabin. I thought having the closets facing the foot of the bed rather than one side would make it more roomy. EM

[Storylady]

Book the J1063. It is still available for all cruises in August 2012. I believe that is the stateroom we had on the Westerdam. As I have mentioned in previous posts---it is a fantastic stateroom. I wish I could get an inside like that one on all of my cruises. We loved the wrap around coach and the amount of floor space that we had.

 

There were a couple of nights (out of 32 nights) when we heard some music from the Queens lounge. But that wasn't a problem as the music always stopped around 11 or 11:30 PM.

 

I would take this cabin as it is a short walk to the elevators or stairs to the promenade deck.

[RuthC]

I agree with you, Sharon. On the other hand, if we keep recommending these cabins, someday we're going to recommend ourselves right out of them. ;)

[spacepotatoes]

Just resurrecting this old thread of mine to let you know that after a season of reading everyone's reviews and seeing these same recommendations over and over again, DH and I reconsidered. We ended up needing to change our sail date, so we decided to change our cabin too. We were too late to get a Main Deck J stateroom for the new date, but we snapped up one of the two remaining K cabins - K 1123 will be ours next July! I think we'll be very happy with it. Thanks again for the great advice, we should have listened to it sooner :o:)