Zaandam nitemares!!!

[rtlk]

:mad::(Not really too harsh folks. Carnival is really cutting corners to pay for the Costa joy ride, you see it on board the Zaandam and on the other Carnival ships. Princess ships where they have cut corners during wet and dry docks that leaves the ships looking tired and worn as well as the cheapened the menu items offered in the dinning rooms. Facts folks and not too harsh, its spot on!!:mad::eek:

[LAFFNVEGAS]

:mad::(Not really too harsh folks. Carnival is really cutting corners to pay for the Costa joy ride, you see it on board the Zaandam and on the other Carnival ships. Princess ships where they have cut corners during wet and dry docks that leaves the ships looking tired and worn as well as the cheapened the menu items offered in the dinning rooms. Facts folks and not too harsh, its spot on!!:mad::eek:

If that is what you want to believe, fine..... but you are way off base. The signs of cut backs with ALL cruise lines including NCL and RCI started long before January 2012.

I chalk it up to the World economy. I noticed drastic cut backs and need of tender loving care when we were on the Oosterdam in October 2011....hmmm do you think that CCL told HAL to start cutting back stating " Keep this on the low down but we know that Costa has a crazy Captain that is going to run one of their ships into a rock that is going to cost us lots of money" :rolleyes: I highly doubt it.

Personally I found our HAL May 2012 cruise to have some of the best / higher quality food I have had in a long time.

While I agree there are definitely cut backs every major corporation is finding ways to do these things. But this has been going on for a while.

[mariner]

You're getting cheap because you're paying cheap. Plain and simple. Look at the lowest fares. Try taking a bus across country. What does it cost? Likely the same for the lowest category.

[Hlitner]

:mad::(Not really too harsh folks. Carnival is really cutting corners to pay for the Costa joy ride, you see it on board the Zaandam and on the other Carnival ships. Princess ships where they have cut corners during wet and dry docks that leaves the ships looking tired and worn as well as the cheapened the menu items offered in the dinning rooms. Facts folks and not too harsh, its spot on!!:mad::eek:

 

Baloney! Lets make something quite clear....there have been cut backs on every cruise line (we have personally been on 12 lines) and HA is no exception. The Cut backs started before the Costa fiasco (which is covered by insurance) due to overexpansion and a downturn in the world economy. Add to that the huge increases in fuel costs and its easy to thing that cut backs make a lot of sense. That being said, we think something is terribly amiss with the HA business model (and we say this as 4 Star Mariners) beause they seem to defer a lot of maintenance on their ships. Just reading this CC board you can see all the comments about plumbing and A/C issues on several ships. As Prinsendam lovers we have been shocked that HA has allowed so many things to deteriorate on that ship (hopefully they will finally fix a few things at the upcoming drydock). On the Rotterdam we encountered a leak in the port-aft part of the MDR that allowed mold to fester under the carpet (that part of the ship smelled from mold) during a cruise on July 2011. This situation would not have been tolerated on most other lines...but HA let it go for too long (it was interesting to hear the excuses of the Maitre d). Yes, we still like HA (just booked a 14 day cruise for Dec) but know that when we go on the Celebrity Silhouette next week we will not see any rust, deferred maintenance, worn carpet, etc. Of course its a newer ship, but Celebrity takes good care of all their vessels. To be real blunt, if we were the CEO of HA there would be some heads rolling in the department in charge of ship maintenance.

 

As to Princess (we are Elite with that line) they also have problems but we not noticed a lot of major deferred maintenance issues. In fact, they have spent a lot of money upgrading some of their ships such as the major changes recently done to the Grand Princess (one of our favorite ships).

 

Hank

[billet]

I wish cruise critic would give us a 'like' button for some of the comments here (and an unlike button too!)

 

Sorry to hear from the OP about the issues on the cruise. I have heard similar from 2 other passengers onboard as well. It looks like HAL need to review how they do their maintenance for sure. I know one pax was assured by the ship services desk that the carpet replacement would take place but it would only affect people for a day in PV. Having paid out a significant amount of cash for what could be a 'cruise of a lifetime' I too would be very miffed if there was continuous disruptive maintenance everyday of the cruise.

