Pipe bursts in 'Statendam' cabin during Transcanal

[pipedreams62]

My husband and I just returned from 28 days on the Statendam (San Diego to Ft Lauderdale and back). We heard that some cabins had a water leak. In fact one couple at our table had a water leak and they were most unhappy. But then they were unhappy from day one. Nothing was going right on their cruise. They were unhappy with the size of their cabin (they were in a Veranda cabin). They didn't like the food. Don't know what they were offered in compensation, but I am sure that unless their total cruise was refunded--they wouldn't have been happy with what HAL offered. It is fruitless for all of us to comment on what HAL should or should not have done. We don't know how the couples that had the water problem approached the situation. Did they only talk to the front desk? Did they actually talk to the Hotel Manager?

 

 

 

 

The board attorneys will have a field day with the above paragraph.

(They're salivating right now)

 

 

 

Thanks for your review,I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise

[cruz chic]

My husband and I just returned from 28 days on the Statendam (San Diego to Ft Lauderdale and back). We heard that some cabins had a water leak. In fact one couple at our table had a water leak and they were most unhappy. But then they were unhappy from day one. Nothing was going right on their cruise. They were unhappy with the size of their cabin (they were in a Veranda cabin). They didn't like the food. Don't know what they were offered in compensation, but I am sure that unless their total cruise was refunded--they wouldn't have been happy with what HAL offered. It is fruitless for all of us to comment on what HAL should or should not have done. We don't know how the couples that had the water problem approached the situation. Did they only talk to the front desk? Did they actually talk to the Hotel Manager?

 

For the record, we had a wonderful 28 days. We weren't flooded out. We were in an inside and had no problems with our cabin. Had a great Cabin Steward. One of the best Wine Stewards for the first 14 days of our cruise---William. William entertained all his tables with tricks. He made us laugh. The crew was fantastic. They all worked very hard to make sure we had a great cruise. Had a fantastic Cruise Critic Meet and Greet thanks to Sissy Ruth. Memory Merchant lent us his Penthouse for a wonderful party before a fabulous Pinnacle Grill Meal. The CC members were a great bunch and we all had a great cruise.

Just wondering if you guys left San Diego late when you embarked the ship. It was so late by the time we got off the ship I barely made my 1:25 flight. I bet it was an ordeal to get the ship turned around.

[Rutland Gate]

[You Naughty Boy! Go To My Room! )quote=pipedreams62;22148540]

[world~citizen]

[You Naughty Boy! Go To My Room! )quote=pipedreams62;22148540]

 

Now THAT is funny.

 

Smooth sailing...

[world~citizen]

The board attorneys will have a field day with the above paragraph.

(They're salivating right now)

 

 

 

Thanks for your review,I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise

 

You seem to not wish to be held accountable for the things you say on this board. A point if clarification though, please.

 

I am unsure as to what you mean by "board attorney". I certainly hope that you don"t mean that anyone who expresses concern with respect to the way HAL dealt with the couple in question is practicing some sort of armchair law without wherewithal or legitimacy - a kind of admonition to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtains".

 

Because if that IS what you are saying, you are opening yourself wide open to the charge of being a HAL cheerleader - a sycophant for the line.

 

It appears you attempt to diminish the complaint of the couple in question, assail those support them and then when asked for your evaluation of the issue in question declare you have no opinion of your own to offer.

 

NO OPINION OF YOUR OWN TO OFFER!

 

Then why bother?

 

Maybe its okay. You just perch yourself above the fray, watch the proceedings, and post pretty pictures to provide amusement.

 

Then of course leave the work of saying something substantial to those that actually have something to say.

 

Smooth sailing...

[AlexandNessa]

It is fruitless for all of us to comment on what HAL should or should not have done. We don't know how the couples that had the water problem approached the situation. Did they only talk to the front desk? Did they actually talk to the Hotel Manager?

 

 

 

IMHO, it doesn't matter WHO these pax reported the problem to. Where I work, there is no "Not my job." If a customer reports a problem to you, you own it. Period.

 

Failing that, you could argue that this couple shouldn't have had to report the problem at all.

 

Clearly, the cabin stewards who are in there 2x per day saw the situation. Surely, someone KNEW a pipe burst, right? And knew where the damage was and what was affected? A pipe bursting is something pretty significant. Something that should make a daily report or the like, so that the HM, Chief Engineer, maybe even the Capt would be aware, no? (If not, I shudder to think of HAL's mtce and monitoring procedures.) IMO, these pax shouldn't have had to report the condition of their cabin to anyone. It should've been proactively handled. This isn't a case of "I'm not happy." This is a case of "I can't use the cabin I paid for."

 

I love HAL, but I am disappointed in the way they handled this situation. They deserve the bad press on this one.

 

But, I also love the VIP status on their next cruise 'kicker.' What does that say? Sorry we treated you like a nuisance for having the nerve to complain about a soaking wet cabin that you couldn't reasonably use. But, we promise next time to give you a cheap bottle of champagne when you board and invite you to a cocktail party where a glass of cheap wine or champagne is on the Captain! ;) Really, I kid, and although you don't have to take a drink from the "cheap tray" as we call it and can order what you want, that's all VIP status really is, isn't it ... a bottle of champagne waiting for you in your cabin and an invite to a cocktail party?!

[pipedreams62]

Good Morning

 

You seem to not wish to be held accountable for the things you say on this board. A point if clarification though, please.Why of course I'm accountable,I just never realized I had to check in with anybody?

 

I am unsure as to what you mean by "board attorney". I certainly hope that you don"t mean that anyone who expresses concern with respect to the way HAL dealt with the couple in question is practicing some sort of armchair law without wherewithal or legitimacy - a kind of admonition to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtains".

When I used the term "Board Attorney" I guess it was a silly off the cuff remark (that actually gave attorneys a bad name). I was being generous as well. It's more like a Florida Condo Commando who practices boorish "Know It All" behavior and wants to get involved in everybodys business.

 

It appears you attempt to diminish the complaint of the couple in question, assail those support them and then when asked for your evaluation of the issue in question declare you have no opinion of your own to offer. I offered an opinion,simply saying "Ship Happens" and how sometimes unexpected bad things happen on cruises,then I gave a few examples. That was my opinion. Hey it was shot down and didn't pass the sniff test from the board attorneys,but hey it was my little ditty on the situation.

 

NO OPINION OF YOUR OWN TO OFFER!

 

Then why bother?

 

Maybe its okay. You just perch yourself above the fray, watch the proceedings, and post pretty pictures to provide amusement. Why is it a "Fray" sounds overly dramatic?

 

 

Then of course leave the work of saying something substantial to those that actually have something to say. This I'm still waiting for,when is it going to happen? So far it's only been coma inducing at best.

 

Because if that IS what you are saying, you are opening yourself wide open to the charge of being a HAL cheerleader - a sycophant for the line.

Guilty As Charged

 

 

Smooth sailing...

[world~citizen]

Thank-you for the clarification.:)

 

We are all accountable for what we do or say, particularly if it involves second or third parties.

 

And of course you went well beyond "ship happens" when you said that people complain repeatedly to weasel cheap cruises from cruise lines - and you let it just hang there. When asked if you were accusing the the couple in this situation of just that, you said you wouldn't express an opinion.

 

So now you say what - you liken anyone who does venture an opinion as a "Florida Condo Commando who practices boorish "Know It All" behavior and wants to get involved in everybodys business". And all to justify what, throwing out the nastiest of accusations but refusing to take ownership of it?

 

Then finally, what do you say? You declare yourself to be a HAL cheerleader and sycophant - which may be your most unambiguous comment on this thread.

 

It is from that perspective that all your comments, your photos and your videos may be completely understood.

 

It would indeed be unnecessary to ask for clarification to know what you mean, or read what you write (when you do) to know what you will say.

 

Thank-you for the clarity.

 

Smooth sailing to you...

[world~citizen]

IMHO, it doesn't matter WHO these pax reported the problem to. Where I work, there is no "Not my job." If a customer reports a problem to you, you own it. Period.

 

Failing that, you could argue that this couple shouldn't have had to report the problem at all.

 

Clearly, the cabin stewards who are in there 2x per day saw the situation. Surely, someone KNEW a pipe burst, right? And knew where the damage was and what was affected? A pipe bursting is something pretty significant. Something that should make a daily report or the like, so that the HM, Chief Engineer, maybe even the Capt would be aware, no? (If not, I shudder to think of HAL's mtce and monitoring procedures.) IMO, these pax shouldn't have had to report the condition of their cabin to anyone. It should've been proactively handled. This isn't a case of "I'm not happy." This is a case of "I can't use the cabin I paid for."

 

I love HAL, but I am disappointed in the way they handled this situation. They deserve the bad press on this one.

 

But, I also love the VIP status on their next cruise 'kicker.' What does that say? Sorry we treated you like a nuisance for having the nerve to complain about a soaking wet cabin that you couldn't reasonably use. But, we promise next time to give you a cheap bottle of champagne when you board and invite you to a cocktail party where a glass of cheap wine or champagne is on the Captain! ;) Really, I kid, and although you don't have to take a drink from the "cheap tray" as we call it and can order what you want, that's all VIP status really is, isn't it ... a bottle of champagne waiting for you in your cabin and an invite to a cocktail party?!

 

YES.:)

 

The VIP status was a nice touch, and we can all hope a meaningful expression of how HAL will consider future responses to problems such as the ones these pax experienced.

 

Smooth sailing to you...

[Storylady]

Just wondering if you guys left San Diego late when you embarked the ship. It was so late by the time we got off the ship I barely made my 1:25 flight. I bet it was an ordeal to get the ship turned around.

 

Actually, our number was called at 10 AM. We were surprised it was that early as we knew that disembarkation had been delayed (probably due to the passengers who failed to appear in the Van Gogh lounge). We were willing to be the last passengers off, but obviously we weren't.

[robertmnch]

Great this the HAL ship I'm booked on in April. I am hoping that she will be in pristine condition after her drydock!

 

:confused:I was on the Ryndam a few years ago right after it had come out of "Dry Dock" in Seattle. It went up to Vancouver to pick up passengers and then headed South!

 

After we left Seattle for San Francisco, NINETY Toilets became "Blocked"! A "ghastly" "ungodly" smell! We were told to use the Public Restrooms. Very nice meeting your neighbors walking to the Public Restroom at 3:00 am. in our "PJ's"!:p

 

HAL said if the problem wasn't fixed by the time we reached San Francisco, we would have to get off the Ryndam, and they would fly us home!

 

This was a Repositioning Cruise thru the Panama Canal.

 

One couple next door was from England said "No Way", we've waited ONE year for this trip and we'll sleep in a Lounge if we have to do so.

 

Problem fixed before San Francisco. and I got a bottle of Tanqueray and a bottle of Grand Marnier: Nothing else, not even an Apology!:eek:

 

Motto: Don't count your chickens before they hatch that a Dry Dock fixes "ALL" problems!:cool:

 

Robertmnch

[cruz chic]

Actually, our number was called at 10 AM. We were surprised it was that early as we knew that disembarkation had been delayed (probably due to the passengers who failed to appear in the Van Gogh lounge). We were willing to be the last passengers off, but obviously we weren't.

Sorry...no I meant when you got on the ship to start your cruise....were you late leaving San Diego? We had engine problems so we were late twice to ports including San Diego. I'm sure the ship wasn't cleared off until probably close to 1PM. On top of our engine problems some crew and pax didin't think it was necessary to report to immigration:eek::rolleyes:.

[cruz chic]

:confused:I was on the Ryndam a few years ago right after it had come out of "Dry Dock" in Seattle. It went up to Vancouver to pick up passengers and then headed South!

 

After we left Seattle for San Francisco, NINETY Toilets became "Blocked"! A "ghastly" "ungodly" smell! We were told to use the Public Restrooms. Very nice meeting your neighbors walking to the Public Restroom at 3:00 am. in our "PJ's"!:p

 

HAL said if the problem wasn't fixed by the time we reached San Francisco, we would have to get off the Ryndam, and they would fly us home!

 

This was a Repositioning Cruise thru the Panama Canal.

 

One couple next door was from England said "No Way", we've waited ONE year for this trip and we'll sleep in a Lounge if we have to do so.

 

Problem fixed before San Francisco. and I got a bottle of Tanqueray and a bottle of Grand Marnier: Nothing else, not even an Apology!:eek:

 

Motto: Don't count your chickens before they hatch that a Dry Dock fixes "ALL" problems!:cool:

 

Robertmnch

Wow that's brutal! Makes the problems that I've had seem like nothing. Seems that some one this thread will say it's nothing. Sure...it's nothing to some people unless it's them:rolleyes:.

[bbwex]

We never had as many problems as we had coming out of dry dock. I suppose it has to do with the fact that while the ship is in dry dock, most systems are shut down, and anything done that affects them cannot really be checked until the ship is at sea again, and going through its various routines. Still it was surprising when it happened.

[robertmnch]

More info on the Toilet Blockage:

 

I met the Chief Engineer's Wife in the Workout Room as I was bicycling, and she said her husband had been up all night trying to find the blockage. Best Guess was that someone (intentionally/?) dropped a towel down one of those Vacuum Toilets and it had gotten caught in a bend of a pipe.

 

The smallest employees were volunteered to crawl between the cabin walls and the hull to see if they somehow could locate the blockage. I don't know what kind of devices they were using to locate the blockage. Don't flame me on that one!:confused:

 

BTW - The blockage was vertical from the top Deck of the Ryndam's Cabins to the bottom Deck of the Ryndam's Cabins for a total of 90 Cabins.....NO discrimination on this one.

