msZuiderdam Front Desk staff was HORRIBLE. Won't be booking HA again

[jill_delaware]

First, let me preface that this is my 4th cruise on Holland America. The first 3 were wonderful. This year, we booked 4 suites on the msZuiderdam for an 11 day Christmas cruise to the Panama Canal. From the first day we boarded the ship, our toilet did not work - it would not flush. We called the front desk repeatedly and they were not able to fix the problem nor did they move us. For 11 days, we had to share toilets filled with waste because it would often take up to 2 hours to flush. They are worried about us washing our hands?

 

We called the front desk the second night after we returned from dinner. They refused to contact the manager because "they didn't want to disturb her" (it was 10 PM). Excuse me? You would rather have upset guests with toilets that don't flush? Their answer? Use a public restroom. So, in the middle of the night, we are going to go up to the Lido deck to use the bathroom? And we are paying for suites? It would take more than 50 pushes to actually flush. And we got scolded that we were "confusing the system" by pushing the button multiple times. Hey, fix the toilet so that it flushes on the first push and we wouldn't HAVE to keep pushing the darn button.

 

Three days later, they actually turned the toilets off for 3 hours "to fix it" - and it got somewhat better. However, in the middle of the night, we still couldn't always flush the toilet.

 

They gave us a $200 credit off of our bill. Big deal - the hassle alone - and dealing with the unsanitary conditions made this an insult. Looks like we will no longer be cruising annually with Holland America. We will be going with another cruise line who better maintains their ships and whose staff actually cares about their guests.

 

I feel sorry for the next guests who gets these string of rooms. So sorry - we didn't do it.

[FrankNJ]

Please tell us the room number or numbers !

[mountainmare]

It is a shame that you had problems on your cruise. It seems that if this was a problem from the first day that it could have been a problem on the previous cruise.

It seems the front desk should be used to helping frustrated passengers and do a better job of communication and the ship didn't need to wait three days to send a maintenece crew. Instead of scolding you they should send somebody to at least look at the problem.

Nothing can get back your bad vacation amd it is probably a good idea to take a break from HAL for awhile because if you booked HAL right away you would just be anticipating problems, that is what happened with us on a problem cruise and two years later we still boarded with a bit of a "what if" in the back of our minds.

 

Now I'll let everyone pile on and tell you what you did wrong and how this wasn't so bad.

[George C]

Front desk was usless when we were on them last month, talked to a very nice, very polite man and he said they said they would call security on him since they could not address his problem. You should always be able to get a manager.

[kazu]

welcome to cruise critic. I can't believe the front staff was like this :eek: (no, I'm not doubting you). I do hope that you are writing a letter to Seattle on this. No reason for toilets to not be working for an entire cruise. Ridiculous. Unfortunately, I would have been at the hotel manager one way or the other. Even if I had to stand at the front desk.

 

I am assuminig you were in Superior Verandah Suites - if in Deluxe you could have gone to the concierge. Do share the room numbers so that people can be alerted.

 

What a shame

[Mary Ellen]

I was on the Zuiderdam not too long before you and share your opinion of the front desk staff. On my comment card I was VERY generous - I gave them a 2. I'm sorry for your experience.

[cmdchiefthom]

It's clear from your post, as well as other recent posts from previous Zuiderdam guests that there is a major problem with the plumbing aboard that ship. I would urge you to write a formal letter explaining your experience on this cruise as well as your prior history of cruising with HAL to Stein Kruse, CEO and President of HAL at the Corporate Headquarters in Seattle. If you really want to get HAL's attention, you can also write the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, citing your experience, as well as any observations regarding issues with the public restrooms aboard the Zui during your cruise. These actions should produce some action to correct the problem for future cruisers.;) I am sorry you had such a difficult experience aboard a HAL ship.:(

[FrankNJ]

So far the only front desk I found that was a pleasure to deal with was on the Noordam.

Most of them are robotic and shell shocked . They should let the Hotel Mgr from Noordam,

Mr Pels , train all of their front desks .

 

And they better get those toilets fixed before I get there ! I've been reading for months now about toilet problems on Zuiderdam , where I will be in March .

