SS suite on Zuiderdam: Pics and policies [Archive]

DavidNDC

January 9th, 2005, 07:21 PM

Folks:

My friends and I are booking an SS suite on the Zuiderdam. This will be our first cruise on HAL. I have two questions:

1. What do you NOT get in an SS suite on Zuiderdam that you WOULD get in an S suite?

2. Can anyone point me to any pics of an SS suite? Thanks!

RuthC

January 9th, 2005, 07:30 PM

An SS is merely an oversize veranda cabin---there are no real "perks" that the S-suite has. The S-suite has access to the Neptune Lounge, priority boarding, priority access to the tenders, a suite cocktail party, corsage on 1st formal night, tea service en suite, personalized stationary, and ??? I forget what else.

Someone else will add to the list, I'm sure.

Sierrachik

January 9th, 2005, 07:34 PM

Unlimited laundry and dry cleaning are also part of the "perk" list for the S category.

DavidNDC

January 9th, 2005, 08:04 PM

Thanks, Ruth and Sierrachik!

If anyone can point me to any pics or give me any more info, I'd sure love it! Although I have been twice on NCL and twice on Celebrity and once on RCCL, this is my first time on HAL.

It sounds like SS suite might be a tiny bit inferior to the junior suite on the NCL Dawn or the mini-suite on the Celebrity Century in terms of what is offered, but I could be wrong about this.

Renorita

January 9th, 2005, 09:46 PM

Randyk47

January 9th, 2005, 10:25 PM

We have a few pictures of SS 6060 from the Oosterdam on our website. www.geocities.com/theklugspage/ (http://www.geocities.com/theklugspage/) One that's not on there that folks have asked for is the verandah. I've attached it here.

Sierrachik

January 10th, 2005, 05:51 AM

Here are pics of S7056 from our Oct. 04 cruise http://www.rosemontfloral.com/cruisepics.htm. This coming October we are taking an SS rather than the S, much less expensive, by about $400 per person. The only S perk we really want is the unlimited laundry package, we will miss the larger cabin though. Last year there was not much of a price difference between S and SS, only $150pp, this year the SS is the better choice given the price difference.

tommy

January 10th, 2005, 08:34 AM

Anyone ever get an upgrade from a guaranteed SS to a S suite? We are going on the O-dam Oct. 29th and hope the "upgrade fairy" will shine down on us. But the worst that will happen is we will end up with a nice spacious cabin and veranda at a nice price of $975! :D
We had a CatA guarentee in Oct and were upgraded to a S Suite.I dont know if it mattered but we booked direct with Holland. TOM

DavidNDC

January 10th, 2005, 04:46 PM

Thanks to Randy and Sierrachic for the pics!!! It looks like an SS suite will be just fine for us! We're on the Zuiderdam on May 14. I can't wait!

David

Pudgesmom

January 11th, 2005, 10:38 AM

We loved our SS on the Oosterdam. The balcony was much larger than a standard veranda, and the whirlpool and separate shower were great. We were not interested in the Neptune Lounge- plenty of other ways to eat and mingle, and only once had to wait to get off the ship. I spent the extra on shopping and a week long pass to the hydropool and thermal suite.

Enjoy!
Beth

doone

January 11th, 2005, 10:51 AM

Sierrachick, did you enjoy the Baths? Thinking of booking that excursion, is it worth it?

Sierrachik

January 11th, 2005, 06:31 PM

Hi Doone,

I enjoyed the Baths very much, mainly for the sheer beauty of it. There is not really a lot there, a few shops at the top, they don't carry much. We did not visit the restaurant. The pictures I have of the Baths are among my favorite, so it was worth the price of the shore excursion from HAL for those alone.

doone

January 11th, 2005, 06:58 PM

Sierrachick, thanks so much for the information on the Baths. I am thinking of the Baths or another tour that takes you to shops where they have all kinds of spices, just not sure at the moment, but I better hurry up and figure it out. It will be here before I know it. Thanks, again, appreciate the information.

the2ofus

January 12th, 2005, 01:56 PM

Doone, we were there in December.

The Baths is a really great excursion. Be aware that the hike down and back up is fairly steep and rocky. Also, going through the Baths sometimes requires that you have two hands free for safer going. I recommend sneakers or water shoes and maybe a backpack for your towel and water bottle, but don't plan to carry much else. There are restrooms, a shower and lockers at the beach entrance to the rocks, so if you plan to use those, you need to retrace your steps through the Baths. Otherwise there is an alternate trail back to the top which is a bit easier. It starts from the beach on the far side of the rocks.

It is fun swimming at the beach on the other side of the rocks, the beach is rather narrow and steep and it drops off quickly once you are in the water. A number of people were snorkeling and seemed to enjoy it. If you swim, I guarantee you will come back to the ship with sand in your suit, unless you shower before the climb back to the top.

crockea

January 13th, 2005, 10:20 PM

Do SS suite passengers get priority status on the tenders at the ports? We are thinking of booking with Capt Marvin or nativeway in Grand Cayman but don't want to miss it if we don't get off the boat until 11a. The Westerdam is supposed to arrive at 8a that day but very busy port day.

dakrewser

January 14th, 2005, 01:11 AM

Randyk47

January 14th, 2005, 08:47 AM

Dave is absolutely right. Once again we've got a case where the naming of the category is confusing and somewhat misleding. Probably too late or too hard for HAL to clear this up by a name change to the category but, in my mind, it was a poor choice.

