Zaandam nitemares!!!

[Freecall]

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/cruiseships.phtml

 

According to this site: the Zaandam is off Bahia Magdalena.......if so, that's a LONG way from San Diego............:confused::(

 

Click on the coast of Mexico to get the display with the Zaandam name near Bahia Magdalena...........it doesn't how up on the world map.

 

Can't account for what other sites say but it's 5:45am on Sat 20 Oct, I am in San Diego ands it's right in front of me.

 

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[goodearth]

Can't account for what other sites say but it's 5:45am on Sat 20 Oct, I am in San Diego ands it's right in front of me.

 

.

:confused:

 

The post you refer to (#33) was posted yesterday and reflected where the ship was yesterday.........not this morning.

 

Check the date and time on the post..........

 

: )

[lindaler]

I just looked at the webcam for the San Diego Port and the Zaandam is still sitting there at 7:29 pacific time.

[rtlk]

Marine traffic reports the Zanndam still at the dock in San Diego at 10:09AM PDT.:eek:

[rtlk]

This pathetic example of poor management by the company and the Captain of the Zanndam.

I guess Carnival which allows Captains to Joy Ride with its ships in Europe is now making its other formally proud cruiselines pay the price of Mickey's stewardship of the family investments.

If they don't get their act together all of us who have been loyal passengers will need to reconsider where to direct our business....before something far worse than the Zaandam cruise of the damed happens. Cutting corners is what this is all about.:mad::eek:

[solocanadian]

This pathetic example of poor management by the company and the Captain of the Zanndam.

 

I guess Carnival which allows Captains to Joy Ride with its ships in Europe is now making its other formally proud cruiselines pay the price of Mickey's stewardship of the family investments.

 

If they don't get their act together all of us who have been loyal passengers will need to reconsider where to direct our business....before something far worse than the Zaandam cruise of the damed happens. Cutting corners is what this is all about.:mad::eek:

A little harsh, don't you think?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

This pathetic example of poor management by the company and the Captain of the Zanndam.

 

I guess Carnival which allows Captains to Joy Ride with its ships in Europe is now making its other formally proud cruiselines pay the price of Mickey's stewardship of the family investments.

 

If they don't get their act together all of us who have been loyal passengers will need to reconsider where to direct our business....before something far worse than the Zaandam cruise of the damed happens. Cutting corners is what this is all about.:mad::eek:

 

With all due respect I think you need to read any cruise lines Cruise Contract.

To read the whole thing you can go here

http://www.hollandamerica.com/legalAndPrivacy/Main.action

 

5. Change in Itinerary/Cancellation/Cabotage Laws: (a) Although we will use our best efforts to provide you with the Cruise, Cruisetour and/or Land Trips, situations may occur which require that changes be made. By way of example only, we may adjust itineraries and schedules, delay departures or arrivals, or cancel a Cruise, Cruisetour or Land Trip, due to casualty, weather, labor problems, the need to render assistance to others, governmental or insurer directives, passenger or employee injury or illness, schedule delays or changes by third parties, repair and maintenance requirements, fuel or other shortages, or damage to the Ship, other means of transportation, roads, tracks, bridges, docks, equipment or machinery. Furthermore, the Master of the Ship or of any other vessel as well as the operator of any other means of transportation may, in his/her sole discretion, elect not to proceed in the ordinary course. Consequently, we cannot guarantee the itinerary of the Cruise, Cruisetour or any Land Trip (including time of sailing from or arrival at any port or that all ports will, in fact, be called at, or that all places on your Cruisetour or Land Trip will be visited). We reserve the right to provide you with alternative transportation whenever the Cruise, Cruisetour or Land Trip is unable to proceed or be completed in the ordinary course or, in the case of hotels, to substitute facilities of similar category in cases where the planned hotel is unavailable due to overbooking or otherwise.

(b) Your safety is very important to us. For safety or other reasons that we believe qualify as good cause, we may, without notice, substitute any suitable ship, ships or other means of transportation, change any date of sailing or travel or cancel any sailing, Cruisetour segment, port of call, Cruisetour or Land Trip destination or stopover, or the entire Land Trip, Cruise or Cruisetour.

