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3 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I suspect we have sailed together on more than one cruise.  If you are whom I think you are, many of us have enjoyed your photos over the years.  "It will remain in my heart forever."  As Amsterdam ought to do.  Your feelings for Amsterdam are what I feel about Rotterdam V.    

I’m sure we have sailed together, and I have taken many thousands of photos.  http://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com 

The Amsterdam was my home for so many years. I did 11 of my 12 World Voyages, 6 Grand Asia’s and many bits in between on the Amsterdam. After 2050 sailing days on the Amsterdam, it will remain in my heart forever.


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On ‎9‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 2:34 PM, Riversedge said:

We returned a couple weeks ago from the Voyage of the Vikings.  Since we paid more than what it's costing us per day than the Grand Voyage we have coming up, we expected something very special.  We only had a lowly Oceanview room.  Most people on the cruise paid WAY  more than we did.  Since we could have bought a new car for what we paid for 5 weeks we were expecting a special onboard experience.  The crew looked the most overworked and unhappy as any we have ever seen anywhere.  We heard that the Zuiderdam had never done more than a 14 day cruise before and therefore was unprepared for the expectations of people expecting a bit more for the price we paid.   I have never heard so many people complaining in my life.  Even the people at our table that were President's Club said it was the worst experience ever and that they didn't care if they ever sailed HAL again.  That seemed to be the overwhelming feeling of most people onboard from 5* to the newbies.   We truly enjoyed the ports and at the end of the day we considered ourselves fortunate to have experienced the things we did.  We only did one HAL tour so can't comment on those but we heard many complaints about the cost and some of the guides.  

 

This is the letter I wrote to Orlando.  I've not heard anything back yet as it's only been about 10 days.  If we weren't already booked on another voyage we would be done with HAL.   Even the HAL people with the "rose colored glasses" were disappointed with their shipboard experience.  If Holland America doesn't do something positive soon they will lose many customers.  I'm not expecting Orlando to answer but if we all sit around and do nothing things will never get noticed.  I imagine they had all kinds of bad survey marks but do they even pay attention?  I'm sure some of you will go "not another Holland America hate thread" but we're all entitled to our opinions and expectations.  Not everyone has to agree with my perceptions.  We are 4* and younger than the average passenger.  From looking at age of most onboard, in 5 years none of those people will be able to travel anymore.  Then what??  Something has to be done to attract future cruisers. 

Linda

 

Dear Orlando Ashford:

 

We recently returned from the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings onboard the HAL Zuiderdam.  I can’t express how disappointed we were.  If this is the sign of how things will be on Holland America from now on, count us out.   I will address the issues in parts, but first let me remind you that this is a SPECIALTY cruise.  We booked an ocean view room so we were paying less than most of the people on the ship but we were still paying more per day than we are on our upcoming Grand Voyage.  An upper price point makes one assume that the experience will be special.  Not so. 

 

The positives:  There were some positive aspects of our cruise.  The ports themselves were amazing and we were so glad to have experienced them.  The cabin was comfortable and our room stewards, Putu and Rai were very good.  The temperature was easy to maintain and we liked the new interactive tv’s.  Jessica, who did most of the EXC talks was the best we’ve ever had.  The dessert chef is the best ever and the sticky buns at breakfast were excellent as well as the beef at dinner.   We enjoyed our one night at Sel de Mer.  The new tenders made the tendering process so easy and we never had to wait to get off.  Front desk was so helpful and friendly.  Lunch in the Pinnacle was excellent.  Justine, the Assistant Beverage Manager, is a huge asset to Holland America.  That’s where the positives end and the negatives begin.

 

 

 

Officers:  The top officers on this cruise, Captain Vaartjes and Hotel Director Darren Lewis were unfriendly and unapproachable.  The Captain's welcome talk was all about spending money at the onboard shops, at the bars and booking their tours (because we might get left behind if we didn't)   Our cabin was in the same hallway as the Hotel Director’s office so we saw him often when he almost knocked us over hurrying down the hallway.  Never an excuse me or hello and the two of them would sometimes be on the dock as we were getting off talking to each other.  They did not greet guests….just stood there with their noses in the air.  The friendliness of the ship begins on top.  It is the HD’s job to make sure a cruise is a positive experience in all areas.  Didn’t happen.  I don’t think we’ve ever had a hotel director that did a worse job.  

