Rotterdam refurbishment

We just got back from our excursion to Stingray City and snorkeling the Barrier Reef and on our bed was a letter from HAL. They said they are apologizing for the inconveniences we had on our cruise and they are giving us our choice of $450 OBC this cruise of a future cruise credit of $900!!!!!! Since we cruise HAL often, we chose the future cruise credit.

Is this great or what? The only inconvenience we had was a stopped up toilet a couple of days and cold showers a couple of other days. I believe others had much worse things happen tha us but as far as I am concerned, I wish this would happen every cruise!

Nice Bill. I really like that they offered the options too. That way, if someone was undecided about cruising again at least they get a benefit on board.

I'd take the future cruise credit as well :)

Glad you are happy with the offer.

We just got back from our excursion to Stingray City and snorkeling the Barrier Reef and on our bed was a letter from HAL. They said they are apologizing for the inconveniences we had on our cruise and they are giving us our choice of $450 OBC this cruise of a future cruise credit of $900!!!!!! Since we cruise HAL often, we chose the future cruise credit.

 

Is this great or what? The only inconvenience we had was a stopped up toilet a couple of days and cold showers a couple of other days. I believe others had much worse things happen tha us but as far as I am concerned, I wish this would happen every cruise!

That is great!! So glad they came through.

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You would think that HAL would just bite the bullet-bring their ships up to snuff and institute more rigorous dry dock and scheduled preventative maintenance programs. Ship maintenance one of the last places they should be cutting back to enhance the bottom line.

That way they would have fewer unhappy customers and have to give out fewer shut up and go away consolation prizes. This cannot be good for business when people read about these issues on a fairly regular basis on this forum. Not to mention what some TA's are advising their clients.

We just got back from our excursion to Stingray City and snorkeling the Barrier Reef and on our bed was a letter from HAL. They said they are apologizing for the inconveniences we had on our cruise and they are giving us our choice of $450 OBC this cruise of a future cruise credit of $900!!!!!! Since we cruise HAL often, we chose the future cruise credit.

Is this great or what? The only inconvenience we had was a stopped up toilet a couple of days and cold showers a couple of other days. I believe others had much worse things happen tha us but as far as I am concerned, I wish this would happen every cruise!

Awesome, Bill! I'm happy to hear this! :)

You would think that HAL would just bite the bullet-bring their ships up to snuff and institute more rigorous dry dock and scheduled preventative maintenance programs. Ship maintenance one of the last places they should be cutting back to enhance the bottom line.

 

That way they would have fewer unhappy customers and have to give out fewer shut up and go away consolation prizes. This cannot be good for business when people read about these issues on a fairly regular basis on this forum. Not to mention what some TA's are advising their clients.

I do agree with your post. It's difficult for me to understand the thinking on a variety of topics that sometimes seems to exist in Seattle.

Luckily Celebrity does not do what Chandris did .... they had quite a bad reputation in the shipping business . Maybe you remember the story about the Australis /SS America / Italis in 1978

I was not, fascinating story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_America_(1939) which started long before my time cruising but obviously continued well into more recent times. 1939 until 2007 including so many names and so many changes in purpose. I am well familiar with long lives ships live and laugh when so one notes a ship is old ( like Rotterdam we will sail in December ) not realizing that ships live and are in service long after that. This one a decade or so before I was born until 10 years ago. Couple things surprised me, first that she was once the USS West Point, this as I live in area of West Point. But more than anything that at one point the cabin numbers were almost doubled by addition. Adding cabins etc not uncommon but the sheer number back then certainly had to make the infrastructure nearly untenable.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, a great Sunday morning read for me. Anyone that wants to see how ships live on should read the history of this one.

Thanks

George in NY

Just got off the Rotterdam. Expedited debarkation.We were off the ship, through customs and at our car at 8:05am.

First the good.

Food and service were great in all the dining venues. Service was outstanding in Mix Martini bar, Henry and Russel were great.

This was the most disappointing cruise we have had in 48 cruises. Our cabin 6184 a Vista Suite was soaking wet, the glue they used to lay the carpet came through the carpet. Our shoe bottoms had about 1/2 inch of new carpet fuzzies glued to them, if you walked barefoot they were stuck on your feet. Customer service gave us 1852 just to sleep in. No hot water and a toilet that worked some of the time in 1852, all our clothes were in 6184 so Sunday morning we returned to 6184 they placed large towels on the floor that became soaked and started sticking to our shoes. We had a large fan in our cabin 5 days and nights. We turned it off while we were sleeping. By the second week the carpet was mostly dry but still sticky. They sprayed a solution to make it less sticky. They sprayed a second time yesterday so who ever gets 6184 today should have no problems. As bad as this was it was not the worst thing for us.

