anyone on the massdam recently??

[xeena]

i like the itinerary of the massdam for december 2012......but the reviews i have read keep me from considering/booking the trip.

 

has anyone been on board recently? condition of the ship.....food ( i know this is very subjective)....general comments?

 

the idea of sliders on the promenade deck is interesting.....

 

thanks

[SwissMyst]

We just spent 22 days on her doing a transatlantic - it was our second time on the Maasdam. We love her and she was in great shape with an excellent layout.

 

The "lanai" cabins looked very well used and enjoyed. They now have different color cushions on the reserved lanai deck chairs which most likely eliminates some of the confusion lanai cabin passengers had to face finding others were using their reserved deck chairs.

 

There were still plenty of open deck chairs for others to use. The full promenade deck is one quarter mile around so there is plenty of space for others to sit even taking out those few lanai cabins. The Maasdam attracts a lot of repeat customers and loyal fans.

 

We had a "noisy" cabin (Verandah 106) due to its location right under the aft bar - chair and table scraping at unusual times of the night. Not enough to complain and our neighbors did not even notice this. That might be as far as th complaints went during our time on her.

 

The Maasdam Pinnacle restaurant was superb. Staff wonderful, great lecturers, wonderful captain and wife. Only thing lacking was their formerly excellent Jasmine Green tea. That is about it. Dinners were good, but I was too full by then to really enjoy them because I had already filled myself up on their great breakfasts, lunch, grill and tea! Dinner time rarely left me wanting much of anything more so I'll have to pass on my dinner comments.

[Randyk47]

Absolutely love the Maasdam. Great food, great service, and wonderful ship. We would probably put the Maasdam as our very close second favorite HAL ship after the Volendam and the Ryndam.

[WriterOnDeck]

Spent 45 days on the Maasdam last fall and I would strongly recommend it.

[Wayfairers]

I was on the Maasdam Oct-Dec 2011 on Atlantic Adventurer. The ship was in good shape and food was typical cruise food..... not high end but good. The seafood had all been frozen..... I would have liked to have some fresh seafood since most of our trip was in the Mediterranean. I didn't think the food in the Pinnacle was any better than the MDR and beverage service was better in the MDR.

[hmh]

We were on the Massdam on the last cruise from Montreal to FLL last October. It was our first time on that ship, but have been on at least 6 other HAL ships. The size is perfect--easy to get around, for the most part and to find places like the Library, or the Computer Room.

 

We were seated with couples from England and Texas, and had Main Sitting at 8 PM. The service was very good and the menu had plenty of choices, no matter what your inclinations were.

 

The only complaint we had, was not about the Massdam, but about the poor boarding experience in Montreal. I don't think we had the prime boarding location, as there was a larger cruise ship in port, but Montreal needs to up-date its facilities.

 

All in all, we have enjoyed any HAL ship we've been on--some more than others, but always felt we were treated very well and enjoyed the experiences. Ciao. HMH

[ON cruiser]

I know that on a few of the older S class ships the aft pool was removed and replaced with a wading pool which, personally, I think is a dreadful idea. When previously on the Maasdam I loved the aft pool. Can one of the recent passengers on her tell me if Maasdam still has the aft pool? Does anyone know if there are plans to replace it on this ship, or if such plans have hopefully been put on hold?

 

Thanks,

[Wayfairers]

Heard a rumor that plan is now on hold, but that came from passengers, not from HAL employees.

[mamaofami]

On Maasdam now. She's in great shape. Food and service are very good. This is my third cruise on her and I wouldn't hesitate to sail her again.Aft pool is still here.

[sail7seas]

I know that on a few of the older S class ships the aft pool was removed and replaced with a wading pool which, personally, I think is a dreadful idea. When previously on the Maasdam I loved the aft pool. Can one of the recent passengers on her tell me if Maasdam still has the aft pool? Does anyone know if there are plans to replace it on this ship, or if such plans have hopefully been put on hold?

 

Thanks,

 

Decision has been made that thankfully Maasdam will keep her wonderful aft pool.

 

Only Veendam and Rotterdam had the pools removed and just about everyone agrees it was a terrible idea.

[sail7seas]

We have sailed Maasdam a great many times and have two more cruises booked on her. :) We love that ship and her crew.

 

[thecaribs]

You can check out my review on member reveiws - Massdam, my CC Name is theCaribs.

 

You can also read that same reveiw on HAL's facebook page.

[xeena]

yikes

[luv2travel06]

We were on the last sailing before drydock last March/April for the 11 day Southern Caribbean itinerary and are booked for a 10 day Eastern Caribbean itinerary this March. Love the ship and crew. We are anxious to see the work they did after the last time we sailed.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I just read the more recent reviews of Maasdam. Two people on the same cruise I was on (repositioning in Oct) had such different cruises! It shows how subjective reviews can be.

 

I was not entirely happy with my cruise, but I have to defend the food. I was surprised to read complaints of food too rare or too well done, slow service, soup arriving after the main course. We had no complaints about the MDR food. Everything was what we ordered and done as we ordered it. Service was at an appropriate pace. Lido food was good, too, although I agree with the reviewers who commented on the language problems. I have to agree that the Lido coffee is terrible.

 

Also be warned that the decaf at dinner in the MDR isn't always decaf. DH can drink a gallon of coffee and sleep, but I can't. So I ask for tea after dinner. We were in open seating, but managed to have the same waiter every night. After two days, he and his assistant both knew that DH wanted coffee and I wanted tea (HAL's house darjeeling).