Zaandam 7050 Beware noise from basketball court

We stayed in Vista Suite 7050 for 14 day cruise to Alaska and were blessed with some nice weather. We picked this cabin because it was midship, not far from Neptune suites. Little did we know that it comes with basketball noise ....loud thumping and vibration and the basketballs were in use all hours of the night, including after 1 am. There were lots of teens onboard and as I mentioned, the weather outside was nice. We didn’t know we were under the basketball courts and were surprised that the noise carried down to our cabin. This is an AA category cabin. Had we known we would have picked a different location, so beware!

Sorry to hear this.

Did you report it to the front desk?

Yes. On the third day we reported it because the noise was getting later and later in the evening. That night it was loud after 11 pm, keeping us from sleeping. I called the front desk to report and in the am put feedback on the navigator app. By afternoon, I called to see what they had to say. They said they were looking in to it. We asked for the balls to be put away by 10 pm. We thought that was reasonable. They said they would “try to do something”. They also told me they sent a staff member to stand outside our room and they verified the noise. That night it was quiet, so we assumed they did something. They later offered a complimentary dinner in the PG, which we accepted and thought that was very nice.

Later in the cruise the noise resumed......this time I called at 11 pm, midnight and again at 1 am, pleading for the balls to be put away. We saw our neighbors in 7048 and they also heard the noise and were bothered and also spoke with the front desk. I also sent more feedback on the Navigator app. Again, by afternoon, hadn’t heard from the front desk, so I went there in person. I asked to speak to GRM, but was denied. Was told I had to speak with CD. He later called our cabin. He told me that “the basketball court is an amenity that is offered to guests and should be available at all hours”.

So, I contacted my TA and have written a letter to HAL Pres Office, for what it is worth.

Great that you wrote Seattle when you got home.

No way should the basketball court be opened 24/7.

You also should not have been denied speaking to Guest Relations.

I hope you get some positive feed back from Seattle.

Coincidentally, the times when we thought they had put the balls away as we had asked, were also times when the weather was not good. We had some rain come in, so perhaps no one was playing basketball then. We don’t know. When the noise resumed, it coincided with the return of good weather.

My TA used to work on the Zaandam and she said it was the responsibility of the entertainment staff to lock up the balls for the evening. So for whatever reason, they are no longer doing that, it seems. For that reason, we do not think 7050 should be a Category AA Vista Suite and command a higher price.

Does anyone know if the basketball court was refurbished during recent drydock?

We wonder if it was resurfaced and if any noise reducing surface was perhaps removed.

I did a search of CC before posting this and could not find any other mentions of basketball noise in this room.

It was extremely loud in the Lido when basketball was being played, too. Most passengers moved to the starboard side to eat, if they could find seats, because of this.

This is really not the service I would expect from HAL, Front Desk or CD.

The pools and hot tubs, both "amenities", aren't open 24/7, so what is the problem with having the basketball court closed overnight?

Someone on this ship needs an attitude adjustment or the ship needs some reasonable rules.

It’s really unfortunate because otherwise, our trip was nearly perfect. The ship looked much, much better than when we sailed 10 years ago on it. Stateroom attendants took good care of us, the food and service was excellent in the DR and we loved America’s Test Kitchen.