Back from HAL Med cruise on Oosterdam

[Oldies123]

Just returned from HAL Med cruise on the Oosterdam - so many issues - mainly on embarkation and debarkation, and these thoughts are shared by other people on the cruise who all had the same feelings and complaints so it isn't just us.  Moving embarkation from Venice to Trieste was a big mistake - I never ever want to experience this again. Apart from the 2 hour coach journey which wasn't the best, the actual embarkation process was totally shambolic.  Not going into too much detail as it would probably be very boring to some folk and seem like just a moan to others, I will never ever want to do this again.  HAL totally failed us on a lot of issues.  By the time we eventually got on board and were then told we needed an antigen test - despite having just produced the results of the previous day's tests (which we had to pay for) - there was mutiny. There were about 25 of us and we refused point blank to comply as it was totally unnecessary, we were then just herded on to our staterooms and left to 'get on with it'.   Lido was shut, it is no longer open all the time, so we were hungry and had nowhere to eat, had to get the beverage and food managers involved. Finally got something to eat,  waited until midnight for our luggage despite the fact it came on the coach with us !  The actual ports of call - well a couple of them were really just bases from which to do excursions, nothing much there to see in the actual stop, shuttles were either unprovided or had to be paid for, and HAL seemed to have a habit of dropping anchor in the further away commercial port rather than one which made it easy to get into town. We did feel that they were trying to cut costs.  Had to call maintenance to our cabin twice for the shower and bathroom sink tap, we weren't the only ones either, and the windows in the Crows Nest were filthy obscuring what should have been a nice view.  After a couple of years not in service you would have thought that these issues would have been checked and dealt with before sailing, they had plenty of time.   The food was good, but limited menu compared with previous cruises we felt. Out of around 4 or 5 choices in the dining room, at least 2 were the same every night.   They cancelled our Pinnacle and Canelletto dining experiences due to lack of spaces, yes they credited us for this, but ironically then were giving over the tanoy they had lots of availability if anyone wanted to book !  Crew were wonderful as usual, really they made the trip really pleasant for us they couldn't do enough.  Entertainment wasn't brilliant, and there was nothing really that appealed to us for daytime activities.   No information provided about the next port of call as there used to be,  we had to ask guest services for information many times.  So many of the guests we spoke to said HAL seemed to have lost their way at least on this particular cruise.   Disembarking was a mess too, no coaches were labelled as to who was on what coach, people were herded on, then off again, it was total confusion at times.  I can't say we didn't enjoy the cruise, but it wasn't what we were hoping for, it was booked 3 years ago before Covid struck, and since then HAL have changed the itinerary and the ship twice, .  I know they are still finding their feet after opening up again, but really they need to get themselves sorted at Head Office if they want people to continue cruising with them and maintain the reputation which they have earned in previous years.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Hope your next cruise is better.

[cruisemom42]

What was the rationale given for asking passengers who already had a test within their guidelines for boarding to take another one??

 

 

[Nodakboiler]

There will no longer be sailings out of Venice which has been known for a long time. 

[Nodakboiler]

Be thankful HAL isn’t using Ravenna which is another hour from Venice!

[pschweig]

My extended family of 6 is boarding this ship on July 2. I have looked every day for information from people who have completed a recent cruise and appreciate your comments. 

[Oldies123]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

What was the rationale given for asking passengers who already had a test within their guidelines for boarding to take another one??

 

 

there was no other reason than lack of communication from Trieste to the people on board, it soon became obvious that no one really knew what was going on and they soon backtracked as everyone was up in arms. Apparently they had never had such a late embarkation before and I think it gave them problems - which they incidentally created by coaching us all to Trieste.

[Unlvswezel]

1 hour ago, pschweig said:

My extended family of 6 is boarding this ship on July 2. I have looked every day for information from people who have completed a recent cruise and appreciate your comments. 

I think I’m on the same sailing. I’ve been concerned about our trip and this report doesn’t give me any confidence. It seems like HAL has completely written off those of us on these Med sailings. Continuing to promote Venice despite knowing ships weren’t  allowed, this terrible approach to transporting people, filthy ships, and limited offerings all seem so contrary to the HAL brand. I’ve been on 5 HAL sailings and it’s likely IF I do this sailing it will be my last with HAL.

[Oldies123]

2 hours ago, puppycanducruise said:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Hope your next cruise is better.

thank you - but we WILL be looking at other cruise lines 

[Oldies123]

1 minute ago, Unlvswezel said:

I think I’m on the same sailing. I’ve been concerned about our trip and this report doesn’t give me any confidence. It seems like HAL has completely written off those of us on these Med sailings. Continuing to promote Venice despite knowing ships weren’t  allowed, this terrible approach to transporting people, filthy ships, and limited offerings all seem so contrary to the HAL brand. I’ve been on 5 HAL sailings and it’s likely IF I do this sailing it will be my last with HAL.

such a shame and so easily avoided and rectified.  Crew were brilliant, it's the management that needs sorting.

