Pros & Cons of Outside Cabin on Promenade Deck?

[ILoveCruisingToo]

For those of you who booked an outside cabin on the Promenade Deck, what are the pros and cons to this location? My main concern is privacy. Are the windows tinted so that you can leave your curtains open and see out without those on the deck looking in?

[LizB1]

We had a cabin on the Lower Prom Deck for the 2001 World Cruise and really enjoyed it.

 

You can leave the curtains open during the day as no one can see into the cabin, however at night you need to close them as folks would be able to see in.

 

The size of the cabins are somewhat smaller than your regular outside cabins...they are not as long but width is the same. This is because of the outside deck. If the cabin is set up with twin beds it seems to open up the room and makes it appear larger than if there is a queen bed.

 

We found having the deck right outside very convenient if we wanted to take video as we were coming into a port early in the morning or for an evening stroll before bedtime.

 

Would not hesitate to book one of these cabins again.

[Orcrone]

You also have to keep in mind that the promenade deck is right below the public spaces. A friend of mine was on the Maasdam and had an outside cabin near the bow. He was right underneath the main lounge. So during the day he was subject to the noise from the rehearsals. And being a floor down it just came through as a constant booming sound.

 

So look at the floorplan of the deck above you also.

 

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America

4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration

10/30/2004 - Maasdam

 

Till sailing on the Maasdam

[ILoveCruisingToo]

Thank you both so much for the info. I had not thought about either of those issues.

[Orcrone]

You're very welcome. Which ship/itinerary are you thinking of? Whatever you choose I hope you have a great time!

 

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America

4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration

10/30/2004 - Maasdam

 

Till sailing on the Maasdam

[Stevesan]

The windows on Maasdam's lower promenade deck are not obscured during the day. On the contrary, there is a clear view into the cabin from the deck. Since we had an outside, I made it a point to check that out on day one. The other S class ships may be different, but I doubt it. It's why I booked an outside on Main deck for Veendam. I don't like having to keep the drapes drawn 24/7.

 

1957-USS General A.E. Anderson, Tokyo to San Francisco; 1999-Norwegian Sea, W. Carib; 1999-RVI, Europe; 2000-Mercury, W. Carib; 2000-Volendam, S. Carib; 2001-Viking Star, Danube River; 2001-Veendam, E. Carib; 2002 B2B- Veendam, Alaska; 2003 B2B-Zuiderdam, W/E Carib; Mar 2004-Maasdam, E Carib; 26 Nov 2005 Veendam, S Carib

[ILoveCruisingToo]

Orcrone, we're thinking of doing the Mexican Riviera on the Ryndam in the early Fall. Thanks for your well wishes.

 

Stevesan, thank you so much for speaking up! What you said is exactly what my concern is. I also don't want to have to keep my curtains closed all day. What's the use of having an outside cabin in you can't open your curtains??? I think I will consider a different category (deck) as well!

[jander]

IloveCruisingToo.....We were on the Ryndam last October, cabin 331. No problem leaving the curtains open during the day. We thought it was a great location. Walk out of your cabin, around the corner and you're outside, with nice lounge chairs. Almost like having a non-private balcony. You cannot see into the cabin from the outside, during daylight hours.

[tomc]

I've been on three or four -dammers with an outside on the Lower Prom (but not the Maasdam). No problem with the windows, although your can bet your bread pudding that I went outside and checked.

 

BTW: Place something really distinctive in the window before you start staring inside, so you know you are looking into the right cabin. Nothing worse than doing the eyeball scene into someone else's room. You don't want to spend your cruise in the brig eating bread and water.

 

As private as it is during the day, you will feel a little uncomfortable when you come out of the shower and all those people are walking by. I suppose that being an exhibitionist might take the edge off of it, but then you will feel frustrated that nobody knows you are there.

 

At night, as noted, you will be (possibly) the object of admiration by passers-by or (more likely) the butt --no pun intended-- of their jokes. Tend to the curtains.

 

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Put "Cruise Critic" in e-mail subject line: tomcarten@hotmail.com

 

[ILoveCruisingToo]

This is interesting. Totally opposite opinions (as we so often have). Now I would really like to hear from others who have had cabins on the Promenade Deck. CAN YOU or CAN'T YOU see in?????

 

Thank you Jander and Tomc for posting.

 

And Tomc .... I needed to laugh. Thanks for your "suggestions"!

[ILoveCruisingToo]

Looking back at Stevensan's posting I have to wonder if by chance the "Yes you can see in" issue pertains to the Maasdam. Is there anybody who has had cabins on both the Maasdam and the Ryndam for comparison purposes?

[Stevesan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>BTW: Place something really distinctive in the window before you start staring inside, so you know you are looking into the right cabin. Nothing worse than doing the eyeball scene into someone else's room. You don't want to spend your cruise in the brig eating bread and water.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

How can you identify the really distinctive item if the window is truly opaque?

 

1957-USS General A.E. Anderson, Tokyo to San Francisco; 1999-Norwegian Sea, W. Carib; 1999-RVI, Europe; 2000-Mercury, W. Carib; 2000-Volendam, S. Carib; 2001-Viking Star, Danube River; 2001-Veendam, E. Carib; 2002 B2B- Veendam, Alaska; 2003 B2B-Zuiderdam, W/E Carib; Mar 2004-Maasdam, E Carib; 26 Nov 2005 Veendam, S Carib

[lknick]

On the Veendam, could only see inside the cabin from the deck if you placed your nose on the window and then only could see that the lamp was on.

 

Why does anyone think a person would be interested in peering into a cabin from the prominade deck?

