Review of Zaandam circle Hawaii cruise from Vancouver Sept 23, 2012

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write a thorough review of your cruise.

 

What a disappointing experience.

[SilvertoGold]

We were on this cruise and while we experienced a few of the problems Appygirl and JimBev mentioned, especially the DR service, we feel that many of the problems are overstated. Very high expectations are often unfairly considered.

 

The DR manager and assistant managers were not up to par. Undoubtedly, lower staffing levels are partly to blame. There was either no time or no inclination to give the personalised service that we have been accustomed to. The assistant DR managers were just going through their paces and while friendly enough, did not seem too interested in the passengers.

 

We had breakfast and lunch in the DR almost every day it was open and had excellent service, great food that was hot every meal (served on warm plates usually). The one time the kitchen was slow, the waiter came and apologized, asked if we would like more pastries, juice or anything he could get while we waited (maybe 10 minutes total).

Each waiter we had over 16 days in the DR was happy, smiling, courteous and provided great service.

 

The Lido food was excellent and the managers there were much more involved and interacted with the passengers well. The seating at dinner was crowded any time we passed through, with no one much on the "staff" side.

The food, from executive Chef Peter Kofler's kitchen, was excellent. He, personally, should be the HAL poster boy for sheer "Signature of Excellence" attitude.

 

If the Hotel Manager had Mr Kofler's attitude things might be better on the ship. He seemd to want to avoid the passengers, although he did show up and acted more-or-less graciously at the VIP party and did a "Good Morning, Zaandam" interview with the CD. His behaviour as reported here by Appygirl concerning the pipe leak outside the DR is unacceptable, and is unfortunately not too hard to believe.

 

We had superior service from the Front Desk and we had our papers delivered with only 3 misses. The Front Desk was happy to supply the missed ones.

 

All in all it was a great cruise on a lovely ship. People need to understand that "ship" happens and some crew/officers do better than others in difficult circumstances. The hallmark of HAL is their inconsistency and this cruise was perhaps a good example.

[RuthC]

The food, from executive Chef Peter Kofler's kitchen, was excellent. He, personally, should be the HAL poster boy for sheer "Signature of Excellence" attitude.

Peter does a marvelous job. I'd eat from his kitchen any time.

Tonight sounds good. :D

[Tailskid]

Hi appy girl,

thanks for the detailed review

I am booked on the Zaandam cicle hawaii cruise December 8. And you have me worried - not about the ship or the witchy staff but all those complaining passengers may make life myserable! After all, it's your fellow passengers that make or break a cruise.

A couple of points though - when you get too detailed, comments cease to be critique and tend to become "whining". Critique my get the attention of the cruise line whereas whining gets ignored.

Never the less, I have remarked myself that standards are deteriorating. (On all cruise lines.) But we have to expect that, as ships get bigger and staff are not as readily available or as well trained to service the greater number of passengers, things are going to get worse. And as they do passengers will get grizzlier (particularly us "older" group common to HAL) and staff will become less tolerant and witchyier as service deteriorates.

We should all keep in mind that HAL is not a 6 star (luuxry) line and therefore we cannot expect "perfect" service. I go HAL because I think that I am getting good value for my money. As soon as that is not true I will go elsewhere.

Thanks again

Tailskid.

[WpgCruise]

Thank you to the O.P. for the detailed and well thought out review.

I appreciate very much when someone takes the time and makes the effort so evident in your report.

We have not been on H.A.L. since 2004 having moved on to another cruise line however I continue to follow the H.A.L. Board because we had some great cruises with H.A.L. and someday we might find the itinerary or the timing or the ship that would bring us back.

It appears from reviews and comments from so many people over so many H.A.L. ships, that our return may not be soon. Our vacation time and money is far too important to us that we would intentionally book with a cruise line that has so many ships apparently understaffed, mechanically deficient failing to meet CDC standards or a higher than industry standard risk of A/C or plumbing issues. I appreciate that any ship can have sporadic issues, such is the nature of the mechanics, however having said this it would appear that Holland America is letting standards far faster and further as time goes on.

It is really too bad because we did enjoy or H.A.L. cruises

[baggal]

All in all it was a great cruise on a lovely ship. People need to understand that "ship" happens and some crew/officers do better than others in difficult circumstances. The hallmark of HAL is their inconsistency and this cruise was perhaps a good example.

 

I disagree. People who work hard 50 weeks of the year should not have to anticipate that "ship" will happen on their one and only annual vacation and be expected to tolerate it. There have just been too many complaints about too many different HAL ships for me to be willing to chance my vacation. I haven't been on a HAL ship for the past 3 years, and probably won't be anytime soon.

[CtheW0rld]

that was quite a review! your comment about the scheduled flood gave me a good laugh. perfect!

[Typhoon1]

I feel the sorry for the crew members, they have to try to keep everyone happy when there is a mess like this.

[High C's]

Your Zaandam cruise sounds very much like what we experienced on the Veendam in August - our first and last on HAL. At the time we were told not to judge HAL on that cruise or ship. Well, here's another one. :(

[SilvertoGold]

All in all it was a great cruise on a lovely ship. People need to understand that "ship" happens and some crew/officers do better than others in difficult circumstances. The hallmark of HAL is their inconsistency and this cruise was perhaps a good example.

 

I disagree. People who work hard 50 weeks of the year should not have to anticipate that "ship" will happen on their one and only annual vacation and be expected to tolerate it. There have just been too many complaints about too many different HAL ships for me to be willing to chance my vacation. I haven't been on a HAL ship for the past 3 years, and probably won't be anytime soon.

 

If you want perfection, you will have a hard time finding it on any line, any hotel chain, any airline, any resort. If you do, you might consider that luck is a part of the equation. As Tailskid has noted above, HAL is not a 6 star line. Therefore you can't really expect things to be perfect.

 

"Ship" happens.

As an example, one of the mid-ship elevators was out of service for much of the 16 days, if not all. HAL's elevator service company had men onboard and it appreared that they were unable to fix this elevator.

If the parts needed were not on the ship, they would have to be ordered. This can take time, especially if the company has to hunt around for available parts, find reconditioned parts or have parts made. Being at sea, of course, adds another dimension timewise.

So, I conclude that we have to give HAL the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are doing everything that can reasonably be done.

 

There are so many different things that can go wrong on these ships that it is really unreasonable to expect that absolutely everything will be perfect.

[Appygirl]

I have cruised on HAL more than any other line and always highly recommend them. Our very first HAL cruise my husband got food poisoning from eating chicken salad in the Lido - as did several other passengers. HAL's solution? Put him into quarantine for 2 days on suspicion of norovirus.

 

But that didn't stop us from coming back. We get it. Sometimes stuff happens.

 

I think when passengers pay thousands of dollars for a cruise that they should expect certain things. I think a dry, comfortable cabin is a reasonable expectation for someone who has shelled out a few thousand bucks. And yes, I had a nice stateroom, as did many other passengers. The couple who got relocated to the housekeeping room on cots maybe not so much! How much should people lower their expectations?

 

Most people expect to get fed well on a cruise, whether its a luxury liner or a budget line. But turning meal time into an exercise in frustration is another thing. Especially for the poor souls who are confined to wheelchairs, walkers, or scooters.

 

I also think when people read in the Explorer that the pools are open until 9pm that its a reasonable expectation to believe what you read in the Zaandam's official daily newsletter. When the seas are calm and there are no safety issues and a person goes up to the Lido pool at 7:15pm to discover there's a net over it, they're going to be a little ticked.

 

I took my lap top with me and made notes so I was able to copy and paste over to this forum. I'm a writer and I included my experiences and what I witnessed and what I heard from other passengers. The good and the bad. I had a great cabin, the entertainment was better than any other HAL cruise I've been on, and the Hawaiian Islands are beautiful.

 

However for others on my cruise they did not get what they paid for or what they could reasonably expect to receive on a cruise.

 

I'm sure there are some passengers whose staterooms were on decks not affected by flooding issues, who chose traditional seating at 5:45pm, and were part of the 3 dozen passengers attending the late show, who weren't affected and didn't witness anything going wrong who will say it was a wonderful cruise, no problems at all.

 

The overall cruise experience was not what it could have been, a lot brought on by problems the Zaandam has created and seems unwilling/unable to fix. This ship is a poor choice for passengers who are physically disabled. This ship is a poor choice for passengers who don't want meal time hassles. People read the good and the bad reviews here on Cruise Critic and can make their own decisions whether or not the Zaandam is a good choice for them.

[baggal]

I disagree. People who work hard 50 weeks of the year should not have to anticipate that "ship" will happen on their one and only annual vacation and be expected to tolerate it. There have just been too many complaints about too many different HAL ships for me to be willing to chance my vacation. I haven't been on a HAL ship for the past 3 years, and probably won't be anytime soon.

 

If you want perfection, you will have a hard time finding it on any line, any hotel chain, any airline, any resort. If you do, you might consider that luck is a part of the equation. As Tailskid has noted above, HAL is not a 6 star line. Therefore you can't really expect things to be perfect.

 

"Ship" happens.

As an example, one of the mid-ship elevators was out of service for much of the 16 days, if not all. HAL's elevator service company had men onboard and it appreared that they were unable to fix this elevator.

If the parts needed were not on the ship, they would have to be ordered. This can take time, especially if the company has to hunt around for available parts, find reconditioned parts or have parts made. Being at sea, of course, adds another dimension timewise.

So, I conclude that we have to give HAL the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are doing everything that can reasonably be done.

 

There are so many different things that can go wrong on these ships that it is really unreasonable to expect that absolutely everything will be perfect.

 

In my post, I never mentioned "perfect." My definition of "ship" happens means bad weather, missing a port for whatever reason, or some other unexpected circumstance -all of which I have experienced with HAL in the past and still had a good cruise experience.

 

But, consistently flooded cabins, toilets that don't work, inadequate air-conditioning, restricted access to ship amenities, and poor service in the dining venues throughout the length of the cruise send a red flag that there is a systemic problem within HAL. Not my idea of a care-free vacation -which is why I am going on a cruise in the first place.

[whogo]

I thoroughly enjoyed your report, Appygirl. The disastrous cruises make for better reading. I never figured out why people think you can't see into the cabins on the walk around deck. Sometimes you can.

 

One woman told us their bed/bedding was flooded, along with everything else in the cabin. They asked for a new cabin but were told the ship was sold out. 3 days before sailing HAL contacted us and asked if we wanted to pay extra to upgrade to a superior suite or a penthouse but we turned it down and other passengers I spoke with also got similar offers. So that tells me unless they sold out at the last minute there probably were available cabins but Zaandam unwilling to upgrade a passenger on Deck 1 up to Deck 7.

The ship could have been sold out with some cabins not yet assigned.

 

If you like to get your food hot and eat it while it’s hot in a dining room - the Zaandam is a BAD choice.

This has been my regular complaint about HAL dining room food. Just once I would like to have to wait for my soup to cool.

 

Thanks for posting.

[SilvertoGold]

I have cruised on HAL more than any other line and always highly recommend them. Our very first HAL cruise my husband got food poisoning from eating chicken salad in the Lido - as did several other passengers. HAL's solution? Put him into quarantine for 2 days on suspicion of norovirus.

 

But that didn't stop us from coming back. We get it. Sometimes stuff happens.

 

I think when passengers pay thousands of dollars for a cruise that they should expect certain things. I think a dry, comfortable cabin is a reasonable expectation for someone who has shelled out a few thousand bucks. And yes, I had a nice stateroom, as did many other passengers. The couple who got relocated to the housekeeping room on cots maybe not so much! How much should people lower their expectations?

 

Most people expect to get fed well on a cruise, whether its a luxury liner or a budget line. But turning meal time into an exercise in frustration is another thing. Especially for the poor souls who are confined to wheelchairs, walkers, or scooters.

