Hollow America Zuiderdam

[RuthC]

No. The poster stated that it was not and had never been a problem with the Zuiderdam, it was a problem with the individual. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Yes. You are correct that there was at least one such report.

Perhaps that poster just didn't speak to the people having trouble, as reports of A/C and plumbing problems on the Zuiderdam have been regular and long-term.

[startwin]

No. The poster stated that it was not and had never been a problem with the Zuiderdam, it was a problem with the individual. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

 

I think the words "personal perception" were used in connection with erroneously thinking the a/c was not working, and it was too hot.

[iancal]

Perhaps the OP simply did not want to hear of any issues or 'did not want to know' in order that the so called report would have a positive spin.

[iancal]

Perhaps the OP simply did not want to hear of any issues or 'did not want to know' in order that the so called report would have a positive spin.

 

It is quite unbelievable to me that after so many reports even the most enthusiastic of HAL cheerleaders would attempt to color the AC issues on Zuiderdam as cruiser ' perception issues'.

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

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

 

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

 

I ditto what you said. It would be our worst nightmare too. And yes, I think the OP is due a full refund. It is only fair. They didn't get what they paid for, IMO.

[serendipity1499]

And, from another recent post, the Prisendam also appears to have ac issues.

 

If you are referring to the post I made when we were on tour 68 day cruise on Prinsendam about our AC breaking down, please note this is NOT an ongoing problem on the Prinsendam!!

 

Things break, including toilets & AC's on many lines..

 

Heck our AC even broke down on our own personal boat & last year on my car... We had to replace both!

 

While we were sailboating for 5 months with another couple, who also were on their own boat, their toilet broke!:eek::eek: We had to anchor up together & they had to use our's for a few days..

 

Unfortunately, they had to wait until we all got into a port to get a new part for it..My DH & my Friends DH spent a lot of time fixing their toilet!

 

Things happen when you are out on the open ocean & sometimes it takes days to get them fixed..Ships cannot carry all the parts necessary to fix everything! We've heard about AC & toilet problems many times from cruisers who have cruised on NCL, Carnival, Royal Carib., Celebrity etc etc..

 

I told our story only because I wanted others to realize that when things go wrong normally HAL is able to correct that problem, which they did in our case, even though it took a few days to do it..

 

We've been on the Prinsendam twice & would not hesitate to go on her again.. As a matter of fact, she is our favorite ship in the HAL fleet, followed by the Amsterdam!

 

That being said IMO the OP still should have received a full refund of his cruise fare, since HAL was not able to fix his AC.. They spent valuable vacation time & their own $$ to get to the port..

 

Betty

[serendipity1499]

In my experience (on both sides of the fence-giving and getting) it all depends on how you ask for that refund/credit/consideration. Come in with a chip on your shoulder and no matter what the issue is-well you have a long row to hoe to get your refund. Come in with the right attitude and you'll get all you asked for and much much more. Whenever I have had any issue with HAL I put it in writing and get a prompt response with an answer and many times credits etc that I NEVER ASKED FOR. He used the ship, they cleaned up after him and fed him and I think 75% was quite generous.

What's next-- a weather refund for the instant gratification crowd?

 

I can't believe you are serious!

 

[idiebabe]

This thread has turned into an attack on someone (and not the OP who started it). I'm beginning to wonder since it was the OP's first post on CC if this thread wasn't started by someone to keep the A/C issue alive and also use it as a forum to attack the woman being attacked! :eek:

 

I went into HAL's site and saw no postings recently about A/C issues let alone one by the poster who started this thread.

 

I normally try and avoid general threads and stick to Roll Calls but this one interested me since I'm sailing on the Ship with four Staterooms booked in a little over a week. Hopefully, we will have no issues!

 

When I posted this a.m. to the OP I was hoping to get further info on the circumstances as to why he chose to leave the Ship in Aruba. What followed was seven posts attacking someone! :eek:

 

I'm not really interested in reading attacks on OP's so I will unsubscribe to this thread!

[CoronaCRZR]

Fincantieri has built cruise ships for HAL, Carnival, Costa, Princess, Disney, P&O and Cunard.

 

Very true Peter.

Either the particular design has issues or perhaps it is back to proper maintenance??

 

With the ongoing reoccurring problems it appears HAL is unable to fix the issues. I for one would love to know why that is.

 

Ted

[kazu]

And, from another recent post, the Prisendam also appears to have ac issues.

 

We have been on the Prinsendam for 52 days so far (two cruises) and have not heard anyone complain about their A/C not working. Both roll calls were huge (over 10% of the ship's passengers) and all we heard were compliments. No issues regarding A/C, toilets or food :D

[kazu]

This thread has turned into an attack on someone (and not the OP who started it). I'm beginning to wonder since it was the OP's first post on CC if this thread wasn't started by someone to keep the A/C issue alive and also use it as a forum to attack the woman being attacked! :eek:

 

I went into HAL's site and saw no postings recently about A/C issues let alone one by the poster who started this thread.

