Is it just me...

[sail7seas]

Veendam had USPH Inspection the day we left the ship and I heard she scored a commendable " 96 ". :) I'm happy for the Officers and hard working crew to have scored such a respectable score for an 'older' ship.

 

They really have brought the ship back to expected standards.

[sppunk]

Veendam had USPH Inspection the day we left the ship and I heard she scored a commendable " 96 ". :) I'm happy for the Officers and hard working crew to have scored such a respectable score for an 'older' ship.

 

They really have brought the ship back to expected standards.

 

Very nice! I know after our sailing most all senior on-board management were demoted/fired/sent to an office job. Maybe that was all that was needed.

[lovetocruise2020]

Our first HAL cruise 4 years ago was not great, in fact it was pretty bad. Every one since then has been amazing.

[lovetocruise2020]

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

 

Betty,

I have been on Carnival ALOT. Its GREAT. We love Carnival. But up until now, we take our special cruises with HAL.

I actually like Carnivals food better than HAL. And the desserts are MUCH better.

[SeaDate]

Just my two cents on this blog.

 

I've been on almost every mass cruise line. I've found the food on all good to very good, sometimes certain dishes are not to my taste. I like HAL because it suits my needs and caters to my personal tastes. I'm not a cheerleader of any line nor bash any line as they are all, IMO, about the same - just cater to different clientele. All the lines, again IMO, have cut costs, as must businesses have. "X" was great but I enjoy HAL more.

[Railer]

Only been on two ships so far, the Zuiderdam and Queen Victoria (Cunard). I know that they are both part of Carnival. On the Zuiderdam we ate mostly in the buffet, we thought the food was good. On the Queen Vic, most meals were in the MDR and we thought the food and service were great. It's not a fair comparison. As for the boats themselves I liked the way the Vic was set up. I would like to cruise on Cunard again but cruising in the Caribbean, I did not feel like having to worry about the dress code. I wanted to feel a little more casual this time. I also liked the itinerary with HAL so we booked on the Zuiderdam again. On both cruises we were very happy with the staff and had no problems. Getting an upgrade on both probably helped to make us happy.

[pris993]

We cruise Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard and NCL. Basically there are all about the same.

[Tennessee Titan]

We seem to have half a dozen complainers here, some general, some specific. You cannot condemn a ship or cruise line based on such a small sample. This group represents far less than 1% of the total people sailing on these ships....

[Cqis]

Is it just me ----- I have only good things to say about HAL. I have had good food, and service, My cabin has always been clean. I am so sorry for all of you that have not had good experiences. All of my problems on board have been resolved. I am a happy mate.

[Railer]

I agree that this is a very small sample but how many people may have been on the same cruises but never made a complaint on here. Some people will complain to the cruise line and others may not say anything but they will not come back. If there were changes made after a particularly bad cruise, there must have been more than a couple of complaints. Some people will complain about any little detail, where for others, it takes much more. TV stations do not think that one complaint is one complaint. Depending on the size of the available audience, one complaint may be considered to be 1,000 people are unhappy about something. Doesn't mean that this will affect any decisions. But if 20 people complain, they will look seriously at the problem. I am generally the type of person that if I'm not happy with a restaurant or whatever, I just don't go back. Having said that, I've cruised on the Zuiderdam before and I'm cruising on the Zuiderdam again in January. This obviously means that I was happy enough last time to give HAL some more of my vacation dollars. Although if I have a terrible cruise this time, I may not come back again.

[Katie333]

Believe me, there are similar threads and posts about ALL the other cruise lines. We have cruised on the dreaded Carnival, along with Princess and RCI as well as one cruise on HAL.

 

While we have found some aspects on Carnival to indeed follow the stereotypes, we have also found some very good food, desserts, and we have enjoyed lovely suite accommodation for the price of a balcony on other lines. My husband still talks about the Indian food we had on the Freedom - it was really fantastic.

 

Let me say that we really did not enjoy our RCI cruise. But I'm also open enough to realize that our single experience on that ship may not represent the entire experience on the line.

 

We also cruised the NA earlier this year and really enjoyed it. Did not experience the same things as the OP (though we did not eat in Pinnacle), and when we considered options for our Med cruise next year, turns out the NA was doing this route and we booked that ship a second time. While much maligned on CC, we are looking forward to our explore4 package as well.

