Hollow America Zuiderdam

[peaches from georgia]

Your reply is uncalled for. Nobody is obligated to use Cruise Critic after one or one hundred cruises. The original post was well written and the writer did not come across as someone whining over a small matter or having an axe to grind.

 

The AC problem has been documented by many passengers. HAL should have refunded the entire cruise. Better yet, fix the AC.

 

igraf

Just to add to your fine post. OP wrote a detailed account of his problems with no "mistakes" that could be nitpicked. He had details of the Suite party and who of the officers attend, he followed procedure exactly as to where and when to lodge a valid complaint, the GRM certainly seemed to agree that his suite was way too hot and most importantly he must be telling the truth if HAL offered to send him home on their dime. I've never heard of that happening before. Offering future cruise credits (my pet peeve) certainly is HAL SOP and he even knew the names in the Seattle office who would correspond about a complaint.

 

Yet he is accused of lying in Post #12. Yes, in so many words the validity of his account of his cruise is being rudely questioned because it was his first post on CC. Maybe he has read enough on CC in the past to hesitate to post and run into this kind of reaction. I doubt he will be back and who would blame him. An apology to him would be nice.

[kazu]

Just to add to your fine post. OP wrote a detailed account of his problems with no "mistakes" that could be nitpicked. He had details of the Suite party and who of the officers attend, he followed procedure exactly as to where and when to lodge a valid complaint, the GRM certainly seemed to agree that his suite was way too hot and most importantly he must be telling the truth if HAL offered to send him home on their dime. I've never heard of that happening before. Offering future cruise credits (my pet peeve) certainly is HAL SOP and he even knew the names in the Seattle office who would correspond about a complaint.

 

Yet he is accused of lying in Post #12. Yes, in so many words the validity of his account of his cruise is being rudely questioned because it was his first post on CC. Maybe he has read enough on CC in the past to hesitate to post and run into this kind of reaction. I doubt he will be back and who would blame him. An apology to him would be nice.

 

totally agree Peaches. Problems have been reported on this ship before and at the time it was a well known poster and even she was challenged on a live thread. 1 post or 1,000's - no matter. This was a well documented and well written post and deserves to be listened to and not questioned.

[geminig]

Please------cabin number

[sun~]

The AC issues on several of the HAL ships have been written about again and again. The Zuiderdam is only the latest ship to have reviews that mention areas of the ship that do not have AC. Each time it is mentioned that the problem is put forth to the front desk and maintenance. Also it has been mentioned with several posters that they have informed HAL's head office about the problem as well. Don't forget all the plumbing issues and flooding issues. There are just too many to mention.

 

What I can only conclude is that HAL is not properly maintaining their ships. What is worse, they are selling cabins with known issues. That is fraud. They are knowingly selling a defective cabin. From what it looks like, they sell them week after week. How sad is it when the cabin steward offers a fan on the first day because they know there is no AC.

 

I have experienced a no AC cabin myself on the Zaandam, it was around 87 degrees all week (we had a temperature gauge). After doing some research I had found the same section of cabins had no AC for several months. HAL knew full well what they were selling. We bought it as a guarantee. Never again.

 

I sure hope the OP gets a full refund. No should have to put up with a non-functioning cabin.

[iancal]

I feel for you. Our worst nightmare would be no A/C or no plumbing.

 

The sad thing about this is that HAL has known about it for a long time and either will not, or cannot make the necessary repairs/replacements. It is the number one reason why we will not take a chance on this ship, and at least one more HAL ship that has similar ongoing challenges.

 

Just be prepared for some of the HAL cheerleaders to doubt you since it is one of your first posts, or for one or two to actually tell you the issue was your perception of what constitutes 'hot' . Or some others who will either blame it on other cruisers leaving balcony doors open or for some very odd reason on a large group of Brits or Australians who may have been on the ship.

 

In my view, fairness would indicate a 100 percent refund for selling you a product with a basic defect.

Edited January 2, 2014 by iancal

[MermaidWatcher]

Thanks for having the courage to say what I deleted.