 

40 cruises: mainly Cunard, Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCI, Starclipper, Seabourn. ~511 days total, ~325 on HAL

[tomc]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Why does anyone think a person would be interested in peering into a cabin from the prominade deck?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Because there are people like that. I had a woman of a certain age, who ran the danger of not living to be a day older, who insisted on reading my e-mail in the Internet Cafe. No matter what I said to her, or how I shielded the screen, she was determined to see what I was writing. That bosy old nitch should have been thrown overboard.

 

* * *

 

Put "Cruise Critic" in e-mail subject line: tomcarten@hotmail.com

 

[lknick]

Tom--If people are that interested, I'll hand them binoculars.

 

40 cruises: mainly Cunard, Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCI, Starclipper, Seabourn. ~511 days total, ~325 on HAL

[Orcrone]

ILoveCruisingToo,

 

I have not been on the Maasdam yet, but I may have one other thing to consider. With railings, lifeboats, etc. how good an oceanview do you have. Unless you really want the deck outside your window I would go with one of the lower decks for an outside room.

 

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America

4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration

10/30/2004 - Maasdam

 

Till sailing on the Maasdam

[Orcrone]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Tom--If people are that interested, I'll hand them binoculars. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Ilknick, I don't think I'd post that people would actually need binoculars.

 

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America

4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration

10/30/2004 - Maasdam

 

Till sailing on the Maasdam

[lknick]

Orcrone--You're a dirty bird! My My MY.

 

40 cruises: mainly Cunard, Carnival, HAL, NCL, RCI, Starclipper, Seabourn. ~511 days total, ~325 on HAL

[ILoveCruisingToo]

Here we go again. It seems inevitable that topics on this board are so easily blown out of proportion.

 

While I understand Tomc's comment, my concern of privacy stems from a "natural" stand point. I think it's quite possible that people who stroll the promenade deck would naturally look around and may happen to look at or toward someone's cabin at the wrong time. I sure would hate to be caught not properly dressed at that time. THAT's why I was inquiring about tinted glass.

 

With that said I think I will do as Orcrone suggest and book a cabin with only the beautiful ocean to look at.

[Orcrone]

ILoveCruisingToo,

 

I've been tempted to book an oceanview guarantee. But there are too many cabins I would not want, mainly on the promenade deck, to do that.

 

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America

4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration

10/30/2004 - Maasdam

 

Till sailing on the Maasdam

[Somewhere]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Here we go again. It seems inevitable that topics on this board are so easily blown out of proportion. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>You're taking a little fun the wrong way. Bet you think you're not one of God's creatures.

 

Your question was answered--you cannot see through the opague windows from the promenade deck.

[ILoveCruisingToo]

Somewhere .....

 

I don't mind your comment "You're taking a little fun the wrong way." That may be true. It just seemed to me that lknick was missing MY point and was insinuating that I was concerned with "Peeping Toms", which I was not.

 

But I don't appreciate your reference to "Bet you think you're not one of God's creatures." Quite unnecessary.

 

This is my last posting on this topic.

 

Thanks to all of you who posted.

[The_Hall_Monitor]

Regarding the windows on the Promenade deck on the Veendam: it's a given that people are unable to see inside the room during the daylight hours.

 

We satisfied ourselves that no one could see anything at night, too. One of us went out onto the deck and the other stayed inside. By turning on different cabin lights (the bedside light, the desk light, etc.) we could see a ghostly form moving around.

 

It was not possible to identify as male or female, though. With the sheer curtains closed, one could only see that the cabin was lighted and not pitch dark.

 

Regarding the desirability of cabins on the Promenade deck, I think they’re a steal! Ours was termed “obstructed view†and it was indeed partially obstructed. But we could see a large expanse of sea from our cabin by looking past the offending lifeboat. And the cabin got as much light as anyone would want in the daytime. (It was the second cabin from the elevators, stairway and outside doors to the deck. A great location!)

 

Regarding the little jokes by tomc, lknick and Orcrone – for pete’s sake, it’s nice to see a little horseplay now and then. All this nattering about “Will I like the food/service/décor/location/passenger demographics†is tiresome.

 

After all, it’s a cruise that’ll last only a week or so – it’s not like buying a house and being stuck in it for 20 or 30 years.

[tomc]

I liked being on the Lower Prom because I could be out on deck quickly. Once I realized you can't see in, I was ok with that.

 

As to putting something distinctive in the window: You can see just a couple inches in. If you put a book or a bright shirt in the window, and put your face right up to it, you can see the object. Even at night, as someone mentioned, there's still quite a bit of privacy. Just enough, if you want to have fun, to entice passers-by as did the fan dancers of old.

 

* * *

 

Put "Cruise Critic" in e-mail subject line: tomcarten@hotmail.com

[Flick]

For what it's worth, we try all different types of cabins. If at sea for 12 days out of a fourteen day TransAt why not an inside cabin when the ONLY view is water, water everywhere. On a port intensive cruise, such as the Med, an outside cabin is nice just to check the weather but be careful in the Baltic-the Midnight Sun WILL confuse you as to what time of day it is.A veranda is nice on sea days but otherwise something of a waste in the Caribbean therefore we usually take an inside knowing that we will spend very little time in the cabin. For those who "couldn't possibly sail without a veranda"- that's nice but I'd rather have more than one cruise a year so I'm perfectly happy with an inside cabin. (Keep in mind as a retiree I have the time to do more than one vacation a year-shortly we leave for our second trip to Europe this year and will go back in October for Oktoberfest festivities-I just need the money LOL).

 

Rick,24 cruises and counting! Next cruise- #25-Riverboat cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna in July '04