Holland America Line: Choose Your Own Stateroom Or Roll The Dice?

[YourWorldWithBill]

Since you said you're "rather picky" about not being too close to the elevator, etc., (we feel the same way), I think that @cbr663's point is worth noting: letting the cruise line pick your stateroom works, until that one time it doesn't! We weren't willing to take that gamble; even though nothing could be above or below us, after spending the money for a Neptune, we didn't want to end up with connecting rooms or the elevator.

[TriumphGuy]

We picked our own cabin because we wanted a wake view aft cabin. Scored the last one available, Deck 8 on Eurodam. I've always wanted to try an aft view cabin and soon we will! 

[Mary229]

I was forced to take a guarantee on a grand voyage segment.  Once assigned I spent a week negotiating a better room, the first two were going to be noisy.  I ended up paying a tad more for a room .   It would have to be a substantial savings for me to book a gurantee

[Torquer]

@MadamedelaMerYou didn't say which ship.  However, I would say there are only 4 different types of Neptune Suites, with the vast majority being in the last class.

• Aft wraps - Most people find these very desirable and it is therefore unlikely these would be available as a guarantee.  The only disadvantage is they are far from the Neptune Lounge
• On Vista and Signature class ships, the ones by the mid-ship elevators - We would find these very undesirable since people on the elevator will be staring at you on your balcony.  Perhaps not too bad if you don't use your balcony too much.
• Forward facing suites on the Pinnacle class ships and I believe the Nieuw Amsterdam (but not the Eurodam) - They have a weird shape and I believe the balcony is small.
• All the other Neptunes are pretty much the same.  Some have complained about the elevator noise on ones close to the elevator but we have never noticed it.

[Anne614]

We have been near the elevator several times and have never heard it. In my experience it is not like being near a hotel elevator which I don’t like.  Connecting room once and we heard the guy sneezing a couple of times.  It seems like a high price to pay.

[GeezerCouple]

6 hours ago, MadamedelaMer said:

...Aside from being able to choose a stateroom away from the elevator, I don't necessarily see any other significant advantages to paying the upcharge but perhaps I am mistaken? It is impossible to tell which staterooms are adjoining (another thing I'd want to avoid) or which are across from crew areas (which I prefer to avoid after experiences in the past on other cruise lines with constantly opening and closing of service doors at all hours of the day and night).

 

I'm a bit baffled as to whether it is worth the extra approx $1,400 for the opportunity to choose our own Neptune Suite stateroom. And frankly as a frequent Cunard traveler I was surprised to see that there's an upcharge for this on HAL, which is something I've never encountered previously.

 

Any thoughts would be enormously helpful!

 

Thanks!

 

🙂

[emphasis added] 

 

It seems that you have answered your own question when you asked it.

You've given 3 different cabin situations that you want to avoid.  Chances are that others might want to avoid some of the same locations, meaning those are among the more likely to be available for the guarantees.

 

It's obviously up to you, but it's not clear why you are asking.  Only you know if NOT risking any of those three types of cabins (and maybe some others you haven't thought of just now?) is worth the money.  You'll have those accommodations for the entire cruise.

 

We tend to be fussy about locations and types of accommodations, so we try to book far in advance while there is a good choice.

(OTOH, on my first two cruises in the 1970s, I had an inside, with metal bunk beds, and I fell in love with cruising instantly! 🙂  I was also younger then (!), and had much less money...)

GC

[POA1]

11 hours ago, MadamedelaMer said:

It is impossible to tell which staterooms are adjoining (another thing I'd want to avoid)

If you look at the deck plan, there's a plus sign + between connecting rooms.

[DaveOKC]

We recently were in the far forward, deck 10 Neptune on the N.S.  Cabin was larger than normal and we liked the way the TV faced the two loveseats.  Also, the forward facing window was nice.  Negatives were the small balconies (barely fit two chairs and very small table) and motion of the ship at times.  Another negative was the distance to the Neptune Lounge.

[BobbiSox]

I always advise friends to pay the extra bucks and choose a cabin that would suit their comfort level. There are some really awful cabins. If you should have the bad luck of getting a 'connecting' cabin, just know that you will be able to hear every word, and every sound coming from that cabin, and that cabin will be able to hear every word and sound form yours. It's as though there is no door between you. Believe me, there will be sounds you don't want to listen to 24/7. Save up and get a better cabin. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

17 hours ago, highscar said:

I have m,y favorite cabin. Had it more then once.  People turn it down but I love it for deck and location.  No, I ain’t gonna tell you where or why.  

 

Thanks for the tip. 😉

[Ipeeinthepools]

At least on the Rotterdam, HAL is playing games with the Spa Verandah connecting cabins and Collector Voyages.  We were looking to book a Collector Voyage in the Caribbean for February 2025 and there were only Spa Verandah connecting cabins available for those voyages.  There were plenty of other cabins are available for the individual voyages but you couldn't book them for the combined voyage.  So if I didn't want the connecting cabins, I had to book the individual voyages at a higher price.  I think HAL understands that the connecting cabins are not very desirable for most people.  

[mrsfecura]

I recently booked my first HAL cruise (on the Rotterdam) after many on Royal and 1 on NCL.  I chose the category that is an unobstructed balcony (it was about $100 pp more than obstructed)  but did opt to let them choose my room in that category since it was an additional $300 pp for me to choose.  Do you think my worst case scenario then is a connecting room?  I'm ok with being near an elevator and also with being anywere fwd/aft/mid.  I don't know much at all about the Rotterdam and am now in full research mode.  🙂  I booked the particular sailing I did because it stops in Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.  

