bugs on the Nieuw Amsterdam

[sun~]

I will be posting my review separately on last week's Blues cruise. I just wanted to share my experience with bug bites that happened last week.

 

On the evening of the first sea day I got several bug bites, one of which made me jump. We were at dinner in the Pinnacle (Ruru and Uri's section) and I got red welts. The bites were on my arms, chest and one on my leg. I know I startled the others at the table when I jumped!

 

I was a bit freaked out, so I talked to my cabin stewards and asked them to strip down our bed and vacuum really well. I went to the front desk to tell the guest relations manager, but the woman working there couldn't be bothered to find her. She said she would let her know. I was very surprised and disappointed that there was no follow up with the ship's staff. The room stewards looked really worried and bent over backwards to clean my room in case something was there. I asked front desk person to let them know at the Pinnacle.

 

This isn't the first or even second time that I have had a serious complaint on HAL and the staff ignored it and don't follow up. Shame on them.

 

I think this warrants a follow up with the head office. Does anyone know who I can contact?

 

The main thing I wanted to know if the staff at the pinnacle were made aware of what happened and took action to clean the area. Ignoring this is foolish. I had the bug bites to prove it!

[Boytjie]

Sorry that that happened to you. I am just wondering why you did not say something to the Pinnacle staff yourself? Especially when you did not hear back from the GRM. Was the rest of the cruise bug-bite free? I hope so. :)

[sail7seas]

Sory about your bug bites.

 

Did you actually see these bugs?

 

[sail7seas]

As to the part about the woman at the front office couldn't be bothered to find the GRM, I think that a bit demanding IMO.....

 

GRM has many responsibilities and we have no way to know in what activity or other situation she was involved. It could have something far more serious where she was needed. Nieuw Amsterdam has ~ 2,100 guests and GRM cannot jump and run to the front office, during evening hours, upon one guests less than urgent request. If your situation was seriously emergent, you needed the doctor or nurse more than you needed GRM. IMO

 

[sapper1]

Sory about your bug bites.

 

Did you actually see these bugs?

 

 

I was wondering if the ship was at HMC the day prior and sand fleas travelled aboard with them.

[sun~]

We were at HMC the day before, the bites occurred in the Pinnacle Grill the next evening. No beach wear in sight. I wasn't the only one bitten at the table. There were four of us there. Folks from 3 different cabins, not everyone got off the ship at HMC. I just jumped and let out a little ow! when I got one on my chest. I know I got about 8 in quick succession. They were very itchy.

 

I did bring it up to the Pinnacle staff, while the maitre'd seems to be a lovely man, I don't think his grasp of English was good enough to really understand what happened. Another officer told me to talk to the GSM.

 

HAL has a history in my books in not responding to serious complaints. I also don't find HAL ships to be very clean. I have been on five different lines and I have to say HAL ranks at the bottom for cleanliness. Not a lot of vacuuming or polishing was going on. Don't forget on this ship folks are up all night. We see the cleaners that you normally wouldn't. There were very few.

 

It wasn't late when we were there, 5:30, as we wanted to finish before the bands started. So lateness is not an excuse for a staff member.

 

My biggest concern was for the next group of people. More folks could have been bitten.

 

HAL cheerleaders may think this is normal response from staff. It isn't. HAL could learn a lot from other cruise lines that respond to complaints. I wanted to know if they even bothered to follow up. Shame on them.

[tangerinebunny]

I was bitten by fleas in a land restaurant once; the bites were just around my ankles.

 

If the bites didn't recur, it sounds as though the problem was taken care of by someone. But a phone call to ask how you were doing would have been in order.

[Boytjie]

I did bring it up to the Pinnacle staff, while the maitre'd seems to be a lovely man, I don't think his grasp of English was good enough to really understand what happened. Another officer told me to talk to the GSM.

 

 

My biggest concern was for the next group of people. More folks could have been bitten.

 

Thanks for explaining; it seems that you tried your best.

[GmaPajama]

. I also don't find HAL ships to be very clean. I have been on five different lines and I have to say HAL ranks at the bottom for cleanliness. Not a lot of vacuuming or polishing was going on. Don't forget on this ship folks are up all night. We see the cleaners that you normally wouldn't. There were very few.

I normally stay out of threads that may become controversial ... but do have to speak up this time. We have close to 200 days on HAL, and there has not been one single day during which I was not totally impressed with the cleaning crew. Never did I NOT find one within eyesight, and each was diligently working to keep things as close to perfect as possible. These are good people who literally give their lives to HAL, for months on end. And they work hard to keep their jobs.