The worst for us was the complete lack of things to do. No music at all on lido deck, no island bands, no sail away parties, no parties at all on lido. The last time we sailed on Maasdam in June 2016 we had two salmon bakes on deck, they had interesting speakers, served bean soup and chilli on deck several times. We had only port and shopping lectures.

There was no dance music at all until the 5th evening and then it was the jazz trio had added a singer. There was a five piece band on board but they only played in the show room. The crows nest was utilized on the last sea day for a 1 hour line dance lesson, the only lesson the entire 15 days, it was mobbed, with many comments that the staff finally organized something on the last day. They actually had chairs and tables on the stage area.

Americas kitchen was nice on sea days but they would often schedule it at 1pm so if you wanted to go you would miss lunch in the pinnacle grill or dining room since it was so busy you needed to get to the theater at least 15 minutes early to get a seat.

They cannot seem to solve the problem of leaks in the lido market area, I think the leaks were a/c condensation. Most days there were two or three buckets but often seven or eight. Also one side of market was hot and the other side cool.

We like HAL but are definitely reconsidering our future cruises do to the lack of activities. We probably will be on Oceana or Viking for our next cruise.

HAL did step up and gave us a unrestricted $1200.00 OBC for the problems with our cabin.

Just got off the Rotterdam. Expedited debarkation.We were off the ship, through customs and at our car at 8:05am.

 

First the good.

 

Food and service were great in all the dining venues. Service was outstanding in Mix Martini bar, Henry and Russel were great.

 

This was the most disappointing cruise we have had in 48 cruises. Our cabin 6184 a Vista Suite was soaking wet, the glue they used to lay the carpet came through the carpet. Our shoe bottoms had about 1/2 inch of new carpet fuzzies glued to them, if you walked barefoot they were stuck on your feet. Customer service gave us 1852 just to sleep in. No hot water and a toilet that worked some of the time in 1852, all our clothes were in 6184 so Sunday morning we returned to 6184 they placed large towels on the floor that became soaked and started sticking to our shoes. We had a large fan in our cabin 5 days and nights. We turned it off while we were sleeping. By the second week the carpet was mostly dry but still sticky. They sprayed a solution to make it less sticky. They sprayed a second time yesterday so who ever gets 6184 today should have no problems. As bad as this was it was not the worst thing for us.

 

The worst for us was the complete lack of things to do. No music at all on lido deck, no island bands, no sail away parties, no parties at all on lido. The last time we sailed on Maasdam in June 2016 we had two salmon bakes on deck, they had interesting speakers, served bean soup and chilli on deck several times. We had only port and shopping lectures.

 

There was no dance music at all until the 5th evening and then it was the jazz trio had added a singer. There was a five piece band on board but they only played in the show room. The crows nest was utilized on the last sea day for a 1 hour line dance lesson, the only lesson the entire 15 days, it was mobbed, with many comments that the staff finally organized something on the last day. They actually had chairs and tables on the stage area.

 

Americas kitchen was nice on sea days but they would often schedule it at 1pm so if you wanted to go you would miss lunch in the pinnacle grill or dining room since it was so busy you needed to get to the theater at least 15 minutes early to get a seat.

 

 

They cannot seem to solve the problem of leaks in the lido market area, I think the leaks were a/c condensation. Most days there were two or three buckets but often seven or eight. Also one side of market was hot and the other side cool.

 

We like HAL but are definitely reconsidering our future cruises do to the lack of activities. We probably will be on Oceana or Viking for our next cruise.

 

HAL did step up and gave us a unrestricted $1200.00 OBC for the problems with our cabin.

You did well with your OBC. We requested something for the 3 days we had almost unlimited drilling noise in 6198, nothing than the standard end of cruise letter offering 10% FCC equal to 10% of the base fare paid for this 15 day cruise. We were however provided with a sleeping room under the bridge and over the Main Stage. The noise turned out to come from some bathtub valve that was finally repaired in 20 minutes on the last day!

We also had the glue soaked carpeting for several days and no working phone for 2 days, many treks taken to Guest Services by unhappy "guests."

Someone asked about BB King - no such thing on the Rotterdam. However the café and library appear to be unchanged, just some lighter colored chairs, looked nice. The Pinnacle looked the same as last year.

So now I'll have to write a letter to Seattle, can someone suggest a good email address?

Once thing for certain....looks like they definitely have a hot and a cold buffet on the Rotterdam. You just have to pick your side....and watch out for the buckets.

Not much else to say other than the old saying 'buyer beware'.

