Lanai vs balcony -- 35 days in a Veendam lanai

[Hutch&Pat]

Vic, the doors can be pushed all the way open and then they will often stay in that position until the boat rocks or something. It's hard to know if you have it just right so test it for several seconds first. Some guests put their trash can in the door way to keep it open. I understand that any Lanai doors that are not tightly closed are indicated on the bridge (could be a source of air to fuel a fire in an emergency) and no door police were asking the folks to remove the trash cans.

 

Bermuda weather should be perfect for a Lanai cabin. We were in 334, so 332 still has 330 to buffer the slamming door noise next to it. Your 'reserved chairs' will be between your lanai door and partially in front of cabin 330. There is a chance there of them putting a lounge or two between your chairs and the door. People tend to plop into the first chairs they come to when they venture out to the LP for a 'sit'. 316 essentially had to have their chairs in front of 318 in order not to be viewing the bulkhead partially. I think it was 322 where they had so many lounges 2 inches apart. Chairs can be moved which can be both good and bad!

 

Enjoy!

Pat

[Pat.bz]

Hi Pat! You did an excellent job of explaining the ins and outs of lanai cabins. We were in 351 on the same cruise as you and only had one mild encounter with a squatter (but as you know, some had major encounters). HAL didn't do anything to enforce the rights of lanai people to their chairs (a right for which we paid). I heard of one lanai owner who finally got action when she told HAL to credit her account the difference between a lanai and an OV when she had big probs with squatters. HAL's Veendam wasn't my favorite ship but we loved the Lanai cabin and all the great friends we made on the Amazon cruise.

[PennyAgain]

I don't cruise to have disputes. Have enough of those at work! A Lanai room with the risk of squatters is just too much risk of conflict for me.

 

 

HAL needs to settle this issue and immediately. It is not fair to let the people who pay for Lanai cabins to have to police the chairs. The first HAL employee who responded "too bad" to me would find serious complaint letters written with their name included.

 

Reminds me too much of the old days on the QE2 when you had to pay and reserve a deck chair or do without. But back then the deck stewards quarded those chairs.

Edited June 8, 2010 by PennyAgain

[Oca]

Is it possible to bring the lounge chairs into your cabin during the times of day that you are not using them? Are they too heavy -- I wouldn't try it but I think my husband could manage it. Is there a nook in the cabin where you could stand them up? (We rarely spend any time in the cabin). It would be a bit of a hassle, I admit, but I think it would be less troublesome than dealing with 'entitled' passengers and a non-responsive HAL.

[PennyAgain]

Those chairs are big and heavy. No room in a Lanai cabin for them.

 

The cruise line needs to take action. It should not be up to the passengers.

[Hutch&Pat]

Pat and Paul had the best solution to avoiding disputes over who can sit in the 'reserved' lanai chairs -- they sat in them and enjoyed! How many books did the two of you read on your Kindles?

 

The lanai cabins are essentially under the lifeboats and some of the boats, normally the ones with twin screws, are used often as tenders, so there can be a lot of activity when they are launched and brought back up. They do close off the LP for walking so you can't get back to your cabin from the LP deck sometimes, but it really wasn't a problem. I enjoyed watching all of the activity.

 

I did notice that when the boats were missing, you could experience a lot of sun or even some rain in your lanai chairs. I did see one person who preferred to sit under an umbrella reading rather than get out of his reserved chair! There also were times when the boats dripped for a while after being brought up and put back into position, so some Lanai residents had to move their lounges around.

 

I don't recall anyone taking in their lounge chairs ..... I don't know where you would put them in those cabins!

 

Pat

[Pat.bz]

Hi Pat! We each finished about 15 books (and had many more in reserve). We loved the Lanai cabin and made many friends on the promenade deck.

[gr8hart]

Hi Pat! You did an excellent job of explaining the ins and outs of lanai cabins. We were in 351 on the same cruise as you and only had one mild encounter with a squatter (but as you know, some had major encounters). HAL didn't do anything to enforce the rights of lanai people to their chairs (a right for which we paid). I heard of one lanai owner who finally got action when she told HAL to credit her account the difference between a lanai and an OV when she had big probs with squatters. HAL's Veendam wasn't my favorite ship but we loved the Lanai cabin and all the great friends we made on the Amazon cruise.

 

 

Hello Pat.bz! We've booked 351 for the July 11 sailing too! A couple of questions, if I may? First of all, which view did you have when docked.....the island or the ocean? Second, is the view from your chairs obstructed much? And this is silly, but did you have alot of noise from the laundry room?

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer!

[Pat.bz]

Hello Pat.bz! We've booked 351 for the July 11 sailing too! A couple of questions, if I may? First of all, which view did you have when docked.....the island or the ocean? Second, is the view from your chairs obstructed much? And this is silly, but did you have alot of noise from the laundry room?

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer!

 

We had dockside view (we were on Rio to NYC)

 

Our view was unobstructed

 

There was a lot of socialization from laundry room during daytime hrs but nothing after first sitting.

[HappyAmma]

Hello, thinking of booking the lanai room on a 25 day cruise but reading the reviews it seems like too many negatives for us, basically the privacy issue. The last Cruise Critic review was 2010. Now it's 2017, so has anything improved? The Verandah rooms cost a lot more and I would love to hear from some recent lanai Veendam cruisers. :)

[kwb101]

Hi, Happy Amma.

 

We had a lanai on the Volendam for four nights in June (it was the cruise portion of the Alaska-Yukon Y2L itinerary). My cabin review is here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=588167

 

The lanais on the Volendam were installed at the end of 2014 (IIRC) so they're pretty new. I think, in general, the layout is the same as the lanais on other ships, but I'm not sure if the large shower is. I think some of the older lanais have shower-over-tub. We had sufficient storage space, but our time on board was short, so I can't really speak to whether the space is enough for much longer voyages.

 

We had no problems with noise or privacy. The glass is mirrored, so there's privacy during the day. The curtains were more than floor length, so there was no gap at the bottom, and they kept the light out at night.

 

We had no problems with "poachers" for our deck chairs, but that may be because the weather was cool and somewhat drizzly. We saw almost no one in any of the other deck chairs on our side of the ship. In a like vein, almost no one was at the rail during our time on board.

 

We have booked a lanai cabin on the Maasdam for a Panama Canal transit next spring. We considered a verandah, but the price difference, coupled with the wonderful open view from the lanai's deck chairs (the verandahs have solid privacy screens on either side, so you view to the side is limited unless you're at the rail) made the difference.

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

-bruce

[HappyAmma]

Thanks so much for your reply Bruce. We still haven't decided on this cruise, but the price is going up for remaining balconies so we have to decide soon. The cruise is in October and involves a lot of sea days, so hmmmm....:confused: Lots to think about....

[kwb101]

Hi, HappyAmma, I hope it all works out :)

 

FWIW, we booked our lanai cabin (on the Maasdam) for a San Diego-Boston cruise (next spring) in mid-July. The day we booked, the price went down $100. There were essentially no perks (there might have been $50/person shipboard credit). Anyway, when Explore4 came along, the price went up $700 (but included the SBP and a restaurant upgrade). Since we don't drink much, we're happy saving money. So...if price is a consideration, you may want to wait until Explore4 ends before you book anything.

 

Happy travels!