 

I cannot sit idly by and not say something when their work is belittled here.

 

I do not doubt the validity of your bug bites - but cannot fathom they were caused by a dirty ship. Not a Holland America ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry that this happened to you and others at your table.

[mamaofami]

I'm sorry this happened to you and have to agree with Donna about the crew and their cleaning.

 

On the other hand, while I personally have never seen any bugs while cruising, it's possible for bugs to come along for the ride in any port. The ship sits at dock for hours so any stow away is possible.

[sun~]

I normally stay out of threads that may become controversial ... but do have to speak up this time. We have close to 200 days on HAL, and there has not been one single day during which I was not totally impressed with the cleaning crew. Never did I NOT find one within eyesight, and each was diligently working to keep things as close to perfect as possible. These are good people who literally give their lives to HAL, for months on end. And they work hard to keep their jobs.

 

I cannot sit idly by and not say something when their work is belittled here.

 

I do not doubt the validity of your bug bites - but cannot fathom they were caused by a dirty ship. Not a Holland America ship.

 

You should try other lines. I am not belittling anyone. There was really no one anywhere cleaning. Bare bones minimum. No one vacuuming, polishing handrails or cleaning elevators. Anywhere. I just don't think they have enough staff.

 

The carpets just about everywhere were dirty and stained. One night there was a fellow with a steam cleaner in the aft stairwell at the lido deck.

 

No once did I say folks didn't work hard. I just don't think they keep HAL ships in great shape. It is sad. I know elderly folk probably don't notice the dirty furniture or carpets. They were pretty evident.

 

I got the bites on my arms, chest and leg.

 

When I spoke with the cabin stewards they went into panic mode. I can only guess that this has happened in the past. I was worried that I brought bugs back to our cabin. The stewards were great in doing a thorough clean.

 

Please read my post carefully before you respond. This is how things get blown out of proportion. I feel the problem is with the management, not the crew.

[Boytjie]

You should try other lines. I am not belittling anyone. There was really no one anywhere cleaning. Bare bones minimum. No one vacuuming, polishing handrails or cleaning elevators. Anywhere. I just don't think they have enough staff.

 

That has not been my experience on HAL ships; I have always seen people cleaning day and night and in all parts of the ship.

 

When I spoke with the cabin stewards they went into panic mode. I can only guess that this has happened in the past.

 

Or maybe they thought the bites were from your cabin that they are responsible for and they did not want to get into trouble. I don't quite get the jump to conclude "I can only guess that this has happened in the past." :confused:

[LadyFurn]

Our friends that were on the NA with us on Jan 13 also got the bug bites. They determined it happened during the lifeboat drill in Ft Lauderdale when they were standing outside.

[kjw869]

Our friends that were on the NA with us on Jan 13 also got the bug bites. They determined it happened during the lifeboat drill in Ft Lauderdale when they were standing outside.

 

We were lucky, also on the same cruise, and didn't hear about any bug bites from all the other passengers we spoke with. However, there were a thousands of small flies on our deck while in Roatan, but none ver got into our cabin.

[sail7seas]

I normally stay out of threads that may become controversial ... but do have to speak up this time. We have close to 200 days on HAL, and there has not been one single day during which I was not totally impressed with the cleaning crew. Never did I NOT find one within eyesight, and each was diligently working to keep things as close to perfect as possible. These are good people who literally give their lives to HAL, for months on end. And they work hard to keep their jobs.

 

I cannot sit idly by and not say something when their work is belittled here.

 

I do not doubt the validity of your bug bites - but cannot fathom they were caused by a dirty ship. Not a Holland America ship.

 

 

I agree. :)

 

 

 

 

You should try other lines. I am not belittling anyone. There was really no one anywhere cleaning. Bare bones minimum. No one vacuuming, polishing handrails or cleaning elevators. Anywhere. I just don't think they have enough staff.

 

The carpets just about everywhere were dirty and stained. One night there was a fellow with a steam cleaner in the aft stairwell at the lido deck.

 

No once did I say folks didn't work hard. I just don't think they keep HAL ships in great shape. It is sad. I know elderly folk probably don't notice the dirty furniture or carpets. They were pretty evident.

 

 

<snip>

 

 

 

Wow........

"I know elderly folk probably don't notice the dirty furniture or carpets."

 

 

Huh????

:eek:

 

I'm not often at a loss for words.........

 

[sun~]

We were lucky, also on the same cruise, and didn't hear about any bug bites from all the other passengers we spoke with. However, there were a thousands of small flies on our deck while in Roatan, but none ver got into our cabin.

 

Did you know that boarding was delayed for the blues cruise? I was told it was because the ship had been in Roatan and customs was giving the ship a once over. I thought it may have been due to drugs, perhaps it was the little flies!

[peddieplease]

I sure hope the bugs weren't really on the ship but maybe like others have said outside? I'm sure they do their best to keep everything as clean and pest free as possible. :)

[kazu]

You should try other lines. I am not belittling anyone. There was really no one anywhere cleaning. Bare bones minimum. No one vacuuming, polishing handrails or cleaning elevators. Anywhere. I just don't think they have enough staff.

 

The carpets just about everywhere were dirty and stained. One night there was a fellow with a steam cleaner in the aft stairwell at the lido deck.

 

No once did I say folks didn't work hard. I just don't think they keep HAL ships in great shape. It is sad. I know elderly folk probably don't notice the dirty furniture or carpets. They were pretty evident.

 

I got the bites on my arms, chest and leg.

 

When I spoke with the cabin stewards they went into panic mode. I can only guess that this has happened in the past. I was worried that I brought bugs back to our cabin. The stewards were great in doing a thorough clean.

 

Please read my post carefully before you respond. This is how things get blown out of proportion. I feel the problem is with the management, not the crew.

 

Wow - I am shocked - I have never been on a HAL ship where I didn't see the crew cleaning, polishing, etc.

 

I just don't know if your comment about elderly people not noticing was appropriate. You don't have to be young to be able to see;) I don't consider myself old - but I am nearly 60:eek:

 

I'll put my nose for odours, my ears for sounds and my eyes for spotting things up against anyone's any day of the week.

 

If the N.A. is not doing the standard HAL thing it is sad to hear.

 

When I was on, they certainly were - now, it's NOT my favourite HAL ship (well known) but I did see them cleaning consistently as I have on every HAL ship.

 

I feel badly for you with the bug bites. Not nice.

 

I get it that the GRM may not have been available but if you really wanted to speak to someone - you could have dropped a note off. I would think you would have been contacted. and yes, if this is an issue for you, absolutely contact Seattle - you can do it by email right on the HAL site or you can write a letter and send it snail mail - whichever you prefer

 

smooth seas:D

[kjw869]

You should try other lines. I am not belittling anyone. There was really no one anywhere cleaning. Bare bones minimum. No one vacuuming, polishing handrails or cleaning elevators. Anywhere. I just don't think they have enough staff.

 

The carpets just about everywhere were dirty and stained. One night there was a fellow with a steam cleaner in the aft stairwell at the lido deck.

 

No once did I say folks didn't work hard. I just don't think they keep HAL ships in great shape. It is sad. I know elderly folk probably don't notice the dirty furniture or carpets. They were pretty evident.

 

I got the bites on my arms, chest and leg.

 

When I spoke with the cabin stewards they went into panic mode. I can only guess that this has happened in the past. I was worried that I brought bugs back to our cabin. The stewards were great in doing a thorough clean.

 

Please read my post carefully before you respond. This is how things get blown out of proportion. I feel the problem is with the management, not the crew.

 

This is certainly not what I saw when we were aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam Jan 13-20. Constant cleaning, polishing day and night. I'm not sure where the carpets were stained, but when we were onboard, there weren't any stains on the 7th or 8th deck along with any of the common areas. Of course, I wasn't looking for them, but if it were obvious, I would have see them. Regarding vacuuming, much of this is done while passengers are off the ship. I must have seen at least 15 of the small orange vacuum cleaners during the voyage, all of which has names. (The one used in our cabin was Henry!).

 

And speaking of other lines, we had friends who were aboard the Eurodam for their second straight HAL cruise in December. They were more impressed with the crew and the constant cleaning and polishing than on Regent, Crystal, Princess, Celebrity, Silver Seas, Oceania, Disney and other lines I know they have cruised.

[kjw869]

Did you know that boarding was delayed for the blues cruise? I was told it was because the ship had been in Roatan and customs was giving the ship a once over. I thought it may have been due to drugs, perhaps it was the little flies!

 

That, or passengers who brought bugs or drugs in with their luggage.

