Very Bad HAL Maintenance.....or is it just me?

Prinsendam (I believe) is a Wartsilä ship. Could be mistaken though.

 

 

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I think you are correct. The other Royal Viking Line ships were Wartsila built ships. And, I think, all are still in service.

Prinsendam (I believe) is a Wartsilä ship. Could be mistaken though.

 

 

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You are absolutely correct :)

Looking forward to returning to her next year :)

And going to a number of ports that many other ships can't. A true EE itinerary :)

You are absolutely correct :)

 

Looking forward to returning to her next year :)

 

And going to a number of ports that many other ships can't. A true EE itinerary :)

The Prinsendam has long been our favorite HAL vessel, despite her age. We have spent exactly 200 days on the Prinsendam and certainly seen issues related to her age. But even at her worst, we have never seen the Prinsendam in the condition of the Rotterdam on our recent cruise. And at her worst, we still love the Prinsendam. We want to stand up on a soapbox and scream to the Seattle "suits" to never get rid of that wonderful old vessel. But we do fear that her end (at least for HAL) is approaching within the next 2 years. While on the VOV cruise we met some folks who had been on this year's World cruise. They told us that when Orlando Ashford has his Q&A, he was asked about the Prinsendam. His response did not give anyone confidence that the ship would remain in the fleet beyond 2019.

Hank

The Prinsendam has long been our favorite HAL vessel, despite her age. We have spent exactly 200 days on the Prinsendam and certainly seen issues related to her age. But even at her worst, we have never seen the Prinsendam in the condition of the Rotterdam on our recent cruise. And at her worst, we still love the Prinsendam. We want to stand up on a soapbox and scream to the Seattle "suits" to never get rid of that wonderful old vessel. But we do fear that her end (at least for HAL) is approaching within the next 2 years. While on the VOV cruise we met some folks who had been on this year's World cruise. They told us that when Orlando Ashford has his Q&A, he was asked about the Prinsendam. His response did not give anyone confidence that the ship would remain in the fleet beyond 2019.

 

Hank

I was so sorry to hear about your Rotterdam cruise Hank.

I'm with you on the P'dam. We'll only have 100+ days on her so nothing compared to you but it's where we choose to "invest" a lot of cruise dollars ;)

That's said to hear that Ashford doesn't "get it". :( But, why am I surprised with a man that takes out libraries and ravages Crow's Nests (JMO of course). If she isn't replaced, then I suspect HAl will lose a number of cruisers and they were willing to pay higher dollars to sail for this ship, it's crew and the itineraries it offers.

HAL has NO ship in the fleet that can get to some of the ports we are going to next year -nor sail down the rivers.

We'll just enjoy her while we can. :).

Agree with Kazu

Seems to me that those who have been directly impacted by a bad experience related to physical issues onboard a ship (lack of A/C, plumbing issues, other poor maintenance) are very concerned about encountering those problems again.

For those who've never had that experience, have a little empathy. Just because you have not been impacted does not mean that the experience was not very offputting for someone who did, and it can certainly change how you feel about an entire cruise line depending on how those problems are dealt with -- or not dealt with -- when you experience them.

I will never, EVER sail with NCL after the experience I had many years ago. Had that experience been on a HAL ship, I would likely not ever sail with HAL again either, unless I already had maybe 100 event-free days on the line to weigh against it, in which case I might sail again but with a lot of trepidation. It doesn't matter to me that the particular ship I sailed on is long gone or that NCL management may have completely changed since that time. It's the principle of the thing -- NCL treated us shoddily, and they won't ever make another buck on my vacations.

I suspect it does not matter to cruise lines that one bad experience can have an extremely negative effect on the likelihood of return bookings. I can only assume they prefer to look for "new" customers than work to retain old ones.

Seems to me that those who have been directly impacted by a bad experience related to physical issues onboard a ship (lack of A/C, plumbing issues, other poor maintenance) are very concerned about encountering those problems again.

For those who've never had that experience, have a little empathy. Just because you have not been impacted does not mean that the experience was not very offputting for someone who did, and it can certainly change how you feel about an entire cruise line depending on how those problems are dealt with -- or not dealt with -- when you experience them.

I will never, EVER sail with NCL after the experience I had many years ago. Had that experience been on a HAL ship, I would likely not ever sail with HAL again either, unless I already had maybe 100 event-free days on the line to weigh against it, in which case I might sail again but with a lot of trepidation. It doesn't matter to me that the particular ship I sailed on is long gone or that NCL management may have completely changed since that time. It's the principle of the thing -- NCL treated us shoddily, and they won't ever make another buck on my vacations.

I suspect it does not matter to cruise lines that one bad experience can have an extremely negative effect on the likelihood of return bookings. I can only assume they prefer to look for "new" customers than work to retain old ones.

Well said! I agree with your comments.

Of course, but clearly they don't perform the same.

Correct!!!! But I see a lot of BMW's hooked up to tow trucks or on the freeways waiting for the tow truck.

Any brand can develop problems regardless of the cost.

We are loyalists to a good itinerary, a good ship, and a good price. No such thing as brand loyalty to us....for any type of purchase.

Despite your veiled attempt to disguise your loyalty to HAL, it shines through in your postings. ;)

Interesting...I was just about to start a new post to ask about another HAL ship, Veendam. My husband and I last cruised in 2008 for our 5th anniversary, when we took a Panama Canal cruise on HAL's Amsterdam. We are considering another cruise for our 15th anniversary next year. We love the itinerary of the New England/Bermuda cruise on Veendam, and the dates work for when we want to travel. Unfortunately, however, this cruise has gotten a lot of negative reviews, mainly due to the poor condition of the Veendam. Anyone have additional thoughts to share?

Interesting...I was just about to start a new post to ask about another HAL ship, Veendam. My husband and I last cruised in 2008 for our 5th anniversary, when we took a Panama Canal cruise on HAL's Amsterdam. We are considering another cruise for our 15th anniversary next year. We love the itinerary of the New England/Bermuda cruise on Veendam, and the dates work for when we want to travel. Unfortunately, however, this cruise has gotten a lot of negative reviews, mainly due to the poor condition of the Veendam. Anyone have additional thoughts to share?

there are many choices for that itinerary so be sure to shop around. If you are flexible there may even be newer HAL ships available for the itinerary.

Interesting...I was just about to start a new post to ask about another HAL ship, Veendam. My husband and I last cruised in 2008 for our 5th anniversary, when we took a Panama Canal cruise on HAL's Amsterdam. We are considering another cruise for our 15th anniversary next year. We love the itinerary of the New England/Bermuda cruise on Veendam, and the dates work for when we want to travel. Unfortunately, however, this cruise has gotten a lot of negative reviews, mainly due to the poor condition of the Veendam. Anyone have additional thoughts to share?

the thing that concerns me is that if someone posts they had a great cruise 3 months ago, things may change.

When I posted I was surprised originally when Hank started this thread, it was not sarcasm. We got off her in May and everything was great. Probably one of the second best cruises I have been on with service, etc. Yet, just a few months later there are huge maintenance issues.

So everyone's experience can vary. And there is no predicting that.

there is no predicting any cruise. We sailed Oceania Riviera and it rates with one of the worst cruises I have done. the comments continued for 4 weeks and now, everyone is happy again and they got things straightened out. It's the luck (or unlucky) of the draw I guess. No guarantees on anything, sadly.

Interesting...I was just about to start a new post to ask about another HAL ship, Veendam. My husband and I last cruised in 2008 for our 5th anniversary, when we took a Panama Canal cruise on HAL's Amsterdam. We are considering another cruise for our 15th anniversary next year. We love the itinerary of the New England/Bermuda cruise on Veendam, and the dates work for when we want to travel. Unfortunately, however, this cruise has gotten a lot of negative reviews, mainly due to the poor condition of the Veendam. Anyone have additional thoughts to share?

Oceania also does it out of NY as a full Canada/NE to Bermuda.

Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, Norwegian, Oceania, and Cunard ALL do Canada/New England cruises (O and HAL are the only ones that combine with Bermuda off the top of my head) so no need to limit yourself to just HAL.

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there are many choices for that itinerary so be sure to shop around. If you are flexible there may even be newer HAL ships available for the itinerary.

We are flexible in terms of ships, less so in terms of dates--we are firm on June, maybe July. I admit I have only looked around a bit so far, but I definitely have not seen "many" ships offering this itinerary during this time frame. (To be clear, we are not just looking to do a New England cruise--it was the NE plus Bermuda that attracted us.)

We sailed on Rotterdam from late March until the end of April and saw none of this either. Maybe one bucket for one day and a fan for two days after? That was it.