You did well with your OBC. We requested something for the 3 days we had almost unlimited drilling noise in 6198, nothing than the standard end of cruise letter offering 10% FCC equal to 10% of the base fare paid for this 15 day cruise. We were however provided with a sleeping room under the bridge and over the Main Stage. The noise turned out to come from some bathtub valve that was finally repaired in 20 minutes on the last day!

We also had the glue soaked carpeting for several days and no working phone for 2 days, many treks taken to Guest Services by unhappy "guests."

Someone asked about BB King - no such thing on the Rotterdam. However the café and library appear to be unchanged, just some lighter colored chairs, looked nice. The Pinnacle looked the same as last year.

So now I'll have to write a letter to Seattle, can someone suggest a good email address?

I saw a post on another site where they also received the 10% off Future Cruise. The OP (Cruiser Bill) posted he had a choice of OBC for Rotterdam or $900 off future cruise and then the other poster is receiving $1200.

Wonder why the inconsistency in what HAL is compensating? Any idea? Thanks!

When we first reported on Rotterdam's abysmal condition (in a post after our August VOV cruise) the usual cheerleaders countered with the usual HAL refrain, "it will be fixed in drydock," or "the ship is just old." But the reality is that HAL simply refuses to invest in necessary repairs. There is no excuse for continuing leaks in the Lido, mold/mildew in the aft of the MDR (this problem existed in 2011 still exists in 2017), problems on the aft deck (near the bird baths), etc.

So hear is my solution. If HAL wants to operate budget ships with lots of defects...simply spin off a budget division and charge budget prices. And perhaps they need a marketing campaign with a slogan similar to "we may have leaky ships with no hot water, but the price is right." But seriously, my message to HAL is get a few repair folks in the Lido with ladders...and fix the ceiling leaks! And hire a few extra plumbers for your older ships to handle the many plumbing issues.

We are not surprised to hear that BB King is gone from the Rotterdam (although we did not think it would happen so soon). During the VOV cruise we were told that HAL will essentially split their ships into two divisions. About half the fleet (the newer larger vessels) will continue to have BB King groups and the other half (the older smaller vessels) will lose the BB King groups and have a ship band (something similar to the HAL Cats). So, to put it in passenger speak, they are again cutting back on the entertainment for their smaller ships (including the Rotterdam). We were also told that the new EXP cruises (primarily on the Maasdam) will not even have any production shows....but will be replaces with some lectures and occasional local entertainment

Hank

Old is not an excuse for poorly maintained or for poor maintenance. I believe that it is a sign of poor management. The inability to make decisions and to move forward. You can see it in so many other aspects.

It is why, when it comes to older HAL ships, we have shopped with our wallets and with our feet for quite some time. It is one of the advantages of being a careful consumer who is not emotionally tied to any one brand. Why take a chance with our money and with our time when there are so many other great options out there in the marketplace. We expect what the vendor promises and we never make excuses for a vendor who fails to deliver on those promises.

[emoji50] wow is all I can say. Our final payment is due on 11/28 and I’ve been on the fence. It’s a great itinerary, but even that can’t make up for a once beautiful ship that seems to have become a “rust bucket”.

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I will probably be branded as a HAL cheerleader , so be it .

I have been on the Rotterdam 5 times , once I read a review of people who had been on the same cruise . According to them it was a horror cruise on a -near- sinking ship . Food , staff, entertainment , everything was bad . We enjoyed everything . Maybe low standards or HAL blind ?

Last april we took the Volendam , I read a couple reviews branding her as old and tired , 70’s motel decor etc. , again we enjoyed it and it was one of best HAL ships we ‘ve been on .

Certainly people will have experienced problems on the last cruise , problems that should have been avoided by a longer drydock . But all companies shorten their drydocks and finish repairs and maintenance on the first cruise after drydock . I read the same about Crystal and RCL . Seems to be a cruise industry thing ...

So to brand HAL as a company that runs rust buckets etc. goes way too far .

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Oh , we got 3 HAL cruises planned , 2 on the Rotterdam 1 on the Zuiderdam . Not even considering cancelling ...

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Wow! My first HAL cruise is coming up in 48 days. I will get on with an open mind I guess. As long as the food is hot and the drinks are strong, I'll be happy.

[emoji106]

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I like the idea of a forward arrow next to the elevators. If there are new carpets in the hallways - housekeeping will be vacuuming up nap for the near future. After 16 days on Prinsendam, they were still collecting it every day.

If only that had been the case. I am just off the Rotterdam and there was very little effort made in vacuuming up fluff/nap from new carpets. Frankly the crew were running around trying to sort out 100's of issues not completed by the Dry Dock contractors.

Problems on the Rotterdam are not new, I remember a long thread a couple years ago about the “rotting Rotterdam”.

