Cruising Kangaroo

2 hours ago, lasvegaswinner1 said:

Have you read and reread the new CDC requirements for Cruise companies, like a full medical facility on board, plus many other safety regulations.  You will never see prices like the ones you booked ever again.  Those FCC credits will be not worth a lot for you when booking a new cruise

15 hours ago, waltocruiser said:

This seems to be a common problem with HAL.  We have had hot cabins on the Ryandam, Westerdam, Rotterdam, Volendam and Zaandam.  We have been informed it has to do with two major issues......Sure wish HAL would fix their a/c issues on all there ships, we would then return to being mostly HAL guests.

Thank you for highlighting your similar problems. We have also cruised on several of the S and R class ships and have experienced significant problems on most of them, including air con not working, toilet breakdowns (extensive), power failures and hot/cold water issues. As you have pointed out, HAL seems reluctant to spend anything on maintenance and we saw neglected items everywhere. In one case, the veranda door was loose and rattling, caused by there being NO door seal. I requested a repair, to be informed that they carried no spare seals or anything that could seal the door.(This was not the Maasdam cabin with the non-functioning AC).

We are HAL five star mariners with well over 200 cruising days, and have also enjoyed many of those cruises, mostly on the larger ships. I despair that HAL does not seem to take any of the complaints seriously, but what is worse, the crew and technical staff tell you that the problem has been fixed when it has not been, and they know it full well. That is dishonest and we have experienced just that on several occasions. It appear to be a stalling tactic to get you to give up. I know this because on more than one occasion, they have eventually admitted that the problem was unfixable because it was (and remains) inherent in either the design or construction of the ship. Unfortunately, we will no longer cruise on the S or R class ships because it is clear that HAS simply doesn't care and no other cruise line would be silly enough to buy one with the associated problems. One can only hope for better things.

10 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Not quite sure we know what you mean.  We often book guarantees on HAL and would have no clue as to whether we would get a cabin with decent A/C or a cabin with no decent A/C.  On the Maasdam we had booked a forward outside cabin (no veranda) and I assume if we had asked the Future Cruise person (when booking) "do you know if the A/C functions in that particular cabin?"  we would have been assured that everything is fine.  

 

Perhaps it would be helpful if HAL published a master list of cabins (throughout the fleet) that have sub-standard A/C.  Then folks who prefer to be cool at night could make informed decisions on which cabins to book.

 

Hank

 

 

I believe that the real issue is that HAL have known very well about the air conditioning problems since 2004 (see the posts) and have done nothing to rectify them. It is quite irresponsible to continue to book problem cabins when HAL knows that the air conditioning is defective, particularly in hot/tropical areas. Some of the cabin numbers with problems are just beginning to surface, but only HAL knows from complaints just how many there are, and they are sure not going to tell anyone.

We have experienced hot cabins on other HAL ships and have been told initially that the temperature was normal (whatever that means), but was eventually rectified after perseverance. The standard procedure is for the technician to point an infra-red thermometer at the air inlet register and say that the incoming air temperature is 19-20 C, so the cabin temperature is normal. However, unless the air flow is sufficient, then the cabin temperature can be excessive, which is exactly the problem with the Maasdam. That is why we now travel with an accurate digital thermometer to avoid disputes. On the Maasdam, our cabin temperatures were between 26 deg.C (78.8 F) and 28 C (82.4 F). Both of those numbers exceed HAL's supposed acceptable maximum of 77 F. 

As a matter of interest, the practice of wedging verandah doors open for "fresh air" or to cool a cabin in cooler weather actually destroys the air conditioning in adjacent cabins and all cabins served by the same air handling unit (could be 20, 30,40 cabins) because the open door uses up the available air flow and the system pumps it outside, starving the other cabins of air flow. I think that this is a rather selfish thing to do.

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Both the Maasdam and Veendam A/C systems do stress out when cruising in equatorial zones - typically that discomfort lasts only a few days, but in your case you were cruising in this Indian Ocean area for some time.

 

 I suspect they will take this part of the globe off any future Maasdam itineraries. Sorry you has such an unhappy beta experience with this new explorer travel program into the tropics where the weather closely matched the itinerary.

 

The Indian Ocean is such an interesting area to explore - but one can almost guarantee hot and humid outside air 24/7, particularly this time of the year. Your unfortunate experience brings new meaning to the term InDepth immersion experience on the Maasdam. 

I would have thought that the correct business decision for HAL (and its passengers) would have been to sell both the Veendam and the Maasdam and retain the Prinsendam for conversion to an expedition ship. Regards.

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Sorry about the agony you had to endure, but also glad they were finally able to upgrade you to a balcony. We'll be on the Maasdam for 40 days in cabin 220 starting in October and were wondering how your cruise was overall? Were the in-depth EXC lectures interesting and were there a variety of things to do on sea days?

Thanks for your interest. The cruise was interesting but the smaller ports were very small and not interesting in themselves. You needed to get out of town on an excursion to make the best of the stop. Advance research is needed to plan the excursions.The larger ports such as Malacca, Penang and Colombo were enjoyable and could be discovered by yourself or with a local driver. Male is very crowded and going to a nearby island resort was preferable to us. Snorkling was great.

The in-depth EXC talks and presentations were very good and were scheduled for most sea days. They covered cultural issues and histories,  a little on religious development and traditions, natural history and ecology plus what to do and see in ports including architectural histories and significant buildings. All very well presented and interesting. The only downside was that a few talks were timed at 7.15 pm when most people were at dinner.  It would also have been better if the talks had been video recorded and broadcast through the ships TV system for later viewing if you missed one. This has been the practice on our previous cruises.  I hope it's not a HAL cutback. 

On the other hand, as a plus, Adagio was back to 4 players and a live music quartet had returned to the Ocean Bar. There was also a really good band in the crow's nest if you were part of the 60's, 70's, 80's music scene.  Hope you enjoy your cruise.

Having just returned from an EXC  In Depth cruise on the Maasdam from Singapore through the Indian Ocean, I would urge caution for anyone considering travelling on this ship in hot or tropical areas.

Our booked cabin 788 on A deck lacked adequate air conditioning from day 1. We complained on days 2 and 3 and were ignored. The next day, we requested more firmly that the problem be addressed and adjustments made. Front desk staff visited the cabin and agreed that it was too hot due to inadequate air flow. A technician then removed a ceiling panel and appeared to make some adjustments. That caused the problem to worsen and the temperature to rise further, leading to very unpleasant nights trying to sleep in hot conditions with limited air flow. The cabin temperatures ranged from around 26 to 28 degrees C, even with curtains drawn to limit heat transfer through the window. We advised the front desk what had happened and were told at that time, that the Facilities Manager had stated that nothing further could  be done.  We requested a cabin change and were told that the ship was fully booked and no other cabins were available apart from one that "had a leak and was blocked out for this trip", and that this problem couldn't be fixed. After further complaint and an email to HAL head office, the next day the unfixable cabin was magically fixed and offered to us. This cabin 202, was a verandah cabin on deck 9. The cabin showed minor evidence of previous water damage to some woodwork but had functioning air conditioning, and was fully operational in every way. We did not request or seek an upgrade, and had this cabin been offered earlier, we would have been prepared to pay for an upgrade. Unfortunately, it took over 7 days to reach this point, possibly suggesting that stalling might make the complaints go away. 

During conversations with other passengers, we asked how comfortable their cabins were, and in several instances, the answer was that the cabins were unacceptably hot. Our cabin stewards also confirmed that a number of other cabins on A deck were very hot. That means of course, that many cabins were OK, temperature-wise, and if you had one of these cabins, you wouldn't know that any air conditioning problems existed in other cabins. Surprisingly, a number of other passengers told us that their cabins were so cold that they had to wear pullovers at all times in their cabins.

I have now read posts that show that these same air conditioning problems have existed since 2003/2004 and have never been rectified. My conclusion is that this ship has a fundamental problem with the air conditioning system that is unfixable or too expensive to fix, and that HAL continues to operate this ship in hot or tropical areas in the full knowledge that a significant number of cabins will be either unacceptably hot or much too cold. Surely 16 years of similar complaints should be taken more seriously and rectified. Or the ship should be sold.

I realise that I have few Cruise Critic posts so the first observation could be that I have little cruising experience, or am just a "newbie" to Cruise Critic.  However, I post only when I believe that something needs to be said, not just to lift my rating. As a matter of interest, I am a HAL 5 star mariner and have been for several years. I have cruised widely on 5 other lines as well. 

Attached is a photo of the cabin showing the TV (circled) on the angled end wall of the closet opposite the bathroom.

Cabins 6004, 6005, 7006 and 7007 arre identical. The photos I posted are definitely cabin 7007. As far as I know, they are the same on all of the smaller ships. The ocean view cabins on Marina and Riviera are quite different. They are identical to the balcony cabins in size (less the balcony) and layout, except that the full height glass doors are fixed (not openable because there is no balcony). Cheers.

Sorry I was not paying attention. The TV is on the angled wall at the end of the closet near the bed. Yes it not very convenient to watch from the sofa but it is possible. It is not adjustable to turn towards the sofa. The cabin layout is the same as for a standard C1 cabin but has the extra depth as described. Even with the extra movement because of the location at the bow, I would take this cabin again if it was available because of the extra space and the large window. Cheers.

Here are two photos of cabin 7007 on the Nautica. There are four of this type of cabin on the smaller Oceania ships, cabins 6004,6005,7006 and 7007. The deck 7 cabins are preferable because the deck 6 cabins are above the show room. These cabins are at the bow of the ship and are deeper than other C1 ocean view cabins because the outer wall is moved outward to the position of the outer edge of the balcony cabins on this deck. You can clearly see this on the deck plans. this provides extra space in these cabins in the sitting area, and allows space for an extra chair as well as the standard sofa. In addition, there is a wide window ledge/shelf under the porthole which provides extra storage for day to day items.The result is a more spacious cabin. The window is a large round porthole about 4 feet diameter. The cabin was very quiet except for bow thruster noise when docking but this is normal for any cabins in the front half of the ship. I hope this helps.