Balcony cabin on Beethoven deck (forward and aft) Rotterdam

[RClark6369@aol.com]

Hi,

   I am booked on the Rotterdam for an upcoming cruise and I am considering a cabin on the Beethoven deck (cat VB).   The verandas seem huge for these cabins; however, most of the balcony is exposed I think.   Can anyone share their experience with this category of cabin/ship ?    Are the aft balconies better than the forward ?      I currently have a large veranda cat V on Navigation deck, but I like being closer to the water.

 

[REOVA]

My concern for deck 4 would be noise from either World Stage/Casino (Forward) or engine/mechanical/Dining in (Aft). The lower decks in aft get more noise and vibration. I didn't see what cabin on Navigation (V?) but noise from above can be an issue. We did Neptune suites on Kdam and Rdam and the Beethoven suites above had full view down on our balcony for little privacy. But on Beethoven deck I believe passengers would have to look over deck 10 to see down on balcony. 

[VermeulT]

Deck 4 balconies forward and aft (not midship) are deeper than decks above.  yes a bit is exposed but SO MUCH ROOM.  and if you get cabins 4154 or 4152 they are also double wide.

 

Look at the pictures here. https://halfacts.com/pinnacle-class/4154-rotterdam/

 

The forward cabins have solid steel verandah railings, instead of clear-view Plexiglass railings

[canadarocks]

Our favorite balconies are on deck 4 aft (Koningsdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, etc) and for our upcoming B2B2B, the Rotterdam.  😊

Edited November 25, 2022 by canadarocks

[oaktreerb]

Deck 4 aft, deeper balcony, partially covered, quiet unless you have noisy neighbors, close to dining room, my favorite location.  The forward staterooms are nearer the showroom and entertainment venues and far forward have steel railings.

[KT4209]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

Deck 4 aft, deeper balcony, partially covered, quiet unless you have noisy neighbors, close to dining room, my favorite location.  The forward staterooms are nearer the showroom and entertainment venues and far forward have steel railings.

In your experience, does the dining room/kitchen below the deck 4 aft staterooms not disturb the quiet?

 

Thank you!

[cruiseaholic78]

No, its more important to check what is above you than below, as said above we think the VB cabins deck four near the aft are the best. 

Rosalyn

Edited November 25, 2022 by cruiseaholic78

[oaktreerb]

11 hours ago, KT4209 said:

In your experience, does the dining room/kitchen below the deck 4 aft staterooms not disturb the quiet?

 

Thank you!

Not at all.

[Brewgirl1]

We always choose deck 4 above dining area, never hear anything. We managed to score the extra big balcony for our solar eclipse cruise to Hawaii, soooo excited. Long wait tho.

 

[IPB4IGO]

We just spent two weeks in cabin 4191 on the Koningsdam, a sister ship. The balcony was 11' feet deep. That meant we could stretch out and still have room to walk around each other. We chose that cabin specifically for the deep balcony. There was no noise from above or below, and no engine vibration.

Since it is deeper than the balconies above, folks on the higher decks could look down on approximately the outer four feet of the balcony, so don't go leaning on the rail in the nude. <g>

As others mentioned cabins at the very front of Deck 4 (4002-4019, I believe) have steel rather than plexiglass under the railings, eliminating a lot of the view.

We once had an aft wrap Neptune suite on Deck 6 of the Nieuw Amsterdam, and we did have some engine vibration in that cabin. And we had an Oceanview on the aft portion of Deck 1 of the Noordam and felt no vibration there, although whenever we were in mport it sounded like they were trying to jack-hammer their way through the wall.

[RClark6369@aol.com]

Thanks for replying everyone !   So my choices are cabin 4148 or 6143 on Rotterdam.    I like being close to the water line, being close to an elevator (just for convenience to the cabin), being close to bars, and having a larger veranda.  Opinions of my choices ???

 Also, has anyone with a larger veranda ever requested a chaise lounger for their cabin ? and was that request fulfilled ?  

 

Thanks again everyone !!

 

[oaktreerb]

The larger veranda will have two adjustable loungers on the balcony.   If they are not there, ask for them.  All balconies I have had on a HAL ship have a lounger or a chair/footstool combo lounger.  I haven’t been on the Rotterdam so can’t give opinion on stateroom.

[REOVA]

2 hours ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

Thanks for replying everyone !   So my choices are cabin 4148 or 6143 on Rotterdam.    I like being close to the water line, being close to an elevator (just for convenience to the cabin), being close to bars, and having a larger veranda.  Opinions of my choices ???

 Also, has anyone with a larger veranda ever requested a chaise lounger for their cabin ? and was that request fulfilled ?  

 

Thanks again everyone !!

 

Of the 2 I would choose 4148 with the caveat that you have traffic off the elevator coming by your door, you may not have a view of the water looking down towards the bow (tenders) and you may hear dining/kitchen noise depending on what deck 3 is doing below. I am not fond of the angled balcony cabins like 6143 as it's not as private and you would not be able to see towards the bow as the partition to the cabin next to you is blocking view left. Also looking towards stern you don't see down the ship since it's inset and you look down the cabins toward V6169. Not sure if these matter but just my thoughts. 

