Decline in quality??

[sail7seas]

I do not believe I have dissed anyone. If anything, it seems I am being 'knocked' for being happy with our cruises and saying so.

 

 

Yes....I cruise in a Suite. Still, I have come here and have reported things that have occured that I was less than pleased with. If you care to, you could find negative comments I have posted.

 

Suite pax often do have a more seamless experience. But not always.

 

I only report what I experience and my impressions of my cruise. Same as everyone else does.

 

 

Liz......I'm very surprised t(and not happy) to hear they removed the always availables that were on our menus every night for 14 days. I wonder why? We never ordered the alternative caesar salad but I always liked knowing it was there if I wanted it.

 

 

I heard about all the Art Auction stuff being displayed in the most inappropriate places. I'm happy to say we did not have to make our way around art at the pool but am sure it was very tacky looking.

 

I think Maasdam to be an elegant ship. I love her art. I love her decorating....her colors. JMHO.....

[aaerobear]

"always available" items were removed from the menu, but NOT from being available, all you have to do is ask. We had a couple of finiky eaters at our table and the staff was always willing to get them something that they wanted. I applaud them for that.

 

One of my traveling companions likes fresh berries in the morning, we asked for them the first morning and after that they were served to all of us as a matter of course for the rest of the cruise. It is one of the ways HAL makes such a good statement to service. Subtle but consistant.

[xpcdoojk]

Sail7seas has got to be HAL's greatest fan. I used to be until it became Carnivalized. I chuckle at her replies - no matter what anyone says negative about their cruise, she raves about hers. I believe she is always in a suite, where you do get pampered and invited to dine with the Captain (we've been there too) and that is not always the fairest comparison to someone who cruises once every few years. I think it's wonderful that she gets so much enjoyment from her cruises but let's not diss everyone who has a legitimate complaint!

 

Happy is good.:)

 

Whine is bad.:(

 

jc

[sail7seas]

Thank you, 'jc'. :)

 

I enjoy 'enjoying' our cruises and really, really enjoy sharing our enjoyment here on the Board. :) :) If I find something lacking, I say so. If I find things I'm happy with, I say so.

[gbc]

My first cruise was on Carnival more than 20 years ago. For an outside cabin for a week in the Caribbean, I paid about $1000 pp. Next week I am in an S cabin for a week cruising the caribbean for about $1250 pp. Most of my other expenses have increased 4 to 5 fold in those 20 years. Cruising has become an inexpensive vacation and the cruise lines have to cut back on certain things. When I first cruised, all meals were french service. Caesar salad was made by the maitre d' at your table. Ar current prices, the lines can't afford that many in help. I am not complaining. I still enjoy cruising and am happy to say I have never had a bad cruise. I am just realistic about the changes that I have seen over the years.

[Rotterdam]

Sail7Seas -

 

Yes I continued to sail - QE2, MSC & Celebrity. After the Italian ships HAL was my favorite(with the most nites cruise days). After so many years & over 40 cruises I now sail for specific ships before they disappear. I have no interest in the mega ships.

 

Seabourn, RSSC & Oceania are the lines I am looking to now. Since 1975 I have taken a cruise in February - for the first time I will be flying to an island & staying at a hotel this coming year.

 

The beauty of the sea will have me return to a ship again & again - unfortunately the Rotterdam V & its Ocean Bar are of days gone by. Oh if people knew those days they certainly would understand.

[PRINSENDAM]

Sail7Seas -

 

 

 

The beauty of the sea will have me return to a ship again & again - unfortunately the Rotterdam V & its Ocean Bar are of days gone by. Oh if people knew those days they certainly would understand.

 

 

 

I do! I do! 13 cruises & 340 days on board ROTTERDAM V. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Stephen

[Rotterdam]

Good morning Stephen - of course you would understand..after closing the place! (you can havethe bar - I just need 2 seats along the windows)!

 

One of the great sites onboard HAL -is Stephens wonderful paintings of great ocean liners - I always use the stairs & on the landings are Stephens paintings...stunning..

 

thanks Stephen - I hope one day we met onboard so I can buy you & your wife a glass or 2 of your favorite quencher!

[KESinMN]

Sail7Seas -

 

Yes I continued to sail - QE2, MSC & Celebrity. After the Italian ships HAL was my favorite(with the most nites cruise days). After so many years & over 40 cruises I now sail for specific ships before they disappear. I have no interest in the mega ships.

 

Seabourn, RSSC & Oceania are the lines I am looking to now. Since 1975 I have taken a cruise in February - for the first time I will be flying to an island & staying at a hotel this coming year.