 

I also think when people read in the Explorer that the pools are open until 9pm that its a reasonable expectation to believe what you read in the Zaandam's official daily newsletter. When the seas are calm and there are no safety issues and a person goes up to the Lido pool at 7:15pm to discover there's a net over it, they're going to be a little ticked.

 

I took my lap top with me and made notes so I was able to copy and paste over to this forum. I'm a writer and I included my experiences and what I witnessed and what I heard from other passengers. The good and the bad. I had a great cabin, the entertainment was better than any other HAL cruise I've been on, and the Hawaiian Islands are beautiful.

 

However for others on my cruise they did not get what they paid for or what they could reasonably expect to receive on a cruise.

 

I'm sure there are some passengers whose staterooms were on decks not affected by flooding issues, who chose traditional seating at 5:45pm, and were part of the 3 dozen passengers attending the late show, who weren't affected and didn't witness anything going wrong who will say it was a wonderful cruise, no problems at all.

 

The overall cruise experience was not what it could have been, a lot brought on by problems the Zaandam has created and seems unwilling/unable to fix. This ship is a poor choice for passengers who are physically disabled. This ship is a poor choice for passengers who don't want meal time hassles. People read the good and the bad reviews here on Cruise Critic and can make their own decisions whether or not the Zaandam is a good choice for them.

 

I agree that the cruise experience was not what it could have been. There were obviously problems, as you have described.

 

1. As for your statement that the Zaandam is a poor choice for pax who are disabled: in what exact way? Do you mean the tenders?

 

2. As to your meal time hassles and frustrations, did you ever talk to the DRM in person and ask for some assistance with seating? He was a very decent guy and I can't imagine that he would not have helped you, especially considering your father's disabled status. Unfortunately the meal service in Open Seating left a lot to be desired. Did you mention this to the DRM at any point?

 

3. I am not sure that the idea that the Zaandam may have been "unwilling/unable to fix" some of the problems is a fair assessment. Could you give some specific examples and your solutions?

 

4. Did you ever write or meet with the Guest Relations Manager, who had office hours posted some days, to inquire about the pool hours and the discrepencies with the reality?

 

 

Really enjoyed your comments on this cruise, AppyGirl! Appreciate the time both on the ship and now that you have expended on this review.

[SilvertoGold]

 

I also think when people read in the Explorer that the pools are open until 9pm that its a reasonable expectation to believe what you read in the Zaandam's official daily newsletter. When the seas are calm and there are no safety issues and a person goes up to the Lido pool at 7:15pm to discover there's a net over it, they're going to be a little ticked.

 

Appygirl:

 

I wondered about this pool business, so I looked up the four Explorer programs I brought home. Wish I had brought them all, but the luggage was stuffed!

 

Pools

September 23 11:30 am to 7 pm (embarkation)

September 27 7 am to 7 pm

October 5 7 am to 9 pm

October 7 7 am to 9 pm

 

So, you see, it was not the same every day. It is possible that the pax you spoke with read it wrong or didn't read the program every day to notice the schedule changes.

 

Some of your information about this cruise is second hand and was not verified.

[nana51]

I hope someone who is going on the next cruise or soon after will come back with a good report on those rooms that flooded. I have a room on deck 2 and hope that problem i solved.

[Crusing Bob]

There already is a positive report for the Zaandam by Canadian Bear.

[solocanadian]

The more I read this, the more I gert ticked-off. Sure Hope Edwin Brunwick is off the ship when I return in April along with all those leaky pipes and sewar smells.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thank you for a very educational report. I was thinking of booking a HAL cruise, but I think that I will stick with Princess. I have never had a bad cruise, or a mediocre one on Princess.

 

It is too bad that these things happened to you... and it is a shame about those flooded cabins, sewage smell, and dining service! I hope you wrote to HAL and let them know about all of those issues!

 

You may want to try the new Royal Princess next!

[Putterdude]

This review sounds very much like the cruise we had on the Oosterdam over Christmas last year. We were looking for a new line to cruise with but given our poor experience we won't be back sailing with HAL anytime soon.

