lack of a/c on Ryndam 12/1 to 12/7

[Kosi]

We always tip as well. Just a couple of bucks for breakfast delivery which is usually the only room service we get. I put it ready the night before in the door slot, where the card goes, because they are in and out so fast you don't have time to look for it.

 

And to those who remove tips due to mechanical failures - PLEASE don't. It only punishes those who are not to blame and cannot do anything about it. They take care of your every need onboard. The front office and hotel management staff are the ones who need to step up to the plate.

 

I work very hard for every dollar I make as well. It WILL get back to front office/hotel management ALOT faster if we all do this!

[WpgCruise]

Clearly your mind is made up......................

 

I work very hard for every dollar I make as well. It WILL get back to front office/hotel management ALOT faster if we all do this!

 

[Mtn2Sea]

This debate about removing tips is very interesting and I can see both sides; however, I don't think I would really consider removing the tips until I had raised my concerns with the hotel manager or some higher up and told them of my intention and even then, I don't know if I would do it. After going a week without getting some real sleep, I likely would be tempted to protest where I could.

[Linda&Vern]

"Some" of you are posting very angry thoughts about non-working mechanical issues on a HAL ship, even though it hasn't happened to you. It seems "to me" like you are screaming about what you will do "if" ... and nothing has happened to you yet. Not a way to start a vacation. Very sad.

 

FYI - I am soon sailing on the Zuiderdam. I have cruised on her before. Even after reading everything on CC, I am going into my cruise very positive. Unhappy thoughts would depress me. If something happens - then I will decide on a plan of action.

[Kosi]

"Some" of you are posting very angry thoughts about non-working mechanical issues on a HAL ship, even though it hasn't happened to you. It seems "to me" like you are screaming about what you will do "if" ... and nothing has happened to you yet. Not a way to start a vacation. Very sad.

 

FYI - I am soon sailing on the Zuiderdam. I have cruised on her before. Even after reading everything on CC, I am going into my cruise very positive. Unhappy thoughts would depress me. If something happens - then I will decide on a plan of action.[/quo

 

It is terribly sad we have to worry about this...but it is on an ongoing issue..And I am worried this is going to happen to us.. if it does not.. trust me... we will be happy campers.. and even go way above and beyond in our tipping.. always have.

 

It is just something. .something BIG that is to be included in the price of our fare ,and there is no way I/or my husband could enjoy a cruise in a hot/warm room.. just is not going to be okay. The only way to gather attention since HAL seems to try to down play this .. is to do away with tips. . trust me.. that will get back to management and if they don't want to lose their employees , they will then take action.

[Kosi]

This debate about removing tips is very interesting and I can see both sides; however, I don't think I would really consider removing the tips until I had raised my concerns with the hotel manager or some higher up and told them of my intention and even then, I don't know if I would do it. After going a week without getting some real sleep, I likely would be tempted to protest where I could.

That is exactly what we would plan to do.. tell them our intentions.. if they can not get our A/C working again.. But in our case we would do it!

Edited January 13, 2014 by Kosi

[Wakepatrol]

"Some" of you are posting very angry thoughts about non-working mechanical issues on a HAL ship, even though it hasn't happened to you. It seems "to me" like you are screaming about what you will do "if" ... and nothing has happened to you yet. Not a way to start a vacation. Very sad.

 

FYI - I am soon sailing on the Zuiderdam. I have cruised on her before. Even after reading everything on CC, I am going into my cruise very positive. Unhappy thoughts would depress me. If something happens - then I will decide on a plan of action.[/quo

 

It is terribly sad we have to worry about this...but it is on an ongoing issue..And I am worried this is going to happen to us.. if it does not.. trust me... we will be happy campers.. and even go way above and beyond in our tipping.. always have.

 

It is just something. .something BIG that is to be included in the price of our fare ,and there is no way I/or my husband could enjoy a cruise in a hot/warm room.. just is not going to be okay. The only way to gather attention since HAL seems to try to down play this .. is to do away with tips. . trust me.. that will get back to management and if they don't want to lose their employees , they will then take action.

 

 

If you could cancel that's what I would do,the forces of a self fulfilling prophecy are working in your favor.

[cruz chic]

"Some" of you are posting very angry thoughts about non-working mechanical issues on a HAL ship, even though it hasn't happened to you. It seems "to me" like you are screaming about what you will do "if" ... and nothing has happened to you yet. Not a way to start a vacation. Very sad.

