Maasdam, 4/28-5/13, Ft. Lauderdale to Montreal

[twoatsea]

Sorry, but I'm wordy & this is lengthy. So I will post a bit at a time.

 

Did a review of our March/April ’06 Westerdam cruise & expressed how much we LOVED the cruise & the ship. Sorry to say, we cannot express love for this cruise; maybe “enjoyed” it is more appropriate. Here’s what I can offer from our (DH & I) experience. WARNING: What follows may be unsuitable for some readers, such as, HAL diehards, life-long HAL fans, & so forth. If you choose to respond, please keep in mind that this was our cruise, our money that paid for it which entitles us to our expectations of what we should receive, the “facts” as we saw & heard it, and most of all, our opinions – to which we (DH’s input) are entitled to express without flaming (according to CC rules). Thank you.

 

BACKGROUND: In 60’s, retired, active, travel a lot, 7th HAL cruise (Veendam, Volendam, Maasdam, Zaandam, Westerdam), 1 Grand Princess, 1 Celebrity Mercury, several NCL (years ago), including the Norway. Our last several cruises have been HAL. We prefer HAL to the others we have cruised, but we want to try RCCL. All cruises prior to this one have been 7 days; this was a 15 day cruise; we booked it because of the itinerary. We could cruise more than we do, but prefer “travel variety”. We book inside, outside, & balcony. We are frugal (or as our kids say, “tight”) with our money, therefore, usually book close to departure - bargains. We have a Westerdam Alaskan cruise scheduled for July 2006 (booked early because my Brother wanted us to go with him & Sister-in-law & they still work = plan in advance!).

 

PRE-CRUISE – Even though booked late, got good price on airfare. Stayed overnite at the Sleep Inn, Ft. Lauderdale area, near port. Paid $109 nite w/taxes for suite. Hotel is 2 years old. Grocery, pharmacy, & restaurants across the street. Good enough for 1 or 2 nites pre-cruise. Provided free shuttle from airport to hotel & hotel to port. Had complimentary breakfast = fair to average.

 

EMBARK - As always, embarkation was a “breeze”. We arrived at about 10:30 am; doors opened at 11 am. There were 3 couples ahead of us. Upon boarding we immediately went to Front Office to request an upgrade for which we expected to pay. We booked a great inside cabin at a bargain price & hoped the onboard price for an outside or balcony would be better than what was offered before we boarded – which was pitiful! The ship was not full & we were the 1st on the list. We requested an outside or balcony. We were asked if we were willing to pay for the upgrade & we said, “Yes”. We were advised that we would be called after sailaway or the next day.

 

Guess we forgot to put on our thinking caps, because we didn’t go to our cabin. Since the ship came out of drydock, I’m sure the cabins were ready. However, all was not lost, because we went to the Lido – love the sound – Leee – dooo! Had a great lunch & then went to our cabin. I will discuss the looong issue of our cabin(s) later.

 

Subsequently, we were advised - no outside or balcony cabins.

 

CREW – Best one we can remember. There have been staff members just as good on other ships, but this ship has so many. Now, we are talking friendly, personable, warm & fuzzy – not necessarily efficient, well trained, etc. For us, we excuse employees for poor service when it is given by hard working pleasant people. In such a situation, the poor service is usually caused by inexperience, inadequate training, understaffing, unorganized systems – all of which the employee cannot control. Here are a few of our favorites: Lido – Komang, Winn, Eka, Anas, Kama, Ajie, Sunny, Arief, Jeff Hicks; FO – Faye, Cheng. There were so many others, but didn’t get all of their names, sadly. At the FO & in the Lido, every employee was hard working & possessed the most wonderfully pleasing personality – great people – great asset for HAL. Hope everyone remembers to list his/her favorite folks on the comment report. The info gets sent to their boss & to them.

 

Next portion is Food & it's long. So I will post this part.

[twoatsea]

FOOD – For the last 3-4 cruises, including this cruise, we ate only on the Lido Deck & with room service. On this cruise, Room Service was great. Phone employees were easy to understand, easily understood us, appropriately probed until they ensured we had ordered everything we needed, orders arrived promptly, correctly, & at appropriate temps. A 9 rating!

 

Overall, most of the food was not as good as the food on the Westerdam. But don’t feel too sorry for us – we still gained weight! The soups that were good, were excellent. Others were “dishwater” – that’s what we call broth with no “stuff” & little or no flavor!. Clam chowder, which we love, was excellent the first time, but after that, it didn’t taste like clam chowder. Many of the steaks did not seem to be of high quality – gristle, tough – not all, of course, but better on the Wdam. The short ribs, called baby back ribs, were so tough they were inedible. However, one time they were called "slow roasted" & they fell off the bone - excellent. Why didn't they fix the ribs that way every time? The pool Bar-B-Q steaks & ribs were too tough to eat – however, same on Wdam. Some noteworthy yummy entrees were: the best fish & chips ever had - so lightly breaded, no grease taste or feel; salmon with potato cake; beef tenderloin with bearnise (anything with bearnise sauce!), fruit cobblers, sour cream fries, biggest & tastiest lobsters on HAL, luscious waldorf salad.

 

The looong salad bar is gone. We heard many diners complaining about this, since a lot of people are big on salads. Salads are placed in the old ice cream area, which sadly cut down on the offerings. In the evenings, the salad offering is very sparse. The thousand island dressing was delicious.

 

The ice cream/dessert area is along the long wall, where the salad bar usually is. There was an ice cream station on each end with desserts in the middle. Now talk about different strokes for different folks – we have never liked the bread pudding – not the style we are accustomed to eating (we love the Delta Queen Steamboats’ bread pudding). However, we always give it a chance on each cruise. For the first time, we liked the bread pudding. It didn’t “rock our boat”, so we often passed it up; but we did eat it a few times. We are not fans of HAL’s desserts, because we sailed on HAL when they used to have tables full of whole cakes – all gooey & yummy – red velvet, carrot, chocolate, etc. However, we do like the cheese cake & chocolate cake for dinner & I probably put HAL into bankruptcy with all of the ice cream I ate!

 

The main food line is now designed as such - At breakfast = cereals, fruit/cheese/etc., eggs to order, waffles/pancakes, entrees, omelets, condiments. But the waffles are the skinny cardboard kind, not the luscious Belgium waffles we had on the Wdam. At lunch = breads, salad/appetizer, Asian, Italian, entrees, deli, condiments. At dinner = breads, small lettace salad area, 2 appetizers—always teeny shrimp cocktails, showcase with sample of each entrée, staff member to take order for entrée/potato/vegetable, receive a number on a stick which one places at the table, entrée is served at table. I think this dinner ordering system is the same on all HAL ships. So, unlike the Wdam, the stations are not separate, but all on the same cafeteria line. This was very confusing for polite people & very opportunistic for impolite people. For instance, when one stopped to get fruit, if the others went around that person, then that person found his/herself behind a long line of people who were originally behind him/her. It caused some nasty outbursts. Finally by the second week, most folks stopped going around & just waited, resulting in what there was before the upgrade – one long line! How much did that cost????

 

Other food/Lido observations –

1. There was a chair (same as those at the tables) sitting on the ledge of the big forward Lido window on the starboard side. It had a “sticky” on it that said, “Do not remove.” We asked one of the stewards & he said it was broken. If that was the case, why not move it to a nonpublic area.???

2. For the first several days, the crew behind the main line looked like the Keystone Cops. They obviously had not rehearsed with the new setup. Naturally, some cruisers got inpatient & grumbled (polite word).

3. The deli staff did not know what a Rueben is & therefore, did not know how to fix one. Couldn’t lead them thru it because they did not have the ingredients. The Ruebens on the Wdam were great.

4. We met so many first time HAL cruisers, especially from CA. Most of them were not pleased with HAL food & said they would not cruise HAL again. They didn’t like the restrictive food available times, such as, dining room at lunch & Lido lunch entrées available only from 11:30-1:30/2:00 – especially after port touring. Also no food except limited room service after Lido closed in the evenings. They also didn’t like the small salad area & the desserts. Most of them were comparing to RCCL. Many of them said they stopped eating in the dining room because the service was so poor & the food not any better than the Lido – we heard that a lot & did notice that the diners in the Lido for dinner really picked up as the cruise progressed. When we were told such, we always advised them to give HAL another try; the Wdam food was much better. Of course, that did not solve the short serving time issues.

5. So many of the Lido machines were nonfunctioning – coffee, ice, tea, condiments. And it would not always be the same machine; they went up & down! One never knew which side worked. Once I went to the drink area & a lady was walking away, obviously disgusted, & said, “Nothing works on this ship!”