Oceanwench

January 14th, 2005, 04:52 PM

Thanks to Randy and Sierrachic for the pics!!! It looks like an SS suite will be just fine for us! We're on the Zuiderdam on May 14. I can't wait!

David

Dave,

We are on the same cruise and have booked an SS suite too - first time! We have always had a verandah.
Has anyone started a roll call for this sailing?

DavidNDC

January 14th, 2005, 08:52 PM

Hiya Oceanwrench!

I don't think anyone has started a roll call for our cruise yet! I'll get one going this weekend, assuming no one else has launched it!

David

KellyJ

January 15th, 2005, 09:10 AM

Thanks to the Klug family for posting all of those wonderful pictures. I am especially interested in the one with the dolphins-the caption said Dolphin Cove in Jamaica. Was it a dolphin "swim" or encounter and if so, is the excursion booked through HAL?

DH wants to do the dolphin "swim", but the only place I have seen it was at Cozumel, which is fine, but it cuts into my shopping time in the Duty free zone. (My list is very long).

Does anyone else know where we can dolphin swim on the Western other than Coz?

Thanks for the help.

Kelly J

Randyk47

January 15th, 2005, 10:13 AM

KellyJ - It was the Dolphin Swim. As I understand the encounter you aren't in the water with the dolphin. We arranged the tour through HAL. I'd have to check if there are other places, and I'm sure there are, where you could swim with dolphins. Might add we did the package of Dolphin Swim and Dunn's River Falls as we wanted to do both and it was cheaper to get the package. We were in the water at Dolphin Cove for quite a bit of time then got dried off and about an hour later were climbing up the Falls......I was one pooped cruiser after that but it was fun!

Sea Island Lady

January 15th, 2005, 12:17 PM

We have a few pictures of SS 6060 from the Oosterdam on our website.
I could only find one pic of the SS on your site (the one of Mr. Klug sitting on the sofa). What am I doing wrong?

We are looking into a cruise on one of the newer HAL ships (is there a name for this category of ship?) and have never cruised with HAL before. Is $1,049 - $1,400 pp a good price for now through May? That is the quote we have received for several sailings.

Randyk47

January 15th, 2005, 12:32 PM

I discovered that my webmaster.....also known as my darling wife.....had "cleaned" up our webpage and removed a number of extra pictures. Sorry....I didn't know they weren't posted anymore. :o You're not doing anything wrong.

Randyk47

January 15th, 2005, 12:41 PM

Here's an additional view. I should have also answered your question about the "class" of HAL ship. These pictures are from SS 6060 on the Oosterdam which a Vista class ship.....HAL's largest class. I've uploaded just about every digital photo to Yahoo and if you want to see all of the raw photos you can go to: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/randyk_47/my_photos These aren't edited or arranged in any particular order.

Sea Island Lady

January 15th, 2005, 01:16 PM

Wonderful! Not a bad sized stateroom. I was trying to compare it to a JS on the Voyager/Radiance class ships with RCCL.
Do you have any pictures of the bathroom? Does anyone else or know where to find any? Could you describe it and compare to RCCL?
Also, are there any "bad" locations on the ship for the SS? We do not like the aft.

Randyk47

January 15th, 2005, 01:21 PM

I just edited my previous posting and added a link to the complete photo file. There are pictures of the badroom in that set. SS 6060 is more or less midships and we found it to be one of the quietest cabins we've ever been in. While we prefer the smaller S class HAL ships we'd not hestitate to book another SS on HAL on the larger Vista class. Here's the complete set of photos: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/randyk_47/my_photos

crockea

January 15th, 2005, 01:30 PM

here are some pics of the bathroom I found on Webshots.
http://community.webshots.com/album/182291111oJCAUY/1

Sea Island Lady

January 15th, 2005, 03:21 PM

Thanks so much for the awesome photo's. With that bathroom, two people can take a shower/bath and save time!
The furniture reminds me of a Carnival ship we were on, but it wasn't that bad.
What about my price quote? Good? I am really excited about trying one of these new ships. All I have to do is figure out which location we should choose. We don't like people looking down on us or looking down on others or lifeboats. Can either of you suggest the "perfect" area of the ship to book?:)

Randyk47

January 15th, 2005, 04:20 PM

I do have one comment on the bathroom in our cabin. It might be that we're used to a huge shower at home but we found the one in the SS to be almost unusable. It's about the size of a phone booth....for those of you who remember phone booths :) . We each tried it the first day and both switched over to the tub to shower for the remainder of the cruise. It was just a bit too small for either of us.

Sea Island Lady

January 15th, 2005, 04:44 PM

We have a VERY large shower at home, and were a little apprehensive about the showers on cruises. The only real problem I have had with the small shower is shaving my legs. Good thing there is a larger area to do that! I love the double sinks.