Should we be cancelling our trip on Masdaam

[lkmamom]

Thank you all so much for your positive replies. I am sure that we will enjoy cruise, we are generally ok with minor issues and if we do have any problems would raise them at the time. Will certainly keep reading reviews because there are some interesting tips to be gained but will disregard the negative, and form our own judgement.

Right now am just setting off to work on another cold and very wet morning, the thought of some sunshine and relax time seems wonderful:)

 

We are fairly new HAL cruisers as well. Having always sailed with Princess, we were a little "nervous" with our first HAL cruise. Our first cruise with HAL was fantastic and dare I say converted us. We have booked a Maasdam cruise for this summer and to be honest, after reading some reviews like you, have a tiny bit of uncertainty. Certainly though, not enough to make me think to cancel the cruise:)

 

I remember our cruise on the Grand Princess several years ago. Many had written terrible reviews about it and we were really nervous thinking we had made a terrible mistake. It was truly one of our best cruises.

 

I hope that you will post a review of your experiances on the Maasdam. I always love to read what others say, though I do always still keep an open mind. It really does not take much for our family to impress, we love cruising so much. I hope that you and your have a very wonderful cruise!

Linda

[airlink diva]

I can't speak for the OP, but you have all helped me out a lot. I, like the OP, read some of the recent negative reviews of the Maasdam and was having second thoughts. Your comments have made me feel much better.

 

I have read so much about the beautiful Maasdam and can't wait to sail in April. I usually don't notice much "wear and tear" unless it is really bad and I find it hard to believe that the Maasdam would be that bad.

 

My dh will probably be thrilled if our AC is stuck on 74 - he is always complaining about how cold he is!!! :D

 

Thanks so much to all of you who posted. I can safely go back to happily counting the days until April and dreaming every minute of what it will be like on board the Maasdam. :)

I'm on the same sailing as you are (April 4, 2007) and reading the recent reviews on the Masdaam sailings was a little racking.

But if you go to any of the other cruiselines boards (which I do often), it seems that for the past month all of the cruiselines are having their share of poor reviews.

I can't speak for each person that sailed, but some issue same to have value to them and others not. On the concerns that keep coming up, hopefully these guest filled out the comment cards towards the end of the cruise. If a large percentage of guest complain about the same issue, I know that in order to keep people happy, they are going to fix it.

Holland America is a business and to keep in business they are going what they can to have you return to them.

[Hoyaheel]

See, those of us who write quick, boring "everything was wonderful" reviews (Maasdam, 10/28/06 for me) reviews get overlooked and people focus on the negative reviews. [i'm not saying everything was perfect, but we had a wonderful trip] I love the advice to look at reviews like ice-skating judging (the old days) and throw out the highest and lowest--makes a lot of sense, and I think it's something you start to do subconsciously the more reviews you read over the years....

[canoeny]

DO NOT CANCEL!!! This is a great ship and the crew will be wonderful. We cruised her out of Norfolk under some rather trying conditions; suspected Norovirus, bad weather and the cruise was great. Everything was handled with great care and in a very professional mannar. As far as children - you will have to look for them to find them - there are so few on HAL ships that it's rare (and has always been a pleasrue) to see them. We are veterans of 5 HAL cruises and I will be booking the same cruise on the Maasdam again in the near future. Norfolk is a little bit - emphasis on little - more of a chore to get on board simply because the parking is in a lot that requires a bus transfer to the pier, still not a real issue. I would not hesitate as your qualifications as stated fit this cruise line and this cruise to a "T".

[Amber14]

See, those of us who write quick, boring "everything was wonderful" reviews (Maasdam, 10/28/06 for me) reviews get overlooked and people focus on the negative reviews. [i'm not saying everything was perfect, but we had a wonderful trip] I love the advice to look at reviews like ice-skating judging (the old days) and throw out the highest and lowest--makes a lot of sense, and I think it's something you start to do subconsciously the more reviews you read over the years....

 

Where is your review? I couldn't find it and would love to read it.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Where is your review? I couldn't find it and would love to read it.

 

Amber:

 

Here you go:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=441867

[Sea King]

GO!!

 

don't think twice

 

for every negative comment about HAL or Maasdam you may have seen, there are probably 10 positive

 

no one can possibly debate that Maasdam is anything but elegant

 

no post I've read has indicated the crew is other than fabulous

 

IMHO, you won't regret one minute on board .. Maasdam isn't perfect .. then again, what is

 

even with her problems, and admittedly she has some, Maasdam is one lady I would be honored to take to ball year after year .. she is beautiful

 

you won't regret one second IMO

 

enjoy:)

[Hoyaheel]

Thanks for responding & giving the link, Middle-Aged-Mom.

