Hollow America Zuiderdam

[Boytjie]

Really, how many DOZEN posts make a reported problem valid? I'll bet the Zuiderdam is responsible for losing more HAL customers than any other ship, and the a/c more than any other issue.

 

Wasn't that the Veendam a while ago?

[Boytjie]

The original post was well written...

 

"Hollow America"? :confused: :rolleyes:

[MermaidWatcher]

[quote name=wpmccoy;41131914

Several days after arriving home' date=' I found a "refund" had been provided by Hollow America of about 75% of the ticket price. It seems that they decided to prorate the the price for the time we had spent on board sweating with the oldies. Several communications with Daphney Newtson and Christine Ferris at the Seattle home offices, and they seemed to think that they had done a downright bang-up job of customer service and nothing further would be forthcoming other than additional cruise credits for future cruises. I'm still puzzled why they think that I'd want a future cruise with Hollow America Line.[/quote]

 

Interesting story, thanks. I have never heard of them allowing a passenger to make the decision to terminate the voyage, and then offering them much of anything, much less 75% , albeit a token future cruise credit, which is one of my pet peeves, but not going there now.

That being said, I support the idea that you should be given a full refund back to your payment method, but good luck on that :rolleyes:

 

I am sorry to see this ac issue rear its head again, especially since it appears that it is still business as usual of knowingly putting passengers in cabins that should be taken out of service.

 

That they made this offer to you indicates to me that the tons of bad publicity they have been getting on this issue, and the callous way they treat those affected passengers may be beginning to take a toll. There were reports lately of Zuideram sailing at less than 50% capacity... that has to hurt financially and someone may be trying to initiate some policies to stop the bleeding.

 

Right here is a tiny example....I don't know how many passengers in your immediate cruising family, but we are four that are lost for future bookings. I don't expect to be pampered, bowed to, high fived by the captain, or anything else, but I do expect that my choice of spending my money with you is somehow appreciated, or maybe respected is a better word.

Edited January 3, 2014 by MermaidWatcher

[canadianbear]

This is such a shame to hear of the a/c not working. This has been going on for a couple of years now when the Panama cruises start again. We were on the Z in a suite in September but like Startwin it was in Alaska so a/c was not needed.

 

I like the Zuiderdam but will not book this ship to do a Panama Canal cruise because of the on going issues with the a/c. HAL needs to get this resolved and by that I mean actually fixed and stop blowing off their customers.

[idiebabe]

Interesting story, thanks. I have never heard of them allowing a passenger to make the decision to terminate the voyage, and then offering them much of anything, much less 75% , albeit a token future cruise credit, which is one of my pet peeves, but not going there now.

That being said, I support the idea that you should be given a full refund back to your payment method, but good luck on that :rolleyes:

 

I am sorry to see this ac issue rear its head again, especially since it appears that it is still business as usual of knowingly putting passengers in cabins that should be taken out of service.

 

That they made this offer to you indicates to me that the tons of bad publicity they have been getting on this issue, and the callous way they treat those affected passengers may be beginning to take a toll. There were reports lately of Zuideram sailing at less than 50% capacity... that has to hurt financially and someone may be trying to initiate some policies to stop the bleeding.

 

Right here is a tiny example....I don't know how many passengers in your immediate cruising family, but we are four that are lost for future bookings. I don't expect to be pampered, bowed to, high fived by the captain, or anything else, but I do expect that my choice of spending my money with you is somehow appreciated, or maybe respected is a better word.

 

It sounds like it falls under the Vacation Guarantee that Carnival has. If not happy, one can get off at the first Port of a Call and they will refund.

 

We're on Zui on the 13th sailing. We have two SY's on Starboard and an Inside on Port and one Inside on Starboard. When we get back I'll post a report!

[startwin]

It sounds like it falls under the Vacation Guarantee that Carnival has. If not happy, one can get off at the first Port of a Call and they will refund.

 

We're on Zui on the 13th sailing. We have two SY's on Starboard and an Inside on Port and one Inside on Starboard. When we get back I'll post a report!

 

I'll look forward to hearing from you after your cruise. I have an SY on the port side booked for April.

[serendipity1499]

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.

 

Completely Agree! The OP's post was not overblown in any way & was well written.. Just because the poster is new to CC is no reason to discount his complaint! Yes, an apology would be nice!