© If the Cruise or Cruisetour or a Land Trip is cancelled, we may disembark you at any port or terminate your travel at any location, and transship and forward (at our expense, but at your risk) you and your property to or toward a port or location from which you may return home or to the Ship, as appropriate. The means of conveyance may or may not belong to us and may or may not proceed directly to the desired destination. If a Cruise, Cruisetour or Land Trip is cancelled before commencement, you will be entitled, as your exclusive remedy, to receive the applicable Refund Amount. If a Cruise, Cruisetour or Land Trip is cancelled after commencement, you will be entitled, as your exclusive remedy, to receive the applicable Refund Amount less a reasonable allowance for transportation and services already provided to you. The reasonable allowance will be determined on a pro rata basis by taking into account the time missed relative to the scheduled duration of the Cruise, Cruisetour or Land Trip. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are not obligated to issue any refund to you in the event of a cancelled Land Trip to Half Moon Cay.

(d) You acknowledge that for round trip cruises commencing in a country that stop in other ports of that country, you may visit but may not permanently disembark in any port in that country other than the port of embarkation. If you do disembark in a different port in that country, a fine or penalty may be imposed by that country’s government. In consideration of the fare paid, you hereby agree to pay any such fine or penalty imposed because of your failure to complete the entire Cruise.

 

A little harsh, don't you think?

 

I totally agree, Ship happens.

[CJcruzer]

is it possible to find out what section of cabins, what floors were affected by water problems, busted pipes ....... we are booked in L2671. I believe Main Deck? - second floor....

[kazu]

This pathetic example of poor management by the company and the Captain of the Zanndam.

 

I guess Carnival which allows Captains to Joy Ride with its ships in Europe is now making its other formally proud cruiselines pay the price of Mickey's stewardship of the family investments.

 

If they don't get their act together all of us who have been loyal passengers will need to reconsider where to direct our business....before something far worse than the Zaandam cruise of the damed happens. Cutting corners is what this is all about.:mad::eek:

 

While Costa comes under the Carnival umbrella, Carnvial Corporation had nothing to with the 'Captain's Joy ride in Europe' (as you put it).

 

It's fine to be concerned about the Zaandam and cost cutting but this is a bit of an exaggeration IMO as well as being harsh;)

[kazu]

There's 13 more ships,why stop now? forge ahead

 

I thought he already took the Prinsendam off the list too;) When I did my live thread I'm quite sure when I reported the NORO G.N. said he wouldn't be cruising on that ship either! That's ok - more room for the rest of us:)

[startwin]

A little harsh, don't you think?

 

 

While I tend to agree that the post you were responding to was indeed a little harsh, there were good points made.

 

The other tired comment continually made on here by some posters..... "ship happens".... is trite and flippant when aimed at someone whose expensive vacation has been adversly affected by poor conditions on board ship. You don't say "hotel happens" if there is something wrong with a hotel room... but you get moved pretty darn quick as they value your custom.

[kazu]

Hotels can only move you if you are unhappy if they have spare rooms. Same with the ships. I have been in many hotels which are completely sold out. Boutique hotels in Europe are almost always sold out (not that I have ever been unhappy there;)). If a hotel is sold out they can't change your room. Of course, you do have the option to leave, which you don't on the cruise ship unless you want to fly home on a very expensive flight!

[goodearth]

Kazu--I'm glad you've had good experiences in hotels, but this is apples and oranges. I have seen hotels step up and comp guests for problems with their stay, in order to allow the guest to leave feeling good about that hotel or chain. This is far beyond moving to another room. That is customer service and it is not one size fits all. For me, "ship happens" is a passive aggressive way of saying that a person has no reason to 'complain' about what they are experiencing. In the end, some people will tolerate a lot more crap than others, irregardless, it is how the provider responds that is the issue. For many people HAL is losing ground in being responsive to it's cruising customers and acknowledging what is happening while people are cruising. It's clear that people who are affected may put their money and time into vacations elsewhere.

[GeriatricNurse]

I thought he already took the Prinsendam off the list too;) When I did my live thread I'm quite sure when I reported the NORO G.N. said he wouldn't be cruising on that ship either! That's ok - more room for the rest of us:)

 

I believe that your are mistaken! ;)

[NMLady]

wasted paper telling me about jewellery on sale?? ....

 

Jewelry ads come from online shops, not from HAL, so no reason to compare with captain's communication.

Too bad you can't find anything positive about the cruise. Problems happen on many cruise lines and captains cope the best they can. Sit back and enjoy, treating it as an adventure.

[lovetocruise2020]

i agree. you forgot to mention the kool-aid drinkers, though.

 

when paying bucks for a cruise - and more importantly using scarce vacation time - i'm not one to make lemonade out of lemons. i want the lemonade i was sold.

 

Love this!

[lindaler]

:confused:

 

The post you refer to (#33) was posted yesterday and reflected where the ship was yesterday.........not this morning.

