Nieuw Amsterdam VH & HH Room Question

[maryandmarge]

Getting ready to book a room on Nieuw Amsterdam on the Oct 8th San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale thru the Panama Canal.    I'm booking thru a casino offer that I received a couple days ago.    My options for the oceanview is HH with a completed obstructed view OR if I want to pay a little more I can get a balcony in the VH category which is also full obstructed view.   There are only 4 of these on the front of the ship.    Cost of the balcony is approx. $1000 more per person for the 17 days.    We've always used the balcony when we cruise even when we went to Alaska.   Hoping someone on cruise critic has stayed in these categories and can give me their opinion of what they thought.   I've always gotten lots of useful knowledge from past cruisers on cruise critic.    Thanks in advance - travel safe...

Maryell

[CruiserBruce]

VH is not fully obstructed, I don't think. I think the only issue is the railing is solid steel.

 

VH is an "entry level" cabin...as you note, only 4 of them. Probably a better chance of an upgrade.

[maryandmarge]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

VH is not fully obstructed, I don't think. I think the only issue is the railing is solid steel.

 

VH is an "entry level" cabin...as you note, only 4 of them. Probably a better chance of an upgrade.

Thanks for the info.   I was afraid that we wouldn't have any view when we walked out on our balcony.   We can work with the steel railing instead of the plexiglass.   Pretty sure we are going to go for the balcony and hope for an upgrade offer later.   

Maryell

[oakridger]

If you are susceptible to sea sickness, then the location at the very front of the ship may be a consideration.  The only tender port after San Diego is Half Moon Cay on the last full day of the cruise so noise from the anchor should only be an issue on that day.  I'm booked on this cruise so maybe I'll see you on board!

 

~Nancy

 

P.S.- I'm a Berea High School, Kent State and Ohio State alumni!!!

 

Edited April 30, 2022 by oakridger
Added info

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

If you are susceptible to sea sickness, then the location at the very front of the ship may be a consideration.  The only tender port after San Diego is Half Moon Cay on the last full day of the cruise so noise from the anchor should only be an issue on that day.  I'm booked on this cruise so maybe I'll see you on board!

 

~Nancy

 

P.S.- I'm a Berea High School, Kent State and Ohio State alumni!!!

 

The anchor may not even be used. Dynamic positioning, where the engines and thrusters are used to hold the ship in position are commonly used.

[oakridger]

Good point @CruiserBruce.  That would be better!

[maryandmarge]

12 hours ago, oakridger said:

If you are susceptible to sea sickness, then the location at the very front of the ship may be a consideration.  The only tender port after San Diego is Half Moon Cay on the last full day of the cruise so noise from the anchor should only be an issue on that day.  I'm booked on this cruise so maybe I'll see you on board!

 

~Nancy

 

P.S.- I'm a Berea High School, Kent State and Ohio State alumni!!!

 

Hi Nancy -

Luckily neither my sister or I have ever been bothered with seasickness so hopefully that won't be an issue.   We've never been near the front of the ship before - we prefer the aft facing balconies but most times we settle for just aft balconies because the added cost to be able to sit and watch the wake behind us wasn't worth it.    I'm sure even if they use the anchor that won't bother us either.    I'm going to call my Holland PCC and have him take our reservation off of hold and book it on Monday.   We did the Panama Canal from LA to FLL in 2018 on NCL so we were surprised that we've only been at 2 of the ports that we are stopping at.   It will be fun to start planning.    We usually sign up on the Roll Call Forum and attend the Meet and Greet on the ship so hope we get to meet you on the ship.  Thanks for your response - safe travels.

I have 2 other sisters that live in Berea.  My sister that I travel with and I both live in Valley City about 10 miles from them.     Small world.

Maryell

 

[Andi Land]

I recently booked a cruise with a casino offer with a guaranteed room. I paid for the upgrade to a verandah and then added on Club Orange. With Club Orange, you can choose your verandah at the highest category even with the casino offer. I find it the cheapest way to get the room upgrade on these casino offers even if we don’t use the other perks. I think on the longer cruises it’s $15 pp pd but you’d want to call and verify and see if it’s a financial benefit to you. You could also do the same with the free ocean view room. You could add Club Orange on and upgrade to the highest category OV. Just my 2 cents! Enjoy the Panama Canal. It’s one I really want to do. 

[DaveOKC]

9 minutes ago, Andi Land said:

I recently booked a cruise with a casino offer with a guaranteed room. I paid for the upgrade to a verandah and then added on Club Orange. With Club Orange, you can choose your verandah at the highest category even with the casino offer. I find it the cheapest way to get the room upgrade on these casino offers even if we don’t use the other perks. I think on the longer cruises it’s $15 pp pd but you’d want to call and verify and see if it’s a financial benefit to you. You could also do the same with the free ocean view room. You could add Club Orange on and upgrade to the highest category OV. Just my 2 cents! Enjoy the Panama Canal. It’s one I really want to do. 

Great advice IMO.  Most times it is less expensive than paying for the upgrade by itself, plus you get a few other perks.

 

One thing to add - for a Panama Canal cruise I would consider an aft (facing) cabin.  The views while going through the canal are fantastic and you do not have to fight the crowds on the public decks.

[liketraveling]

On 4/29/2022 at 11:25 AM, maryandmarge said:

Getting ready to book a room on Nieuw Amsterdam on the Oct 8th San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale thru the Panama Canal.    I'm booking thru a casino offer that I received a couple days ago.    My options for the oceanview is HH with a completed obstructed view OR if I want to pay a little more I can get a balcony in the VH category which is also full obstructed view.   There are only 4 of these on the front of the ship.    Cost of the balcony is approx. $1000 more per person for the 17 days.    We've always used the balcony when we cruise even when we went to Alaska.   Hoping someone on cruise critic has stayed in these categories and can give me their opinion of what they thought.   I've always gotten lots of useful knowledge from past cruisers on cruise critic.    Thanks in advance - travel 

 

On 4/29/2022 at 11:25 AM, maryandmarge said:

Getting ready to book a room on Nieuw Amsterdam on the Oct 8th San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale thru the Panama Canal.    I'm booking thru a casino offer that I received a couple days ago.    My options for the oceanview is HH with a completed obstructed view OR if I want to pay a little more I can get a balcony in the VH category which is also full obstructed view.   There are only 4 of these on the front of the ship.    Cost of the balcony is approx. $1000 more per person for the 17 days.    We've always used the balcony when we cruise even when we went to Alaska.   Hoping someone on cruise critic has stayed in these categories and can give me their opinion of what they thought.   I've always gotten lots of useful knowledge from past cruisers on cruise critic.    Thanks in advance - travel safe...

Maryell

About 10 days ago I booked a casino deal similar to yours and I had to book a VH guarantee for that price.  Someone just posted that they had booked a VH guarantee and were assigned a VA cabin.  Sorry for the double posting.

Edited April 30, 2022 by liketraveling

[crystalspin]

On 4/29/2022 at 12:25 PM, maryandmarge said:

Getting ready to book a room on Nieuw Amsterdam on the Oct 8th San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale thru the Panama Canal.   

Maryell,

Come join the roll call! It is currently named as "October 2 2022" because that is where it starts, in Vancouver. Makes more sense than two roll calls with all of the same ports after San Diego. 

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, liketraveling said:

 

About 10 days ago I booked a casino deal similar to yours and I had to book a VH guarantee for that price.  Someone just posted that they had booked a VH guarantee and were assigned a VA cabin.  Sorry for the double posting.

When you book a verandah guarantee cabin you can end up in a VH or a VA, it depends on how full the ship is and how lucky you are.  Personally, with my bad luck, I would get a terrible location, so I do not mind paying a bit more to know exactly where my cabin is (with the Club Orange deal you normally get to pick your cabin within the mega category (verandah in this example).  Then I also mark my cabin "do not upgrade", as my idea of a better location is not always the same as HAL's!  Even with this approach, you could still be offered a paid upsell to a higher category, such as a Neptune or Signature suite.

 

[liketraveling]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

When you book a verandah guarantee cabin you can end up in a VH or a VA, it depends on how full the ship is and how lucky you are.  Personally, with my bad luck, I would get a terrible location, so I do not mind paying a bit more to know exactly where my cabin is (with the Club Orange deal you normally get to pick your cabin within the mega category (verandah in this example).  Then I also mark my cabin "do not upgrade", as my idea of a better location is not always the same as HAL's!  Even with this approach, you could still be offered a paid upsell to a higher category, such as a Neptune or Signature suite.

 

That I s very good advice but I will take my chances.  If I were cruising with any one other than my dad I would do it.  If by chance I get an upsell to a signature suite at a decent price I will just do it and not my dad.

 

 

[maryandmarge]

6 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Maryell,

Come join the roll call! It is currently named as "October 2 2022" because that is where it starts, in Vancouver. Makes more sense than two roll calls with all of the same ports after San Diego. 

I'll be joining next week after we confirm the booking with PCC.   I always looked forward to finally going to the Meet and Greet on the ship and meeting the people I followed on the Roll Call.   

Maryell 

[maryandmarge]

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

When you book a verandah guarantee cabin you can end up in a VH or a VA, it depends on how full the ship is and how lucky you are.  Personally, with my bad luck, I would get a terrible location, so I do not mind paying a bit more to know exactly where my cabin is (with the Club Orange deal you normally get to pick your cabin within the mega category (verandah in this example).  Then I also mark my cabin "do not upgrade", as my idea of a better location is not always the same as HAL's!  Even with this approach, you could still be offered a paid upsell to a higher category, such as a Neptune or Signature suite.

 

This is a good option but we looked at Club Orange and decided that we would just take our chances and if we are offered something better than the VH then we will check out the upgrade - either way I'm sure we will love our room and this trip.   

Maryell

[liketraveling]

On 4/30/2022 at 2:23 PM, DaveOKC said:

When you book a verandah guarantee cabin you can end up in a VH or a VA, it depends on how full the ship is and how lucky you are.  Personally, with my bad luck, I would get a terrible location, so I do not mind paying a bit more to know exactly where my cabin is (with the Club Orange deal you normally get to pick your cabin within the mega category (verandah in this example).  Then I also mark my cabin "do not upgrade", as my idea of a better location is not always the same as HAL's!  Even with this approach, you could still be offered a paid upsell to a higher category, such as a Neptune or Signature suite.

 

DaveOKC

 

Thanks so much for the advice.  I know I said I would take my chances, but I thought about your advice and thought what would it hurt to call and find out the cost to upgrade to club orange.  I am in a 14 day cruise and it is $15.00 a day per person plus $30.00 for insurance.   It came to $240.00 per person.  They upgraded my cabin right then and there after I paid for the club orange and insurance.  My dad has always talked about the aft facing cabin he had on his first Panama Canal cruise where he could watch the front of the canal on TV and the rear in the back so I was able to get an aft facing verandah.  I prefer the aft and I know it bounces in the back.  I was on the Eurodam port side 2 cabins from the aft.  And it was not too bad.

 

again thanks.  Just needed time to think about it. We are 4 start so we get laundry and priority tendering.  It was worth the extra to pick the cabin.  
 

I will be on the zuiderdam.  I thought it would be between $25.00-35.00 a day to upgrade.

 

Thanks Again!

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, liketraveling said:

I will be on the zuiderdam.  I thought it would be between $25.00-35.00 a day to upgrade.

Oh, I'm happy for you! You will love the Zuidy (we did). And in your favorite cabin.

[redbanshee]

On 4/29/2022 at 6:20 PM, maryandmarge said:

Thanks for the info.   I was afraid that we wouldn't have any view when we walked out on our balcony.   We can work with the steel railing instead of the plexiglass.   Pretty sure we are going to go for the balcony and hope for an upgrade offer later.   

Maryell

This cabin does not have glass railing ….instead metal bulk head. I have stayed in it before and enjoyed it…just had to stand to see the water but yes maybe you will get an upgrade to glass….🤗