Maasdam post dry dock

[Operator]

As departure nears for my second attempt at the Caribbean circuit on the beautiful and elegant Maasdam, I am very interested to hear from cruisers who have sailed her since the dry dock. Specifically:

 

Do engine problems continue?

Did you miss any ports?

Any changes to the S suites?

Any changes in the Pinnacle?

 

I was onboard the ill-fated April 2005 sailing from Norfolk, and hope that this time I can actually use my cabana reservation on HMC and visit PR (which is about the only Caribbean island I have yet to visit). With the guidance of posters hereabouts, I have adjusted my expectations downward, but would still prefer to know what to expect. Better the devil you know... and all that. Thank you in advance for any news on the Maas.

 

-Operator

[sail7seas]

:) I'll let you know very soon. We board Saturday for two wonderful weeks on the beautiful and elegant, ms Maasdam. Can't wait. :D

I will probably post here on CC while aboard but if not certainly when we get home.

 

[RuthC]

The Maasdam is nearing the end of a 35-day cruise; we've not had any reports here since she sailed. Perhaps someone will be posting something of her soon, and you can get the latest info. Certainly that itinerary could have tested the Maasdam's ride.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I'll be curious as well to se how she is doing since her dry dock. Not many reports on her.

[BumperII]

We too will be standing by hoping for an update. We were on the beautiful and elegant Maasdam over last Christmas and had a wonderful, uneventful cruise. We are booked to cruise on her again on October 28. We booked the cruise because we wanted to sail out of Norfolk (easy driving distance) one more time before she changes homeports.

[senator6]

Sailed on the Maasdam in early June, other than a few changes to the Crows Nest we thought the changes were great. We had been on the Maasdam in March before dry dock. We did not have an S, so can't comment but our B category was great. The only problems were the view from the Bow in the Crows nest due to the spa changes and the curtains which seem out of place in our opinion.

[CaptainChuck]

We were on the Maasdam in July from Boston to Rotterdam. The ship seems to be in fine shape, and there were no mechanical problems that I could see. Frankly, I wasn’t all that impressed with some of the SOE. It’s nice to have a flat screen TV in the cabin, but I’d be more impressed with a toilet that worked consistently and ours did not. We also didn’t care for the changes to the Crow’s Nest which had been our favorite room. The arrangement of furniture and curtains changed what had been an open and spacious room into a claustrophobic one. The color scheme has all the subtlety of a Parisian bordello (or so I’m told). All of these are minor quirks, though, and I’m sure you will enjoy your cruise.

[RevNeal]

We were on the Maasdam in July from Boston to Rotterdam. The ship seems to be in fine shape, and there were no mechanical problems that I could see. Frankly, I wasn’t all that impressed with some of the SOE. It’s nice to have a flat screen TV in the cabin, but I’d be more impressed with a toilet that worked consistently and ours did not.

 

Captain ... as you well know, often the toilet problems are the direct result of someone flushing something that they shouldn't have somewhere else on the line adjacent to your cabin. I've seen mechanics remove some of the gosh-darndest things form the sewer system (matchbox cars and other small toys, articles of clothing, torn up daily programs, bones, uneaten food, used prophylactics, even a set of dentures!!!!!!), any and all of which can clog up even the newest and best ships sewer system. If you had repeated problems in your cabin, my guess would be that some dumb bunny -- or several dumb bunnies -- kept flushing things they shouldn't have.

 

We also didn’t care for the changes to the Crow’s Nest which had been our favorite room. The arrangement of furniture and curtains changed what had been an open and spacious room into a claustrophobic one. The color scheme has all the subtlety of a Parisian bordello (or so I’m told). All of these are minor quirks, though, and I’m sure you will enjoy your cruise.

 

I was afraid that the new arrangement in the Crows Nest would not be to my liking, and this confirms that fear. I've always loved that lounge for daytime observing of the open ocean. I'm sure views are still good to the side and on angles from the front (to the side of the Spa extention) but directly in front ... I'm afraid it sounds to me like they've ruined it. Not only does the addition look just horrible from the outside, it has done horrible things to the views from the inside. :( The addition is even more pronounced on the R class ships ... and i'll be finding out what it's like on the Zaandam in just 2 months time. I can hardly wait.

[lindacat]

I was on the Maasdam at the end of June (Montreal- Boston). This was the last cruise before the 35 day cruise. While I was pleased with the bedding upgrades, I too was not pleased with the crows nest. The billowing curtains were plain "weird". Also our stateroom seemed to be falling apart, our air conditioner didn't work for the entire week, the light switch would come off the wall, the t.v. didn't work and various parts in the bathroom would come loose when we attempted to use them. While they did fix the t.v., they were never able to fix the air conditioner. It seemed as though we started each day with a trip to the pursers office. It was a frustrating experience which marred an otherwise wonderful cruise.

[world~citizen]

I have to agree with the comment made about Maasdam plumbing. Our toilet did not work either. Also as the Captain made a point about addressing the problem to the passengers early in the trip (attributing it to flushing things in the toilet that should not be put into the toilet) I assume this is an ongoing problem. We heard other people complaining to customer relations about the same issue.

 

The Crows Nest improvements are anything but. The lounge is not as welcoming or comfortable as it was before.

 

A lot of the crew seemed to be down sick for a day here and a day there. We caught a bug onboard.

 

As for everything else, no complaints but no raves either. I get the impression if you do not sail on the Amsterdam or Rotterdam, you get to be a second class HAL passenger.

 

Oh well.

[twoatsea]

We were on the Maasdam for the first cruise after drydock. I did a review & posted it on this board in the middle of May. It is a positive review of our cruise; very positive of the crew; not positive for the cabin systems & the non-responsiveness to our problems.

 

We paid for 1 cabin & had 3. First one-AC didn't work. We sailed from Ft. L. & it was hot/hot/hot in our cabin. I think it was 2 days before we got moved to another cabin. Toilet didn't work in the 2nd cabin. Got it repaired the first day - not anything in the system - needed vacuum. Worked for few days. Then, it took almost 24 hours & asking the captain during his meet & greet session in order to get anyone to even come & look at it. It just needed more vacuum - nothing in system - only took few minutes to fix! We got the 3rd cabin when I insisted because I was afraid the toilet would go out again during the night. We never slept in the 3rd cabin, because no more toilet problems for the next couple days of our cruise. We did not ask for & did not receive any compensation for our troubles.

 

During our cruise up the eastern U.S. coast, a group of travel agents boarded & were dining by the Lido pool while we were there. We got to talking with a few of them at a table next to us. They asked about the ship changes after dry dock & we told them about our cabin problems. One agent got really upset about the info. She had a group on the last cruise before dry dock & they all had cabin system problems - AC, toilets, flooding, etc. She said none of them were caused by "things" in the plumbing system. The response she received from the staff was that the system problems would be taken care of during dry dock. She was still working with HAL for compensation for one couple who had wet carpet during most of their cruise. Definitely for us, the problems were not taken care of during dry dock & sounds like from some of the posts, the probems were more than just ours. We were just lucky that the ship was not full.

 

Now......the itinerary was wonderful, we still had a great cruise, and the crew was the nicest, friendliest that we have ever experienced. We had so much fun with the Lido crew - never laughed so much on a cruise!

 

However, DH will not sail Maasdam again. He says he is sticking to newer ships - possibility always there, but not as great. He says he has too many great places to spend his dollars! So, since we always go together, guess I won't be sailing her again either!