aft extended balcony cabin
People often form groups on social media like Cruise Critic or Facebook for a specific cruise to contact other people who are booked for the same cruise. Sometimes they set up events that others in that group can attend. On our cruise to Antarctica a cabin crawl was set up through one of these groups. People in different types of cabins volunteered their cabin as part of the tour. Some other people just tagged along to see the different sorts of cabins.
standard balcony
The event was scheduled for a sea day. When the day came there were originally 8 cabins on the tour. One dropped out, but along the way two of the tagalongs decided to volunteer theirs so it ended up as 9. Plus one random cabin next door to one on the tour where the people inside just heard people out in the hall and asked what was going on and said come on in. It’s fun to get to see all sorts of different cabins. It’s also a bit different than just having a tour of empty cabins because this way people can see what sort of things other people do that they may not have thought of.
standard balcony cabin
We all met at a bar on the third floor. The intended first cabin was on deck 1, at the back, but somehow whoever was at the front of the line ended up heading to the front of the ship so everyone came to our cabin first instead since it was just one deck up from where we started and at the front of the ship.
view from a midship Neptune suite angled balcony
There were quite a lot of people so they filed through each room in smaller groups while the rest waited outside in the hall. At one of the listed cabins the people next door were also on the tour so they opened theirs up and half the people went to one and the other half to the other so that one went twice as fast. They said it was the same cabin type, but according to the cabin numbers and the deck plan one was a Neptune suite and the other just a balcony cabin so half the people missed out on seeing the suite.
obstructed view balcony
We had an obstructed balcony cabin, which is a type most people have neither seen nor heard of. The difference between this one and a standard balcony cabin is that the balcony has a metal wall where normal balconies have plexiglass, and the balcony is nearly twice as big as the standard size balconies on this ship. It costs less than a standard balcony because of the obstructed designation so if you don’t mind a metal wall instead of plexiglass you can get a bigger balcony for less money on ships that have these rooms. Check the deck plans before booking anything obstructed though because that could also mean it is behind a bulkhead or a full wall – or with oceanview cabins behind lifeboats.
making use of magnets and structures on the shower walls to hang lines for drying laundry
Besides the balcony one of the things we had to show people that they may not have thought of was laundry lines over the bathtub making use of both structures there and magnets to add a lot of additional hanging space to the one standard line the ship has that you can pull across the tub. I have two additional clotheslines, one of which has built-in clothespins that you can slide along the line to wherever you need them, and the other made from several braided strands that you just tuck things into and don’t need clothespins at all.
magnets are useful on cruise ships
The other additions we made to our room were magnetic hooks for extra hanging space and wall magnets to keep the paperwork organized. We also got a couple plates of cookies from the Lido buffet at lunch that we had out on the little table in the cabin so people could have a snack on the way through. People in one of the other cabins on the tour planned ahead and brought pistachios to offer for snacks.
over the door organizer
The next room was a standard balcony cabin. It had an extra storage cupboard above the couch that very few of the other cabins on the tour had, and their personal extra addition was an organizer hanging over the bathroom door.
one room had extra storage over the couch
We saw a balcony cabin that had only a shower in the bathroom rather than a tub. While some cruiselines just have showers in all of their bathrooms, Holland America usually has bathtubs in everything except inside and accessible cabins so that was an unusual room.
view from the rear-facing balcony
We also saw an extended balcony cabin which has a larger balcony than standard balcony cabins. It was at the back of the ship with a rear facing view.
this suite balcony had chairs and a lounger
Suites have larger balconies than standard cabins and sometimes have extra furniture. Especially the sort that wraps around a corner, which has different furniture on each side.
rear corner Neptune suite
We saw several different suites on the tour. The suites have different bedding and larger bathrooms than the standard cabins as well as larger rooms with bigger balconies.
signature suite 6068
There were signature suites and Neptune suites on the tour, but not the pinnacle suite, which is the biggest suite Holland America has. There are only 2 on this ship and their occupants did not join the tour.
signature suite 6068 balcony
The suites all had nicer balcony furniture than standard balcony cabins.
signature suite 8o6o balcony
The cushions to the chairs in the photo above are inside the cabin. You can see them on through the door.
balcony on the rear corner Neptune suite
One of the suites on the tour as well as the random one were corner suites in the back of the ship. Corner suites have a balcony that wraps around the corner so people can see behind the ship as well as off to one side where most balconies are just on one side.
large inside cabin
When we finally got around to going down to what was supposed to be the first cabin on deck 1 it turned out to be a large inside cabin. It was quite nice. Inside cabins are usually small, but this one had a huge corner couch that went around both sides of the corner and lots of space around the bed. It also had a huge closet, much larger than the ones in most cabins.
ocean view cabin
One of the random cabins volunteered along the way was an ocean view cabin, which was nice since there was not one on the original list. It’s about the same as a standard balcony cabin except with a window instead of a sliding door at the back of the cabin.
ocean view cabin
The arrangement is a bit different in the ocean view cabin with the beds by the window where balcony cabins need space to open the door. In the ocean view cabin the couch was to the door side of the room instead of by the window as it is in the balcony cabins.
Neptune suite balcony
Since we bring a lot of ducks to hide on cruises we brought some along with us on the tour and gave one to the people in each cabin that had hosted one for the tour. They were happy to get them. This was a fun event and a good way to get to see a lot of different types of cabins.
Neptune suite bathroom
Cabins included in this tour: 1116 large inside, 4020 Obstructed Balcony, 4174 rearview balcony, 5066 balcony, 6068 signature suite, 6171 balcony, 6177 neptune suite, 7090 balcony, 7088 neptune suite, 1093 ocean view, 8060 signature suite
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