Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Least favourite HAL ship and why

496and706

By 496and706,
in Holland America Line

Recommended Posts

sppunk

sppunk

Posted
Posted

Least favorite ship: Veendam by a mile. Flooded room, cracked balcony glass, Duck-taped pipes on the promenade and staff complaining constantly, a terribly failed coast guard and health inspection. We will not sail her even if she was the only ship at sea. The entire management was fired after our sailing.

 

Least favorite port: Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Was offered cocaine for my wife's purse and he followed us for blocks as we tried to find a cop. Will never visit again (we'll never sail the Caribbean again so that'll be easy).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ScriptOhio

ScriptOhio

Posted
Posted
Ships with lanai cabins

We very much enjoy spending time outside on the Promenade Deck. The ships with lanai cabins have a limited number of unreserved chairs, which becomes a problem. Also, without lanai cabins, the Promenade Deck is usually quiet with people reading or having quiet conversations. That all changes with lanai cabins. Just a personal preference, but an important one to us.

 

thumbs-up.gif

 

Totally agree!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
We very much enjoy spending time outside on the Promenade Deck. The ships with lanai cabins have a limited number of unreserved chairs, which becomes a problem.

I agree. I have sailed the Veendam twice since her changes, and find the Lanai cabin situation very limiting when I want to sit outside.

But I was fortunate to sail the Maasdam recently, and happily found that there are fewer Lanai cabins along Lower Promenade. It was much easier to find a place to sit and enjoy the ocean on that ship.

Take a look at the deckplans if you should see an itinerary you like on the Maasdam.

 

I haven't been back to the Rotterdam since her changes, so don't know at what point HAL decided to cut back on the number of Lanai cabins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Thebes

Thebes

Posted
Posted
Least favorite ship: Veendam by a mile. Flooded room, cracked balcony glass, Duck-taped pipes on the promenade and staff complaining constantly, a terribly failed coast guard and health inspection. We will not sail her even if she was the only ship at sea. The entire management was fired after our sailing.

 

Least favorite port: Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Was offered cocaine for my wife's purse and he followed us for blocks as we tried to find a cop. Will never visit again (we'll never sail the Caribbean again so that'll be easy).

 

Were you on an excursion ? Or just wandering on your own in Ocho Rios ?

 

 

Thank you CC family :)

taneous@hotmail.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites
scluvsrain

scluvsrain

Posted
Posted

I've never had a bad experience on a HAL ship, but my favorite is the Amsterdam. Probably least favorite would be the Volendam, the stairway set up near the dining room is wonky. That said, I'd still sail on her again.

 

Least favorite port is the one where I have to disembark and go home!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TxnAquarian

TxnAquarian

Posted
Posted

The Maasdam is the worst ship I've ever been on. We had a great time on the cruise, but I wouldn't sail on that ship again if it was free. It's dirty and old, and not at all worth the close to $10k we spent. We're looking forward to trying the Westerdam next summer. Least favorite port: a tie between Pointe Pitre, Guadeloupe and Lautoka, Fiji.....really run down and unsafe.

 

 

 

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites
holacanada

holacanada

Posted
Posted

From my personal experiences

 

Worst Ports/Destination ranking

1. Grand Cayman (to much «bling-bling» destination)

2. Civitavecchia (bleak and freaky place + a 2 hours train trip to Rome... and back)

3. Grand Turks (to much «bling-bling» destination)

4. Lisbon (I've been asked twice for weed at nine in the morning, probably undercovers but so sad...)

5. Colon (Panama canal Caribeean entrance. Very poor people who beg for little money and pinch their child to make a crying and pitiful theatre.

 

Ships who have to rethink the way they maintain the HA standards

1. Volendam

2. Westerdam

 

On a positive way...

 

Best Ports/Destination ranking

1. Monaco (Monaco) (For this, you have to be docked at the pier not anchored in the bay).

2. Venice (Italy) (We must take advantage quickly because the dock downtown may soon close due to frequent flooding situations)

3. Willemstaad (Curacao) (Ahhh ! Those colored buildings... and the pontoon(swing), Emma and Juliana bridges, the old district, etc.)

4. Saint Martin/Sint Marteen (for the «two for the price of one» cultures and... Maho Beach plane spotting live experience)

5. Quebec city (for a patriotic reason...! - Bienvenue à tous les croisiéristes !)

 

 

 

Best Ship of the fleet

1. Noordam

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sun~

sun~

Posted
Posted

Least favourite ship ever, on any cruise line, the Zaandam. Yuck. Dark, dingy, horrible food. Our AC didn't work the whole week, our cabin was at 87 degrees. They did nothing at all to fix the issue. I found out afterwards that there is a section on the ship with cabins with no AC. I booked it as a guarantee, never again. It was dirt cheap, the cheapest cruise of any cruise line for that week. Obviously there was a reason! Never again.

 

The Eurodam is a 100x nicer than the Zaandam. I hope the NA has cleaned up and replaced carpets for my next blues cruise in January.

 

Least favourite port, Montego Bay. No I don't want drugs or my hair braided!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RedmondCruiser

RedmondCruiser

Posted
Posted

Don't have a least favorite ship - I've enjoyed them all.

Least favorite port -- another story- I hate Puerto Caldera. Its a hot dusty cargo port with nothing to do. The topper is that it is in eye sight of Puntarenas, which used to be one of our favorite ports. HAL switched because its easier to get in and out of and makes the captains job less stressfull. Our next PC cruise will probably be on Princess or Celebrity since they have no problem docking at Puntarenas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mamaofami

mamaofami

Posted
Posted
The Maasdam is the worst ship I've ever been on. We had a great time on the cruise, but I wouldn't sail on that ship again if it was free. It's dirty and old, and not at all worth the close to $10k we spent.

 

Michael

 

Maasdam is our favorite ship. She's a perfect size, has a great staff, and we like everything about her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
LHC

LHC

Posted
Posted

DD and I had a bad experience over the holidays on her....plumbing/sewer/air conditioning...3 moves during cruise....rough, but still enjoyed the cruise experience.

Met some great cruising buddies.

Linda

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kakalina

kakalina

Posted
Posted

We won't set foot on the Westerdam again for love or money. That said, we aren't at all fond of the Vista and up size ship.

 

We'll be on the Veendam in Dec. for 25 days. I am counting on the improvements I've heard have been made.

 

Least favorite port: Others who've been there will not agree with me but I say Fanning Island in the South Pacific. We don't really care for any of the ports in the Mexican Riviera. We just stay on the ship there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Boytjie

Boytjie

Posted
Posted
We very much enjoy spending time outside on the Promenade Deck. The ships with lanai cabins have a limited number of unreserved chairs, which becomes a problem. Also, without lanai cabins, the Promenade Deck is usually quiet with people reading or having quiet conversations. That all changes with lanai cabins. Just a personal preference, but an important one to us.

 

Even the ships without lanai cabins have a limited number of unreserved chairs. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Boytjie

Boytjie

Posted
Posted

I can understand disliking a ship for its features, layout and condition but I don't get disliking a ship because of a few crew that were not nice/good; they crew changes all the time. :confused:

 

That said, I don't have a least favorite; we have sailed on Amsterdam, Zuiderdam, Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. I wasn't too crazy about the decor on the NA but so much that I would dislike it since it is basically the same as the Eurodam (3 cruises).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...