Pick a Price OR Pick a Location

I recently received a request from a client to explain why Holland America had prices for Verandah rooms ranging from $1999 to $3299 for a 10-night, peak season Canada/New England voyage on the beautiful Eurodam.  While my reply is skewed towards his particular situation, I think the information will be of valuable as a general primer on the differences in room types.

As a general rule, different prices on balcony rooms have to do with location on the ship, with being more midship and higher considered generally preferable, although some other elements of location, such as being close to the spa or having special spa access and amenities (as in VT and VQ on Eurodam) also come into play.   

On some ships, certain balcony rooms are larger, as in the case of Royal Caribbean where D1 balcony are larger than E1 balcony rooms, but in that specific case it is indicated in the first category letter, making distinction easy.  In the case of Princess, on many of their ships there are balcony rooms on one particular deck where the balconies are about twice as large, but to make it even more confusing, there are other rooms on higher decks with the same designation (BA and BB) that have the normal sized balcony but more midship (in the case of BB) or higher (in the case of BA and BB locations, while Norwegian has larger rooms on some of their ships where they bulge fore and aft.  

Sometimes, essentially the same rooms have different services, as in the case of Celebrity where C1 rooms have concierge services and other special amenities in the room relative to regular balconies, and where Aqua Class balcony rooms have a special restaurant.  Sometimes,balconies have partial obstructions affecting their ranking, but even then they can have higher ranked rooms with obstructions.   

Handicap balcony rooms are larger for access purposes, but those are generally only available to people with disabilities unless assigned to complete sell-out of a voyage, and those are frequently categorized like others that are not handicap accessible.   

In the case of Holland America, it is mostly ship location that determines the price differences, although looking at the deck plan, it seems that there could be some slight variations on balcony size, such as between VD on Upper Promenade with larger balconies relative to VC on Verandah Deck.  

Being on the Upper Promenade Deck would be considered less preferable to Verandah Deck in general due to being lower.  Being right atop the main nighttime entertainment area of the ship could raise a red flag for some people.  An optioned in a Category VH, if you look at the deck plan, would be one of only four of that category, all located directly above the big theater for the production shows.  That could mean you would hear music despite excellent sound proofing on the ship.  It would obviously be better to have an extra deck or two between you and the sound.  However, because there are only four of those rooms and HAL is selling lots of those guarantees, most likely you will be upgraded to a different category at no charge.   

Upgrades are based on how many cruises you've taken with that cruise line, how much you paid and when you booked, plus basically how well it fits into what the cruise line wants to do with the ship. Unlike the small ships like those of Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, that are almost sold out as they frequently are a few months before the ship sails, a large ship such as Holland America Eurodam will have availability longer, and when the final payment date comes, there is the real possibility that some people will cancel and get their deposits back.  This will open up space that is a problem for HAL, and so they may offer "last minute deals," especially if air prices have zoomed up to make the total vacation price too expensive to sell at earlier rates.  Those who booked earlier and paid more, of course, will not be put in line behind these late comers, so they will be essentially pushed higher in the categories.  If the least desirable rooms are indeed filled, as they likely will be, they will be filled by the last ones to sit down in this game of musical chairs, which would be the last minute deal people or somebody being upgraded from an ocean view, unless for some reason somebody asked for a specific room, in which case they would get the room they wanted.

I personally believe on Holland America and Princess, it can be a good gamble to take the least expensive balcony and wait to see where you get upgraded, but it also can be a great idea to choose the exact location you like and grab that while you see it, even if you have to pay more for it.  If the price is reduced later on that category prior to final payment, I can usually re-price the room.  Something that happens very regularly on Holland America is that if they have extra rooms in the mini-suite type categories (SY, for example) after final payment, they ask if the passengers in lower rooms might be interested in paying an additional amount for an upgrade, leaving the total price still lower than it would have been had they booked it early.  This is kind of a secret sale that, as I said, I have seen very regularly.  Sometimes, staying flexible can really pay off big.  

By the way, the aft rooms overlooking the wake are frequently a little larger on many ships, but that is an acquired taste.  I have some customers who insist on those, but my own wife, upon being booked into one with me, said she would not want to be back there because of the inconvenience of being so far from midship, combined with concerns of how the ship would bounce if we hit heavy seas.  My client Ron, on the other hand, always gets aft rooms if they are available, paying whatever premium might be in play, simply because he loves cruising out of ports and watching the view from there across the ship/s wake.  

Holland America's Deck plan is easier to read than most, because they put the room category before the room number.  That way, you can look at the deck and see which rooms are which.  If, for example, you want a midship room on the verandah deck on the port side of the ship, you would want category VE.  That would give you a baffle of one extra deck between your room and the main nighttime entertainment area, easy access to the midship elevator and both ends of the ship, and a smooth ride through the ocean.  This would be a category worth upgrading to for the location, and it is the kind my wife likes best.  I'd also surmise it is the most likely category to have people locked into specific rooms, especially on the port side for this voyage, since many people prefer to be on the land side when starting on a northbound voyage, although certainly many people pay good money for an ocean front house that has no land in site across the waves.  

Going to higher decks put you into suites in that midship area on many ships, including Eurodam, which has two decks of midship suites.    

Category V on the Navigation Deck one deck above the mini-suites is considered preferable because it is again midship and also are slightly larger than the verandah rooms labeled by V followed by an other letter.  The Lido Deck, however, is immediately above, which is a concern for some people.  I personally am one of those people who is not bothered by distant noise, but some people explicitly refuse to be near elevators or busy areas.   

You know how sensitive you are to sound, ship movement, desire to be mid-ship, etc.  I can help you get exactly what is important to you, if you share that with me, and then you can decide how much it is actually worth to you.

Sometimes a better price may take precedence over the ideal location.  Holland America, like other cruise lines, has simply segmented its offerings to charge additional for what most people consider preferable.  

If you go with the least expensive balcony, you can play the upgrade game and hope to end up someplace better, which is likely, but probably give up the chance of being someplace great with a free upgrade.  You can pick your location, and know that you have a great spot for you trip, paying a little more for that convenience during the trip and peace of mind beginning immediately.  In either case, you may be offered the chance to upgrade to a mini-suite for a smaller premium than is currently available.

I hope that makes it clear.  Holland America tends to make the price spreads larger than on some other lines, and because each line seems to have laser-like focuses on their clientele, they undoubtedly have valid justification for their price differences. 

As you know, Holland America does a great job, and while they are large ships, they definitely feel less crowded than a line like Royal Caribbean, both due to the number of passengers booked and the activity patterns of their clientele.