Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Please Correct Me if I'm Wrong

kpgibbs

By kpgibbs,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

Aegis1984

Aegis1984

Posted
Posted
I just read a review. I have put posted the link. This reviewer states that no matter what you order from room service they charge you $11.50. I thought room service was free. Am I wrong?

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=245579

 

The reviewer is mistaken. The $11.50 fee is your daily gratuity aboard the ship. This covers the serving staff in the restaurants, the maintenance staff, bartenders, cabin stewards, etc. You can adjust it up or down to your preference at the front desk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted (edited)
I just read a review. I have put posted the link. This reviewer states that no matter what you order from room service they charge you $11.50. I thought room service was free. Am I wrong?

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=245579

 

The only thing I can think of is that this person ordered some fancy hors d'hoeuvre (sp?) that do carry a charge or they have confused the hsc with a room service charge. Maybe they can't read? It's clearly spelled out.

 

there is NO charge for room service whatsoever - not if you order from the room service menu, the breakfast menu (and even write in stuff from the MDR if it is open) or from the MDR menu (ordered at the right time at night).

 

A shame that these reviews mislead people. You are NOT wrong. There is no charge - sounds like they were on another line and got their ships mixed up - LOL

 

room service is one of the nice things about HAL. No matter the cabin, you can have it at no charge :D

Edited by kazu
Link to comment
Share on other sites
jtl513

jtl513

Posted
Posted (edited)

This person confused the Hotel Service Charge for a room service charge. Room service is free.

HOTEL SERVICE CHARGE

Our crew works very hard to make sure that every aspect of

your cruise meets the highest standards. This includes those

crew members who serve you directly, such as Dining Room

wait staff and the stewards who service your stateroom each

day. There are also many others who support their efforts

whom you may never meet, such as galley and laundry staff.

To ensure that the efforts of all of our crew members are

recognized and rewarded, a daily Hotel Service Charge is

automatically added to each guest’s shipboard account.

The daily Hotel Service Charge for suites is USD$12.00*

per guest per day, and USD$11.50* per guest per day for

other staterooms. (*The charges are subject to change without notice.)

For more details, please visit “Money Matters” under the

Shipboard Life section of our website at hollandamerica.com.

The Hotel Service Charge is paid to Holland America Line

crew members, and represents an important part of their

compensation. A 15% Bar Service Charge is automatically

added to bar charges and Dining Room wine purchases.

Edited by jtl513
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Linda&Vern

Linda&Vern

Posted
Posted

I posted about this a couple of weeks ago. IIRC, the reviewer was commenting on how he (solo traveler) ordered Room Service coffee each morning to avoid the mess in the Lido. He obviously was confused about what that daily $11.50 charge on his bill was. As others said, it is too bad no one can correct his now tainted impression of Room Service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Posted
Posted

Thank you for the link.

Reading through the review the person has cruised before so should know about Hotel Service Charges. Most cruise lines have something similar -- some call it "gratuities" -- and some cruise lines allow you to pre-paid these charges.

At least he/she was pleased with HAL.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sapper1

sapper1

Posted
Posted

Since reviews have to be submitted to CC for approval before being published it would seem, that when a glaring inaccuracy appears, a notation could be made at the bottom of the review.

 

I don't agree with the idea of a comments section because we all know where that would lead. Moderators would be needed and it would complicate the review section.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whogo

whogo

Posted
Posted

The Cruise Critic undated professional review of Prinsendam is less accurate.

 

Holland America has built some special garden villa cabins out onto the Promenade's Aft Deck; these "lanai" cabins have semiprivate terraces, surrounded by glass. Passengers who book these cabins have sole use of this particular aft area's amenities, which include tables for al fresco dining and a whirlpool.
The Lido works well for breakfast, lunch and casual dinners with its outside deck and inside tables, and a cadre of stewards who will carry trays and refill drinks.
For a truly special meal, consider the Pinnacle Grill, Holland America's signature alternative restaurant offering Northwest specialties. That doesn't mean only salmon (though it is special). You'll also find crab and shrimp cakes, halibut, outstanding lamb and steaks, and a really brilliant onion soup. Other specials include a duck breast with pickled Walla Walla onions and Dungeness crab legs. Expect to pay a $15 cover charge for lunch on sea days and $30 for dinner.
You can take a rumba lesson...
The Oak Room's dark wood walls, leather furnishings and (fake) fireplace are reminiscent of the stodgy gentlemen's clubs of yesteryear. Women are cheerfully admitted in this smoker's lounge, however. Other public room highlights include the Erasmus Library and the Half Moon (card and game) area.
Lap swimming is suitable in the aft deck pool.
http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review_print.cfm?ShipID=249
Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
The Cruise Critic undated professional review of Prinsendam is less accurate.

