Maasdam - what happened?

We were on a bus trip yesterday and mentioned going on the Maasdam in May. One couple said they won't go on HAL again because of their disappointment with the condition of the Maasdam! We are on a 14 day cruise on her soon and sad to hear that. I know it is going into dry dock in Sept (just found that out) and have heard some stories about plumbing issues.....anyone been on her lately? We have sailed on the Veendam, Volendam and nieuw Amsterdam in the past. Deb

Hi

Here us our recent voyage on the Maasdam from NZ to San Diego

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We were on her last year. There was a fire in the engine room at 3 a.m. - first night of cruise. Quite alarming to hear those horns blasting at that time....all turned out well - but alas - never again...

We were on her last year. There was a fire in the engine room at 3 a.m. - first night of cruise. Quite alarming to hear those horns blasting at that time....all turned out well - but alas - never again...

Was all fine on the ship the rest of your c ruise?

We were on her last year. There was a fire in the engine room at 3 a.m. - first night of cruise. Quite alarming to hear those horns blasting at that time....all turned out well - but alas - never again...

If you were to catalogue all the ships which have EVER experienced alarms signaling "a fire in the engine room" situation - where "all turned out well" --- and accordingly applied a "never again" rule, I suspect you might find that your list of acceptable ships is substantially shortened.

We were on a bus trip yesterday and mentioned going on the Maasdam in May. One couple said they won't go on HAL again because of their disappointment with the condition of the Maasdam! We are on a 14 day cruise on her soon and sad to hear that. I know it is going into dry dock in Sept (just found that out) and have heard some stories about plumbing issues.....anyone been on her lately? We have sailed on the Veendam, Volendam and nieuw Amsterdam in the past. Deb

I would not be concerned about what one couple says about a ship. Different people have different expectations and perceptions.

I've seen some doozies on board that were never happy with anything no matter how good the cruise is. So, unless you know the couple really well I would take their comments with a grain of salt.

I would not be concerned about what one couple says about a ship. Different people have different expectations and perceptions.

 

I've seen some doozies on board that were never happy with anything no matter how good the cruise is. So, unless you know the couple really well I would take their comments with a grain of salt.

f I the toilet and shower in my cabin bathroom are working fine, I t hink there are no lpumbing iues on the ship.

If my toilet is not workiing properly for day s, I am thinking that t he ship has severe pluming problems. We have to hear from all those who had plumbing that was functioning properly.

We were on her last year. There was a fire in the engine room at 3 a.m. - first night of cruise. Quite alarming to hear those horns blasting at that time....all turned out well - but alas - never again...

Guessing you aren't flying Southwest or Delta, either.

We had a small fire in the Lido on Noordam a couple of years ago. Stuff happens.

We were on a bus trip yesterday and mentioned going on the Maasdam in May. One couple said they won't go on HAL again because of their disappointment with the condition of the Maasdam! We are on a 14 day cruise on her soon and sad to hear that. I know it is going into dry dock in Sept (just found that out) and have heard some stories about plumbing issues.....anyone been on her lately? We have sailed on the Veendam, Volendam and nieuw Amsterdam in the past. Deb

We were on her in March 2016. Toilets stopped working on and off for most of a week. Air was out for a couple of days.Friends in inside cabin lower deck had uncomfortable temps for the entire trip. The fan they supplied didn't help much. We did get OBC but we've decided to remove the Maasdam from our list of ships to go on unless the cruise ports are exceptional. Supposidly this is all fixed. But we'll let other go on her and find out for themselves. Just too many other ships and lines to go on.

We were on a bus trip yesterday and mentioned going on the Maasdam in May. One couple said they won't go on HAL again because of their disappointment with the condition of the Maasdam! We are on a 14 day cruise on her soon and sad to hear that. I know it is going into dry dock in Sept (just found that out) and have heard some stories about plumbing issues.....anyone been on her lately? We have sailed on the Veendam, Volendam and nieuw Amsterdam in the past. Deb

As others have said, one person's experience is not everyone's experience. Good or bad. Sounds like you will be on the ship no matter what so take a great attitude and enjoy your cruise. It also sounds like the problems have not affected ports, food, entertainment, and the fabulous service on board. And, if you have a problem with your cabin I hope it is remedied quickly. There have been good recommendations on how that might happen. I would be happy to be on a 14 day cruise in May on the Maasdam!! Have fun, Cherie

i would not be concerned about what one couple says about a ship. Different people have different expectations and perceptions.

 

I've seen some doozies on board that were never happy with anything no matter how good the cruise is. So, unless you know the couple really well i would take their comments with a grain of salt.

ka ching!!!!

I have cruised on most all the major cruise lines. The only line I did not experience an "emergency" is Princess. However in the interest of full disclosure, I have only sailed Princess once.

Was all fine on the ship the rest of your c ruise?

Yes...however there was a foul smell of plastic that lingered....

Hi

Here us our recent voyage on the Maasdam from NZ to San Diego

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Very nice video, great quality. What equipment did you use?

I sailed Maasdam July 2016 for a 14-day to Alaska. She was my favorite ship in any fleet. Cruise Critic peeps were complaining about all her supposed faults back then also. I found her to be perfect.

Very nice video, great quality. What equipment did you use?