 

There are a couple of other reviews from that same cruise--someone posted the day we disembarked or the next day, I think.

[Willem Ruys]

The MAASDAM is currently my favorite ship now in service. I like her best of the "DAM" ships and have sailed in all of the current fleet and a few of the ones no longer around. She is a sweet, sweet ship with a wonderful crew, staff and ambiance and is oh, so comfortable. I like her enough to have booked her for two cruises before the world cruise and two after that.

[GOTTA-GO]

Most likely everyone on this board has noticed that the unfavorable comments and reviews get more attention that the favorable ones. In fact when alot of us counter a bad report with something positive we are branded as HAL applogists. When I see something that might poorly impact my next cruise, like something I saw this morning, I start to look for similar themes over a period of time. If poster after poster over a period of weeks or months brings up the same sore points I'll start to wonder too if I've made a mistake.

If something(s) is/are negatively commented on, I have to decide what that means to me and it's impact on my vacation.

 

Sail7 reported that while she was on Maasdam this summer HAL stopped serving hot and cold hors d'ourves before dinner. I always enjoyed that service and responded with "phooey" or something stronger. I knew I would miss it but it wasn't a deal-breaker. Lo and behold, when we boarded Westerdam in September we were served the "missing" hors d'ourves. Westerdam's schedule was a bit behind Maasdam's. I've never been on "the perfect cruise", some come pretty darn close though.

I know that some people honestly experience nightmare events, and we probably hear more about them on this type of forum, but truthfully, I believe that the true cruise from HELL is rare.

Most of us are pretty well blessed being able to cruise at all. Maybe some of us place our expectations too high or we create mountains of despair for ourselves, or choose to pay high dollar to stay angry over something unworthy of our efforts to raise our own blood pressures.

Ship happens but it doesn't have to become our legacy to keep harping on it. I've been guilty of over-dramatizing too, but I'm learning to "get over me".

Hope this helps,

GN

SOooo glad we didn't cancel (not that we even had the option)! This was by far the best cruise ever for us (see below) despite a number of 'glitches'.

 

We couldn't help but be apprehensive not only by the negative reviews, but also by some of the very positive ones which overlooked items like nonfunctional toilets and flooded staterooms as minor occurances. Fortunately our toilet worked as required and although we got a little nervous hearing the tub gurgle from time to time we had no flooding issues. We did meet another couple with arms full of wet stuff they were taking to be sun-dried after a less fortunate flooding experience in their cabin. We did notice some nasty smells in the halls from time to time, but nothing really overpowering. We also got a letter apologizing for some toilet malfunctions onboard (again fortunately not ours).

 

The ship left Norfolk several hours late(engine/engineer trouble) and was unable to make up the time and we only had a couple hours to enjoy Half Moon Cay. This was enough for us to get off first tender, head directly to snorkle area adjacent to Half Moon Saloon(closed for repairs-of course) and to take turns snorkling and viewing various tropical fish. No shore BBQ served, but we returned to ship an hour before last tender well satisfied anyways. Those wanting excursions/etc and not familiar with HMC probably had less satisfactory experiences. The cancelling of everyones' excursions and offering of a limited number on a first come first serve basis on island led to a rather interesting experience first obtaining the boarding number for the first tender and then watching the free-for-all tender embarkation/disembarkation and sprint to the excursion boths - I really tried not to laugh/smile. NOT always easy, just glad we didn't want one. We also arrived at St. Thomas late and our time there was cut several hours again causing some problems for some excursions. While we would of loved to go to a St Johns' beach, we had already decided it wasn't really worth the cost/logistics involved with the limited time available. With several hours cut we just enjoyed walking through port shops and sipping a frozen concoction in a cafe we liked until we returned to the ship. We could have taken a taxi to town, but we've been there - done that - and got too many t-shirts which really didn't last. All in all a restful day. The rest of the trip was as scheduled, including disembarkation (unfortunately -- a several day/week delay would have been nice).

 

Another glitch for us was dinner seating - requested early-lower months ago, but received the latest dinner time 8:30pm. We requested anything earlier twice through appropriate channels and although initially given 'happy smoke up the skirts' - received only a form letter denial of first request and no response at all from second. We adapted and enjoyed our dinner companions and received outstanding food/service. I was absolutely astounded by the difference between HAL and Carnival (Maasdam and Fantasy) since they are the same company. Although our per day cruise costs on HAL were double what we paid on Carnival; the food and service on HAL far exceeded our 'Fantasy' experience and were more than worth the difference in price. The ship decor was alot nicer than I expected from the reviews and wear was minimal