 

I normally try and avoid general threads and stick to Roll Calls but this one interested me since I'm sailing on the Ship with four Staterooms booked in a little over a week. Hopefully, we will have no issues!

 

When I posted this a.m. to the OP I was hoping to get further info on the circumstances as to why he chose to leave the Ship in Aruba. What followed was seven posts attacking someone! :eek:

 

I'm not really interested in reading attacks on OP's so I will unsubscribe to this thread!

 

JMO, but I certainly think this is legitimate poster. There is no question that this ship has had A/C issues. It has been reported numerous times. Even here, on this thread we are seeing room numbers being reported where there have been issues.

 

We loved the Zuiderdam when we were on and had no issues - but that was 3 years ago and I find it sad to see the room we were in now has issues as well.

 

Based on the reports of the inconsistent A/C I know I would be hesitant to book this ship again. I don't believe in inviting trouble;)

[MermaidWatcher]

Refresh my memory, please. I seem to remember that a long time poster recently cruised on the Zuiderdam and determined that there are no air conditioning problems.

 

I am not as dedicated a follower of individual posters as some here, who can quote who posted what on what day, about what subject, so I cannot directly answer your post, but as a general observation, it seems to me that there were a couple of sailings of Zuiderdam when no negative ac or toilet issues were posted here. But to keep it in perspective, my "guestamation" is that only 5 to 8% of cruisers even know what the CC forum is, and even fewer are active posters. My point being that just because your referenced poster determined that there were no problems, only means that they knew of none, or that like often happens here, an issue that someone else experienced is minimalized in their minds to a non existent problem.

[Tarpeian Rock]

We have been on the Prinsendam for 52 days so far (two cruises) and have not heard anyone complain about their A/C not working. Both roll calls were huge (over 10% of the ship's passengers) and all we heard were compliments. No issues regarding A/C, toilets or food :D

 

 

 

The Prinsendam was originally built for the Royal Viking Line, has had several owners, and is constructed along very different lines than Zuiderdam,which was the first of HAL'S Vista-class ships. I would suspect that the mechanicals of Prinsendam's a/c and plumbing systems may have differences from the Vistas. In addition, Prinsendam is a significantly smaller ship.

[Oceanwench]

Our first HAL cruise was on Zuiderdam.

We enjoyed it so much, we took our daughters on it the next year - along with other family members.

The refrigeration broke down mid-cruise. We were told it was something done incorrectly when the ship was built.

(KK - you were on that cruise, too. 2005 I think?)

Then the hall floors on some decks had deep ruts. We were told it was a problem with the cement or some such thing, and they would all be ripped up and replaced.

They caused some to trip, and they were awful for people in wheelchairs.

 

After that, we never sailed on that ship again.

And after reading this, I would not book the Zuiderdam for fear we'd have AC issues.

 

Carnival offers a full refund to passengers unhappy with their cruise, who request such within a specific time period (I forget - 24 hours of boarding?) and they'll fly the unhappy pax home from the first port.

It doesn't matter what the complaint is, either.

They have that much faith in their product.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Oceanwench

[scuba70]

We were on the same cruise. There appeared to be quite a few problems with the A/C based on comments from fellow passengers. Our Neptune suite room had problems with the cooling. We survived by spending a lot of time in places where the A/C seemed to be working like the Neptune Lounge. They gave us a fan to circulate the hot air. The staff appeared to try their best at solving the problem but it seemed to be beyond their resources.

 

Hope they were able to do something while they were back in Ft Lauderdale.

[WpgCruise]

I understood H.A.L. made the commitment to the O.P. for a full refund and provided 75% of the cruise cost, and some O.B.C. against a future cruise.

 

If my understanding is correct then H.A.L. has really fallen on hard times, selling staterooms not fit for purpose, and then compounding the matter by failing to keep their commitment regarding refunds.

 

To the folks who think the O.P. deserves less than he was promised by H.A.L., all I can say is try putting yourself in the O.P.'s position and understand the circumstances from their point of view.

 

The O.P. paid for a vacation, and due to H.A.L.'s inability to provide, shouldn't they get their money back? This wasn't an act of mother nature, or something outside of H.A.L.'s control, the lack of mechanicals was due to H.A.L.'s failure to provide fit for service facilities.

 

I don't think H.A.L. should profit from this and no way should the O.P. be damaged. I think anything less than 100% restitution would be unacceptable to either the O.P. H.A.L. or any consumer.

Edited January 4, 2014 by WpgCruise

[sun~]

We were on the same cruise. There appeared to be quite a few problems with the A/C based on comments from fellow passengers. Our Neptune suite room had problems with the cooling. We survived by spending a lot of time in places where the A/C seemed to be working like the Neptune Lounge. They gave us a fan to circulate the hot air. The staff appeared to try their best at solving the problem but it seemed to be beyond their resources.

 

Hope they were able to do something while they were back in Ft Lauderdale.

