rajkr74

We have done the 14 day cruise twice and enjoyed it both times.  Also have done a 14 day Land Sea cruise thru the Yukon and Denali and loved it also.  Both are very different.  Here is a link to our review on the Land /Sea cruise we did in 2016 with pictures.

Here is a link to photos taken on our last 14 day Alaska cruise from Seattle on the Amsterdam in 2014.

https://onedrive.live.com/?id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA!11426&cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA

Here's a link to the tour we took a few years ago with pictures including the buses.  Not sure they are still using the same buses but they were comfortable.  We also had 2 busses assigned to the tour with the people being split evenly between the two and each bus had a HAL guide.

It's our understanding that you need to FAX a copy of your account statement that shows the Carnival stock to HAL for each cruise.  We carry hard paper copies of all credits that should be on our ship board account and verify all of them on our ship board account the first day on board.  On our last cruise an OBC did not show up on our account that we had to deal with.  It was corrected within a couple of days.   

Funny you should ask....😁  I am 6' 9" and have all the problems someone has as tall as me on land and on a ship.  Tub and shower force me to bend my head taking a shower (shorter shower times).  Shower only cabins might have more head room but I have never had one. Beds are too short and my feet hang over, no big deal they hang over on my bed at home.  Make sure you take a seat by the doors on the tenders because the knee room of other seats fit those with statures of 5' 6" or shorter....😣.  Watch your head getting on and off the ship,  staff will also let you know to "watch your head".  Hallways, elevators and stairways are fine. I love the reaction with the crew to my height.  I think everyone previously posted info on limits for weight but I tend to stay away from those excursions that place those limits.  I have always enjoyed HAL and find no problems cruising.  NOW.... let's talk about airlines. I have more problems with airlines than I do with cruising.

Yes, looks like it is now 9:00pm local time....seems the Captain's announcement had a tone of "yes are leaving at 9:00PM".

We are on the Oct 14th cruise from Rome to Ft Lauderdale.  Presently in Cadiz Spain having to stay over night for a cracked tank repair including divers.  As of now we are scheduled to leave here Fri the 19th at 5:00pm local time.  This has changed the schedule for the next 6 ports.  Luckily we are going to Gibraltar which was not on our original schedule.  Hopefully the repairs can get completed since they have been at it since early Thurs morning Oct. 18th while here in Cadiz.

Double post

We get on board on Oct 14, 2018 for a 26 day cruise from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale. There are 2 separate segments on this cruise with the first one stopping in Lisbon. I will try to post a quick short thread and describe the general condition of the ship. I am not too worried about the condition of the ship because I don't feel HAL will let it deteriorate and lessen the passengers cruise experience. HAL still has a reputation to up hold.

We too would love to hear more about the new items on the ship along with the new EXC excursions. We had the chance to talk to some HAL employees who were on board in April-May this year looking over the ship in anticipation of all the changes that were to occur. Also would like to hear your views on the culinary classes, entertainment and any photography classes HAL planned on adding. We will be on the Maasdam in March 2019 for 41 days. Thanks for this information.

Rick & joyce

We used the Navigator function our our cell phones on our Panama cruise in April on the Maasdam. It was easy to set up and we really like it for account information, MDR menus and the Chat function. I agree, the Chat function, without some type of audible or vibration functions, limits its effectiveness. We cut and pasted the evening menus into a word doc instead of photographing each menu nightly. Loved the ability to look at our onboard account instead of going down to the front desk/kiosk and printing the account on paper. Did not use the excursion booking function but will try it on our Oct. cruise on the Prinsendam. I think that will be great since the Excursion desk is not open very often.

I did also notice incorrect info on the Navigator, so its wise to double check boarding times. The IT people on board need to double check their daily input of info into the Navigator. We still used the hard copy of the daily When & Where instead of the one on the Navigator.

We were in Whistler in Aug. and did walk out on the Suspension Bridge which had just opened in July. Thought maybe you'd like a photo of the bridge to see what you missed. It was pretty cool and did sway a little when a bunch of people were on it. :eek:

Dave, again another great and informative review of your cruise. We always enjoy your reviews and the information they provide, thanks. Hope life in the Northwest is going good for you and Cathy?

Rick & Joyce

We shopped 4 major carriers to find a carrier that could provide us with text, data & voice that we could use while cruising at a reasonable price. We've been paying about $50/mth. for two lines. We were pulled kicking and screaming from flip phones to smart phones that could do things we could not do on our flip phones.