 

I don't doubt that the ship has problems in the hottest climates, but I'm skeptical on this report. Did they keep their curtains closed when out of the stateroom? Did they have a fan? Did they prop their door open? Etc... On my recent Zuiderdam trip our outside temperatures were not above 85, so I can't judge the extent of the problem. But proper AC levels is a very individual matter. I am not one that claims all is well, despite the reports. I'm just suggesting that "your mileage may vary."

It is instructive to note that many office building set their AC at 78 degrees.

 

De jay vu...all over again, as Yogi said.

Another passenger reports a reoccurrence of a problem that has a multiple year history, and the HAL cheerleaders disparage his post as BS. Exactly what would be his logic for this ? Just because he is new to CC means his experience is invalid ? By my "guestamation" CC members seem to be only 5 to 8 percent of passengers. I would say that the OP is more like the VAST majority of cruisers...they are not CC members, and have most likely never had an experience serious enough to warrant them feeling that they should tell others about it.....until now. I would like to have seen the date of his cruise mentioned , so that others on board with him would chip in.

 

"Did they have a fan?"

Are you serious ? I do not expect to need a fan in my cabin, whether it is the cheapest one on board of the most expensive.

 

Since by your own admission you "can't judge the extent of the problem", how can you cast aspersions on the OP's experience ?

[shrimp56]

I agree with much of what you say, however I do want to hear what they tried or did to improve or not improve their situation. Feel free to continue to excoriate me. Yes there are problems on Zuiderdam. But I think the truth is someplace in the middle.

[magandab]

FWIW we were in 6093 and had overly aggressive AC and our toilet flushed. However, we were told by a reliable source on the ship that at least on the cruise previous to ours (we sailed 12/9 - 12/20) approximately 140-150 cabins had AC problems. Yes, I was nervous about booking this cruise and was very relieved not to have suffered with no AC and no plumbing problems.

[startwin]

FWIW we were in 6093 and had overly aggressive AC and our toilet flushed. However, we were told by a reliable source on the ship that at least on the cruise previous to ours (we sailed 12/9 - 12/20) approximately 140-150 cabins had AC problems. Yes, I was nervous about booking this cruise and was very relieved not to have suffered with no AC and no plumbing problems.

 

This gives me some hope - we are close to the area of your cabin on my next Z cruise, so fingers crossed that whole section will be too cool, if anything.:D As someone else said - even 78 is too warm for me to work in, let alone sleep in. And the fact that you had a flushing toilet is a bonus (we didn't, as previously reported.:( and the Z has been in dry dock since then, so you would think these things would have been fixed.)

[mollyanne]

I have read most of the recent reviews of the Zuiderman and this one once again reinforces my plan to never book a cruise on this ship.

 

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[MermaidWatcher]

One if it's praise.....a million if it's a complaint. If this was a new complaint about this ship it might be different.

 

The way I see it, this IS a new complaint about this ship....new passenger, new problem for them ='s legitimate new complaint in my book.

And the most troubling part for me is that once again, it appears that passengers were knowingly boarded into cabins that were uninhabitable by modern standards.

We were on Zuiderdam 11/8/13 Panama Canal trip when there was no ac in the aft facing cabins on decks 6, 7, and 8. Fortunately, we were not in an affected cabin, but I spoke to many who were, and I assure you that in spite of the ridiculous excuses the HAL cheerleaders always use to disparage those who report these issues, they were not miserably hot because they left their curtains open, or opened the balcony door, or left too many cabin lights on, or did not request a fan, or the most asinine I have ever seen.....the ac was probably working fine, it is just that they "perceived" it to not be working :confused:

The history of these mechanical issues have way too long of a track record to be just a couple of malcontent complainers as is often suggested.

[whogo]

This is the first time I have heard of a cruiser leaving early because of an unacceptable cabin. I thought it would happen more often and would be an early request by someone without air conditioning.

 

I hope you get fully reimbursed for your cruise and airfare. Hollow America will not fix the air conditioning until saps quit accepting hot cabins.

[peaches from georgia]

This is the first time I have heard of a cruiser leaving early because of an unacceptable cabin. I thought it would happen more often and would be an early request by someone without air conditioning.

