frbob

I'm not impressed with Princess Guest Services off the ship as well. I have been waiting for well over a month for an answer to question I had. I followed up with another request for an answer. Then I asked for the contact number for the GSM. Nothing but silence on all counts. Worst guest service dept. in the cruise industry, and that's saying something, because service throughout the industry is pretty bad.

My upcoming cruise on Island Princess could be my last Princess cruise (Captain Circle Elite).

On 3/4/2023 at 11:22 PM, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Here is a video of the USS Kitty Hawk in heavy weather.   I was on the USS Ranger under similar circumstances in the 1990's .    My "inside cabin" was all the way forward.   We were probably moving 30 feet up and down.   Felt like we were sleeping in an elevator.....I never had to strap into my bunk as folks do on smaller ships - no stabilizers on USN ships.

 

 

The scariest time was probably on April 5th 1979 when I was on Ranger and we collided with a tanker in the Strait of Malacca off Singapore.   Here is a picture of our bow afterward.  We had to go back to Subic Bay for temporary repairs and then to Japan for permanent repairs.   We were out of action for 2 months

 

 

 

More HERE and HERE

 

You can listen to the Captain talk to the crew HERE after the collision 

 

Here is a video from my final cruise on the USS Midway where I give a tour of my "inside cabin"  This was filmed by my brothers on a "Tiger Cruise" -  A Tiger Cruise is where relatives can ride along the ship for a few days.   This video shows Midway's final full power run - over 30 knots and the last time she sailed under her own power in 1991.    I was moving back from Japan so my "inside cabin"  was filled with household goods and other stuff and was normally more organized.  

 

 

 

 

I served on USS Ranger back in the early 60's when CVs were CVAs. In Alameda we were berthed right next to Midway. Interesting times. We once had a "drag race" with Kitty Hawk out in the Pacific. Of course, Ranger was the victor! 

In my 2 1/2 years aboard Ranger we cruised through 2 typhoons in the Pacific with extreme seas and water washing over the bow onto the flight deck. Thrill rides. My job on Ranger was "R" Div. Officer. I was in charge of toilets. Very exciting stuff...so I signed up for watch duty in CIC and the Bridge, in addition to my normal watch rotation in Engineering. Yes, I worked at least 16 hours a day. The Bridge was my favorite. At least there were windows. My "cabin" was mid-ship more or less, a couple of decks below the hanger deck. My bunk was against an exterior bulkhead and, at night, when at sea in convoy, I could hear the sonar "pings" from accompanying warships. Loud...very loud!

Were you a brown shoe. or black shoe? Thanks for your service, by the way!

12 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

To your thread topic title, the mark-up from the actual USD cruise fare has been 35% for sometime now.  If a desired cruise is included in the promotion, a Canadian can end up paying 74% of what an American pays when looked at in USD.

 

Doesn't seem fair to me. But Canadians love it!

11 hours ago, Cruise Junky said:

It’s a common promotion.  Border towns in the US do it all the time. Just means we’re both paying $1,000 for a cruise and not US residents paying $1000 and Canadian residents paying $1,300.   Disappointing to see politics/policies being brought into this.  It’s no different from a residency rate.  

Politics? What "politics"? Maybe economics, or fairness, but not "politics". I can't help it if the Canadian dollar isn't worth a US dollar. Not my fault. Check with Ottawa.

Canadian residents can stretch their dollars further with our Canadian Dollars at Par promotion that has been extended through Mar 31! With this offer, we will be setting Canadian dollars at par with US dollars to bring extra savings to your Canadian clients². This is applicable on select voyages to Alaska, the Caribbean, California Coast, Europe, Panama Canal, and Canada & New England between Mar 2023 through Apr 2024. Voyage List ❯".

Every time I try to reach HAL's customer service dept I end up holding and holding and holding. Same with CHAT. What's up with HAL???

We have some lingering issues to resolve with Holland America and have been trying very hard to get responses from HAL via email or phone. Getting someone who knows what they are doing at HAL seems virtually impossible. I've made calls and spent an hour or more on hold listening to elevator music and the oft-repeated "Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and a representative will be with you shortly.". When a call is finally answered I have been advised that I have the wrong person and could I please stay on the line and the call will be transferred to the "right" person. This is followed by more elevator music and that repeated "your call is very important to us...blah, blah, blah" message. I've left call-back numbers and sent many, many emails without response. Does HAL actually have a customer/guest relations department or is that post just a black hole?

Anyone with like experiences?

HAL and Seabourn are our 2 favorite cruise lines. I'm very concerned about their viability going forward after cornoavirus. "Paying forward" may not be the best thing to do. HAL is offering more goodies if you book next year's cruises with full payment up front. Since they haven't paid back all bookings form cancelled 2020 cruises it seems like a  ponzi scheme. Hope I'm wrong.

