Q regarding the Amsterdam..aiuto!

[cod]

Daughter and her family are booked in an ocv F for their first Alaskan cruise. They really wanted a balcony but finances would not cooperate. (What is going on with Alaskan cruise prices this year!?!?..but I guess that's another subject).

 

As for the Amsterdam...when booking they were asked if they wanted it notated that they were open to an upgrade. The only thing that stopped them was the possibility of getting upgraded to a DD with a partially obstructed view. Even so, if that did turn out to be the case and put them on a promonade deck, would that be such a bad thing? From the deck plan, it looks like you'd have access to the outside from many points along that deck which to me seems like a good thing. I guess what I'm asking past Amsterdam cruisers, would you live 'dangerously' in this case?

 

No one in our family has ever cruised on HA and they are very excited about finally doing so AND seeing Alaska.

 

One other question. They have one 7 year old boy. Has anyone had experience with their kids program?

 

I'd better quit before I think of anything else to ask! ANY and ALL advice concerning the Amsterdam would be greatly appreciated though!

 

Thanks!!

[cod]

I forgot! If you are on the promenade deck, can people see into your cabin and vice versa. (Thanks again).

[jtl513]

I think the view from the DDs on the Lower Promenade are quite good, and we booked one for our Sep Alaska cruise. We also like the ease of getting out on the deck. Let's face it, if you're in a scenic area you're not going to viewing from an F window anyway!! As far as visibility into the cabin: one-way glass makes it virtually impossible during the day and even fairly difficult at night because the promenade is brightly lit. Closing the drapes solves that problem at night. :)

 

We've never cruised with kids, but if you read about Club HAL on this board you'll find that the majority of people praise it.

[RuthC]

Keep in mind that this is coming from a cave dweller, but I concur that having a cabin on Lower Promenade should not be a problem.

Is it the "perfect" location? No. There are better (like the Penthouse :) ); there are worse (like mine :D ).

In Alaska you want to be outdoors, not inside, as much as possible. On Lower Promenade you can get outside quickly, and you can cross to the other side with ease.

It's also easy to get to/from muster drill without tripping over others. ;) Er, other's dragging vest straps, that is.

[griswalds]

I would recommend a larger HAL ship as there will be more children and a better program. The Amsterdam is not that big of a ship. We usually have a balcony but due to the possibility of colder weather (early August) we had on our cruise we were not out on the balcony all that much. You can also can run into a lot of fog in that area.

 

We found the Amsterdam to be pretty quiet and an older crowd. The entertainment was poor.

 

Griswalds

[jtl513]

I would recommend a larger HAL ship as there will be more children and a better program. The Amsterdam is not that big of a ship. We usually have a balcony but due to the possibility of colder weather (early August) we had on our cruise we were not out on the balcony all that much. You can also can run into a lot of fog in that area.

We found the Amsterdam to be pretty quiet and an older crowd. The entertainment was poor.

While I don't disagree that the Vistas would probably get a younger crowd and a more active Club HAL, the OP said they're already booked on the Amsterdam.

 

Having been on 2 Vistas and the Amsterdam, I'd give the nod to the A'dam in Alaska because having 470 to 540 fewer fellow passengers to compete against for excursions in small AK ports is a big plus. And I don't go to Alaska for the ship's entertainment. Frankly, I wouldn't care if they had none.

[waiting2retire]

I was recently in a C (unobstructed) cabin on the Zaandam on the Lower Promenade deck, and it was wonderful! I loved being able to walk right outside to the deck, particularly at night before retiring. My mom was concerned about people walking around outside, but they could not see into the rooms during the day (but you can see them :) ), and our steward made sure to close the blinds when turning down our beds at night. We were never bothered by any noise from the people taking their morning walk around the deck, and we are late sleepers!

 

I think your daughter and her family will have a great time in the DD cabin, not to worry.

 

Bonnie

[cod]

Thanks! I do appreciate your feed-back!

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Daughter and her family are booked in an ocv F for their first Alaskan cruise. They really wanted a balcony but finances would not cooperate. (What is going on with Alaskan cruise prices this year!?!?..but I guess that's another subject).

