Stuffy cabins at night on HAL ships.

[bcscot]

Let me think . . .

 

"How quickly would I book passage on a cruise line that gave me uncomfortable accommodations on a prior cruise?"

 

Anyone else ask that question?

 

I take your point, but I tend to see life in shades of grey rather than in black and white. As has been pointed out, people have problems on other lines too (none of them are perfect) and we do like HAL very much for many reasons. We have invested a lot of our cruising time with them and hope to soon have the benefits of being 4 star Mariners. Although all of this would be of secondary importance if we cannot sleep, we are not quite ready to give up on HAL (indeed, we have future cruises booked). It is because we like HAL so much that we are agonising over this and we want to be able to sail with them again. We just want to be able to breath and sleep well. We do enjoy sailing on other lines and may just have to sail more with them and less with HAL in the future, unless this issue is resolved. I cannot do much about it, although, highlighting it on CC, may help to give HAL the further feedback that they need to start taking this thing seriously (if they think that enough people are upset, for it to affect their bookings).

[CowPrincess]

When we last cruised I noticed that I was waking up in the middle of the night and had to go stand on the balcony. It struck me as odd, because normally I sleep better at sea than on land. So maybe it was "stuffy" and I didn't realize that. Jan 2013. It was pretty consistent every night I"d be awake at 2 or 3 am.

[OlsSalt]

Jet lag needs to also weigh in on this issue too - different distances and different directions affect our sleep patterns for at least several days and night in the beginning.

 

In fact we are staying in Singapore for three days a head of our next Asia cruise just to avoid losing those first few days of the cruise to jet lag -where I want to sleep in the afternoon, and wake up way early in the morning too. But not in a stuffy cabin. We learned to turn the thermostat down before we go to bed.

 

But just plain old jet lag certainly affects us differently whether we are flying east to west, or west to east, or have longer or shorter flights to get to the embarkation port and have been up for 24 hours or so ahead of time. Love the TA's where they steal or add hours, but at least the jet lag transition is a lot smoother for the miles covered.

[kazu]

Jet lag needs to also weigh in on this issue too - different distances and different directions affect our sleep patterns for at least several days and night in the beginning.

 

In fact we are staying in Singapore for three days a head of our next Asia cruise just to avoid losing those first few days of the cruise to jet lag -where I want to sleep in the afternoon, and wake up way early in the morning too. But not in a stuffy cabin. We learned to turn the thermostat down before we go to bed.

 

But just plain old jet lag certainly affects us differently whether we are flying east to west, or west to east, or have longer or shorter flights to get to the embarkation port and have been up for 24 hours or so ahead of time. Love the TA's where they steal or add hours, but at least the jet lag transition is a lot smoother for the miles covered.

 

Jet Lag doesn't work as the reason for us. We are always in at least two days before our cruise - especially if we are going across the Atlantic. We are fully recovered, refreshed and enjoyed some sights of our embarkation port when we board :)

[startwin]

As someone who has to do trans-atlantic flights (10 hrs from western Canada and with an 8 hour time difference) quite frequently, I can honestly attest that jet lag plays no part in whether I am too hot at night.:D

[OlsSalt]

Settled. HAL cabins ruin your sleep. Best to stay away. Too bad because for so long they were known for having the best beds on the high seas. Wonder what happened. I wonder when they decided it was better to make passengers miserable.

Edited November 26, 2013 by OlsSalt

[bcscot]

Settled. HAL cabins ruin your sleep. Best to stay away. Too bad because for so long they were known for having the best beds on the high seas. Wonder what happened. I wonder when they decided it was better to make passengers miserable.

This is indeed THE question. HAL have wonderful beds and we used to sleep well in them. Surely HAL are aware that they are making their passengers miserable. WHEN and WHY?

[kazu]

Settled. HAL cabins ruin your sleep. Best to stay away. Too bad because for so long they were known for having the best beds on the high seas. Wonder what happened. I wonder when they decided it was better to make passengers miserable.

 

huh? I'm not sure where this is coming from. Stuffy cabins can be troublesome. My post said things were rectified. For others, maybe not.

 

Having the best beds on the high seas - no question - I have already said that it is for me. BUT if someone can't sleep, then it doesn't matter how good the beds are.

 

Disappointed to see a typical cheerleader comment here - don't like - stay away. That's not the point at all. Many of us enjoy HAL and their beds and as long as they can have a good nights sleep with the air all is good.

 

I didn't know it was that complicated or meant that anyone should be pushing clients away:rolleyes: I'm not sure HAL would appreciate it - don't you think they would rather resolve it?:confused:

[CowPrincess]

Settled. HAL cabins ruin your sleep. Best to stay away. Too bad because for so long they were known for having the best beds on the high seas. Wonder what happened. I wonder when they decided it was better to make passengers miserable.

