Oosterdam RAW SEWAGE DISASTER HOLLAND AMERICA DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR GUESTS!

[urqu3]

This is just a small sample of what we found in our NEPTUNE SUITE TOILET multiple times a day. I also included a picture of out filthy balcony!

Holland America continues to sell this cabin 4185 and they DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR GUESTS. They said there was no cabin to move us to

and then offered us a $600 pp future cruise credit after spending $9600 for our cruise., Do you think that is fair compensation? THEY ARE STILL SELLING THIS CABIN WITH THE SAME ISSUES!!! THINK LONG AND HARD ABOUT BOOKING WITH HOLLAND AMERICA! THEY HAVE STOPPED RETURNING MY EMAILS

CABIN 4185 WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH PROBLEMS DO A SEARCH FOR YOUR CABIN NUMBER TO FIND OUT!

[Catlover54]

I'm confused.  Are you still on the ship?  If so, and they won't move you, are they expecting you to go use public toilets several times a day and at night the rest of the cruise because you cannot use/flush the one in your suite?  If that is the case, $600 is not fair compensation at all and is unreasonable and unacceptable.

I would think the hotel manager or whoever is at the top of the management chain could get creative and find a place to move you to, even if it is into his personal suite, so you can flush!  And then secure Neptune-related compensation, and I would expect more than $600.

If they cannot do that, an alternative may be to get off the cruise at the next port but with assurance you will get a refund for days when you could not flush.

 

The balcony is ugly and not fitting to a luxury suite, and should have been checked and fixed before allowing boarding, but it is at least still functional (you can sit outside) , unlike the toilet.  One could  move the chairs or lounger to hide it and avert one's eyes 😞

 

BTW, I know you are new here and are frustrated.  But maybe just 1-2 pictures of the toilet would have been enough to make your point (and no caps, even if you're justifiably very angry -- you are yelling at us with the caps, and we have not harmed you in any way).  Just my opinion.

 

I hope you are able to secure appropriate compensation, and am sorry your vacation was soiled.

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by Catlover54
Typo

[CruiserBruce]

All caps is considered yelling, and not allowed by Cruise Critic. 

 

I certainly understand the toilet situation is not desirable. It's not pleasant,  and yes, disgusting. Yes, they should be working their butts off to fix it, and compensating you more.

 

Now, if this happened at your home, who would you yell at, and accuse them of not caring about you? I think accusations of not caring is way over the top. Ship plumbing is very complicated,  and these sorts of problems do happen. You may not be aware that problems like this are frequently caused by pax putting things down the toilet they shouldn't. And I am not accusing you of doing that.

[alwaysfrantic]

Oh my.  I’m in that cabin on a sister ship.  

[urqu3]

I understand that problems happen. The problem is they are not addressing the problem and they sold that cabin to me knowing there was a problem and they are continuing to sell that cabin to others. We spent countless hours with Guest relations and maintenance people going through our cabin carrying buckets of filthy water and our cruise was ruined then to offer a lousy $600 pp and that is a future cruise credit not even cash! That is a very poor response to the problem and the fact that they are still selling that cabin tells you they don't care! 

[urqu3]

We responded to a special offer to upgrade to a Neptune suite 10 days before the cruise! 

[CruiserBruce]

2 minutes ago, urqu3 said:

We responded to a special offer to upgrade to a Neptune suite 10 days before the cruise! 

That doesn't mean that problem existed at any time prior to you discovering it.

 

As to your communication with them, yes, they make their offer. You can accept or decline. Yes, some social media communication may help. But sticking to facts, not hyperbole, will get you much further. Have you counter-proposed?

[3rdGenCunarder]

@urqu3, are you still on the ship? 

[urqu3]

No we were on the ship July 14-26 2023 

[badtwin]

I agree the situation with the toilet was totally unacceptable. (The deck not so much - looks like it got some interim repairs and not sure what else they could do while sailing.)  Agree a $600 pp future cruise credit inadequate if this happened multiple times during your cruise.

 

I am curious what you expect HAL to do if they really did not have any other cabin available? (And was it really no other cabin or nothing near the class you booked?)  In your third post said you didn't want to go public and you gave HAL a chance to make it right.  What would you consider fair to make it right?

 

Not trying to be cute.  I am really just curious what kind of compensation HAL gives for various situations.