 

Thank you Neil for taking the time to give your insight, especially as you must have been dashing from pillar to post to get from the ship to your flight.

 

I only hope that HAL listens and the passengers have a peaceful final few days.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I guess I am trying tofigure out what the big deal is about the carpet :confused: Last year this exact week I was on the Oosterdam to Hawaii what ended up being a 15 day cruise and the full 15 days they were replacing carpet thru out the ship. They mostly worked on it during the late night or during 4 days we were in port. The only time that it was a bit of a pain was when they did the aft sections on decks 2 and 3 and going to the dining room. Often when we went places in the evening we were walking on the new padding that was silver :D Personally I did not find it to be a big deal, the Oosterdam had been in dry dock right before our cruise but was told the carpet had not come in so was replaced during our cruise and actually read where some of it was still being replaced during the next cruise.

[Sopwith]

I think the point here is that HAL to this day tries to pass themselves off as a five star cruise line, which they clearly are not anymore, even at the best of times. When one books and pays for a five star cruise, one does not expect to spend two weeks in a ship under repair.

[Serious Cruisers]

Carpets on this cruise were replaced during the day AND ON SEA DAYS.. .when everyone is on the ship and we are short elevators.. never head of such a thing. I kept the Explorers where they having it in writing daily of which floors and which elevators you cant use on a SEA DAY.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I guess my question about your career somehow crossed CC rules.......but I believe you have a career based on selling people on traveling......correct? While it's nice the repairs you've seen on cruises have not impacted you...........what has happened on the Zaandam is so far beyond your experiences that quite frankly......what you wrote is irrelevant. It's like saying that a leak on an ice machine didn't inconvenience someone, therefore the Concordia shouldn't have inconvenienced anyone. I know thats drama, but that's the point! READ what is being posted by people on the cruise! And $100 OBC from HAL is bribery to not say anything.........I don't consider that to be good faith compensation for the experiences that people have had on this ship. Not by a long shot................:mad:

My statement is that this has happened on many other sailings and also for many other cruiselines. As well as many Land Based resorts. Would you rather carpet never gets replaced:confused: Sometimes carpet arrives when they do not expect and timing cannot always be perfect. So the Zaandam Dry Dock needed to be moved and if the carpet arrived and was ready to be installed they needed to install it. I have been to many high end resorts here in Vegas as well as Hawaii where maintence was being done, frankly it has to be done sometime. While it is unfortunate it happened on this sailing it has to happen or we would hear complaints about the condition of the carpets:rolleyes: You just cannot have it both ways.

I remember one of our favorite resorts on the Big Island that half the rooms around us were being remodeled carpet and furniture was out in the hallway the whole week, a couple of times we could not even get to our room because of construction going on.

My career should have nothing to do with this subject and why you seem to think it would is beyound making any sense. I am only commenting based on my experience as a traveler.

[rucrazy]

Just booked the repositioning cruise for April 2013.. I am sure all problems and or issues will have been resolved by then...

 

Joseph :D

[goodearth]

My statement is that this has happened on many other sailings and also for many other cruiselines. As well as many Land Based resorts. Would you rather carpet never gets replaced:confused: Sometimes carpet arrives when they do not expect and timing cannot always be perfect. So the Zaandam Dry Dock needed to be moved and if the carpet arrived and was ready to be installed they needed to install it. I have been to many high end resorts here in Vegas as well as Hawaii where maintence was being done, frankly it has to be done sometime. While it is unfortunate it happened on this sailing it has to happen or we would hear complaints about the condition of the carpets:rolleyes: You just cannot have it both ways.

 

I remember one of our favorite resorts on the Big Island that half the rooms around us were being remodeled carpet and furniture was out in the hallway the whole week, a couple of times we could not even get to our room because of construction going on.

 

My career should have nothing to do with this subject and why you seem to think it would is beyound making any sense. I am only commenting based on my experience as a traveler.

 

 

Many people who have careers linked to travel do not pay the same as those that don't, and that affects perceptions and bias too! That's pretty straightforward, it's not personal.

Everyone who travels has had to deal with difficulties while traveling. Nothing new there. I'd be surprised if I ever heard a person say that they had a trip without any curves or bumps in it. Everyone 'knows' this..........but to say what has happened for 14 days to the Zaandam passenger's compares to your experience with carpet being replaced at nighttime......is apples and oranges.

For this thread it's those that have been on the ship and KNOW what they are talking about whose comments pull weight..............my comments and everyone else's are opinions, nothing more.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Many people who have careers linked to travel do not pay the same as those that don't, and that affects perceptions and bias too! That's pretty straightforward, it's not personal.

Everyone who travels has had to deal with difficulties while traveling. Nothing new there. I'd be surprised if I ever heard a person say that they had a trip without any curves or bumps in it. Everyone 'knows' this..........but to say what has happened for 14 days to the Zaandam passenger's compares to your experience with carpet being replaced at nighttime......is apples and oranges.

For this thread it's those that have been on the ship and KNOW what they are talking about whose comments pull weight..............my comments and everyone else's are opinions, nothing more.

I do pay exact the same as you pay and pay FULL Fare, many times I pay far more because I have to book in advance because my husband has to put in for vacation a year inadvance, I have seen many cases where people pay far less than I have paid because they took advantage of Flash rates.

Sounds to me like you need to find another form of vacation if these bother you so much. I believe everyone is allowed to their own oppinion and I am allowed to comment that things like this do not bother me, I posted that I did not see what the big deal was. When we were on the Oosterdam I did pay quite a bit of money probably the most expensive cruise I ever purchased. BTW you did not read my post very well I stated.......... They mostly worked on it during the late night or during 4 days we were in port. The only time that it was a bit of a pain was when they did the aft sections on decks 2 and 3 and going to the dining room. Often when we went places in the evening we were walking on the new padding that was silver.

[SilvertoGold]

My statement is that this has happened on many other sailings and also for many other cruiselines. As well as many Land Based resorts. Would you rather carpet never gets replaced:confused: Sometimes carpet arrives when they do not expect and timing cannot always be perfect. So the Zaandam Dry Dock needed to be moved and if the carpet arrived and was ready to be installed they needed to install it. I have been to many high end resorts here in Vegas as well as Hawaii where maintence was being done, frankly it has to be done sometime. While it is unfortunate it happened on this sailing it has to happen or we would hear complaints about the condition of the carpets:rolleyes: You just cannot have it both ways.

 

I remember one of our favorite resorts on the Big Island that half the rooms around us were being remodeled carpet and furniture was out in the hallway the whole week, a couple of times we could not even get to our room because of construction going on.

 

My career should have nothing to do with this subject and why you seem to think it would is beyound making any sense. I am only commenting based on my experience as a traveler.

 

Good post, Lisa

 

The one big point is: the pax complaining about the carpet replacement would be the same ones complaining about a stain, a rip, some worn areas in the carpeting, if they just left the old carpeting until the next dry dock. You really cannot have it both ways. No ship can go from one dry dock to another without some maintenance.

 

I am thinking that HAL maybe should not have made it sound as if the only work being done on this cruise would be in PV. Some PR work would have been a good idea.

 

However, I can see why they wanted to get it all done on one cruise: get the complaining over with all at once. Who would want all the complaints over 3 or 4 cruises?!

 

On the previous cruise there was some work being done on the lower prom outside deck, but nothing which we took to be other than standard maintenance that we see on every cruise.

 

Thanks, Lisa, for your expert viewpoint. Always appreciated!

[world~citizen]

...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.

 

A definite non-smoother.:eek:

 

Couldn't agree more.

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[Taxguy77]

Thank Goodness I'd read this thread yesterday:) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1721203

 

Definitely Glass 1/2 full vs Glass 1/2 empty.

Some made lemonade and some could find no sugar;)Joanie

 

I don't want sugar in my lemonade!!!

[Taxguy77]

My son was a technician working on board Zaandam on this cruise. I believe he disembarked in PV. He e-mailed me about the carpet issues with atrium areas inaccessible during the day, traffic patterns disrupted, odors, repairs to the ship etc. Said he thought there would be a lot of unhappy pax. He said the hydraulic issue with the lifeboat hoist appeared to be an unhappy coincidence, not a maint. issue.

 

He has been on many HAL and RCCL ships in the course of his work so I think his assessment of the situation on Zaandam is probably spot-on and closer to Serious Cruisers than Canadianbear. Still, I hope both can find some things to enjoy amid the difficulties.

 

BTW I was on a 7 day Maasdam cruise once in a flooded cabin, yes, some parts of the cruise were good but living with a wet carpet, not being able to put anything down on the floor, always having to keep shoes on and constant dampness sure put a damper on our trip.:) We had to complain multiple times and even with me in tears before we were offered meaningful compensation.

Have never again sailed on Maasdam but I still love HAL.

 

:confused:

Years ago we were on NCL when they had a leak that flooded several cabins including ours. :( We were given a large number of towels to walk on while we dressed for dinner, and when we returned there was new carpet in the hall and our cabin, the room had been made up as if nothing had happened!;)

Your treatment was that of a half-star hotel wit bugs! :eek:

[Taxguy77]

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.

 

Good post! :)

The post about "Read your cruise contract" was probably written by a lawer. You agreed to not having any rights from the time you board until you leave for good.

[Salacia]

Good post! :)

The post about "Read your cruise contract" was probably written by a lawer. You agreed to not having any rights from the time you board until you leave for good.

 

Do you seriously believe that a passenger agrees to having no rights while on board?

 

If so, you are seriously mistaken.

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[BonVoyage1]

I haven't read the entire thread and it's probably already been said, but I learned a long time ago not to cruise on a ship until a few cruises after launch or dry dock.

 

There are all sorts of horror stories about work being done for a few weeks after dry dock....on all sorts of ships owned by all sorts of cruise lines.

 

Buyer Beware.

 

IMO

[Typhoon1]

HAL horror stories seem to abound, lately.

[sunviking90]

I haven't read the entire thread and it's probably already been said, but I learned a long time ago not to cruise on a ship until a few cruises after launch or dry dock.

 

There are all sorts of horror stories about work being done for a few weeks after dry dock....on all sorts of ships owned by all sorts of cruise lines.

 

Buyer Beware.

 

IMO

 

Zaandam was not in drydock. Her drydock was cancelled.

[mr green]

A few pointers.

1. True the cruise was cheaper than most, but we were NOT warned in advance about the elivators being unavailable from time to time. By the by, to my knowlage one aft elevator never did work for the entire cruise.

 

2. Temperature control. This may be a common falt with several HAL ships, but I know that Statamdam had poor control too, whenever I sailed on her.

As it was on boarding our cabin was stone cold, it was reported and corrected, but now it was too hot, we, and others would open our doors to let the cold air from the hallway in. We always dessed in layers on the ship.

YES we were aware of the thermostat. The good news is however that I lost 3 pounds on this cruise.

 

3. THE BIGGY, only known by a few, the medical problem.

My wife went to the center about day 4 with a bad cough, she saw the doctor and was treated, quite promptly. I saw a staff of at least five persons there.

However since there was little improvement she returned on our last full day of cruising at 8.30am to find a notice that read, more ore less

'DUE TO A PATIANT IN CRITICAL CODITION, ONLY EMERGENCY CASES CAN BE HANDLED PLEASE CALL 911'.

I enquired again at noon by knocking on the door when the Dr. might be available, but I could not be told.

We checked a gain at 5 30pm, but the noice was still up.

 

4. These are all facts, known by myself, I will add that my wife and I heard some other stories, but those I could not check.

 

john