 

Check the date and time on the post..........

 

: )

Zaandam is still at the docks in San Diego at 1pm Saturday, today, Oct. 20.

[Jemima]

Some posts give the impression several ports are/will be missed. The itinerary began and ends in Vancouver with five ports. Only one port, San Francisco, is going to be skipped. That's not an unusual occurance on any cruiseline.

The new San Diego times are in some ways better than the original. The other thread reports the mandatory immigration was done yesterday, so this morning passengers would have been able to leave the ship easily quit early.

[goodearth]

Using your logic, 20% of the ports were missed......

[Serious Cruisers]

Ports are often missed due to bad weather, not scheduled maintenance repairs that were SCHEDULED without disclosing this to passengers... that is why we missed the port....repairs took longer than they anticipated. Repairs were not made aware of till we were off sailing... hhmmm can we say class action lawsuit soon.

 

We were late leaving all ports due to repairs/maitenance of the ship.. as I said dry dock with passengers on board

[goodearth]

Ports are often missed due to bad weather, not scheduled maintenance repairs that were SCHEDULED without disclosing this to passengers... that is why we missed the port....repairs took longer than they anticipated. Repairs were not made aware of till we were off sailing... hhmmm can we say class action lawsuit soon.

 

We were late leaving all ports due to repairs/maitenance of the ship.. as I said dry dock with passengers on board

 

Serious Cruisers.....I wish you the best and assume that there may already be a group of passengers that are 'on board' with what you wrote.

[Sopwith]

My wife and I just disembarked the Zaandam in San Diego. I am sitting at the airport scanning this thread, and I thought a few facts would be helpful here. So here they are as best I know them, without any editorializing.

1. when we booked this cruise we were not told by HAL that the planned drydock had been cancelled. We learned this later from this forum.
   
2. we also learned later from this same forum, that there would be carpet replacement in PV and that tours that day would be complimentary. It was difficult to find, but I eventually found the reference to this on the HAL web site.
   
3. shortly after sailing from Vancouver, Captain announces that they would have divers in the water in LA and PV to work on replacing the propellor shaft seals, and that there would be carpet replacement happenning in the stairwells and atrium.
   
4. The carpet work began almost immediately and was still under way when we disembarked at 1:30 today. Various stairwells and atria were closed throughout the cruise, often without warning.
   
5. There was also extensive other work around the ship and the outdoor promeande deck was often partially closed.
   
6. We were scheduled to leave Cabo at 5:00 pm on Sunday(?), but they had a hydraulic problem and couldn't lift one of the tenders. After several false starts, the ship sailed at 1:00 am, leaving one tender behind to be picked up on the way back. Captain announced that there were adequate lifeboat facilities on board, and that in an emergency, the pax would be accommodated in other lifeboats.
   
7. we arrived in PV at ~4:00 pm, 5 hours late, in a raging thunderstrorm, so missed half a day of shore time in PV.
   
8. after a full day in PV, ship was scheduled to sail at 4:00 am, but the departure was delayed until 10:00 am with little or no announcement other than publication in the daily program. At 9:00 Captain announces tht there were still problems with the propellor shafts and departure would be further delayed. We sailed at 2:10 pm, some 10 hours late.
   
9. Clearly, arrival in San Diego would be delayed. It mattered to us because we had planned to disembark and fly from San Francisco. After questioning several staff we couldn't get a straight answer. After several announcements by the Captain explaining that they were "making arrangements" it was announced that arrival in SD would be between 7:00 and 8:00 pm, and that San Francisco would be cancelled to ensure an on time arrival in Vancouver.
   
10. We had to scramble to arrange to disembark in SD, book flights to SFO and arrange to overnight in SFO.
    
11. On arrival in SD, all pax were required to report to US CBP, which was in the Mondriaan Lounge, not ashore. This obviously disrupted dinner for those at the 8:00 pm sitting.
    
12. Ship was scheduled to sail from SD at 4:00 today. We'll see.
    

Hope that clears the record somewhat.

[startwin]

Thanks for the insight, Neil. Have a safe flight home.

 

Curious though - as you are in Vancouver, why not sail all the way home and not have the hassle of flights??

[Sopwith]

Thanks for the insight, Neil. Have a safe flight home.

 

Curious though - as you are in Vancouver, why not sail all the way home and not have the hassle of flights??

 

After we booked the cruise, duty called. Have to be in Ottawa the day the cruise is scheduled into Vancouver. SFO was the last opportunity to hop off and make it on time.

[goodearth]

Wishing you smooth travels from here on.............