Maasdam Questions

[twoatsea]

DH & I just returned from the Westerdam & we absolutely loooved it, especially the Lido stations & times. Also it is so shiny & new looking - although it isn't brand new. And the crew was amazingly pleasant. We have also sailed on the Veendam, Volendam, Zaandam, & Maasdam (many years ago) - before the upgrades.

 

Currently, we are looking at a sailing on the Maasdam at the end of this month. Issue is that we are concerned with being disappointed in comparison to the Westerdam. However, the Maasdam price is very good for a 15 day trip; the Wdam is going to Alaska & we are sailing her to Alaska in July.

 

So my questions, please:

1. Being from Indiana, we cannot sleep when the cabin is too warm. Anyone know of any A/C problems on the Maasdam?

 

2. I have serious side effects from "smells", such as sewer smell. Has that problem been noted on the Maasdam?

 

3. Any other system problems reported, such as, toilet stoppage, electrical problems, etc?

 

4. Is the ship in good shape or does she need an overhaul?

 

5. Is the staff pleasant, as usually on HAL? Saw one review that said the staff was not - of course, that is one person's review.

 

6. I read that Maasdam has not had the upgrades. Does that mean the Lido food area does not have the various stations - wok, italian, deli, etc.?

 

7. Are the food times on the Lido as generous as on the Westerdam? We loooved the extended ice cream hours on the Wdam - DH said I would go into withdrawals upon returning home!:D

 

Would love info from you folks who have recently been on and/or know about the Maasdam. The price sale is good thru Friday (tomorrow - yikes!):eek:

 

Thanks in advance.:)

[Scrumpy]

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Maasdam was undergoing a dry dock and SOE immediately before your re-positioning cruise.

[iceman93]

That is correct, Scrumpy. And I can vouch that even before the dry dock that the Maasdam was in excellent shape. There were no electrical, plumbing, odor, or other problems on my cruise which ended a couple of weeks ago.

 

The staff was PHENOMENAL, perhaps the best we've seen on HAL. And even before the upgrades were completed, the Lido had the various stations and quite long hours. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on her again at all.

[obriendan]

The Maasdam is undergoing the SOE enhancements at the present time. We cruisesd on the Maasdam last August and found none of the problems you cite. We found the crew on the Maasdam to be typical of our other HAL cruises: Friendly and excellent. I think the food times on the Maasdam are the same as on the Westerdam.

[dwdowns]

Just off the Maasdam March 14, and we had no problems. The ship was excellent, the crew is absoulutely top of the line, and did not experience nor hear of any plumbing, electrical or odor issues. She is in drydock in the Bahamas getting the SOE upgrades right now. I am actually getting ready to book another trip on the Maasdam this fall.

[kruzin']

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Maasdam was undergoing a dry dock and SOE immediately before your re-positioning cruise.

:D :D I too am interested in the repositioning cruise but can you please tell me what anSOE is? I had cld HA today and the agent advised the ship had been updated in 2003 but made no mention of any recent updates.

[grannynurse]

The only concern you had that triggered my memory was the sewage smell. It was very obvious for the last 3 days of the cruise on the starboard side Navigation deck between midship and aft.

Hoprfully it's gone. It's usually due to a clog in the plumbing or the collection of gases in the drains. We had also noticed it on several decks on the Rotterdam the summer before.

GN

[May4]

Hi!

If you do decide to take the Maasdam repositioning cruise, April 28 - May 13, would you like to join the rollcall that Jemima started awhile back?

[Sayyadina]

Just got off the ship two days ago (wanna go back!!!) I don't know what room you are looking at; we were on the main deck almost at the front of the ship.

 

I thought the room was a bit warm at times, but also very chilly at others. The food was excellent. The service was fantastic. I have never seen any team work so well together; there were no 'holes' in their service. As for smells, we sometimes had some exhaust smells when we were in port, but only then. No electrical or plumbing problems.

 

The spa and Crow's Nest are totally being gutted as we speak and will be completely redone. They picked up 400 workers in Norfolk when we got off the ship and were going to pick up 500 more in Ft. Lauderdale, then on the way to drydock.

 

I would jump at this if the price is right.

[twoatsea]

Thank you everyone for your responses. So glad to hear all the positives about this ship. We were convinced - we booked the cruise today!!! :D

 

May4, thanks for the offer & we would be glad to join your rollcall, but.....went to the roll call forum & saw some posts for "Maasdam". What do we do to join? Also, what does that mean when we join - what happens?

 

What does the Maasdam "get" with the SOE enhancements?

 

Hopefully we will not experience any sewer smell or warm cabins as Grannynurse & Sayyadina experienced. :eek:

 

Our longest cruise has been 7 days, so we are looking forward to this "extended" cruise. Also exciting are the ports - even though we have been to many of the cities, we much prefer them to the Caribbean - good ole USA sightseeing! :) (I'm waving the flag, you just can't see it!)

 

Thanks again

[twoatsea]

Just saw the other thread about the SOE enhancements; very interesting.

[May4]

:cool: I hope you try again, if you want to. The rollcall thread is there. I just checked.

 

What does it mean to join? Well, I would like to kid around and say you have to give $5.00 to the poster above, but you are too savvy for that.

 

It is going to be a great 15 days. I saw the new price - nice.

[mariner]

Hey SAY, was August your steward?

 

Had no sewage smells on our Feb sailing. In fact, the CONSTELLATION was docked next to us in St. Kitts. We called it the CONSTIPATION because it stank so bad.