Rotterdam refurbishment

[Hlitner]

Hotel NY is my favorite restaurant in town , hotel is great too .

We should have dinner on board next april/may !

Jaap

 

 

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You find us on HAL next April/May as we are on the Golden Princess (Singapore to Vancouver).

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Wow again :eek:

 

What the heck happened to this ship since April/May?

 

Such a change in a few short months and yours is the second report of this :eek:

 

What a shame. :( Hope you two are ok.

 

And that would be the BIG question. We were appalled at the condition of the Rotterdam on our August VOV cruise...and posted some of the issues here on CC. When talking (quietly) with one senior crew member it was suggested that many problems were considered "deferred maintenance" and would be resolved during the recently completed drydock. But when one has a systemic program of neglect it is hard to overcome all the problems during a routine drydock. This has honestly created a minor dilemma for DW and myself. We do really enjoy the smaller (and older) HAL vessels but also have some major issues with maintenance and entertainment. While we plan on cruising HAL in the future, we are cutting back on our HAL bookings. As of now, we do not have a single HAL cruise booked before March of 2019 and our 100+ cruise days per year will be on other lines.

 

Yes, both DW and I do really enjoy HAL. But we just refuse to accept faulty A/C, faulty plumbing, buckets arrayed around a ship to capture leaks, etc. While I would agree that those kind of things can often be ignored or minimized, we have started to wonder if a line that allows such problems in passenger areas also neglects the more important systems below passenger decks. Unlike some HAL fans who exclusively cruise on HAL, we go on many different lines and do not see these kind of things on other vessels. If there is a pipe leak on most cruise lines it is fixed within a few hours....not left to drip for days (or weeks) like we saw on the Rotterdam. We do understand that maintaining older ships presents many challenges, but HAL is a classy line that should be capable of rising to the challenge.

 

And I have a question for anyone on the Rotterdam. Are there still towels arrayed at the bottom of some of the large windows in the Crows Nest?

 

Hank

[iancal]

It is what happens when you defer routine preventative maintenance on an ongoing basis for an extended period of time.

 

I call it cheating the customer. HAL cheerleaders like to ignore it and pretend that it is not so. Just like the family alcoholic.

 

There will be a tipping point at some juncture. We have spoken to TA's who recommend alternate cruise lines/ships. They tend to phrase it 'you will be much happier on a newer ship'. There is a lot of truth in that-for us.

[rkacruiser]

What thinking is missing in the Executive Suites of Carnival Corporation and Holland America?

 

My 2009 Buick LaCrosse requires more servicing and repairs than it did in 2014. Why would a far more complex of a mechanical vehicle as a cruise ship not require more servicing as she becomes more mature?

 

Dry docks are too short to accomplish what truly needs to be done for the best guest experience. I have NO doubt that the dry docks do meet the legal requirements that MUST be met for the ship's continued operation.

[rotjeknor]

What thinking is missing in the Executive Suites of Carnival Corporation and Holland America?

 

My 2009 Buick LaCrosse requires more servicing and repairs than it did in 2014. Why would a far more complex of a mechanical vehicle as a cruise ship not require more servicing as she becomes more mature?

 

Dry docks are too short to accomplish what truly needs to be done for the best guest experience. I have NO doubt that the dry docks do meet the legal requirements that MUST be met for the ship's continued operation.

 

 

 

On the other hand , when you book on an older ship you can not expect it to be as perfect as a brand new ship . Just like your older car , it will have some dents and scratches.

But new ships have defects too , remember the troubles on a few Carnival ships in the past years. Far worse than non functioning toilets .

 

You may call me a HAL cheerleader but I am not blind to certain defects etc. It seems to me that people want everything to be brandnew and perfect all the time and without any faults . Accept the reality and make the best of it . And no , I don’t like overflowing toilets ( on a Volendam cruise ) or non working AC ( Ryndam ) or too hot water in the shower (Rotterdam ) either , but it was all fixed swiftly and at no cost , try that at home [emoji6] , and usually with chocolate strawberries as a small compensation for the troubles .

 

Friends of ours have experienced similar mechanical troubles on Celebrity and Oceanea . I guess it happens everywhere , if you go thru other forums , you will notice that .

