Upgrade Question

[hawgwildterry]

We are booked in stateroom 6158 (SC Category) on the Oosterdam Mexican cruise and are thinking about upgrading to an SA Category. Is the cost of the upgrade worth the money as the two categories offer the same amenities? We booked 6158 due to its open balcony and the wife loves the sun but now she thinking that it will be too much sun.

[O2B@C]

I can only speak from research, not from experience, but everyone here on CC has been telling me (and photos found on the Web have confirmed) that these aft corner balconies on the Vista class ships are fabulous. And, more important for your purposes, I believe there is plenty of shade available - only a portion of the veranda will be in the sun most of the time, and even when the sun is directly aft, you probably will still be able to find some shade on the part that wraps around to the side. I have a booking for a corner aft SC on a different deck, and I told my TA to put a "do not upgrade" on the booking.

But others who have actually been on the ship already can speak more authoritatively than I can. Anyway, enjoy!


We are booked in stateroom 6158 (SC Category) on the Oosterdam Mexican cruise and are thinking about upgrading to an SA Category. Is the cost of the upgrade worth the money as the two categories offer the same amenities? We booked 6158 due to its open balcony and the wife loves the sun but now she thinking that it will be too much sun.

[sab490]

We are booked in stateroom 6158 (SC Category) on the Oosterdam Mexican cruise and are thinking about upgrading to an SA Category. Is the cost of the upgrade worth the money as the two categories offer the same amenities? We booked 6158 due to its open balcony and the wife loves the sun but now she thinking that it will be too much sun.

I believe that even though the balcony is bigger, there is still a decent size covered portion. We were in SB on Noordam in December and have booked SC GTY for next December. If we end up with an aft cabin that's fine. The real benefits of the SA, SB, SC are the size of the cabin and the benefits that go with it. The price difference between SC and SA is significant and I personally don't think it's worth it. And there is always a chance you could get an discounted or even free upgrade offer closer to departure. We were offered and upgrade from a Superior Suite to either SB or SA (Deluxe Suite) at very reasonable cost 30 days prior to our sale date. The SB was cheaper and we grabbed it. It was a good decision.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

You need to ask yourself which is more important the size of the cabin or the size of the verandah? Deck 6 corner aft cabins are smaller than deck 5 and deck 4 but the verandah is a very good size. Also the cabin is much smaller than a mid ship SB or SA category. I believe that deck 6 corner aft cabins are actually even a bit smaller than an SS or SY but you do have all the amenities that SA and SB have. Also location is a factor, being way in the aft you find yourself doing a lot of walking if you want to go to the Crow's Nest, Spa and or the Vista Show Lounge. I myself like having to walk and truly enjoy the aft. We prefer the deck 5 corner aft and if we could not get deck 5 we would take deck 4. If not either of them we would go with the mid ship S Suite. But that is just our opinion.

[LolaWiz]

We are booked in stateroom 6158 (SC Category) on the Oosterdam Mexican cruise and are thinking about upgrading to an SA Category. Is the cost of the upgrade worth the money as the two categories offer the same amenities? We booked 6158 due to its open balcony and the wife loves the sun but now she thinking that it will be too much sun.

DONT DO IT!!! keep the cabin!
that is the exact one we had on the Zuiderdam... the sister ship of the O and it was wonderful. There is a nice amount of sun, but also shade too.
We cannot wait to book another aft cabin.
You will love it!

[sab490]

DONT DO IT!!! keep the cabin!
that is the exact one we had on the Zuiderdam... the sister ship of the O and it was wonderful. There is a nice amount of sun, but also shade too.
We cannot wait to book another aft cabin.
You will love it!

After reading this thread, I am a little concerned about the cabin size and layout. :confused: Did your cabin have the separate dressing area like the SB & SC?

Has anyone found pictures that would show the layout of these SC cabins?

[lippylulu]

DONT DO IT!!! keep the cabin!
that is the exact one we had on the Zuiderdam... the sister ship of the O and it was wonderful. There is a nice amount of sun, but also shade too.
We cannot wait to book another aft cabin.
You will love it!

Lola, we are booked on SC 6156---next door on the Westerdam. It is a handicapped accessible room. Do you think the shade will be similar to what you experiencd next door in 6158? Was there any privacy from up above at all? Also, i was surprised that you said the cabin is a bit smaller than mid-ship deluxe verandah suites. I thought the aft cabins were the same or even larger? Thanks for all your information.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

After reading this thread, I am a little concerned about the cabin size and layout. :confused: Did your cabin have the separate dressing area like the SB & SC?