 

My point is that one bad experience can turn someone off, and rightfully so. That doesn't mean that everything onboard is wrong and every cruise line is falling apart.

[ICUQT]

Is it just me ----- I have only good things to say about HAL. I have had good food, and service, My cabin has always been clean. I am so sorry for all of you that have not had good experiences. All of my problems on board have been resolved. I am a happy mate.

 

I have posted some negative comments on CC regarding HAL over the years.Admittedly, more positive than negative. But my comments have mainly been minor as compared to others and more to do with my "expectations" than anything else. Like you I find overall selection/quality of the service, food, itineraries comparable to any other cruise line.But as it was pointed out to me the Holland America of today is not the Holland America of the past. It is just another "average" cruise line that has had to make changes to stay competitive in the industry. Even though "changes" have been made, some of which I do not agree with, I understand why they have been made. Right now HAL has loyal customers in my wife and I but HAL must understand that as cruisers we all have "choices" that we as cruisers can make including switching to another cruise line. IMHO that "loyalty" base is where HAL should be directing more of their attention to.

 

bob

[born2travel]

Cutbacks are the universal trend, sadly, but cruise prices are pretty amazing. Our very first cruise was on the lately-maligned Carnival Triumph. We chose the ship for its size, glitz and the fact that it was far more affordable than the RCI Voyageur at the time.

 

We LOVED the Triumph, which had two formal nights, the midnight Chocolate Buffet, Captains Cocktail Party, endless special events, amazing shows every night, and more. Our inside cabin was better than we expected and that trip got us hooked on cruising. Fast forward to 2013, where we can book a nice balcony, even some suites on a Carnival ship for the same price we paid for our interior cabin in 1999! Would we expect cutbacks???? Have to be kind of crazy not to.

 

We jumped to RCI for our next number of cruises, and have found the prices to never keep pace with our other cost of living expenditures. Again, we can see the cutbacks (less staffing, no Crown & Anchor gifts, no late night buffets, etc.) Bottom line, their prices have allowed us to keep cruising, and my waistline really doesn't need that extra buffet!

 

We have just booked our first HAL cruise which, 14 years later, is actually costing us LESS for a balcony gty than that first inside cabin on the Triumph. HAL-lovers, please don't hate me, but I don't expect the service, food, and entertainment on the Westerdam will match the Carnival Triumph of 1999.

 

In case you wonder why we switched to RCI...it was the ships! We loved the Voyageur class, enjoyed Freedom class, and found Oasis class to be out of this world. We are squeezing in a 2nd cruise this year only because HAL is making it so affordable.

[kiggy]

We seem to have half a dozen complainers here, some general, some specific. You cannot condemn a ship or cruise line based on such a small sample. This group represents far less than 1% of the total people sailing on these ships....

 

 

I'm not a complainer. Only when I have something to complain about, which we did on our last cruise. How much stock do YOU currently own in HAL?

[Tennessee Titan]

I'm not a complainer. Only when I have something to complain about, which we did on our last cruise. How much stock do YOU currently own in HAL?

Don't like it here - pay more/go elsewhere....

Enough so I get the $250 shipboard credit every cruise...

[kiggy]

Don't like it here - pay more/go elsewhere....

Enough so I get the $250 shipboard credit every cruise...

 

Already booked X for our annual Caribbean cruise.

[Shorn]

I'm not a complainer. Only when I have something to complain about, which we did on our last cruise. How much stock do YOU currently own in HAL?

 

Good bye cruise critic,I am convinced a lot of people,here have there own barrow to push, I had confidence in what was said on this forum , that plus the itinerary helped me book a HAL cruise, Neptune suite for 33 days, because HAL.never delivered what the brochure said , we put our views on this forum ,only to be howled down or virtually saying that your telling lies about people's beloved cruise line . Some could be employees , or relatives of members,

Maybe they do own stock in HAL I don't know but it is sad when people are so one eyed about inferior service & product,if you did not receive service as advertised with a land based operator you could probably do something about it

But you cannot even field your concerns on this forum.without some negative comments, believe me I talked to a lot of people on our cruise who were very unhappy but never use cruise critic .