 

 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, urqu3 said:

I understand that problems happen. The problem is they are not addressing the problem and they sold that cabin to me knowing there was a problem and they are continuing to sell that cabin to others. We spent countless hours with Guest relations and maintenance people going through our cabin carrying buckets of filthy water and our cruise was ruined then to offer a lousy $600 pp and that is a future cruise credit not even cash! That is a very poor response to the problem and the fact that they are still selling that cabin tells you they don't care! 

 

I had your issue on one cruise but thankfully it was fixed and then re-occurred.  It was due to people putting things down the toilet they shouldn’t have despite the notices in every washroom.

 

We happened to be walking by when the plumbers were working outside.  I was shocked when I saw the stuff that was coming out.  You can’t blame what disrespectful passengers do on HAL.

 

I’m baffled why you were at Guest Relations.  Why didn’t you go to the Neptune Lounge concierge - you had a Neptune Suite.  She (normally she’s) could have easily contacted the Hotel Director or move you up the chain to get some help.  Frankly Guest Services leaves a lot to be desired.  Neptune Suites normally have 2 concierges - usually 1 is very good and all you have to do is time things to talk to them.

 

I believe your Neptune cabin was an aft one?  I have never had one of those but I was shocked at the condition of your verandah.  I don’t know if aft verandahs take a bigger beating than the others on the aft or not but I was on the Oosterdam last November in a Neptune suite (probably my last one now that it is just me) and my balcony in no way looked like yours.  Rust is a given - there is salt.  Even if they paint and fix -you’ll see it again in a week or so if you are on a longer cruise - but, no way the flooring on my balcony looked like yours.  It looked like they were trying to repair it.

 

If you want to find a silver lining in your dismal cloud, be grateful you got this cabin on an upsell.  It would have been a lot more $$$$ if you had just booked it.

 

sorry you were so disappointed but accusations are not warranted IMO.  Hopefully your tone on board was different than here.  You get more flies with honey….

 

 

[urqu3]

Kazu, We did go to the Neptune concierge, He kept telling us they would fix the problem and when they could not he referred me to the guest services front desk manager and then I went and found the assistant hotel manager (the hotel manager was not to be found) They all told me they could not help me and to contact Seattle when I arrived home. I followed their instructions and quickly found out that there is no authority figure that could help me and I was instructed to send an email. I received a response from the office of the President with a paltry offer of future cruise credits. I responded to that email telling them that that was not adequate. That was almost a month ago and they have refused to respond further. So what did honey get me? Nothing that's why I am posting this all over social media to get the attention of HAL!

[urqu3]

Badtwin, The final offer from HAL was $1000 pp future cruise credit that has to be used within one year. That is worthless to me. They have stopped responding to me so this is where we are!

[whogo]

A working toilet is non-negotiable. If a toilet can not be fixed in a timely manner, the cruise line should offer a replacement cabin, an acceptable island resort stay, or pay for the cruisers to return home with more than a full refund (Double their money back?). I have stayed in some cheap motels, but they've all had working toilets.

 

It is too late for urqu3 to negotiate.

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

A working toilet is non-negotiable. I think the compensation offered is insulting. Sadly, plumbing on a ship is complicated and this could just be a case of bad luck. 

 

However; the condition of the balcony gives me pause. While it isn't a health or safety issue, it does speak to lack of proper upkeep. I suspect it's a result of a budget reduction. I'm curious what the areas we can't see look like. 

[kazu]

15 minutes ago, urqu3 said:

Kazu, We did go to the Neptune concierge, He kept telling us they would fix the problem and when they could not he referred me to the guest services front desk manager and then I went and found the assistant hotel manager (the hotel manager was not to be found) They all told me they could not help me and to contact Seattle when I arrived home. I followed their instructions and quickly found out that there is no authority figure that could help me and I was instructed to send an email. I received a response from the office of the President with a paltry offer of future cruise credits. I responded to that email telling them that that was not adequate. That was almost a month ago and they have refused to respond further. So what did honey get me? Nothing that's why I am posting this all over social media to get the attention of HAL!

 

Wow!  The concierge referred you to Guest Relations????

That is unacceptable and ridiculous,  They should have called the Manager or HD up to the Neptune Lounge to meet with you..

Very disappointing.

Posting here will do you little good I fear.  I don’t think HAL reads these boards.