 

We keep our home at 78 degrees, but the minute it goes over 80 it's HOT! The poster said his suite was over 90 & I completely agree that is outrageous..:eek: For a HM to agree to pay for a ticket home is also very unusual..

 

When we boarded the Prinsendam on Jan 5 for our 68 day cruise to South Amer./Antarctica, our AC was working the first 4 days.. When we got back to our cabin on Jan 9 after a tour, our AC was not working.. It became HOT very quickly!!! It was 83 degrees in our cabin, which is much too HOT for me... They brought up a fan for us & it dropped to 79 deg.. The engineers were working on our unit but it took 3 days to fix, as they had to have a part shipped in to them.. They kept us informed the entire time.. Fortunately we were very comfortable after that..

 

Tina, The GRM sent us a letter of apology & gave us a generous OBC which was a complete surprise to us at the end of our cruise in March.. I had completely forgotten about the problems at the beginning of our cruise..

 

To the OP.. I'm so sorry that your first cruise on HAL was a disaster.. IMO you should reply to HAL in Seattle & tell them you will not accept a future cruise credit.. IMO they should have refunded your entire fare..

 

Don't give up.. And please try HAL another time..

 

Happy New Year, Betty

 

Edited January 3, 2014 by serendipity1499

[iancal]

Try another HAL ship.

 

Just ensure that it is not Zuiderdam or Veendam.

[shrimp56]

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:

 

My apologies for the infelicity of my brevity. I was referring to the aggregate of Zuiderdam reports, taking into account that, with a few exceptions, the people who had genuine problems are more likely to post as are those who over dramatize their situation. Temperature is an individual preference indeed and a few people, not all by any means, and certainly not you, overstate what actually was the case for the sake of emphasis.

 

The curse of the internet is that we have become suspicious readers, a different category than thoughtful readers. Certain characteristics of a report may or may not ring true. The criteria may or may not be valid. And, we have few ways of finding out. So care is needed in responding. And in my case, I apologize for using those criteria to frame my comments.

 

Ships change. The "dreadful Veendam" was ship-shape on my June 2013 cruise. Zuiderdam's fortunes may rise and fall in a like manner. I booked Zuiderdam having read the negative reviews. And found her decor the worst part of her. And that was my experience.

 

On the good news side the following 2 cabins on Rotterdam Deck were fine both AC and HVAC-wise. 7016 and 7020. They are on the port side and forward. Best part. They are VAs that will become VEs in the upcoming category shuffles.

[IRL_Joanie]

We'd never done a Hollow America cruise before so we decided that our 31st cruise would be to the Panama Canal on the Zuiderdam. Let me say that I'm certainly glad that we paid extra to travel in one of the Neptune suites, so we could sweat in fine style. Let me stop here and make a point that I am a native Texan and we know all there is to know about sweating. We're known for our summers. We understand what causes sweating and it is entirely possible that we might have actually invented it. There are hotter places such as hell and the surface of the sun, but we run both a close second.

 

After about 15 minutes in our suite, my wife said to call the desk and tell them that our air conditioning was not working and please come and fix it. They said that the AC had been off and give it a few hours and it would be better, but they'd report it. The suite temperature was 80 degrees and we had not left the dock. After six hours, I reported it again. That evening, we Neptuners had a private meet-and-greet with the Captain, Hotel Director and Cruise director. I took the opportunity to mention it again to the Hotel Director. With smiles and bobble heads all around, they assured me they'd look into it and they did. What they found was temperatures of over 90 degrees during the afternoons as we headed farther south and the sun was on our side of the ship. Nothing like getting out of the shower in the morning and having your clothes stick to you because it's already too hot at 8:AM in your suite.

 

Flash forward to day 3. After several attempts at fixing the AC, the Guest Services manager was in our suite and basically said that it couldn't be fixed. They had been in contact with Seattle. They offered that if we would like to stay on board for the remainder of the cruise, they would give me a refund and they'd let me know the amount of said refund during the last two days of the cruise. I wasn't impressed. I said that if they would refund my ticket and send me home when we reached Aruba (our first port) that I'd forget that I was ever on a Hollow America ship. They agreed and put my wife and I on a plane in Aruba bound for Dallas. So far, so good.

 

Several days after arriving home, I found a "refund" had been provided by Hollow America of about 75% of the ticket price. It seems that they decided to prorate the the price for the time we had spent on board sweating with the oldies. Several communications with Daphney Newtson and Christine Ferris at the Seattle home offices, and they seemed to think that they had done a downright bang-up job of customer service and nothing further would be forthcoming other than additional cruise credits for future cruises. I'm still puzzled why they think that I'd want a future cruise with Hollow America Line.

 

I, like many others have stated to you in response to your post, DO believe you had some serious problems and I'd go on to say that in my opinion HAL's paying for you to fly home from Aruba and a partial refund was an extremely good gesture. As to whether you should get a full refund......Not no, but Hades No!!! You ate, you drank you had the use of the ship for 3 days, though you did not sleep well (I imagine) due to the heat, you still did have 3/4 use of the time you spent on the ship and therefore should not get more than what you've received so far.

 

However, and this is my opinion and I will stick to it, no matter the flames from Hell that will be raining down upon my head....Your derogatory term of "Hollow America" causes me to feel less sympathetic to your plight:(

 

Just my $.02 and This will be the only time I respond to this post/thread.

 

Joanie

Edited January 3, 2014 by IRL_Joanie

[wpmccoy]

Sorry to hear that your cruise was such a disaster that you felt you needed to leave the ship.

Can you please let us know your cabin number, so that others will be forewarned.

Hope you get this all resolved to your satisfaction.

 

Neptune suite 7087

[startwin]

I would certainly expect a full refund, taking into consideration the sheer inconvenience of taking vacation time, the planning and arrangements to be away from home, getting to port, having a miserable couple of days onboard, and then having to fly home again and not getting the cruise and vacation you anticipated. I'm sure there's much more in the way of inconvenience and out-of-pocket expenses, but those are the basics. HAL as a business, should be working to improve their PR, not knowingly providing a sub-standard product and hoping they get away with it.

[solocanadian]

Sorry OP for your lack of air conditioning. Something that I would not put up with either. :(

 

Me neither & I believe you.

[sapper1]

I would certainly expect a full refund, taking into consideration the sheer inconvenience of taking vacation time, the planning and arrangements to be away from home, getting to port, having a miserable couple of days onboard, and then having to fly home again and not getting the cruise and vacation you anticipated. I'm sure there's much more in the way of inconvenience and out-of-pocket expenses, but those are the basics. HAL as a business, should be working to improve their PR, not knowingly providing a sub-standard product and hoping they get away with it.

 

Well stated, and you managed it without resorting to offensive swearing.

[Mtn2Sea]

HAL as a business, should be working to improve their PR, not knowingly providing a sub-standard product and hoping they get away with it.

 

HAL is not just "a business," it's a HOSPITALITY business. If a hotel in Florida put paying guests in a room with no a/c, it would be out of business and have NO customers in short order.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Mtn2Sea

[voyageur9]

Complainers all, that Titanic lot

After six days of scarfing and working AC

How dare they whine now and claim things went amiss

While waiting for tenders the band was just bliss.

The should be Dam happy with the partial they got

[kazu]

I would certainly expect a full refund, taking into consideration the sheer inconvenience of taking vacation time, the planning and arrangements to be away from home, getting to port, having a miserable couple of days onboard, and then having to fly home again and not getting the cruise and vacation you anticipated. I'm sure there's much more in the way of inconvenience and out-of-pocket expenses, but those are the basics. HAL as a business, should be working to improve their PR, not knowingly providing a sub-standard product and hoping they get away with it.

 

 

Good points. This couple is already out the money they would have paid for the flights to go home from the planned port. Plus flights down for the cruise from H E double toothpicks. If HAL flew them home, you can bet it had to be bad. That doesn't happen every day. the more I think about it, whether they ate for three days on board or not, the odds are they did not enjoy one minute as they would have been sleep deprived and probably feeling sick.

 

100% refund is what Carnival offers (You have to get off the next day - but if there is no port - how can you get off). Yes indeed, it should all be refunded.

