Oosterdam - booked guaranteed balcony and was assigned aft balcony - good or bad?

[stacyh270]

Hello! This is our first HAL cruise (5th total cruise) and we are taking the ms Oosterdam to Alaska from Vancouver on July 5th.

 

We booked a guaranteed balcony (VH) for the trip only a few days ago for what we thought was a good/great price ($799pp) and just got our assignment - VB4183 aft. This seems like a great room assignment but since we've never had an aft balcony and have only sailed Caribbean before, is this a decent assignment? I don't want to have my hopes up for something magnificent and be disappointed. I would definitely rather have realistic expectations going in :)

 

Anyone familiar with this room/location and is an aft preferable for Alaska?

 

Pros and cons of afts?

 

Thanks so much!

[kazu]

Hello! This is our first HAL cruise (5th total cruise) and we are taking the ms Oosterdam to Alaska from Vancouver on July 5th.

 

We booked a guaranteed balcony (VH) for the trip only a few days ago for what we thought was a good/great price ($799pp) and just got our assignment - VB4183 aft. This seems like a great room assignment but since we've never had an aft balcony and have only sailed Caribbean before, is this a decent assignment? I don't want to have my hopes up for something magnificent and be disappointed. I would definitely rather have realistic expectations going in :)

 

Anyone familiar with this room/location and is an aft preferable for Alaska?

 

Pros and cons of afts?

 

 

 

Thanks so much!

 

You did well, at least a lot of people think so and want those aft cabins. There are great views there and a lot of people like to watch the wake and where they have been for different views :)

 

there may be some vibration as the ship arrives in port and leaves but for Alaska, this is probably an ideal location.

 

I think you did very well. This is a great upgrade :)

[Scrapnana]

It is slightly smaller than most of the other VB aft cabins. Google "Oosterdam cabin 4183" and you will find lots of hits.

[cruz chic]

I had this exact cabin on the Noordam and liked the location very much. I enjoy listening to the wake. There is some vibration. I would say you did exceptionally well. You booked late and got a great assignment.

[Fouremco]

Two of our next three booked cruises are in aft cabins, and it would have been three for three had we not booked rather late for one of them and there were none left. When we took our first cruise in an aft cabin, we weren't sure whether or not we'd like this perspective on the world, but we love it. We probably use the balcony more than we do in port or starboard cabins, particularly on sea days. Like watching a camp fire, watching the wake rolling out behind us can be mesmerizing. If there is a port that we'd like to see as we arrive, we just pop up on deck or go to the Lido for breakfast.

 

That particular cabin, like 4178, is a bit smaller that the cabins between them, because some of the space has been given to the Neptune suite next to you. As for location, while you are directly above the MDR, I doubt that will disturb your sleep unless you go to bed REALLY early.

 

I think you've done very well.:) Enjoy!

[sail7seas]

Some people love that cabin/location but it is not a favorite of mine. I prefer mid-ship but that is only personal preference.

Most would think you got a good assignment.

Hope you have a great cruise.

[doone]

I think you did well, I have sailed in an aft cabin on the Zuiderdam and loved it. Enjoy!

[iceleven]

I always book aft cabins for our Alaska cruises because it is never as windy at the rear of the ship. It's easier to spend more time outside while the ship is sailing.

[cruz chic]

Two of our next three booked cruises are in aft cabins, and it would have been three for three had we not booked rather late for one of them and there were none left. When we took our first cruise in an aft cabin, we weren't sure whether or not we'd like this perspective on the world, but we love it. We probably use the balcony more than we do in port or starboard cabins, particularly on sea days. Like watching a camp fire, watching the wake rolling out behind us can be mesmerizing. If there is a port that we'd like to see as we arrive, we just pop up on deck or go to the Lido for breakfast.

 

That particular cabin, like 4178, is a bit smaller that the cabins between them, because some of the space has been given to the Neptune suite next to you. As for location, while you are directly above the MDR, I doubt that will disturb your sleep unless you go to bed REALLY early.

 

I think you've done very well.:) Enjoy!

 

I tend to go to bed between 10 and 11 pm. I never heard a bit of noise. I also tend to spend a bit of time in my cabin at night. I didn't hear anything at that time either.

[stacyh270]

It is slightly smaller than most of the other VB aft cabins. Google "Oosterdam cabin 4183" and you will find lots of hits.

 

Actually, I did that and didn't find a ton of info :(

 

But, it looks like we did well for booking a cheap last minute guarantee :)

[stacyh270]

Two of our next three booked cruises are in aft cabins, and it would have been three for three had we not booked rather late for one of them and there were none left. When we took our first cruise in an aft cabin, we weren't sure whether or not we'd like this perspective on the world, but we love it. We probably use the balcony more than we do in port or starboard cabins, particularly on sea days. Like watching a camp fire, watching the wake rolling out behind us can be mesmerizing. If there is a port that we'd like to see as we arrive, we just pop up on deck or go to the Lido for breakfast.