 

 

Ambience of the ship:  There were buckets everywhere in the hallways to catch dripping water.  Two buckets were outside our room for 8 days until I made the comment to our room steward that I was going to buy pool toys and have a pool party in the hallway.  They finally fixed it but there were other buckets in many of the hallways the entire cruise.  There were cones in the Lido a few places to mark where the tiles were broken.  There were very few flowers around the ship and none on the tables anymore.  Instead we had an empty lamp that didn’t even have a battery light in it.  No coverings on the chairs at gala night and some of the windows were so damaged that you couldn’t see out of them.  We never had a single decoration to show it was a specialty cruise.  No special celebrations other than the usual birthday song.    Nothing extra to show that this was, indeed, a specialty cruise.  

 

 

Dining Room:  The service was terrible.  We often didn’t get coffee, tea or water refills.  The first two weeks of the cruise we couldn’t even get our wine glasses refilled. At that point we got a new wine steward and things improved.    I had a lobster dropped in my lap with no apologies.  The staff was so overworked that there was no time to have any short conversation with them.  They couldn’t keep up with anything.  The maître d only showed up the two nights that an officer dined with us.  Never any other time and we did not see him trying to help out.  The dining room was very poorly run.  It often took an hour to get our first bite of food.  The assistant maître d came often and asked how our dinner was but didn’t really care.  When I mentioned that the fish in the seafood pie was old he said, “well there are 600 meals being prepared at once so we can’t make everything good.”  When I mentioned the same complaint to the waiter his answer was “enjoy”.   They were working hard but clearly not enjoying their jobs because they can’t keep up.  Breakfast and lunch were even worse than dinner.  What happened to having the women served first?  That didn’t happen as the waiter started with whomever he pleased.  The soups were barely lukewarm and apparently we don’t have an option of a cold soup anymore. 

 

 

 

Laundry:  Some items came up missing that we never got back.  We were told the ship was not expecting so much laundry but how hard is it to know in advance how many 4 and 5* members are going to be aboard and plan accordingly?  We saw the laundry guys in the hallway and they looked completely exhausted and unhappy but kudos to them for working hard. 

 

 

 

Bars:  Hardly anyone there during any time except happy hour.  Why not lower your prices and make it affordable at any time?  Even at happy hour prices the drinks were expensive.  And the wine packages had $8.00 wine for almost $50 a bottle if you didn’t have 4* status.  Many of the bar waiters were obviously not enjoying their jobs.

 

 

 

Shuttle costs:  When passengers are paying well over $500 per day per cabin why are we being charged $20.00 per person for a shuttle to town?  This happened 3 times.  Did we not pay enough for this to be included?

 

 

 

Cruise Director:  Jonathan Beaumont.  What a disgrace.  He was clearly not experienced and always had to read names off a paper when announcing entertainment or officers.  He was not visible around the ship.  Worst we’ve ever had.  Maybe the new distribution of jobs is not working??

 

 

Spa:  In advance of this cruise we had bought a couples pass to the thermal suite.  I called Seattle twice to make sure the price was for the whole 35 day cruise.  They said yes so we purchased it.  When we got onboard they said, no, it was only for half a cruise.  I called Seattle and they did say they had told me wrong.  The spa was supposed to work up a deal for us and call us but we never heard from them.  If you promise on something…..deliver.  At least honor us with a phone call to our room. 

 

 

 

EXC guide:  Apparently HAL has decided that the cruise director should take on this job.  When we had Jessica, the travel host, she was BEYOND amazing.  So upbeat, had us excited about the ports and gave us knowledge we needed.  She was always available when we were leaving the ship for the day.  Please do NOT take this position away as it was one of the things this ship did well.

 

 

 

Entertainment:  As we all know, the ship’s cast and crew are a thing of the past.  We enjoyed them so much but they were taken away.  Now there’s not much to like about the evening’s entertainment.  Modern Jukebox is a joke.  And how many people actually like to hear an hour of saxophone music and other musical instruments night after night?  Can’t there be something that’s enjoyable for all?  The comedian, Doug Funk, was a hoot and loved by the audience.  Movies, especially BBC, were shown over and over.  How many times do you think we need to see the same thing??  BB King could be enjoyable but it’s too loud and they play the same songs multiple times a week. 

 

 

 

Orange Party:  What a joke.  It was really a non-event except for getting people to go to the bar and buy a drink because they thought it was going to be a big deal.  Won’t have to bother with that again.  Most people left after the first set. 