[rsmdude]

After reading some of these negative reviews I'm sort of now regretting booking the Zaandam to Mexico from San Diego on Dec 1. We had the choice of a Disney cruise for a little more but I didn't want to be bothered with kids everywhere.

 

The majority of my cruises have been with Royal Caribbean and I've really never had any complaints with their service, food or the condition of their ships. I had one experience with Celebrity on the aging Century that was not all that great because it was over-run with drunk college kids... Who knew Spring Break was being held SO early now?! Getting into any hot tub was impossible that cruise.

 

Anyway, please keep the reviews coming on Zaandam since I happen to be currently booked on Dolphin deck and may call back to ask for a higher deck if these flooding incidents continue. Maybe THIS is why the prices have been dropping for this cruise!

[Working 2 Cruise]

After reading some of these negative reviews I'm sort of now regretting booking the Zaandam to Mexico from San Diego on Dec 1. We had the choice of a Disney cruise for a little more but I didn't want to be bothered with kids everywhere.

 

The majority of my cruises have been with Royal Caribbean and I've really never had any complaints with their service, food or the condition of their ships. I had one experience with Celebrity on the aging Century that was not all that great because it was over-run with drunk college kids... Who knew Spring Break was being held SO early now?! Getting into any hot tub was impossible that cruise.

 

Anyway, please keep the reviews coming on Zaandam since I happen to be currently booked on Dolphin deck and may call back to ask for a higher deck if these flooding incidents continue. Maybe THIS is why the prices have been dropping for this cruise!

 

Have you tried Princess? Or Carnival, but I would recommend Princess... It has quite a few Mexico cruises departing from Los Angeles...

[rsmdude]

Have you tried Princess? Or Carnival, but I would recommend Princess... It has quite a few Mexico cruises departing from Los Angeles...

 

Actually I really hoped to cruise on Princess from LA over the Thanksgiving holiday but my cabin-mate couldn't get that week off and Princess doesn't offer this itinerary again until Christmas week when I'm already booked up.

 

This will be my first time on HAL and I've heard good things about them in the past so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will go well.

 

I have several friends that cruise very frequently and they are very loyal to Royal Caribbean and Princess but don't speak well of Carnival and since we have similar tastes and expectations I have steered clear of them to be honest.

 

I've had great experiences on Royal Caribbean and one okay experience on Celebrity but I'm always willing to try other reputable lines that seem to fit my preferred type of cruise experience.

 

Thanks for the input!

[Himself]

The Lido buffet area. Decent food and at least passengers had a higher rate of success of getting hot food here instead of in the main dining room. Continental breakfast starts at 6am, with a full breakfast starting around 6:30 or 7, really depended on the day if it was a sea or port day. Lunch same story, maybe 11:30 to 2 but sandwiches and desserts available all afternoon. Dinner 5pm to 8pm.

 

Now let me get going about dinner. It was decent enough and this is the place to be on the Zaandam if you actually like to eat hot food because they keep it under warmers. There was one female cook/server who hated her job and hated the passengers. Because I’m not sure of censoring of bad words on Cruise Critic, I’ll call her Witchy, but substitute that w with a b if you want to know what we really called her! One little old lady made the mistake of telling Witchy she put too much food on her plate. Witchy made a huge point of sighing loudly, scraping all the food off the plate and into the garbage, and glaring at the little old lady making sure she got her point across how inconvenient the old biddy was making her life. My husband asked her to put a little gravy on the meat for my father’s plate. Instead she dumped gravy on everything on the plate. One time my husband and I were both standing in line getting a plate of food for him and my father. He asked for small portions for only the plate for my father who has a small appetite. Then for his plate he said load it up so Witchy made a point of putting tiny portions on his plate too and when he asked for more she glared at him and flung the food across the plate making the food presentation match her attitude – lousy.

 

There is a pasta bar just before the main entrée area with one fellow operating it. Fortunately Witchy never got assigned pasta detail! Or maybe it would have been better if she had because the fellow serving pasta ignored the passengers. Mostly he kept his back turned to them and kept busy doing something across from the pasta station though he kept looking over and knew people were waiting for the pasta. I usually gave up trying to get him to serve up some pasta and moved on to eat something else. Hello Witchy! And what do they do with all that leftover pasta the fellow refuses to serve in the Lido that night? My guess is they serve it in the Canaletto the next night! $10. Signs in all the elevators.

 

Dinner is served in the Lido between 5pm and 8pm. One side is closed down. The Canaletto is on that side of the Lido and takes up around 1/3 of the seating area, perhaps a little less but let’s call it a third. The rest of this side is reserved for officers and staff during the 3 hours. Hunh??? I’m not saying the crew don’t deserve to eat but they seem to have no problem fitting in with the passengers during lunch and breakfast so what’s the issue with fitting in with the lowly passengers at dinnertime too? If they had to have their own private time in the Lido can’t they choose a less busy time. So 5 tables or less were usually in use by staff leaving a lot of empty tables on that one side of the Lido. Meanwhile on the passenger side of the Lido all the tables are full of passengers who’ve given up on the crap service and food in the MDR so its hard to find somewhere to eat. Several times we went to one of the pool decks with our food. So one night my husband went upstairs to check things out around 6pm and came back down to tell me that one man was arguing with the staff member in charge of keeping the lowly passengers out of the staff side of the Lido during dinnertime. He was complaining there was nowhere to sit on the passenger side and no staff were eating on the side reserved for them and there were lots of empty tables and he should open them up for everyone. Then more passengers got involved in the argument. 20 minutes later we came up to the Lido to eat and the crew member must have gotten worried about a mutiny and removed the sign stating crew only and allowed the passengers to come in and use the tables. What’s the big deal why they separate staff and passengers?

 

I would say the Cantelleto takes up about 1/6th of the Lido space on its side--no more!

[Himself]

Zaandam singers and dancers – I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. Out of all the HAL ships I’ve been on the Zaandam singers and dancers are the best I’ve ever seen. Energy, talent, great routines. Incredible! Loved them! The bad news? This was their farewell voyage. Their contracts are up, they’ve gone on to whatever it is cruise ship workers do at the end of their contract.

 

Our travel guide/port lecturer Kainoa was wonderful. Loved his talks! Very passionate about Hawaii as a destination partly because that’s his heritage. He’s great. Can’t say enough nice things about him.

 

Other entertainers included:

comedian/magician Rich Purpura

pianist Juan Pablo Subirana

ventriloquist Patrick Murray and Matilda – the passengers loved him but this was the Edgar Bergen/Charlie Maccarthy crowd. He was great.

Comedian/juggler Billy Prudhomme

The Stander Dance Duo (skip this one!)

The Drums of Polynesia Show – came on board on Honolulu. Wonderful hula show.

Comedian Mack Dryden

The Company Men (quartet singers) more appealing to a younger crowd.

 

And of course the Filipino and Indonesian crew shows on different nights at 11pm, not well attended because it was past the bedtimes of 99% of the passengers.

 

Barbi and the Halcats performed throughout the ship – sailaways, pool party, and Crow’s Nest.

 

In the main show theater, Mondrian Lounge, the first show is at 8pm. To get a semi-good seat you must arrive by 7:30. By 7:40 the lounge will be packed. No seats left. Come back for the 10pm show. Oops, no, can’t do that. 9pm bedtime! We came to the 10pm shows a few times. Us and 30 others. Kind of tough on comedian Billy Prudhomme who thanked all the people who showed up for his performance disguised as couches and chairs. At one point he’s yelling “wake up, wake up” and I turn around and an old man sitting by himself a few rows behind me is sleeping. And Billy tells him “I don’t come to your cabin and juggle.”

 

One time my husband and I came up to the Crow’s Nest at 8:50pm and caught Barbi and the Halcats last couple of songs. We were their only audience. We came up a couple of times after 11pm to listen to them. Its pretty sad when a 5 piece band outnumbers the audience but can’t keep people up past their bedtime can you!

 

I am glad to hear that Patrick Murray and Matilda are back on HAL