All HAL service as good as Maasdam?

[dr28326]

I just returned from a Southern Caribbean cruise on the Maasdam. This was our first cruise with HAL and I was VERY impressed with the service and crew. I was wondering from all of you HAL cruisers...if the service and crew is this good on all of the HAL ships? Which ship is your favorite/least favorite ship and why? Need info to start looking into next cruise.

[Sea King]

so good to hear you had great time on Maasdam .. she is really elegant and as I and other posters have said in the past (especially S7S), her crew is wonderful :)

 

IMO one of the best aspects of sailing HAL is the fact the high qaulity of service is consistent from one ship to the next .. as a matter of fact, if you continue to sail on the Dam ships, you'll quickly come to learn that so many of the crew is related to another .. it's very common to mention one bartender on ship X and learn that his/her brother/sister/cousin is sailing on ship y

 

believe Maasdam has 1 or 2 more cruises left sailing from Norfolk; then she'll be Ft. Laurdrdale for the winter until she heads north in the spring to begin the New England / Canada itinerary .. also believe she will again do a 30+ day crossing this summer as well

 

just curious .. do you remember who was captain, hotel manager and maitre d' of the dining room?

 

I believe the captains are usually either Capt. Draper or Capt. Vanderloo; both are excellent and very pax-friendly

[dr28326]

The 11/19 Maasdam sailing-

Captain Henk Draper, Hotel Manager Kees Streuding, Cruise Director Jason Venner, Dining Room Manager (not sure if this is the maitre 'd) was Riza Harsyahdu.

[navybankerteacher]

I've sailed Maasdam twice -- also Zuiderdam and Oosterdam -- and am lookinmg forward to Noordam in January. HAL service seems consistently good to excellant. I prefer Maasdam's size (and that of her sister ships)- about 1,300 passengers to the 1,800 or so on the Vista class - but service does not suffer. You will find every HAL sailing a happy experience, just choose by preferred embarkation port and/or itinerary.

[sail7seas]

The 11/19 Maasdam sailing-

Captain Henk Draper, Hotel Manager Kees Streuding, Cruise Director Jason Venner, Dining Room Manager (not sure if this is the maitre 'd) was Riza Harsyahdu.

 

What a Senior Officers/staff you just named........Well, they are among the best there are!!! Fabulous Captain; Great HotMan; Terrific CD and Fantastic Dining Room Manager (formerly known as Maitre d').

 

DH and I love, love, love "My" :) Maasdam and the crew is why. I think her a very elegant, beautiful, wonderful ship but it is her crew that makes her the more special.

 

But, as SeaKing said above, all the HAL crews are wonderful. Sure, we are more comfortable with one vs another. We may have sailed with more stewards on this ship vs that but we have never, not once, had anything but terrific service on every HAL cruise we have ever taken. Perfect in all respects? No, of course not. But very, very excellent.

 

We have cruised about 5 times on Celebrity, about the same on Princess, once on RCI (that was enough for us ;) and we never had the service on those cruise lines that we always have enjoyed on HAL. Someone else may have a different experience but I can only speak for myself.

[kakalina]

HAL's service is the best regardless of the ship IMHO. Our favorite ship is the Statendam (she was our first ) and least favorite the O'dam. Sorry folks, we just didn't care for the Vista style ship. It's a personal thing and I'm sure she is a very nice ship. For others. But any cruise with HAL is a good cruise.

[Nasmas]

I agree that all of HAL's ships have excellent service. I've been on the New Amsterdam, Veendam, Zaandam, Maasdam, Volendam, Oosterdam and are booked on the Westerdam in February. My favorite was the Zaandam and least favorite was the Veendam. The Veendam was so crowded and I've never felt crowded on any of the others, but the service was still excellent.

[WISCruiser]

The 11/19 Maasdam sailing-

Captain Henk Draper, Hotel Manager Kees Streuding, Cruise Director Jason Venner, Dining Room Manager (not sure if this is the maitre 'd) was Riza Harsyahdu.

 

dr28326... I'm going to be on the 11Dec sailing out of Norfolk and I noticed in reading your cruise review in the Ships Section of the board that CD Jason Venner was going to be leaving after the end of your cruise.

 

Say it ain't so!!! I love that guy, he is so funny and accomodating to the passengers. He was the CD on the Noordam's Inaugural Cruise in Feb. and was SUPER!. I was so looking forward to seeing him again, till I read your review, ARG! Did he say where he was going next?

 

Oh, well. Glad you had a great cruise. This will be my 1st cruise on one of HAL's smaller ships.

[dr28326]

Jason said he was taking some time off. He will be doing the Xmas sailing out of NY though as the owner of HAL requested him for that cruise. He said his mom will be disappointed he will be away for another Christmas. I am not sure which ship he will be returning to when he does come back.

[Copper10-8]

IMO, the crew is what makes Holland America. We've never had a bad crew exerience on the Dam ships. We've been on RCI, Cunard, Carnival and Princess but the level of personal, attentive service did not reach the level of what you find on HAL. Personal favorite is still Rotterdam. If I had to pick a least favorite, it would be Nieuw Amsterdam (now Thomson Spirit) but only because it was/is an older ship without the amenities of the "S", "R" and Vista classes.