Noordam VS Rotterdam

I've already booked & deposited the Noordam 14 day Southern Carribean cruise for next winter. We were more interested in an affordable warm weather 2 week vacation than sailing at any specific time of year. Never sailed the Noordam but have read all the raves & rage about it.

Yesterday, I happen to see that another 14 day carribean sailing has been added on the Rotterdam on the HAL website. I can't find our brochure so I don't remember if it was listed there & we just missed it. The Rotterdam sails FLL-Norfolk VA instead of Tampa-Tampa. As we've been to the carribean before & don't go in for all the duty free shopping or snorkling, the specific ports aren't important. Never sailed the Rotterdam either.

Here's my question. We booked a outside on the Noordam for about $3k including port taxes & fees. Since there weren't any balconies, we didn't see any need for the category A mini suites. Now I see that if we waited until April, we could sail the Rotterdam in a category B mini suite with a balcony for about $1600 more.

I'm trying to compare apples to apples. Is it worth it to post pone the cruise for a few months & take the Rotterdam sailing? We live in Va so that caught my eye even though we'd still have to fly to Ft. Lauderdale to start the cruise. My wife will kill me if I make anymore changes so I've got to be reasonably sure of the benefits before bringing up the subject.

Thanks

There is no comparison between the two ships. I would take the Rotterdam V. You won't have any trouble changing as I have recently done this. Cancelled one cruise and booked a different one two months later. They just transferred my deposit to the other cruise.
Have a great time.

I agree with dizyca. The Rotterdam is the flagship of the HAL fleet while the Noordam is their oldest ship still in service and probably the next to join the Nieuw Amsterdam and be sold. You might save money by getting a cabin on the lower promenade deck where you would be only steps away from the largest "verandah" on the ship. This all-around teak deck, shaded from the sun and sheltered from the rain is the best feature of the newer HAL ships and not on the Noordam.

Have to agree with dizyca and Dolphins, comparing Noordam to Rotterdam is NOT apples - to - apples. If I had the choice, and everything else being equal or better, would definately choose Rotterdam. Enjoy!!