 

The beauty of the sea will have me return to a ship again & again - unfortunately the Rotterdam V & its Ocean Bar are of days gone by. Oh if people knew those days they certainly would understand.

 

Having returned from Alaska on the Volendam, I must say I was disappointed in HAL's quality. My mother was really looking forward to this cruise and because of the quality issues will also be looking at the same lines you are. (Although, I don't hold out much hope for the Seabourn yachts since they are owned by Carnival)

 

I realize I may be a head of time in the hopes that the travel market will get it thru their heads that there are people who understand what travel was like in years gone by AND are very willing to pay for that experience. Like you, we don't want a mega ship or for that matter a kids program. I would like an honest to God afternoon tea and a dress code that is enforced. Oh to dream the dream!

[Stevesan]

I would like an honest to God afternoon tea and a dress code that is enforced. Oh to dream the dream!

 

I must say I do enjoy the daily tea served in Explorer's lounge. The service is proper, the tea hot and the scones are excellent.

 

However, the Dutch "high" tea served in the dining room is a mess. Line's are long, table service poor, tea lukewarm and the pastries flavorless. I should just quit attending, but the photo ops are too good to pass up.:)

[sail7seas]

I realize I may be a head of time in the hopes that the travel market will get it thru their heads that there are people who understand what travel was like in years gone by AND are very willing to pay for that experience. Like you, we don't want a mega ship or for that matter a kids program. I would like an honest to God afternoon tea and a dress code that is enforced. Oh to dream the dream!

 

 

Kindly add our name to the list of those who don't want a mega ship or for that matter a kids program. Add us to the list of those willing to pay for a truly luxurious experience.

 

(Seabourn is not for us......at the moment. Especially as I read this morning on a different site that one of their Yachts is being held in Waterford because of serious safety issues which have not been remedied. 170 pax aboard.)

[zlato]

Although ONLY in our sixities (age), and after many, many, many cruises, I can remember saying to my wife on our first cruise (which was on the old, elegant Rotterdam) that we must be on guard against becoming too jaded with additional cruising adventures. Here we are after numerous cruises, and we find ourselves becoming part of a self-fulling prophecy; i.e., becoming, perhaps, too critical of changes at HAL. That being said, however, my wife and I have observed a diminishing quality of that which had contributed to HAL ranking above most other cruise lines. At this point in our cruising experiences, we are not ready to say goodbye to HAL; in fact, we have booked a 34 day cruise on the Prisendam next year, hoping that this smaller ship will be a step above most of the other HAL mass market ships. Although the Signature of Excellence program is a positive enhancement, this program is somewhat offset by perks which have been eliminated. In any case, given what has happened along the gulf coast, all of this has to be put in proper perspective.

[BEAV]

One of my traveling companions likes fresh berries in the morning, we asked for them the first morning and after that they were served to all of us as a matter of course for the rest of the cruise. It is one of the ways HAL makes such a good statement to service. Subtle but consistant.

 

Were the fresh berries served to you in the Lido or main dining room? If in the main dining room, did you have the same server every morning - hence having them served every day?

[BEAV]

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. Our 1st HAL cruise was February 2004 on Maasdam. Our primary dissatisfaction w/HAL on that cruise was food and service in the dining room. Although we sailed in a cat S suite, we were unable to get what I consider a premium table (we were a party of four) despite repeated requests to the maitre'd. Our waitstaff, as well as wine steward were very remiss in their duties. We could never get our water glasses refilled, and ended up pouring our own wine from the bottle (I know...sounds very picky as we watch the effects of Katrina on TV). After reading this thread, the time period we sailed Maasdam may have been when HAL ships were understaffed, which may explain our dining experience. Although we were seated in a very elegant setting, the overall dining experience didn't match the venue. So we came away very underwhelmed with the dining room. In contrast, service in the Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest was fantastic. So at least most evenings were somewhat "saved" by the pre-dinner cocktail hour(s)!!

 

Being Left Coasters, we'll "find" ourselves in Ft Lauderdale come this November. We decided that since we're already there, we might as well schedule a Caribbean cruise. It'll save buying another plane ticket to Florida in January....you know, kill two birds with one stone! We looked at every cruise ship departing Ft Lauderdale on Nov 6. There were a fair number of choices, but we decided on Westerdam, and to give HAL another chance. Reading this thread gives me a glimmer of hope our experience just might be different from our first. If it's not, I doubt we'll be back to HAL. There are just too many choices out there.....and I always maintain variety is the spice of life!

[Rotterdam]

Zlato -

 

No I don't thinkyou are jaded - like myself you are experienced in what HAL was years ago - now they promote but do not deliver. This is common in most industries today.

