Maasdam Review 11-05-05 Part I

[jbhcw]

Finally getting around to posting my review, have been so busy since we got back that I have just not had time to get it done. Now I can start working on getting the photos on-line! I am doing this in two parts as it's more than 10,000 words.

 

 

MY REVIEW OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND ELEGANT MAASDAM

November 5, 2005

Part I

After 18 months of waiting, researching and anticipating our first HAL cruise we were finally down to the day before the cruise, and I had a terrible cold! Went to the doctor and loaded up on medicine to take with us. Didn’t feel well at all, first cold of the year and it has to be the day before we leave! Oh well, all I can think about is getting on the ship and baking my cold out by the Maasdam pool.

 

We live in the northern Piedmont section of North Carolina, about a 3-4 hour drive to Norfolk. I booked this cruise through an on-line agency; we got a great price on a category B cabin on the Veranda deck.

 

We traveled from NC to Virginia with three other couples in a large van. We pulled a trailer behind us with about 20 pieces of luggage, we all over packed! When we pulled up to the Nauticas where the ship was docked we unloaded all the luggage and two of the men in our party took the vehicle to the Cedar Grove Parking lot and took the shuttle back which took about 30-45 minutes. There is a covered tent walkway and large tented area where the HAL reps check you in using laptops, which they also used to take your picture. We were than handed our welcome aboard packet and proceeded to the area where they take the embarkation picture, and then it was out the door and up the gangway and onto the ship. The whole process was very pleasant and quick.

 

I’m not sure what time we boarded but do know it was before 1:00 p.m. as we could not go to our cabins. We grabbed an elevator and went to the Lido Deck for lunch. They had someone there checking our carry-on bags for us right as you walk onto the Lido. I thought that was a good idea and a nice touch. Carrying a large pocketbook and a very full roll-on (Wine) gets old quickly. We all found a large table on the inside, ate lunch and started to relax, we had made it onto the ship!

 

After lunch we retrieved our carry-ons and headed down to our cabin, 158 on the Veranda Deck. We met our cabin steward, Topo. He did an outstanding job taking care of us, almost anticipating our needs, but he always looked a little tired and or worried to me. He was very pleasant though and showed signs of being a little happier at the end of the cruise when we left our unused Pepsi and Jim Beam for him.

 

Our cabin was nice, especially the veranda as it is much bigger than the verandas on Carnival’s ships. The chairs and table on the veranda are much nicer than Carnival’s. There is plenty of storage space in these cabins. I especially liked the area above the TV where you could store your alcohol, wine, soda, water and glasses. This leaves the desk area clean for other things.

 

We set out to explore the ship as we always do and have our first drink of the cruise, which was a great Cosmopolitan in the Ocean Bar. We also found our table in the dining room, #46 upper level, early 5:45. More on this later.

 

All of our luggage came early and we were completely unpacked with luggage stowed under the beds by the time we went to dinner.

 

Life boat drill was fairly painless and another difference in HAL, after 14 cruises this was the first cruise that our names were called out and checked off.

 

Sail away was very nice with tables set up on the aft deck with bartenders serving drinks and also serving small munchies, crackers, etc. It was cool, and we wore our jackets the 30 minutes or so that we were on deck. There are concessions to cruising close to home. I absolutely love going from cold to warm on a cruise and usually we leave out of Florida so sail away is usually warm, but not to worry it was warm by the next day on the Maasdam. Not sure how this port would be to sail out of in January and February

though.

 

One of the reasons I have not done a review before now is that I needed time to think about our dining experience on the Maasdam. I do know this is absolutely not the norm but still we experienced it and I am still wondering exactly what the problem was. Waiter will remain unnamed. Our Assistant Waiter, Ferdous, was wonderful with a good personality to go along with all of his hard work.

 

The first night was very disorganized, our waiter was either overworked, inexperienced, having his own problems or perhaps he took a dislike to our table. I don’t know. Coffee was requested to be served along with our water. After 45 minutes and several requests by one in our party, he finally got up to find the Maitre d. When coffee finally did arrive, hot coffee was spilled on my husband’s arm, with no apology. We all laughed about the disorganization of the first night but it only got worse as the days went by. Our waiter did not in 9 days, put a napkin on anyone’s lap, give ladies the menu first, or take our order first. He did not speak, but just came around and took everyone’s order. He repeatedly gave the wrong item whether it was an appetizer, salad, soup, or entrée to the wrong person. This was our 15th cruise and I have never seen the waiters get confused as to who ordered what, it’s amazing but they always get it right, except for this time.