 

That particular cabin, like 4178, is a bit smaller that the cabins between them, because some of the space has been given to the Neptune suite next to you. As for location, while you are directly above the MDR, I doubt that will disturb your sleep unless you go to bed REALLY early.

 

I think you've done very well.:) Enjoy!

 

Yes, I'm thinking the larger balcony will be great for sea days :)

 

As for size, I did see it was smaller but I'm thinking that overall, it's the same size as a normal balcony. It's just the two of us, so I'm sure it'll be plenty big enough.

[stacyh270]

Some people love that cabin/location but it is not a favorite of mine. I prefer mid-ship but that is only personal preference.

Most would think you got a good assignment.

Hope you have a great cruise.

 

We've only ever had mid-ship before and chose our stateroom so we definitely rolled the dice with this one. I was apprehensive that we'd end up with our booked category (VH), which are all located in the most forward part of the ship on Deck 4 and likely had some issues with the the view. Fingers crossed that we'll like/love the aft :)

[stacyh270]

I tend to go to bed between 10 and 11 pm. I never heard a bit of noise. I also tend to spend a bit of time in my cabin at night. I didn't hear anything at that time either.

 

This is great to know! Sounds like our typical MO :) We always bring a sound machine to drown out noise anyway so hopefully we don't have a noise issue either.

[stacyh270]

Thanks, everyone! You've made me feel a ton better about our assignment :)

[dcsam]

We're just back from 2 weeks aboard the Oosterdam. We booked a Signature Suite, and we loved it. But an aft balcony of any size would have been better. You'll love the views from back there. Enjoy. You did 'score' on this one.

[kalliekae]

We had an aft cabin on the Nieuw Amsterdam and loved it. We did feel the ship movement more than when we had cabins located mid ship, but nothing that made us queasy. I think you scored a wonderful cabin for an Alaskan cruise. We loved our Alaskan cruise with HAL.

[detroit70]

We had an aft cabin on the Eurodam last summer and our only complaint about it was the distance to the Crows Nest and other facilities towards the front of the ship. Ours was a Neptune Suite, and the Neptune Lounge was a full 2 minute walk from our cabin which prompted us to make a fun video about the long walk. On the other hand, the views from our balcony were great and we experienced no problems with extra noise or vibrations.

[cruz chic]

We had an aft cabin on the Eurodam last summer and our only complaint about it was the distance to the Crows Nest and other facilities towards the front of the ship. Ours was a Neptune Suite, and the Neptune Lounge was a full 2 minute walk from our cabin which prompted us to make a fun video about the long walk. On the other hand, the views from our balcony were great and we experienced no problems with extra noise or vibrations.

 

I had a cabana on the Noordam and it was a long walk. You must be fast walkers if you did it in 2 minutes.

[Tights]

Hello! This is our first HAL cruise (5th total cruise) and we are taking the ms Oosterdam to Alaska from Vancouver on July 5th.

 

We booked a guaranteed balcony (VH) for the trip only a few days ago for what we thought was a good/great price ($799pp) and just got our assignment - VB4183 aft. This seems like a great room assignment but since we've never had an aft balcony and have only sailed Caribbean before, is this a decent assignment? I don't want to have my hopes up for something magnificent and be disappointed. I would definitely rather have realistic expectations going in :)

 

Anyone familiar with this room/location and is an aft preferable for Alaska?

 

Pros and cons of

Thanks so much!

 

Not kidding you got a good price, this cruise is being offered on Australian web site cruiseabout for$2680 unbelievable

[Tights]

 

First time photo, hope this screen shot works

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[stacyh270]

Not kidding you got a good price, this cruise is being offered on Australian web site cruiseabout for$2680 unbelievable

 

:eek: Oh, wow! Even the Holland website is still selling guaranteed balconies for $799pp! Wonder why the difference?

[stacyh270]

We had an aft cabin on the Nieuw Amsterdam and loved it. We did feel the ship movement more than when we had cabins located mid ship, but nothing that made us queasy. I think you scored a wonderful cabin for an Alaskan cruise. We loved our Alaskan cruise with HAL.

 

 

Thanks! Hoping the movement isn't more than what we felt mid-ship last November sailing from Port Canaveral to Nassau with 50 MPH winds! That boat was rocking! Thankfully, though, DH, the kids, nor I got sick :)

[BM64]

We love the aft cabins especially going to Alaska. Enjoy!

[I_r_a]

Hey Stac,

 

> price ($799pp) and just got our assignment - VB4183 aft.

 

You did very well: As in less than 1/2 what we will be paying for a similar cruise.

 

Enjoy your visit.

 

Ira

[stacyh270]

Hey Stac,

 

> price ($799pp) and just got our assignment - VB4183 aft.

 

You did very well: As in less than 1/2 what we will be paying for a similar cruise.

 

Enjoy your visit.

 

Ira

 

Oh, wow! We never even expected to take an Alaskan cruise this summer because the nature of my husband's business is seasonal and we usually have to take our "big vacations" in the winter, but we got lucky and were able to do so. The highly discounted balcony rate for that week was just another blessing in the mix :D