Questions about Maasdam

[SleepingUgly]

Hello - I am looking at a 13-day southern Australia cruise for my family of five later this year (around Christmas / NY) and am looking specifically at two connecting suites on Deck 10.  Would someone be able to advise if Category BB cabins may simply be "normal" balcony staterooms on other cruise ships, in terms of size and amenities?  Also, should we be concerned re: noise from above as, according to deck plans, the Lido Market would be right above our rooms.

 

This would be our first cruise on HAL!  We've only cruised with Celebrity in the past and will be traveling with three children.  Two will be older (21 and 18) next year but the little one will be only 10.  I know Maasdam will be a smaller ship - and she is an experienced traveler so I am not so concerned about her not having enough to do (she is not a fan of the kids clubs) - but hoping young children would not be too out of place on this ship?

 

Any other thoughts / comments about the Maasdam would be much appreciated!  We are currently booked on a 12-night Celebrity Reflection cruise for the same time period but I'm getting a bit tired of cruising the Caribbean and touring Europe (#firstworldproblems) so a cruise around Australia would be an incredible experience for all of us.  This itinerary also seems to be extremely unique and think it would still keeps the kids engaged, as it's not just endless sea days of sailing through sounds, haha.

 

Thanks in advance for your help / insight!

 

Linda

   

[Vict0riann]

We loved Maasdam, a few years ago, and I think we were in a BB.  It is just a balcony cabin.  No extra amenities, it's called a suite because there are fewer balconies than on some of the other ships.  You do get double "points" that will help to get you amenities when you build up your numbers with more cruises!  (I think we had booked a BB "guarantee" and ended up in the BB - but it was great.)

 

Maasdam has been reconfigured, I believe, and now has zodiacs to get you ashore in areas that will not accommodate tenders.  I loved going in the zodiacs when we went to Antarctica (that was 25 years ago on an expedition ship), so it you have the chance to take one, especially exciting for a 10-year old, I would think.  Actually, I'm not sure if there would be age restrictions for going in the zodiacs.  You could find out through your travel agent.  

 

Your 10-year old will probably be spoiled rotten by all the doting grandparents on the ship!  Or there is a possibility that a very few people will make nasty noises...  I would imagine around Christmas time there will be many children on board.  What an adventure!

[Tom O.]

Category BB staterooms are regular balcony staterooms, not suites.

I have not been on the Maasdam yet, but I would have some concern about the Lido buffet being right above you, you might hear a lot of chairs being moved. You might consider moving to a lower deck.

Holland America has one of the oldest demographics in the cruising business. That suits us fine, but it usually means there are fewer families with children. But I have noticed there are always a few more young families when ports include a lot of beaches.

[Vict0riann]

We were under the Lido passageway to the dishwashing area and we did hear a bit of bumping around of carts at mealtimes.  But not a real bother.  And there was a overhang from the Lido deck above the balcony.    I have a few pictures(from 2014, so there have been changes since then).  

 

[SleepingUgly]

Thank you!  I am hoping any noise will wake the kids up earlier so they don't sleep the day away, as 21 and 18-year-olds tend to do quite easily. 🙂  Then again, they pretty much can sleep through anything so probably not an issue for us.

 

Appreciate the photos as well, Ann!  The "suite" looks like our concierge cabins (which are just regular balcony cabins) that we had on the Celebrity Silhouette last year so space will be fine.  Is that a large / extensive overhang over the balcony?  We had connecting aft cabins on the Silhouette and loved them but don't think the Massadam has these?

 

Thanks again!

Linda

 

[Vict0riann]

I think the overhang covered most of the balcony.  We don't care for too much sun, so it didn't bother us.  As far as aft connecting cabins, I'm not sure.  You might find some pictures on a website called Halfacts.  (Maasdam is "S" class.)

[Tom O.]

There are some connecting rooms on the Maasdam. Go to the HAL website and look at the deck plans. Rooms that connect are marked with a plus sign (+). I see several of them on deck 9.

[Vict0riann]

Also, some of the ships have "doors" between the balconies, which is another way to connect.  Not sure about Maasdam.  