[LSEA]

Just adding in a ditto to the others who agree you should receive a full refund. The argument that you ate meals and used other amenities on the ship should cost you the remaining 25% is flawed in my opinion. (Although it does come from a poster that I enjoy and appreciate.) What else where you supposed to do? You were on a cruise ship, you couldn't just hop of and vacation somewhere else. In fact, I think you should get a full refund and something towards replacement cruise, if you where even willing to give HAL another try. I assume you took time away from your normal life which comes at a cost. You probably had costs associated with getting to the cruise. Come on, a 90 degree cabin? That is outrageous and I don't think your expectations are out of line at all. I know nothing is perfect and there are "risks" associated with everything but that doesn't mean one shouldn't expect for things to be made right. Oh, loved the Hollow America line... I also love Holland America but can appreciate the humor here.

[MermaidWatcher]

Just adding in a ditto to the others who agree you should receive a full refund. The argument that you ate meals and used other amenities on the ship should cost you the remaining 25% is flawed in my opinion. (Although it does come from a poster that I enjoy and appreciate.) What else where you supposed to do? You were on a cruise ship, you couldn't just hop of and vacation somewhere else. In fact, I think you should get a full refund and something towards replacement cruise, if you where even willing to give HAL another try. I assume you took time away from your normal life which comes at a cost. You probably had costs associated with getting to the cruise. Come on, a 90 degree cabin? That is outrageous and I don't think your expectations are out of line at all. I know nothing is perfect and there are "risks" associated with everything but that doesn't mean one shouldn't expect for things to be made right. Oh, loved the Hollow America line... I also love Holland America but can appreciate the humor here.

 

I accept the risk of certain possibilities, bad weather, food I may not personally like, entertainment I make not like, the possibility of rowdy passengers, etc, but I do not consider the possibility that I will deliberately be boarded into a cabin without working mechanical equipment an acceptable idea.

[Cindy]

I would certainly expect a full refund, taking into consideration the sheer inconvenience of taking vacation time, the planning and arrangements to be away from home, getting to port, having a miserable couple of days onboard, and then having to fly home again and not getting the cruise and vacation you anticipated. I'm sure there's much more in the way of inconvenience and out-of-pocket expenses, but those are the basics. HAL as a business, should be working to improve their PR, not knowingly providing a sub-standard product and hoping they get away with it.

 

I accept the risk of certain possibilities, bad weather, food I may not personally like, entertainment I make not like, the possibility of rowdy passengers, etc, but I do not consider the possibility that I will deliberately be boarded into a cabin without working mechanical equipment an acceptable idea.

 

I absolutely agree with both of these statements. There's a huge difference between not liking something or realizing after the fact that you made a poor choice and paying for a cabin only to discover it doesn't have functioning air conditioning.

 

I would never blame HAL for the fact that I didn't care for my cabin location on the Westerdam -- I took a guarantee and with that was willing to accept the location I was assigned whether I liked it or not. If the cabin had experienced major mechanical malfunctions I would absolutely have expected HAL to accept responsibility and make it right/make me whole.

[Lcar66]

We were on the Zuiderdaam last January in the Penthouse and there was minimal to no A/C - we had 4 fans in the room. Really wasn't what we were expecting - but we dealt with it.

 

This year - No HAL for us - we're going to NCL.

[Stevero2]

We are considering Zuiderdam Panama in April, cabins on main deck N1010 or 1012. Any info about or near those cabins?

[iancal]

There is an echo.

 

I have started to hear about these issues from people not connected with CC. I suspect that some of the TA community have heard of these issues and are taking them into consideration when recommending product.

 

Not want HA wants, but perhaps what they deserve considering how long these issues have been going on with no resolution.

 

A satisfied customer tells one person. A dissatisfied customer tells nine people.

Edited January 3, 2014 by iancal

[LMaxwell]

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.

 

I am under the impression OP was offered 100% refund by staff on board, but when they got home they were given 75% refund and future cruise credits; not the same thing. If that is the case OP is a much more patient person than I am.

 

The parent corporation already offers 110% refund + all return travel on their Carnival line if you are not satisfied and let off at the first port of call. Not saying HAL needs to do the same, but if you make someone an offer stick with it, don't start playing games to weasel out of what was originally offered.

[sail7seas]

Very sorry you had so poor an experience you had to leave the ship. Too bad you didn't spend a few days in Aruba before flying home. It's a wonderful island.

 

Hope you are able to find a better cruise for your next.