 

 

 

Toilet paper:  I’m giving this a mention on it’s own because I have never seen such cheap toilet paper in my life.  It was worse than dollar store paper towels.  One person even had toilet paper that was full of holes.  Seriously?  Over $400 a day can’t buy decent toilet paper?  How cheap can you get?

 

 

 

We were told that the Zuiderdam had never done more than a 14 day cruise.  It was very obvious that they had no idea how to make a cruise special.  I have never heard so much complaining and unhappiness amongst passengers.  The staff was overworked and unhappy and it showed.  The majority of the passengers said they were done with Holland America, even the ones with over 1000 days.  I’m sure the surveys showed the negatives but I’m not sure how much attention is paid to them.  If you are going to provide a specialty cruise at high prices, then the experience should match the money commitment on our end.  When we booked this cruise it was to be on the Rotterdam.  Maybe that would have been a better experience.  The Zuiderdam had plenty of opportunity to plan for a long cruise but clearly nothing was done that showed it was being treated any differently than a 7 day cruise. 

 

 

 

There was nothing on this cruise to ever convince people to return.  Several people said it was their first and last cruise on HAL.   A cloud of dissatisfaction and unhappiness was over everyone aboard from crew to passengers.  This cruise ended up being merely a transport from port to port without any of the special experiences we normally get from a cruise. 

 

 

 

We have another cruise planned in January….a 41 day portion of the Grand South America.  We are still within the cancellation period.  Someone needs to convince us that we should continue with our plans for this cruise or we will be looking elsewhere.  If we’re going to pay the big prices, we expect big experiences. 

 

 

 

We are hoping to hear from you to convince us to return to Holland.  We need assurances that it can be a better experience. 

 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

I wonder what ship I was on?  I got off the Zuiderdam 30 July after sailing on her for 8 1/2 months.  It was one of the best experiences I have had.  The Officers and crew where the best and the ship meticulously maintained.  I have sailed on 12 World Voyages with Holland America and 6 Grand Asia's and 2 Voyage of the Vikings.  My time on the Zuiderdam ranks up with the best of the Grand Voyages. 

For those of you who follow Jeff Farschman's journeys...his 2017-2018 adventure begins on October 18 and ends April 28, 2018. His blog at amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com is full of beautiful photos and an optimistic sense of adventure on HAL ships. I always look forward to his posts which usually includes the HAL World cruise.

I guess the pressure is on me to deliver.... hope you enjoy the blog, I have some really amazing things booked for the World Voyage. Jeff Farschman

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Hopefully for the rest of the passengers, this lady is getting off in SAN, which is just another week. HAL should definitely let her know she is not welcome on another cruise if she brings the dog. They should be able to deny her further boarding without any legal issues - putting her off the ship mid-cruise would be another legal can of worms and that is probably why they are waffling on the issue right now. They accepted her and the dog on the cruise and took her money, so are probably stuck with the whole mess right now. Hope the passengers all write HAL in Seattle about this issue - they all paid lots for this cruise and deserve better, health issues with the poop aside. And the crew deserves better - they are not paid to clean up dog poop.

 

Remember being on a ship with the show dog Indy and what a sweet little thing. Never barked when in public areas and pranced around when being taken outside etc. No one said anything negative about that, so well-behaved dogs are not an issue.

 

Also remember a few years ago reading a "live" report on a TA where a woman cruising alone was blind and had a guide dog. Again, everyone was positive about the dog being all over the ship and were so happy the woman was able to cruise. But this was a properly trained guide dog. Even read when the outside decks were closed during rough weather, that the crew helped take the dog to the poop spot. In this case, the crew was appreciative of a well-trained dog and a nice owner.

 

Unfortunate that this lady has made a bad name for assistance animals. Properly trained ones should be almost invisible.

 

Wonder why Jeff has not commented on this in his blog.

Jeff hasn't commented because it is a non issue to me I am too busy having one of the best voyages I have ever been on. I will make a point of commenting on my blog even though I hate to be distracted by such irrelevant issues. Bottom line, for those wanting to enjoy a great voyage this was it!

World cruise blogger Jeff, who is as upbeat and pro Holland America as anybody, said this about the internet on December 31, 2013:

 

http://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.com/

 

I don't see how he can post so many photos from the ship, it must take hours.

I can assure you it took an incredibly long time to post all those photos...