 

As for the Amsterdam...when booking they were asked if they wanted it notated that they were open to an upgrade. The only thing that stopped them was the possibility of getting upgraded to a DD with a partially obstructed view. Even so, if that did turn out to be the case and put them on a promonade deck, would that be such a bad thing? From the deck plan, it looks like you'd have access to the outside from many points along that deck which to me seems like a good thing. I guess what I'm asking past Amsterdam cruisers, would you live 'dangerously' in this case?

 

No one in our family has ever cruised on HA and they are very excited about finally doing so AND seeing Alaska.

 

One other question. They have one 7 year old boy. Has anyone had experience with their kids program?

 

I'd better quit before I think of anything else to ask! ANY and ALL advice concerning the Amsterdam would be greatly appreciated though!

 

Thanks!!

 

If your daughter and her family end up on the Lower Promenade deck, they'll be able to enjoy the largest balcony on the ship! (The one that goes all the way around:) )

 

We were on the Amsterdam for two weeks this past Christmas/New Year's with our 8-year-old daughter. It was a port-intensive itinerary (Partial Panama Canal transit combo with South/Western Caribbean), and we found there was plenty to keep us occupied. My daughter enjoyed Club HAL very much; there were 80 other children/teens on the ship with her. The Amsterdam is the co-flagship (along with the Rotterdam) of the HAL fleet. She is currently doing the Grand World Voyage, then she'll do a Panama Canal transit before coming up the Pacific coast from California to Vancouver, ending up in Seattle to do the Alaska run all summer.

 

As I understand it, one reason the Alaska cruises are expensive is because they're popular, and the ships depart full. If you want to live a little dangerously and don't really mind what kind of cabin you get, you can check out the "Flash Specials" offered over on HAL's travel agent headquarters. Just click on "promotions and sales tools" to get to the "Flash Specials". They are updated weekly.

 

Your daughter and her family will have a wonderful cruise to Alaska on the Amsterdam:)

 

Karin

[amusea]

Please note that the cabins on the Lower Promenade Deck are about 15 sq. ft. smaller than those on the two lowest decks. It may sound like a small thing but visually I find them much less spacious. Compare the square footage of your cabin to those on Lower Promenade before making a decision. I do agree that it is great to be able to pop outside without any inconvenience on an Alaskan itinerary.

[jtl513]

Please note that the cabins on the Lower Promenade Deck are about 15 sq. ft. smaller than those on the two lowest decks. It may sound like a small thing but visually I find them much less spacious.

I've heard that the sofa has to be turned sideways, along the bathroom wall, so I guess they've taken about 1.5 foot off the length of the cabin? Does a sideways sofa mean that you can only see the TV easily from the bed? (Not that we watch much TV in AK anyway! :) )

[RuthC]

I've heard that the sofa has to be turned sideways, along the bathroom wall,

:confused: The few times I've had an outside on Lower Promenade, and the one's I've seen the inside of while walking by, the sofa has been in the usual position along the wall from the bath toward the bed.

This has been the cabins along the length of the ship. Some of the ones very far aft are set up differently.

[cod]

Update!

 

They switched to the Noordam. It sails May 27th rather than the Amsterdam June 1st sail date. Main reason for the switch is that their 7 year old is free (most May sailing on HAL are charging just taxes for the kids) and so they could upgrade to a balcony and, even though it is higher, it is still within what they had budgeted to spend. They are very excited as they'd hoped to be able to get a balcony originally.

 

I hope this is a good thing! Both the Amsterdam and the Noordam look to be wonderful ships. Maybe the kids program will be better since they are sure to have more of them on board...a larger ship, plus the no charge.

 

When I booked this for them today I was told the 5:45 dining time was waitlisted and that left 8:00 or the second dining room which she said was open seating from 5:30 to 9:00. Knowing their preference (they did not like NCL freestyle at all) I added them to the 5:45 waitlist. Is this something new HAL is doing. I know the Amsterdam offered 4 dining times and so this kind of surprised me. If you've had experience with this option, please let us know what you thought.

 

Well, thank you all again. Sorry your Amsterdam advice was for naught. Noordam comments would be more than welcome!