Balcony size on Westerdam

[cruzeluver]

Am seriously considering booking our first balcony ever. It would be on Westerdam. Are they a decent size fo two to hang out on, or not worth the extra cost?

Thanks.

[RosieRoo]

I cannot give you first hand knowledge as I have not sailed the Westerdam, however there is a thread titled "Live from the Westerdam" and on or about page 20 or so and forward there are some great cabin pictures balconies included. You should check out the photos there.

[dakrewser]

Since they always sell out, most folks do consider them worth the cost. Whether it's for morning coffee, a snooze outside on a sea day, cocktails before dinner or watching the stars at night - it's nice to have the privacy of your own verandah...

[CruiserBruce]

I agree totally with dakrewser. The balconeys always sell out, sometimes extremely quickly. This is particularly true on the R and S ships, which don't have many balconeys. If you want a balconey on the R and S types, you usually need to book quickly.

The only time I have had a second thought about a balconey was our first Alaska cruise. I thought the cooler weather would deter us from spending time on the balconey. I was wrong (don't tell the DW!!), and we never don't book a balconey:D !!!!

[ProMod05]

Am seriously considering booking our first balcony ever. It would be on Westerdam. Are they a decent size fo two to hang out on, or not worth the extra cost?

Thanks.

It's worth the extar. Have sailed on the Westerdam and it's great. However, the largest balconies are AFT cabins.

Ken

[midgecruiser]

Also important to consider.....

Staterooms VF and VE mid-ship on the Verandah Deck have a slightly smaller verandah in terms of depth. You would not really think that it would make that much difference but after booking this cabin class for family and seeing the difference in size (they didn't notice..first cruise) I would not book this cabin class again. Hey, if your paying for a verandah don't you want as much space a possible.;)

Wendy

[jtl513]

Are they a decent size fo two to hang out on, The side VA/VB/VC verandas are 6'x9', the deck 4 VD and VF are 7.5'x9', and the deck 5 VE and VF are 4.5'x9'. Mark off some rectangles on your floor to help you decide which you would like. :)

I think they are worth it, particularly in warm climates. I suggest you book at least a VE to avoid the steel-wall verandas on deck 4. Here is what a two VC's look like with partitions opened between them:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=31973&d=1163375327

[hylasgirl]

Personally, I always think it is worth the price for the balcony. Now, I don't think it is worth a whole lot more for a suite or anything bigger, but we always sail in a balcony room. A word of caution though... once you have a balcony, you will never go back!:)

[nckvilledudes]

Am seriously considering booking our first balcony ever. It would be on Westerdam. Are they a decent size fo two to hang out on, or not worth the extra cost?

Thanks.
Try looking on cruiseclues.com. On the left hand side scroll down to the Westerdam. Alot of people have posted alot of info about the Westerdam with photos and reviews.

Dan and Miguel

[Crusing Bob]

I highly recommend the SY verandah. They are not that much more than the VA cabins and worth so much more in comfort of room size and verandah size.

[ILoveScotland]

We had a VB balcony and loved it!

[m steve]

was terrific, extra deep and patially covered. Would book it again.

[cruzeluver]

Thanks for more great info. Especially about which cabins to look for and to avoid.

[ybarber]

We are booked in a VD on Deck 4 - and I noticed that they are bigger than others on board! :) I wonder though, we have adjoining staterooms with my Parents - can they make the balconies ajoin also? It looked like they could in the photo that was posted above, by John, I think. Can anyone tell me for sure?

[jtl513]

We are booked in a VD on Deck 4 - and I noticed that they are bigger than others on board! :) I wonder though, we have adjoining staterooms with my Parents - can they make the balconies ajoin also? It looked like they could in the photo that was posted above, by John, I think. Can anyone tell me for sure?Yes, the VD partitions can be opened by your steward. :)

[ybarber]

Thanks John!

[momofmeg]

We are booked in a VD on Deck 4 - and I noticed that they are bigger than others on board! :) I wonder though, we have adjoining staterooms with my Parents - can they make the balconies ajoin also? It looked like they could in the photo that was posted above, by John, I think. Can anyone tell me for sure?