[sun~]

You have to understand this cruise. There are some folks who never leave the ship (I would guess up to half the ship) or spent very little time off the ship. We have more sea days than usual. We are prowling around from 9am to 5am. Very little cleaning was ever done. The carpets are pretty filthy especially in the stairwells and common areas. Any upholstered furnishings looked worse for wear. The pool loungers are looking pretty nasty. Many of the public toilets were out of service.

 

I didn't even mention that our toilet didn't work a couple of times. I called the front desk at 5am (we just got in) to inform then to get it fixed first thing in the morning, the dozy idiot said she was going to call the cabin steward and wake him up! Duh. I don't think she understood that a plumber is needed!!! I called back in the morning to let the day staff know about that. Can you imagine calling a cabin steward in the middle of the night to fix plumbing :rolleyes: badly trained or what?

 

I notice these things since I tend to write reviews. I see what are common complaints or common themes in other posts and reviews.

[IRL_Joanie]

...<SNIP>... I also don't find HAL ships to be very clean. I have been on five different lines and I have to say HAL ranks at the bottom for cleanliness. Not a lot of vacuuming or polishing was going on. Don't forget on this ship folks are up all night. We see the cleaners that you normally wouldn't. There were very few. ....<SNIP>....

You had my full sympathy until I read the one portion above, which I have snipped only for the statement(s) made!!

 

ANYONE who sails on Holland America Line KNOWS FULL WELL that HAL is ALWAYS cleaning!!!

 

Sorry, but are you the same person who said the something about Bed Bugs on Oosterdam during the 2 April 2010 Mexican Riviera??

 

If you are not, I apologize for confusing you wiith that person, to whom I was able to prove it was not Bed Bugs, but in fact Sand Fleas.

 

Sand Fleas by the way also bit me severely on that same Oosterdam that cruise and I never left the ship....

 

Bugs fly and get everywhere. Heck, why do you think they survived since pre dinasaur days... They can hide quite well, until we are least suspecting....

 

Another thing to keep in mind is this, and I am not attacking, so please do not think so, but....did you stay at a hotel pre cruise?? If there were bed bugs, they could have gotten in your luggage.... But I do not think they'd have waited until 2 days after your cruise actually started to ite, unless they were picky eaters:D

 

Seriously though, If all of you stayed in the same hotel pre cruise and/or were in the same stateroom, perhaps they were brought on board...

 

Don't know how or what bit you, but feel that the flame to the HAL Cleanliness had to be mentioned as totally untrue.

 

EDITED TO ADD: For what it is worth, not much usually :) I HATE the Nieuw Amsterdam for my own reasons, and have to say that hough I may hate her, She is a VERY CLEAN SHIP!!!!

 

Carpeting by the way is NOT STAINED!! It is PATTERNS specifically chosen for wherever it is placed in the ship. Sometimes it looks really mismatched and almost in a bad quilty look....But NOT STAINED!!!

 

Another thing is that while you might never have personally seen any cleaning going on, it was 24/7. I have photos to show from our cruise. I also have to make this clear: As an OLD person, I see much more than do the youngen's when it comes to dirt, stains, etc. etc., Being old has nothing to do with it!!

 

Joanie

[Northshorecruisers]

Having only sailed HAL and Princess, I don't know how other cruise lines do their cleaning but I can say on all our HAL cruises all I've ever seen them do is clean, clean, clean. More so than on our Princess cruise.

 

I'm wondering if the conditions were more due to the group you were cruising with. Bugs brought on the ship, public toilets not working, people wandering the ship at all hours making the carpets dirty and stained. And I'm sure management had more important things to deal with than to run to the front desk immediately to look at your sand flea bites.

 

I'm sorry the cruise didn't live up to your expectations. Hopefully the next cruise line you go to will. For me, I've never seen a group of people work so hard and genuinely care if everything is OK than each and every HAL crewmember I've ever met.

[IRL_Joanie]

Did you know that boarding was delayed for the blues cruise? I was told it was because the ship had been in Roatan and customs was giving the ship a once over. I thought it may have been due to drugs, perhaps it was the little flies!

 

It was delayed because of missing passengers!!!

 

Those of us who listen to all the sail aways from Port Everglades hear the Bridge Officers talking and your cruise was delayed not only by passengers not getting to their Life Boat Drill Stations but also because a few passengers had not even made it to the ship yet!!

 

Joanie