Can the Maasdam still satisfy

[richard1s]

I never thought I would pose this type of question but the window for final payment and cancellation is closing. Early this year, we booked the Maasdam for a fall Canada/New England itinerary that looked perfect for us and fit our travel schedule nicely.

 

I know that she's an old ship, but between the noro flare ups, mixed reviews and reports of her showing her age, I am really wondering if it may be better to pass while we still can. The price for the itinerary we booked certainly does not suggest anything other than the usual quality HAL experience, but I am uncertain that Maasdam can deliver based on some of these reports.

 

I realize experiences are subjective, but for any recent passengers - can Maasdam still perform to HAL standards and deliver a good vacation?

 

Also, we booked a BQ cabin (101); I can't find much on this cabin category but it sounds like nothing more than a sky suite with a few spa gimmicks throw in. Anyone with experiences in this category?

 

Thanks so much for any responses.

[Jean1946]

We were on her last July and had no problems at all. And, we are booked on her in September.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Jean1946

[0bnxshs]

We are fully confident that we'll be happy on her in October of this year on her re-positioning from Montreal to Ft. Lauderdale. We were on her last a year ago and had no complaints whatsoever. Not worried about the things we can't control. :)

 

Can't really help you much on the cabin except that you can do a web search for HAL cabin info and maybe find some photos of similar cabins.

Edited June 6, 2015 by 0bnxshs

[DaveOKC]

We were on her May 1-16. Ship was in very good condition, but the norovirus impacted the experience (crew very busy cleaning, cleaning, cleaning plus I suspect a number of them were sick. I thought the crew did a great job considering.

 

Food was very good IMO.

 

My advice - see if you can find out if the virus has been totally removed from the ship. if ti has, go for it. If not, cancel.

Edited June 6, 2015 by DaveOKC

[kazu]

We were on her last March, so probably too far away, but we had a great time and enjoyed her. Our second cruise on her and not without reason.

 

I tend to pick and choose the HAL ships I will go on ;)

[Crazy For Cats]

We spent two weeks on the Maasdam last summer and had no problems. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again.

[brucory]

We were on May 16-23.

 

True the ship was in code red for the whole cruise and the staff worked harder than ever.

 

The ship is a bit older, but she is sturdy and well built. HAL chose quality fittings to start with and as they have been going along and these still seemed in good nick. The crew were always maintaining things and we liked the quirkiness of a well kept 23 year old ship.

 

We had not been on HAL for 5 years. After hearing all the comments on here about changes etc, we were pleasantly surprised. We had a fabulous experience. The crew were amazing, friendly and helpful. Aside from alcohol policies, we didn't feel things were that different for us - we may use different amenities etc than other guests, but we loved it and would definitely go back.

 

Go with an open mind and you will enjoy her!

 

:):):)

[Alberta Quilter]

I was on the same cruise as Dave and agree with both his remarks and brucory's. Even though we both got sick with a GI illness (one during the cruise and the other right after), it was one of the best cruises we've had. I would sail on her again.

 

I don't really pay attention to the ship's condition at the best of times but I have noticed glaring items on other cruises. I did not notice anything (other than that caused by excessive use of products to deep clean the ship) out of the ordinary for wear and tear on the Maasdam.

 

I hope you go on your cruise and have as wonderful a time as we did (minus the noro!).

Edited June 6, 2015 by Alberta Quilter

[NJpassenger]

Relatives just disembarked today and noro is most definitely still on ship. Relatives were quarantined and said virus was on ship.

[Alberta Quilter]

Relatives just disembarked today and noro is most definitely still on ship. Relatives were quarantined and said virus was on ship.

 

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that.

[DaveOKC]

Relatives just disembarked today and noro is most definitely still on ship. Relatives were quarantined and said virus was on ship.

 

Its funny that the CDC is not showing any norovirus reports for any sailing of the Maasdam after the April 14-May 1 one (71 cases). I know that we had ALOT more cases than that on the May 1-16 sailing.

[Spinner2]

We were on the ship Apr 17-May 1; this moro problem started during the second week of the cruise. The ship was clean and in very good condition we thought, and the crew worked tirelessly to try to solve the moro problem but apparently this is continuing; so sorry to hear that.

 

But the crew is fabulous, the ship was very much to our liking, and we will be selecting it again in the future.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Also, we booked a BQ cabin (101); I can't find much on this cabin category but it sounds like nothing more than a sky suite with a few spa gimmicks throw in. Anyone with experiences in this category?

 

Thanks so much for any responses.

 

We had this very cabin on the Maasdam several years ago. It is a regular veranda cabin with an exercise mat, a docking station, and a water feature. Of those three, we had only the exercise mat which someone had stored under the bed. We didn't care about any of these items. I don't even know if these things are still offered. We did receive a fresh fruit plate every afternoon which was nice. The cabin is close to the stairs and elevators so you could get to the spa quickly is you wish.

[mareb1000]

Just got off the Maasdam this morning. Everything was fine until yesterday (Friday) when all went to code red. The ship is very well maintained, and the service in the dining room was just okay, IMO. We stayed in a Neptune suite and thought our 2 room stewards were wonderful. My husband and I were both disappointed with the food in the dining room - not up to par with Celebrity. If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them.

[richard1s]

Thank you for the insightful comments. Sorry to hear about those affected by noro on your cruise. I can't imagine what it would be like to actually experience it.

 

I feel reassured that the ship is up to standards when experienced cruisers feel so positive about her. Thanks again.

[Sue from Canada]

We were on her May 1-16. Ship was in very good condition, but the norovirus impacted the experience (crew very busy cleaning, cleaning, cleaning plus I suspect a number of them were sick. I thought the crew did a great job considering.

 

Food was very good IMO.

 

My advice - see if you can find out if the virus has been totally removed from the ship. if ti has, go for it. If not, cancel.

 

I was also on this sailing with DaveOKC and totally agree with his comments. The Maasdam is still a lovely ship as were the crew.

[Despegue]

Ships are like Women, the older they get, the more experienced :D

 

I am sure that she has reached an age where she can satisfy even the most difficult passenger, she is still a beauty.

[BumperII]

Ships are like Women, the older they get, the more experienced :D

 

I am sure that she has reached an age where she can satisfy even the most difficult passenger, she is still a beauty.

The Maasdam was out first and remains our favorite after 30+cruises. That old gal still has a lot of snap left in her garters.:)

 

Just remember to wash your hands ten or fifteen times a day, and enjoy the cruise.

[shrimp56]

Ships are like Women, the older they get, the more experienced :D

 

I am sure that she has reached an age where she can satisfy even the most difficult passenger, she is still a beauty.

Amen!

[maxie99]

HI ,I was on her only 2 weeks ago, and she is still the beauty she was 15 yrs.' ago ,when I last sailed on her,,i forgot how cute and wonderful the sculpture of the dolphins are in the lido pool , ( I nick named them- the girls ) and the main atrium's blue green glass sculpture is wonderful-- and then there's the staff, the best, --the only problems with the code red, in my opinion are minor, remember to get the small salt n pepper packets, when dinning, on they positive side ,people are faster with there selections of coffee, desserts, fruit, etc.. when they have to ask for them.- but do remember to bring your own reading material as the library will be closed--if its still under the code red, I made that mistake when I went on the Niew Amsterdam in Jan. and she was also in code red, I did not bring anything to read- very frustrating ---J

Edited June 7, 2015 by maxie99

[retdon]

We were on the April 7th sailing and no noro to my knowledge. Vista Suite 044had serious AC problems that could not be fixed while we were there. The staff worked on in over and over finally to the point of giving us the card of a Customer Relations Rep. in the President's office. Everyone was very apologetic and were so sorry it could not be fixed.

 

I wrote Seattle and HAL came through with a very nice future cruise credit. I kept telling everyone we did not want compensation only to know that future passengers would not suffer like we did. We believe the fan motor in the unit needed replacing as it was cold at the vent but not blowing it out into cabin. The staff gave us a stand up fan that we had to keep going day and night in order to keep the cabin at 76-78 degrees.

 

I really appreciate every thing the crew did and the nice reward but hope that cabin was cooler for the next passengers. HAL is all about making their passengers comfortable and they prove it time after time.

 

Food was great, service was great especially our cabin Stewart, even the dining room manager knew our names after the second night and sat us with our favorite waiter each time.

 

Overall the ship is in great shape, as one poster said "she still has the snap in her garters". Would we sail her again, probably not, we like the Vista size and hope to do the Signature ships next year.

[Sue from Canada]

The Maasdam was out first and remains our favorite after 30+cruises. That old gal still has a lot of snap left in her garters.:)

 

Just remember to wash your hands ten or fifteen times a day, and enjoy the cruise.

 

I washed my hand so often on the May 1st cruise that I changed my name to Purell:D

[JMAUST]

The Maasdam is off to dry dock in Jan 2016. Does anyone know what work is being done or is it a quick tart up.

[POA1]

We have friends who sailed on the Maasdam recently. There's no way I could improve on their answer to: "Can the Maasdam still satisfy?"

 

"Like a double dipped Snickers."

[Stakeout]

just got off the Maasdam in Boston this past Saturday after a 14 day roundtrip to Montreal.. Noro showed up the last two days...or at least a Code Red did... none before that during our cruise even after all it went thru the previous cruises before we got on ..

 

I am a little biased as we've sailed her for this our 24th time with 471 actual cruise days.. it's our favorite of the HAL ships...it's an old ship--1993-- and we know it so problems do arise.. we'll be back on the Maasdam this October for her last roundtrip 50 day Transatlantic from Ft Lauderdale to Europe.. this will be our 5th year in a row for that cruise.. next year the Rotterdam takes over as the Maasdam is being repositioned to the west coast-Alaska and then to Australia.. sad to see her go away..

 

BTW once again we heard that the way it looks the Prinsendam will leave the fleet before the Maasdam does in the next few years--no dates yet..