joekerstef

HAL would have no way of knowing how much cash you handed out. Maybe you were just the beneficiaries of an error.

They would if the stewards are required by HAL to report their cash tips. We know that they have to turn the money in if a guest opts out of or reduces their hotel service charge. Why would they not have to report their extra tips for say tax purposes? Or to give passengers credit for on board spending?

Can someone please advise. How much in $$$ would you have to pre-purchase for 5 days credit? Will that apply to entire cabin? (Both DH & DW?) First I heard of this. Note~ We are both 5 days from 4 Star...next cruise is September Alaska would love to walk on as 4 Star! Thanks in advance all! :)

It doesn't work that way; you can go ahead and pre-purchase $1500 in OBC ($300 x 5 days), but you don't get the spending credit until and unless you actually spend the money. You won't get that next star until the completion of your next cruise, sorry.

My most "horrid" meal on HAL was my very first dinner in the MDR. I ordered the always-available salmon and it was very undercooked (near raw in the middle). I rather lost my appetite that evening, but I have had many good to excellent meals, and a few okay ones, in the MDR since then. But only that one unacceptable one.

also, to be fair, it was just that one item that was bad; the rest of that meal was fine.

We will be going on the Maasdam this summer. We will have a $100 onboard credit. I was hoping that I might be able to get some earrings, ring or a bracelet or something for my daughter's birthday. She will be turning 15. Do you think that they have anything reasonable in the shops?

I'm sorry, I honestly don't know. I never pay attention to the jewelry so no idea how well it's priced. My mother (who used to work with jewelry) wasn't too impressed with the jewelry; her main complaint was the stones were small. But she thinks you might be able to find something, especially if you wait until towards the end of your cruise when they're really trying to make a sale. She thinks the Swarovski crystal line might be your best bet.

If those were cash tips they did not count. If you mean you increased your HSC they did count. They do round up very generously. We've gotten the extra day when we were as little as $20 over a $300 multiple. (e.g., $620 giving 3 credits) It doesn't cost the line anything to do that and it makes people happy!

Nope. We tipped in cash, and there is NO WAY (even with generous rounding) we would've gotten as many spending credits as we did without the inclusion of those extra gratuities.

here we go again.....

Just bought one on Maasdam. I don't recall ever seeing anything about it on HAL's website though. I learned about it from the board here.

I was also disappointed that there was zero "Dam Ships" merchandise. I realize that predates my experience with HAL and maybe people were tired of it, but I'd totally get another dam ships shirt or two. Also I just wanted a nice magnet of the ship (Maasdam) like I have for Veendam, but they only have a generic one that looks more like the larger ships. I did make my concerns known in the post-cruise survey. I bought one stupid t-shirt from the shops, that's it.

You don't like surf & turf?

Not everyone wants lobster, or did you not think of that.

On surf & turf gala night, unless something else catches my eye (nope, sigh) I'll get turf & turf (not a big lobstah fan save for the occasional lobster roll or in a nice bisque). And the beef just wasn't all that impressive, although on most recent cruise, mine definitely looked better than my mother's.

I agree with Jacqui; all of our pre-boarding spending counted. The one thing I was surprised about is that we seemed to have gotten credit for the extra tips we gave to our dining and cabin stewards. But hey, that's onboard spending too so.... Wondering if that might account for the "extra" that people including myself have noted before ("HAL rounds up generously").

Shop on the Maasdam is awful. The HAL-branded stuff is terrible--couple different shirts in navy, white, and orange, some over-priced hats and some magnets and shotglasses with "Holland America, Savor the Journey" on them. The jewelry shop didn't look much different except there's now a lot of perfume. and the other shop had a lot of generic beach attire and a bewildering wall of colorful handbags of various sizes with dogs on them.

I my opinion, the menu in the MDR on gala night is usually not as good as a regular night.

Thanks guys. I don’t think I’ve received a pack. I got an email asking to log in and check in online, but nothing else?

If you're cruising in a week, I'd get online ASAP to do the check in process.

I was on Maasdam in April/May. The maintenance crew did do a lot of varnishing of the handrails on the forward and aft stairwells and some of the railings out on the promenade deck, but that was the only maintenance stuff we saw in three weeks and it all looked routine rather than emergency. Maasdam is not perfect by any means, but she is in good shape. We did see some dripping from the Lido ceiling but that appeared to be condensation from the a/c system and there were (usually) stewards wiping it off. Absolutely disagree about MDR food being mediocre but definitely agree that your experience with the chef and the steak is appalling. ATK only has 14 programs for the ships, and they do two different ones on days when they're offered so after seven sea days, they will repeat, although probably not in the same order. Entertainment is not HAL's strong suit; a couple of the singer/dancer programs on our cruise we had seen two years before. Anyway, I'm sorry you didn't have the best experience on this cruise and I hope you find a ship and/or cruise line that you enjoy. Thank you for your very thorough review!

Welcome to Cruise Critic and to cruising. To find people interested in sharing a tour with you, you'll want to sign on to the roll call for your cruise. Start here: https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/

Then select your cruise line (presumably HAL since you're posting here) and your ship and then look for the date of your sailing.

Happy anniversary and pleasant sailing!

I have only sailed Maasdam and Veendam and have spent a day on Amsterdam so for what it's worth, I love Maasdam. I am eager to try ships of the other classes (Zuiderdam, my first Vista, is next) but then we have three more weeks on Maasdam next year. Based on what I've seen on this board, talking with other pax while sailing, and occasionally reading a couple people's blogs, I am particularly interested in trying Nieuw Amsterdam and either Koningsdam or Nieuw Statendam. And Prinsendam has some pretty nifty itineraries. We do sail for itinerary rather than ship and have pretty basic requirements for what we need out of our cabin; we just happen to have landed on Maasdam quite a bit.

We have sailed both fairly recently. Both ships are very nice and you will enjoy either one. One advantage the Eurodam has is the Tamarind specialty restaurant and bar. It is delicious Asian "Fusion" food with impeccable service. It is our favorite HAL restaurant and would be a deciding factor for us. If you are "meh" about Asian food then flip a coin. The lay-out of both ships are pretty similar.

Given that OP said the price was the same, I too would go with Eurodam because I'm dying to try Tamarind, but agree with this post; if you're not into that kind of food then well I guess I'd go with whichever one had a specific cabin available in a location that I'd be happy with (we don't do guarantees but that's just our preference).

I am the OP and appreciate all the input. I have been wanting to do a Bering Strait Cruise for a long time and HA seems to have the most extensive itinerary for one... I was hesitant about Maasdam but am less so now. Will the 2019 westbound to Yokohama be an EXP cruise? Just what does that mean? I r ad the lanai cabins that open onto the promenade are popular but I am hesitant to give up a private balcony. On the other hand the Balcony appears to be $160 per night more... a pricey amenity on a 21 night cruise...

Understandable, that's a hefty jump in price. You could reserve (if it's available for the cruise) a guarantee cabin and roll the dice to see if you get an upgrade to a suite.

Looking on HAL's new website, Maasdam's scheduled voyages beginning in September 2018 after her drydock running into August 2019 look to be advertised as EXC voyages (this does not cover all of her currently announced itineraries; she has cruises available departing through April 2020 at the moment). When they first announced the concept, they only advertised the EXC program through the beginning of May 2019 (the last cruise before the first of the three three-week Alaska voyages; we're booked on the second one) but now our cruise is indeed advertised as EXC. I think your contemplated voyage is the one after the third Alaska three week (so July 2019?); if so, then yes, it should be an EXC voyage. I think HAL wants to see how well they're selling and then what the feedback is once they get going before they go too crazy with it. It's a question that might be best taken up with your PCC at HAL.

OP, here is the link for RetiredMustang's recent review:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2632745&highlight=maasdam

For the first 88 days of EXC itineraries aboard the Massdam, there is only 1 zodiac excursion listed, that being in Dravuni Island. I was hoping for more zodiac opportunities. I think their new concept could be a work in progress!

No doubt. But I'm really happy to see HAL trying a new direction, and I love the idea of more enrichment activities in most of the specialty areas that they have listed. I won't particularly miss the evening shows much. Of course it remains to be seen how expectation meets reality. We're not cruising until late May so hopefully by then they will have had more than a half a year of the EXC program to work out some of the kinks and make improvements based on the suggestions of pax on the earlier voyages.

Okay, here's a link to info about the EXC program:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/cruise-ships/ms-maasdam/exc-in-depth-voyages1.html

We have only ever sailed in ocean views so I can't help you with suites, nor with a comparison to X. Maasdam is an older and smaller ship; she does show a bit of wear on some of the furniture but nothing major and (mostly) not super-noticeable. I don't know how swanky the suites are as compared to what I'm used to, but they do have a private balcony. The balcony cabins on Maasdam go for a premium because as compared to the newer, bigger ships, there aren't that many of them (I don't think she even has Vista suites). There is nothing particularly modern about our cabin of choice (things like USB ports, high def wall mounted tvs, etc.) but that doesn't bother us. The lanai cabins have a door that opens out onto the promenade deck. Each of those cabins has two deck chairs outside their door reserved for their use. Those cabins are pretty popular. Our cabin was towards the bow (basically just ahead of the first lifeboat) on the main deck (one below the lanai cabins) and we did not experience vibrations. We've spent five weeks total on Maasdam in the past two years and have not had a plumbing or a/c problem (I heard one person on last cruise complain about no a/c and could have very well been someone in the affected area mentioned by Trapper44). Keep in mind that toilets can clog on any ship of any age--all it takes is one thoughtless person flushing something that shouldn't be flushed, and that has nothing to do with the age of a ship. Maasdam lacks many of the features that HAL likes to brag about on the bigger, newer ships--no Tamarind, BB King, music walk, etc. She has a big beautiful promenade, a nice Crow's Nest that isn't supposed to be changed (that's been a complaint on the board recently with the newer ships), a wide-open sky deck, two pools and nice views from many areas both indoors and outside. Also the staff and crew are generally great. There are lots of tables for two in the MDR; you can request that when you book if you opt for fixed dining. HAL does not have formal night on any ship; they do "gala" night which pretty much means dress fancy **if you want** and the photographers will try to take your photo, but you don't HAVE to dress any nicer than you would on any other night, and if you want to wear your shorts or jeans, there's always the lido.

I agree that your proposed itinerary looks good. Please do see RetiredMustang's review. He was on the 28 day cruise right before mine, so it's a very thorough, very recent assessment with many pix from around the ship. Maasdam is a favorite among many HAL cruisers, myself included; however, there are definitely quite a few people on this board who will not sail on anything older than the Vista class ships. Do you have dealbreakers? Are there things you'd prefer but can do without for a good itinerary? You're definitely wise to be doing this kind of evaluation if you have your doubts. I have no hesitation in recommending Maasdam right now, and if my perception of how the EXC program will change the cruise experience is correct, she is going to be even better for what I would like for a cruise, but I'm an itinerary person who can and does spend endless hours staring at the water looking for wildlife so my requirements for what I need a ship to do and have for me is pretty minimal. YMMV

Your news surely does suggest the end of Prisendam's HAL service.

No it does not, and this is why these rumor threads are getting old. All it suggests until someone can post an OFFICIAL word of a sale is that HAL has not yet posted any 2020 itineraries for Prinsendam. NOT that there will be no further cruises. They only just posted Maasdam's early 2020 itineraries in the the last what? week or so? I have only been on this board for a bit more than two years and I've seen the same logic employed to pronounce the impending sale or transfer of Prinsendam, Maasdam, and Veendam multiple times for all three ships. And look what's happened--Maasdam got the EXC program voyages and Veendam is getting more interesting Cuba and Med itineraries and P'dam keeps doing her thing. Part of the allure of Prinsendam besides/because of her smaller size is that each of her itineraries is unique, she doesn't repeat in the same year. Such a schedule might be a bit more difficult to put together and confirm before announcing it to the public than for say the ships sailing the same two or three itineraries over and over and over in the Caribbean in the early months of a year.

Until someone can post a link to a credible source, can we please stop the rumor mill about the impending doom for these ships?

The condition of Maasdam (and Veendam) is discussed seemingly endlessly on this forum, so if you do a search for Maasdam, you should find plenty of info (see in particular RetiredMustang's extensive review of the ship with pix). I love the ship, just off of her three weeks ago and will be back for three more weeks next year. She is scheduled for drydock for refurbishment in late August before she begins her EXC program. After that, it remains to be seen what exactly that will mean for shipboard activities. What are your specific concerns?

Do the cabins have alarm clocks or wake up call service?

You can of course use your cell phone that has an alarm feature **just make sure you have it it airplane mode while at sea**

Cherie, I have searched for this in the HAL forum and cruise reviews but cannot find it. Any hints? Thanks.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2632745&highlight=maasdam