 

Sinks were usable, but Showers were another thing as the water didn't drain properly!:mad:

 

The Guest Relations Manager wouldn't discuss "Compensation" until the problem was fixed.:rolleyes:

[cruz chic]

More info on the Toilet Blockage:

 

I met the Chief Engineer's Wife in the Workout Room as I was bicycling, and she said her husband had been up all night trying to find the blockage. Best Guess was that someone (intentionally/?) dropped a towel down one of those Vacuum Toilets and it had gotten caught in a bend of a pipe.

 

The smallest employees were volunteered to crawl between the cabin walls and the hull to see if they somehow could locate the blockage. I don't know what kind of devices they were using to locate the blockage. Don't flame me on that one!:confused:

 

BTW - The blockage was vertical from the top Deck of the Ryndam's Cabins to the bottom Deck of the Ryndam's Cabins for a total of 90 Cabins.....NO discrimination on this one.

 

Sinks were usable, but Showers were another thing as the water didn't drain properly!:mad:

 

The Guest Relations Manager wouldn't discuss "Compensation" until the problem was fixed.:rolleyes:

How does a towel go in the toilet? There are some mighty stupid or rude people on this earth. What a lovely job that would have been to crawl between the walls. Makes me happy that I'm not a small person:D.

[BruceMuzz]

How does a towel go into toilet?

Pretty easily, it seems.

This happens several times on every ship, on every voyage.

 

Many passengers seem to think that a vacuum toilet is a general waste disposal.

We find steak bones, pizza slices, underwear, silverware, shirts - you name it, people drop it into the toilet.

 

How do we find these things?

If we are very lucky, these strange objects find their way to special access points in the vacuum lines. We can open up the pipes there and pull them out.

 

But more often than not, these objects stop in some very inconvenient places.

So we have to shut off all the toilets to several dozen - or several hundred cabins.

Then we have crew crawling into tiny spaces with hacksaws.

They start cutting, trying to find the blockages. Sewage is running out all over them for several hours.

Once we find the blockages and pull them out, we have to weld and seal the cuts in the pipes. All of this unfortunately takes a long, long time.

 

Are cruise lines dumb enough to do this purposely just to upset their passengers? No.

Are passengers dumb enough to do this purposely? You be the judge.

[cruz chic]

Are passengers dumb enough to do this purposely? You be the judge.

Hmmmm...I'm thinking yes. I'm wondering how stupid people have to be to put steak bones...towels...etc. down toilets. That is simply amazing. I have had quite a few plumbing problems in my condo. I often wonder what my upstairs neigbours are putting down the garbage disposal because often it's really noisy. I wouldn't doubt if a few steak bones have gone down. Some people are severely stupid.

[WYB!]

Actually I don't think it was a towel. I believe I recall the biggest problem was the result of baby wipes being flushed.

[SHERGIB]

We were passengers on the Statendam when the cabins flooded, and we know how hard the crew worked to make the best of a really bad situation. The pipe burst in the middle of the night so there was no warning. Yes, the couple's cruise had a bad ending but they also had about 10 days before this happened the night before docking in Cartegena, where we spent one day, then two sea days back to Ft. lauderdale. It wasn't as though it happened the first night on board. Yes, HAL handled it badly but their entire cruise wasn't ruined. We had one of our best trips ever on the ship and can't wait til next fall to sail on her again.

[G&G]

We were passengers on the Statendam when the cabins flooded, and we know how hard the crew worked to make the best of a really bad situation. The pipe burst in the middle of the night so there was no warning. Yes, the couple's cruise had a bad ending but they also had about 10 days before this happened the night before docking in Cartegena, where we spent one day, then two sea days back to Ft. lauderdale. It wasn't as though it happened the first night on board. Yes, HAL handled it badly but their entire cruise wasn't ruined. We had one of our best trips ever on the ship and can't wait til next fall to sail on her again.

 

Same thing happened on Maasdam first night out from Montreal, Canada on 10/11/09. Cabins were flooded overnight on lower deck. We had no water for only 6 hours and we had no hot water for 2 days. HAL offered us a free glass of wine at dinner. Oh BOY!!!

[cruz chic]

HAL offered us a free glass of wine at dinner. Oh BOY!!!

That's brutal. Hard to put a good spin on that but I'm sure someone will:D.

[bishop84]

Going back to the OP Is it possible that there is a limit to compensation that can be offered on board? I have seen other posts where compensation was offered but declined on board and the guests advised to contact the Seattle office once they return home. When they have contacted the office then the compensation was significantly improved.

 

The newspaper article makes no mention of the guest contacting Holland America before they contacted the newspaper so is it possible that they would have got the same compensation if they had contacted HAL directly without the involvement of the newspaper?

 

Whilst I suppose the policy of getting past guests to contact the office themselves maybe deters some complaints and/or compensation vlaims would it be better for HAL to contact the guests involved?