[badtwin]

36 minutes ago, urqu3 said:

Badtwin, The final offer from HAL was $1000 pp future cruise credit that has to be used within one year. That is worthless to me. They have stopped responding to me so this is where we are!

Did you make a counter offer?

[chengkp75]

35 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

However; the condition of the balcony gives me pause. While it isn't a health or safety issue, it does speak to lack of proper upkeep. I suspect it's a result of a budget reduction. I'm curious what the areas we can't see look like.

The teak decking requires specialist installers, and a day or two with no rain to get the sealant between boards to cure.  This looks like the square patch is over a deck drain that may have rusted through, and the others are from sections of decking that came unglued from the steel deck.  Most times this kind of work requires the deck area to be taken out of use for a week, and to have the installers brought onboard.

[urqu3]

I don't care if HAL reads these posts their customers do!  With all the choices out there for your travel dollar I think it is important for everyone to know how HAL treats its guests! That way everyone can make a more informed choice!

[sambamama]

So you booked this yourself?  You have no travel agent to intercede for you?  If you are writing your complaint letters the way you are posting on here, you aren't helping your cause.  We all are on your side; we have all had things happen that should not.  But ranting madly to the people in authority isn't the way to get things to go your way.  A calm, short letter with bullet points gets the job done better.

 

Who have you written to so far?  Its very possible that a calm letter written to the Office of the President can get you help.  I wrote such a letter myself a couple of weeks ago.  I got a canned response where it was obvious that my letter had only been skimmed through, and that briefly addressed one issue I had, and gave an incorrect answer.  I wrote back, as the letter was the rudest reply I've ever gotten from any corporation.  Two days later, I got a call from a HAL executive who spoke to me for 70 minutes, addressed all my concerns, apologized for the letter, gave me $85 in shipboard credit and upgraded my L guarantee cabin to the highest available outside cabin, a C, on my upcoming, twice canceled Asia cruise. I've been sailing on HAL since 1983, and I've never had a call from HAL personally.  It completely changed my mind about the company.

[cbr663]

4 hours ago, urqu3 said:

I understand that problems happen. The problem is they are not addressing the problem and they sold that cabin to me knowing there was a problem and they are continuing to sell that cabin to others. We spent countless hours with Guest relations and maintenance people going through our cabin carrying buckets of filthy water and our cruise was ruined then to offer a lousy $600 pp and that is a future cruise credit not even cash! That is a very poor response to the problem and the fact that they are still selling that cabin tells you they don't care! 

 

Thank-you for posting your experience for others to see.  I agree with you that HAL is not addressing the problem.  This stateroom should have been taken out of inventory and never sold.  The deck condition alone warrants the cabin not be available.  The issue of the raw sewage and repeated plumbing issues takes this to a whole new level of completely unacceptable service.

 

I have been sitting for a while wondering what my expectation would be if I were in your situation and I would want a full refund of my cruise fare.  No to a Future Cruise Credit as this is no redress at all to someone who doesn't plan to ever sail on another HAL ship.  A full refund because the cabin should have been taken out of inventory.  

 

No one should have had to experience what you had experienced and a service provider that cares about its customers' enjoyment and onboard experience would diligently prevent these poor experiences from ever happening.  

 

Personally, had I experienced raw sewage in the toilets like you did I would have cut the cruise short and got off the ship at the next port.

Edited August 23, 2023 by cbr663

[Homelines]

I think this shows that maintenance is insufficient on the ships.  Drydockings are needed more than once every 5 years.  The cruise lines only drydock their ships when required by law.  Years ago cruise lines drydocked their ships at least every other year, and before that it was done annually. 

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, Homelines said:

I think this shows that maintenance is insufficient on the ships.  Drydockings are needed more than once every 5 years.  The cruise lines only drydock their ships when required by law.  Years ago cruise lines drydocked their ships at least every other year, and before that it was done annually. 

Actually, ships older than 15 years are required to dry dock twice in 5 years, and HAL has been historically better than other lines in drydocking newer ships twice in 5 years, and not relying on the in water underwater survey that newer ships are allowed.  And, dry dockings are not required to make repairs like this deck repair.

[vicd1969]

At the very least, free spa passes for the rest of the cruise to use the showers and toilet there should have been given to the OP. 

[Destiny0315]

The Oosterdam is scheduled for its next dry dock from Oct 8-20, 2023.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Destiny0315