[IPB4IGO]

17 hours ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

[snip]

 Also, has anyone with a larger veranda ever requested a chaise lounger for their cabin ? and was that request fulfilled ?

 

In my experience, the only time we have had a chaise longue is in a Neptune Suite. Otherwise we have had chairs and a single foot stool. On one of our first cruises we asked for chase longues and the stewards swapped them out for us. 

On our most recent cruise, though, one of the chairs broke after a few days and when they tried to replace it they found that it would not fit through the cabin door. They had to wait until a port day, when they opened up the partitions between the verandahs and moved a replacement chair down from an empty cabin about ten cabins forward of ours.

[hmorrow]

We have a sunset aft on deck 6, on the Rotterdam,  Is it totally exposed to above? Does anyone know? TIA

Edited November 27, 2022 by hmorrow

[REOVA]

1 hour ago, hmorrow said:

We have a sunset aft on deck 6, on the Rotterdam,  Is it totally exposed to above? Does anyone know? TIA

It's not totally exposed but those above you can see down depending on where you are. Here is a photo I took last month. Deck 3 is the white area for reference. I remember many years ago my brother had a corner aft during Alaska and they were very exposed from above. But that was an older ship on a sister line. 

[leerathje]

DH and I were on the Koningsdam (sister ship to Rotterdam) in 2019 on Beethoven deck, room 4191.  We were also travelling with my brother and SIL on one side, and my father (solo) on the other side, so they opened the balcony dividers for us.

 

THERE WAS SO MUCH ROOM on the balcony!  We could easily fit all 5 of us on one balcony.  Regarding being exposed to those above, if you are sitting close to the railing, of course you will be exposed to above, but if you are closer to the door, you won't be.  Regarding a lounger, instead there will be two chairs with footstools.  Im attaching a photo of my SIL and DH sitting on the balcony so you can see how much room there is.

 

We never heard noise from the MDR....probably because deck 3 is fixed dining, so not near as many people as on deck 2 for anytime dining.

 

I took a video of our room if you'd like to see just how big the verandahs are:  

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by leerathje

[RClark6369@aol.com]

You are BEST leerathje !!     Thank you ! Thank you!   Is is just an awesome answer to my question!!  So good!

 

This is what the HAL board should be about !    Kind people like you that are willing to take the time to answer questions for which you had the BEST answer.  I will be lounged out and enjoying the good life on Rotterdam soon.    I want to be as chill as you and your husband appear above !!   HAL-WONDERFUL

 

Thanks everyone for responding to my questions and helping me with the decision making process.

 

Regards,

Rex

 

 

[leerathje]

2 minutes ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

You are BEST leerathje !!     Thank you ! Thank you!   Is is just an awesome answer to my question!!  So good!

 

This is what the HAL board should be about !    Kind people like you that are willing to take the time to answer questions for which you had the BEST answer.  I will be lounged out and enjoying the good life on Rotterdam soon.    I want to be as chill as you and your husband appear above !!   HAL-WONDERFUL

 

Thanks everyone for responding to my questions and helping me with the decision making process.

 

Regards,

Rex

 

 

 

Happy to help!  I tale tons of photos, and I often feel that it is easier to post a photo (or video, for that matter) than try to explain things.  It really is tre, a photo is worth a thousand words!

 

L.

 

[kazu]

4 hours ago, leerathje said:

DH and I were on the Koningsdam (sister ship to Rotterdam) in 2019 on Beethoven deck, room 4191.  We were also travelling with my brother and SIL on one side, and my father (solo) on the other side, so they opened the balcony dividers for us.

 

THERE WAS SO MUCH ROOM on the balcony!  We could easily fit all 5 of us on one balcony.  Regarding being exposed to those above, if you are sitting close to the railing, of course you will be exposed to above, but if you are closer to the door, you won't be.  Regarding a lounger, instead there will be two chairs with footstools.  Im attaching a photo of my SIL and DH sitting on the balcony so you can see how much room there is.

 

We never heard noise from the MDR....probably because deck 3 is fixed dining, so not near as many people as on deck 2 for anytime dining.

 

I took a video of our room if you'd like to see just how big the verandahs are:  

 

 

THANK YOU very much for your comments and posting this.  It is SO appreciated 🙂 

[AFNavigator]

On 11/25/2022 at 5:51 PM, RClark6369@aol.com said:

Thanks for replying everyone !   So my choices are cabin 4148 or 6143 on Rotterdam.    I like being close to the water line, being close to an elevator (just for convenience to the cabin), being close to bars, and having a larger veranda.  Opinions of my choices ???

 Also, has anyone with a larger veranda ever requested a chaise lounger for their cabin ? and was that request fulfilled ?  

 

Thanks again everyone !!

 

Both of those cabins appear to be adjoining cabins (door between yours and cabin next door) so that potentially could be your biggest noise risk.  Lots of people have discussed that sound from noisy neighbors travels more between adjoining cabins than it does between cabins without the door between.

The balcony chairs you get already essentially convert to chaise lounges.  The chairs have a reclining backrest and have a matching ottoman that function as a chaise lounge when used together.