After 30 years with Verizon before it was even called Verizon, we changed over to T-Mobile. They offered a plan for two lines for a total of $70/mth for users that where over 55 year's old. This price required auto payment from a credit card. We got unlimited text, data and voice in Canada, USA and Mexico. Unlimited text, data and $.20/minute voice in about 210+ other countries. Also free data roaming in all countries.

It worked well on our last cruise in April this year. However, when we got home and got the bill there were four separate $5.95 charges on the bill. Turned out that they where voice mail message calls while on ship....yikes. I told the T-mobile rep that I know not to make any calls while out to sea due to the high costs of connection on the ships systems. He was kind enough to waive the fees.

So now when away from the shore we put the phones in "Air Plane" mode and turn off Mobile Data. That allows us to use the ships on board intra-net system to look at our cabin bill, the MDR menu, the NY Times and the HAL website.

We provided our family with all the HAL emergency phone numbers if they needed to contact us. Sadly our family had to use those numbers in 2015 when my wife's mother passed away unexpectedly back home in Oregon. The front desk allowed us unlimited calls back home while at sea, checked on us each day and also delivered a condolences flower basket to our cabin. They were great in helping us with calls home to our kids and relatives. Now, if we need to call for emergency or non-emergency calls we wait until we get to a port to use our phones.

In San Diego on our April 22nd cruise from San Diego to Boston thru the canal this year, we had what I consider a messy chaotic embarkation. The Maasdam was in port with a Disney ship where the baggage drop off was in the same location. Quite a mass of passengers from both ships dropping off luggage where there were no signs designating Maasdam and the Disney ship luggage drop off. We had our bags tagged properly so we were directed by a dock staff member, who saw our tags, where to go to drop our luggage.

However, one of our CC Meet & Greet members brought their luggage to the drop off point, with the mass of people, without tags and even after telling a dock worker trying to tag their luggage with Disney tags that they were on Holland America's Maasdam their luggage did not show up on the Maasdam. Their luggage was finally located (back at San Diego) after we got to Ft. Lauderdale, (15 days later) too late to have it forwarded to the ship. They decided to have their luggage shipped home. Remarkably they handled this "crisis" calmly with smiles and an attitude that this would not spoil their cruise. Fellow passengers helped with some clothes and other items. After 2 sea days when we got into Puerto Vallarta they where able to purchase other clothes and needed items there.

So, if in San Diego and there is a 2nd ship embarking make very very sure that your luggage has HAL tags on it. If you do not have tags stay with your luggage until they are tagged with HAL tags by the dock workers, make sure you personally see them placed on your luggage.

Trying to predict Alaskan weather is like picking lotto numbers. It also can change mid day and be different one day to the next. We have done 3 Alaskan cruises with the first one where we never saw the sun. The following cruises had both nice hot weather and cool raining weather during the 14 day cruise. Some people say that cloudy weather gives better color to the glaciers and ice. We have been to Glacier Bay once and the Hubbard glacier twice. We like Hubbard much better since it is over 3 miles wide and it had a lot calving events. Here are a few shots of Hubbard.

2011

2011

2014

2014

Thanks Jacqui for your thread. The photos of the Prinsendam and your discussion about the ship, staff and facilities helps us for our Oct. 14, 2018 cruise from Rome to Ft. Lauderdale. This will be our first cruise on her. Glad you and Jose had a great cruise and enjoyed Amsterdam after the cruise. After we left the Rotterdam last year, with you, we did Amsterdam for 4 days. Joyce got to do the Anne Frank house in 1972 and was allowed to take pictures back then.

Based on your recommendation and this thread we are looking forward to our cruise on the Prinsendam, thanks.

Rick & Joyce

We were also on the same cruise as joekerstef from 4-22-18 thru 5-19-18. We did an additional 7 days from Boston up the New England and Canadian coast and back to Boston. We enjoyed the Maasdam and had 2 great cruise on her. We experienced no mechanical problems in our cabin. We had a great Meet & Greet and heard no problems from other cruisers. We also did not smell any obnoxious odors while walking the hall ways. Did hear some passengers at the Captains talk complain about cold and hot rooms. The captain said he would have the engineers address the issue. We did not here any more comments about this issue on the cruise. The staff was excellent, friendly and accommodating. We really could not find much to complaint about and really enjoyed the cruises. The Maasdam is one of the oldest ships in the HAL fleet but still has a good feel and presence. We would not hesitate to cruise on her again.

