Zaandam needs some help

[dogo88]

We were on the May 7 Zaandam voyage and it was excellent. I was surprised that the towels were rough, but they were clean. And besides, a little dermabrasion can’t hurt! We certainly were not repulsed.

 

Our room stewards were thorough, pleasant and professional. Our rooms were made up promptly and the ice bucket was filled twice a day. We were on the Promenade deck aft, an excellent location for deck access.

 

The dining room food and service at breakfast and dinner ranged from good to excellent; Pinnacle Grill lunch was off the charts good. Dive In burgers and dogs were good, but finding a seat by the Lido pool was a challenge. It did take 15-20 minutes to receive our order, but the Dive In staff was slammed. I can’t comment on the Lido food because it seems like eating in an ant farm, with worse manners.

 

We did have issues with our toilet not flushing, but it was eventually fixed and we were rewarded with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a $200 shipboard credit by the very pleasant guest relations staff.

 

All in all, an excellent cruise on a beautiful, if older, ship. We were grateful to be on this boyage. Cheers.

 

Our experience on the same cruise was similar. Actually was surprised at how well everything went.

Lido is always a crap shoot. Sometimes not crowded and all is ok. Other times you run into the hungry mob. But we had an excellent time.

 

Dan

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Original poster here. Thank you for everyone's thoughtful and helpful observations and responses. We did not use a comment card, ie "How are we doing?" Our cabin stewards neglected to place one in our room. Rather than rely on the Navigator app to report our concerns, I spoke with the housekeeping supervisor for our section directly in person, who subsequently came to our cabin with one of our cabin stewards to discuss our issues. I think we had a good 3-way discussion, and the cabin service this evening was much improved. We have laundry bags and lists, and have been promised assiduous attention in this regard for the remainder of our cruise. We shall see. Such is the stuff of high seas drama!

 

The Explorations Cafe has discovered their stache of coffee cup lids, and so we are able to get coffee- to- go with lids. Equilibrium is restored, and the world is once again turning on its axis. We have no complaints with the Lido and main dining room. We are enjoying our cruise, as you can see if you follow along with my sister at twocruisingsisters.WordPress.com

[dogo88]

Original poster here. Thank you for everyone's thoughtful and helpful observations and responses. We did not use a comment card, ie "How are we doing?" Our cabin stewards neglected to place one in our room. Rather than rely on the Navigator app to report our concerns, I spoke with the housekeeping supervisor for our section directly in person, who subsequently came to our cabin with one of our cabin stewards to discuss our issues. I think we had a good 3-way discussion, and the cabin service this evening was much improved. We have laundry bags and lists, and have been promised assiduous attention in this regard for the remainder of our cruise. We shall see. Such is the stuff of high seas drama!

 

The Explorations Cafe has discovered their stache of coffee cup lids, and so we are able to get coffee- to- go with lids. Equilibrium is restored, and the world is once again turning on its axis. We have no complaints with the Lido and main dining room. We are enjoying our cruise, as you can see if you follow along with my sister at twocruisingsisters.WordPress.com

 

One thing we noticed on our cruise just before yours, that there was a very large number of new employees arrived when our cruise started on 5/7. We did experience some lack of training and the usual lack of task knowledge on many. Obviously that isn't an excuse but there were growing pains with this new staff.

 

Good to hear things getting back to normal.

 

Dan

[Cruising-along]

Original poster here. Thank you for everyone's thoughtful and helpful observations and responses. We did not use a comment card, ie "How are we doing?" Our cabin stewards neglected to place one in our room. Rather than rely on the Navigator app to report our concerns, I spoke with the housekeeping supervisor for our section directly in person, who subsequently came to our cabin with one of our cabin stewards to discuss our issues. I think we had a good 3-way discussion, and the cabin service this evening was much improved. We have laundry bags and lists, and have been promised assiduous attention in this regard for the remainder of our cruise. We shall see. Such is the stuff of high seas drama!

 

The Explorations Cafe has discovered their stache of coffee cup lids, and so we are able to get coffee- to- go with lids. Equilibrium is restored, and the world is once again turning on its axis. We have no complaints with the Lido and main dining room. We are enjoying our cruise, as you can see if you follow along with my sister at twocruisingsisters.WordPress.com

 

Thank you for the update, I'm happy to hear that things have improved!!

[bluegiraffe]

May I respectfully ask why you did not ask for a meeting with the Guest Relations Manager?

 

Why do you assume we didn't? He/she was "busy" per the front desk staff. At some point you just want to try to enjoy your cruise, rather than deal with bad attitudes from unhelpful staff. That attitude was surprising to me; I haven't encountered it at HAL before.

[summer slope]

We were on the May 7-14 cruise, and like others had a fabulous time. Loved the excursions and the library was wonderful...full of light and lots of exchange books. We had a problem with a banging noise in our stateroom, constant noise. Called down and a workman came immediately and fixed it. Received a bottle of wine for our discomfort. Found the ship and service to be as "I" expect on a cruise. Had a wonderful time with great fellow passengers. To the OP, I too, am sorry you had a rough beginning.

[rkacruiser]

Old As Dirt Mom: I am glad to know that your cruise is now going better. Speaking to someone in management, if it is needed, often helps.

 

I am watching the Zaandam docked in one of my favorite Alaskan ports this afternoon: Juneau. Despite the rain, I hope you enjoy your visit to this interesting city.

[AryMay]

We were on the May 7-14 cruise, and like others had a fabulous time. Loved the excursions and the library was wonderful...full of light and lots of exchange books. We had a problem with a banging noise in our stateroom, constant noise. Called down and a workman came immediately and fixed it. Received a bottle of wine for our discomfort. Found the ship and service to be as "I" expect on a cruise. Had a wonderful time with great fellow passengers. To the OP, I too, am sorry you had a rough beginning.

 

Just out of curiosity...which cabin were you in and how did they "fix" the problem?

 

I ask because we had a banging in our cabin (#3339) the last few days of our 23 day Panama Canal cruise on the Zaandam (April 14-May7). In our case, the banging appeared to be coming from the sprinkler head in the ceiling. A gal from guest services came to check and did agree there was something going on. The banging only happened when we were at sea so when they sent a crew to check it out on a port day they didn't find anything.

 

The banging continued the rest of the cruise but since it was just a few days, we didn't pursue the problem. No wine or other gifts given.

[summer slope]

Just out of curiosity...which cabin were you in and how did they "fix" the problem?

 

 

 

I ask because we had a banging in our cabin (#3339) the last few days of our 23 day Panama Canal cruise on the Zaandam (April 14-May7). In our case, the banging appeared to be coming from the sprinkler head in the ceiling. A gal from guest services came to check and did agree there was something going on. The banging only happened when we were at sea so when they sent a crew to check it out on a port day they didn't find anything.

 

 

 

The banging continued the rest of the cruise but since it was just a few days, we didn't pursue the problem. No wine or other gifts given.

 

 

 

It was coming from the section between the mirror and the door to the verandah. They put a shim in. Cabin 7041.

 

 

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