Maasdam - yea or nay?

[iancal]

HAL's President may expect to get 30 years out of a ship and that is just fine. Good luck to him/her.

 

We however are not about to risk our vacation time and our travel dollars on any older ship, any cruise line, and on one that appears to have ongoing, albeit intermittent, reports of AC or plumbing issues.

 

Not to mention lack of amenities and choice of dining venues that we prefer.

[OlsSalt]

HAL's President may expect to get 30 years out of a ship and that is just fine. Good luck to him/her.

 

We however are not about to risk our vacation time and our travel dollars on any older ship, any cruise line, and on one that appears to have ongoing, albeit intermittent, reports of AC or plumbing issues.

 

Not to mention lack of amenities and choice of dining venues that we prefer.

 

Nor should you risk your vacation dollar on these ships. They do not work for you. No argument.

[MMDown Under]

HAL's President may expect to get 30 years out of a ship and that is just fine. Good luck to him/her.

We however are not about to risk our vacation time and our travel dollars on any older ship, any cruise line, and on one that appears to have ongoing, albeit intermittent, reports of AC or plumbing issues.

 

I agree. I decided against a Maasdam South Pacific cruise, with an excellent itinerary, last year for those very reasons.

 

I chose a shorter more expensive cruise on Azamara Journey instead and was pleased with my choice, despite the expense.

 

When we cruised on Celebrity Century in NZ, we were asked by a young couple on a HAL ship about the entertainment on our ship. They were so disappointed with the lack of entertainment on their ship.

 

You really have to do your homework and decide what would work best for you and your elderly relatives. I would listen to my instinct.

[erewhon]

I agree. I decided against a Maasdam South Pacific cruise, with an excellent itinerary, last year for those very reasons.

 

I chose a shorter more expensive cruise on Azamara Journey instead and was pleased with my choice, despite the expense.

 

When we cruised on Celebrity Century in NZ, we were asked by a young couple on a HAL ship about the entertainment on our ship. They were so disappointed with the lack of entertainment on their ship.

 

You really have to do your homework and decide what would work best for you and your elderly relatives. I would listen to my instinct.

We did do the South Pacific cruise and everything on the ship was fine. No issues at all.

[ShyannDay]

HAL's President may expect to get 30 years out of a ship and that is just fine. Good luck to him/her.

 

We however are not about to risk our vacation time and our travel dollars on any older ship, any cruise line, and on one that appears to have ongoing, albeit intermittent, reports of AC or plumbing issues.

 

Not to mention lack of amenities and choice of dining venues that we prefer.

 

 

I agree. There are just too many downsides. I am going to rebook something else this week. I appreciate your input.

[ShyannDay]

I agree. I decided against a Maasdam South Pacific cruise, with an excellent itinerary, last year for those very reasons.

 

I chose a shorter more expensive cruise on Azamara Journey instead and was pleased with my choice, despite the expense.

 

When we cruised on Celebrity Century in NZ, we were asked by a young couple on a HAL ship about the entertainment on our ship. They were so disappointed with the lack of entertainment on their ship.

 

You really have to do your homework and decide what would work best for you and your elderly relatives. I would listen to my instinct.

 

I appreciate hearing from you on this. Thank you for your perspective. I am going to cancel and book something else.

[ShyannDay]

We did do the South Pacific cruise and everything on the ship was fine. No issues at all.

 

Happy that that worked out for you!

[OlsSalt]

Happy that that worked out for you!

 

Maasdam still works for a lot of people, who know accept what they are getting into with this more vintage and beloved HAL ship, who can balance what she still offers, which is still quite wonderful in many aspects. Appreciate she still retains many sentimental fans, even more so since she now gets such great itineraries so many other cruise lines do not offer.

 

As a new HAL cruiser, the consensus is correct this would not a good ship for you due to your stated circumstances. You made the right choice. You were smart to check this out up front for your own needs.

[JimnKaren]

I have faith. I will be on Maasdam for the 28-day Inca Empires. I expect to have a good cruise.

 

My thoughts are with the OP and her choice for getting into the New England area on a cruise ship.

 

Jim

[kftw]

I have faith too. We will be on the Maasdam 48 days this coming spring & we're looking forward to it.

[Cruise_More_Often]

We are also doing one of the unique 21-day Alaska cruises on her in 2019 and don't anticipate any problems. She is our favorite ship.

[LewiLewi]

Not sure why you want to be talked into taking this cruise. You know what you want, you have done your homework and it is unlikely the Maasdam will be right for you. Always say HAL ships work best for the self-contained passenger who basically likes to be left alone.

 

It is our experience that HAL passengers pay more attention to where they are going than what they are going to be doing on the ship itself. And that is often why they are early to bed people - tried from having visited a port or getting to bed early to be up for the next one.

 

We also experienced heavy vibrations on our last Maasdam cruise which is also something that would not be a happy experience when you are comparing this ship to your other cruise experiences. Not sure it this got fixed or if it was a factor of location, but it was on the Navigation (Neptune) deck. My vote - don't take this Maasdam cruise. She is a very lovely ship and long been one of our favorites, but all the drawbacks you noted will not make this a good choice for you and your own prior cruise expectations.

 

Thanks for coming here to get this feedback. I think the overall experiene would also stress you out too much if you felt you had to be responsible for this particular cruise ship choice. Stick with what you know so you too can have a nice vacation.

 

There is a youtube video showing the vibrations on the Maasdam in Sept. 17, 2017.

After viewing this, we are cancelling our reservation on this ship. Check it out " MS Maasdam Vibration".

[pmjnh]

We just booked a 21 day Maasdam cruise to Alaska in 2019 and looking forward to it.