 

I really enjoyed the Prinsendam - it is a step above HAL newer ships. The ship itself was built for Seabourn & it shows - even with the changes HAL made(you can tell - what was original) the ship exudes an air of a private club - no crowds or lines anywhere.

 

the food left a bit to be desired - too bland & everything started to taste the same after a few days( I was on a 14 day crossing). I made up for it by eating in port & using the Lido for dinner afew nites.

 

Now when I return to a ship I live differently - too bad we can't have dinner one more time in the Rotterdam V diningroom - that was living.

[peaches from georgia]

.... Although we sailed in a cat S suite, we were unable to get what I consider a premium table (we were a party of four) despite repeated requests to the maitre'd. ...

Your review interests me because I find what is 'premium' to one is undesirable to someone else. Just wondering what you consider to be a premium table. We also have been in an S on all our HAL cruises and have had no trouble getting the table of our choice.

 

Did you request a specific table or area through your TA before your cruise? If you don't it is almost impossible to get exactly what you want after boarding as table assignments have already been made obviously.

[sail7seas]

Zlato -

 

.

 

I really enjoyed the Prinsendam - it is a step above HAL newer ships. The ship itself was built for Seabourn & it shows - even with the changes HAL made(you can tell - what was original) the ship exudes an air of a private club - no crowds or lines anywhere.

 

.

 

Not a major point but for the sake of accuracy, I believe Prinsendam was originally built for Royal Viking....once a deluxe cruiseline; now out of business.

[BEAV]

Peaches,

 

I completely agree, what is premium to one may not be to another. We had requested pre-cruise a table along the railing. Although I know it's only a request, I came away with the impression that being in a cat S didn't give us any type of priority. Despite repeated requests of the maitre'd, he never would return an answer, but only "I'll see what I can do". With that kind of response, you expect some sort of an answer! After about the 3rd night, we all decided we weren't going anywhere and made do. Had we had a good waitstaff, we probably would have been content to stay. However given the circumstances, we would have been agreeable to switch tables, even 3-4 nights into the cruise (10 night sailing).

[sail7seas]

We are always sure to make our dining request before we get to the ship. If we wait until we get there, it can be near impossible for the Maitre d' to accomodate requests from many pax. He can't simply move people away from a table he has assigned them to because someone else prefers that one to theirs.

 

I know for sure (MOST) of the Maitre d's work very hard at making people happy. Why wouldn't they? We complete those questionnaires at the end of the cruise and if people are not happy with the dining, the whole dining room is responsible for that. Maitre d's want happy pax. If he had the sort of table you wanted empty, why wouldn't he give it to you? It seems he simply could not fill your request.

 

I wasn't there and don't know......perhaps he didn't relay that information and whatever communication he had may not have been as well put as possible.

 

So far as I know, the only priority for an "S" pax when it comes to dining assignment is a confirmation they will be assigned to the time of their choice.

 

Hope it works out better for you on subsequent cruises.

[BEAV]

S7S,

 

I've chalked it off to the maitre'd being too busy to respond to our request (originally made pre-cruise, by the way) rather than not his not wanting to accomodate us (which brings us back to that period of time HAL's dining room was apparently understaffed?). And I would never expect him to "bump" someone away from their already assigned table to accomodate our wishes. It was his lack of reply that irked us the most. Even if you can't accomodate our request, at least TELL us you can't!

[sail7seas]

I would feel the same way as you, Beav, if I felt the Maitre d' did not have the courtesy to at least respond. He certainly should have spoken with you and at least apologized for not being able to accomodate your request. That is simple courtesy.

 

Do you recall who the Maitre d' was?

[BEAV]

Do you recall who the Maitre d' was?

 

Too many cruises ago combined with too much San Francisco fog clouding my memory!!

[dougnewmanatsea]

Seabourn, RSSC & Oceania are the lines I am looking to now. Since 1975 I have taken a cruise in February

No Silversea - considering their re-emphasized Italian heritage?

 

13 cruises & 340 days on board ROTTERDAM V.

That works out to 26 days per cruise!

 

Did you get my e-mail with PRINSENDAM photos?

[Esme]

.

 

The beauty of the sea will have me return to a ship again & again - unfortunately the Rotterdam V & its Ocean Bar are of days gone by. Oh if people knew those days they certainly would understand.

 

Oh, I remember those days sitting in the Ocean Bar by the window watching the beauty of the sea. If only we could bring back the "old gir" and relive the wonderful cruises we had on her, especially when I celebrated one of my "big" birthdays. Best cruise I ever had.

 

We didn't do as many cruises/days as you did Stephen, only 7 cruises for 64 days, but we loved that ship. :)

[dogsdogs]

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