[cruisemom42]

31 minutes ago, Oldies123 said:

there was no other reason than lack of communication from Trieste to the people on board, it soon became obvious that no one really knew what was going on and they soon backtracked as everyone was up in arms. Apparently they had never had such a late embarkation before and I think it gave them problems - which they incidentally created by coaching us all to Trieste.

 

It sounds very chaotic.

 

To be fair, the change at Venice is an issue not of HAL's making. For at least 10 years there have been rumblings about the continued damage to Venice and potential for even worse by letting large cruise ships continue to transit through Venice to reach the Marittima port. But instead of being sensible and coming up with (and implementing) a plan in that time period, the Italian authorities put their heads in the sand and refused to act until they were virtually threatened by UNESCO (and some citizens) to take action. Which they finally did, disastrously...

 

So now, until Italy has a solution in place, no ships can go into Venice. And as usual, Italy appears to have given preference to their own lines (Costa, MSC) plus a few of the smaller more luxury lines to go into Marghera and use that facility, which still allows for check-in at Venice and a (shorter) bus-ride. The only other options right now are Trieste and Ravenna, both of which are quite a trek from Venice.

 

 

 

[Torquer]

Question on transfers from Trieste back to Venice

 

Wow!  Hope things improve for our cruise on Oosterdam later this summer.

 

Can you tell us about the transfers from Trieste back to Venice when disembarking.  What time did the buses leave Trieste?  HAL has refused to tell us what time they will leave, and specifically if they will be early enough to catch flights out of VCE around noon.

[WaterSky]

We were on this cruise as well.   I have to agree with everything Oldies123 reported.   Many of the public restroom facilities were broken.   In my opinion the food options in the main dinning room were poor.   In as much as the crew on the Oosterdam were exceptional, overall HAL did a very poor job with communications before and during the cruise.  One big complaint from me was shore excursions.  There was a gross lack if information presented.   One example was the trip to the Leaning Tower of Pizza.  The bus was parked a mile away and we had to walk in 80 degree plus heat!  This was particularly difficult for more elderly passengers.  As to the Venice docking issue, HAL di know year ago that they wouldn't be able to dock in Venice.   However I noticed that MSC, Viking and Norwegian wee able to dock in the Mestre commercial port.   Why not HAL?   Overall this cruise was substandard to what I expect from HAL.   Yes, they are starting up in the Med and are short handed but this was not anywhere up to speed.

So there's my 10 cents!!!!!

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, Oldies123 said:

there was no other reason than lack of communication from Trieste to the people on board, it soon became obvious that no one really knew what was going on and they soon backtracked as everyone was up in arms. Apparently they had never had such a late embarkation before and I think it gave them problems - which they incidentally created by coaching us all to Trieste.

Curious what your solution is? Most fly into Venice, but Venice is only open to small cruise ships. What do you suggest they do?

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, WaterSky said:

One big complaint from me was shore excursions.  There was a gross lack if information presented.   One example was the trip to the Leaning Tower of Pizza.  The bus was parked a mile away and we had to walk in 80 degree plus heat!  This was particularly difficult for more elderly passengers.

 

----------------------  

 

As to the Venice docking issue, HAL di know year ago that they wouldn't be able to dock in Venice.   However I noticed that MSC, Viking and Norwegian wee able to dock in the Mestre commercial port.   Why not HAL? 

 

Unfortunately it seems that cruise lines expect passengers to do their own research in advance. The descriptions on the Celebrity cruise I took in April (from Southampton to France, Spain and Portugal) were also woefully lacking, but I supplemented them by reading travel sites and asking questions. Posters can do the same on the ports of call boards here on CC which are an under-utilized resource IMO.  I know the walk from the parking area to the Field of Miracles at Pisa has been discussed on the Italy boards several times.

 

Regarding the docking issue, there is no port in Mestre. Some ships are using the commercial port in Marghera, but there are limited berths there and Italy has prioritized the two Italian lines -- Costa and MSC. I don't see any other mass-market lines calling there.  Yes, there are a few smaller ship/premium lines such as Viking, Seabourn, Silversea, etc.  But no Celebrity, RCL, Carnival, NCL...or HAL.

 

Anyway, got a chuckle out of your typo: Leaning Tower of Pizza

 

[Oldies123]

21 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious what your solution is? Most fly into Venice, but Venice is only open to small cruise ships. What do you suggest they do?

Well for a start we could have flown into Trieste and cut out the 2 hour coach journey from Venice.  HAL should and would have been aware of the Venice problem long ago so should have adjusted the flights accordingly.  And as to the late embarkation - this was no fault of ours and the least they could have done was to provide us with a meal of some sorts on arrival on board, embarkation should have been able to advise the ship that there was no need for antigen tests as all proof had been provided in Trieste, there were many many angry and disgruntled guests to say the least.