 

I don't doubt Hank's report at all but am shocked at the sudden change. :(

We were on the Rotterdam for 59 days in 2016 in a Neptune Suite. We had to vacate our suite 5 times because of flooding in our stateroom. Heavy fans were brought in and we slept in other cabins till the carpet was dry. There were burst water pipes above our cabin and outside in the hall between us and the Neptune Lounge. We were compensated somewhat for our inconvenience, but we will never again sail on the Rottendam

;p

We were on the Rotterdam for 59 days in 2016 in a Neptune Suite. We had to vacate our suite 5 times because of flooding in our stateroom. Heavy fans were brought in and we slept in other cabins till the carpet was dry. There were burst water pipes above our cabin and outside in the hall between us and the Neptune Lounge. We were compensated somewhat for our inconvenience, but we will never again sail on the Rottendam

And that is one of the reasons we will not sail on Princess. We were flooded out but there was no "out" to go, so we to got sleep with fans blazing, luggage ruined, etc.

Carried on for the bulk of our cruise. I can't stand the sound of a normal fan at home when I sleep, so I think we all know how loud those fans are. 5 days of it.

And NO compensation so you did better than we

If the food had been good it would have helped. I lost 10 pounds on that cruise. Now, admittedly we can all lose a few pounds, but I don't need to lose 10 :p:D

That is why we call it cheating the customer. Certainly not limited to HAL. For us it is an older ship issue. HAL simply seems to have more older ships. I have little doubt that they are all cutting back on mtce and preventative maintenance, just as they are cutting back in customer facing areas.

People need to give their head a scratch if they think that a two or a three week drydock is going to solve engineering issues on these older ships. It won't. It is pretty bad when the staff on one ship describe a specific cabin area on a ship as 'the flood zone' because it routinely floods. One positive though, the carpets always seem new because they mostly are. Of course, the cruise line continues to sell the cabins and no doubt the front desk folks continue to practice their surprised look and claim that it has never happened before.

I was so sorry to hear about your Rotterdam cruise Hank.

 

 

 

I'm with you on the P'dam. We'll only have 100+ days on her so nothing compared to you but it's where we choose to "invest" a lot of cruise dollars ;)

 

 

 

That's said to hear that Ashford doesn't "get it". :( But, why am I surprised with a man that takes out libraries and ravages Crow's Nests (JMO of course). If she isn't replaced, then I suspect HAl will lose a number of cruisers and they were willing to pay higher dollars to sail for this ship, it's crew and the itineraries it offers.

 

 

 

HAL has NO ship in the fleet that can get to some of the ports we are going to next year -nor sail down the rivers.

 

 

 

We'll just enjoy her while we can. :).

Don't you think that Seabourn will get "absorbed" by HAL and those will be the smaller ships to replace the P'dam? Seems to me things have been moving that way for some time.

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;p

 

And that is one of the reasons we will not sail on Princess. We were flooded out but there was no "out" to go, so we to got sleep with fans blazing, luggage ruined, etc.

 

Carried on for the bulk of our cruise. I can't stand the sound of a normal fan at home when I sleep, so I think we all know how loud those fans are. 5 days of it.

 

And NO compensation so you did better than we

 

If the food had been good it would have helped. I lost 10 pounds on that cruise. Now, admittedly we can all lose a few pounds, but I don't need to lose 10 :p:D

We are 5* Mariners but are voting with our feet. We first sailed on the Amsterdam in 2002 and have about 250 total days on her. The last cruise was the first half of this year's WC on her. We had flooding in the walls of our cabin so they eventually moved us to another. We had no heat for a few days there when we were in Korea and Northern China and the outside temperature was in the 20s and 30s; it was typically in the 40s in the cabin. DW has said "never again" for that ship. So next month we will sail for a little more than a month on the Diamond Princess. We are Elite with Princess and have always enjoyed longer cruises with her - our last one was 71 days.

Don't you think that Seabourn will get "absorbed" by HAL and those will be the smaller ships to replace the P'dam? Seems to me things have been moving that way for some time.

 

 

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Well I have no crystal ball, but since you asked - no I don't think Seabourn will be "absorbed" by HAL. Seabourn is a luxury cruise line - HAL is not.

Now will HAL get one of Seabourn's older ships to convert to a new Prinsendam? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?

Well I have no crystal ball, but since you asked - no I don't think Seabourn will be "absorbed" by HAL. Seabourn is a luxury cruise line - HAL is not.

 

Now will HAL get one of Seabourn's older ships to convert to a new Prinsendam? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?

While I would welcome the size of Seabourn's ships (at 32,000 tons and around 450 guests) I'd think if they are mostly "suites" it would be a difficult task to transform them into a mass-market ship. I venture to guess HAL would want to do significant work ... and likely would increase the number of pax carried per cruise :(.

It generally doesn't work out great when companies tinker with the original design of ships years later -- but who knows. Did they do something similar with Prinsendam? (I'm pretty sure they added some cabins, but I have no idea what was actually done....)

We are 5* Mariners but are voting with our feet. We first sailed on the Amsterdam in 2002 and have about 250 total days on her. The last cruise was the first half of this year's WC on her. We had flooding in the walls of our cabin so they eventually moved us to another. We had no heat for a few days there when we were in Korea and Northern China and the outside temperature was in the 20s and 30s; it was typically in the 40s in the cabin. DW has said "never again" for that ship. So next month we will sail for a little more than a month on the Diamond Princess. We are Elite with Princess and have always enjoyed longer cruises with her - our last one was 71 days.

Cabin No., pls? I'm hoping it isn't the one that we have booked for the 2018 Grand Asia.

While I would welcome the size of Seabourn's ships (at 32,000 tons and around 450 guests) I'd think if they are mostly "suites" it would be a difficult task to transform them into a mass-market ship. I venture to guess HAL would want to do significant work ... and likely would increase the number of pax carried per cruise :(.

 

It generally doesn't work out great when companies tinker with the original design of ships years later -- but who knows. Did they do something similar with Prinsendam? (I'm pretty sure they added some cabins, but I have no idea what was actually done....)

While Seabourn announces the "suite experience", only PS and above are large suites/cabins. The verandahs & OV's (OV's are on the older ships) are close to the size of the older HAL ships' cabins.

They did "tinker" with the Prinsendam aside from adding cabins. So, while the ship still retains a lot of the Viking charm of old, changes were made.

I don't know all of them, but, one I remember was that part of the original dining room was converted to the Pinnacle Grill. Captain Gundersen often remarked that this was a good change. I do know that people who sailed the ship prior didn't care for some of the changes but most like the newly enclosed area of the Lido aft (Wintergarten IIRC).

While Seabourn announces the "suite experience", only PS and above are large suites/cabins. The verandahs & OV's (OV's are on the older ships) are close to the size of the older HAL ships' cabins.

 

They did "tinker" with the Prinsendam aside from adding cabins. So, while the ship still retains a lot of the Viking charm of old, changes were made.

 

I don't know all of them, but, one I remember was that part of the original dining room was converted to the Pinnacle Grill. Captain Gundersen often remarked that this was a good change. I do know that people who sailed the ship prior didn't care for some of the changes but most like the newly enclosed area of the Lido aft (Wintergarten IIRC).

I was in an OV cabin on the Odyssey and it was much larger than the typical HAL cabin. I'm not sure about this ship but I think most modern ships are assembled with modular interiors so it might not be as big a job as we think to replace some cabins with smaller ones. BIG seems to be the watch word with luxury cabins and as we speak Crystal Symphony is in drydock having a number of cabins replaced by suites so it may not be as difficult as we think.

I am sure the Prinsendam is not as nice a ship as the Royal Viking Sun but it is still a magnificent ship. I would probably not recommend a Seabourn Odyssey converted to Prinsendam III to some with a lot of days on Seabourn but I'm convinced it would also be an absolutely magnificent ship (although I would miss the wraparound promenade deck).

Roy

;p

 

And that is one of the reasons we will not sail on Princess. We were flooded out but there was no "out" to go, so we to got sleep with fans blazing, luggage ruined, etc.

 

Carried on for the bulk of our cruise. I can't stand the sound of a normal fan at home when I sleep, so I think we all know how loud those fans are. 5 days of it.

 

And NO compensation so you did better than we

 

If the food had been good it would have helped. I lost 10 pounds on that cruise. Now, admittedly we can all lose a few pounds, but I don't need to lose 10 :p:D

Kazu,

Aside from this discussion, have you heard anything from Georgina and Gerry?

We used to cruise with them and have not seen any of their posts on this board.