You know once when a friend booked with us and was sharing a cabin with our daughter, the TA booked us in adjoining cabins with a door that could be opened between the rooms . I had hubby move us down about 3 rooms as I wanted privacy.

Now before you guys get any ideas-no this was not a balcony room-we had atruim staterooms-the ones with the bay windows facing the RP on a voyager class ship. I just figured since for once our daughter was not with us in the room we should be able to take advantage of that! I knew our friend would not be the problem! LOL!

Just thought I would give you "food for thought" if your honey is on this cruise with you. Now if it is just you and the kids-you will probally like having the balconies opened-but then your parents may not!

[caviargal]

was terrific, extra deep and patially covered. Would book it again.

Aft balconies all the way, just the best.

[EastCoast]

Agree, once a balcony, always a balcony-for a real treat, there is nothing greater than one of the aft balconies-if you can ever go for one of the corner suites, that is the ultimate-at least for me anyway. I just returned from the Oosterdam and spent more time on that suite balcony than I did the rest of the ship. The space was priceless.
Happy Cruising:)

[RosieRoo]

If you were to choose an aft VA which would you choose?

[Boytjie]

We are booked in a VD on Deck 4 - and I noticed that they are bigger than others on board! :) I wonder though, we have adjoining staterooms with my Parents - can they make the balconies ajoin also? It looked like they could in the photo that was posted above, by John, I think. Can anyone tell me for sure?

On the Zuiderdam we had to VD cabins and the balcony partition was open when we embarked. And yes, those VD balconies were bigger that those above it (the VDs towards the bow, at least).

[Hoyaheel]

Curse you all for making me re-visit my cabin choice on Westerdam:cool: We're in 5090 right now (a VE, mid-ship--which is our preference--but with the smaller balcony and overlooking the life boats) We chose it on purpose, but didn't consider the balcony size. We figure it's about the same as the Pacific Princess we were on in Alaska last fall, and that was acceptable for us (no lounge chair like on Maasdam, but enough space for us to relax in 2 regular chairs). But now we're re-thinking the choice......Don't think we want to spend the money to upgrade to SY/SS but we might have to look.....It'll be a 15 day cruise and I know my husband will spend almost all of this time on the ship sitting on the balcony with his camera and/or his binoculars....So we definitely get our money's worth from it:p

[Durban]

We had an aft on the 5th floor I think 5189 in Dec 07, it was wonderful, our balcony was about 17ft long, would do it again in a flash. You also don`t have any wind while the ship is moving.

[RosieRoo]

We had a choice of either deck 4 or deck 7. I was wondering if either one would be a better choice. Is noise a factor being on deck 4 from the dining room below? Are the balconies more covered on the higher decks? Thanks for your help.

[jtl513]

If you were to choose an aft VA which would you choose?

We had a choice of either deck 4 or deck 7. I was wondering if either one would be a better choice. Is noise a factor being on deck 4 from the dining room below? Are the balconies more covered on the higher decks?Since the Westerdam's aft-lift, the deck 7 balcony is much smaller and much more covered than the deck 4 one. You won't get appreciable noise from the dining room, but on deck 4 you'll get more vibration and noise from the propellers.

[RosieRoo]

Thanks for your response. So, what would be your ideal if you could choose any deck aft?

[jtl513]

Thanks for your response. So, what would be your ideal if you could choose any deck aft?Seven or six, in that order. On 8 you're right below the aft pool deck area (which can be noisy early in the morning when they're cleaning), and on 5 the balconies are almost completely covered. On 4 they're too exposed for my liking. :)

[RosieRoo]

Thanks for your advice. I am an aft lover but I have never sailed on a Holland America ship, only Princess, RCCL and Carnival. Can't wait to try Holland America. Someone posted earlier in this thread about the size of the balconies but not the aft balconies. Just trying to make the right choice. Thanks again. :)