6. DH is an addictive coffee drinker (hated Princess coffee! loves HAL coffee). He said the coffee was not HAL standard until about the last 4-5 days of the cruise. But they were always “working” on the coffee machines.

7. We hate to do this & only do so on rare & absolutely necessary occasions, but DH had to report an employee to Jeff Hicks, Lido boss. The Lido pool hamburg guy was using the same spatula to serve the cooked hamburgers as for the raw ones. DH was really worried folks would get sick, but he didn’t want the employee to lose his job or pay or whatever. Jeff said no problem; the guy just started his first contract. We did see someone showing him the problem & another spatula was added to his tool box. However, later we saw him use the french fry tongs to turn a not quite cooked hamburger & then use the tongs to serve french fries – we didn’t say anything! By the way, the hamburgs were luscious!

8. No prime rib on the first nite – we were so disappointed. However, HAL was redeemed! It was served 3 times during the cruise. It was sooooo good.

9. Unfair – lobsters were only served once, instead of twice!!! Bummer

10. Lido pool sailaway fun – one time served crab cakes – very nice touch; another time had several demo tables with fancy napkin folding, making flowers out of food, making animal shapes out of dough (kind one eats, not the spending kind!), carving melons – lots of fun; then had a beautiful setting for a lunch seafood buffet of cold crab legs & some other stuff – don’t remember, we didn’t partake. But we watched the staff do the setup. They worked so hard & had such a lovely décor of nets, lobsters, crabs, etc. Very well done.

11. Condiments were a problem for this crew. But I have learned from past cruises & brought my own jar of peanut butter for my morning waffle. However, when my DH laughingly told Jeff Hicks, he advised the staff to have peanut butter at the end of the breakfast line – way to go, Jeff! Another problem however, was that many times the ketchup, mustard, mayo machine did not work (naturally), so one had to wait. Also, fish is served at every meal, but no tartar sauce. I got tired of asking, so did without. Guess next time, I’ll bring my own stash along!

12. No lemonade – now that is serious!

13. The pool hamburg bar always listed polish sausage, but never had it!

 

More to come.

[twoatsea]

FITNESS ROOM – Very nice; plenty of machines; staff very pleasant.

 

CROWS NEST – how ugly. That used to be one of our favorite spots. Now the flat roof of the fitness room extends into the view & the “conversation” area is so gaudy – horrible! Good heavens, how much did that cost?

 

LECTURES – We appreciated these & they were well attended. Most were on American history of the east coast – Rev. War, discovery of America, etc. One was on the Titanic – strange topic, but very good session.

 

LIDO POOL – This was strange. Since we sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to Montreal, the weather was warm for the first week & cold during the last. Couple days out, DH finally said to one of the staff, it’s hot in here, why isn’t the roof open? The staff member said, “I was wondering that, too.” Duh! Anyway it was opened. Then when it got cold, it was opened on those days too – so cold that no one would swim – go figure.

 

PORTS – When we travel, we are into traveling, not shopping. However, we luckily discovered that the Port Shopping Talks should be attended. Lots of good info is given on how to independently sightsee - which is not always available at the Excursion Desk - of course. We did not schedule any tours in advance. My port notes are still packed, so I’ll try to do this from memory.

1. Charleston – Been there & have seen most everything. So, we did Hunley sub tour. Enjoyed it, but then we like history. Wasn’t much, just drive there, view the sub, hear the talk, look around the displays & souvenirs, & drive back. Others may not enjoy, but we did.

2. Norfolk – Been there on own. No tour; walked around on our own.

3. New London – rated this a 1 (lowest possible) on the comment sheet. We walked around on our own; looks like a poor area. Most of the tours spent a lot of time on the bus going elsewhere, which we do not like. Many shops closed. The free shuttle was good about getting us there, but very slow about taking us back. We got tired of waiting & walked back, which is quite a distance & in order to stay off of the highway, one has to walk on a narrow path right next to the highway lane & thru a housing project.

4. Newport – In our travels we have beat “mansions” to death. So we were not interested. But we love to walk. The weather was absolutely beautiful & we did the Cliff Walk (almost all of it) on our own. It was wonderful. We so enjoyed it, especially the rugged parts. Took so many pictures. To get there, we paid $6 for an all day trolley ride.

5. New York – this is what we were waiting for!! Been there too, several times, & love the place; loved it even before it was cleaned up! However, we were extremely disappointed with the Excursion Desk. He (who lives in there) advised us that the ship would be too far away for walking to anything & the cabs would be at least $65 & probably more due to sitting in traffic. When we stressed & I’m sure he could see, that we could walk long distances & then take the subway to wherever, he said the cabs & subways would probably cause us to miss the ship because of the crowds & traffic. We still didn’t book a tour – decided to take our chances. This is where the Port Shopping Talk was a godsend. We found out where the ship would dock, got a map to add to our AAA map, & discovered that Times Square was only 5 blocks away! We had such a wonderful time. We walked to the Gray Lines office at Times Sq. & got a hop on/hop off double decker bus (open on top). Weather was beautiful again. Cost $39 pp & the narration was very good. Discovered many people had received the same discouragement from the Excursion Desk & did not go off the ship – too bad, so sad.

6. Bar Harbor – Been there, but never to Acadia Park. Took the Best of Both Worlds tour, 3 ¾ hours & we were not pleased. Most of that time was on the bus – yuk. Like zoo animals looking thru the glass! Didn’t see that much to the park – nice scenery, but not any more spectacular or what you couldn’t find elsewhere. The part we did enjoy was the short 30 minute talk with the lobster fisherman – that was very interesting.

7. Halifax – Been there – no tour; walked. Nice waterfront. There was a hop on/hop off bus, but it cost $44. We thought that was very steep considering it was off season, cold, & not much going on.

8. Sydney – Not been there. Took the narrated walking tour – well worth the money. Really enjoyed it.

9. Quebec – Not been there. Originally signed up for the falls, then changed to City Tour. Decided we needed to see & find out about the city. So glad we did. It is such a beautiful town & we could not have covered it by walking in the time we had. It is sooo clean. Not one piece of litter. Not one crumbled curb or sidewalk. The streets are as clean as an inside floor. Lovely city full of history.

 

More to come.

[twoatsea]

CABIN(S) – Here’s that saga!

CABIN 039 on the Navigation Deck, inside, just a little past the NL. Great location; just a little way to Lido morning coffee – DH loves that & made constant use of it! This cabin is larger than the outside cabins – same length, but little wider. It’s a great cabin & no noise from above. We could have gotten a guarantee, which we usually do, but we liked this cabin so well, that we got it confirmed. However, …… the AC did not work – meaning – nothing happening, not just weak – nothing & we were in Florida. We reported it to our cabin steward & requested a fan. He advised us to call the Front Office & report the AC & he would try to get us a fan. We did not receive a fan or AC that day/nite.

 

Late in the evening, while passing the NL, a man said to the female staff member, “I paid $9,800 for that suite, don’t tell me that you will get us a fan. I want the air conditioning fixed, now!” His voice was not raised, but he was obviously angry.

 

The next afternoon, I called the FO & again expressed that we did not have any AC & that we needed a fan. We got the fan, but no AC.

 

After 3 nites without AC, we visited the Guest Relations Manager. We do not think anyone ever came by to even check out the problem. The GRM was very gracious (as we were – we do not get ugly – doesn’t solve anything in our opinion). We just explained our problem & our reporting of it. She excused herself & returned with keys to another cabin – outside, deck 5, cabin 558. I explained to her how much I appreciated her generous offer, but that we liked 039 because of the location (not only the Lido, but the seas had been rough, many people sick, & this was a great rough sea cabin & 558 is forward of center). So, we preferred that the AC be fixed. She expressed that it could not be fixed – we think that was known before we boarded.

 

CABIN 558 - So, we moved to 558, and thankfully the rough seas were not a problem. We packed & unpacked again & by that time it was about 8pm. That’s when we discovered that the toilet would not flush – after we used it, of course! Went back to talk with the GRM. Almost immediately, the plumber fixed the problem – “vacuum needed adjusted”. We slept so well that nite in our cool room.

 

Thankfully, everything worked well until, I think it was Wed. nite before cruise ended on Sat. Just before bedtime, the toilet refused to flush again. By the next morning, no one had come to check on it. Called again. During that day, I talked with the GRM, the Guest Relations Supervisor, the Hotel Manager, several calls to the FO – no one came to our cabin – we stayed there to be sure the plumber could get access, since this was a serious issue. We had developed a very friendly rapport with the FO gals – they are absolutely super. We could tell that they sincerely wanted to help us, but all they could do was forward our problem to Engineering. The entire day we got the same response – “There is a blocked area in the plumbing & all of the cabins in your area have non-functioning toilets because the tanks are shut down while the problem is being resolved. This problem began this morning & should be fixed by evening.” Each time we expressed, that is not our situation. Our toilet went out last nite, not this a.m. & in checking with our neighbors, their toilets are working fine. Our toilet just needs the vacuum adjusted. Our logical explanations did not work. At 2 pm, I visited the GRM & requested keys to another room, just in case the problem was not fixed by evening. That way, we would not have to go 2 decks up during the nite in our jammies to go to the bathroom. She said that was not necessary because the system would be back in operation. Naturally, she believed Engineering, rather than us.

 

So…..at 3:15 p.m., we were using the bathrooms outside the Rembrandt Lounge on Deck 7, saw people going into the Lounge & realized it was time for the “Meet the Officers”. So..….I know what you are thinking, & “YES” we did! As soon as the sentence was finished, “Does anyone have any questions for our Captain & the Officers”, my hand shot into the air. Mine was the 1st question, & I asked – very politely, very softly – “Does anyone up there have the authority to have our cabin toilet fixed? It has not worked since last night.” The man immediately moved the microphone away from my mouth. There was snickering in the audience. Without microphone, I said, “It’s not really very funny. In fact, it has gotten quite stinky!” The Captain was momentarily silent, looked irritated, & quickly said, “It will be taken care of after this.” He did not look directly at me when he responded. The next question was immediately asked & we sat there waiting for the session to end. I must say at this point that we were extremely disappointed in the Captain’s response. He is an executive & should have been prepared for a problem question. He should have expressed his sincere apologies to us & responded much more graciously. He also should have done as he did with the other questioners & referred my question to the appropriate Officer – Engineering, in this case – he was there. When it was over, the Captain almost escaped, but we caught him – the Engineering Officer did a blockade for him. The Captain tried to refer us to the EO, but we explained to him that we required more than EO. could offer us. We wanted keys to another cabin just in case our toilet was not fixed by bedtime. The Captain said it would be taken care of. We said, “That is what we have been told since last night. What if it isn’t & we no longer have contact with you?” He said, “I will meet with you in your cabin in one hour.” Lo & behold – a miracle occurred! By the time we walked down the forward stairs from deck 7 to our forward deck 5 cabin, the EO was waiting on us & there was a message on our phone from the FO that they would bring us some keys. Amazing! Then within seconds, a plumber arrived, removed the hallway panel for our toilet utilities, adjusted the toilet vacuum, & we once again had toilet service. Will wonders never cease!! The Captain arrived as he stated. We advised him that all was well. My husband said, “You should not be required to be involved in such an issue. Your staff should have taken care of this.” I said, “If such a situation had occurred when I was in management, there would have been a lot of heat seeking missles flying around at the hastily called staff meeting!” Naturally, he did not stay long – busy man I am sure, but he did not have a lot to say, except acknowledging that it was resolved. He was pleasant & we definitely appreciated whatever role he played in getting our situation resolved – but I think the response occurred before he even exited the lounge! However, we were surprised that he did not state an apology for our trouble. We were also surprised that we did not receive a cheap bottle of wine (of which we are glad because we do not drink alcohol) or even a letter of apology – would have been a fairly common & wise business practice & good customer service.

 

CABIN 680 – We advised the FO that we would keep the keys to this cabin just in case our toilet went out again. “No problem!” Thankfully, it was not necessary for us to use the cabin. However, upon receiving the keys, we did “visit” it, just to make sure the toilet worked! Then at the end of the cruise, we wondered if the computer system would charge us tips on this cabin. I called the FO & they said, “No.”

 

You may have noticed that in the beginning of this review, we were advised that no outside cabins were empty & available for paid upgrade – strange isn’t it???? HAL lost money on this deal.

 

Regarding the ship’s systems – Numerous times, we overheard conversations of people complaining about their AC – too hot or too cold (& couldn’t be shut down) or their toilets. The public areas were not consistently heated – some too hot, some too cold, & of course, some just right (but the 3 bears were not there; at least not that we know of!). One of the questions during the Captain’s session (the session we crashed) was about that problem & why since the ship just came out of dry dock, was that a problem? Answer - because we are cruising from a hot area to a cold area - ??? I thought AC worked on temp control, not outside conditions?? While at the Montreal Airport (which was full of us old people), the 3 couples sitting behind us while we were waiting for our flight, were discussing the same problems & they were not together. Two of the couples stated they slept under numerous blankets because the AC would not turn off (& it was cold during the last week of the cruise), & they were in suites. Another expressed how sorry she felt for __ (the NL female staff member) because so many people were angry & taking it out on her. We heard people complaining at the pool, in the Lido, at the front desk, etc.

 

Our thoughts about the Maasdam’s dry dock - During the “Meet & Greet” session, the Captain mentioned the $200+ or $300+ million that was spent for the SOE upgrades (I forget exactly how much). We think it would have been wiser to have spent at least some of that money on the ship’s systems – makes sense to us!

 

We feel that “ship” happens and as much as we travel, one learns to go with the flow (except this time our flow didn’t go!!). The situations we encountered certainly did not ruin this trip for us. However, it is very obvious that the staff dropped the customer service ball. We were very customer service oriented during our careers & in our own businesses – that’s probably one reason why we were successful! We continue to use those same techniques as customers – have your facts together, express them clearly, speak softly & politely, smile as much as can be appropriate, listen very well, restate to confirm what you heard, & always express your understanding & sympathy with the other person’s situation. We are amazed & pleased that HAL is so good at customer service while performing daily routines – so exceptionally good! But so often bad when problems occur – not always of course in either situation. In our opinion, that is what HAL lacks when dealing with their customers who have problems with the cruise – possessing & knowing how to use the skill of turning an unhappy customer into a “satisfied” customer. Satisfied does not mean keep giving until the customer gets the cruise line. It means a customer who feels he/she was listened to, understood, cared about, everything possible was done to rectify the problem in a reasonable amount of time, & all contact persons were truly sorry & “felt the customer’s pain” – even when it is not HAL’s fault. It’s free for the company, except a class during the staff’s training, and it would eliminate a lot of the nasty scenes at the FO & NL, & probably increase profits by winning over customers who may not have returned.

 

Lastly, on our comment sheets, we gave 9 rating to everything except the food & the cabin(s). Also, we gave an 8 rating to the Excursions Desk.

 

QUESTIONS we have –

1. We did not & for several cruises, have not eaten in the dining room. Yet 1/3 of our auto tip goes to the dining room staff. Anyone heard of HAL allowing the 1/3 to be switched to the Lido staff instead? If not, they should!

2. In our Know Before You Go book, I was surprised to find the following; new attitude & ruling?

“On festive formal evenings, women usually wear …. & men usually wear business suits or tuxedos. (Gentlemen: Although business suits or tuxedos are suggested attire for formal evenings, they are certainly not required. You are welcome to wear a jacket and tie on formal nights.) (I'm sure they mean with a pair of slacks!) So, is the non-suit a new wording?

 

Happy sailings everyone.

[sunflowerstarr]

do you think this was just them trying to work out the kinks or do you think this will be the standard on the ship? i will be on it (first cruise) in nov and i am really hoping to not have bad luck.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your wonderful and thorough review. Enjoyed reading it very much. So sorry that you had so many problems.

 

Why do you never eat dinner in the dining room?

[twoatsea]

Good morning.

Sunflower (I love them too!), I hope the systems problems are not standard on the Maasdam, but we "may" not find out. DH says he will "never" sail her again; he is sticking to "newer" ships. He says there are too many other places to spend his travel dollar. Regarding the food & the dining room service - I wouldn't be concerned at all if I were you. I'm sure you could find lots of people who loved the food & thought the service was great. Regarding the food schedule - that is not a problem for us. Maybe that is one of the reasons we like HAL; our food schedule seems to be the same as theirs. Besides, you will know in advance if your tour will get you back too late for the Lido main line or the dining room. So just plan ahead to enjoy alternatives - eat a local delight on shore, bring back a special treat, be decadent & eat all that luscious fast food at the Lido pool food bar, or you may be tired & enjoy a rest in your cabin with room service.

Now the other problem - the AC & plumbing. I agree that every ship/hotel can have such issues. However, on a ship, one is captive (can't go to the hotel down the street). So really, the smooth resolution of a cabin system problem on a ship all depends on the ship staff. They can make it a nightmare or no problem at all - in the way they handle the situation. I also believe the passenger can make their own nightmare by over-reacting. So, knowing the chain of command is important. First, call or visit the Front Office; ask what happens next. I've been told if a "work order" is not submitted by the FO person, nothing will happen - the FO "calling" Engineering is not enough. Also, remember, the FO person cannot fix the problem - he/she is the middle person only - don't get upset with him/her. Notate the contact times & names. Ask "when" someone will appear. If the FO isn't successful, visit the Guest Relations Manager. Not successful again - ask for the Officer in charge of the department (Engineering) - we should have done that. Don't ask - state, I want someone to come to our cabin within the next ?2 hours. If the problem is serious & lasts too long, request another cabin. If you are told, no other cabin is available, clarify whether all are "full" or one will not be offered to you. Most of all, don't make the issue bigger than it is - stay calm & polite. Just like our toilet - we still peed (sorry if I shared too much!) in it during the one night it was out. We had the entire next day to try & resolve the issue. Sure, having to deal with it did not make for a very enjoyable day, but we had 14 other wonderful days! I'm sure you will have a great time. Enjoy your first cruise of many!

KK - thanks for your kind comments. Why we don't eat in the dining room any more - there are so many reasons - (1)kind of like Disney World; loses it's magic after your 100th visit, (2)lunch is our big meal; usually don't eat much at dinner, (3)we are early risers & early bedtime folks; usually not in the mood to entertain others with lively social conversation (we book late so don't get a table choice, as in 2 seater), (4)because of 1, 2, & 3, don't feel like sitting thru a 2 hour (or plus) meal, (5)in the Lido, if we don't like something about our meal, we can just walk right up (or tell a steward) & immediately get a replacement. In the dining room, the replacement can & has appeared after everyone else is finished with the course or the rest of one's food is cold/hot, (6)the Lido menu contains most of the food on the dining room menu; when it doesn't, we can order room service, if we want, (7)much of the Lido prepared foods are from the dining room kitchen - same food, (8)much of the food in the dining room is not cooked to order; clones and/or variations are lined up for the waiters to select (unless it is a "special" order); then it cools, or heats, until the waiter sits it on one's table, which can be a considerable amount of time - hence, 2 hour meals; when we order a steak in the Lido, it is grilled as soon as we order & served to us immediately, (9)we are traveling, not hitting the social circle; we are retired, not in the required to dress for success stage of life; so we usually do not choose to "dress" while traveling, (10)after many times of dining in both places, we do not think the food quality in the dining room is any better than the Lido; the dining room just has the atmosphere & the social gathering - nothing wrong with that! (P.S. We did eat in the dining room on the first night of our last cruise because we went to tell our tablemates to never delay their dinner for us (we always do that) & they begged us to stay - we enjoyed. We also took "dressy" clothes on this trip - just in case; we did not use them.)

Now, there are a lot of folks who love the dining room atmosphere & there are a lot of folks who only eat in the Lido (we see them night after night & briefly chat with them). There are also folks who begin in the dining room & end up in the Lido because they did not "like" the dining room. That's what we think is great about HAL. Their evening alternative dining is such a good alternative. (That is what we did not like about Celebrity & Princess buffet was of lower quality.)

['Dam' high seaser]

QUESTIONS we have –

1. We did not & for several cruises, have not eaten in the dining room. Yet 1/3 of our auto tip goes to the dining room staff. Anyone heard of HAL allowing the 1/3 to be switched to the Lido staff instead? If not, they should!

 

 

'TwoAtSea"

The dining room stewards that will serve you in the Dining Room also work in the Lido on a rotation basis. Some may work strictly in the Dining Room for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner while others may only work there for one or two meals while working the Lido at other times, including the 11:30 buffet/snack/etc.

[purplenorway]

Thank you for your review! I liked that you mentioned some names of the crew; I will look for them! I think I may know Arief (does he have glasses?).

[twoatsea]

Just got my exercise done - off schedule still - later than usual.

 

Sunflower - I need to post a message to you from my DH. Since it was his experience too & the review was from both of us, he wants his opinion heard on your upcoming Maasdam cruise. If it was him, he would cancel it & book on a newer ship, such as the Westerdam. As mentioned before, we loooved the Westerdam & didn't hear any negative comments about the food or the cabin systems. He figures if the suite passengers had so many problems, then the situation must be serious. Just an opinion of course.