 

Staff giving out fans does not solve the problem. They KNOW about the air conditioning issues and continue to sell the cabins with no AC week after week. I was curious to see how many others have complained of no AC or other major issues on the Zuiderdam, I had a look through the review section. The problems have been going on for months. There are so many reviews mentioning the non-existing AC in different cabins. Pretty disgraceful. HAL is either incapable of fixing the issues or unwilling. Either way, they are defrauding paying customers knowingly selling defective cabins.

Edited January 4, 2014 by sun~

[hal lover]

What's up with "Hollow America"?

 

If it were me and I had been in that situation, I would want a 100% refund of my cruise and a free flight home.

 

I love Holland America, but no AC is a deal breaker for me!

[alwaysfrantic]

This does not at all equate to eating a restaurant meal then refusing to pay because you didn't like it. It's more a case of going into the restaurant and ordering, say, chicken. They bring it raw and say so sorry but the chicken pot won't work, but here's a bottle of smoke flavoring......and expecting you to pay for it. And in this case the customer paying in advance for the chicken they know they can't cook then saying you can have only part of the money back.

 

They essentially got nothing and HAL didn't deliver the solution promised. Bad form.

[Jade13]

We were on Veendam with no A/C in Panama and it was hot. They did move us to a Neptune Suite (we never asked) the last few days after half the ship disembarked in FL. They couldn't fix the problem in our first cabin and the couple next to us had been moved 3 times on the same cruise. They did give us a big fan.

 

The most helpful thing you can do is post the cabin number. It would be helpful to others if there was any evidence that these problems persist in the same cabins, or are just random from day to day.

 

We were just on Azamara Journey (an older ship) and the AC was not working when we arrived, and they had an engineer in there who fixed it immediately.

 

I really wonder if they just keep booking the same cabins that have AC problems.

 

I give you credit for getting off the ship verses others who only complain after the trip is over. I would have wanted something in writing saying that 100% was being refunded, but the problem is that you were going to leave anyway since you could not stay in the cabin.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Jade13

[gigianne]

I believe the OP did post the cabin # in an earlier post.

[cruz chic]

We were on Veendam with no A/C in Panama and it was hot. They did move us to a Neptune Suite (we never asked) the last few days after half the ship disembarked in FL. They couldn't fix the problem in our first cabin and the couple next to us had been moved 3 times on the same cruise. They did give us a big fan.

 

The most helpful thing you can do is post the cabin number. It would be helpful to others if there was any evidence that these problems persist in the same cabins, or are just random from day to day.

 

We were just on Azamara Journey (an older ship) and the AC was not working when we arrived, and they had an engineer in there who fixed it immediately.

 

I really wonder if they just keep booking the same cabins that have AC problems.

 

I give you credit for getting off the ship verses others who only complain after the trip is over. I would have wanted something in writing saying that 100% was being refunded, but the problem is that you were going to leave anyway since you could not stay in the cabin.

If that were me I would likely stay because it's so painful to fly that far and then fly back a couple days later. Maybe it would be best not to judge others by your own experience.

[HALcruiser2]

We're scheduled to cruise on this ship February 3. Right now we have a guaranteed SY so I don't yet have my cabin assignment, but I sure hope we have air. I'm so excited and ready for this cruise regardless!

[peaches from georgia]

I believe the OP did post the cabin # in an earlier post.

7087. His relatives in 7089 also had A/C problems.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

I was on the Nov 8th cruise. while I had no problem in my cabin 6069. My room was spotless. My baalconey was also spotless and windows cleaned daily. I did visit the front desk daily to pick a a daily progrma. I wanted a nice one for my cruise book. people were in line complaining. The captian was ver good and pleasent as were the officers who danced with me at the black and white ball. I am not sure I like the ship. I have only been on the Amsterdam twice in recent years.I only walked the promenade deck a few times. (it was windy, and dark. I guess I was spoiled being in Alaska) Can't explain it but I was stunned it was dark at 6. Somehow I knew it would be dark but I really did not expect it. The crew on this ship was outstanding, I usually spend a few hours (happy Hr) in the Ocean bar Those men and women worked thier tails off. I had fixed seating at 8. my location of table was ok. Table mates were wonderful and very enjoyable. I did visit the PC and would never return thier on this cruise.Being a solo I was a bit ignored while table beside they they were falling all over them.

My food was just ok not really good. I did not complain. One of the couples ata my table went the next night and had the same feeling as I did. another couple went another night and raved about it. There were some small stuff that bothered me about the ship. But I had a wonderful table servers and wine steward. Would I go on Zuiderdam again? I don't know. I have to travel on other HAl ships to see. My first love is the Amsterdam. One of the crew of Zuiderdam ( bar stewards reconized me and asked was I the Amsterdam last year (I was) . He and his dad were both working on the Zuiderdam. Dad was around 25+ he about9 years.. I not so If I am a Hal waverss I have only been on a few other ships. I can tell you I will never sail on a Carnavale brand ship. I know HAl is part of them

 

Mary