Since reviews have to be approved before they are posted, it would be helpful if those who do the approving could add notes correcting factual errors, such as this reviewer made.

 

Imagine the number of people who read these reviews and don't ask about the factual errors, and go on their merry way spreading the incorrect "facts".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jtl513

jtl513

Posted
Posted
Since reviews have to be approved before they are posted, it would be helpful if those who do the approving could add notes correcting factual errors, such as this reviewer made.
That would be great ... except that the reviewer would have to be an expert on the Line. Have you thought about volunteering? :D
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Randyk47

Randyk47

Posted
Posted
Since reviews have to be approved before they are posted, it would be helpful if those who do the approving could add notes correcting factual errors, such as this reviewer made.

 

Imagine the number of people who read these reviews and don't ask about the factual errors, and go on their merry way spreading the incorrect "facts".

 

I agree. I think it would be a shame that somebody would come here to make a cruise decision and rely on a review that contained a factual error. Recently we've had errors like a service charge for room service and another review that maintained there was a cover charge for eating in the MDR. Sure, in a version of "buyer beware", it is "reader beware" in kind of "don't believe everything you read on the Internet" way. I have no idea the number of daily or weekly load of submitted reviews and it may well be an easier said than done situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
That would be great ... except that the reviewer would have to be an expert on the Line. Have you thought about volunteering? :D

 

I don't consider myself an "expert", but I do consider the collective "we" on the HAL board to be.

 

If there were an area on the reviews board where people who notice mistakes could refer points to the people who approve the review (this would be after the fact) so that those in charge could verify points in dispute and add a disclaimer at the end, that would suffice (as far as I'm concerned).

No, it wouldn't prevent incorrect information from getting out there in the first place, but it would help. It would also leave responsibility for the reviews exactly where it belongs---on the reviewer and those who approve the reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kpgibbs

kpgibbs

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I know some company’s pay people to leave bad reviews for hotels and restaurants. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that happens here. But I always keep that in mind when reading a review. Especially if it a bad review. I read a review the other day that was awful. The lady was totally disgusted with her entire cruise. Nothing was right. Either she was paid or nothing in this world will make her happy. I always try to read between the lines. But when I read something like being charged for room service I have to ask.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted (edited)
I know some company’s pay people to leave bad reviews for hotels and restaurants. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that happens here. But I always keep that in mind when reading a review.

At least with the CC site, there are a couple of options:

 

One can always come over here to the HAL board (as you did) to confirm points that don't sound right.

 

One can also check the reviewer's posts on boards to get a "feel" for what they know, if they seem to have any agendas, and a little bit get to know them. That makes it easier to put the review in a greater context.

If there are no posts, that should be considered, too.

Edited by RuthC
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wander

wander

Posted
Posted

It is too bad that there is not a way to have an addendum to a review when a FACT OR FACTS were in error. Probably only a moderator or one person at CC should be able to do that.

Addendums for Opinions - no, but for FACTS - yes IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jtl513

jtl513

Posted
Posted (edited)

One can also check the reviewer's posts on boards to get a "feel" for what they know, if they seem to have any agendas, and a little bit get to know them. That makes it easier to put the review in a greater context.

If there are no posts, that should be considered, too.

There's a slight problem there. Up until a few months ago every member was listed in the Members List, regardless of the number of posts - even zero. It has been changed so that the minimum number to be listed is 300 posts, and many of the people giving erroneous information in reviews probably are under that limit ... including "zcruizer". Therefore it is impossible to find their posts with CC search function.

 

See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/memberlist.php?order=asc&sort=posts&pp=30&page=1

Only 20,367 members are listed!

 

EDIT: in this case I found posts by zcruizer by using Google. S/he gas been a CC member for less than three months, and has just 9 posts, one of which was on the Roll Call before the cruise. S/he has been on just four cruises, and only the one Zuiderdam cruise on HAL

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php?searchid=48099734

Edited by jtl513
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...