Westerdam

[ISLAND DIVA]

We are thinking of booking a 14 day back to back cruise on the Westerdam in March 2009.How is the condition of the ship and what are the cabins like on the upper promenade deck Cat:VF it seems to be the only cabins left in that cat.They have a solid steel railing instead of a plexiglass railing ,how do they compare,I know that you can not see thru the steel one but is that OK does it make a lot of difference.How can you find out if there are groups or agents blocking cabins.The two cruises seem to be booked early and the dining room is waitlisted.Thanks for your help.

[RedmondCruiser]

Alot will happen between now and March of 2009. Catagories that are currently not listed may come up. HAL will never tell you what the current booking situation is.

The ship is in good condition, as all HAL ships are. Cabins are large but storage and drawer space is lacking. Since your booking a veranda I don't have to tell you about inside cabins ( very very small ) TA blocked cabins will not be released until about 90 days prior to sailing

You may have to take "anytime dining" rather than an assigned table. Its not that bad

Have a great cruise

[Lurker1]

You might be able to slight a suitcase or two under the bed, we were able to do that on both our Vista Class cruises (Oosterdam and Westerdam).

The ship is very clean and in very good condition.

Have a great cruise!

[CruiserBruce]

You can put many suitcases under the bed(s), particularly if the beds are pushed together. We put our two checked bags, plus our carry on, and could have put at least another checked bag and perhaps more under there, if we needed to.

[RedmondCruiser]

I was'nt referring to the space under the bed. We always get all our luggage under the bed. I was referring to the storage space in the room. The Vista class ships have less space to store your things than other classes. Last year we were on the Regal Princess and had so many drawers that we did'nt use them all. Even the small inside cabins on the Sun Class ships on Princess have more storage space. This is something that HAL needs to address in future construction. If the ship was designed for 3 and 4 day cruises it would be fine.

[frankathy]

There was alot of closet space, but the Westerdam was lacking drawer space. There is collabsable (sp?) shelving in the closet and that is how we got around the drawer space.

[Sandy Sails]

Island Diva - we did a B2B on the Westerdam this past March and loved it! You'll have a wonderful time! Especially during the transition day when everybody else is getting off the ship but you get to stay on for another week.

 

We booked a guaranteed VF cabin and ended up with an upgrade to a VA on the Upper Promenade deck. You may want to go that route also.

 

Good luck and enjoy! Sandy

[caviargal]

We were aboard 4 weeks ago and the ship is shipshape!

 

She is a beauty IMO and the new upgrades were well done.

[RuthC]

The ship is in good condition, as all HAL ships are. Cabins are large but storage and drawer space is lacking.

There is drawer space, but it's in the unlikeliest (and most inconvenient) of places.

I found a drawer under each bed, as well as drawers under the sofa, on the Noordam. Take a look in those places on all the Vista's.

 

Problem with the placement of those drawers is, I can't (don't want to, either) get down on the floor to get to my things. The sofa also had a table and chair in front of it. I wasn't about to start moving furniture to get to my things, either. :rolleyes: