Zuiderdam - still has awful toilet issues!!

[cruz chic]

We got in at 1:30 AM---half dead. Laundry is piled up to the ceiling.

When we got in the door we found that the furnace was stuck on. We had to throw the breaker switch at the main panel to shut it down. Then I had to open windows to cool the bedroom off enough to sleep. I thought we were back on the Zuiderdam but there was no front desk to call.

 

We did have fun didn't we?

Ouch. It's funny but not.

[c-legs]

 

HAL was essentially insolvent when Carnival acquired them. They were going out of business fast-did not have the credit to build or buy new ships.

 

Carnival may have made changes to HAL, but on the other hand HAL has had 23 more years that they would not have had if Carnival had not rescued them. Just another way of looking at things!

 

A very valid observation, factual as well. Same can be said about Cunard, whose take-over by Carnival came just in time to salvage it.

Cheers

[3rdGenCunarder]

A very valid observation, factual as well. Same can be said about Cunard, whose take-over by Carnival came just in time to salvage it.

Cheers

 

I thought the same thing. I didn't know HAL had money troubles when they were bought. But I know that Cunard had been managed badly by a succession of owners before they were bought by Carnival. If not for Carnival's deep pockets, there would never have been a Queen Mary 2.

[RedmondCruiser]

I thought the same thing. I didn't know HAL had money troubles when they were bought. But I know that Cunard had been managed badly by a succession of owners before they were bought by Carnival. If not for Carnival's deep pockets, there would never have been a Queen Mary 2.

 

If not for Carnival buying Holland Amerian Line I doubt that HAL would still be in existence. They interjected the money for the S class ships. Prior to that HAL had two matched ships, one very old ship and a converted ship. As one HAL employee said to me about a year after the purchase "now we have clout"

[Boytjie]

I thought the same thing. I didn't know HAL had money troubles when they were bought. But I know that Cunard had been managed badly by a succession of owners before they were bought by Carnival. If not for Carnival's deep pockets, there would never have been a Queen Mary 2.

 

Googling HAL and Cornival Corp., articles from the time does not indicate financial woes at HAL being a major factor but more about expanding the fleet and a presence in Alaska.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/26/business/carnival-cruise-lines-to-buy-holland-america-line-unit.html

[CRUZBUDS]

I thought the same thing. I didn't know HAL had money troubles when they were bought. But I know that Cunard had been managed badly by a succession of owners before they were bought by Carnival. If not for Carnival's deep pockets, there would never have been a Queen Mary 2.

 

After the launch of the QM2 Cunard management needed to supplemented (or replaced) by Princess people. It seemed the Cunard folks were having trouble running such a large ship.

[serendipity1499]

Googling HAL and Cornival Corp., articles from the time does not indicate financial woes at HAL being a major factor but more about expanding the fleet and a presence in Alaska.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/26/business/carnival-cruise-lines-to-buy-holland-america-line-unit.html

 

You are absolutely correct..Too many make assumptions about the Carnival acquisition of HAL..I don't understand it, when people make absurd statements about the Carnivalization of HAL..

There are many more articles from that period..Suggest that people read them before making outrageous statements..

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=200767&p=irol-history

 

This is an interesting site too..The Unofficial History of HAL..

 

http://www.halpostcards.com/unofficial/

 

HAL was doing very well in the Alaska Market when Carnival acquired them..They had four ships, not two & a lucrative Land & Hotel operation in Alaska which was 8% of the entire cruise market... But HAL, did not have the Capital to expand.. The Carnival/Hal merger gave HAL the funds to expand..It was good for both of them..

Cheers...:)Betty

[luxurysailer]

We are repeat cruisers with HAL and have a cruise scheduled for March 2013. But, based upon our experience sailing once on Zuiderdam and the multiple comments we've read on CC, we will never sail on Zuiderdam again. No ifs, ands, or buts.

 

After reading this post again, I feel that I should make it clear that HAL is our favorite cruise line. We've never had a bad cruise with HAL, or for that matter, any other cruise line. They were all enjoyable. On our one cruise on Zuiderdam we were affected only peripherally by plumbing problems; however, this experience along with the continued multiple postings about plumbing and A/C problems on Zuiderdam have warned us off that ship. There is just no point in taking a chance when so many other HAL ships are available for our enjoyment.

[radarman143]

Must have been on the same cruise as you. Fortunately, didn't have the smell much in cabin but smelled in halls occasionally while walking around. We were on the ship for 29 days out of Ft lauderdale and included the first Alaska cruise. Upgraded to a balcony suite for the Alaska cruise portion because someone was joining us. Main shower did not work the entire time. Finally came the last day at sea and fixed it but broke the first time we used it. Other issues such as tenders breaking down and air conditioning not working correctly. I think HAL is not willing to spend any time or money maintaining the ship because due for a refit in November. Wouldn't want to be on the ship before the refit. Otherwise most ports, staff, and food were great.

[startwin]

I think they may have fixed many of the plumbing issues..... I certainly hope so:eek: After almost all of our 22 days of "delayed flush" and "non-flush", during which time the plumber became a good friend:rolleyes: - (we were on first-name basis by then, LOL) on our last-but-one night, when things had been relatively OK flush-wise for about 12 hours.... we had other toilets backing up into ours. Oh yukkkkkkkk. The following day a rather large credit hit our account. Dear HAL, all I wanted was a working toilet. But I still love you anyway:D:D

[PathfinderEss]

We did the cruise after yours Radarman and I think things improved. I didn't hear much grumbling about toilets not working and certainly no air conditioning problems. (it was Alaska where the day time temperature didn't get over 49 degrees) I think all of you on the Panama trip got those issue all straightened out, for us.:) Though, I must say I was sorry to hear about all your problems and can only imagine how terrible things were for some of you.

[Leesie6351]

we left HAL for X after 3 poor cruises. Our first HAL cruise was to Alaska in 1996 on the Ryndam. IMHO, HAL offers the best cruisetours so we decided to take a chance again because last time we never went to Denali etc and we have been wanting to. We booked a cruisetour for 12 days with some trepidation but our time on the ship is actually only 3 days. We board in Vancouver and depart early AM when the ship docks on day 4 in Skagway for the land tour portion. We are on the Zuiderdam and after hearing all these horror stories, we're grateful we're only on for 3 days. We hope HAL can redeem themselves and we have a great cruisetour so we can return.

 

Thanks for all the information about the Zuiderdam.:confused:

[Cindy]

It was hard to do, but I just cancelled our Zuiderdam cruise for November 19th...the last sailing before drydock.:( In the end, we just decided the A/C and plumbing problems were too risky for our 25th Anniversary cruise.

I want to thank everybody again who posted about their experiences -- good and bad -- on the ship. We read everything and weighed our options...your comments really helped us feel like we made an informed decision. I wouldn't expect to read about too many A/C problems for a while since the ship is in a cooler climate. The last thing we wanted was to keep the reservation thinking all was well only to have the problems resurface when the ship returns to the tropics.

Fortunately all is not lost! I made a "back-up" reservation when reports of the problems started surfacing a couple months ago!:D We're going to the Southern Caribbean on the Noordam instead, and we'll save the Panama Canal for another trip!:)

[Typhoon1]

This has been a chronic problem. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

It was hard to do, but I just cancelled our Zuiderdam cruise for November 19th...the last sailing before drydock.:( In the end, we just decided the A/C and plumbing problems were too risky for our 25th Anniversary cruise.

 

I want to thank everybody again who posted about their experiences -- good and bad -- on the ship. We read everything and weighed our options...your comments really helped us feel like we made an informed decision. I wouldn't expect to read about too many A/C problems for a while since the ship is in a cooler climate. The last thing we wanted was to keep the reservation thinking all was well only to have the problems resurface when the ship returns to the tropics.

 

Fortunately all is not lost! I made a "back-up" reservation when reports of the problems started surfacing a couple months ago!:D We're going to the Southern Caribbean on the Noordam instead, and we'll save the Panama Canal for another trip!:)

That really is unfortunate since basically the problems have been totally fixed and the last Alaska cruises had little to no problems. I am actually pretty sure I am canceling my NCL cruise to cruise on the Zuiderdam for Nov 9th :) That is how confident I am with the Zuiderdam.

Yes on the long repositioning cruise there was several days of problems of no a/c on the ZUiderdam but that was because of HAL actually doing something about the air and bringing on people to work on this and replace switches and would allow them to control the air in more parts of the ship like the newer Signature Class ships. In bringing the A/C back on they needed to to quite a bit of adjustment to get everything they way it should be, with the added heat and humidity it was a bit more difficult. Of course the crew would have rather they waited till they arrived in Alaska to do this but when hiring people that work on these ships it is not always possible to have the dates they need.

 

As for the toilets a new vacuumn system was recently installed that almost works too good that it was pulling items all the way to a lower level causing more toilets to have problems, that too has been worked on and adjusted which now they seem to have corrected. To base a cruise that is 6 months away on an unfortunate cruise that did infact have some problems but these problems have been fixed is really a loss for you.

[Cindy]

While I respect your opinion and your positive experience, I also respect the opinions of the posters who had major problems on their cruises. The problems seemed to reach a peak on the full transit, but I've been reading Zuiderdam reports for several months. The problems with the A/C and plumbing were certainly not limited to the April 20th sailing. Combined with my unease about being on the last sailing before drydock, my husband and I felt more comfortable selecting a different ship for our anniversary cruise.

Ultimately we had to make a decision so we could start planning, and we're very comfortable with our decision. This is a very special trip for us, and while there are no guarantees at sea, we felt more comfortable taking a major question mark out of the equation.

Hopefully the Zuiderdam and/or the Canal will be back on our radar soon. For now, I'm excited to start researching and planning our Southern Caribbean cruise!:)

[iancal]

I would have done exactly the same.

 

Why take a chance with your vacation time and money when there are other ships, HAL and other lines, out there that do not seem to have encountered the same issues? Why tempt fate when there is no need to?

 

Perhaps on other ships, HAL will consider doing these upgrades during an extended drydock rather than doing it mid cruise when the work will impact customer satisfaction. This is really the nub of the issue. Customers sign up for an enjoyable cruise, not a 'drydock at sea' so to speak.

Edited May 28, 2012 by iancal

[startwin]

That really is unfortunate since basically the problems have been totally fixed and the last Alaska cruises had little to no problems. I am actually pretty sure I am canceling my NCL cruise to cruise on the Zuiderdam for Nov 9th :) That is how confident I am with the Zuiderdam.

 

Yes on the long repositioning cruise there was several days of problems of no a/c on the ZUiderdam but that was because of HAL actually doing something about the air and bringing on people to work on this and replace switches and would allow them to control the air in more parts of the ship like the newer Signature Class ships. In bringing the A/C back on they needed to to quite a bit of adjustment to get everything they way it should be, with the added heat and humidity it was a bit more difficult. Of course the crew would have rather they waited till they arrived in Alaska to do this but when hiring people that work on these ships it is not always possible to have the dates they need.

 

As for the toilets a new vacuumn system was recently installed that almost works too good that it was pulling items all the way to a lower level causing more toilets to have problems, that too has been worked on and adjusted which now they seem to have corrected. To base a cruise that is 6 months away on an unfortunate cruise that did infact have some problems but these problems have been fixed is really a loss for you.

 

This sounds like a press release from Holland America and has totally minimized the issues experienced by those on the repositioning cruise. Having experienced the whole 22 days, sorry to say that's not the way it was - but you are already well aware of that, aren't you.

