Maasdam - Review - Just out of dry dock Jan 17th but...

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wow! 30 cruises on the Maasdam, so you started cruising before it was "Carnivalized " and had the true HAL experience that we all miss. These S class ships are a perfect size, with everything we need and lacking things like water slides and rock climbing walls that would turn us off! Too bad HAL doesn't wake up and properly maintain and adequately staff these wonderful older ships.

 

 

Carnival bought Holland America in 1989.

Maasdam was built in 1993.

Just thought you would like to know that.

[sambamama]

I was also on the Dec 6 sailing. I had late fixed seating. The food and service was great. I saw a few toliets out of service. My chilled fruit soups were delicious and at the right temperature. Had dinner in the Pinnacle twice and the service there was not nearly as good as in the MDR.

[kazu]

Thanks for the review. Well, shiver me timbers as we are going on her the end of March. We were on her last year and very happy with everything. IMO you can't compare any ship in the fleet to the Prinsendam and I don't expect the same on the Maasdam but it was a very good cruise.

 

Hopefully these are just post dry dock issues - at least I hope so and all is in good working order when we get on board. She was fine last year. Maybe they mucked up at dry dock?

 

I am sorry to hear of your experiences and hope that you still managed to have a good cruise.

[July_Cruiser]

Do you remember the times for Fixed Dining?

We had Main seating at 8:00 pm. Don't know what early seating time was.

[kiwicutie]

I was on the Maasdam last year twice, once for the 49 day cruise to Rio/Amazon and then again Dec 6th for a 14 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean. yes there were some issues with internet as they were downloading the new microsoft 8.1, so the computer area was closed for several days. I wasn't impressed with the computer tech either as I thought she was very rigid and had such a big ego. I never got a survey from HAL on this cruise although I did email the HAL consultant my thoughts. The food was fine, service in the Pinnacle (2X) was fair, although they did screw up the main course. Things got straighten out in the end. Sorry to hear about the bathrooms not working, but at least they didn't get the norvo virus like on other ships. There have been cut backs all over in other lines as well. We have to be understanding if you want the prices to be reasonable.

[July_Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. Well, shiver me timbers as we are going on her the end of March. We were on her last year and very happy with everything. IMO you can't compare any ship in the fleet to the Prinsendam and I don't expect the same on the Maasdam but it was a very good cruise.

 

Hopefully these are just post dry dock issues - at least I hope so and all is in good working order when we get on board. She was fine last year. Maybe they mucked up at dry dock?

 

I am sorry to hear of your experiences and hope that you still managed to have a good cruise.

 

We stilled enjoyed the wonderful beaches (especially the private island) and getting away from our ice and snow. The ship was merely our transportation and hotel for the most part. The crew works hard to make it a nice experience, but they need better support from the corporation and better maintenance of the ship.

Hmmm.. Maybe you're right and none of HAL's other ships will be quite like the Prinsendam experience.

[Travelbug 2]

I am booked on Maasdam in June. Sure hope this is a post dry dock situation that will be resolved quickly. :eek:

Looking for more reviews of Maasdam.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Travelbug 2

[cbr663]

The cuts are across the entire Carnival line and will continue. Carnival has no choice. From its 2012 Annual report, even though the number of passengers is up, its revenue is down. Significantly. Two major drivers - lost ticket sales from having to reduce prices to attract passengers and increased fuel costs.

 

To quote a line from its report:

 

"our profit improvement teams are dedicated to reducing other costs through benchmarking and sharing best practices among our operating companies, as

well as gaining efficiencies by implementing new technologies."

 

In other words, continued cuts across the entire brands.

[Ringadingding]

6 February 2014

 

HA I hope these problems are sorted out before our cruise in Feb 2015!! It is not very encouraging.

[c-legs]

I don't know where I saw this on CC Boards, but the advice was that it usually isn't a good idea to be on the last cruise before dry dock, or on the first cruise after dry dock.

SPECIALLY THE FIRST POST-DRYDOCK VOYAGE....i WOULD AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.

I'M YET TO OBSERVE A CRUISE LINE THAT SCHEDULES THE PROPER ### OF DAYS NEEDED TO DO THE MYRIADS OF JOBS AND PROJECTS ON TAP FOR A SPECIFIC YARD VISIT.....THE ''FINISHING TOUCHES'' CONTINUE WELL INTO THE INITIAL VOYAGE POST-CRUISE.

[G&G]

SPECIALLY THE FIRST POST-DRYDOCK VOYAGE....i WOULD AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE.

I'M YET TO OBSERVE A CRUISE LINE THAT SCHEDULES THE PROPER ### OF DAYS NEEDED TO DO THE MYRIADS OF JOBS AND PROJECTS ON TAP FOR A SPECIFIC YARD VISIT.....THE ''FINISHING TOUCHES'' CONTINUE WELL INTO THE INITIAL VOYAGE POST-CRUISE.

 

I agree but Drydock should have no impact on the continued inconsistent service and quality of food in the MDR. As previously stated in this thread the each waiter/helper have to service 28-30 passengers at Anytime Dining. It is imposssible to provide excellent or even good service to this number of passengers at one time.

[Straitaway]

I was also on the Dec 6, 2013, 14 day Caribbean cruise. The ice cream was firm enough to eat from a cone and the chilled fruit soups were perfectly chilled. There were a few bathrooms that were out of order, but not for long. One of the coffee machines in the lido was out for the whole cruise. Other than those things, I saw nothing amiss on the Maasdam. Early dining (5:45) was prompt and efficient.

 

The Windows 8 lady was rude and talked down to passengers as though they were in kindergarten. I had to walk out of two of her classes because I was so disgusted, and I did mention her on my survey.

 

I couldn't believe it was about to go into drydock. It was just as beautiful as my first time on the Maasdam, except for the lanai cabins which ruin the promenade deck experience. I really don't want to see people in their bathrobes sitting on the deck. Isn't that what balcony rooms are for?

[pearliemae]

Never went to any computer classes, but the man running the computer help station was very helpful and personable while being extremely professional.

He was one of the best we have experienced on Holland America.

 

We have been on Prinsendam multiple times and feel the Maasdam is pretty much its equal in regards to food and service. Both of our Maasdam trips have been among the best cruises we have had in the last 10 years.

Whichever ship has the best itinerary for us is the one we pick.

Either ship is a winner.

[startwin]

Innlady just posted her review of 10 days on the Maasdam - it pretty much agrees with yours. Sounds like there are some real problems on that ship. Oh, and internet problems continued.

[silvercruiser]

Amsterdam also has the 'new improved' system for Internet and it just isn't working at all much of the time. On the other hand, Ryndam this past Dec. had perfect service, but one year before it was awful, kept cutting out. I had assumed that they'd installed the new system, but now I'm not sure, since at least two ships are having big problems with it.

[TiogaCruiser]

How disappointing for you. Hopefully HAL will get the kinks ironed out soon.

 

We know there have been staffing cuts but Am wondering if the crew was fairly new or not full staffed, being Maasdam was coming off a dry dock....

 

On a cruise we took in June to Alaska we noticed the less than good service and inexperienced staff. Many were on their very first days of their first contract. We also suspected several weren't yet used to US accents. We saw our room steward maybe twice: the first night he knocked on the door and handed DH the pillow chocolates and said "here" or something like that.

[ruthnlarry]

I was on the Maasdam last year twice, once for the 49 day cruise to Rio/Amazon and then again Dec 6th for a 14 day cruise to the Southern Caribbean. yes there were some issues with internet as they were downloading the new microsoft 8.1, so the computer area was closed for several days. I wasn't impressed with the computer tech either as I thought she was very rigid and had such a big ego. I never got a survey from HAL on this cruise although I did email the HAL consultant my thoughts. The food was fine, service in the Pinnacle (2X) was fair, although they did screw up the main course. Things got straighten out in the end. Sorry to hear about the bathrooms not working, but at least they didn't get the norvo virus like on other ships. There have been cut backs all over in other lines as well. We have to be understanding if you want the prices to be reasonable.

Whatever happened with HAL's "Signature of Excellence"?

I'm sorry, but "food was fine, service in the Pinnacle (2X) was fair, although they did screw up the main course" isn't good enough for us.

 

To those who say that you should not book a cruise right after drydock, I have a question: What do you do if you booked a cruise before a drydock was announced, and have booked and paid a deposit on independent excursions after considerable research? Also, people from your Roll Call have committed to joining these excursions.

[July_Cruiser]

Whatever happened with HAL's "Signature of Excellence"?

I'm sorry, but "food was fine, service in the Pinnacle (2X) was fair, although they did screw up the main course" isn't good enough for us.

 

To those who say that you should not book a cruise right after drydock, I have a question: What do you do if you booked a cruise before a drydock was announced, and have booked and paid a deposit on independent excursions after considerable research? Also, people from your Roll Call have committed to joining these excursions.

 

WELL STATED, RUTH N LARRY!,

 

The Pinnacle Grille should be the pinnacle of great service and great food!

 

I must say that the soup, bread, shared vegetable side dish, and dessert were all wonderful for us at the Pinnacle. That said, we could have let the main entre not spoil our entire experience had the waiter promptly corrected the situation. Our MDR waiter, in fact, corrected a few minor food situations for us over this cruise and we never needed to have the manager of the MDR involved. So here is my position, that supposedly the Pinnacle has the finest waiters with fewer people to serve per waiter, so why did I get much better service in the MDR than the Pinnacle? When I go to my local divey bar for dinner they always come back to see if everything is good for us. I did raise this question to HAL. in my extensive comments attached to their online survey.