Was I On The Same Cruise? Maasdam 06/30 - 07/07

[sail7seas]

 

Bostom and Luvtocruise - I appreciate your honest comments. That is why I monitor these boards - I want to hear the good AND the bad. Bostom, all your posts make a great deal of sense and I have encountered all of these situations (minus the overflowing toilets) on my one "recent" cruise 3 years ago on Princess. I was burned at the stake for posting them. After vowing never to cruise again, we decided to take a chance on HAL. We are going on Oosterdam in December. We won't expect the moon and hopefully we won't be disappointed. Please keep posting your cruise experiences wherever and whenever they occur. It's posts like these that keep these boards "honest."

 

 

I must interject that because I did not experience such negative conditions and thus did not come here to post about them does not make MY POSTS Dishonest. DH and I had a wonderful experience for 14 days on Maasdam and I have written of the high points we enjoyed here on this Board. IF others did not have such a good experience, they have knowledge of that. I have been posting on these boards for a very long time and have never knowingly written a thing here I did not believe to be accurate and true. No one takes more care to be as truthful in what they write as do I; there are many who try equally as hard and take the same amount of care.

 

I had a wonderful experience on our recent Maasdam cruises and have knowledge of that. My posts are equally as honest as those with many complaints. Please don't imply otherwise. I have no wish to be 'burned at the stake' (as you put it) because I truthfully come here and report what a great cruise we had.

 

I smelled no sewerage odors, my cabin steward (Toni) was fabulous and took excellent care of us, we had a fantastic dining steward and greatly enjoyed our cruise. So sorry not everyone was so fortunate. (a) Not my fault (b) my excellent experience equally real as their negative experience.

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

sail

 

You had Toni??

 

We had him for our cruises in Feb/Mar and I think we are suppose to have him again this cruise.

[sail7seas]

Toni is great but he will be gone when you return to Maasdam, KK. I think he is leaving after Europe. He's a great steward. Nice nice fellow.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Gee he told us that he would still be on the ship when we returned. Now we will have to break in another cabin steward.

[Luv_to_Cruise]

Hi Fann1sh,

 

Thank you for your post. I believe it must have been your earlier post on the Maasdam A/C issue I read. I remember trying to find more info on A/C problems but I only came up with one mention of the need of a fan in the cabin. I can understand now why the A/C problem was not addressed as the staff knows it's never going to be fixed. That is evident in that HAL gave $150 credit to some people that had complained much more loudly than I about the A/C.

 

Without Bostom's opening this post I never would have mentioned the problems on the Maasdam, for just the reason you mentioned. I am very glad that many people who were on the cruise are mentioning the problems they experienced.

[sail7seas]

Hi Luv to Cruise,

 

After meeting and speaking with you at the Meet and Greet, I made an effort to find you throughout the week. I never once saw you again.

Sorry to hear you were so dissatisified. I remember your saying it started off badly for you and I hoped it would get better. I just never encountered any of the difficulties you did.

[RuthC]

The Main Deck doesn't have balcony cabins. Besides the outside air was much cooler than inside the Maasdam.

You don't need to have balcony cabins on your own deck to have an open balcony door impact your HVAC.

An open door can (and does) have an impact even on inside cabins. The cabins only need to be on the same line to have the impact; they can be on a different deck. Then the air heads out.

The fact that the outside air on this cruise was cooler would not negate the fact that balcony doors open would cause cabins elsewhere to be hot.

Sad, but true, people who don't follow the rules about keeping the balcony door closed, or what not to put in toilets, make big problems for other passengers. :mad:

[judithbiggs]

Sail,

When you have a suite, there seem to be less problems, and the crew are more accomodating. I travelled both ways and I can certainly see the difference. Having said that, you pay alot more to have them at your beck and call.

[bepsf]

Bostom: both times I sailed NCL I had to swipe my card as I entered the main dining room. I always assumed this was so that they could get a tab going if I ordered a cocktail- but that can't be the reason, as you have to offer your card again if you purchase anything. After all I have read I'm now sure it's for virus-tracking purposes. Maybe asking for the cabin # is the same type of thing. They like to know where we are eating and when!

 

 

Stateroom numbers are asked when you breakfast or lunch in the Main Restaurant so that the days Auto-Tips can be divvied up amongst the right group of service staff:

 

It's assumed that all pax will breakfast and lunch in the Lido and dine in the Main Restaurant - therefore, the portion of auto-tips for waiters, etc. go towards those groups of people.* However if you order room service, a portion of that days tips go to Room Service staff - same if you dine in Pinnacle - but they already know your stateroom number from your room service delivery ticket and your Pinnacle reservation and payment so that tips can be properly apportioned to the folks that served you. *

 

No such info is seamlessly gathered if you breakfast or lunch in the Main Restaurant, so your waiter has to ask.

[Golfette]

Sail, I never for one moment doubted your good review, or any of your reviews. I believe in all sincerity that most people post what they feel. It is the experience they had. My point is simply that when one has a negative experience, it should receive the same credibility that good experiences receive. It seems as though the negative experiences are discounted by those who have only experienced (lucky them!) the good. Most of the opinions posted on the boards are posted in good faith by the posters and should be accepted as such. I enjoy your good posts and the obvious enjoyment you have of your cruises and wish you many more years of wonderful sailing.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I think the reason someone expressed gratitude to those who gave their very real bad experience on the Maasdam last week is because it has beome increasingly difficult to post anything negative about HAL on this board.

 

There are many here who believe HAL hung the moon and it very well may have for them. But that does not negate the fact that others have had some very legitimate problems. Clearly that's the case on this cruise in certain parts of the ship.

 

jb, I think when you've enjoyed Celebrity's dining experience, not much else can hold a candle to it (except perhaps on luxury lines). HAL's has always fallen short in my eyes. But as you say, this is not enough to ruin a cruise. No one on HAL has ever remembered my name. No biggie. If they want to ask my cabin #, no biggie either. These little things are just that ... little. They could never ruin a cruise and no one on this thread has suggested their cruise was ruined.

 

I still believe that the two huge issues here are toilets backing up and lack of A/C. Both of these situations can completely and totally ruin a cruise. No one could possibly suggest that complaining royally about such a mess is unjustified in any way.

 

And it doesn't matter what caused it. It's how HAL deals with the problem that matters. And it's a little tough when faced with such a disgusting problem to go to the desk with a smile, a please and a thank you.

 

I don't think anyone should come on the HAL board and feel uncomfortable posting a less than rave review. Stuff happens ... HAL screws up just like any other cruise line. It is not perfect. We cruised Maasdam several years ago and loved it, but I think I'll steer clear until I hear they've installed some new rotorooter or something;) because sadly the people who cruise are not going to change. And obviously the flushing systems must work a lot better on other ships because I doubt that the Maasdam is the only ship where people flush the things they shouldn't down the toilet. When you can't change the behavior, you have to find a way to deal with it.

[sail7seas]

Maybe so, judithbiggs. But we've definitely had the blocked up toilet business in various suites through the years on various ships.

 

The fact is this time we did not and for some reason, I am getting 'rockets launched at me' and 'burned at the stake' for reporting we had great cruise (s).

 

 

[MarciAnn]

I am not a frequent poster on these boards and I read this thread with interest. I found Bostom's original post to be informative and felt he raised valid points. I also found Sail's responsive post to have an undertone of incredulousness, much as Bostom did. As an objective reader who has not read their posts before, my original reaction to Sail's post was also that she must be a HAL employee.

 

What I have found is that the posters on this board are frequent HAL travelers and do not like to see negative things said. I actually found it refreshing that by the 3rd page of postings, people were no longer inimidated to tell their tales of imperfect cruising.

 

Yes, 2 people on the same cruise can have totally different experiences with the sailing. It is all a question of expectation (as Golfette aptly stated). I, personally, am not a fan of mass market cruises where I get to spend a week with 2000 of my "closest friends". I do not like to stand in line for everything on the cruise (i.e. breakfast, lunch, getting on and off the ship, etc), I do not like the thought have having to get up at dawn to "save" a chair by the pool. I expect that one things are broken in my cabin that they be fixed the same day. I do not expect to have gourmet cuisine when the kitchen is cooking for 2000. So when, I did sail Zuiderdam several years ago on a family reunion cruise, I did not particularly enjoy the experience, although it was wonderful to spend the time with the family. Yet, the reviews posted on that very same cruise were glowing. The food that I thought was bland and unimaginative, and the service that I thought was nonexistent were reviewed as "superb" and "overly attentive." Everyone is entitled to their opinions. All a question of expections.....

[peaches from georgia]

I think the reason someone expressed gratitude to those who gave their very real bad experience on the Maasdam last week is because it has beome increasingly difficult to post anything negative about HAL on this board.

 

There are many here who believe HAL hung the moon and it very well may have for them. But that does not negate the fact that others have had some very legitimate problems. ....

 

jb, I think when you've enjoyed Celebrity's dining experience, not much else can hold a candle to it (except perhaps on luxury lines). HAL's has always fallen short in my eyes. ....

 

I still believe that the two huge issues here are toilets backing up and lack of A/C. Both of these situations can completely and totally ruin a cruise. No one could possibly suggest that complaining royally about such a mess is unjustified in any way.

 

And it doesn't matter what caused it. It's how HAL deals with the problem that matters. ....

 

..... sadly the people who cruise are not going to change. And obviously the flushing systems must work a lot better on other ships because I doubt that the Maasdam is the only ship where people flush the things they shouldn't down the toilet. When you can't change the behavior, you have to find a way to deal with it.

Thumbs up to your post, Heather. I entirely agree with every point you made.

[Luv_to_Cruise]

Hi Sail7Seas,

 

Yes, I hd hoped to see you again, but alas...

 

My husband has a theory about our experience on HAL. The reason they ask your cabin number, is to identify your status. Our cabin number identified us as common passengers. On the other hand, passengers on the higher decks are immediately identified. A person like you who cruises Maasdam multiple times in one year is immediately recognized along with VIPs. HAL seems to want to keep their current customer base happy, along with trying to attract new customers. They devote their resources to the higher fare or VIP cruisers and as many other customers as their limited resources allow. For these fortunate cruisers, problem are resolved quickly. And for others, they fall through the cracks like us.

 

We can only afford to cruise every year or two, so to have a disappointing experience is very sad for me. I have never had a cruise experience when I was really happy to get off the ship and get home to my A/C, food not from a cafeteria and a bathroom I am resonably sure will not spring a leak. For each cruise and cruiser, experiences are personal, and vary considerably. I am glad you are happy with your Maasdam. For us, we will research other lines and look for newer ships that do not have a history of systems problems and offer the open dining that we require. It will be 2009 before we cruise again, so I have lots of time.

 

Best Wishes

[sail7seas]

I don't think anyone should come on the HAL board and feel uncomfortable posting a less than rave review. Stuff happens ... HAL screws up just like any other cruise line.

 

 

 

I agree, Heather.

But people shouldn't get blasted when they write a rave review either. Any well intentioned, ostensibly honest review should be taken for what it is. The honest 'reviewer' should not feel forced to defend themselves from attack and accusations of dishonesty as I got from several posters this weekend. IMO

 

 

 

Originally Posted by Golfette

Bostom and Luvtocruise - I appreciate your honest comments. That is why I monitor these boards - I want to hear the good AND the bad. Bostom, all your posts make a great deal of sense and I have encountered all of these situations (minus the overflowing toilets) on my one "recent" cruise 3 years ago on Princess. I was burned at the stake for posting them. After vowing never to cruise again, we decided to take a chance on HAL. We are going on Oosterdam in December. We won't expect the moon and hopefully we won't be disappointed. Please keep posting your cruise experiences wherever and whenever they occur. It's posts like these that keep these boards "honest."

 

 

I supplied the underline.

 

 

[/b]

[HeatherInFlorida]

P.S. After posting above, I saw Sail's post and wanted to respond. Sail, I honestly don't think anyone is negating your review or "burning you at the stake":) .

 

On the thread where you wrote your review, Sail, I did not see anyone blast you. Here on this thread you and Bostom went at it a bit, but I think there's a sincere misunderstanding between you two. These are words on a page and can so easily be misunderstood.

 

I just think that everyone wants to be given their due. If they post their experience, negative or positive, it shouldn't be questioned simply because someone else had a different experience.

 

It's very hard to post anything negative here ... people really do tend to come down hard on you if you do. That should not happen. Everyone should be given equal time to have their say ... doesn't mean you have to agree with them, but they should not be made to feel uncomfortable in any way. It's just not fair.

[u4ea]

Stateroom numbers are asked when you breakfast or lunch in the Main Restaurant so that the days Auto-Tips can be divvied up amongst the right group of service staff:

 

It's assumed that all pax will breakfast and lunch in the Lido and dine in the Main Restaurant - therefore, the portion of auto-tips for waiters, etc. go towards those groups of people.* However if you order room service, a portion of that days tips go to Room Service staff - same if you dine in Pinnacle - but they already know your stateroom number from your room service delivery ticket and your Pinnacle reservation and payment so that tips can be properly apportioned to the folks that served you. *

 

No such info is seamlessly gathered if you breakfast or lunch in the Main Restaurant, so your waiter has to ask.

 

Good answer, and BTW to all, I enjoyed this thread too and reflect what CDRMark said.:cool:

Mark...

[rkacruiser]

Stateroom numbers are asked when you breakfast or lunch in the Main Restaurant so that the days Auto-Tips can be divvied up amongst the right group of service staff:

 

It's assumed that all pax will breakfast and lunch in the Lido and dine in the Main Restaurant - therefore, the portion of auto-tips for waiters, etc. go towards those groups of people.* However if you order room service, a portion of that days tips go to Room Service staff - same if you dine in Pinnacle - but they already know your stateroom number from your room service delivery ticket and your Pinnacle reservation and payment so that tips can be properly apportioned to the folks that served you. *

 

No such info is seamlessly gathered if you breakfast or lunch in the Main Restaurant, so your waiter has to ask.

 

Brian,

 

This is an interesting statement to me. It is the first time I have read such a statement made about the auto-tips. Are you certain this is the case? When we have had discussions about whether Room Service stewards should or should not be tipped, comments have been made that they are NOT part of the auto-tipping pool, so should, therefore, receive some size of gratuity.

 

Bob

[bphman]

I came to the board today to post my review of the June 30 sailing of the Maasdam and came upon this post. I can only say that this was not my overall experience.

 

This was our first HAL cruise. We arrived at the pier at 11:30 and were on the ship a little after noon. Not a hitch in the process. Went to the Lido for lunch which was typical buffet. Loved the freshly roasted chicken.

 

The cabin was comfortable. Had a balcony which was quite roomy but too cold to use. The cabin was always made up promptly. Had one day with faulty toilets but they were promptly fixed. They certainly didn't flush with the force of other ship toilets but they got the job done.

 

Found the ship to be beautiful and not old as some say. Loved the size which is very amenable to meeting people which we did. There were alot of kids but all well behaved. This is not a ship for nightlife and partying with aall late activity restricted to the Crown bar.

 

I have to agree with most of the comments about the food. Had the Main lower with a wonderful group. FOund the food to be just OK. Strange menu some nights. Service was poor and the waiter never introduced himself. Had the complain to the Asst. Maitre'd and then things improved. Desserts were a new cruiseline low. Drink service improved after a $10 tip. But, he was overworked.

 

I have a big complaint about liquor prices. Wines were marked up 200 to 300% (Rousemount Shiraz and Wolf Blass Cabernet at $47 for a $10 bottle.) Mixed drinks were sub-par and don't get the sida card. This was the biggest rip-off.

 

All in all, we had a great time. Would definitely sail HAL again. The passengers and the staff make for a great experience.

[Copper10-8]

..............My husband has a theory about our experience on HAL. The reason they ask your cabin number, is to identify your status. Our cabin number identified us as common passengers. On the other hand, passengers on the higher decks are immediately identified. A person like you who cruises Maasdam multiple times in one year is immediately recognized along with VIPs. HAL seems to want to keep their current customer base happy, along with trying to attract new customers. They devote their resources to the higher fare or VIP cruisers and as many other customers as their limited resources allow. For these fortunate cruisers, problem are resolved quickly. And for others, they fall through the cracks like us...........

 

Sorry Ma'am, have to disagree with hubby on that one! HAL would like nothing better than to have 100% positive ratings and comments from all its pax after a cruise comes to an end! What company CEO in his/her right mind is looking foward to a bunch of negative feedback splattered all over the internet, in trade publications such as Cruise Travel, being spread word to mouth, etc. that a certain cruise and/or ship blows chunks and ship's management did nothing about it?

The reason HAL staff started asking for guest cabin numbers at onboard restaurants and at certain sittings has to deal with an ongoing study/survey, as has been referred to in a previous post. HAL is looking at changes/additions to future food service onboard ships. (answers as to who eats what, where, when,

demographics/background, etc. of those pax helps that study) No, didn't pull that out of a hat - got it from someone who knows.

Crappy toilets and A/C problems are not a new thing on the high seas and are not specific to good ol' Maasdam. Regardless of what foks might think, everything imaginable is thrown into the throne regardless of the posted signs, Daily Program entries AND repeated pleas from onboard staff (just go to a question and answer session with the captain and/or Environmental Officer). The OP and others are absolutely correct in that if you experience it (and we have - talking about flushing irregularities than the A/C now) it is a royal pain in the a$$, not to mention the potential health hazard risks it poses. Does anyone on this board really think that the ship's management (and, for that matter, HAL Seattle) does not want to give such a problem a #1 priority to get fixed ASAP? Do you honestly believe that someone in the hotel department is going to look up that cabin # when the complaint comes in and, upon finding out that particular cabin is in "steerage", will put the issue on the backburner? Come on, folks! If a specific plumbing problem can't be taken care of, it means it's a serious enough issue that it will take more time. The last time we had such a complaint, it was reported before going to breakfast and taken care of by the time we got back from same (and, no, we were not part of the "suite life"). Yes, the recent post and lovely pics are an example of folks that should have been moved elsewhere!

Problems of all sizes do occur on cruise ships as well as on land. Luckily, a fair number of us can compare our experiences on other cruise lines as to how they were handled to the way HAL takes care of them. To some who posted here, HAL dropped the ball last week. Thankfully, those folks have the option available to return to lines like Celebrity, Cunard and Easy Cruise. HAL is not perfect, never has been and never will. Choices are a good thing!

[theprofessor]

I just wanted to state that I too was disappointed in the "lovely and elegant Maasdam" even though my cabin experienced none of the odor or A/C problems.

 

The odor on the ship is not a one time occurrence. Just type Maasdam and odor into google and you'll see this has been going on for some time... Luckily, we only encountered what we jokingly called "diaper alley" when cutting thru the hallway to the other side.

 

But even beyond that, I would never recommend this ship to others based on our mixed experience.

 

The ship itself is in decent shape. Our cabins and certain areas (crow's nest, library) were quite nice. The ship's crew seemed well organized - they were very efficient in getting guests into ports, tenders, etc, As mentioned, the ports were great.

 

On the other hand... the food was mediocre at best. The lido buffet closed at 7:30, but often shut down even earlier at the main stations. This is quite early, especially on port days. It was impossible to eat at the dining room without taking 2 hours. We would not normally be in a hurry but often the kids club closed prior to the end of our meal.

 

The guest entertainers were great (in defense of the parents who brought their kids, the director did state that she does not use foul language in her act). But, the regular cast shows were almost laughably bad.

 

Most staff members were polite but neither friendly nor helpful. Whenever I had an issue on the ship (laundry, internet questions, dining times, kids club, etc,), staff members always "passed the buck" asking me to contact so and so, etc, Since sail7seas is a regular on the ship, I would guess that he has made friends and receives exceptional service, but this was not my experience.

 

This may seem nitpicky... but it was symoblic of my opinion of the ship. There was no half-n-half on board only milk for coffee (even in the Explorations Coffee shop... a coffee shop without cream?).

 

I was actually relieved to read some of these comments. On the ship, you hear the director raving on and on about the wonderful service and first-class accomodations and wondered whether it was just me....

 

P.S. Regarding the theory of treating repeat customers better... this is a trend throughout business ( look up "customer relationship management") and it would be very surprising if all cruise companies do not do some form of value assessment in the level of service they provide to customers.

[Roz]

"The reason they ask your cabin number, is to identify your status."

 

I disagree with this, because it implies that lower categories of cabins get less service. I've never experienced this, whether it was open seating in the DR at breakfast or lunch, or assigned seating at dinner. I book inside or outside guarantees, so I'm definitely not in a balcony cabin or suite.

 

Anyone care to disagree with me? Bring it on! ;)

 

Roz

[willowoodf]

I haven't read every single post on this thread because my eyes were starting to cross from reading so much, so I don't know if this has already been said, but I have to say what we were told by a well known hotel manager about asking for cabin numbers at the dining room. He said they are just trying to identify patterns. I don't remember everything that he said, but it had to do with properly allocating food and help to the Lido vs. the Dining Room. I don't know why a simple count of people woudn't do the same job, though. I do remember when we had the conversation it made sense. Maybe someone else can add more to this.

[SnorkelBear]

Heather, you sum things up beautifully. It has been my experience that this board is one of the nicest and most helpful I have used. I do not think there is anything wrong with people disagreeing and discussing those diffrences. I too think it is important to welcome all opinions and views on a board like this.

 

Cheers to all who take the time post a review.:)