Aft cabin VA Zuiderdam???

[comfortcove]

Hi all! We are booking the Zuiderdam way ahead for next winter, and there are aft cabins available. I have read quite a bit about these by searching, but my question is are the balconies on Deck 5 larger than those on Deck 4? Which would you choose? 5180&5181 are available, as well as four on Deck Four. Thanks for help, we plan to book right away. Do these cabin have extra deck furniture? We will be cruising with our three kids who will have their own, smaller balcony, but feel sure they will want to do some hanging out on ours. Thank you for the help. Nancy

[Candy]

Photos of 5180 & 5181 are in my sig below. Deck 5 balconies are deeper than those on deck 4, but the interiors of these two particular cabins are slightly narrower. I'd take deck 5 for the deeper veranda. The views are awesome!

 

Candy <-- packing for Zuidy #6 11/12

[comfortcove]

Thanks Candy, your webite is neat. Well, I called HAL last night because I would also need one of the VC category cabins right around the corner. They are available, as well as ALL of the aft verandah deck cabins. Woohoo! So which one would you pick? Thanks and have a great cruise. This will be our first on the Z. Nancy

[Candy]

For a single cabin choice, I'd take 5185 or 5184 because they're slightly wider than the others. If you want to open up the balconies (they only open up about 2 feet at the end) take 5185 & 5183 or 5184 & 5182. If you also need a less expensive cabin, the B cabins on this snippet are VCs in 2006, and the closest 6 (the ones with *s) have SHOWERS ONLY, so if a tub is important, stay forward of these.

 

 

Candy <-- LOVES the wake cabins

[Shifra]

Candy - I also have a question about the aft cabins. I will be on the Westerdam in aft balcony 4181. I had aft side balcony on Zuiderdam. Are you saying that the 4181 will be narrower than side cabin? Is it longer? Is the balcony larger??? Very cruious!!!

 

BTW I too love the Zuiderdam. I have been on her 3x, the first was a tour luncheon when she was new. After hearing so many crazy things about her in the beginning I just had to see for myself. As soon as I walked onto the ship I fell in love. I believe that ships have their own personalities. Zuiderdam for me was like "warm fuzzies". I have cruised her 2x and I feel like I am being disloyal by choosing Westerdam over her. I know that I will be back on the Zuiderdam in the future.

 

Also BTW thanks for sharing your information.

[Candy]

Candy - I also have a question about the aft cabins. I will be on the Westerdam in aft balcony 4181. I had aft side balcony on Zuiderdam. Are you saying that the 4181 will be narrower than side cabin? Is it longer? Is the balcony larger??? Very cruious!!!

4176 & 4181 are slightly wider than the two cabins between them. I don't know why, but the middle ones are narrower (same on Deck 5). The balcony of 4181 is just as wide, but much deeper than the one you had on Zuidy's side, but not as deep as 5184 & 5185.

 

Zuiderdam is by far our favorite ship, and we will sail her many times in the future. Don't feel funny jumping to Westerdam... she's also a fine ship, just not in the same ways. You may end up loving both, which is not a bad thing. If you want to try Noordam one day, be careful, as they've squozen in a few cabins and the numbers are all wrong.

 

Candy <-- can't say anything bad about Zuidy

[dreamofcruising]

Do those deck 5 aft wake cabins only sleep 2. We would need 5 of them then as we are cruising with 10. 5 in a row are available on our cruise, so that is not a problem. Just wondering if we can open the balcony's enough to walk from one room to another that way. Does anyone have any pictures of the balcony's open this way? Thank you. What other perks make these cabins more desirable over say the VC's we currently have booked. How much larger are they over the VC's. Enough to matter? We are willing to pay more if it is that good. I just don't know and we have never cruised HAL before.

[Candy]

Do those deck 5 aft wake cabins only sleep 2. We would need 5 of them then as we are cruising with 10. 5 in a row are available on our cruise, so that is not a problem. Just wondering if we can open the balcony's enough to walk from one room to another that way. Does anyone have any pictures of the balcony's open this way? Thank you...snip...

Yes, those cabins only sleep 2. The connecting balcony doors only open up a little, but you can certainly pass from one end to the other. Here is a photo of S5187 next door:

The angled partition over the rail is the only part that opens. With 10 of you in adjoining cabins on the wake you will have a blast! The two end Cat A cabins are a little wider than the middle ones, but only the veranda is triple that of the side Cat As.

[comfortcove]

Thanks so much for the advice. We (DH and I) plan to stay in VA aft, with three children in one of the nearby VC cabins. They will be 21, 20 and 14 when we sail, so adjoining cabins aren't necessary. The aft balconies look really big.

[Wild Thing ~T]

For a single cabin choice, I'd take 5185 or 5184 because they're slightly wider than the others. If you want to open up the balconies (they only open up about 2 feet at the end) take 5185 & 5183 or 5184 & 5182. If you also need a less expensive cabin, the B cabins on this snippet are VCs in 2006, and the closest 6 (the ones with *s) have SHOWERS ONLY, so if a tub is important, stay forward of these.

 

 

 

Candy <-- LOVES the wake cabins

 

 

 

Thanks! Any pix of 5185 deck / inside?