So glad you enjoyed it. There are more on both my youtube sites 'bellair video' & bellairintl'

These were filmed using an Apple 6 plus in HD and the use of a DJI Gimbal that removes the need for a tripod. The video was edited on the long sea days and then post editing on apple Final Cut X in my studio back in Melbourne. I wish I could have taken the drone along for shore shots but HAL does not allow these onboard due to irresponsible flyers that have been flying them dangerously.

We will soon be on the Zuiderdam in May 20 for 24 days UK, Ireland & Baltic cruise so I should have a video highlight of this posted mid June.

Regards

Bellair

I sailed Maasdam July 2016 for a 14-day to Alaska. She was my favorite ship in any fleet. Cruise Critic peeps were complaining about all her supposed faults back then also. I found her to be perfect.

New to HAL and Cruise Critic back in 2009, there were deadly complaints about the Maasdam back then too. Still not sure what drives this consistent animus. Gave me pause too, what on earth had we had gotten ourselves into almost 10 years ago when we chose the Maasdam for our first HAL cruise, after Crystal. But obviously HAL worked out well enough that we are nearing our 500 day mark on all the HAL small ships, and ready to go back on the Maasdam for 34 more days. Veendam too - same string of complaints, yet we have multiple cruises on her too.

Hi

Here us our recent voyage on the Maasdam from NZ to San Diego

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thank you for sharing the video.

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We were on Maasdam in January 2018 for New Zealand/Australia. The ship seemed in great shape to me. Great cruise.

I was on the Maasdam in late February, the same day she came in from a trans-Pac/New Zealand. The ship looked fine, IMHO. I have friends onboard now, just finishing the So Pac trip r/t from San Diego. If something is amiss, they'll let me know.

We cruised the Maasdam last fall on a 55 day South Pacific/Australian circumnavigation. It was our first time on HAL, and were hesitant to sail on a ship of this vintage, but all the Princess Oz circumnavigations were sold out unless you wanted inside cabins. We left San Diego without any expectations after sailing the Panama on Crystal Serenity earlier last year. We were pleasantly surprised with the the quality of the food, service and entertainment onboard. The ship "appeared" to be in really good shape for her age. However, during the course of our nearly two months onboard there were numerous issues. Plumbing leaks on our promenade deck, as well as a few other places onboard, including a cabin that needed to be vacated due to a black water pipe breaking. The smell persisted for weeks afterwards. There were also some HVAC problems, including a $1000 per night PP suite that had no AC! We had ports in Cairns, Darwin, and Bali! Our Lanai cabin HVAC was finicky, but worked too well most of the time. Another Lanai cabin sailed with their door open and fans on to provide some cooling. We were eventually moved due to a lot of noise as early as 05:15 due to operational issues that the art sale crew was unwilling to reschedule for later in the AM. Despite all this, it was the great people we met onboard and the amazing places we saw that we remember the most. Would we sail the Maasdam again? Despite the amazing crew onboard, and their best efforts; probably not. Would we sail HAL again? Yes. We booked a Med on the Koningsdam to see what great food and service would be like on this lines' newer ship. After that we will decide if we will continue to sail HAL. 😎👩🏻

We spent two blissful weeks on Maasdam in June 2016 and there were no issues. I am boarding her tomorrow for 20 days and I'm not worried. I'll report back when I can. We like her well enough to have three more weeks booked on her next year though.

.......Our Lanai cabin HVAC was finicky, but worked too well most of the time. Another Lanai cabin sailed with their door open and fans on to provide some cooling. ........ 😎👩🏻

This will be a constantly repeated message, but still necessary to underscore for those who have not yet heard there is a critical inter-relationship on these ships that links all these essential services. These are not self-contained, independent systems.

As has often been explained here, when someone forces their balcony doors open, it throws off the HACV systems for all the other cabins on that same circuit. Same thing when anyone who puts things down the plumbing system that do not belong. It is not just their own cabin that is affected, but everyone on the the same system too. This can affect up to 50 other cabins according to an engineering report here.

Hopefully the newer ships are designed to override individual passenger misuse of these formerly common systems, but my guess is the older ships were more interdependent because in former times more people "followed the rules" and understood the mutual regard necessary towards their fellow passengers while onboard in this unique environment.

Additionally as you found on your cruise, the closer these older ships get to the equator the more stressed their A/C systems become. Same types of reports as they head towards the Panama Canal for those few days.

It could also be that engineering systems on older ships depreciate and loose their their efficiency over time.

So while open verandah doors may be an issue the larger issue is poor maintenance/elongated maintenance and failure/unwillingness by the cruise line to invest the capital and take the out of service time required to truly refresh these systems. So on some cruises, on some ships, some customers are cheated. They take a back seat to quarterly financial results and stock price.

This is why we do not bother with older ships. Why take a chance when there are so many other ships to choose from?

It could also be that engineering systems on older ships depreciate and loose their their efficiency over time.

 

So while open verandah doors may be an issue the larger issue is poor maintenance/elongated maintenance and failure/unwillingness by the cruise line to invest the capital and take the out of service time required to truly refresh these systems. So on some cruises, on some ships, some customers are cheated. They take a back seat to quarterly financial results and stock price.

 

This is why we do not bother with older ships. Why take a chance when there are so many other ships to choose from?

Well we are returning to a ship that had her HVAC, plumbing, water filtration updated (to name just a few things) and she is 30 years old this year. Happy to be back on her. :D

Was easy to lure some friends on this cruise since it is also their favourite ship :D. Each to their own ;)