[pms4104]

If you write to Seattle to document this issue, do not mention that you will not sail HAL again. They will have no incentive to make you whole if they believe they already have lost you as a client.

 

So sorry for your horrible plumbing situation, and the even more horrible customer service from the onboard people. Shameful!

 

Edited to add: I hope you have the names of all the individuals who treated your issue so cavalierly. One thing I noticed, and really liked, on Princess was that there were business cards for each person working the Front Desk. Perhaps that makes them more accountable for their behavior and passenger treatment?

[jill_delaware]

Wonderful advice from all. The room I was in was 8081. I believe it was a Superior Verandah Suite. The rest of our group was on the 6th floor - (6092, 6094 and 6096). They had toilet problems as well, but not to the extent we had. I heard from our neighbors (I think it was 8083) that they were having problems as well.

 

And yes, a formal letter will be written!!!

 

Thank you all for listening!!!

[George C]

welcome to cruise critic. I can't believe the front staff was like this :eek: (no, I'm not doubting you). I do hope that you are writing a letter to Seattle on this. No reason for toilets to not be working for an entire cruise. Ridiculous. Unfortunately, I would have been at the hotel manager one way or the other. Even if I had to stand at the front desk.

 

I am assuminig you were in Superior Verandah Suites - if in Deluxe you could have gone to the concierge. Do share the room numbers so that people can be alerted.

 

What a shame

 

The concierge was also usless on our cruise, I heard people say how good Neptune and concierge was, not on our cruise ( we were in a sa cabin ).

[BSinPNS]

We were on the Zuiderdam over Thanksgiving and the front desk staff smiled a lot but was generally useless. Took at least two trips there to resolve anything.

[mszula]

We had a similar situation on the Statendam 2 years ago. The front desk people smiled and promised help and none arrived. Their supervisors were hostile and told us lies "I've left you several messages in your stateroom". No messages were there. We received $350.00 onboard credit which we swore we would not be using because we never again wanted to see a HAL ship. We are giving them another chance in February. I hope we don't regret it. A cruise without a working bathroom is not better than any day at work!

[Riversedge]

We had a toilet flushing problem on the Rotterdam last March. Called Front Desk and they had someone there within 20 minutes. Front desk called back to make sure the problem was fixed. What a difference from ship to ship. OP, Thanks for your post, it was well written and I appreciate the heads up. I don't blame you for not wanting to sail HAL again. Hopefully you will get a reasonable response from headquarters.

[FrankNJ]

Any comments about room 6087 on Zuiderdam ?

[canadianbear]

Another complaint about the toilets aboard the Zuiderdam...why oh why can't they get this issue resolved. We are booked in SS 6101 Panama cruise on this ship and as I keep reading complaints about the Zuiderdam I am getting to the point of canceling it and trying something else. It's obvious this is an ongoing problem and it would certainly turn me off forever if that happened in our suite. A working toilet is a must in your room-how can they expect you to use the public washrooms-ridiculous.

 

I sure hope everyone that has experienced this has written formal letters to HAL and they take notice and actually DO something to fix this on going problem.

[SBAnt]

Our cabin had a number of problems on Zuiderdam over the course of 11 nights, but the front desk definitely ranged in response from effective to ineffective. It seems like you need to get a manager or supervisor to get some things done, including maintenance requests.

 

When our toilet stopped working midway through the cruise, we felt bad that our cabin stewards had to work in the bathroom before the maintenance people fixed it. Maintenance apparently came and went while we were out for the day, but then the toilet wouldn't respond to pushing the button. By then we were on first name bases with the front desk (main deck and several cabin problems), so we called and they sent maintenance to reconnect the toilet. By the time we came back from dinner, all was fixed, but it was still rather frustrating that they cleared the toilet but disabled the flush button.

 

In a similar vein, I have never seen so many out of order signs on bathrooms as on this ship. I literally lost track (not due to drinking but I ran out of fingers and toes) of how many out of order public bathroom stalls/urinals there were. I hope the dry dock in February fixes a lot of her problems.

