Destiny0315

Well much of what the OP spoke about in her post came from your original 42+ days of posting real or perceived problems that you were seeing live before you on the Westerdam. During that time myself and others made suggestions as to how they may be resolved right there at ship level. I have also posted about real and perceived problems that I was seeing or not seeing on the Zaandam, but I didn't look any deeper beyond what I was seeing in front of me. If you read my post about what I and others saw on the Zaandam for 16 days I rebutted a number of the issues that you saw in person and that the OP talked about second handily from her "hearing" things and "reading" posts on CC. The wine glass is either half full or half empty for many people in this forum about HAL. In your mind and others they have emptied the bottle and happy hour is over in my mind and others they are still pouring albeit they have watered it all down with ice.🙂 Rob

Thank God most of us including myself would lose cases or never pass. 😉

The gala nights for the 7 day Montreal to Boston Zaandam sail are on the second evening's sailing from Quebec City and on the sixth evening's sailing from Halifax. The app will only update when the final schedule appears just a couple days before the cruise itself.

We had over 25 CC people gathered in the Explorers Lounge for around 30-45 minutes on the Zaandam on May 6 in Boston from the CC roll call for that one week cruise. Everything from complete cruise newbies to first time HAL people to veteran 4* and 5* mariners. They represented 3 countries, nearly 10 states and 4 Canadian Provinces. Some who said they would go did not show up, some who said they probably wouldn't go to it did show up, and a couple may have even wandered in. Plenty of good conversation and an exchange of ideas on that first day led to hopefully a better cruise for all, I just regret that no one suggested or took a group photo.

The formal/dressy/gala nights on the Montreal to Boston sailing is on day 2 leaving Quebec City and day 6 leaving Halifax.

And with discussion comes disagreement. Many of the "facts that are coming out" as the OP said but she provides no real first hand evidence of them. Lines like "money seems to be going", "Unknown if this is", "does not seem to be", or "my guess is" lack factual content. For a forum like this it does create a good discussion but in a more formal setting it is mostly baseless chatter.

On an early morning visit to the Crows Nest after a very crowded Orange Party the night before which included many HAL staff of all levels I saw the maintenance team working on their hands and knees to clean off the scuffs etc...that were left on the dance floor from the night before.

Ok so I guess no Roasted Toasted Almond drinks for you!🙂

Yes it is, but to hear first hand my own or others experiences is different than hearing another person talking about what myself or others have said. Hearsay can spread like wildfire if it is not kept at bay!

Well I didn't respond early in the thread because I was actively on a HAL R class ship, the Zaandam that according to the OP is affected by having "glaring cutbacks" which were not seen or commented on by anyone that I engaged with for two weeks onboard. In fact during last week's cruise CD Daniel Edward showed on the World Stage an exclusive behind the scenes look that had been filmed very recently right on the Zaandam of all that was going on beneath and around us on the ship. This was totally different than the generic ships tour that is usually shown. The chain locked beer and ice cream storage areas were quite filled btw. With a cabin right near the Atrium I passed by the Guest Relations desk just one floor up multiple times throughout the cruise(s) and never saw a line of more than around eight people and never heard any loud complainers letting the world know of their problems. The "cutting corners" on maintenance must have been in the middle of the night because at every port HAL workers were seen both outside and inside the ship working on keeping the little Z in good shape. The suggestion being made by the OP that HAL vendors may "have cut them off for non-payment" is drama for sure and not proven anywhere!...Now the reality is that yes the MDR anytime dining at least on this ship was dysfunctional at times with long lines and empty tables that could clearly be seen by people waiting for tables yet would never be opened because of staff shortages. Once sitting, passengers found some members of the undermanned wait staff to also be undertrained and overwhelmed. The Lido was better and the Pinnacle Grill had excellent service. Bar service was excellent and we heard no evidence of stock shortages. The entertainment was very good but in some ways not up to what HAL presented years ago on their small ships like the Maasdam or Veendam on similar cruises to the Canadian Maritimes. Chantal, the FCC onboard had a continuous stream everyday of people at her desk looking at and booking future cruises. And one last thing, though the Captain was a rare sighting for sure everyone else including the Hotel Manager, Chief Engineer, CD, etc...attended multiple events and the doors were always open to their offices when I went by. In fact every morning very early a staff meeting would be held in a circle right in the middle of the Atrium for all to see and hear. So at least on this ship HAL is cruising and not sinking!

