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Why is a "Vista Suite" a Suite - Koningsdam


hpeabody
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Just curious, that's all. I was recently given an upgrade from an Obstructed Veranda VH to a Vista Suite BC Guaranty on Koningsdam. I went and looked and it does not look like this is any different than a normal veranda cabin except they rearranged it. I looked at the price difference and it looks like $5,000 ($7,000 from my category) for a 14 day cruise. Tiny flowers and binoculars does not make a suite. I am feeling like this was not such a great thing. I have not ever had any kind of "suite" so I have no idea what applicable perks are either, if there are any for this Vista Suite level.

 

Obstructed Verandah US$1,799 *

 

Verandah US$1,999 *

 

Vista Suite US$2,499 *

 

 

It really dies not seem suite like to me at all. Are there any benefits to having this cabin called a "vista suite" or it is this just a marketing ploy to get more money for the cabin, and we get to pay more gratuities.

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It was an upgrade, why is it "not such a great thing"???

 

The Vista suites are larger than the verandah cabins, although not as large as what most people expect a suite to be. You get double Mariner points, if that has any value for you. And you have a telephone concierge.

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Since it is a Free upgrade from HAL, you will not get double Mariner points. You only get the double Mariner points if you decide on your own to upgrade to that category and pay for it.

I think it is a great upgrade.

 

Thanks for the clarification, I forgot about that. Since we never get a free upgrade, we pay for all of our Mariner points. ;p

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I too think the cabins are identical. The only difference I can see is possibly location. On WC17, my wife and I were in a veranda. Two cabins down the hallway, my wife's sister was in a Vista Suite. Cabins seemed to be identical. Our cabin was toward the bow and close to the entrance for the forward elevator. Sister-in-law's cabin more midship And between the elevators.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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We recently opted for a Vista suite on K'dam exactly due to its location amidships. The Verandah options were all fore or aft and amidships should be a smoother ride. Paying for it should get us our next Mariner star... :-)

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If you sail on some of the other mass market lines, you will find that a Suite has elegant multiple rooms, additional perks, amenities, and services.

 

HAL's definition of a suite is a slightly bigger cabin - an umbrella, and binoculars that have been dropped on the deck too many times.

 

Try NCL, Celebrity, or RCCL to see what a mass market suite should really be like.

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We have sailed on Koningsdam in both a regular balcony cabin and in a Vista Suite (cat.A midships). Whereas we liked the Vista suite's midship position we actually preferred the layout of the regular balcony cabin, to be honest. This is just a personal opinion though as we found the Vista suite, even if larger by a bit, rather cramped because of the wall between the bedroom part and the vanity part of the cabin which was of no real use to us because we didn't need the extra bed (Murphy bed hidden inside one of the walls) and didn't use the space much . We preferred the "bedroom part" of the Vista because we then had access to the balcony and there was more light because of the window which the dressing-room part didn't have!. The extra sofa was rather uncomfortable - perhaps it's possible to use it as an extra bed to make a quad out of that cabin? The regular sofa of the balcony cabin was comfortable.

Halfacts.com shows a cabin very similar to the Vista suite we had - find cabin 7105 on Koningsdam to illustrate what I have tried to explain! On that same homepage: 5009 shows the layout of the regular balcony cabins quite nicely.We'd prefer that kind if we have to choose again, but as I said - my personal opinion! Some might like the Vista Suite because of that separate room part though - perhaps for dressing up more privately or if you are three in a cabin. I don't know if ALL Vista suites have the same configuration, all the ones in cat. A left or right to our cabin were similar.

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We have been in a Vista Suite twice now on the Koningsdam - once on the aft and the other mid ship. I do not recall having a wall between the sofa and bed, nor was there a Murphy bed. On another cruise we had a paid upsell from a Verandah to a signature suite and then another (same cruise) from the signature to a Neptune. We did not get double Mariner points.

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Perhaps the OP has a good point. Per HAL's own deck plan (on their web site) a Verandah Cabin has from 228 - 405 square feet. A Vista Suite has 260 - 356! Kind of interesting if you want to rely on HAL's own numbers.

 

Hank

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The Murphy Bed is in a Signature Suite on the K', not the Vista Suite.

 

We sailed in a Vista Suite "A" on the K' and chose it primarily for its central location. It is slightly larger than a regular balcony cabin with a couple of extra feet in the length in the sitting area. HAL's classification of the cabin as a suite is a misnomer if you consider a suite as a collection of rooms or as having a separate sitting area. Using that definition, the only true suite on the K' is the Pinnacle Suite - all others are state rooms or cabins of different sizes.

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Perhaps the OP has a good point. Per HAL's own deck plan (on their web site) a Verandah Cabin has from 228 - 405 square feet. A Vista Suite has 260 - 356! Kind of interesting if you want to rely on HAL's own numbers.

 

Hank

 

Except for insides, which tend to vary greatly, most veranda and suite cabins are the same within each category. The high numbers on HAL's range are the HA cabins, which are usually about twice the size of other cabins in that category. I always take the low number as an indication of what I'm likely to get.

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The Murphy Bed is in a Signature Suite on the K', not the Vista Suite.

 

We sailed in a Vista Suite "A" on the K' and chose it primarily for its central location. It is slightly larger than a regular balcony cabin with a couple of extra feet in the length in the sitting area. HAL's classification of the cabin as a suite is a misnomer if you consider a suite as a collection of rooms or as having a separate sitting area. Using that definition, the only true suite on the K' is the Pinnacle Suite - all others are state rooms or cabins of different sizes.

bolding by me) I stand corrected :o - sorry about that mistake. I looked up that specific cruise againb and it really was a Signature suite. We had booked a Vista Guar. and were upgraded - still happy about the upgrade, even if we had hoped for more space which would have been true if the room hadn't been separated by that wall I wrote about. Sorry again - that comes from writing comments late in the day....

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