[peaches22]

Hi

 

New to cruises and not sure which deck to pick a deluxe verandah cabin on the Holland America Line Zuiderdam? I have been told to pick a deck higher up but to be careful about being under the dining or bar or gym areas. Also are the balconies different on different decks? We need the bigger room because my husband is a bit claustrophobic.

 

Not sure how to pick a good deck or where on it to get a cabin. Also does the Zuiderdam have a soda or wine plan.

 

Any information about the ship and your experiences, good and bad are appreciated.

 

We are planning on the Oct Panama Canal trip for our 10 th anniversary!

 

Thanks!

Pattie

[3rdGenCunarder]

Hi

 

New to cruises and not sure which deck to pick a deluxe verandah cabin on the Holland America Line Zuiderdam? I have been told to pick a deck higher up but to be careful about being under the dining or bar or gym areas. Also are the balconies different on different decks? We need the bigger room because my husband is a bit claustrophobic.

 

Not sure how to pick a good deck or where on it to get a cabin. Also does the Zuiderdam have a soda or wine plan.

 

Any information about the ship and your experiences, good and bad are appreciated.

 

We are planning on the Oct Panama Canal trip for our 10 th anniversary!

 

Thanks!

Pattie

 

Hi Pattie, welcome to Cruise Critic and to HAL.

 

HAL has a tendency to re-use terms, so things can get confusing. Are you looking at a Deluxe Oceanview Verandah (V-cabin) or a Deluxe Suite (SA, SB, SC)? If you're looking at the Deluxe Suite, think about the corner aft suites. the wraparound balcony is fantastic. Also, for the day going through the canal, the aft view gives you a great look at the canal and its workings. True, you'll see where you've been, not where you're going, but you won't have to fight the crowd trying to be at the very very front of the ship.

 

Since you're new to cruising, you may be concerned about how you'll reacti to motuion. If so, you might prefer to look for a cabin near midships. The ride is soother there if you have any bad weather on your trip. Some people have noticed noise from the Lido deck, so you might want to avoid cabins on Navigation, which is the deck below the Lido.

 

Look through the "sticky" threads at the top of the list of HAL threads and find Joanie's thread about cabins. She has lots and lots of photos of the ships and various cabin grades. it might help you choose.

 

The transit of the canal takes all day and it's fascinating! Enjoy your trip!

[AZNative2000]

Not sure how to pick a good deck or where on it to get a cabin. Also does the Zuiderdam have a soda or wine plan.

 

Any information about the ship and your experiences, good and bad are appreciated.

 

We are planning on the Oct Panama Canal trip for our 10 th anniversary!

 

Thanks!

Pattie

Hi Pattie and welcome to Cruisecritic!! Yes, there are soda and/or wine (other beverage) plans.

PLUS you can carry-on as much wine and soda as you want.:)

 

If you are considering the "Sunfarer" Canal Cruise, we can tell you it was wonderful when we did it in November.

We love the Zuiderdam! We had an aft-corner-wrap SC Suite on deck five and loved it.

The photo was taken from our balcony.

 

From there you can watch the lock gates operate and even converse with

the driver of the "mule" (the vehicle that steers the ship).

 

The photo also shows the balconies on deck four: Aft-corner 4185 on the left and VB4183 on the right.

 

As 3GC said, there are lots of photos and info on Joanie's site.

 

There are also many ship reviews for the Z on Cruisecritic.:)

 

Cheers!

 

[IRL_Joanie]

Hi

 

New to cruises and not sure which deck to pick a deluxe verandah cabin on the Holland America Line Zuiderdam? I have been told to pick a deck higher up but to be careful about being under the dining or bar or gym areas. Also are the balconies different on different decks? We need the bigger room because my husband is a bit claustrophobic.

 

Not sure how to pick a good deck or where on it to get a cabin. Also does the Zuiderdam have a soda or wine plan.

 

Any information about the ship and your experiences, good and bad are appreciated.

 

We are planning on the Oct Panama Canal trip for our 10 th anniversary!

 

Thanks!

Pattie

 

Hi Pattie and welcome to Cruise Critic!!

 

Below are links to Zuiderdam's Decks 4-8 with photos of the Aft Staterooms and descriptions for you to peruse:) I hope these help you, I know that they helped me to choose only these staterooms on my cruises:

 

Deck 4 - Upper Promenade Deck - Staterooms 4001 - 4185

 

Deck 5 - Verandah Deck - Staterooms 5001–5191

 

Deck 6 - Upper Verandah Deck - Staterooms 6001 - 6177

 

Deck 7 - Rotterdam Deck - Staterooms 7001–7151

 

Deck 8 - Navigation Deck - Staterooms 8001–8147

 

Joanie

[peaches22]

Hey Thanks AZnative2000 for the information and the great picture! That is really an excellent shot.

We have finally settled on RC Freedom for a caribbean cruise in Oct. I am very excited and can only imagine all the fun it will be. A bit nervous as I am not a boat person but hopefully I won't have any seasicknes (fingers crossed) we did get a cabin in the front of the ship on deck 8. I know midship is best but I am hoping it won't be too much for me.

Thanks for your help and if you can think of anything for a first cruiser, would love to hear! Thanks, peaches

[peaches22]

Thanks IRL Joanie,

 

Nice of you to send all the ship info.

We have finally decided on Rc Freedom in caribbean but I do appreciate your infor!

Thanks again.

Peaches