Now, the ship goes into dry dock the end of Aug. 2018 and there will be some changes on the Maasdam as it changes to a EXC ship. Destination, exploration cruising, oriented with emphasis on where the cruise is going to. From what we heard there will be no more "Singers & Dancers" but will have entertainment from local venues. More emphasis on local photography instuction, local people coming onboard teaching local cuisine. America's Test Kitchen for this ship might not be there. We were informed that the Library would be left on the ship, they listened to the many comments about some ships loosing the libraries. We also heard there would be zodiacs placed on the bow to do excursions to local destinations with emphasis towards hands on local experiences. We met four HAL employees who were on ship evaluating the ship for implementation of the EXC programs. We felt more comfortable about this EXC transition after talking to them. This is still a program that is in transition. We did learn from them that they monitor Cruise Critic for ideas and opinions from posters, they do listen to the threads that we post, i.e. "Cruise Logs". We did get Cruise Logs for both the cruises we were on.

We will back on the Maasdam in March 2019 from Brisbane to San Francisco for 41 days. Looking forward to what new things are coming on the Maasdam.

We sailed on the Maasdam in June, 2017. The weather was great -- no rain. I love the S class ships and the Maasdam is closest to the original configuration unlike the Veendam which, in my opinion as been mutilated with the changes to the pool and the additional cabins.

 

 

I have been reading recent (Feb., 2018) reviews in which many people complained about toilets, vents,cc leakage etc.. Usually I take poor reviews with a grain of salt. I will not cancel our August cruise, but I would like some unbiased input into what to expect.

We just got off the Maasdam on 5-19-18 after 27 days on board from San Diego thru the Canal to Boston. We stayed on board in Boston for another 7 days up the coast of New England and Canada and back to Boston. We had a great cruise. We had an Ocean View cabin on the 6th deck starboard side toward the stern. We had no issues with our cabin. At the Captions Q&A there were a number of cruisers who complained of their cabins being too cold or too hot. To our knowledge these issues were addressed. We experienced outside temps in the low 90's with very high high humidity going thru the Canal & Cartagena Columbia to low temps coming into Boston and the 7 days up the coast. We never heard any complaints about plumbing issues while on the cruise nor smelled any odors while walking around the inside hallways. The Maasdam is not a new ship but she is in very good condition for her age.

The Maasdam staff were the best with smiles and good service provided during the whole cruise. The Maasdam is scheduled for dry-dock the end of August 2018 where there will be changes to the ship with it being set up as an EXC excursion ship. We were told that based on the complaints about the libraries being eliminated from other HAL ships that they do not plan on removing the library from the Maasdam in Aug. during the dry-dock. We will be back on the Maasdam in March 2019 after the dry-dock so will be interested in the changes that will occur.

Just confirmed from Captian, 5:15pm departure. Also the ship had an FDA (?) inspection with a score of 99%!!!! Cheers rose up as the captain announced the score.

Ready to sail from Ft. Lauderdale less about 460 passengers who got off today. No new cruisers due to the Jones Act. Not sure about the later departure time??? Nice time thru the Canal even though it was hot and muggy.

We were on the Rotterdam last year with Kings Day and the party. It was fun. We were not notified prior to our cruise but luckily being an Oregon State Beaver I did have an orange hat that went well. The staff did have orange hats, sun glasses and wigs that were handed out.

Kings Day, Hotel Mgr. & the Captain.

June 29, 2014, lots ice trying to get as close as the captain could on the Amsterdam.

On our Trans-Atlantic Rotterdam cruise last year I happened to walk into the Front Desk area late in the evening and observed a middle aged passenger verbally screaming and cussing the ladies at the front over some unknown issue. I hovered off to the side to see if they needed any help. I also saw a male officer watching the situation. After a few minutes of screaming and cussing the passenger finally headed for his cabin. I walked by and told the ladies they handled the situation professionally and calmly. I then headed toward my cabin in the same direction as the disgruntled passenger, DARN he had a cabin right near ours! The passengers right next to his cabin stated to us that they suffered from screaming and yelling in all hours of the day and night from his cabin. Thank heavens we did not hear any of his nightly tirades. Later I observed him one morning drinking a beer at 7:30am leaning over a Promenade deck railing. Luckily they got off after the first segment of the 30 day cruise.

I've been following (lurking) on the Roll Call, all of the blogs and now the webcam at the Panama Canal as the Amsterdam passed thru. I came close in not getting any decent shots as a rain squall rolled thru the camera frame just before the ship came into the lock.

Rick

That was one of the best if not the best review of a HAL ship that I have ever read!!! Excellent photos and narrative!. You covered everything about the ship, ports and shows. You must have worked hard to get photos without a lot of people in them. I have never been on the Nieuw Amsterdam but this review has me going to the HAL cruises to look for one on the Nieuw Amsterdam. :D Thanks, I have bookmarked your website to read additional reviews that you have done.