I was on that same cruise and I totally agree with you about the lack of knowledgeable explorations speakers. We cruised in a part of the world very few see...lands formed by colliding tectonic plates, volcanoes, glaciers and unique wildlife. There were no geologists, naturalists, glacierologists or anyone with real knowledge on board to help us understand the wonders of the north polar region and what we were exposed to. All we had was boring, monotone, slow talking Glenn Michael who has zero knowledge of the polar region and read from a script, perhaps prepared by someone in Seattle. Bummer. He put me to sleep with his intro.

We heard that Glenn (nice guy, BTW) would be the CD/EXP Director for the World Cruise and maybe more. That would be a terrible shame! Tino, the CD on Rotterdam, doesn't know the fate of the CD position with HAL. Well, he does, but he can't really talk about it. Perhaps it will disappear in the traditional sense. HAL HQ controls more and more detail about what happens on their vessels, down to minutia. I guess we'll see what happens.

But your booking could be cancelled without penalty anytime before cancellation penalties/final payment time.

41 minutes ago, kazu said:

Hopefully this hasn’t been posted previously and, if so, apologies as I was sailing.

 

Speaking to the Future Cruise Consultant on the Prinsendam (and Annette is good), she advised me that HAL’s policy has changed for transferring bookings.

 

It used to be that you could transfer any time before cancellation penalties / final payment commenced.

 

Now, it will be 2 months from booking your cruise.  After that time frame, your booking cannot be transferred.  

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

 

What was your source for this information?

 CC member btimmer is doing a live blog from the Maasdam right now - read it for yourself

https://timmer2019srilanka.blogspot.com

Someone onboard told us. Did it actually happen? If you're onboard as well it couldn't have amounted to much. What's the story?

I heard from someone that Maasdam went aground while entering the port of Phuket, Thailand. Can anyone confirm?

23 hours ago, VermeulT said:

 

23 hours ago, VermeulT said:

 

I'm sure you'll find plenty to like about Koningsdam. Keep an open mind and have a blast!

6 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Food source safety being assured by management for large culinary operations like this is not an excuse.  it may be dull and not "local", but it is what it needs to be in this sort of operation. Suggest you stick to all the other lines you claim use casually-sourced local ingredients, because it is highly unliking you will find this on virtually all HAL ships. There were some minor local additions on the newer format HAL Maasdam InDepth cruises. Give them a try.

I'm glad you're happy with mediocre. Live it up!

5 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Thanks for your review.  Hope you enjoyed the cruise, even with those drawbacks.  We did like Koningsdam, and I think some changes are due to be made when she goes into drydock, such as losing the CAC to Club Orange.  We will be on the premier voyage of the Nieuw Statendam in December, and hope we enjoy her as much as we did Koningsdam.

 

We have found that the first offering of the show in the evenings is always chock-a-block full.  We much prefer going to the later show, if we go at all.

Our experience on the TransAtlantic Crossing part of our journey was that, if the performers in the first show were really good, the second show was SRO also. It's attributable to either great performances or boredom.

I cruised Koningsdam for 24 days from 10/18/2018 to 11/11/2018. She is about 2 years old and appears to be in very good physical condition and is well maintained. That said, Koningsdam is a mixed bag of good, bad and ugly...in this writer's experienced opinion.

THE GOOD

By all appearances, the ship is being kept very clean. Wear and tear has not yet begun to show too much. Not much rust in sight.

The theater (World Stage) is the best in the HAL fleet, and maybe in most fleets. Sight lines are excellent and there is hardly a bad seat in the house. Seating capacity is relatively generous and can fit about a third of the passengers at any one time (close to 800). That said, there were many occasions when the theater was totally filled and people were standing and/or sitting in the aisles (safety hazard?). The hi-tech stage uses a 270 degree computer controlled LCD screen as the backdrop and is the main apparatus of the otherwise sparse set decoration.

Lincoln Center Stage is an outstanding plus for HAL. Koningsdam's venue for the very talented quintet is larger than other ships in the fleet and offers comfortable seating.

Public seating is excellent and comfortable throughout the ship.

The staterooms are a bit smaller on than most of HALs ships, but they are reasonable equipped. Electric and USB plugs are abundant and storage/closet space is good.

THE BAD

While Koningsdam is new and bright, HAL has done nothing to change the nickel-and-dime operation and product they offer. EVERYTHING they do is designed to get passengers to spend more money. Most of the daily on-board programs offered are for revenue and income production.

Venues throughout the ship are too small for the large number of passengers, often filling an hour or more prior to a presentation.

The Culinary Arts Center is the showcase venue for America's Test Kitchen, and it is very ill-suited for the purpose...very poor seating and sight angles. They also utilize this room for extra-cost dinning in the evening (much more suitable).