 

I hope you get fully reimbursed for your cruise and airfare. Hollow America will not fix the air conditioning until saps quit accepting hot cabins.

And quit accepting future cruise credits as adequate compensation for no AC or working toilets.

[johnmik1]

Thanks for having the courage to say what I deleted.

 

I don't doubt that the ship has problems in the hottest climates, but I'm skeptical on this report. Did they keep their curtains closed when out of the stateroom? Did they have a fan? Did they prop their door open? Etc... On my recent Zuiderdam trip our outside temperatures were not above 85, so I can't judge the extent of the problem. But proper AC levels is a very individual matter. I am not one that claims all is well, despite the reports. I'm just suggesting that "your mileage may vary."

 

It is instructive to note that many office building set their AC at 78 degrees.

 

Why in the world would someone have to get a fan or prop their door open to enjoy a cabin on a cruise ship?I would expect a cabin that had a reasonable temperature range!

[wpmccoy]

For those who asked, our suite was 7087. My wife's brother and his wife were next door in 7089 and there AC was not much better.

[wpmccoy]

Oops! Sorry, but I did forget to put the cabin number. It was 7087. My wife's brother and his wife were next door and theirs was not much better.

[cccole]

Our first HAL cruise was on the Zuiderdam in a Neptune Suite and we loved it. I am so sorry to hear of the continuing problems and really wish they would fix things. I hope that those that did not have AC problems will not bash OP because they did not suffer the same problem.

 

I thought that HAL's refund of 75% and transportation home from Aruba was reasonable but I accept wpmccoy's opinion that it was not. It's unfortunate that the AC could not be repaired and that there was not another acceptable cabin available. Did your relatives in the neighboring suite continue the cruise or did they also depart?

 

I've never had a bad cruise and hate to hear reports like this, especially when the cruise line is aware of the problem. Hopefully the OPs next cruise will be fabulous and flawless. Cherie

[Cindy]

I agree with much of what you say, however I do want to hear what they tried or did to improve or not improve their situation. Feel free to continue to excoriate me. Yes there are problems on Zuiderdam. But I think the truth is someplace in the middle.

 

I think your logic is flawed. Why should a passenger who paid for a suite (or any cabin for that matter) have to try to improve terrible conditions because of malfunctioning air conditioning? That's HAL's responsibility, not a passenger's responsibility.

[peaches from georgia]

Now there is some concrete evidence of an A/C problem area on Zuiderdam.

 

Starboard Rotterdam Deck:

 

gigianne- 7077

wpmccoy- 7087

wpmccoy's relatives- 7089

[mollyanne]

Now there is some concrete evidence of an A/C problem area on Zuiderdam.

 

Starboard Rotterdam Deck:

 

gigianne- 7077

wpmccoy- 7087

wpmccoy's relatives- 7089

 

It looks starboard should be avoided!

 

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[Watson's aunt]

Hi I was on Nov 8 cruise to Panama. cabin 6069 no problems. A/c and plumbing worked

 

Mary

[MermaidWatcher]

And quit accepting future cruise credits as adequate compensation for no AC or working toilets.

I have echoed that sentiment many times. Giving me a credit that requires me to spend another several thousand dollars with someone who knowingly(and all indications are they are knowingly putting PAX in uninhabitable cabins) sold me a defective product is not compensation...it is paramount to a slap in the face and a statement that I am stupid. Compensation is crediting my credit card.

[bshow]

Seems like HAL could have bought themselves a lot of goodwill for that additional 25%

[startwin]

It looks starboard should be avoided!

 

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It certainly seems like it. We were in 7088 for our Alaska cruise - it was actually a little too chilly in there! But then again, it was Alaska, not the Caribbean and Panama.

[startwin]

I agree with much of what you say, however I do want to hear what they tried or did to improve or not improve their situation. Feel free to continue to excoriate me. Yes there are problems on Zuiderdam. But I think the truth is someplace in the middle.

 

Shrimp, why would you say that? It implies that the poster is not telling the truth, and there's no reason to think that. Heck, I was called a troll when I did my live report back in 2012, about my non-flushing toilet - and I had lots of posts to my credit, which, based on some opinions expressed here, validates what I said.:rolleyes: