Veendam question

[LMM1801]

For those of you who have sailed on the Veendam, is it worth paying $400 dollars more to go from an E oceanview on lower promenade deck to a CA Lanai room? I know many of you don't like the lanais as people tend to use the designated chairs outside, but I do like the idea of the convenience. It is for a 13 day cruise. I am right next door to a CA Lanai now and the door outside is only a short distance away. Thanks for any input.

Edited January 10, 2016 by LMM1801

[cruz chic]

It sounds like a decent deal to me for that length of cruise.

[TiogaCruiser]

Everyone is different, but I wouldn't just to move one cabin down. (Maybe for less.....)

 

I had a lanai in March on her, (#375). I liked the sitting area as a solo. IIRC the "love seat" was 42" long. I loved the sliding glass door and being able to look out.* It was rather heavy for me to push open (I'm a little lady). I ended up using the slider as my main door. I loved the convience of my own steamer lounge. A few people borrowed them ( which was ok with me as I was not in one at the time. I considered the spare up for grabs.).

 

A few things: this one may have changed. When I was on last month all the reserved signs and the cabin numbers had been removed from the LP deck walls. I suspect it was for painting as I smelled paint and varnish several times during the cruise, and I did see 2 crew painting a wall. Hopefully the signage is back up.

 

*you will want to test your window with the light on in your room before you decide to leave the drapes open. Apparently the glass is different on each cabin. The window in the C I had a few years ago fully blocked being able to see in (even when you covered your forehead with eyes up to the glass). There were several lanais on this last cruise that you could see all the way into in living detail if the lights were on and the drapes were open.

[Cruiser Andi]

I loved my lanai. I would take the upsell for that price.

[0bnxshs]

We had a lanai on the Maasdam in October 2015. I don't think we'll do another one.

 

It was nice to be able to be outside on the lower promenade very quickly for pictures, etc. We had no problems with lounger squatters but it was a cool weather trip and few people used them anyplace. I did as I enjoy the cool weather.

 

The sliding door is rather heavy. Fortunately in this case so am I, but for a small person I could see it being a problem. I did like the magnetic locking system and button to release and anonymous card to open from outside. Not sure if they have this system on the Veendam.

 

The cabin is somewhat less functional than a typical oceanview as a traffic flow must be kept open through the cabin. As mentioned, the couch is shorter. There are no drawers in the desk/vanity. There are a few extra drawers in the closet though, to compensate, but it's not so convenient to the things you might want to keep at the desk/vanity, which is also truncated to accommodate traffic flow.

 

We did find that you could see inside the cabin at night with lights on inside if one stood at the correct angle. This could well be true of any lower promenade cabin with a window/door. They did provide sheers but even with those, if one peered, you could see inside. Drapes did work to block any peeping. I only did so with my own cabin. We also found that while light did leak around the drapes at night and during the day, it wasn't so much as to disturb us. We did not face the sunrise in the a.m. though and that might have been an issue if we had. Morning deck cleanings did not disturb us noise-wise nor did any runners on the lower promenade. Again, this might have been due to being a cool weather cruise, although there were a fair number of walkers during the day.

 

Hope you find this helpful, OP. :)

Edited January 10, 2016 by 0bnxshs

[TiogaCruiser]

On Veendam you are issued a plaincRd that you wave I front of the reader outside the sliding door so it unlocks. The card has to be returned the last night to the front desk. There are no holes in the card that allow you to hang it from your lanyard.

[Parker1]

We loved our lanai on Veendan last May. We needed a wheelchair accessible cabin and were limited to ocean view or lanai. DH could push a button to open our slider and wheel out o the deck on his own. We're light sleepers and were never bothered by any outside noise. I did notice some people "wrestling" to open the heavy doors on non-accessible lanai's. We wouldn't hesitate to book another.

[falcon10156]

For those of you who have sailed on the Veendam, is it worth paying $400 dollars more to go from an E oceanview on lower promenade deck to a CA Lanai room? I know many of you don't like the lanais as people tend to use the designated chairs outside, but I do like the idea of the convenience. It is for a 13 day cruise. I am right next door to a CA Lanai now and the door outside is only a short distance away. Thanks for any input.

 

Yes it is a great room. We never had anyone use our chairs but once. He didn't stay long and we didn't need them. The person in the room beside always used theirs and when someone else Sat on them they asked them to move. No issues. It is nice to have access outside from your own but it depends on the itinerary. We did it in Antarctica. I would book smother one without hesitation.

Edited January 11, 2016 by falcon10156