 

FYI - I am soon sailing on the Zuiderdam. I have cruised on her before. Even after reading everything on CC, I am going into my cruise very positive. Unhappy thoughts would depress me. If something happens - then I will decide on a plan of action.

 

That is fine for you. I think it depends on how much free time and money you have. I'm still in the workforce and have a very stressful job. It's very important to me to not waste vacation time. If I was retired I bet I'd have a different opinion. I will not take a ship with a bad rep. Life it too short to deal with problem like that.

[Kosi]

 

 

If you could cancel that's what I would do,the forces of a self fulfilling prophecy are working in your favor.

We are less than a month away .. how would we do that !!! IF I read this before .. I would never had picked this ship. I love HAL.. but would have avoided this one. WHO has any thoughts of anything like this happening.. I sure wouldn't. You expect to have a few things on a cruise.. one of those is for sure is NOT A/C!!! The only reason I was checking things out was for excursions , and I worried a little about fog in Tampa with our flight home..

Edited January 13, 2014 by Kosi

[Kosi]

That is fine for you. I think it depends on how much free time and money you have. I'm still in the workforce and have a very stressful job. It's very important to me to not waste vacation time. If I was retired I bet I'd have a different opinion. I will not take a ship with a bad rep. Life it too short to deal with problem like that.

Excatly how I feel! Thank you .. I am not very good with come backs.. but you stated how I feel perfectly.

[Mtn2Sea]

"Some" of you are posting very angry thoughts about non-working mechanical issues on a HAL ship, even though it hasn't happened to you. It seems "to me" like you are screaming about what you will do "if" ... and nothing has happened to you yet. Not a way to start a vacation. Very sad.

 

FYI - I am soon sailing on the Zuiderdam. I have cruised on her before. Even after reading everything on CC, I am going into my cruise very positive. Unhappy thoughts would depress me. If something happens - then I will decide on a plan of action.

 

Personally, I'm thankful for this debate. I was on the Ryndam last month and, although we didn't have a/c problems, our next door neighbors did. I'll always remember how exasperated our neighbors were after not being able to get any relief from the front desk. As my neighbor said, they didn't really seem to care. I gave some advice on what to say, but they continued to get the runaround until someone (after over a day of no a/c) came to the cabin and discovered the temperature was 87 degrees. When they first complained, they were told there was no comparable cabin. They were in a veranda on Deck 10. After the temperature was taken, they were quickly moved to a veranda cabin on Deck 9. While the cabins may not have been technically comparable, as a practical matter they were.

 

When I read the above post, my first thought was the scouting motto about being prepared. I would never want to hurt the crew by making a decision while frustrated/angry about a lack of a/c in my cabin. As I indicated earlier, I'm not a fan of removing tips due to an a/c issue, but with all the a/c complaints on the HAL board and having witnessed my Ryndam neighbor's frustration with the front desk, I have to wonder if HAL is really taking appropriate steps to resolve this issue. I would love to know if they leave a few cabins on the Z empty on its Panama Canal run so they can accommodate people when an issue arises.

[startwin]

"Some" of you are posting very angry thoughts about non-working mechanical issues on a HAL ship, even though it hasn't happened to you. It seems "to me" like you are screaming about what you will do "if" ... and nothing has happened to you yet. Not a way to start a vacation. Very sad.

 

FYI - I am soon sailing on the Zuiderdam. I have cruised on her before. Even after reading everything on CC, I am going into my cruise very positive. Unhappy thoughts would depress me. If something happens - then I will decide on a plan of action.

 

You're not alone.... I did 22 days on the Zuiderdam with a seldom-functioning toilet. And I am cruising on her again in April. Call me daft if you like, but it is what it is. I'm a positive thinker too.;)

[Snowbaby369]

The front office staff is typically the weakest link on the ship

You're on vacation and you don't need to spend it there complaining about things

But you've paid good money, and they want more in tips every day, and you just want things to work.

They send some idiot with a infrared thermometer to confirm what you (and they) already know, your a/c isn't working

The captain of the Ryndam is a great guy,but somewhere things are falling back

[mamaofami]

IMHO, I think the A/C issues persist because they can't be fixed. They exist on many of the ships, at least we read here about that. If they could be fixed, they would be.

[Snowbaby369]

Carol

I believe that you are right

They don't intentionally put us thru this discomfort, but the systems are probably so complex, they can't fix it

But the annoying thing is, they know and keep selling.