[Route6A]

... 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?

To answer your question directly, yes. We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam in 2011, and noticed a decline in food quality and a reduction in staffing that affected service throughout the ship. The stewards were as gracious as ever, but the staffing ratios made it impossible for them to deliver the level of service we had experienced on Holland America over many years. We "jumped ship" even though we were four-star Mariners, and have not sailed with Holland America since. We can find better value for money spent on other lines now, especially Cunard when we book after final payment. Although we have fond memories of some lovely cruises with HAL, we will not be sailing with them again.

[Roz]

Nothing is like it used to be, so we have to adapt and move forward.

 

I read posts on other boards about how Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, Crystal, RCI, Princess, etc. have gone downhill due to cutbacks over the past couple of years.

 

Roz

[Randyk47]

Nothing is like it used to be, so we have to adapt and move forward.

 

I read posts on other boards about how Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, Crystal, RCI, Princess, etc. have gone downhill due to cutbacks over the past couple of years.

 

Roz

 

I'd add some of the luxury lines to that list also. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise last year on Silversea, it really reminded us of the level of service, food, etc., from our early 90's on HAL yet some of the Silversea "old timers" feel that some of those aspects had gone down over the years. We had past experience with the line for comparison and we were pleased enough we're going back on Silversea next year. Guess it's all relative and decline is measured from whenever you first experienced a cruise line. I kind of get that when folks here are like "I don't know what you're talking about or mean. We were just on the Xxxdam and it was wonderful."

[Roz]

Those are good points you made, Randy.

 

Despite the cutbacks, I still think cruising is one of the best vacation values around. I currently have 3 booked, so I must like it, despite all the changes. :D

 

Roz

[kiggy]

I'd add some of the luxury lines to that list also. We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise last year on Silversea, it really reminded us of the level of service, food, etc., from our early 90's on HAL yet some of the Silversea "old timers" feel that some of those aspects had gone down over the years. We had past experience with the line for comparison and we were pleased enough we're going back on Silversea next year. Guess it's all relative and decline is measured from whenever you first experienced a cruise line. I kind of get that when folks here are like "I don't know what you're talking about or mean. We were just on the Xxxdam and it was wonderful."

 

I think that's true, as well, Randy. When you don't have a history with a particular cruise line, you really don't have a frame of reference. I'm thinking that that's what HAL and others are banking on in getting newer people into cruising with lower base pricing. I'm hoping that's not the case with X, but we'll see.

[BJane]

Your comment about the lack of assistant waiters jogged my memory of our early experiences on HAL. We had sailed on other lines and when we first began sailing on HAL in 1991 we were surprised that there were no assistant waiters on our first four HAL cruises. On the Statendam in 1998 there were assistant waiters. Notes from that trip mention that the "dining room staff seemed much friendlier and more personable than on previous HAL trips".

[Randyk47]

I think that's true, as well, Randy. When you don't have a history with a particular cruise line, you really don't have a frame of reference. I'm thinking that that's what HAL and others are banking on in getting newer people into cruising with lower base pricing. I'm hoping that's not the case with X, but we'll see.

 

I know, or at least perceive, that most cruise lines are struggling with the same issues, none of them are immune from changes in demographics, the economy, etc. Some are trying to hold the line and keep their lines afloat, some are unfortunately cost cutting while morphing their product and struggling doing so. Some maybe are doing better than others but it's got to be a challenge. All I can do is find the "best bang for the buck" and hope that cruising in general stays attractive for the rest of my cruising years.

[rafinmd]

Sorry, Carnival, in my opinion, is nothing but a glorified booze cruise.

 

And how do you know? I think I looked pretty closely at your signature and it looks like you have NO first hand experience.

 

All I show in mine is the future, but in 2013 I've sailed 6 different cruise lines. You do tend to get what you pay for and every price point has it's merits. I've seen 4 really distinct levels:

 

Crystal

 

Prinsendam

 

14 HAL ships/Cunard

 

RCI/Carnival

 

I've really enjoyed all these levels (well, Prinsendam will come later) but can definitely tell the difference. The getaways are great on any ship (probably even Celebrity), but for the really important cruises it will be the top 2 (perhaps 3) of those levels.

 

 

 

Roy