 

"Dam" - Thanks for the info. I am sure it works that way for some of the dining staff, but everyone of the people I mentioned & all of the ones behind the counter that I did not mention, worked in the Lido every day of our trip for every meal - breakfast, lunch, & dinner. Such a shame that people who never served got 1/3 of our tip & people who did such a wonderful job of serving us, got nothing. We didn't tip them individually because there were so many & how could we possibly decide who to tip & what if we missed one of them! Besides, we have been told that all cash they get must be pooled (my DH thinks maybe would not reveal; who knows). I wish HAL would allow passengers the option of tipping the dining room, the Lido, or combo of both. If not, then at least start a pool for the Lido staff - that would be great.

 

Purple - I don't remember that Arief wore glasses, but I might be mistaken. That is such a great crew. DH is a big teaser & joker & sometimes they were all gathered around us & we were all laughing so loud that I was afraid they would get in trouble. DH's name is Donald & they all called him "McDonald"!

 

Sunflower & Purple - Where are you going on your cruises? Who is going with you & what type of cabin do you have rserved?

[Tricia724]

Enjoyed your review....it was fair, articulate, and well done. I was particularly interested because we have a Caribbean cruise booked on Maasdam for next February.

 

I don't concern myself too much with food issues because I can usually find something to eat and food is not high on my priority list. However, plumbing problems and A/C problems ARE matters of concern to me. If I remember correctly, those were some of the same problems people complained about prior to drydock.

 

I was reluctant to book Maasdam because of the negative reviews I had read previously, but we hoped that the dry dock would solve some of the problems....apparently our hopes for improvements were optimistic. We have been trying to book a cruise on Westerdam, but twice we booked and twice we had to cancel....the first time (happily) was to upgrade to a longer cruise, and the second time (unhappily) the sailing was pretty much sold out to a special interest group which didn't appeal to us at all. So we gave up and booked Maasdam because we liked the itinerary.

 

Since our Maasdam cruise is nine months away, we're going to just wait and see what happens. If these issues continue to surface, perhaps we'll have to reconsider.

 

I'm sorry your cruise wasn't a little smoother, but I appreciate the balanced review.

[purplenorway]

We will be going out of Montreal to Quebec City, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor and ending in Boston. I've been on the Maasdam 2 other times before, in March '04 and also July '04. My parents and I are staying in a BA category. I think that all post drydock problems should be worked out by the time we arrive.

[Sayyadina]

I was reluctant to book Maasdam because of the negative reviews I had read previously...

 

We were reluctant, too, but wound up booking the last cruise *before* drydock. We didn't have any problems with our plumbing (main deck forward) or hear of anyone having such problems. We didn't have any problems with the A/C or hear of anyone having such problems. The food in the main dining room was very good, service was very good, Lido was very good but I thought the lines were long.

 

I'm not at all saying the OP didn't have these problems, I'm just saying we did not. There was an exhaust smell in the halls around our room when we were docked. I *do* know they did not have the AC working while in drydock, so maybe it just was cranky getting started again...?

 

We had a fantastic time, and are actually considering booking another cruise on the Maasdam with the same itinerary for next fall. :D

 

BTW, were Rodel & Larry still tending bar at the Crow's Nest?

[Jemima]

I know we were on the same cruise, but it doesn't sound like the same one. I do recall Twoatsea asking the question, but felt the response was appropriate. We did not hear people grumbling all over the ship except about the rough seas on 2 or 3 days of the cruise. We also heard only positives on food and service. Many of the dining room stewards do also work in the lido for breakfast and lunch. Our diningroom steward did.

On this cruise there were passengers who boarded at later ports so outside cabins may already have been booked by those.

We found the shore excursion staff to be the best of any cruise. I do know people were told that it was possible to walk to certain places in New York.

[DamTxCruiser]

We sailed on the Maasdam about two years ago. It was a seven day itinerary out of FLL in April. Everything was wonderful except for the A/C in our cabin. I don't recall the cabin number but it was a G porthole. The staff was super attentive and came into our cabin 4 or 5 times to work on it. However, it was never very cool. We got used to it but man it was hot the first few days! We also had a horrible A/C problem on the QE2 that summer in the Med. It made the Maasdam feel like a meat locker. Ha!