Steel rails on Veranda cabins

[ezgo]

We are 3 star but never had one of these cabins,how bad are they?

[lazey1]

If you are short like me (5'4") you can not sit in the chair and see over the rails. That is the only drawback that I am aware of.

[Krazy Kruizers]

JMO -- if you are still able to change your cabin -- do so.

[rkacruiser]

If possible, I agree with trying to obtain a different veranda stateroom. Never had--and never would book--a HAL veranda stateroom that had such a situtation. I had an in-hull stateroom on Queen Mary 2 with the veranda. Sitting in a deck chair on the veranda provided me with a wonderful view of the sky and nothing else. Unless, of course, I stood up and looked over the railing.

[cb at sea]

No one SITS to "ocean gaze"...you will be fine!

[57redbird]

On our 1st cruise (to Alaska), we didn't know any better & opted for a cabin that had a steel railing....never again...:)

[DeeniEncinitas]

Listen I am also 5'4 and I hated not being able to see sitting down! No fun having to sit on extra pillows!!

IMO if you can change please do. That was the first and last time.

I believe it was on The Ryndam. I enjoy a veranda to see the ocean not the rail.

Denise:)

[3rdGenCunarder]

A steel railing is not the end of the world. Our balcony on Maasdam was like that, and I didn't even think about it until we'd been on the ship for several days.

[Stpatsirish]

We had one on the Maasdam as well. Didn't know there were clear ones until we were on a different ship. It was fine for us.

[NordicPrince]

...another first world problem.

[jabcruiser]

We had one last year when booked "Guaranteed Veranda" and this was assigned to us. Veranda size was actually larger than standard size. Ended up, didn't really mind the steel rail. The Plexiglas ones generally so dirty can't see much through them anyway. Liked the larger size veranda. Bigger issue was being right above the showroom which made sleeping difficult until last show was over. Definitely had to use my earplugs and they didn't block noise completely. If you are early to bed this might be a problem for you.

Jane

[Cruiserbillyboo]

We had one of these steel-railing verandas on Oosterdam. Honestly, if I didn't read all the negative stuff about this here on CC, I would never even have noticed. It's totally fine. We loved it. I believe it was VH category. Very far forward, so possibly a bit more motion, but our cruise was very smooth. Noise from the showroom - as noted above - a small issue, but (IMHO) minor.

Enjoy your balcony!

[mustgo]

No one SITS to "ocean gaze"...you will be fine!

 

I do and as I am also 5'4 just does not work for me.

[catl331]

A steel railing is not the end of the world. Our balcony on Maasdam was like that, and I didn't even think about it until we'd been on the ship for several days.

We had one on the Maasdam as well. Didn't know there were clear ones until we were on a different ship. It was fine for us.

On the S-class ships there is about a 1 foot gap between the wood rail and the solid steel panel that you can see through. Visibility is much different on the newer/larger ships where there is no gap.

Edited April 15, 2017 by catl331

[RedneckBob]

Never had one of those steel rails but really don't like those glass rails. Started bringing bottle of Windex glass cleaner to keep clean. Only problem is I don't do rails !

 

Prefer the steel rod rails like on Maasdam balcony cabins

[cbr663]

We had one on the NA once and rather liked it. The cabin was forward and the balcony was much larger than normal. We spend a lot of time on our balconies and didn't notice any difference.

 

As others as mentioned, one thing I did notice was being so far forward we noticed the movement of the ship more.

[Lady Arwen]

We have cabin 4020 booked on Koningsdam with the steel front instead of plexiglass. The balcony is huge....at least twice the standard size. We could care less about not having plexiglass, as we always stand to take photos, and sitting down I'm either reading, snoozing or conversing with my DH so not a deal breaker for us.

Being forward is never an issue for us, either, thankfully. The cabin next to us, with the plexiglass, is more than twice the price.......no thank you!

[alwaysfrantic]

We have cabin 4020 booked on Koningsdam with the steel front instead of plexiglass. The balcony is huge....at least twice the standard size. We could care less about not having plexiglass, as we always stand to take photos, and sitting down I'm either reading, snoozing or conversing with my DH so not a deal breaker for us.

Being forward is never an issue for us, either, thankfully. The cabin next to us, with the plexiglass, is more than twice the price.......no thank you!

I just looked at deck plan for that. Wowza! It is huge!

[Linaeve]

No one SITS to "ocean gaze"...you will be fine!

 

Definitely not true. I sat a lot, most of the time while gazing out. I also would open the curtains and look out at the water while lying down on the bed. I can see how some people wouldn't care but I couldn't stand having a steel rail in my way.

[bluegiraffe]

We had one last year when booked "Guaranteed Veranda" and this was assigned to us. Veranda size was actually larger than standard size. Ended up, didn't really mind the steel rail. The Plexiglas ones generally so dirty can't see much through them anyway. Liked the larger size veranda. Bigger issue was being right above the showroom which made sleeping difficult until last show was over. Definitely had to use my earplugs and they didn't block noise completely. If you are early to bed this might be a problem for you.

Jane

 

So true about the plexiglass! We had one of the steel ones on a cruise last year (on the Zuiderdam) and it didn't bother us at all.

[Lady Arwen]

I just looked at deck plan for that. Wowza! It is huge!

I know! We couldn't believe the price for this cabin compared to the standard balcony cabins. I assume that most people are concerned with being so far forward, and of course the steel railing, hence the low price.

[veryseasonedtraveler]

I absolutely hated the steel rail. I also am 5'4" and I felt I only had a veranda view when standing. I enjoy looking out from the cabin and you get to see sky and a railing. If you email me at Linhansell at me.com, I will forward a picture I sent our TA. Definitely not worth any extra $ at all.

.

[catl331]

The Plexiglas ones generally so dirty can't see much through them anyway.

Dirty or not, the plexiglas railings don't give me the closed-in feeling that an opaque wall does. :(

[TAD2005]

There's a very good reason that steel railing veranda cabins are the lowest grade HAL offers, category VH. You paid for a veranda cabin, and one of the main reasons was the view out to the sea. If you are seated or on the bed inside your cabin, you see nothing but sky. If you are seated on the balcony, you also see nothing. You must stand up and look over the railing to see anything water related, like dolphins, whales, etc. You are not getting what you paid for..... a view of the sea. That's why they are the cheapest grade veranda cabins. IMHO, book something else, if you have the opportunity. If your plexiglass railing is dirty, ask your cabin steward to clean it. They will be happy to take care of that for you..Why accept anything less ? .

[dogo88]

We are 3 star but never had one of these cabins,how bad are they?

 

We have booked those cabins many times. They offer a larger balcony area and on hot sunny periods offer up some shade. Since they are on the lower decks if seas are rough you get less motion than the upper ones. As far as laying on the bed and watching the seas go by, meh. Get up and go outside on the balcony. A lot of negative comments for something that's not a big deal.

Now an obstructed cabin, that's not a good thing.

Dan