Is it just me...

[kiggy]

... or has HAL in the last two years, slipped in quality in general? Went on a cruise earlier this month, and found on the Nieuw Amsterdam a lot of cheapening in their product, and a noticeable reduction in the quality of the food, service slipping (especially room service). Anyone else notice this?

[Roz]

There have been hundreds of threads on this subject, and if you go to other boards, you'll see people complaining about the same thing on other cruise lines.

 

Roz

[TraelorMex]

... , and a noticeable reduction in the quality of the food,

 

Just back off the Veendam. Great cruise....but have definitely noticed a decrease in food quality. HAL is 'saving' by going for the cheaper cuts of meat for sure. and the coffee. gott in himmel!!

[kiggy]

Just back off the Veendam. Great cruise....but have definitely noticed a decrease in food quality. HAL is 'saving' by going for the cheaper cuts of meat for sure. and the coffee. gott in himmel!!

 

Spot on. The coffee and meat were terrible. My husband I had the special "Le Cirque" dinner, and I threw the whole thing up afterward. I'm really disappointed in HAL. Trying Celebrity in January.

[Roz]

How do you know it was the food that made you sick? Could have been a stomach virus, or too much rich food or drink.

 

Roz

[Shorn]

On Noordam right now in Neptune suite,can not believe how bad things are, Indonesian & Philippine crew brilliant .Holland America have lost me.

[Roz]

How bad is bad?

[LindaM]

It's not the cruiseline's fault. The passengers balk everytime the price goes up, even a little. They make money on the shore excursions, drinks and wine packages. Until we pay more, it only stands to reason that the cruise experience is going to decrease in quality.

 

The luxury lines are always raising rates, including Azamara. The passengers complain, but they still sail with them.

 

I would love to pay more to cruise like it was back in the day. But, people like me are few and far between.

 

Would you pay more?

[kiggy]

How do you know it was the food that made you sick? Could have been a stomach virus, or too much rich food or drink.

 

Roz

 

It's the only time I was sick on the whole cruise. I wasn't seasick, and did not have a virus.

[Lovely other]

not filled with confidence for my first HAL cruise now...although we don't eat meat so that should be ok

[kiggy]

It's not the cruiseline's fault. The passengers balk everytime the price goes up, even a little. They make money on the shore excursions, drinks and wine packages. Until we pay more, it only stands to reason that the cruise experience is going to decrease in quality.

 

The luxury lines are always raising rates, including Azamara. The passengers complain, but they still sail with them.

 

I would love to pay more to cruise like it was back in the day. But, people like me are few and far between.

 

Would you pay more?

 

I wish they would increase their price if they'd go back to the quality even two years ago. As for the substandard excursions, I'd go with Viator from now on. They guarantee that you get to your ship on time or the cy transport you to your next port free of charge. About half the price as well.

[blossom]

My wife and myself last cruised on the Veendam this past June. We have seen changes.

 

Did we have a great time yes!. Would we cruise again Yes! This discussion is

 

not new, and way to much effort has been wasted on this topic. Nothing in life is perfect.

 

Go on your cruise and enjoy every minute of it.

 

blossom

[kiggy]

My wife and myself last cruised on the Veendam this past June. We have seen changes.

 

Did we have a great time yes!. Would we cruise again Yes! This discussion is

 

not new, and way to much effort has been wasted on this topic. Nothing in life is perfect.

 

Go on your cruise and enjoy every minute of it.

 

blossom

 

No, but it's everyone's prerogative to look elsewhere when you're not satisfied. It's a buyer's market in cruising, so let the buyer beware. HAL isn't what it used to be. It's the Carnival influence, imo. If I wanted to sail, say, RCI, I'd book on RCI and save a few thousand. People have booked HAL for a superior experience. It's not like that anymore. Sorry.

[BDsquared]

No, but it's everyone's prerogative to look elsewhere when you're not satisfied. It's a buyer's market in cruising, so let the buyer beware. HAL isn't what it used to be. It's the Carnival influence, imo. If I wanted to sail, say, RCI, I'd book on RCI and save a few thousand. People have booked HAL for a superior experience. It's not like that anymore. Sorry.

 

Actually, we've only sailed RCI, but booked our upcoming cruise with HAL because it was waaaaaay less expensive! :eek:

[kiggy]

Actually, we've only sailed RCI, but booked our upcoming cruise with HAL because it was waaaaaay less expensive! :eek:

 

I'm not surprised, as we found out that our HAL cruise was not fully booked and prices were slashed two months out. In all fairness to HAl, they offered us an upgrade to a suite or additional onboard credit for this promotion. But to me, it's not worth it if the service is poor and the food isn't good. When you have stewards that leave their dirty cleaning rags on the bathroom sink, the toilets smell like raw sewage, and there's someone else's bloodstain on your bedspread, it doesn't really matter about the rest.

[BDsquared]

I'm not surprised, as we found out that our HAL cruise was not fully booked and prices were slashed two months out. In all fairness to HAl, they offered us an upgrade to a suite or additional onboard credit for this promotion. But to me, it's not worth it if the service is poor and the food isn't good. When you have stewards that leave their dirty cleaning rags on the bathroom sink, the toilets smell like raw sewage, and there's someone else's bloodstain on your bedspread, it doesn't really matter about the rest.

 

I couldn't agree with you more! I'm just hoping for the best right now!:)

[peaches from georgia]

It's not the cruiseline's fault. The passengers balk everytime the price goes up, even a little. They make money on the shore excursions, drinks and wine packages. Until we pay more, it only stands to reason that the cruise experience is going to decrease in quality.

 

The luxury lines are always raising rates, including Azamara. The passengers complain, but they still sail with them.

 

I would love to pay more to cruise like it was back in the day. But, people like me are few and far between.

 

Would you pay more?