Thanks!!

[Iamthesea]

17 hours ago, Torquer said:

On Vista and Signature class ships, the ones by the mid-ship elevators - We would find these very undesirable since people on the elevator will be staring at you on your balcony.  Perhaps not too bad if you don't use your balcony too much.

•  

 

Lerwick is beautiful!!!

 

I got tickled reading the above.  Brought back memories of when my parents had a Neptune Suite next to the bump-out elevator.  My father talked about how passengers would look over at him when he would read on the veranda.   They would make faces, so he started making faces back!!!

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

We recently were in the far forward, deck 10 Neptune on the N.S.  Cabin was larger than normal and we liked the way the TV faced the two loveseats.  Also, the forward facing window was nice.  Negatives were the small balconies (barely fit two chairs and very small table) and motion of the ship at times.  Another negative was the distance to the Neptune Lounge.

I have looked at two forward facing Neptune Suite videos and neither have two loveseats.  They have two chairs opposite a chaise lounge with the TV above the chaise.  Do you remember what suite you were in?

 

As for the negatives, the only thing that would bother me, for a cold weather cruise, would be extreme motion.  Was it really bad?  The balcony would not matter if it's too cold to sit out there, and we have no desire to go to the lounge.  Been there before and it did not impress compared to suite lounges on other cruiselines.  I'd love to have one, but not willing to take a GTY.  I am a little picky, although we purposely picked a Vista near the elevators.  So far, we have had no problems being by an elevator.  We have had problems with being near crew storage areas and closets, etc.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Iamthesea

[MadamedelaMer]

More extremely helpful replies--thanks friends! To those asking--the ship would be Eurodam for the cruise we are considering. 🙂

[DaveOKC]

5 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

 

Lerwick is beautiful!!!

 

I got tickled reading the above.  Brought back memories of when my parents had a Neptune Suite next to the bump-out elevator.  My father talked about how passengers would look over at him when he would read on the veranda.   They would make faces, so he started making faces back!!!

I have looked at two forward facing Neptune Suite videos and neither have two loveseats.  They have two chairs opposite a chaise lounge with the TV above the chaise.  Do you remember what suite you were in?

 

As for the negatives, the only thing that would bother me, for a cold weather cruise, would be extreme motion.  Was it really bad?  The balcony would not matter if it's too cold to sit out there, and we have no desire to go to the lounge.  Been there before and it did not impress compared to suite lounges on other cruiselines.  I'd love to have one, but not willing to take a GTY.  I am a little picky, although we purposely picked a Vista near the elevators.  So far, we have had no problems being by an elevator.  We have had problems with being near crew storage areas and closets, etc.

Not extremely bad, but I did feel a bit off on some mornings.  Seas were a bit rough, but not extreme.

 

[Nodakboiler]

We've been in all categories from Verandahs to Neptunes and when the 2 twins beds are together they always make a king bed- we've never noticed any difference so if that's what concerns you, pay less and get a lower category choosing your own cabin.

[Leo-the-fox]

I picked an aft NS for eurodam. I think the only bad ones are the two aft on dock 8, which are connecting rooms.

[Leo-the-fox]

1 hour ago, MadamedelaMer said:

More extremely helpful replies--thanks friends! To those asking--the ship would be Eurodam for the cruise we are considering. 🙂

I picked an aft NS for eurodam. I think the only bad ones are the two aft on dock 8, which are connecting rooms.

[OlsSalt]

You can do like we did, roll the dice until you finally get such a bad cabin you finally say never again.   Being right over the Ocean Bar on the old Maasdam finally made us a believer in paying more, but choosing what we learned were our own location preferences over time.

 

But it is less about getting the occasional "bad cabin", but more about learning our own preferences about location.

 

Which includes one location that does not bother us, but many others do reject: being under the Lido deck, because we really like just being just one flight of stairs to everything the Lido deck offers.

[MadamedelaMer]

1 hour ago, Nodakboiler said:

We've been in all categories from Verandahs to Neptunes and when the 2 twins beds are together they always make a king bed- we've never noticed any difference so if that's what concerns you, pay less and get a lower category choosing your own cabin.

Thanks for this info--my understanding was that the lower categories have queen beds (that can be separated into two twins) but that Neptune has an actual king size (that can also be separated). 

[scooter6139]

1 hour ago, Nodakboiler said:

We've been in all categories from Verandahs to Neptunes and when the 2 twins beds are together they always make a king bed- we've never noticed any difference so if that's what concerns you, pay less and get a lower category choosing your own cabin.

Perhaps it depends on the ship, but according to the HAL website, Vista Suite and below are all Queen sized beds when pushed together, pretty much the same size as all other mainstream cruise lines.  Only Signature Suite and above can have king-sized beds.  My wife and I are plus-sized, so the bigger bed is definitely a plus!

[Cruise Suzy]

11 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

Perhaps it depends on the ship, but according to the HAL website, Vista Suite and below are all Queen sized beds when pushed together, pretty much the same size as all other mainstream cruise lines.  Only Signature Suite and above can have king-sized beds.

Only on Pinnacle class ships do the Signature Suites have king-sized beds when the two beds are pushed together. On other ships the Signature Suites have queen-size beds when they are pushed together.