The Mariners Program on Koningsdam appears to be treated more as necessary nuisance than as the customer building program it was originally designed to be. There does not appear to be a suitable venue on Koningsdam for a Mariners Reception, so only medallion recipients are invited, no matter how many medallions one has or how many cruise days you've logged. The multi-Star Mariners cocktail party is held in part of the Lido Pool area, while other people are in hot tubs on the other side. It's very clear that HAL management wants to change the demographic of its customers. They are looking for new, free spending blood.

Staterooms are noisier than one would expect for a "new" ship. Even in slight seas there is creaking, rattling and banging...especially at night when you are trying to sleep.

Fit and finish is not all that it could be. As an example, stateroom have a recessed "frame" for the wall mounted large screen TV. In my stateroom the TV was mounted well out of the center of the frame and lop-sided (one side higher than the other).

The Main Dining Room is very noisy, especially on the lower deck (Deck2). There is little or no sound-absorbing material to soak up noise.

There is no replay of the excursion or enrichment talks available on Koningsdam's closed circuit TV system or on stateroom TVs. You can, however, book extra cost dining, spa and excursion options via the interactive TV system.

What little "art" there is on the ship is far removed from traditional seafaring art. All is very contemporary and the artwork appears to be photo-shopped pictures. There is NO art in stateroom passageways.

Passage fore and aft on public decks 2 and 3 is restricted to one side of the ship, ensuring exposure to every selling station onboard.

Traffic flow is poor, especially outside elevator locations where they have planted large modern sculptures (?), creating bottlenecks.

The Promenade Deck is quite narrow and there are no deck chairs thereupon. The walking gets very bottlenecked at the stern end of the ship, so if one is walking behind slow walkers or encountering walkers who insist on walking upstream, it slows everyone down.  Not important enough to write Congress about...just a mention.

THE UGLY

Whoever designed the toilets in the staterooms should be fired immediately. One cannot sit "on the throne" straightaway. You have to sit sideways because the glass shower enclosure is in the way, and you can't get your knees to squeeze in...unless you're 2 or 3 years old. Very awkward and uncomfortable.

DINING

This is a very subjective area and not all tastes are alike. So offering comments about the food and service aboard the Koningsdam is treading on very dangerous ground. That said, HAL has put together a fine group of chefs in what they call the Chef's Counsel, to help Chef Rudy design a dining program for the ship's various venues. They have created offerings that, in their test kitchen, appeal to all the senses. Great food requires great ingredients skillfully assembled by craftsmen who love their work. Unfortunately, the Chef's Counsel is not on board to supervise the final product. HALs logistics program is complex and mainly designed to minimize costs and maximize efficiencies. They do not take advantage of the terrific local products as they cruise from place to place. So freshness of ingredients is sacrificed in favor of program convenience. They claim there are reasons (or excuses) for this, but others seem to be able to take advantage of local fresh product availability. That's all I have to say about this topic. Everyone has to judge for themselves.

It is increasing clear to me that Mr. Ashford has little interest in the 4-5 Star Mariner Program. He appears to want to change the demographic of Holland America Line and wants HAL to appeal to younger neuveau riche cruisers who don't have a clue or care about true quality and will spend. spend, spend. Loyalty is being treated very differently under Mr. Ashford's leadership, and not for the better. Sign of the times!

I'll join you!!!!

👍

Denise:)

(y)(y)

In your post you stated that you are going to seek "other travel options." I, like you, am disappointed that cruising isn't what it once was.There has definitely been a steady decline, but it seems to have been across all cruise lines. I found our recent Disney cruise came closest to our cruises of 15-20 years ago. I have only been on one short Luxury Cruise Line, (Radisson Seven Seas, now Regent) since I had not cruised with them before nor have I since, I cannot say if they are declining, improving or holding steady. I have only cruised once each on Norwegian and Celebrity so can't compare them either, but Holland, Princess, Carnival and RCCL have all declined. We too, are squarely middle class and can't fork out the big bucks for the luxury cruise companies.

 

That said, I have not really found anything else that provides the escape and pampering that cruises do. Princess and Holland seem to work best for me from an overall value for the price paid standpoint. The nickel and diming has definitely increased. Some of my friends have done All Inclusive resorts, but when all things. air, transfers, etc., are added in I found them to be out of my budget for any I would be willing to stay out. As understaffed as the cruise ships have become, I don't think it is any better at those resorts.

 

I don't drink, can take my own pictures, usually do my own thing on shore, and don't buy a bunch of stuff in the onboard shops. I enjoy the shows and games, getting to know my waiter and table companions, doing as much or as little as I want and things like that. Due to booking through Costco we had a large onboard credit on our last cruise (Coral Princessl, 15 night, Panama) and actually struggled to use it. Our final on our shipboard account was less than $25. Since they started nickel and diming for everything it is almost a game for us to see how little we can spend. Princess still lets you take on wine and bottle water, my brother and his wife drink wine and princess let them each bring a bottle of wine on board, then they bought another in port. They open it themselves so they don't pay a corkage fee. I brought a case of bottled water.

 

So, after that long rant the bottom line of my purpose in replying is this; what type of vacations are you looking into that you think will provide better value? I will say, that we spent a week on the North Shore of Oahu cost a little more per person that we would have likely spent on a 7 night caribbean or mexico cruise. We had a wonderful time. but each day/evening, we had to find somewhere to eat, and sites to see and activities to do. Some of our food was great, some not, same goes for service. I know there is some of that on a cruise but the lists of things to do are pre organized for you and somewhat limited (can be a good or bad thing.) If you find something awesome, please share with the rest of us.

Great post! I can't disagree with anything you have said. Cruising has generally been reduced to basic transportation for me. The bloom is off the rose. I will continue to use cruise lines to get to places we want to visit...no great expectations on the qualities of food, entertainment or services. If they exceed my very low expectations, GREAT!

What always surprises me, although it shouldn't, is when Fr Bob, the thread originator, complains yet again about HAL ( or Celebrity, or Princess), as he has for years, but then still continues to come back for more. Why, if he dislikes cruising so much, does he do that?

Cruise ships are now just basic transportation to get to places I want to visit. The romance of cruising is over.

What always surprises me, although it shouldn't, is when Fr Bob, the thread originator, complains yet again about HAL ( or Celebrity, or Princess), as he has for years, but then still continues to come back for more. Why, if he dislikes cruising so much, does he do that?

Not a complainer...just more honest and discriminating than you appear to be. You can settle for mediocre if you want...your right...your choice.

We will not attack the OP (which is actually against board guidelines) but rather will stick to what was implied versus our own experience. To a great degree we do agree with the OPs overall assessment...that HAL has cut back in too many areas. Since we do a lot of cruising (on several different lines) the cut backs have definitely impacted our own booking habits. There are times we will book with another cruise line, instead of HAL, because our own list of pros/cons favor the other line. We still book with HAL, because despite many cutbacks it is still a pretty good cruise line and we often love the HAL itineraries. We will readily admit that we now go on HAL with lowered expectations...and with good cause.

 

Have to smile at some of the posts because our next HAL cruise is on the "Rottendam" which has been our least favorite ship (of any cruise line) since our last Rottendam cruise (Jul 2011). At that time there were many physical problems on that vessel and we really hated the aft deck "bird bath" which replaced the pool (so they could cram in a few more cabins). But this is 6 years later and we shall see if some things have improved (we know the bird bath is a permanent fixture). Recent reviews here on CC are mixed (at best) and generally not very flattering. As to Lancal's comment (we have seen this before) which essentially says, if one has issues they should go elsewhere...we do not agree. For us its a balancing act. We have wanted to do the VOV itinerary for a few years..and it just so happens this is the vessel that HAL has on that popular cruise.

 

So, in the interest of a great itinerary....we will hold our nose and head back to the Rotterdam. We really hope that things will be vastly improved....but if its not we will just "roll with the waves" and have a great time. We already know that some of entertainment (Barry from Boston and the BB King show) are in tune (pun intended) with our taste. So if the ship still sucks (physically) we will drink away our sorrows during the evening hours :).

 

Hank

Great post and perspective. I totally agree.

We cruise Princess, HAL, Cunard now primarily, have cruised Celebrity, NCL, Crystal, Royal Carribean, plus lines no longer around i.e., Royal Cruise line, Sitmar. Complaints and changes are similar on all the lines. What we have learned to do is to focus on what we like, go after it on any ship/line we are on and forget the rest... seems to work. You can only live in the now, not the past or the future.

Good advise! Thanks. I had just come off a particularly terrible cruise on Maasdam with lots of unresolved issues, so I vented. I'm old enough to know better. From now on I will focus on destination and use cruise lines as basic transportation. :')

Many changes at HAL, most not favoring their customers. Many cutbacks in quality and staffing. At the same time they are raising their gratuities (?). It's pretty clear they want to chase away most of their more loyal customers. Well, as far as I am concerned their plan is working because I don't plan to cruise with them again until they provide a much better cruising experience.

Not for nothing, but aftet 40+ Hal cruises I find the Company has done more cutting than improving. Staffing is down, food quality is down, service has slipped, equipment is not so great. No niceties anymore on Hal. They have turned to cheap, cheap, cheap. I rate the Cruise Line no better than 3-Star, maybe less. Time to seek other travel options. If you don't agree, I really don't really care about any snotty remarks in rebuttal, than you very much.