[kjw869]

While I respect your opinion and your positive experience, I also respect the opinions of the posters who had major problems on their cruises. The problems seemed to reach a peak on the full transit, but I've been reading Zuiderdam reports for several months. The problems with the A/C and plumbing were certainly not limited to the April 20th sailing. Combined with my unease about being on the last sailing before drydock, my husband and I felt more comfortable selecting a different ship for our anniversary cruise.

 

Ultimately we had to make a decision so we could start planning, and we're very comfortable with our decision. This is a very special trip for us, and while there are no guarantees at sea, we felt more comfortable taking a major question mark out of the equation.

 

Hopefully the Zuiderdam and/or the Canal will be back on our radar soon. For now, I'm excited to start researching and planning our Southern Caribbean cruise!:)

 

Well, congratulations on your upcoming Silver Anniversary!! We spent our 25th on a HAL ship in Alaska two years ago. Regarding your backup trip, I think you picked a winner. We have been on both of those cruises in the past 2 1/2 years, but the 11-day cruise on the Noordam earlier this year was our favorite. I can see why the Noordam is a favorite of many of the long time CC members.

 

We are booked on the Zuiderdam for May of next year and have no doubts that we will have another great cruise on the "Z". All the HAL crews have been wonderful, but that crew was exceptional.

 

Either way, I hope you both have a wonderful cruise on your special day!

[luxurysailer]

The problem with Zuiderdam's toilets and A/C have been being reported on this forum for at least four years. These issues must be either unfixable or prohibitively expensive to fix. Otherwise, why would HAL put up with a ship that has been giving them a black eye for so long? The best thing HAL could do is sell Zuiderdam to some third rate cruise line. Or maybe it should just be converted into a fishing reef.

[iancal]

I was very surprised to hear that HAL was, as you say, '....doing something about the A/C and bringing people on board to work on this and replace switches....'

 

My understanding from HAL cheerleaders is that all of the A/C problems on HAL ships are either caused by people leaving balcony doors open or were purely a matter of misperception by those cruisers who complained about no AC in their cabins.

[CRUZBUDS]

I was very surprised to hear that HAL was, as you say, '....doing something about the A/C and bringing people on board to work on this and replace switches....'

 

My understanding from HAL cheerleaders is that all of the A/C problems on HAL ships are either caused by people leaving balcony doors open or were purely a matter of misperception by those cruisers who complained about no AC in their cabins.

 

Don't forget that the only reason toilets would malfunction is if someone flushed something they shouldn't have. :rolleyes:

[jrzebird]

Whew, getting snarky in here. The cruise has been over for almost a month. Let it go. Everyone has their own experiences, and no one is right or wrong. Being disrespectful to other posters and name calling is over the top. As for the anniversary cruise, I think that the Noordam is fantastic and a good choice. That being said, the Noordam is the ONLY ship where I had a toilet issue. I'd still go on her today.

[Wakepatrol]

I was very surprised to hear that HAL was, as you say, '....doing something about the A/C and bringing people on board to work on this and replace switches....'

 

My understanding from HAL cheerleaders is that all of the A/C problems on HAL ships are either caused by people leaving balcony doors open or were purely a matter of misperception by those cruisers who complained about no AC in their cabins.

 

 

Do you think the captain and crew all clang beer mugs,and hoot and holler when they hear the toilets are broken and the A/C has issues?

 

Your posts indicate this must be good news for the crew,and these are the trips they wait for and enjoy the most.:confused:

[itzmered]

Do you think the captain and crew all clang beer mugs,and hoot and holler when they hear the toilets are broken and the A/C has issues?

 

Your posts indicate this must be good news for the crew,and these are the trips they wait for and enjoy the most.:confused:

 

Where in the persons post that you quoted did they say anything about the crew acting like this was good news :confused: