Fully Obstructed Views?

[geoherb]

In looking at booking a cruise on the Veendam, I noticed the Cat. HH cabins with fully obstructed views. We'd like at least an outside cabin for the natural light. When we had an obstructed view on the Star Princess, we could still see a little bit of water and the sky, but there was a lifeboat that blocked about 50 percent. We had to be close to the window and looking out at the perfect angle to see much.

I know, by definition, a fully obstructed view should not let you see anything. But I was hoping perhaps that HAL describes the cabins this way and then when passengers find out they can see a bit, they're happier. Do the fully obstructed view cabins at least let some natural light into the cabin? Is there any view--the type where if you lean a certain way you could see a sliver of water or sky? The ones I was looking at are Cat. HH on the Veendam's Lower Promenade deck.

P.S. Regarding the other outside cabins on the Lower Promenade, I'm assuming that the glass is reflective so that people in their cabins can look out but that people on the deck can't see in. Is that right?

[kruzkeen]

I once sailed with friends who had a fuly obstructed view on the Lower Promenade deck and we would go there for drinks before dinner. This was in the days when you could carry on as much booze as you could lift.

These cabins look out on a wall of the ship that is painted white. There is no view of the ocean or sky. There is some natural light. All the outside cabins on this deck have glass that is oneway unless the lights are on when it is dark outside. I believe there are some cabins that are considered partially obstructed where the wall stops and the railing start again.

In HAL's current fleet I think only the Vista class ships have views that are obstructed by lifeboats. I do not know about the Prinsendam.

[Stevesan]

The view from the HH cabins on S class ships (Veendam is included in this class) is blocked by the ship's superstructure. There are cutout holes. If you look to the side, there is some sea view thru the cutouts. If you look at a side view of the ship, you can see the cutouts.

You will not have a sea view, but you will have daylight.

The promenade deck cabin windows are polarized so it is supposedly difficult to see inside. Most are opaque, but a few are not. We were in cabin 317 on Maasdam. It was quite easy to see through the window from outside. Consequently, we had to keep the drapes pulled during the day. If you do book on the promenade deck, check your window for visibility from outside. Most are quite good at blocking the inward view, except of course at night when you have the cabin lights on.

Many folks prefer this deck for easy access (think of it as a huge balcony). We did too until the Maasdam experience. It caused me to book main deck for our next cruise on Veendam.

[geoherb]

Thanks for the responses. I found a photo here (http://www.cloudcars.org/users/pirahnah3/blues/veendam%20peir%20shot%20at%20cozumel.JPG) and can see how the structure blocks the view. It looks like 317 is not one of the cat. HH cabins on the Veendam but is right beside one of them (315) that's not booked yet. Perhaps they had to replace your cabin window and used what they had available at the time instead of the special glass that's usually used for these cabin windows.

[FLDIXIE]

I had cabin 313 on the lower promenade deck on the Maasdam this summer. The wall was directly out from our cabin. That said, I could still look to the right or left and see where we were going and had plenty of daylight. I went outside and could not see in our cabin from the deck at all. It was also a quick step out to the deck which I loved and would book on the lower promenade again. The only negative to my room was that is was right under the Explorer lounge and they would start vacuuming in the lounge at 6:00 am every morning which woke me up. You could also hear the shows a little bit at night.