[SleepingUgly]

I think the only ones available now are on Deck 10 - BB040 and BB042.  I'm surprised there is still a set of connecting cabins available, which is why now I'm wondering what's wrong with them!

 

BTW, how do the cabins on HAL connect?  Is there a door in the rooms?  On Celebrity, the two cabins shared a foyer (that could be closed off to the hallway with an outer door)so the connection was not INSIDE the rooms themselves, per se.

 

Linda

 

[Vict0riann]

I just looked at Halfacts and see we were in 053.  I don't see a connecting door.  It would definitely not be like Celebrity or Cunard with that corridor connection.  We had connecting cabins on Volendam, and the door was in the cabin, at the foot of the bed.  (But Volendam is a different class of ship.)   It did get in the way.  If you have a travel agent, ask them if that is the way it will be.  We found the best was where the connection was through the balcony.

[bcummin]

I commend the choice of itinerary for your family to experience.

The good ship Maasdam has no kids club anymore, but your daughter does not need it anyway.  Hopefully your children will enjoy the informative lectures, etc.  (There is always bribery.  :) ) 

We were on the Maasdam for 2018 Christmas / NY, so we know that you have a wonderful voyage to look forward to.

Barbara

Edited January 7, 2020 by bcummin

[colbe]

56 minutes ago, SleepingUgly said:

I think the only ones available now are on Deck 10 - BB040 and BB042.  I'm surprised there is still a set of connecting cabins available, which is why now I'm wondering what's wrong with them!

 

Those cabins are under the carpeted seating area of the Lido. There should be no problem from above (we had 45 days on Maasdam earlier this year).

Edited January 7, 2020 by colbe

[SleepingUgly]

51 minutes ago, bcummin said:

I commend the choice of itinerary for your family to experience.

The good ship Maasdam has no kids club anymore, but your daughter does not need it anyway.  Hopefully your children will enjoy the informative lectures, etc.  (There is always bribery.  🙂 ) 

We were on the Maasdam for 2018 Christmas / NY, so we know that you have a wonderful voyage to look forward to.

Barbara

 

Thank you, Barbara!  I am really excited about this itinerary and think the kids will be thrilled.  And the hubby has always wanted to go to Australia so he definitely won't be complaining.

 

We actually found our recent Celebrity cruise to have been lacking in terms of lectures / educational talks; everything was so sales-oriented!  Glad to hear HAL will be different. Our little one is a nature and animal lover so think she will enjoy this adventure quite a bit.  I'm hoping to book this week!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

9 minutes ago, colbe said:

Those cabins are under the carpeted seating area of the Lido. There should be no problem from above (we had 45 days on Maasdam earlier this year).

 

Thank you! This is very helpful to know and much appreciated!!

[Ken the cruiser]

First off, all veranda staterooms on the Maasdam are Vista Suites and you get double Mariner points when you book one of them. As far as your 18 and 20 year olds as well as your 10 year old, they are going to be pretty board on sea days as well as in the evenings, just saying. The Maasdam was redesigned in 2018 to accommodate their new In-depth EXC program which focuses more on adult lectures, usually 4-5 on sea days, rather than providing a variety of different entertainment venues for young adults. In short, there just isn't a lot of things to do for young adults as well as for younger children when onboard, other than going to lectures and playing trivia, especially since they removed Club HAL and the associated staff after the redesign.

 

If it were us, I would try to find either a Celebrity or Princess cruise that offers a similar itinerary, as both usually have quite the variety of things to do on sea days as well as in the evening for all ages, both old and young. After all, when travelling with children and young adults, it they're not happy, your not going to be happy.

 

As far as the HAL zodiac excursions go, they are only available when the ship is in certain ports and they are not cheap, usually $125 pp and up. But from we heard on our recent 40 day Australia circumnavigation cruise this past fall, folks had a good time when they went on one of them.

 

I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but thought I'd just add my thoughts on the subject. BTW on our cruise most of the folks were older than us and we are in our mid 60s.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by Ken the cruiser