Cabin 5062 Oosterdam

[fitters]

Anyone have any experience with this cabin or any VF Categories on the verandah deck? Are the life boats just below the VF's on this deck? Are the balconies smaller?

 

Any comments, much appreicated. Thanks.

[Tinknock50]

Anyone have any experience with this cabin or any VF Categories on the verandah deck? Are the life boats just below the VF's on this deck? Are the balconies smaller?

 

Any comments, much appreicated. Thanks.

 

Have not been in a VF cabin but I am familiar with the ship.

 

You will definitely look down on the tops of lifeboats. Can you upgrade to a VD? Their balconies are slightly deeper and most of them are

not near lifeboats. Get one that is on the wide part of the ship and you will have an unobstructed view of the water. Cabins VD4164 and VD4166 also have wider balconies. Click the link below to view the deck plan:

 

 

Upper Promenade

[Tinknock50]

Here is a link to the thread that discusses 4166 and 4164. The picture shows their wider balconies at the lower right.

 

cabin grade and verandah - Cruise Critic Message Boards

 

 

[rkacruiser]

I have had two VF cabins on the Zuiderdam and they are very pleasant, comfortable cabins. The balconies are of adequate size. I once had a party on my balcony when we were sailing from Chalotte Amalie; there were 5 people present and we all had a place to sit. Was it tight? Yes, but we all fit!

[Tracyr]

We had this exact cabin on the Oosterdam in March 06 Mexico. The lifeboats are directly below you. We got an upgrade from an oceanview cabin to this balcony so we thought it was wonderful. We are a family of 4 two teenagers. We could all go out on the balcony at once and stand at the railing without feeling crowded. I looked to see if I had any good pictures of the balcony. There aren't any real great ones, but if you would like me to email what I have I will be happy to. my email is tracycruises at hotmail dot com

[Cruise Raider]

We were on deck 6, category VD, not VF, midship. Our balcony floor was level with the tops of the lifeboats. At first, we thought this would bother us as we couldn't look right down onto the ocean, but it wasn't bad in calm seas. We did a back to back and the seas were a lot rougher the second week out. Well, you guessed it...a design flaw they really didn't think about. We would go out onto our balcony in the morning (only had to happen twice before we learned our lesson) only to find someone from the upper balcony had gotten sick over the side. I think they had to come out about 6-7 times to clean off the top of that boat. Once you know it is there, you can hardly look at anything else. Really didn't even utilize our balcony the entire second week because of this.

Something to consider ... if you are sailing in rough waters. Extra money for something you may not be able to use???

[Tinknock50]

We were on deck 6, category VD, not VF, midship. Our balcony floor was level with the tops of the lifeboats. At first, we thought this would bother us as we couldn't look right down onto the ocean, but it wasn't bad in calm seas. We did a back to back and the seas were a lot rougher the second week out. Well, you guessed it...a design flaw they really didn't think about. We would go out onto our balcony in the morning (only had to happen twice before we learned our lesson) only to find someone from the upper balcony had gotten sick over the side. I think they had to come out about 6-7 times to clean off the top of that boat. Once you know it is there, you can hardly look at anything else. Really didn't even utilize our balcony the entire second week because of this.

Something to consider ... if you are sailing in rough waters. Extra money for something you may not be able to use???

 

Confused by your post.....there aren't any VD cabins on deck 6.

 

In order to have the lifeboats on a level with your balcony midships, you would have to be on deck 5 in a VE.

 

On deck 6, you might have been in a mid-ship VB and looked two decks down to the lifeboats. Is that what you mean?

 

Anyhow, I reccommend VD cabins because there aren't any lifeboats beneath them and they have deeper balconies.

[Tinknock50]

Just occured to me where the confusion lies.

 

The old deckplans show VDs on deck 5, they are now VEs.

 

You must be looking at old plans.

 

All VDs are on deck 4.

 

The VDs are great "V" class cabins and do not have lifeboats under them. The ones that are little less desirable are at the narrower section of the deck, which have some kind of launching poles beneath them, but these poles can be seen through.

[noblepa]

We had 5065 on the Oosterdam in April. This is in just about the same location as 5062, just on the other side of the ship. We were directly over the second lifeboat from the bow. If you look at an external picture of the vista class ships, you can tell where that is.

 

The lifeboats do not obstruct your view outward at all. The do prevent you from seeing anything happening at the waterline or on the dock right next to the ship, but what is happening there that you want to see, anyway? The top of the lifeboats is just below the level of your deck.

 

As for the size of the balcony, I am just about exactly six feet tall, so my armspan is also about six feet. I could just touch the railing and the cabin wall at the same time. Therefore, the balcony is about six feet deep. The VF cabins on deck 5 have plexiglas railings. The VF cabins on deck 4 are farther forward and have solid steel walls, instead of plexiglas. This would definitely affect your view if you were sitting down, but not standing up.

 

There is room for two chairs and a smallish (2 ft x 2 ft) table on the balcony. Two or three people fit comfortably. More than that and I imagine it would start to feel crowded.

 

I would book a VF on deck 5 again, in a heartbeat. I booked a VE for our upcoming cruise in April, because they were only offering VF guarantees and I didn't want to risk getting one on deck 4, with the steel railing.

 

Paul Noble

[fitters]

As for the size of the balcony, I am just about exactly six feet tall, so my armspan is also about six feet. I could just touch the railing and the cabin wall at the same time. Therefore, the balcony is about six feet deep. The VF cabins on deck 5 have plexiglas railings. The VF cabins on deck 4 are farther forward and have solid steel walls, instead of plexiglas. This would definitely affect your view if you were sitting down, but not standing up.

 

I would book a VF on deck 5 again, in a heartbeat. I booked a VE for our upcoming cruise in April, because they were only offering VF guarantees and I didn't want to risk getting one on deck 4, with the steel railing.

 

Paul Noble

 

Thank you Paul. I'm sure we'll love it. It's our first HAL cruise, so we are looking forward to it.