Holland America please fix the A/C on the Veendam Or junk it.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

A lot of people are complaining about the A/C on the Veendam Please fix it. Giving out fans is not going to make guest happy. Should we bring our own fan in case you run out ? Holland America is a GREAT cruise line, BUT lack of A/C is not acceptable .PLEASE fix it .Thank you

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is going out on cruises with the same problem.

[dakrewser]

A lot of people are complaining about the A/C on the Veendam Please fix it. Giving out fans is not going to make guest happy. Should we bring our own fan in case you run out ? Holland America is a GREAT cruise line' date=' BUT lack of A/C is not acceptable .PLEASE fix it .Thank you[/quote']

 

No one is forced to cruise on any particular ship, so vote with your pocketbook.

[jtl513]

No one is forced to cruise on any particular ship, so vote with your pocketbook.

Sometimes you're forced by itinerary choice to take a ship you might not prefer. Bermuda and the 2013 Voyage of the Vikings are prime examples.

[dakrewser]

Sometimes you're forced by itinerary choice to take a ship you might not prefer. Bermuda and the 2013 Voyage of the Vikings are prime examples.

 

Again, no one is "forced" to take that cruise. If enough people don't then someone in Seattle may ask why.

[kcscrapper]

No one is forced to cruise on any particular ship, so vote with your pocketbook.

 

But any first time passenger wouldn't necessarily know about the on-going problems with any specific ship. A problem - more than "ship happens" - can put a person "off" cruising or cruising with that line.

 

Further, IMHO, selling a known defective product is fraudulent. That no passenger necessarily has the protection of any US consumer agency or our consumer protection laws, doesn't make it right, acceptable or a good business practice.

[cruz chic]

Sometimes you're forced by itinerary choice to take a ship you might not prefer. Bermuda and the 2013 Voyage of the Vikings are prime examples.

I love the Panama Canal. It's VERY hard to find a sailing that works with my work deadlines. The only one that has seemed to work for several years for me is the Statendam. I will not set foot on that ship again so the Panama Canal is out for me right now. There is a choice.

 

To the OP - good luck with getting HAL to bite on this. I'd vote with my feet just like I have on the Statendam.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Unfortunately to fix the air conditioning and the plumbing on the Veendam (or any other ship for that matter), the ship would have to be dry docked way longer than a couple of weeks -- maybe months to overhaul her correctly.

And dry docking a ship for months -- too much revenue would be lost.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I love the Panama Canal. It's VERY hard to find a sailing that works with my work deadlines. The only one that has seemed to work for several years for me is the Statendam. I will not set foot on that ship again so the Panama Canal is out for me right now. There is a choice.

 

To the OP - good luck with getting HAL to bite on this. I'd vote with my feet just like I have on the Statendam.

Thanks I do hope Holland America reads this, I will say it again GREAT line but these needs to be fixed.

[iancal]

Have to agree with kscrapper. It is fraudulent and it is immoral.

 

HAL is a much better company than this, so is their parent Carnival.

 

Think back to when we had similar product issues in the auto industry. Everyone went wild.

 

I cannot imagine knowingly selecting a cruise ship where one has a much higher chance of having a miserable cabin experience-notwithstanding the itinerary. Especially if it is a longer cruise.

 

There are too many great ships and great cruise lines out there to knowingly pick a 'dud'. And it only encourages the cruise line to NOT fix the issues.

 

The current state of Veendam hurts HAL and hurts the cruise industry. You know what they say..a satisfied customer tells two people, an unhappy customer tells nine people.

[Aruba]

Sometimes you're forced by itinerary choice to take a ship you might not prefer. ...and the 2013 Voyage of the Vikings are prime examples.

Is that true? I thought Voyage of the Vikings was only ever done by Maasdam.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

have to agree with kscrapper. It is fraudulent and it is immoral.

 

Hal is a much better company than this, so is their parent carnival.

 

Think back to when we had similar product issues in the auto industry. Everyone went wild.

 

I cannot imagine knowingly selecting a cruise ship where one has a much higher chance of having a miserable cabin experience-notwithstanding the itinerary. Especially if it is a longer cruise.

 

There are too many great ships and great cruise lines out there to knowingly pick a 'dud'. And it only encourages the cruise line to not fix the issues.

 

The current state of veendam hurts hal and hurts the cruise industry. You know what they say..a satisfied customer tells two people, an unhappy customer tells nine people.

thank you .

[jtl513]

But any first time passenger wouldn't necessarily know about the on-going problems with any specific ship.

It wouldn't have to be just first-time cruisers either. Typically just 3% to 5% of a ship's passengers are Cruise Critic members. Some more browse here without joining, but still the bulk of the passengers on any cruise do not have the information that we do.

[sail7seas]

Is that true? I thought Voyage of the Vikings was only ever done by Maasdam.

 

 

It was done years ago on Rotterdam VI, then for years on Maasdam until this summer. Next year, Veendam is scheduled to do Voyage of the Vikings and Maasdam will do a complete Canada/NE Season. That is one way to get people to book Veendam. ;)

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The current state of Veendam ship hurts Holland America and hurts the cruise industry.

[peaches from georgia]

Unfortunately to fix the air conditioning and the plumbing on the Veendam (or any other ship for that matter), the ship would have to be dry docked way longer than a couple of weeks -- maybe months to overhaul her correctly.

And dry docking a ship for months -- too much revenue would be lost.

True, of course, but that's not the pax' problem. When the cruiseline knows that the basic systems are not operating properly over a long period of time then they are committing fraud on their customers by presenting a product as being something it isn't and charging them normal rates for a substandard product. Fix it, sell it, or scrap it. It's impossible for pax to have any legal recourse unfortunately.

[jaguarstyper]

No one is forced to cruise on any particular ship, so vote with your pocketbook.

So, are you suggesting that since there are scores of other ships and cruise lines to choose from, HAL has no reason to fix this problem? What about the 10s of thousands of people who book cruises on this ship and never read internet message boards to know that there is a major problem on this ship? Is it OK for HAL to provide a defective product under the excuse that they should have known better and should have selected another ship? Really?

[chasngirl]

Sailing on Veendam Sept. 15th from Montreal.........pray we will not have an A/C nor plumbing problems! I might end up sleeping out on the deck! LOL.....not really funny........I won't be a happy camper if that happens! Has anyone sailed on her this past week and had these problems?

[Sea42]

So, are you suggesting that since there are scores of other ships and cruise lines to choose from, HAL has no reason to fix this problem? What about the 10s of thousands of people who book cruises on this ship and never read internet message boards to know that there is a major problem on this ship? Is it OK for HAL to provide a defective product under the excuse that they should have known better and should have selected another ship? Really?

I do agree with what you say here but it amazes me that people would not do a simple internet search to check out their vacation plans. Whether it's cruise ship or a resort if I'm going to pay, I'm going to check out reviews. A simple search of "Veendam reviews" takes you right here to CC.

IMO, if you don't make any effort to research your vacation plans you're not making an informed decision.

[jaguarstyper]

You might be very surprised to find out that a lot (a lot) of people who cruise have no interest in the internet or any means of accessing it. I work in a field that deals heavily in the consumerism aspects of medicare and other senior markets and assuming that folks in that demographic have internet access or will even use it if they had it is a very, very bad assumption. Just sayin'.

 

Bottom line, HAL is happily selling a defective product to unsuspecting consumers. Its just wrong. And saying the consumer has other options and should be making better informed decisions is really dismissive in my opinion.

 

HAL needs to fix this problem or put a disclaimer on the ship's description saying the A/C may or may not work.

[lvz2cruz]

We sailed Veendam two times last year and did not hear anyone onboard having problems with a/c or plumbing. Like someone said above, more unhappy people share their experience than those who were pleased. it is almost like a panic has spread over a possible problem iso

lated to a few areas. That's not helpful to those considering sailing her.

I would not hesitate to sail Veendam again and wish soooo much she was going to Bermuda next year.

 

We read on here terrible reports about vibration on Eurodam last year--many afraid to book and considering canceling. The vibration amounted to flowers in vases on tables swaying in a small midship area of the Lido. In some ways the posts on here can be a disservice rather than a help.

[bcd2010]

It was done years ago on Rotterdam VI, then for years on Maasdam until this summer. Next year, Veendam is scheduled to do Voyage of the Vikings and Maasdam will do a complete Canada/NE Season. That is one way to get people to book Veendam. ;)

 

 

The VOV was my intended next cruise. Not gonna happen on the Veendam.

[jilloh2]

We recently sailed on the Ryndam picked mainly for it's ports and had trouble with our A/C, in fact our entire hall had the problem. I think many of the old ships while charming need to replace some of their systems. You are right we have choices but all cruise ships should have the " basics ".:)

[jilloh2]

Sorry, double post.

[Sea42]

You might be very surprised to find out that a lot (a lot) of people who cruise have no interest in the internet or any means of accessing it. I work in a field that deals heavily in the consumerism aspects of medicare and other senior markets and assuming that folks in that demographic have internet access or will even use it if they had it is a very, very bad assumption. Just sayin'.

 

Bottom line, HAL is happily selling a defective product to unsuspecting consumers. Its just wrong. And saying the consumer has other options and should be making better informed decisions is really dismissive in my opinion.

 

HAL needs to fix this problem or put a disclaimer on the ship's description saying the A/C may or may not work.

 

Sorry, but now I do disagree to some extent. I work at a (very) small town library. I don't believe there is a library left in the US that does not have internet access, provided free of charge, to it's patron. The majority offer instructions. So it is really not an issue of access. It's a matter of not wanting to make an effort to make sure you spend your money wisely. That is not being dismissive, it's being a smart consumer.

When I'm spending thousands of dollars (on anything) I'm going to do my research. If someone else chooses not to, that is their choice.

No company should put out a substandard product. But, it is a fact of life that they do.

Knowledge is your friend! :)