Deeply loyal Holland America cruisers feign surprise when person after person reports problems that impact health, sanitation and safety. In the US the local health departments would shut establishments down if conditions were this bad. Person after person has described buckets on the Rotterdam collecting water leaking from ceilings in an area where food is prepared and served. If these are the conditions in public areas what in the world is going on behind the scenes. Would any of you tolerate these conditions in a land based hotel, restaurant or public facility?

Holland America has some-most of these moldy older ships for sale. Bottom line- they have no intention of repairing these ships because the cost will be well into the tens of millions. Talking about upcoming dry dock is smoke and mirror and the only excuse they can make. Post dry dock they will blame the continued problems on the contractors. In the meantime they will continue to put apply lipstick.

I hope newbies take the time to read these threads. There is a young family on page 1 inquiring about the Rotterdam. Not sure if anyone will tell them the truth. But there is no way in the world I would take my family on these ships. I’m repulsed to think of what my very young grandchildren would be exposed to. I know my adult children would bail ASAP.

As my mother used to say- To each his own.

Well I am looking forward to the Rotterdam. I feel for the crew that is working extremely hard to smooth things out not to mention their living conditions are impacted as well. If I have to deal with left over refurbishment issues so be it. I would only put my foot down if there were safety issues...which the Coast a Guard would flag. My big concern....rude obnoxious passengers. Those that push, shove, yell and think they take priority over everyone else. I have seen ever increasing numbers of passengers that book a cruise because it's cheap and then conduct themselves like its a trip to Walmart. Inappropriate clothing, shoving into elevators, cutting in line at buffets, talking down to crew as if they are servants and let's not forget reserving seats in the showroom and yelling at others that sit down on those seats. I find this crude behavior now on new ships....so an old ship is not unique in having its fare share of detractors. So I will board with the goal to have a good time. As for carpet fluff.....id rather have that than old warn out stained carpet.....but that's just me. On ships I've seen it all, experienced the best as well as theworst and still continue cruising....it's a luxury some people can't even dream of.

Totally agree !

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I saw a post on another site where they also received the 10% off Future Cruise. The OP (Cruiser Bill) posted he had a choice of OBC for Rotterdam or $900 off future cruise and then the other poster is receiving $1200.

 

Wonder why the inconsistency in what HAL is compensating? Any idea? Thanks!

The day after I received the offer I told you about, we received a letter that ALL guests would get 10 percent as a future cruise credit. This was probably in response to complaints that not all guests were getting the same offer. So, guess I will be getting less than originally reported. It is still fine with us.

This new cruise I much different than the last one! The ship is completely full and there are lots of kids running around. Totally different vibe.

We are in Cozumel today parked next to the Oasis and Independence OTS. Looks like a madhouse in town. Last cruise we were the only ship in most ports!

Old is not an excuse for poorly maintained or for poor maintenance. I believe that it is a sign of poor management. The inability to make decisions and to move forward. You can see it in so many other aspects.

 

It is why, when it comes to older HAL ships, we have shopped with our wallets and with our feet for quite some time. It is one of the advantages of being a careful consumer who is not emotionally tied to any one brand. Why take a chance with our money and with our time when there are so many other great options out there in the marketplace. We expect what the vendor promises and we never make excuses for a vendor who fails to deliver on those promises.

Very well said!!

I am surprised that HAL does not sell cabins on ship while ship is in dry dock. They could advertise it as a cruise to nowhere. Plus, you might even get assigned two cabins tor the price of one. One for sleeping. The other to store your clothes and use the plumbing facilities.

HAL would not have to provide credits to their customers. They could sell tours of the work area to show folks how it is done. Hardhats provided.

When an experienced cruiser reports that it was their worst cruise experience in 48 cruises it tells me something. It tells us to pass on the ship and keep shopping for either a newer ship or a better maintained ship. Lots of choice out there if one is not willing to limit one's choice to a single cruise line with an aging fleet.

The day after I received the offer I told you about, we received a letter that ALL guests would get 10 percent as a future cruise credit. This was probably in response to complaints that not all guests were getting the same offer. So, guess I will be getting less than originally reported. It is still fine with us.

 

This new cruise I much different than the last one! The ship is completely full and there are lots of kids running around. Totally different vibe.

 

We are in Cozumel today parked next to the Oasis and Independence OTS. Looks like a madhouse in town. Last cruise we were the only ship in most ports!

Hi Bill, do the issues that you witnessed and others experienced last week appear to be getting resolved? Or is there little change evident in the level of issues or complaints? For example, are the leaks in Lido still as bad as last week? Or have they been addressed? Thanks.