The "Worsterdam"

[deer30084]

I doubt Carnival either! Below is a post by the OP on 9/6/09 regarding the Carnival Fascination. At least the restrooms were clean on the Westerdam!

Maybe cruising isn't for everyone.......

 

Originally Posted by deer30084

You are absolutely correct. The public restrooms, especially the one on the Lido deck was an absolute mess. Why? Because some drunken slob, probably the one who drank all the Budweiser, puked all over the urinal and toilet. Could it have been due to seasickness? Sure. They put a plastic trash bag over the urinal because it was no longer usable. Want a description of the toilet? I didn't think so. I saw a few people that were very drunk on that ship. Now I ask, why would anyone pay hundreds of dollars to go on a cruise just to get staggering drunk?

Can't take the truthful criticism? Attack the messenger, eh?

[mmr923]

I didn't say I don't appreciate valid criticisms - I actually do appreciate ANY information I can get about particular ships/lines which may be of use to me in the future.

 

What I was trying to say, which I guess you just didn't get, is that you were on a vacation, presumably with someone you love, and hopefully experiencing different interesting and wonderful ports of call. I was trying to get you to look at your cruises (on ANY line, not just HAL!) in a different light - by savoring the moments with your spouse, even if they are in the dining room waiting for your meal, and not by wanting to rush off, or worrying about your utensils, or the cleanliness of the public restroom or whatever... I was just trying to say "don't sweat the small stuff" on ANY line. I do like HAL, but I feel the same way about vacations I take on land or on any other cruiseline.

 

Oh well... I guess I'm just a "glass half full" kind of gal.

[iancal]

I am confused.

 

What on earth do issues on a Carnival brand ship have to do with service issues on a HAL brand ship-Westerdam.

 

Poor service can occur on any cruise line from time to time. It can be a result of many things such as poor training, inadaquate staff, poor hotel management, bad staff morale, etc.

 

The notion that it cannot happen on HAL or that if it does happen on HAL it is never as bad as it would be on other cruise lines is silly.

 

We often give bad service experiences a second try for this very reason. About the only problems we won't give a second try to are cleanliness and physcial issues like plumbling and HVAC.

[solocanadian]

deer30084: I completely agree with OsmosesJones comments. Thanks for your frank review of room service & overworked waiter in MDR - it was what it was!

[Regal Eagle]

Earlier in this thread, my review of the Westerdam was quoted. Just want to say that overall, we did have a great Westerdam cruise. I did mention that the waitstaff in the MDR are over stretched and overworked and the quality of some meals are not the same as in the past. We did not have to wait long periods of time for our food and the service was generally good. Also, we used the Neptune lounge frequently and had several special requests. Kaye and Fay were terrific and friendly.

 

We were also on last week's cruise and enjoyed most everything. I agree, Kaye and Fay were wonderful! This was my 30th cruise on HAL and the first time we had HAL's "As You Wish Dining". We had a reservation the first night which they could not find a record for when we reached the door. The line of those waiting was very long and thing seemed very chaotic. The MDR functioned much better on the other nights of the cruise. We ate twice in the Pinnacle and Elvira and her team were exceptional! We also ate once in Canaletto and found it up to our past experiences, except for the cotton candy machine which was broken (we were told that it had been down for several weeks). The seas were a little rough (gale force winds the last day) and yes, not everything was perfect, but we still had a great time. The weather in port was fine, especially at Half Moon Cay!

[penguinchick24]

I just read this post and was so happy to see it. We were on the same cruise and I 100% agree about the lack of service. Having been on the Westerdam one other time I was pretty surprised by how different service was this cruise. I also noted the extremely slow time in the MDR and it was 100% due to servers having more tables than normal. Luckily we found the most wonderful server - Herry, by our third night who handled the extra tables just beautifully. Just wanted to let you know that I couldn't agree more with your post.

[Cruise Organizer]

On our last cruise, our waiter had a table of ten set aside for Anytime Dinning. Depending on whether the table was used or the time it was filled changed our service. Once the waiter came over and apologized as the table was filled when all his other tables had just sat down.

When the table was empty, service was fantasic.

[larsenbiz]

My husband and I really enjoy our cruises on HAL. Is everything fantastic? No. We have had trouble with room service on all but one of our cruises. It's a joke between us now, always wondering what we'll get - sometimes what we ordered, sometimes less than we ordered, sometimes more than we ordered. Initially it was irritating, but it is a known element now and we choose not to be aggravated by it. As long as the coffee is hot, I can always grab something in the Lido if the order is really screwed up. I do complete the survey and comment about it, though.

[SwissMyst]

..... I hear the smoking rules will change on HAL ships soon.

 

This question was asked on our recent Maasdam cruise during the Chat with the Captain and he only said this was still a very controversial topic - no promises, plus he himself admitted he had just quit smoking - so I wonder how much a no smoking rule would affect the staff as well as the passengers and how many of the staff/crew are dedicated smokers who are fighting this from the inside?