Yes I saw her videos online and was disappointed when she said that she was leaving to join a HAL ship in Alaska.

Actually during the last two weeks all the entertainment venues were quite filled on the Zaandam in the evenings throughout the ship with music being played in all of them. The piano bar being the smallest of them always has a packed filling which is what you want and expect at a piano bar.

Well after seeing that mermaid sculpture in the photo, I may have to add Eastport to my travel bucket list! Do you think it was a local woman who posed? Just asking for a friend of course...😉

Even the rooms refurbished with the new large glass showers and the new TV's on the lower decks(non suites)still only have the one outlet. I guess the idea is you can recharge your phone while your enjoying a hot shower in style.

No offspring here either and I lost my only sister just 16 months after my wife. With no parents and just one older sibling left I try to look at it all positively as something in my favor. No one above me or below me to question or comment on what I am doing where I am going or who I am with; but also still knowing that those who have gone would still want me to move along the best I can without them.

The Zaandam at the moment may be one of the better run ships in the HAL fleet imho. Because of its smaller size and fewer passengers there are fewer opportunities for problems to blow up and go south quickly. Even more so now as it is in its traditional summer runs into Canada. Because those are port intensive cruises with usually only one sea day it makes sense for the entertainment to maybe end early. But how that is handled on a trip to Hawaii with many sea days in a row would hopefully be adjusted. Like other HAL ships(and some other lines too)the front of the house food service varies by day and times especially in the anytime dining arrangements. The most common complaint remains knowing that a ship that was built at the dawn of the new century still only has one electrical outlet in most of the cabins onboard. Surely whoever becomes the new owner of this ship in the future they will have an internet era upgrade high on the priority list!

I lost my wife just over three years ago and started back into the post covid cruise world without her one year ago, and at this point I have five more cruises planned. There will always be those moments when you will see, hear, or maybe even smell a scent of something that reminds you of your spouse. On my most recent cruise the band on board was playing 'our' wedding song as I walked by the dancing venue with two new friends that I had met on board, we stopped for a bit and I mentioned to them the significance of that song to me. After a short pause where they reacknowledged my loss we moved along to the show we were heading to and the conversation quickly changed to where we would sit in the theater onboard. Those two people I met at a cruise line event for singles and solos on the first day which had all variations of those terms attending. So the lesson is to make sure that the cruise you choose has similar meet & greets, luncheons, etc...for singles/solos early in the cruise as you will have like minded people to share your cruise experiences with along with all the others for the rest of the sailing...Rob

Movies on the Zaandam are only screened in the World Stage and Wajang Theater, and are avaliable on the cabin TV's.

CCL is too busy with the dismantling of Costa to worry about HAL atm.

Ah but do they have Bananas?🤔 Seriously though thanks for the live thread and all the photos...Rob

More help is on its way from the Philippines: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/5/3/us-firms-hire-seafarers.html

Well HAL may be having trouble restocking their bars but their parent company CCL is investing their money where the money is to be made, the casino. Here is a brand spanking new craps table being loaded on and set into place on the Carnival Luminosa this morning when it reached Seattle after crossing the Pacific Ocean form Brisbane, Australia. Thanks to @EnglceDave who has been reporting from this cruise on the CCL board. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2928013-live-the-worlds-longest-trip-report-luminosa-413-54/?do=findComment&comment=65321255

Btw, the four cookbooks that Rudi Sodamin has done for HAL are all available on Amazon as I am not sure if they are sold on board anymore. They also have the earlier ones that he did for RCCL. If you have family and friends who like to cook and especially ones who have cruised with HAL and tasted some of these same recipes they would make nice gifts...Rob

Even older former HAL ships like the Veendam and Maasdam had a few semi wraparound aft suites which also offered cover from the rain and sun if needed.

If there is anybody there to restock it... https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/shortages-us-west-coast-ports-redirecting-shipments-east-marc-holder