 

After the second night the Second Maitre d. placed a pot of coffee at our table and left it there, which was great for the coffee drinkers. We noticed him filling in at our table and a few other tables, taking dessert orders, bringing after dinner coffees, etc. About three days into the cruise we talked with the second Maitre d. about our service, we thanked him for making the extra effort he obviously was making to serve our table, and gave him a small mid-cruise tip. We also did the same for our Assistant Waiter and Waiter. We usually do this on a cruise, just to let them know we appreciate their service. We did not want to leave the waiter out of this so we did include him. There was no difference in service, waiter terrible, assistant waiter and the Maitre d. great, but running their behinds off waiting on all of the tables.

 

One night cutlery was dropped in my lap, no apology. I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable at dinner, we discussed this and decided to just let it go as we thought maybe he was just overworked, even though our assistant waiter was always moving at full speed but always had time for a smile. What made us realize how really bad our service had been was lunch on the 9th day of the cruise in the dining room. We met our fellow cruise mates for lunch in the dining room for the first time and the level of service just blew me away. What a complete total difference, smiles, greetings, napkins in laps, women given menus first, orders served correctly, just great service. After that lunch we went downstairs to the Purser’s Office and asked to speak to a supervisor. We wanted to check on how the auto-tipping worked. We were told if we withheld the waiter’s tip it would just reduce everyone’s tips. We decided to leave the tips as they were. The supervisor helping us asked us to give her some details on what was wrong, she suddenly got very serious and asked if she could take notes. We told her some of the problems but asked that she not let this waiter know we had complained. Hopefully, by letting them know there were serious problems at this table it could be addressed and the next group of passengers would have better service. She assured us that our wishes would be met.

 

We left feeling a little better, at least we had let them know there was a problem and hopefully it would be addressed. Well guess what happens at dinner that night. Here comes the wine steward with a bottle of wine for us, then here comes the head Maitre d. to the table apologizing, telling us the waiter is having personal problems. We are now trying to crawl under the table as our tablemates did not know we had complained. Then the crowning touch was the waiter coming over to my husband and apologizing to him for spilling coffee on him, and you could really tell he was not happy having to do this. Anyway we were very embarrassed and upset by the attention when we had been assured this would not be done. We visited the same supervisor the next day to tell her we wished she had not done that and were told it had to be done, which even made us feel worse about the whole situation. I was so upset by the whole dining room issue that we did not go to dinner the last night in the dinning room, but went to the Lido instead. This was the first time in 15 cruises we have missed the last night. All I can say is I hope whatever issues this waiter had have been resolved. Even though we missed our last night in the dining room the Lido was very nice and the food great. We got to have some alone time during dinner and I actually enjoyed it being just the two of us. Sorry to go on and on about this but it was really an unprecedented happening for us in our cruise experience.

[kryos]

Sadly, I agree with the woman in the purser's office. Something had to be done. This waiter could have a history of problems and maybe he shouldn't even be on a ship.

 

I have NEVER in my life had the service issues you detail ... on ANY SHIP. True, any waiter can forget an appetizer or get the orders mixed up. That's fine and easily fixable. But this waiter clearly had an attitude ... an attitude that made it impossible for him to perform the duties of his job. That kind of thing has to be addressed.

 

I wouldn't be embarrassed at all. In fact, I would be proud of myself for taking the trouble to get the issues resolved. You tried to resolve the problems lower down the chain of command, but obviously that didn't help. So, you escalated the problem to someone in authority who could perhaps help. That's a good thing.

 

People pay a lot of money for their cruises, as you very well know from being a cruiser yourself. They have a right to expect great service and while anyone can make a slip-up, this particular waiter clearly had much more serious issues.

 

You've possibly saved future passengers from becoming a part of whatever ails the poor guy. Maybe he's having problems at home, or with his health. Your complaint could have alerted HAL to that fact, and maybe they can do something to help him resolve those issues that are clearly impacting his ability to do an adequate job.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[nktwinpeaks]

Jane,

Believe it or not, we were at Table 46 at 8pm seating on Nov. 5th Maasdam cruise and I can assure you the service was just as poor for us as it was for you and your tablemates. Assistant was adorable but waiter was exactly as you described--absolutely NO effort to be friendly, never told us his name, twice neglected to take the order of one of our group and no apology either time. We also left the tips in place so others would not be affected. Definitely a far cry from Nov.2004 Maasdam dining experience. We ate in Pinnacle two nights, HUGE difference in service.

Janet