msZuiderdam Front Desk staff was HORRIBLE. Won't be booking HA again

[michigan tim]

I was on this cruise and found the front desk staff to be very friendly and efficient when dealling with my far less pressing issues like OBC explanation, printing my folio and other menial tasks. The were perhaps the warmest and friendliest of the 15 or so cruises we've taken.

 

We had a great cruise, but a non-functioning toilet would have killed the experience. I'd would seek 100%.

[karylj]

OK I am sufficiently freaked out by the bathroom issues on Zuiderdam. We are booked on the Jan.16 sailing. My husband is one of those who makes very frequent nocturnal visits to the bathroom due to medication. A working toilet is a necessity. I have every part of my body it is possible to cross in the crossed position. Hoping for the best.

[wldflr]

OK I am sufficiently freaked out by the bathroom issues on Zuiderdam. We are booked on the Jan.16 sailing. My husband is one of those who makes very frequent nocturnal visits to the bathroom due to medication. A working toilet is a necessity. I have every part of my body it is possible to cross in the crossed position. Hoping for the best.

 

We are also booked on the Jan. 16 sailing and last night I told DH about the ongoing public restroom problems. I now wish I hadn't. And I don't think I'll tell him about the cabin toilet problems and just pray that we get a good cabin with a working toilet (we're in a guarantee balcony waiting for our assignment...)

[sail7seas]

I SO hate when I read these toilet not working posts. We've been there and done that and it's miserable. Definitely does not make for a pleasant cabin experience.

 

[KirkNC]

Wonderful advice from all. The room I was in was 8081. I believe it was a Superior Verandah Suite. The rest of our group was on the 6th floor - (6092, 6094 and 6096). They had toilet problems as well, but not to the extent we had. I heard from our neighbors (I think it was 8083) that they were having problems as well.

 

And yes, a formal letter will be written!!!

 

Thank you all for listening!!!

 

Sorry you had to go through this, I could almost understand it taking a day to fix it but not 11 days, unacceptable.

[kazu]

The concierge was also usless on our cruise, I heard people say how good Neptune and concierge was, not on our cruise ( we were in a sa cabin ).

 

That's another sad statement. The concierge we had on the Zuidie a couple of years ago was excellent & helped me resolve a couple of issues (not toilet related though). The front desk and the concierge on the Prinsendam were excellent last November.

[IRL_Joanie]

I do not doubt any of you, the more recent Zuiderdam cruisers, however, I am wondering what in HADES has happened to her since September 24th when I disembarked her in Vancouver?????:confused:

 

We spent 2 weeks aboard Zuiderdam and never had any complaints about any toilets, public or stateroom. I used various public staterooms throughout the ship and not once were any of them closed or out of service.

 

So again, my question is what could have happened in so short of a time frame to be this bad now???

 

Joanie

[peaches from georgia]

Working heat/air and plumbing are our absolute bottom line musts on any cruise. Cabins where these are not guaranteed or previous problems have not been corrected should not be able to be booked or pax already booked should be cancelled umtil everything is in working order.

[GeriatricNurse]

Our cabin had a number of problems on Zuiderdam over the course of 11 nights, but the front desk definitely ranged in response from effective to ineffective. It seems like you need to get a manager or supervisor to get some things done, including maintenance requests.

 

When our toilet stopped working midway through the cruise, we felt bad that our cabin stewards had to work in the bathroom before the maintenance people fixed it. Maintenance apparently came and went while we were out for the day, but then the toilet wouldn't respond to pushing the button. By then we were on first name bases with the front desk (main deck and several cabin problems), so we called and they sent maintenance to reconnect the toilet. By the time we came back from dinner, all was fixed, but it was still rather frustrating that they cleared the toilet but disabled the flush button.

 

In a similar vein, I have never seen so many out of order signs on bathrooms as on this ship. I literally lost track (not due to drinking but I ran out of fingers and toes) of how many out of order public bathroom stalls/urinals there were. I hope the dry dock in February fixes a lot of her problems.

 

I believe that the Zuiderdam is scheduled for a 10-Day Dry Dock from November 30 to December 9, 2012 in Freeport, Bahamas, (rather than next February), so the (ongoing) issues related to the plumbing problems may not be fully resolved until that time! ;)

[sail7seas]

Working heat/air and plumbing are our absolute bottom line musts on any cruise. Cabins where these are not guaranteed or previous problems have not been corrected should not be able to be booked or pax already booked should be cancelled umtil everything is in working order.

 

 

It is perfectly reasonable to expect HVAC and plumbing to operate properly. That is basic to be expected and requiring prompt repair if not. It doesn't get more basic than to have a working toilet in your cabin. A failure to repair it is more than a guest should be expected to tolerate.

IMO

[George C]

That's another sad statement. The concierge we had on the Zuidie a couple of years ago was excellent & helped me resolve a couple of issues (not toilet related though). The front desk and the concierge on the Prinsendam were excellent last November.

 

I am sure there are many great concierge on HAL, just got unlucky to have one that was not that well trained ( we did not have bathroom or a/c issues)

My problem with concierge was we did not get our shore excursion tickets , we had booked Costa Rica tour and a Panama canal tour ( problem was we had went from a ss to a sa via a upsell), after talking to concierge several times she finally printed our tickets for 1st tour, then I returned following night to say we were missing tickets for second tour, she said she could not help us??? Well I told her I was very unhappy with the service and left, there was a ships officer who was in the room at the time, and within 5 mins we had a apology and our tour tickets ( she also sent some chocolate cover strawberries to our suite) .

I am sure we will sail HAL again, maybe not next cruise.

[tandkquinn]

If I were booked and could get most of my money back, no way on EARTH would I pay for a cruise on a ship without functional toilets in the cabins. This issue is well enough known to CC readers now that if you go and it happens to you, there is nobody to blame but yourself.

[Wannaknow]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

So sorry to hear about your cabin toilet problems.

 

How was the ship?

 

How were the ports?

 

Amazing:rolleyes:

[sail7seas]

If I were booked and could get most of my money back, no way on EARTH would I pay for a cruise on a ship without functional toilets in the cabins. This issue is well enough known to CC readers now that if you go and it happens to you, there is nobody to blame but yourself.

 

 

How do you know it isn't only a handful of broken toilets?

At any given time, I would imagine every ship has at least a few toilets that need repair. People stuff the wierdest things down the toilets and the lines keep getting clogged. Seems lots of folks can't read the little sign posted on the wall in every bathroom..... Don't flush anything but the ship provided TP .... nothing in the loos except that which belongs there.

 

To cancel a cruise because you hear about a handful of toilets might be a bit over reaction seeing you'll have a hard time finding any ship that isn't working on toilets most days of the week.

 

JMO....

[Boytjie]

If I were booked and could get most of my money back, no way on EARTH would I pay for a cruise on a ship without functional toilets in the cabins. This issue is well enough known to CC readers now that if you go and it happens to you, there is nobody to blame but yourself.

 

We don't even know how many toilets are not working properly... :rolleyes:

[tandkquinn]

Given the sheer volume of broken toilet posts here involving the Zdam, it seems pretty clear that there is more of a problem on that ship than on others, be they HAL or otherwise. This is even more striking because the number of cabins is relatively small, and the itineraries are relatively long; i.e., the number of unique individuals on the Zdam is considerably smaller than, say a Voyager class.

It is possible, of course, that Zdam pax have a substantially higher propensity to complain than pax of other vessels, but I have not observed that.

I therefore conclude that Zdam pax are significantly more likely than avg to experience toilet problems. I'd book another ship with a lower probability of experiencing that nasty occurrence, but others may be more wiling to risk it than I would.

[Mary Ellen]

[SIZE="3"]I wouldn't bet my cruise on it just being a "handfull" of toilets. (NOT a term I would have chosen in this situation :eek:). The cabin next to ours had toilet problems for much of the cruise. We actually offered them the use of ours. Another friend would use our bathroom before leaving our cabin as she knew there were so many public restrooms not fully usable.

In writing to our TA recently about the issues on our cruise, I commented "at least our bathroom worked". It's sad when one has to mention that as a [I]good[/I] thing.

Also, we're talking about the Zuiderdam here, not the "Zdam". HAL has two ships starting with Z. "Zdam" is ambiguous. [/SIZE]

[FrankNJ]

[quote name='tandkquinn']If I were booked and could get most of my money back, no way on EARTH would I pay for a cruise on a ship without functional toilets in the cabins. This issue is well enough known to CC readers now that if you go and it happens to you, there is nobody to blame but yourself.[/QUOTE]

There should be a rule against blaming the customers for the failings of the big company.
I think I will write a letter BEFORE the cruise and ask Hal if I can expect my toilet and ac to be in good working order . What do you think they will say ? I'll also request polite front office staff.

[sail7seas]

[B]Like so many of our threads, this is all anecdotal and none of us really know just how bad the toilet problem on Zuiderdam. I seriously doubt that is well published information.

I would hate it as much as anyone else for our plumbing to not operate properly but would not cancel a cruise because of this thread.

JMO........ [/B]

[IRL_Joanie]

[quote name='tandkquinn']Given the sheer volume of broken toilet posts here involving the Zdam, it seems pretty clear that there is more of a problem on that ship than on others, be they HAL or otherwise. This is even more striking because the number of cabins is relatively small, and the itineraries are relatively long; i.e., the number of unique individuals on the Zdam is considerably smaller than, say a Voyager class.

It is possible, of course, that Zdam pax have a substantially higher propensity to complain than pax of other vessels, but I have not observed that.

I therefore conclude that Zdam pax are significantly more likely than avg to experience toilet problems. I'd book another ship with a lower probability of experiencing that nasty occurrence, but others may be more wiling to risk it than I would.[/quote]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=Blue][B]
As a passenger who has recently (less than 90 days ago) cruised on Zuiderdam, to include one of the staterooms mentioned SB 7142 ( I was on for 2 weeks), I disagree with your "conclusion."

My reasoning is this; On the past few cruises where these flushing problems are mentioned, there have been a LOT of younger people (thinking children here) and even young adults, who do not know what can or cannot be placed in a toilet aboard a ship. AND who either cannot or will not read the little sign beside the toilet.

Gonna try and not be crude here, but want to stress just how badly the following can affect the toilet system from just one stateroom.

Stateroom 12345 on deck 6 is a young lady between the age of 12-24. She is at a time of the month that most women hate. She uses a device during that time of the month that allows her to swim etc, without anyone knowing she is.... What does she do with that device at home or anywhere else on land?? She flushes it down the toilet. So what does she do while on a ship?? SHE FLUSHES IT and that can cause serious problems, not only for her stateroom but others on the same system!!!!!!

The above is just one of the things that can and will cause the system to become blocked.

I cannot for the life of me believe that this is a permanent problem. I believe it is showing us that we are smart NOT to cruise with lots of young people on board. DO NOT GET ME WRONG I LOVE young people, just not willing to cruise with lots of them like holiday times get.

Joanie[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Roz]

These posts are scaring me. I'm booked on the Zuiderdam in May, and was thinking about booking the 11-day Panama Canal that ends right before it goes into drydock. Should I book another cruise for next November?

Roz

[sail7seas]

[B]They will fix whatever toilets are malfunctioning.

Periodically we hear this familiar thread about one ship or another.
They always get them fixed.

[/B]

[Mary Ellen]

[quote name='IRL_Joanie'][FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=Blue][B]On the past few cruises where these flushing problems are mentioned, there have been a LOT of younger people (thinking children here) and even young adults, who do not know what can or cannot be placed in a toilet aboard a ship. AND who either cannot or will not read the little sign beside the toilet.[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE][SIZE="3"]Really???? I disagree with your "conclusion". Our cruise was within the past month. The age group on our sailing was far, FAR older than any I've seen in the past 30 years of cruising. I told DH that a good number of passengers looked as if they were on vacation from their nursing homes.

I find it interesting that so many who haven't experienced this situation have all the knowledge.

I'm sorry, but if a not uncommon topic onboard any ship revolves around the functionally of the toilets, there [I]is[/I] a problem. [/SIZE]

[mtnmommy]

Wow, so you can avoid plumbing problems on a ship by making sure there are no children or young people on board? I disagree that one demographic has a monopoly on not reading the little sign beside the toilet.

I am a HAL loyalist, and I'm sure that HAL will--eventually--get the toilets fixed. However, reports of this situation and the front office's response would not be comforting to me if I were sailing on the Zuiderdam in the near future. I don't think that sailing with older people is a solution to an ongoing mechanical issue.

[michigan tim]

It would seem like the cabin stewards would know if a toilet worked or not and if it doesn't work the cabin should not be utilized. The guests should be re-accommodated.