 

We sailed on the Ryndam just before she was sold to P&O and there were no problems , even though she was tired. There was one plumbing leak that affected some cabins. I am confident that HAL would not put her out to sea if there was any questionable threats to guests and crew.

[kazu]

We would not consider booking a cruise on any ship that a cruise line has up for sale. Especially if that ship is 20 years old and most especially if it has been on the auction block for an extended period of time.

 

Well, we have booked the Prinsendam and just did final payment. The ship will be nearly 30 years old when we sail. I've been on the ship for several sailings and while I was nervous the first time before I got on, I have no hesitation to step on board again and, in fact, very much looking forward to it.

 

Age means nothing if it was a quality built ship and well cared for.

 

You might be surprised if you asked how old the airplane is that you are trusting you to get where you need to go ;)

[OlsSalt]

There is a youtube video showing the vibrations on the Maasdam in Sept. 17, 2017.

After viewing this, we are cancelling our reservation on this ship. Check it out " MS Maasdam Vibration".

 

That would have been the cruise we were on - quite punishing since it never let up. Have not heard anything before or after that particular cruise and wondered whether it was the route, the weather or the speed we had to make up to get to the Panama Canal in time, after dodging hurricanes ever since we left Boston and until it finally got to San Diego to start its 'world cruise". Strange times, considering how many days we have been on the Maasdam in the past.

 

I believe we were hitting a steady 20 knots per hour - obviously out of her league. But we had to divert the expected route a lot too because of the various hurricane paths we kept crossing. Captain admitted this cruise was a 7 on a scale of 10 in difficulty. But what a lovely ship and what a lovely cabin we finally had.

[beaniele]

I am really reconsidering our 3 weeks in Alaska in 2019. We are in a Neptune Suite and it is a lot of money. I heard the Maasdam might be going to dry dock??

 

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[freestyling]

We have booked the Massy for a 38 day Pacific Treasures cruise March 2019. She has a upcoming drydock. This was the 1st HAL ship we sailed and enjoy it. We have been blessed with no major issues. This will be our 5th time on her.

[iancal]

Age is not the big issue for us. It's condition and amenities. And I do not mean water slides or ice rinks.

[JimnKaren]

Been on Statendam (gone), Ryndam (gone), Veendam (2 times this year), Amsterdam (14 days in Alaska) and Maasdam. Love that size ship. Really enjoy the crews who work there. When asked about other ships, the crew members who I have talked with don't care for the larger ships. Under 1500 passengers is fine with us.

 

Again, we cruise the itinerary, not the ship. However, our upcoming 28 days to Lima and back to San Diego will be wonderful.

 

Jim

[ShyannDay]

Age is not the big issue for us. It's condition and amenities. And I do not mean water slides or ice rinks.

 

Exactly!

[ShyannDay]

Been on Statendam (gone), Ryndam (gone), Veendam (2 times this year), Amsterdam (14 days in Alaska) and Maasdam. Love that size ship. Really enjoy the crews who work there. When asked about other ships, the crew members who I have talked with don't care for the larger ships. Under 1500 passengers is fine with us.

 

Again, we cruise the itinerary, not the ship. However, our upcoming 28 days to Lima and back to San Diego will be wonderful.

 

I would love to be on the smaller ships. That's why I initially booked Maasdam. However, you say you "cruise the itinerary, not the ship", but to me they go hand in hand. I'm on the ship 85-90% of the time. I want the ship to be in good working order and I want the amenities I'm paying for. I can't separate the two.

[ShyannDay]

I am really reconsidering our 3 weeks in Alaska in 2019. We are in a Neptune Suite and it is a lot of money. I heard the Maasdam might be going to dry dock??

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

I hope someone can answer this question. It would be nice to know when.

[OlsSalt]

I would love to be on the smaller ships. That's why I initially booked Maasdam. However, you say you "cruise the itinerary, not the ship", but to me they go hand in hand. I'm on the ship 85-90% of the time. I want the ship to be in good working order and I want the amenities I'm paying for. I can't separate the two.

 

You present an interesting math challenge. Not sure if you are on the 7 day or 14 -Canada New England cruise but they are all very port intensive, virtually no sea days, so the math works out pretty much the same:

 

336 hours - 14 day cruise - 8 hours in port, 8 hours sleeping x 14 days = 224 hours off ship or lights out on the ship

leaves 8 hours a day to be at the mercy of the Maasdam amenities or lack of amenities

 

168 hours - 7 day cruise - 8 hours in port, 8 hours sleeping x 7 days = 112 hours off ship or lights out on the ship

leaves 8 hours a day to be at the mercy of the Maasdam amenities or lack of amenities.

 

No bargain whatsoever, if you think those 8 hours a day, every day you will be miserable. We certainly had 24/7 vibrations on our last Maasdam cruise, so it could happen even if you can sleep through at least 8 of those hours this like we did.

[joekerstef]

I hope someone can answer this question. It would be nice to know when.

looks like 1-9 September 2018, prior to beginning the EXC cruise schedule.

 

I have three weeks scheduled on Maasdam this year and next and I'm very much looking forward to it. Personally, I love the ship. However, reading through the thread, I understand your hesitation, it doesn't seem like it is a ship that meets your needs well, and you've undoubtedly made a good decision to cancel. I hope you find something nice to replace that cruise on a ship that better meets your expectations. happy sailing!

[Alphen]

looks like 1-9 September 2018, prior to beginning the EXC cruise schedule.

 

 

Dock schedule has been confirmed by Copper John and also when talking to HAL people on a holiday fair yesterday. The only special thing they could mention, is that she would be fitted with the Exec update, including the same features Westerdam received in the Crows Nest. No mentioning of expedition like features with Zodiacs!