 

Nowhere have I read anyone (except in this post) say that HAL has decided to make passengers miserable. I posted an honest answer in response to a request for information. And it wasn't jet lag. I personally think this post is a deliberate attempt to obscure the question and the resulting answers.

[gwesq]

This is a common occurence in hotels, and I assume on ships, also.

If the thermostats on HAL ships are like the hotel ones, here's an override you can use to keep the A/C going:

 

http://thermostatbypass.tumblr.com/

[ozcruizer]

We did Norway and the Baltic States in August this year on the Eurodam in a veranda cabin on the 8th deck right at the aft of the ship and experienced no problems at all.

Enjoy your cruise.

Ozcruizer

 

 

We're booked on the Eurodam for the Baltic Adventure in late May. Does anyone have recent experience with this problem on the Eurodam?

[bcscot]

This is a common occurence in hotels, and I assume on ships, also.

If the thermostats on HAL ships are like the hotel ones, here's an override you can use to keep the A/C going:

 

http://thermostatbypass.tumblr.com/

 

If this works, for either ships or hotels, you will be on my list of favourite people! :D

Thanks.

[waASPCrusier]

This is a common occurence in hotels, and I assume on ships, also.

If the thermostats on HAL ships are like the hotel ones, here's an override you can use to keep the A/C going:

 

http://thermostatbypass.tumblr.com/

 

This is great for hotels and I will file away, but at least on the Oosterdam on our last cruise the thermostat was just a simple dial.

[sambamama]

I sailed on the Veendam 2 years ago, and the Maasdam this past March. I definitely thought the air conditioning was either turned off or became less effective around 1am. The room was always cold when I went to bed, but got too warm during the night.

[zackiedawg]

If this works, for either ships or hotels, you will be on my list of favourite people! :D

Thanks.

 

Ships no, because most I've been on have the simple dials and are not individually isolated, ie: the ship has master control over all ventilation.

 

Hotels yes. I've been using the BP method for many years at Disney resorts, which use those systems in all of their rooms - sometimes they are temporary modes that last 48 or 72 hours, so you may at some point have to perform the trick again for longer stays...but it has worked and prevented me from waking up at night in central Florida on a 105 degree day with the A/C turned off because there was no movement in the living room of my villa, and the room had gone up to 85 degrees!

[bcscot]

Re the locking override. How would your plan accommodate all those passengers who, after spending time on their balcony under the stars, try to re enter their cabins only to discover they have been locked out? Are they doomed to spend the night on the balcony?

 

In case of fire the smoke may be so thick in the passageway that the only course of action is to flee to the balcony. Oops--- the door is locked.

 

As I reported on another thread, we had engine exhaust fumes being pumped through our ventilation system while docked at Tilbury overnight on the Prinsendam. The fumes were making us ill and causing us to have headaches. The front desk couldn't have cared less, so for self preservation we were forced to prop our door open for ventilation. A locked balcony door would have forced us out of our cabin to sleep in a lounge somewhere. We tried to sleep on the balcony but it was too cold and damp.

 

I know that part of your answer will be that the fumes were most likely within HAL acceptable limits and that our illness was subjective. I thought I would beat you to it. :)

I had forgotten until I read this, but on two occasions during our recent Rotterdam trip, our section of the ship smelled strongly of exhaust fumes. On one occasion, I awoke to this in the morning. We had to get outside for fresh air as it was making us feel unwell. I waited to see if it would settle, before contacting the front desk. It eventually did settle, but I did report it.

The ship was at sea, travelling slowly, on both occasions. I was not sure if the ventilation system was drawing in the ship's own exhaust fumes or if someone was running a motor near the intake. They were using pumps to remove water from the tenders, as well as using other mechanical devices. I have experienced the same thing in a building when someone left a truck running beside the intake for the ventilation system. It is most unpleasant.

[cruisetrail]

Stuffy cabins at night.

 

We have never had this problem on any ship / any cruise line.

[bcscot]

We have never had this problem on any ship / any cruise line.

Lucky you! :) Maybe you are among the many people who are not sensitive to this problem. It seems to be an individual thing, but it is interesting to see that others have experienced this problem too. We have two further HAL cruises booked and I will be most disappointed if we have this problem again on them. The smokers, we can try to avoid, but there is no getting away from this one (within reason!).

[bcscot]

I just read on another thread that someone had no AC for 6 nights on the Ryndam. I would like to hear more about that. This is starting to sound depressingly all too familiar. I wonder if they decide to do this on cruises that have been sold cheaply, where profits have suffered? :confused: