When will HAL make corrections

We have been hearing the same complaints now for over 6 months and I experienced most of them on my July cruise on the Zuiderdam. Sewage odor, lack of AC, dirty rooms, poor sevice in DR, very average food in DR, worn look of Zuiderdam, etc. It appears that HAL doesn't care and they are saying; 'We sell this ship cheap and that's what you get for cheap". And now some of these same problems seem to be spreading to other ships. The Zuiderdam definitely needs some time in dry dock to make repairs, replace some of the trim items which have been destroyed by passengers, install new AC units, install new rugs, etc. And the visa excuse for getting enough help is getting real old. HAL advertises themselves as a premium cruise line, but there is no way that my cruise on the Zuiderdam came close to my cruise on Celebrity Summit. Like night and day! It might be a little more money, but I think most of us are willing to pay a little more for a preminum cruise. The Z was no better than most of my NCL cruises (not knocking NCL - they have the best entertainment and great alternative restaurants) and none of them ever had AC or sewage problems and their ships were in excellent condition and good taste. I check other boards from time to time and I have not heard these types of complaints on any of the other boards. Of course, food is always subjective but cleanliness and physical condition are not.

I have had some of these same thoughts. I read other boards and never seem to read about AC problems or odors.

I have had some of these same thoughts. I read other boards and never seem to read about AC problems or odors.

Just my two cents...

I never experienced any problems with AC or odors while on board the Zuiderdam. She also seemed to be pretty well maintained in most areas, but it appeared that the Lido staff was really stretched to maintain all of the drink stations, clean the tables etc.

Something else that no one has pointed out yet:

On the Zuiderdam, none of your Dining room waiters will wear coats or tuxedos. All of them will wear different combinations of tie-less top-button shirts or shirts and vests. No other ships in the HAL line do this, but this is something unique to the Zuiderdam. I, for one, didn't really care for it; but it is nothing to really get up in arms about.

Uncialman....

I agree with you. We have totally enjoyed five great cruises on Zuiderdam.

I had no a/c problems in our cabins; I never smelled any sewerage odors; we had great cabin and dining stewards; and enjoyed (most) of our dinners on Zuiderdam. We, personally, thought Lido Station concept is wonderful and we looked forward to lunch there most days.

I found the ship to be clean and with no unusual signs of anything but normal wear and tear which was constantly being tended to. While we were aboard in October, all of Promenade Deck bulkheads were being painted and all rails were being painted and varnished as approrpriate. We saw new carpet being layed and regular maintenance constantly on-going.

We did see that dining stewards are working harder/faster and there are fewer of them. I would very much like to see the dining staff increased but we had no complaints that we were not served dinner at a smooth pace with appropriate spacing between courses.

I don't see where 'it is so broken that it needs so much fixing'.

[i am well aware that I shall now be called a variety of names including an HAL cheerleader with rose colored glasses. That is not the case but who cares.......go for it! I call it as I see and respect the fact that others have seen it differently. I request you show me the same respect that I have reported how I 'saw' it during our five cruises on Zudm).[/b]

 

Something else that no one has pointed out yet:

 

On the Zuiderdam, none of your Dining room waiters will wear coats or tuxedos. All of them will wear different combinations of tie-less top-button shirts or shirts and vests. No other ships in the HAL line do this, but this is something unique to the Zuiderdam. I, for one, didn't really care for it; but it is nothing to really get up in arms about.

Is this true for all of the Vista ships? I thought that the 'new uniforms' were to be worn on all of the new ships but the wonderful uniforms that I so associate with 'coming home to HAL' are still worn on the "pre-Vista' ships. I LOVE to arrive at a ship and see the stewards on the phones in their red/blue jackets and white shirts.

Is this true for all of the Vista ships? I thought that the 'new uniforms' were to be worn on all of the new ships but the wonderful uniforms that I so associate with 'coming home to HAL' are still worn on the "pre-Vista' ships. I LOVE to arrive at a ship and see the stewards on the phones in their red/blue jackets and white shirts.

Hey s7s!

You know, that is a really good question and maybe someone who has sailed the Oosterdam or Westerdam can help us out here. I really don't know if it is 'vista wide'. While it's not going to make or break my cruise experience, I thought that the top-button/no jacket look was really informal and looked like something styled out of the late 90's. IMHO, it was a bit too casual for my tastes.

BTW- you are completely entitled to your own opinion. I'd love to sit and have a mocha with you someday in the Windstar cafe (provided they tune down the rock tunes! -lol). This isn't life or death stuff and we can disagree and move on. I meant to ask you: have you ever sailed the Rotterdam or the Amsterdam? Just wanted to know before they get SOE retrofitted...

[i am well aware that I shall now be called a variety of names including an HAL cheerleader with rose colored glasses. That is not the case but who cares.......go for it! I call it as I see and respect the fact that others have seen it differently. I request you show me the same respect that I have reported how I 'saw' it during our five cruises on Zudm).[/b]

To: HAL chearleader with rose colored glasses

Just kidding, of course. I agree that ship was very clean and I really liked the layout of the Lido with separate stations. We did experience AC problems in our cabin and on one informal night the AC shut down in the dining room. I love to take my time at dinner, but we were late for the shows every night and got lousy seats. The dining room staff is grossly understaffed. I did notice that the crew was working on the promenade deck railings, also, These are probably the best maintained locations on the ship.

We were some of the unfortunate category "suite" passengers without A/C on the Maasdam October 30th. After a very frustrating experience trying to get anyone to listen, including the Captain, the Hotel Manager, and the Chief Engineer (letters, notes, phone calls) I am finding the management in Seattle to be just the same. I sent 4 return receipt letters, along with photos showing the 86 degrees in our cabin, the rusty or sewage bathwater, and a jerry rigged refriegerator, and have not heard one word of response.

A travel agentImet on board just was in Miami for a meeting last week with the new President of HAL, Stein Kruse. She had filled 40 cabins with her clients on that sailing. Many were very unhappy with conditions. When she spoke directly about the lack of A/C in some of the cabins, he assured her the Maasdam has no A/C problems. She told him that indeed some of the cabins were without A/C. She also spoke with a marketing person from North Carolina that denied that the ship had a problem. The travel agent told the marketing person perhaps she should try the Maasdam herself. This is the same denial we all received while onboard up until the 8th day when they fessed up.

After receiving no response from HAL, I have just sent my credit card company all the information and photos. I am so disappointed in what HAL has become after being on 13 cruises with them. So much for customer loyalty and repeat customers.

Looks like HAL is assuming if they just ignore the problems long enough, they will go away. Or people will get so used to them, they'll think this is the norm. Reminds me of the vignette with Joey Bishop and Jayne Mansfield in the old movie "Guide for the Married Man". Deny, Deny, Deny!

Hey s7s!

 

You know, that is a really good question and maybe someone who has sailed the Oosterdam or Westerdam can help us out here. I really don't know if it is 'vista wide'. While it's not going to make or break my cruise experience, I thought that the top-button/no jacket look was really informal and looked like something styled out of the late 90's. IMHO, it was a bit too casual for my tastes.

 

BTW- you are completely entitled to your own opinion. I'd love to sit and have a mocha with you someday in the Windstar cafe (provided they tune down the rock tunes! -lol). This isn't life or death stuff and we can disagree and move on. I meant to ask you: have you ever sailed the Rotterdam or the Amsterdam? Just wanted to know before they get SOE retrofitted...[/Quote]

 

 

I'd very much enjoy having that coffee with you in Windstar. If we should be so lucky to be aboard at the same time....I'm buying:)

 

 

We have cruised both Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We did Christmas/New Years cruises back-to-back 2002 and thought the ship wonderful. She's very elegant and has a worldly, sophisticated feel IMO Her art is fabulous and she (and her sister, Rotterdam) truly are World Cruisers IMO

 

We have cruised Rotterdam about 6-7 times and this past March enjoyed ten days aboard her for a Panama Canal cruise. I'd sail her in a heartbeat any day of the week. Her atrium IMO is fabulous and we have always found her crew to have an air of price about them. They truly love their ship and are proud to crew her. It is one of those intangibles one simply senses but I have always thought her crews very proud. And it shows in their work.

 

Any specific questions.....ask away. I never get tired of talking Rotterdam or any HAL ship for that matter.

 

 

__________________

uncialman

I'm getting so confused on what cruise we should take and on what ship! 2 biggest ?? are the crew and food on different ships. We are beginning to think maybe there are just too many negative things said about both of these on the Zuiderdam for us to take a chance.

But the Amsterdam and Rotterdam here sound terrific! Maybe the Amsterdam to Alaska?

Sail7Seas- I can see you love both these ships and the people on them. But what does "air of price" mean?

Sorry ......:o

Meant "air of Pride".

How dumb of me not to have realized it was a typo and figured it out myself. Thanks. :)

I have had some of these same thoughts. I read other boards and never seem to read about AC problems or odors.

I've seen threads on Carnival about sewage oders on at least two of their ships; sensation was one and I believe triumph was another. I think this is something that could happen on any ship and has probably happened on most of them at one time or another. Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical systems can and do fail and no amount of preventive maintenance will keep things from failing on occasion. I'm sure the ships carry a large inventory of spare parts, but it would not be feasible to stock replacements for every component that could fail. I have a background in building maintenance and commercial property management and feel that I can speak with some knowledge on these subjects. The key is how quickly are the problems acknowledged and addressed, and it does seem that there are a few ships with problems that are not being acknowledged or addressed in a timely manner.

It's been my experience that MOST people will put up with a pretty bad situation, if they know that everything possible is being done and that the powers that be are concerned. Unfortunately, we have a small percentage that demand restitution if there is anything not to their liking, so it seems that management has decided the best course is not to admit that there is a problem.

It becomes a delicate balancing act: acknowledge a problem and have a few demand refunds, which then must be made available to everyone or stonewall the situation and come across as uncaring.

What to do... What to do...

I'd very much enjoy having that coffee with you in Windstar. If we should be so lucky to be aboard at the same time....I'm buying:)

 

 

We have cruised both Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We did Christmas/New Years cruises back-to-back 2002 and thought the ship wonderful. She's very elegant and has a worldly, sophisticated feel IMO Her art is fabulous and she (and her sister, Rotterdam) truly are World Cruisers IMO

 

We have cruised Rotterdam about 6-7 times and this past March enjoyed ten days aboard her for a Panama Canal cruise. I'd sail her in a heartbeat any day of the week. Her atrium IMO is fabulous and we have always found her crew to have an air of price about them. They truly love their ship and are proud to crew her. It is one of those intangibles one simply senses but I have always thought her crews very proud. And it shows in their work.

 

Any specific questions.....ask away. I never get tired of talking Rotterdam or any HAL ship for that matter.

I asked only because we know that we both have different impressions of the Zuiderdam but I had yet seen your review or opinion of the rest of the HAL fleet. I have cruised the Rotterdam, Veendam, Volendam, Zaandam and Zuiderdam all in the past 4 years.

Of all the HAL ships, I hold a special place in my heart for the Rotterdam. The Rotterdam, IMHO, is my perfect fit for a ship. She is the right size with the right amount of options etc. The Veendam would come in a close second.

Of course, you know my thoughts about the Zuiderdam (although I love her lido). :)

How do you rank the R and S class ships in comparison with the Vista Class (and specifically the Zuiderdam). I'd really like to know your thoughts...

I love the "S" ships and most particularly Maasdam. We have cruised all of them a number of times. We are eagerly awaiting our January cruise on Veendam.

I adore Rotterdam and agree she is a wonderful size, is beautifully decorated and full of wonderful art, her dining room is stunning and I love her atrium. The clocks are gorgeous IMO

My favorites are first the "S" sisters, then Rotterdam and Amsterdam, then Zuiderdam and last Zaandam/Volendam. We have had great cruises on Zaandam and Volendam but for some reason they are not my very favorite. That is not to say that I would not cruise them without any hestitation whatsoever. I truly dislike Zaandam's atrium Organ but that is by far not enough reason to not cruise her again. (We have cruised her, I think, four times and had absolutely fabulous times aboard her. )

It's so hard. There is not a 'dam' ship I do not like. How to say which are my favorites (after "MY" :) Maasdam) is about impossible. They all offer something wonderful. Maybe it just depends upon what mood I am at any given time. We have never had a BAD cruise on any HAL ship but, naturally, some cruises have been better than others. Of the few cruises which we hoped had been better, we have repeated on those ships and been very happy on a return visit. So....I cannot even say that we have repeatedly had a problem of some sort on a particular ship. It simply has not happened.

When we are choosing which cruises to book, unless we have friends aboard a specific ship who we really want to see, we book by date, embarkation and disembarkation port, availability of a suite we want, price, itinerary. (Itinerary only becomes more important if we are booking a cruise to/around Europe). (I do not wish to cruise Asia at the moment and DH does not usually have enough time to do the 20 something day S.A. cruises.)

I wish I could be more clear but there is no black and white with me and HAL ships. I love 'em all. :)

I agree that the Z was not bad at all. It was quite similar to our last Celebrity Summit experience. We noticed a drop off in the attention we received from the waiters, but thought it was a result of the new tipping policy. The cruise met all of our expectations and we would not hesitate to go again. We did notice the odor issue from the time we boarded until we left. Maybe it was on the lower decks where our room was? We thought the cruise was a great bang for our buck. It is extremely difficult to please 2000 passengers. The shows were excellent with the exception of the last performer on Friday night ( a last minute replacement) and thoroughly enjoyed the commediane's "R" rated show.

We have recently returned from a marvelous cruise on the Oosterdam --- have cruised many many times (45) and for sure HAL is been the best --- I have always said there is no such thing as the perfect cruise --- but I guess I was wrong --- everything was perfect --- we were on the Zuiderdam and our experience on that was also wonderfull --- upon returning from our last cruise --- we immediately made our reservations to cruise on the Westerdam in Feb. I can truthfully say that everything --- from accommadations -(S Suite) to food - cleanliness - courtesy- embarkation - disemarktion -- there is nothing negative that I can say ---- except three cheers for HAL most of our cruises have been with HAL --- we do deviate every so often -- but that is just to compare and always return to HAL

Continuing Sail's thought process, I have to say we're never had a "bad cruise" period on any line and we've been on several different cruiselines. I fear that sometimes when we critique our cruises, we tend to point out subtle problems that are not really our overall cruise experience. In some instances, of course, some of you have had larger difficulties that fall into another category altogether.

When I critique anything or anyone, I try to focus on some of the smaller problems that could be an annoyance to some people. I also try to point out all the high points. In my recent review of the Oosterdam, I hope I was successful doing that.

If I thought HAL was "bad", I wouldn't even consider cruising the line again and I wouldn't bother with the HAL boards. It's my personal observation that anyone who constantly knitpicks every teeny tiny issue of a cruiseline should simply move on to another line and not bother waiting around for the problem to be fixed.

I'm hoping the few issues I have with HAL will be fixed, but even if they aren't I will not hesitate to book another cruise with them, i.e., they are simply not big deal problems.

JMHO:D !

Heather.....You said that so very well.

Perfect? Is HAL Perfect? No, of course not. Is much of anything perfect?

But...the things that matter the most to me; the things that I really would be unhappy if they were missing or poorly done are present and available on HAL ships......so far.

I honestly think that if we were to stop cruising HAL at some time in the future because of growing dissatisfaction, that we would stop cruising entirely.

We have been to Princess and Celebrity enough to know that we are not (currently) interested in returning. We Know that RCI is not for us. We do not wish to cruise Crystal....at this point. Ever? I doubt it.

We WANT to cruise HAL. Or, we will find other vacations to enjoy that are not 'upon the sea'.

Sail ... agreed (again;) )!

I have to admit I do wonder how long ago you cruised Celebrity because I can't imagine you're not finding it at least as good as HAL. That said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it:) . You're happy with HAL, they sail where you want to sail, you know you love and know their ships well, why bother hopping around?

That said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it:) . You're happy with HAL, they sail where you want to sail, you know you love and know their ships well, why bother hopping around?

This is basically how we feel, we have thought many times about trying Celebrity we are so afraid we will spend the week wishing we were on HAL. Several years ago we decided to spend a week in Kauai Hawaii instead of our beloved Big Island. After the second day we were going to the internet to see what it would cost us to leave Kauai and spend the rest of the week in Kona. We ended up staying but could not wait to leave, we were staying in a 5 star resort on Poipu Beach but it was just not us. Many people love Kauai like many people love Carnival. I don't want to spend months looking forward to a cruise only to wish by the second day we would of stayed with HAL. We have been extremely happy with HAL and feel comfortable on their ships. I honestly think a lot of people start the cruise looking for problems and guess what they find them. I agree HAL is not perfect we live in Las Vegas where there are some of the finest restaurants in the world, and I have dined in many so I do not have low standards. I honestly think our last cruise was about as perfect as it can get. We had two small problems, a stopper in the tub got stuck and the last night water was dripping from the ceiling at the entrance of our cabin. Both instances the staff handled it immediately and constantly kept checking to make sure we were OK with everything. That was impressive.

OK, I will get off my soap box, I just had to put in my 2 cents:D

OK, I will get off my soap box, I just had to put in my 2 cents:D

One man's 2 cents is another man's 100 dollar bill;) .

Sail ... agreed (again;) )!

 

I have to admit I do wonder how long ago you cruised Celebrity because I can't imagine you're not finding it at least as good as HAL. That said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it:) . You're happy with HAL, they sail where you want to sail, you know you love and know their ships well, why bother hopping around?

We have so many friends on HAL that matter to us very much. These are very special people who are dear to us. HAL IS the People. All the ships are beautiful; most of the food is at a minimum adequate; a bottle of wine is the same bottle anywhere; most cabin stewards do at least a presentable job-----------It's the PEOPLE. For Us, the people of HAL make all the difference.

Point taken ... and I totally understand what you are saying. As you know, we don't have that personal contact with the people as we've only cruised HAL twice in the past 3 years.

But as I've said before, for some reason we have always made more "forever" friendships on our HAL cruises than Celebrity. So this next one on the Summit will tell the tale since it's a 2 week cruise.