[Oldies123]

22 hours ago, Torquer said:

Question on transfers from Trieste back to Venice

 

Wow!  Hope things improve for our cruise on Oosterdam later this summer.

 

Can you tell us about the transfers from Trieste back to Venice when disembarking.  What time did the buses leave Trieste?  HAL has refused to tell us what time they will leave, and specifically if they will be early enough to catch flights out of VCE around noon.

We disembarked in Barcelona so flew back from there. Sorry can't help here on this one.

[Oldies123]

22 hours ago, WaterSky said:

We were on this cruise as well.   I have to agree with everything Oldies123 reported.   Many of the public restroom facilities were broken.   In my opinion the food options in the main dinning room were poor.   In as much as the crew on the Oosterdam were exceptional, overall HAL did a very poor job with communications before and during the cruise.  One big complaint from me was shore excursions.  There was a gross lack if information presented.   One example was the trip to the Leaning Tower of Pizza.  The bus was parked a mile away and we had to walk in 80 degree plus heat!  This was particularly difficult for more elderly passengers.  As to the Venice docking issue, HAL di know year ago that they wouldn't be able to dock in Venice.   However I noticed that MSC, Viking and Norwegian wee able to dock in the Mestre commercial port.   Why not HAL?   Overall this cruise was substandard to what I expect from HAL.   Yes, they are starting up in the Med and are short handed but this was not anywhere up to speed.

So there's my 10 cents!!!!!

Thank you, glad we are not the only ones to voice the problems with this cruise.  My TA has said this is basis for an official complaint.  I am providing her with details of all that was wrong with this cruise.

 

[jlnprt]

Was this Oosterdam's first cruise since the start-up? I sure hope they get their act together before we board in a few weeks. Thanks for the report. Sorry you experienced so many issues. 

[WaterSky]

May 8th was the first cruise.   Prior to this the Oosterdam was in drydock in Palermo.

 

[terrydtx]

We are on the 14 night, August 21 Oosterdam cruise from Trieste, we decided a month ago to book a private transport from Venice to Trieste for our group of 4. We will be in Venice for 3 nights before the cruise. Last thing we wanted was to spend 2 hours or more on a bus with 40 strangers. Fortunately, our cruise will end up in Maghera to disembark on Sept 4th, must be room for that date in Maghera for the Oosterdam. The cruise after ours will the depart from Maghera. I hope by August HAL has all the bugs worked out at both Trieste and on board the cruise.

[Seasick Sailor]

A friend and fellow poster has been onboard Oosterdam and in the Daily and Bon Voyage threads say the ship is in tip top shape and food is great. They are in a Neptune suite. 

[Oldies123]

1 minute ago, Seasick Sailor said:

A friend and fellow poster has been onboard Oosterdam and in the Daily and Bon Voyage threads say the ship is in tip top shape and food is great. They are in a Neptune suite. 

The ship itself wasn't bad at all, public areas were lovely and clean and in good condition if you don't count the crows nest windows which were dirty throughout the trip despite mentioning this to a number of officers wandering around throughout, and as a previous comment said, there were a number of the toilets in a couple of restrooms that were out of order for most of the trip.  Maybe the suites are all in tip top condition, we were not that fortunate to be in one, we had a balcony cabin, as did others we came into contact with who had maintenance issues.  As for the food,  I did say it was good, but lacking in imagination and choice of menu in the dining room compared with other cruises. Others felt the same.   Sorry, but we can't all be wrong.  One couple we met have done over 300 cruises, spending more than 7 months away from home throughout the year (yes very lucky) and they said they would probably not sail HAL again after this trip.  After 2 years in dry dock there should not have been issues with cracked sinks, leaking showers and faulty taps with no hot water.  These as I have said before should have been checked and rectified before the ship sailed. 

[VMax1700]

21 minutes ago, Oldies123 said:

After 2 years in dry dock

????

And this 'fact' is based on what?

[JRG]

On 6/6/2022 at 7:15 AM, Oldies123 said:

Thank you, glad we are not the only ones to voice the problems with this cruise.  My TA has said this is basis for an official complaint.  I am providing her with details of all that was wrong with this cruise.

 

Your post is really important so thank you.

It's not always easy to share bad news of a cruise with the big HAL fanbase,   but you are providing timely information on how things are right now to cruisers of all lines too.

 

We were not booked on HAL for this years Med cruise to Venice and I'm glad we cancelled because now some of my fears are being confirmed.

 

Hopefully it gets better soon but the part about getting on board and not getting food is a big one.

The double-antigen test shuffle has a smell of profiteering too IMO.