Yes, we are willing to pay more and do pay a little more since we started cruising Seabourn. (Not as much more as HAL loyalists like to say, however, with all that's included on Seabourn and watching for sale prices.) HAL has been cutting back their former premium product in so many ways over the last few years it no longer offers what we want in our cruise vacation at the price we are willing to pay. For health reasons I have not been able to cruise this year, but when I can shortly we also want to try Oceania. Why not get the best product you can for the price you are willing to pay for it?

[kiggy]

Yes, we are willing to pay more and do pay a little more since we started cruising Seabourn. (Not as much more as HAL loyalists like to say, however, with all that's included on Seabourn and watching for sale prices.) HAL has been cutting back their former premium product in so many ways over the last few years it no longer offers what we want in our cruise vacation at the price we are willing to pay. For health reasons I have not been able to cruise this year, but when I can shortly we also want to try Oceania. Why not get the best product you can for the price you are willing to pay for it?

 

We were going to look into Seabourn, but found that they are part of the Carnival family, so we passed. Princess is also part of Carnival. What a shame.

[serendipity1499]

It's not the cruiseline's fault. The passengers balk everytime the price goes up, even a little. They make money on the shore excursions, drinks and wine packages. Until we pay more, it only stands to reason that the cruise experience is going to decrease in quality.

 

The luxury lines are always raising rates, including Azamara. The passengers complain, but they still sail with them.

 

I would love to pay more to cruise like it was back in the day. But, people like me are few and far between.

 

Would you pay more?

 

I completely agree with you & I've been saying this on Cruise Critic for the past two years..We are still paying approx. the same Rate per day for our Outside cabin, on the R class, S class & vista ships as we first paid on HAL in 1998..The only exception is the Prinsendam which is always double the price of the other ships, but the service & food is wonderful..

Something has got to give & it looks like the food is not as good & the reason the Stewards are forgetting & leaving things undone is because they have more cabins to clean than they did years ago..But the Stewards are always willing to take care of any problems if you bring it to their attention..I know may say why is it necessary to bring it to their attention..My opinion is they are overworked & sometimes need a break..

Yes we would pay more & we do when we cruise on the Prinsendam & on Oceania..

Cheers..Betty

[Crusin Kelly]

We just returned from Alaska on Oosterdam - our 3rd HAL cruise. Food still good - seemed like smaller portions - but that's OK - we don't need to eat so much anyway. What we DID notice, however, where each waiter used to have an assistant waiter, we saw where the assistant waiters are now shared between several waiters. Not a big thing... did it take any longer, not really, we just noticed that it wasn't the big deal to meet the assistant waiter was we had in the past.

[peaches from georgia]

We were going to look into Seabourn, but found that they are part of the Carnival family, so we passed. Princess is also part of Carnival. What a shame.

Seabourn is world's apart from the mass market Carnival lines even if they are part of the "family". Many companies have several divisions where the standards are different for each one. Look how different brothers and sisters from the same parents can be! :D

[serendipity1499]

No, but it's everyone's prerogative to look elsewhere when you're not satisfied. It's a buyer's market in cruising, so let the buyer beware. HAL isn't what it used to be. It's the Carnival influence, imo. If I wanted to sail, say, RCI, I'd book on RCI and save a few thousand. People have booked HAL for a superior experience. It's not like that anymore. Sorry.

 

Why are you saying it's the Carnival influence..That is Hogwash!

Have you ever cruised on Carnival & was the service & the food bad? My Kids cruise on Carnival & so do their in-laws & they tell us it's wonderful! Every one we've talked to also say that Seaborne is fantastic..Have you cruised on them too? I don't know about Princess so can't comment on them..

In addition Carnival acquired HAL in 1989 so if they were going to influence HAL it would have been done many years ago..HAL is an autonomous company & is completely responsible for the service & their food..Carnival has nothing to do with it...

If you found blood stains on your bedspread, did you live with it or did you bring it to your Stewards attention..I would never live with it..We take the longer cruises & on one of them we had an odor & experience of mold starting to germinate in our bathroom..That happens on all ships & boats..I know because we sailed for many miles & lived on our own boat..We brought it to the attention of our Stewards who immediately took care of it & apologized for it..The Stewards are overworked & unable to handle that many more cabins & tables..

As Linda says, until they raise their prices service & food is going to continue to deteriorate.. And until people are willing to spend more $$$ service & food will continue to go downhill..If better service & food is wanted suggest that people look at one of the "Premium Lines" like Oceania, which is one of the best but almost double the price!

Betty

[cruisetrail]

... or has HAL in the last two years, slipped in quality in general? Went on a cruise earlier this month, and found on the Nieuw Amsterdam a lot of cheapening in their product, and a noticeable reduction in the quality of the food, service slipping (especially room service). Anyone else notice this?

 

I monitor HAL best ships closely for last two years.

The quality of the product as a whole and the food in particular is getting better from cruise to cruise.

That's why we booked the next cruise on the NA.

 

I don't see anything factual in your post. Could you be more specific?

What exactly got worse?

What is food for you (Buffet? MDR? Pinnacle? Tamarind?)

Can it be related to the NA only?

The Eurodam is a superb product this season - better that ever.

More details will be appreciated.

Thank you.

[Typhoon1]

All the cruise lines are feeling the pinch.

 

HAL is just one of the many.

[LSEA]

It's not the cruiseline's fault. The passengers balk everytime the price goes up, even a little. They make money on the shore excursions, drinks and wine packages. Until we pay more, it only stands to reason that the cruise experience is going to decrease in quality.

 

The luxury lines are always raising rates, including Azamara. The passengers complain, but they still sail with them.

 

I would love to pay more to cruise like it was back in the day. But, people like me are few and far between.

 

Would you pay more?

 

Yes.