[kitkat343]

I am sailing on the Ryndam leaving January 19th, and all of the cabins now say "please call for information" when you look up the cruise on HAL's website. Is this because we are so close to sailing, or have they actually sold out the ship? I can understand HAL not being able to maintain all of the AC units on a 20 year old ship, but would be very sad if they sold all the cabins so they didn't have anywhere to move people with medical issues or those who would be seriously hurt if there are problems on the cabins. There are quite a few elderly passengers on HAL, and I hope management is able to ensure their safety during the cruise.

[Hlitner]

I am sailing on the Ryndam leaving January 19th, and all of the cabins now say "please call for information" when you look up the cruise on HAL's website. Is this because we are so close to sailing, or have they actually sold out the ship? I can understand HAL not being able to maintain all of the AC units on a 20 year old ship, but would be very sad if they sold all the cabins so they didn't have anywhere to move people with medical issues or those who would be seriously hurt if there are problems on the cabins. There are quite a few elderly passengers on HAL, and I hope management is able to ensure their safety during the cruise.

 

We have been on several HAL cruises where every cabin was sold so this is a possibility. But when you get this close to a cruise date they will go through a procedure of doing the final cabin assignments (done for those with guarantees) during which time they just pull all the cabin inventory off the web site (and external reservations system). There may actually still be some unsold cabins, but only a phone call to HAL will bring forth this info.

 

Hank

[cruz chic]

I would agree that they are doing assignments. I usually go onto a large online agency and check the status of the cruise. They are showing o/v for Jan 19th. If it said sold out then that would confirm it for me. I've found that "system" to be accurate.

[MermaidWatcher]

Carol

I believe that you are right

They don't intentionally put us thru this discomfort, but the systems are probably so complex, they can't fix itBut the annoying thing is, they know and keep selling.

 

Mechanically, there is no such thing as a system that cannot be fixed. The problem is the lack of will on the part of HAL to fix it.

I do not know if the problems are due to lack of proper long term maintenance or design flaws. My feeling is a poorly designed system, using either inferior grade equipment, or equipment that relied on unproven technological features, thus leading to long term maintenance nightmares, bit it can be fixed, it is that HAL would rather spend their money doing maintenance on cosmetic issues involving minimal service down time, than the major mechanical retrofit this repair would involve.

[kitkat343]

I would agree that they are doing assignments. I usually go onto a large online agency and check the status of the cruise. They are showing o/v for Jan 19th. If it said sold out then that would confirm it for me. I've found that "system" to be accurate.

 

Thanks cruise chic. My family has three rooms, and we are traveling with my 3 year old who still naps so it could be hard to deal with mechanical issues if they arise. I was hoping we'd be able to switch rooms if necessary.

[caladezi]

I pay for all of my cruises with my AMEX card. Fortunately, I have not experienced problems with my A/C in my cabin. However, if that happened to me and the ships crew were unresponsive to the problem after repeated complaints to the proper people, here is the action that I would take. When I returned home I would immediately call AMEX and dispute the charge for the cruise because I did not receive what I paid for. Amex would then contact the cruise line and a dispute would ensue. It is important that all dates and contacts be documented to AMEX. Believe me, this works. If you don't receive a full reimbursement you should at least get a partial. The only way to get the attention of large corporations sometimes is in their pocketbook.

[Snowbaby369]

Right on!

[cruz chic]

Thanks cruise chic. My family has three rooms, and we are traveling with my 3 year old who still naps so it could be hard to deal with mechanical issues if they arise. I was hoping we'd be able to switch rooms if necessary.

I don't want to freak you out but that is at today. The ship could be sold out by the time you leave. Fingers crossed you'll have no issues.

[iancal]

I am a positive thinker as well, we both are.

 

We decided positively to strike Zuiderdam off our list for our Christmas cruise this year. We positively did not want to get a chance of getting a cabin whose A/C positively did not function.

[Linda&Vern]

I am a positive thinker as well, we both are.

 

We decided positively to strike Zuiderdam off our list for our Christmas cruise this year. We positively did not want to get a chance of getting a cabin whose A/C positively did not function.

I've been keeping a list of those who report A/C problems. So far I only have only read of 4 cabins on it:

NS - 7077

NS -7087

NS - 7089

Penthouse 7045

Edited January 14, 2014 by Linda&Vern