Is It Realistic Or Are We Saying What is Expected?

[usha]

My chin's up.

I don't know why you'd wanna take a shot at me like that, SwissMyst,

but there it is....:cool:

[diann744]

S7S,

 

To provide my own answer to your original query – The answer is “no one answer works for everyone.” Although I agree with several of the suggestions offered.

 

As a very occasional poster, who’s really only active when I’m gearing up for or winding down from a cruise, I’ve never really been flamed. Still, that was a concern of mine when I posted my review of the recent Rotterdam “just out of dry dock” excursion.

 

But that’s not why I chose to believe that the trip was a good one despite its problems. The problems were bountiful. And I must admit that at first, when I thought it was only me, I was extremely put out. Once I realized that many of the issues were ship wide, I calmed down a bit.

 

Then I took stock and figured that while this was the single most expensive vacation I’ve ever taken, it is what it is, and I could choose to be miserable or not. I opted for not. Still, I hope HAL is listening.

 

Diann

[suse]

My chin's up.

I don't know why you'd wanna take a shot at me like that, SwissMyst,

but there it is....:cool:

You always make sense to me. :)

[3dashers]

Sail thanks for asking this question. I think it offsets some of the negative comments (fact vs opinion). We hadnt cruised the year before our recent HAL cruise. For us you have to work really hard to make the vacation horrible.

 

That being said my DH was completely 'over' the complaining. He is one of those people that says there are 1200 people on the ship (or resort)..they can not do XYZ exactly to everyone's taste. I dont feel like it was HAL, more than where parts of society is right now. For example 2 doors down from us the family complained that the towel 'animals' were lacking. (insert my eye roll) We had the same Stewards and thought the animals were a gift and fun.

 

That being said..I didnt put this in my review but during rough seas our son was pitched in the bathroom and hit his forehead on the soap dish. We put ice from the bucket on it. It was hard to miss a goose egg on the forehead. Is this HAL fault.. no it was an accident. Did we complain.. nope. Funny thing is that HAL noticed and came to us. They were concerned, both with our sons health and whether we were upset. Even our son was laughing about it the next day (stitches would have made a good souvenier (sp?)) Honestly we really felt that HAL was trying to make sure we wouldnt complain our trip was 'ruined'.

 

We believe that you get more with honey.. to perhaps add to this.. are the unnecessary complaints (ie towel animal) creating an enviroment where the wheels are getting squeakier and resources stretched so that really problems (ie plumbing) are getting slower response???

 

Side note: I may be referencing HAL but we have seen the same 'stuff' on DCL which has been our usual line.

[babyher]

Not just here , but on all the boards sometimes. It seems there are people just take the criticism of a ship way to personal (I don't mean you Sail because I have never seen you lash out like that in any posts).

 

But if someone reports a certain ship was a little run down and not as clean as it should have been and the food wasn't up to snuff.

 

Someone will come back at them as if the poster was saying these things about their own home.

 

Sail I think there are many factors and aswers to your query.

 

There will always be those that complain about EVERYTHING!!!!

 

There are those just roll with the punches and take things in stride.

 

There are those like the old saying goes "Wouldn't say "YOU KNOW WHAT" if they had a mouth full of it" :)

 

And then there is the fact that critiques are so subjective

[sail7seas]

Some great thoughtful responses and the viewpoints are very helpful IMO

 

I think everyone is right in this case. There is no one answer has been pointed out and there probably is no wrong answer.

 

Thanks.

[Willsot]

On our European cruise on the Eurodam last summer we experienced lost luggage for the first time (courtesy Air France). DW received her luggage on day 6, I did not see mine until disembarkation. While I could not say "we didn't let it bother us and we had an awesome cruise," I can honestly say "we rolled with that punch and still had an awesome time."

 

Because of the lost luggage situation (kept expecting it to catch up with us at some port), I visited the front desk daily, much more than I ever have on past cruises. During those visits I witnessed what I would describe as unmerciful verbal abuse of the front office staff by disgruntled passengers. That was a rather sobering experience and will have a lasting impact on how I approach resolving whatever difficulties I encounter on future cruises.

[callmedeb]

The way I look at it is, if something isn't up to my expectations, but it's something that really (in the grand sceme of things) doesn't effect my quality of life - I choose to not let it bother me, or I choose to do what I can about it.

 

Drink not cold enough? Ask for more ice. Glass of iced tea not refilled? Refill it yourself. Service too slow? Talk to the waiter and/or Matre D' to get it remedied. Toilet overflowing/won't flush/mold in the shower? Talk to your room steward. If that doesn't work, make your way (nicely) up the food chain until the problem is resolved. Etc. Etc.

 

I've learned over the last few years how short life really is, so I choose to have a good attitude and I choose to rely on myself (not others) for my own contentment.

 

I must say though? The raw sewage, no A/C thing would REALLY put a damper on my holiday, lterally and figuratively.

 

Cheers,

 

Deb

[Vic The Parrot]

Because of the reviews I know that when I board the Ryndam on Jan 31 (but who's counting) there will probably be rust on my balcony, and the bathroom might be showing its age.

 

 

 

What ??

 

 

RUST on a ship ???!!

 

 

Oh yeah .. that'll really ruin my cruise. :rolleyes: :D ;)

[airlink diva]

Interesting thread about cruisers expectations for their cruises sail7seas!

I will say that swissmystreflects my thoughts. When cruising, I do expect a certain level of service and basics. Things do go wrong, how many times have someone cook a bad meal or have something break down at home?

There were times on a cruise were a dish wasn't to my liking and sent back or my cabin clean later than when I wanted it. Did such things bring my cruise down? No! But you do have people who looks for something negative and run with it (I work with such a person now :mad:!!) and then color everything in a negative light.

But some things are a no brainer and if those items are not address correctly, it can leave that person with a bad taste. I know on my last HAL cruise, there were people who had issues with their cabins. The temperature was above average and some had sanitation issues, some of these issues were not a first time thing and still going on. If the cruiseline can't correct this, the guest have a right to be upset.

There are some of the cruisers who sail HAL alot flame those who have problems with "their" ships. Things were prefect on "their" cruise and it should be the same for anyone else. Things like food and people is subjective. You have to balance the good and bad out when reading reviews. There are some reviews that I do wonder about (those from people posting only once who nick pick) but I try to look at them equally.

I'm a easy person to please on a cruise. Mainly I'm glad to be away from work and everyday stress that it takes alot to make me mad. But I do expect a certain level of service and comfort on my cruises