 

However, there was a huge spontaneous applause from the full Show room audience when it was suggested to go to a no-smoking policy. That was a very loud message to send to HAL corporate as well.

 

This cruise was the first time I noticed smoke in the Explorations Cafe which was right next to the casino -- probably because on prior ships the Explorations cafe had been moved up to the Crows Nest ....... hmmmmmmm, was this a reason in favor of this disfavored move?

 

There were glass doors between the Casino and the Explorations cafe/library area on the Maasdam but they were always open so the casino smoke was allowed to drift in. Not good. But I did love the spacious layout and location of the Explorations Cafe on this lower deck.

 

Installation of automatic doors between the two venues would be welcome or moving the Casino up to a more segregated area somewhere else would be a good idea too. Or redirecting the cross traffic around the closed casino area instead of it being a through-way between the dining room and the show lounge ....... or just putting in a no-smoking rule which most other cruise lines now also honor.

[scdreamer]

We were on the Dec 4 sailing of the Westerdam, and didn't notice problems with service in MDR. We had a minor issue with ice not being delivered to our cabin in the afternoons, but nothing that spoiled our trip.

 

I do have to agree regarding the second hand smoke from other balconies. We weren't able to use our balcony a few times due to others smoking just upwind from us. And the hallway areas outside the cabins of smokers just reeked.

 

I think when the new HAL smoking policy goes into effect next month - no smoking in cabins, only balconies - it will actually get worse for non-smokers with a balcony.

 

Not wanting to start WW III, but with all the documented information regarding the health risks of breathing second hand smoke/sidestream smoke (actually more toxic than the smoke a smoker breathes in through a filter), it amazes me that smoking is permitted onboard at all.

[tandkquinn]

We were on the Dec 4 sailing of the Westerdam, and didn't notice problems with service in MDR. We had a minor issue with ice not being delivered to our cabin in the afternoons, but nothing that spoiled our trip.

 

I do have to agree regarding the second hand smoke from other balconies. We weren't able to use our balcony a few times due to others smoking just upwind from us. And the hallway areas outside the cabins of smokers just reeked.

 

I think when the new HAL smoking policy goes into effect next month - no smoking in cabins, only balconies - it will actually get worse for non-smokers with a balcony.

 

Not wanting to start WW III, but with all the documented information regarding the health risks of breathing second hand smoke/sidestream smoke (actually more toxic than the smoke a smoker breathes in through a filter), it amazes me that smoking is permitted onboard at all.

 

I am a nonsmoker, but rest assured the exceedingly unhealthy food most everyone eats while on a cruise ship presents probably a million-fold marginal increase in your risk of dying than does exposure to the quantity of secondhand smoke 99+% of pax will inhale.

[scdreamer]

I am a nonsmoker, but rest assured the exceedingly unhealthy food most everyone eats while on a cruise ship presents probably a million-fold marginal increase in your risk of dying than does exposure to the quantity of secondhand smoke 99+% of pax will inhale.

 

 

But there is the opportunity for choice there ...

 

Breathing second-hand smoke wafting into one's space does not always offer that choice.

[GeriatricNurse]

I am a nonsmoker, but rest assured the exceedingly unhealthy food most everyone eats while on a cruise ship presents probably a million-fold marginal increase in your risk of dying than does exposure to the quantity of secondhand smoke 99+% of pax will inhale.

 

Please quote the accurate source for your statement?:confused:

[tandkquinn]

There are far too many studies linking a high fat diet to a wide array of cancers to list here, and it is well-understood that the increased risk ratio (IRR) vis-a-vis those with high vs. low fat diets is fairly high. The EPIC project alone has produced lots of publications making this point for several different tumor types. Browse through their key papers and findings on diet and you will discover how significant diet is in cancer risk. For a more complete search, you can try PubMed, or any of a dozen or so similar resources with which I am certain you are familiar.

 

By contrast, check out "The effect of occasional smoking on smoking-related cancers: in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)" in Cancer Causes and Control (2006). This study looked at increased rates of cancer among longtime occasional smokers, and found that the IRR for smoking-related cancers is about 1.24 for this group.

 

The increase in your cancer risk associated with a couple of whiffs of smoke per day during your ten-day cruise is certainly below any ability to measure it. On the other hand, what many pax do to their blood sugar, cholesterol,triglycerides, etc. during that same cruise is clearly damaging.

 

Is a lifetime of inhaling second-hand smoke in a workplace, or as the result of a smoking spouse, nontrivially associated with higher cancer risk? Absolutely. Is getting a snootful of cigarette smoke on your balcony annoying and unpleasant for a non-smoker? Yes, of course - not as bad as smelling dead fish, but nasty. Is there a measurable elevation of health risk associated with a few whiffs per day over a two-week cruise? Clearly not.

 

Since you are a nurse, I recognize your forceful and repetitive denunciation of cigarette smoke on cruise ships as genuine. As a non-smoker, I share your strong dislike for it. However, any claim that the negative health impacts of that level of exposure are anywhere near the order of magnitude of those associated with the dietary choices by the majority of pax are quite obviously incorrect and unsupportable.