[Krazy Kruizers]

First, let me preface that this is my 4th cruise on Holland America. The first 3 were wonderful. This year, we booked 4 suites on the msZuiderdam for an 11 day Christmas cruise to the Panama Canal. From the first day we boarded the ship, our toilet did not work - it would not flush. We called the front desk repeatedly and they were not able to fix the problem nor did they move us. For 11 days, we had to share toilets filled with waste because it would often take up to 2 hours to flush. They are worried about us washing our hands?

 

We called the front desk the second night after we returned from dinner. They refused to contact the manager because "they didn't want to disturb her" (it was 10 PM). Excuse me? You would rather have upset guests with toilets that don't flush? Their answer? Use a public restroom. So, in the middle of the night, we are going to go up to the Lido deck to use the bathroom? And we are paying for suites? It would take more than 50 pushes to actually flush. And we got scolded that we were "confusing the system" by pushing the button multiple times. Hey, fix the toilet so that it flushes on the first push and we wouldn't HAVE to keep pushing the darn button.

 

Three days later, they actually turned the toilets off for 3 hours "to fix it" - and it got somewhat better. However, in the middle of the night, we still couldn't always flush the toilet.

 

They gave us a $200 credit off of our bill. Big deal - the hassle alone - and dealing with the unsanitary conditions made this an insult. Looks like we will no longer be cruising annually with Holland America. We will be going with another cruise line who better maintains their ships and whose staff actually cares about their guests.

 

I feel sorry for the next guests who gets these string of rooms. So sorry - we didn't do it.

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

So sorry to hear about your cabin toilet problems.

How was the ship?

How were the ports?

[startwin]

With all the negative posts about the Zuiderdam - and especially the plumbing - recently, I have alarm bells going off about my upcoming cruise in April. She's not due for a refit until the end of 2012, and it sounds like they are just band-aiding the problems until then and nothing gets fixed from cruise to cruise. It looks like HAL is really risking their good name by not fixing all the problems, and the front desk staff are not good ambassadors by brushing off complaints like this.

[Krazy Kruizers]

This sounds like a very situation AND sad for those sailing on the Zuiderdam.

Many have been reporting the last couple of months about the public restrooms having so many toilets not working.

Now it is happening in the cabins.

The front desk has to be aware of the public restrooms non-functioning toilets -- so how can they recommend that you use a public toilet when the one in your cabin isn't working?

This situation would not make us happy campers.

[innlady1]

So far the only front desk I found that was a pleasure to deal with was on the Noordam.

Most of them are robotic and shell shocked . They should let the Hotel Mgr from Noordam, Mr Pels , train all of their front desks .

 

And they better get those toilets fixed before I get there ! I've been reading for months now about toilet problems on Zuiderdam , where I will be in March .

 

I totally agree. Mark Pells is a real professional and very easy to talk with...wish more Hotel Manager's were like him.

[innlady1]

To the OP, I am really sorry to hear of your problem on the Zuiderdam with the plumbing. It's not good that they would not flush...but made so much worse by the fact they wouldn't address it.

I, too, would write to Mr. Kruse. Something like this needs to be brought to his attention...as well as the rude Front Desk people.

[scamper]

So far the only front desk I found that was a pleasure to deal with was on the Noordam.

Most of them are robotic and shell shocked . They should let the Hotel Mgr from Noordam,

Mr Pels , train all of their front desks .

 

And they better get those toilets fixed before I get there ! I've been reading for months now about toilet problems on Zuiderdam , where I will be in March .

 

Not to go off topic, but I thought the Eurodam's desk staff were GREAT. I even mentioned each of them by name on the survey at the end of the trip.

[xxoocruiser]

I never stand in line to deal with maintanance issues as Guest Services. Regardless of the cruiseline , I contact maintaince directly. The matter is immediately corrected. Most of the time there's direct dial number listed on the phone for either maintanance and or housekeeping. If only Housekeeping , I than request to be connected to maintainance .

[pms4104]

Many of us believe that HAL Seattle reads these boards.

 

The OP documented her issue here, complete with the cabin numbers involved.

 

This is the perfect opportunity for someone up the foodchain in Seattle to be pro-active ... do some investigation, contact the ship, etc., and contact the OP and make amends before she even pens her letter to Mr. Kruse.