As long as we don’t hit an iceberg .....

 

 

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[rotjeknor]

For legal requirements , only adaptions necesarry to meet SOLAS or health inspections are done or needed. As long as a vessel is compliant , a drydock is not needed or required by law.

What they usually do is upgrades , repairs / maintenance that can not be done while sailing e.g. scraping of the hull and painting below the waterline.

 

Anything that can be done while sailing and thus making money is done onboard . That can be a nuisance , hammering , welding , scraping , sanding , painting etc. On the other hand , we like a ship without rust and seawater and air is not exactly favorable to paint .

I heard pax complaining about painting being done on the Volendam as well as the same people saying that they thought the ship looked tired because of some rust visible ....

 

 

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[iancal]

...overflowing toilets (Volendam), non working A/C (Ryndam)....all fixed at no cost.

 

How generous of HAL to do this and not charge you!

 

And some strawberries for your inconvenience. Classy cruise line.

[rotjeknor]

...overflowing toilets (Volendam), non working A/C (Ryndam)....all fixed at no cost.

 

 

 

How generous of HAL to do this and not charge you!

 

 

 

That was meant mockingly , in the context of the rest ....

 

 

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[Cruizer Bill]

I have been told that HAL brought in their top Plummer and has gotten our hot water working well now. The hot water in our cabin and those we know works perfectly now.

[kazu]

I have been told that HAL brought in their top Plummer and has gotten our hot water working well now. The hot water in our cabin and those we know works perfectly now.

Encouraging news Bill!

 

Too bad they hadn't brought that person in much earlier when the issues started on previous voyages.

 

I hope the rest of your cruise and ship are much improved at the very least.

[luvtwotrvl]

I have been told that HAL brought in their top Plummer and has gotten our hot water working well now. The hot water in our cabin and those we know works perfectly now.

 

 

Excellent Bill! Write them UP!:D

 

 

David

[iancal]

Maybe HAL can get that 'top' plumber on some of their other ships to fix their respective plumbing systems. It would be great to have hot water, working toilets, and functioning A/C all at the same time.

 

Imagine if someone paid top dollar for a Neptune suite and had to put up with that nonsense. It would try anyone's patience.

Edited November 16, 2017 by iancal

[aamons]

Interesting!

Trying to push the pay for laundry?

[Cruising-along]

Trying to push the pay for laundry?

 

It's all in the $$, Al. ;)

Other cruise lines like Celebrity don't have self-laundries on any of their ships. At least HAL has a more reasonable laundry option for all passengers that doesn't cost $50 for a paper bag of laundry. :D First it was the wine policy, now laundry -- just catching up to the other lines, I guess.

[iancal]

Last time we were on Celebrity we paid $20. for a bag of laundry.

 

But really it would not matter to us if it was $50. We view it as a small cost in order for us to travel with carry on only.

 

Our last two Princess ships had a laundry which we used since both cruises were smack in the middle of extended land trips.

 

We paid $20 for a bag of laundry on our last RCI cruise.

 

In all cases though it was not folded, and ironed. Just folded.

[Cruising-along]

Last time we were on Celebrity we paid $20. for a bag of laundry.

 

.

 

 

 

We just made Select on our last Celebrity cruise. I believe now we're eligible for the $20 bag once during cruises of 12 days or longer, correct? Up until now we were told our only choice was pay by the piece. On 4 cruises on X there were never any specials either.

Thankful to be 4-star now with free laundry on HAL. [emoji846]

 

 

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[iancal]

We do not pay much attention to the cost of a bag of laundry when we select a cruise line. We feel the same with some other common cruise line attributes like discounts on premium dining venues. They are certainly worth something to us however after itinerary, the ship and the price are the primary points of comparison for us.

[Cruising-along]

We do not pay much attention to the cost of a bag of laundry when we select a cruise line. We feel the same with some other common cruise line attributes like discounts on premium dining venues. They are certainly worth something to us however after itinerary, the ship and the price are the primary points of comparison for us.

 

 

 

Of course. Obviously we wouldn't have gone on to several more cruises on X if we thought laundry was a deal breaker.

OP, very sorry for derailing your thread. I want to thank you again for posting the updates on the Rotterdam.

 

 

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Edited November 16, 2017 by Cruising-along

[Georgeny]

Wow!

 

We were just on the Nieuw Amsterdam and they offered a $20 bag of laundry deal or a $45 unlimited laundry deal. As we did part road trip to Carolina and then flight to Florida we did some odds and ends on 1 bag deal all came out well. They even hung up undershirts though I expected folded. Lack of self service not to bad as long as some alternative reasonable priced exists.

 

George in NY

[aamons]

It's all in the $$, Al. ;)

Other cruise lines like Celebrity don't have self-laundries on any of their ships. At least HAL has a more reasonable laundry option for all passengers that doesn't cost $50 for a paper bag of laundry. :D First it was the wine policy, now laundry -- just catching up to the other lines, I guess.

We chose to use the self serve laundry on the Veendam. May have to change on Rotterdam - but I think we will get it free.

[Georgeny]

It's all in the $$, Al. ;)

Other cruise lines like Celebrity don't have self-laundries on any of their ships. At least HAL has a more reasonable laundry option for all passengers that doesn't cost $50 for a paper bag of laundry. :D First it was the wine policy, now laundry -- just catching up to the other lines, I guess.

 

We were told on our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise that the HA line was incorporated into the Carnival whatever Division that includes Princess, apparently divisions within Carnival Corp. And that the head of that was intending to bring HA more in line with Princess standards and services. I would take that to mean more in line with monetizing areas more. we like Princess but recent new ships Royal and Regal disappointed in design severely cutting balcony width and moving spa and pay for areas into atrium for more traction. Let's face it, no matter what the line it's all corporate bean counter work now. We will cruise less and eventually stop if continues. We are hopeful a new line family owned will start up in future. That's how Celebrity started after all as a bigger better end of Chandris family a Greek shipping family. Hence the X which is Greek C. Then of course RCL bought it :(

 

George in NY

[rotjeknor]

We were told on our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise that the HA line was incorporated into the Carnival whatever Division that includes Princess, apparently divisions within Carnival Corp. And that the head of that was intending to bring HA more in line with Princess standards and services. I would take that to mean more in line with monetizing areas more. we like Princess but recent new ships Royal and Regal disappointed in design severely cutting balcony width and moving spa and pay for areas into atrium for more traction. Let's face it, no matter what the line it's all corporate bean counter work now. We will cruise less and eventually stop if continues. We are hopeful a new line family owned will start up in future. That's how Celebrity started after all as a bigger better end of Chandris family a Greek shipping family. Hence the X which is Greek C. Then of course RCL bought it :(

 

 

 

George in NY

 

 

 

Luckily Celebrity does not do what Chandris did .... they had quite a bad reputation in the shipping business . Maybe you remember the story about the Australis /SS America / Italis in 1978

[Cruizer Bill]

We just got back from our excursion to Stingray City and snorkeling the Barrier Reef and on our bed was a letter from HAL. They said they are apologizing for the inconveniences we had on our cruise and they are giving us our choice of $450 OBC this cruise of a future cruise credit of $900!!!!!! Since we cruise HAL often, we chose the future cruise credit.

Is this great or what? The only inconvenience we had was a stopped up toilet a couple of days and cold showers a couple of other days. I believe others had much worse things happen tha us but as far as I am concerned, I wish this would happen every cruise!

[rotjeknor]

Wow ! Great deal .

Do you have any pics you can post ?

 

 

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[luvtwotrvl]

We just got back from our excursion to Stingray City and snorkeling the Barrier Reef and on our bed was a letter from HAL. They said they are apologizing for the inconveniences we had on our cruise and they are giving us our choice of $450 OBC this cruise of a future cruise credit of $900!!!!!! Since we cruise HAL often, we chose the future cruise credit.

Is this great or what? The only inconvenience we had was a stopped up toilet a couple of days and cold showers a couple of other days. I believe others had much worse things happen tha us but as far as I am concerned, I wish this would happen every cruise!

 

 

Nice! You have another cruise in the making?

 

David