Rotterdam connecting cabins

[Holly g]

How noisy are the connecting cabins on this ship?  Looking at cabin 5115 but noticed it’s connecting. Any thoughts? 
but it does have a bigger balcony so that’s a plus.

[highscar]

On the Koninsdam in connecting  cabins and when I asked my neighbor if they could hear my tv they thought my cabin was empty.  No problem.  Boooked it again. 

[Holly g]

Thanks. That’s good to know.

[QueenofEverything]

We were on the Rotterdam last spring on the Transatlantic in 6145.  We were also attracted by the bigger balcony.  We heard every conversation in the room next door and they were pretty loud talkers.  The other thing we noticed was noise from the TVs.  They are recessed somewhat into the wall back to back.  That means not much wall between them.  We also heard everything on their TV.  I will never book a connecting cabin on the Rotterdam again.

[Crew News]

I mistakenly booked a Rotterdam stateroom last December that had a connecting door.  The adult and young kids voices could be heard when they were in the stateroom.  When the young voices had disappeared for some time, religious services must have been happening as adult voices could be heard declaring their love of God.

 

Turning up the TV volume drowned out the sounds most of the time.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Crew News

[ConanD]

Oof, this thread made me double check my booking. Apparently I mistakenly got a connecting cabin as well.
Mailed HAL to ask if I could change my cabin, since loads of non-connecting ones are still available closer to mid-ship (which might even be better because my partner could expirience motion/sea sickness)

 

Hope they'll be okay with this!

[BobbiSox]

Went on a Rotterdam B/B last year and booked a midship adjoining balcony. Big mistake. We could hear every word the neighbors spoke, even though they spoke quietly. We could hear their television programs as well. And their music. Pretty much every sound, as though they were in our cabin with us. They left after the first leg and no one occupied the cabin for the next leg, thank goodness. I won't do that again. 

[ConanD]

If there are still open cabins, HAL is willing to move you to another room if you mail them (if you booked directly at least, not sure if it works if you used a TA). So 10/10 for customer service on that part.

Thanks for the warnings!

[Fred321]

Hate to add more bad news but we were in a Vista Suite on the Koningsdam in a room with no connecting door and we could still hear conversations and tv from next door. I know it is a different ship but it is the same design and I would be surprised if they changed the walls on the newer ships. We have one more trip booked on this class {Rotterdam} and that is simply because it is a TA that fits our schedule. After that we are done with the newer ships mostly because of the poor sound proofing of the rooms and the terrible noise and rushing around in the main dining room.

We really like the Tamarind and the Dutch Cafe but not enough to outweigh the other problems.

[Petronillus]

On our recent Midnight Sun cruise to Norway, DW & I occupied a cabin connecting to our son's cabin. We very much enjoyed the open access when the barrier between the two cabins was opened on the verandahs. As for the interior of the cabins, none of us had any problems with noise contamination. FWIW. Everybody's experience is different.

 

P.S. You gotta love the observation about the "prayer session" going on in the adjoining cabin.

[Real NHDOC]

Adjoining cabins can be a nightmare - I personally would never take one again.  We were on back to backs on the Nieuw Statendam last winter and on one leg we noticed the noise from next door was excessive.  We had a neighbor who opened the door on their side to use it to hang stuff from so there was literally no sound they made we couldn't hear because there was now only one door separating the two cabins instead of two. I know this is the case because I opened our door once and could look right into their cabin.  We had to keep asking the steward to close the door on their side it was so noisy.  Even when the door on their side was closed it was still much noisier than a traditional cabin without adjoining doors.  Lesson learned.  Never take a cabin with adjoining doors.

[Holly g]

Thanks for the replies. I switched my cabin and actually found a better one that is not connecting but still has the large deck.

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

This thread really makes me rethink my decision on the Koningsdam and future cruises on the Rotterdam.  We like longer cruises and try to book the Collector Voyages and we like the Spa Veranda cabins.  The problem is most of the cabins assigned to the Collector Voyages are connecting cabins.  I have tried on two different cruises to change them to non-connecting cabins and HAL refused.  In both cases there were plenty of cabins available.  If someone knows the secret to getting them to switch to a non-connecting cabin, I would appreciate the hint.

[oakridger]

14 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

The problem is most of the cabins assigned to the Collector Voyages are connecting cabins.

 

On all my Collector voyages I selected my own (non-connecting) cabins.    I booked under the "You Choose Your Stateroom" and paid the extra for it.   Did you book a "Guarantee" rate?

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

2 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

On all my Collector voyages I selected my own (non-connecting) cabins.    I booked under the "You Choose Your Stateroom" and paid the extra for it.   Did you book a "Guarantee" rate?

 

Yes, I paid for the “you choose your stateroom offer” and the only cabins available are connecting cabins.  HAL keeps a separate list of available cabins for the Collector voyages and the individual voyages.  You run into the same problem if you try to book collector voyage either a follow up individual voyage.  You can’t stay in the same cabin even if is available.

[Ipeeinthepools]

Here’s an example of one cruise I’ve booked for February 2025.  First, I’ll show the ability for the 21 day collector cruise and then the individual 12 and 9 day segments. I’m looking at the Spa Veranda cabins. 

 

Here are the cabins currently available.

 

 

They will only allow me to book these cabins for the collector trip. Only 3 cabins available.

 

However here are the available cabins for the individual segments.   Plenty of cabins available.

 

 

The only thing that makes sense is that HAL really doesn’t want you to book collector cruise if you want to select a better cabin.

 

 

[seaoma]

5 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Here’s an example of one cruise I’ve booked for February 2025.  First, I’ll show the ability for the 21 day collector cruise and then the individual 12 and 9 day segments. I’m looking at the Spa Veranda cabins. 

 

Here are the cabins currently available.

 

 

They will only allow me to book these cabins for the collector trip. Only 3 cabins available.

 

However here are the available cabins for the individual segments.   Plenty of cabins available.

 

 

The only thing that makes sense is that HAL really doesn’t want you to book collector cruise if you want to select a better cabin.

 

 

 

Have you tried inputing the cabin number you want to see if it's available? There is an option for that early in the process, but you must scroll down to the bottom of the page. If that's not working, I would suggest you call your PCC or TA. They may be able to assist you.

[Holly g]

On 8/16/2023 at 3:26 AM, ConanD said:

Oof, this thread made me double check my booking. Apparently I mistakenly got a connecting cabin as well.
Mailed HAL to ask if I could change my cabin, since loads of non-connecting ones are still available closer to mid-ship (which might even be better because my partner could expirience motion/sea sickness)

 

Hope they'll be okay with this!

Just call them. That’s what I did but I looked on a deck plans website and knew which cabin I wanted. No problem.

[crystalspin]

Before the pandemic, I wanted two particular cabins on the Nieuw Statendam. It was a two-leg cruise, with each being sold separately, but the combined (collectors?) cruise was going to save me quite some money. The cabins showed as available on the separate listings but not the combined cruise. I called my PCC and explained the situation. She put me on hold and talked to Inventory, who changed the availability so the PCC could book me where I wanted! Unfortunately never got to do the cruise due to the shut-down...

[Crew News]

49 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Before the pandemic, I wanted two particular cabins on the Nieuw Statendam. It was a two-leg cruise, with each being sold separately, but the combined (collectors?) cruise was going to save me quite some money. The cabins showed as available on the separate listings but not the combined cruise. I called my PCC and explained the situation. She put me on hold and talked to Inventory, who changed the availability so the PCC could book me where I wanted! Unfortunately never got to do the cruise due to the shut-down...

After a recent conversation with my PCC, I learned that staterooms are pre-assigned to each leg of a collector's cruise and that includes certain cabins that are only visible to those booking the full length of the collector's cruise.  My questions were related to Panama Canal repositioning, not boarding at the Vancouver origin, and staying in the same stateroom for the subsequent Caribbean cruise.

 

I learned that my PCC could contact Inventory and Inventory could open staterooms on any leg for immediate booking.  The delay was about two minutes to make this change and book my custom repositioning cruise.

 

That translates to booking as soon as the season opens, find your desired stateroom(s) on any leg, and let your PCC know exactly which staterooms you want.for each leg.