Has anyone found pictures that would show the layout of these SC cabins?

While I have not stayed in this cabin I have been in this cabin, it does have the seperate dressing area and large bathroom just like all the other SA, SB and SC. It is just that the cabin is slightly smaller. The lay out is smiliar to the mid ship but with the cabin being smaller, where deck 4 and deck 5 the lay out of where the two closets are different.

[hawgwildterry]

Thank you to all who have replied to my question about the SC stateroom versus the SA stateroom.
Lisa, if by chance the ‘Upgrade Fairy’ should whack us with her wand (slim to no chance I know) would you take it?
We normally cruise on the Dawn Princess in a mini-suite but decided to give HAL a try this time. Is the Oosterdam's SC6158 cabin similar in size to the Dawn/Coral Princess mini-suite, if you know?
Terry

[LolaWiz]

Lola, we are booked on SC 6156---next door on the Westerdam. It is a handicapped accessible room. Do you think the shade will be similar to what you experiencd next door in 6158? Was there any privacy from up above at all? Also, i was surprised that you said the cabin is a bit smaller than mid-ship deluxe verandah suites. I thought the aft cabins were the same or even larger? Thanks for all your information.

Linda,
Shade should be similar to 58. Keep in mind, most of the time there will be sun in the main part of the verandah however, since you have the "curve" that will be covered totally and is nice for privacy there too. The cabin is smaller but still has the dressing room and nice big bathroom :)
It is worth it for sure and we did not have any issues being a bit farther away from the neptune either! It made that daily espresso even more enjoyable!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thank you to all who have replied to my question about the SC stateroom versus the SA stateroom.
Lisa, if by chance the ‘Upgrade Fairy’ should whack us with her wand (slim to no chance I know) would you take it?
We normally cruise on the Dawn Princess in a mini-suite but decided to give HAL a try this time. Is the Oosterdam's SC6158 cabin similar in size to the Dawn/Coral Princess mini-suite, if you know?
Terry

Terry, my cruising experience is actually just limited to HAL with the exception of 2 cruises on RCL and they were both the same ship just idfferent parts of the US. So I really have no idea about what a Princess mini-suite would be like.

I will say that I doubt seriously I would want the Upgrade Fairy to visit me. But again it depends which is more important the size of the cabin or the size of the verandah. We love the view we get from the corner aft. It is something we have really missed on our last 3 cruises. Like Lola we also do not mind and actully prefer the long walk. I find that I tend to get more exercise Plus we try to avoid elevators and almost always take the stairs. So yes, taking the walk to the Neptune makes the Latte far more enjoyable:) In my opinion there are a couple of SB cabins not on the Rotterdam Deck and near elevators I would not want but I am sure there are many that would prefer these over what I like. So it is just my opinon that unless that Upgrade Fairy was handing me the Key Card to the Pent House I would not want an upgrade. In all honestly I would like to just try the Pent House to say I was there but know I would much rather have my corner aft. ;)

[Oriole]

We were on a midship SA on the Noordam in December and on a Coral Princess minisuite to Alaska in July '05.

The SA was huge in comparison - both the cabin and the verandah. We had 3 in the cabin both times and weren't tripping over ourselves or our luggage on HAL as we did on Princess.

The Noordam dressing area was also a huge bonus.


We were satisfied with the Princess mini-suite but we were THRILLED with the Noordam SA

Janet

[hawgwildterry]

Lisa,
You made some very valid points about keeping the SC corner aft cabin for the Mexico cruise. The walking part is not an issue for us.
Hopefully we can get an chance to peek into an SA room to see if that would work better for us on a Alaska cruise in 08'.
I (we) appreciate your insight and that of the others who responded. No HAL bashing, flaming or negative comments. Just honest opinons.......REFRESHING.

[RedmondCruiser]

I would not pay extra for an SA when I had an SC. The aft cabins have hugh verandas and the SC rooms are suite size. If you pay extra its an "up-sale". It you get an SA for nothing it is an "upgrade". Most SA cabins are on the same floor as the Neptune Lounge and that is a real plus. but its really your choice. Have a great cruise.