Eurodam 3 Day Cruise: Bitter Disappointment

[Mt Hope Bay]

Just got back yesterday from the 3 day ‘Cruise to Nowhere’ out of New York.

 

The cruise was my wife’s 40th birthday present, although she has been on a cruise before, this was my first time. We were both very excited, HAL is known as a five star cruise line and this ship was brand new – we spent the last 2 months talking about it in anticipation, we booked a Spa Verandah Stateroom – which is right up her alley :D

 

The embarkation process went rather smooth but at the sign in, the HAL people at the desk weren’t sure if they were supposed to scan everyone’s room cards :confused: – there was a bit of confusion and it slowed things a little but never the less we spent all of 5 minutes at the desk and they moved us along to wait to begin boarding.

 

When we got on the ship we were quite impressed with the design and artwork, the staterooms were not ready yet so we went for lunch at the Lido. Following lunch, we went to go take a look at our cabin (10th deck – Panorama), and dropped our carry-ons off. My wife was a bit a disappointed that there wasn’t a yoga mat or pedometer in the room as advertised as part of the spa room package but it’s a new ship right? This was the beginning of the steep downward spiral. Next, she wanted to schedule her spa appointments, so she called down to the Greenhouse Spa to talk to the spa concierge – another advertised ‘benefit’ of the spa stateroom. No, there is no such thing – you have to come down to the spa to make your appointments, she was told. More concern. So she goes downstairs to the spa and schedules her appointments but was not happy because there was quite a crowd vying for the same – making appointments – and the spa staff was visibly overwhelmed and as such, not totally personable.

 

Next was to go make dinner arrangements, looking forward to a nice birthday dinner at one of the many restaurants on the ship. Pinnacle – booked. Canaletto – booked. Tamarind – booked. Not just Friday, or even Saturday, but the entire weekend. I was in disbelief! For real? Now what are we going to do? I went to the Front Desk to try and plead my case – practically begging; this is our birthday dinner, and asking how can this happen? The girl at the desk called the restaurants and said – they are all booked – sorry. I’m thinking, uh – no kidding? That’s why I came to you for help. You can still eat at the Lido, Terrace Grill, Rembrant, etc she says. Yay! A birthday dinner in the cafeteria! Sigh. Maybe it’s because I’m new to this cruising thing, I guess any fine dining on a ship requires pre-booking? Oh, and it gets better.

 

Saturday morning, I went to the gym while my wife went off to the spa for her treatments. Following the gym, I went and spent some time in the hydrotherapy pool (very nice – recommend it!) I went up to the room and after my shower, the phone rings. Sir, this is the spa staff- you might want to come downstairs to the spa – your wife has had an accident. Is she okay? I ask. I don’t know, they say - but please come downstairs.

 

I’m panicking. They don’t know!!?

 

I get dressed, running down the hall putting my shirt on, going down the stairs, 3 at a time. She had opened the door to the hydrotherapy pool, the door opened across the top of her foot resulting in a large laceration just above her toes. When I arrived, she was in a wheelchair, crying, another passenger was helping wrap her foot in a towel to try and help contain the free bleeding. The spa staff are standing there, deer-in-the-headlights look about them. I’m doing my best to try and calm her. The medical officer arrived a few minutes later and we went down to the medical office on A deck. Much praise for the professionalism of the medical staff and the onboard US Navy doctor, calm demeanor and quick attention. The accident, with the sharp door bottom, in a place where everyone has bare feet, required 5 stitches. Our bright hopes for the cruise, are now over.

 

We return up to our room and I called housekeeping, explained the situation and asked that a chaise lounge be brought up for our verandah so she can at least be outside with her foot elevated. This was taken care of promptly.

 

Our stateroom was directly below one of the Retreat cabanas, the first one on the starboard side – it was being used to hold the materials for cleaning the deck, empties and trays and such for the cabanas. Later in the afternoon, she is out on the chaise lounge and –what appears to be water – starts falling on her from above. We can’t seem to get a break! What in the world in going on? So I’m off to find out. I go upstairs and confront the staff and tell them what happened and they begin to deny it! :mad: I’m looking at the deck behind them, buckets of empty beer cans and bottles, which is clearly wet and swept right off the edge. After hanging over the rail and showing them our wet railing below, they begin to apologize. I can’t wait to get off this Dam ship.

 

We move her inside to the bed, she calls and asks for some foam pillows – something a little more firm to help elevate her foot. More down pillows show up. She calls the guest relations manager, and the head steward finally shows up with what she asked for. Determined as she is, she wasn’t going to let this keep her in the room for the rest of the trip. We made it down to the dining room, had a nice dinner (did anyone notice the Dining room had the same menu at the Lido cafeteria?) and made it out to the dessert extravaganza at the Lido pool.

 

Sunday we spent most of the day in the room as it was difficult for her to get around. In preparation for disembarkation Monday morning, we called the front desk and asked for wheelchair service off the ship. We were told the Dining Room is in charge of wheelchairs? Does this sound right to anyone? We were assured she would be picked up Monday morning.

 

We dock in NY Monday AM, have breakfast (I’m really tired of room service at this point!) and we’re ready to leave. 8:30 – nothing. 9:00 – nothing. We call the front desk, this time, it’s the Explorer’s lounge that is responsible for wheelchairs. But we called last night… no, we don’t have any record of that. Get me off this nightmare ship. I go down to the Explorer’s lounge, but the crowds make it impassable. (they later opened another gangway on the 3rd deck to ease the congestion) I go back upstairs, and she decides, let’s just walk, I say let’s wait. 10:00 rolls around, still nothing so we start walking – slowly. On the 2nd deck, I run into Doug, the security officer that took her statement in the medical ward just after the accident. I explain the situation, and he refers me to the Hotel Manager, who promptly makes a call and wheelchair is there in two minutes to help us off the ship. It takes an act of congress to get anything done that is even slightly outside the norm!

 

So, this is my first experience on a cruise. Please tell me this is not the norm, for I am at a loss for words. It staggers the imagination to consider how so many things could go wrong in the span of two and a half days. There are a few other negative details but this post is already too long. The weather was very nice but we were unable to take advantage of nearly everything the ship had to offer.

 

Not likely we’ll ever be back.

[mamaofami]

Mt Hope Bay,

I'm terribly sorry to hear that you and your wife had such a difficult time on this cruise. My husband and I were also on the cruise and we had a wonderful time, but that in no way negates your experience.

I see this is your first post and wish you had found your way to these boards before the cruise. We had a roll call with 121 people signed on and we all knew we needed to make dinner reservations in advance, before even leaving home, because this was a short cruise with many VIP's on board and we expected it would be hard to get those reservations. Most of us called and ordered dinner in The Pinnacle and Tamarind before leaving home, were charged on our credit cards, and as far as I've heard, everyone's reservation was honored. If this was a birthday, you must have been very frustrated. However, the Rembrandt dining room is really lovely, and I hope you enjoyed a birthday celebration there. The Lido does offer some of the items that are served in the main dining room, but not all.

I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's unfortunate accident, but glad it was handled by the doctor and that she's OK. As far as getting off the ship, it was very disorganized for many people, and yet others reported it to be very smooth. I met the hotel manager personally, he's a really nice man, and am so glad that he was able to help you with the wheel chair..

I hope you won't let this cruise deter you from trying Holland America again.

Hope your wife is doing well.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

So sorry about your wife's accident -- hope she is doing better now with her foot.

 

I would not let that 3 day cruise stop me from booking a longer cruise.

 

All HAL ships offer almost all the same items in the Lido for dinner as in the dining room.

 

Restaurants completely booked up -- yes this does happen -- even on longer cruises.

 

Hope your wife had a lovely birthday in the dining room -- did your TA make arrrangements for her to get a cake?

[jhannah]

What a terrible first experience! I'm very sorry you all had to go through this. It seems like the whole line of dominoes fell one right after the other.

 

Best wishes to you both. I hope you will not give up on cruising. Maybe try a more seasoned ship/crew/itinerary. I'll bet your experience will be entirely different.

[Sirdar]

Just got back yesterday from the 3 day ‘Cruise to Nowhere’ out of New York.

 

 

"She had opened the door to the hydrotherapy pool, the door opened across the top of her foot resulting in a large laceration just above her toes. When I arrived, she was in a wheelchair, crying, another passenger was helping wrap her foot in a towel to try and help contain the free bleeding. The spa staff are standing there, deer-in-the-headlights look about them. "[/font]

If what you describe is correct, I'm shocked that HAL did not offer some financial rebate. I've witnessed people walking off with far more consideration for less injury. I suggest that you demand copies of the medical report of the ship's doctor as well as any incident report prepared. HAL should be contacted by you or your attorney and discussions held. Good luck and I hope your wife is fully recovered.

[Copper10-8]

Sorry to hear about all the misfortunes you experienced on Eurodam! All the best on your future cruise(s) and certainly hope Mr. Murphy won't make an appearance at that time!

[cp556]

Welcome aboard CC, Mt Hope Bay.

 

As others have said, 3-nt cruises are generally not representative of the quality and experiences of longer cruises. HAL typically offers 7-nt cruises as the shortest. With the combination of Eurodam being a new ship and the short, fully-booked cruise, I suspect that led to some of the glitches you experienced with the staff.

 

Although I wasn't onboard this cruise, I did read parts of the Roll Call where there was discussion about pre-booking the specialty restaurants. I'm glad that CC readers and experienced cruisers were able to take advantage of pre-booking (and thus being able to dine in Canaletto. Pinnacle and/or Tamarind) ... but ...

 

What about the huge percentage of passengers who don't read CC and know they could pre-book these restaurants? I'll probably be flamed for suggesting this, but perhaps on special short voyages, HAL could pre-book only a certain percentage of the specialty seats, allowing onboard reservations to be taken. Just a thought.

 

The medical thing is another case altogether, and I do hope your wife has recovered completely. I would definitely be contacting HAL about the injury, though...

[Jade13]

Just got back yesterday from the 3 day ‘Cruise to Nowhere’ out of New York.

 

When we got on the ship we were quite impressed with the design and artwork, the staterooms were not ready yet so we went for lunch at the Lido. Following lunch, we went to go take a look at our cabin (10th deck – Panorama), and dropped our carry-ons off. My wife was a bit a disappointed that there wasn’t a yoga mat or pedometer in the room as advertised as part of the spa room package but it’s a new ship right?

 

Mt Hope Bay,

 

I am sorry to hear about your wife and hope she recovers soon.

 

Regarding the dinner reservations,

If you wanted to take your wife out to a 5 star restaurant in your home town and tried to walk in that night or get a reservations for a day later it would be booked. Why didn't you call HAL pre-cruise and ask about pre-booking, or even say it was your wifes Birthday and ask what they could do? (They would have a cake.) We weren't interested in the Specialty restaurants for dinner as my DH thinks the main dining room is just as good. With that said I knew lunch at Tamarind could not be pre-booked for lunch, walked right over right after boarding and leaving our bags in our stateroom. It was empty Friday afternoon and no problem getting a 1:00pm for lunch the next day.

 

With all this, 1) do you have a photo of the area where your wife was injured? And 2), my dh and I don't think you need a lawyer (as someone else suggested) but just write a letter, call, and request another (free) cruise telling them you won't sue if they just give you another one considering it was their door that caused the injury. My father is a trial lawyer and you will get more with the honey and sugar approach. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

Regarding the yoga mat and pedometer, why didn't you call?? We were in a Spa Stateroom on Deck 11 (never used the Spa but did use the gym) and had them. I used the pedometer all weekend but never the yoga mat. For all you know, the last passenger took them off the ship? Did you have the VOSS water and 4 other drinks that came with the stateroom? What about the fresh sliced fruit? The only thing we were missing was the special spa breakfast menu. I called and they said they didn't have them (were out) but the only difference was egg whites and smoothies. So, I wrote in Strawberry Banana smoothie on the breakfast menu and had them 2 days. Don't give up yet. Your major problem was really just your wifes injury, but it could be worse if you had been on a 10 night Med cruise and had to miss every port.

[SDHALFAN]

I am so sorry that your cruise did not work out as you had hoped, and especially sorry to hear about your poor wife's accident. Being a Navy wife I'm happy to hear that the Navy doctor came through with flying colors - those Navy doctors are well trained, believe me (another example of your tax dollars at work;)).

 

Did HAL honestly do nothing in way of compensation? At the very, very least they should have sent their usual basket of fruit, a floral arrangement, maybe some scrumptious chocolate truffles and a most sincere note of apology.

 

I would, as has been suggested, most definitely pursue this matter with the Head Office in Seattle.

 

Again, I am so sorry to hear all of your difficulties but please know that this cruise was not at all representative of a Holland America Line cruise.

 

I hope that you can get some satisfaction from Head Office, and please don't accept their immediate response (unless of course you find it acceptable), keep pushing them.

 

Maybe one day in the not too distant future you will find it in your heart to take another HAL cruise and I hope that it will be wonderful for you.

 

Valerie:)

[Mt Hope Bay]

Hi All,

 

Thank you so much for your responses! There is a great sense of community here! Some of you have 10K posts! Whoa!

 

It's late and I just got home so I'm going to make this post short but we'll follow up tomorrow.

 

In the event someone from HAL is following this I'm not going to go into detail but I'm well aware of an 'actionable situation'. My inclination is an informative letter with the pertinent documents and pictures. This should generate a response. The legal card is held in reserve, although it is an personal injury lawyer's holiday LOL.

 

More tomorrow - thanks everyone.

[SDHALFAN]

Hi All,

 

Thank you so much for your responses! There is a great sense of community here! Some of you have 10K posts! Whoa!

 

It's late and I just got home so I'm going to make this post short but we'll follow up tomorrow.

 

In the event someone from HAL is following this I'm not going to go into detail but I'm well aware of an 'actionable situation'. My inclination is an informative letter with the pertinent documents and pictures. This should generate a response. The legal card is held in reserve, although it is an personal injury lawyer's holiday LOL.

 

More tomorrow - thanks everyone.

 

A personal injury lawyer's holiday? Heck it may even put one of their children through college! Good luck and know that many of us "old-timers" with HAL, and who really do love this cruise line, think that your poor wife deserves some serious compensation for such a painful injury. I am, by nature, not a confrontional person but I would be screaming bloody murder if that had happened to me.

 

Valerie:)

[giustot]

I'm sorry for the injury and I hope you do get some compensation. I'm not a lawyer but I doubt the injury would qualify as a personal injury lawyer's holiday or put one of his kids through college.

 

Your wife's injury involves a self-inflicted large cut on the foot that required five stiches. No broken bones. No lasting impairment. Once you speak to a lawyer you'll get a better idea of what the case is worth. But don't be surprised if it's a lot less than you think.

 

Many states (including New York where the cruise originated and ended) have acted to limit pain and suffering awards. I think it was a reaction to the belief that personal injury lawyers and their clients were abusing the system.

 

One more point. I'd be a little careful about taking Jade13's advice on telling HAL you won't sue them if they give you a free cruise. There's nothing wrong with discussing compensation with HAL and asking for a free cruise, but making such a threat could be considered extortion. Good luck. Tom.

[Jade13]

One more point. I'd be a little careful about taking Jade13's advice on telling HAL you won't sue them if they give you a free cruise. There's nothing wrong with discussing compensation with HAL and asking for a free cruise, but making such a threat could be considered extortion. Good luck. Tom.

 

I am sorry my post came off that way Tom as I do not think the OP should threaten HAL. I actually do not think the case is worth that much which is why I don't think they should hire a lawyer (why give him 40% of their compensation if they can resolve this first on their own - HAL did not injure her intentionally) but that HAL should compensate them with a free cruise (which could be a 7 night from the East, probab Carribbean and those cruises would not cost HAL that much). I'm assuming the door is HAL's fault and this happened the first morning so she did not even have one full day to enjoy the ship.

 

To clarify I think a letter and call should be made (with photos) and in a non threatening way tell Seattle they would really like to try cruising again (it was DH's first time) and could they compensate with another one. I'm assuming in this case they were not billed for the medical...but if they have co-pays when returning home (my insurance would only cover 90% in-network), those bills should be picked up as well.

[SeaMatesNYC]

My wife was a bit a disappointed that there wasn’t a yoga mat or pedometer in the room as advertised as part of the spa room package but it’s a new ship right?

 

I am quite sure they could have easily addressed the missing yoga mat and pedometer issue, but it was rather a mute point, given the subsequent events, no?

 

Really sorry to hear that you had such an unpleasant vacation, and I am quite hopeful that you will receive appropriate compensation. Best of luck, and please don't write off HAL totally due to this sad set of circumstances.

 

As for not being able to get reservations as the specialty restaurants, you have now learned that there is no harm in getting a booking in early which can be done easily online or over the phone. The popularity of these venues is a testament to their quality. With no ports on the cruise, and Tamarind in particular being brand new, it should not have been a surprise that they were full. Nonetheless, I can say firsthand, that Tamarind is not to be missed, if the opportunity should arise again for you.

 

Michael

[Mt Hope Bay]

Hi All,

 

She is doing fine, she took yesterday off from work but is working today. Changed the dressing Monday and everything appears to be progressing well. She says Hi to everyone :D

 

Please - Let's not let this thread go too far with any speculation of the legal possibilities. To be clear, we don't have any intention of confronting HAL with any legal action. That kind of reaction is (or should be) reserved for all but extreme situations and that is not where we are at with this. Members of my immediate family are in the legal profession so again I'm well aware of my options and resources but this situation is the wrong place to exercise it. My reference to personal injury lawyers was more of a casual swipe than anything else.

 

We are going to write a letter and see what comes back.

 

The yoga mat and pedometer was truly a non-issue. My point was, there were advertised benefits but those items weren't there in the room. Everything else was there, the Vitamin Water, Voss water, fresh fruit tray, etc.

 

We were not billed for the medical services, and we requested that the Spa charges be removed from our bill, which they were. I do maintain that the door exists as a clear safety issue, considering that people are in flip flops or bare feet in the pool area. It is unfortunate that we had to experience this but it wouldn't be hard to argue that the same thing can happen to someone else.

 

HAL did nothing while we were on the ship, other than adjusting our bill, to offer anything. This does leave us wondering if her injury was even recognized, considering the problems we had with the wheelchair. Doug - the Security Officer - mentioned that the report wouldn't be going to HAL until the cruise was over so given the time that they get the report and time to react, we may yet see something prior to us writing to them ourselves.

 

We went directly through HAL to book the cruise, there was no TA involved. The dinner reservations, well that is a product of my own inexperience. My presumption was make reservations when we get on the ship for some point during the weekend. Pre-booking wasn't a consideration, but now we know.

 

Someone asked for some pictures - this is Saturday evening before we left to go down to the Dining Room. :(

[Moriah]

double post.. grrr

[Moriah]

Well, may I just say, I LOVE those shoes. No woman should have to dress for dinner sporting a bandage. My heart goes out to your wife and I think you were both really great sports! I respect your attitude. Your last post sounded like you are people of integrity who had a disappointing vacation. I hope you'll keep us posted as to what HAL does for you in the coming days and I join others in saying I hope this won't prevent you from cruising on HAL again. I know there is no real excuse BUT this was a very short cruise on a very new ship... :confused:

I hope your wife gets to wear those gorgeous shoes someplace nice when the wound heals and you can celebrate all over again.

 

All the best,

Moriah

[Sirdar]

On one of our first cruises aboard the old Pacific Princess, we shared drinks with a couple that were on a free cruise compliments of Princess (then a P&O company). It seems that on a Bermuda cruise earlier in the season, the lady's hair had been set afire (thanks to hairspray) when a waiter toting the flaming baked Alaska got too close! The damage was minimal (no Dr. needed) and it was the last night of the cruise. Nonetheless, the couple were given a full refund for that cruise plus a free trip back to Bermuda (7 day cruise) later in the season. That something to shoot for in this case at the least. PLease keep us posted!!

[KeysRes]

I was expecting much worse from reading your post than what the picture shows. The fact that she could wear those shoes - couldn't have been too much swelling!

 

I was puzzled by opening the door over her foot. Since opening doors is something most of us do without thinking about, this accident seemed odd. I have now tested all of my doors....and the 'natural' way to open a door is not over your foot. On most doors it would hit your toes....and while this probably does happen once in a while, I don't think it's common. I'm guessing the door at the spa was raised a bit and that's why it cut above the toes. While I'm not excusing the fact that the underside of the door was sharp enough to cut, I think the brunt of the responsibility lies with your wife. Try opening a door and see if you have placed your feet in such a manner that the door would hit them. It's an accident, similar to opening a door and bonking yourself in the head because you weren't paying attention. It's not the norm, but does happen. Would you expect any compensation in that case?

I agree that the medical expenses should be taken care of, and maybe some small gift in cabin. The fact that spa expenses were eliminated could have resulted in a large 'gift'. I think that's enough. Your carefully worded posting on the matter so soon after getting home and the fact that you are not a frequent poster, indicates you are hoping HAL reads this and any posts in your support to 'prep' for your complaint to HAL....right down to the 'wrong pillow' detail.

[Jade13]

 

Someone asked for some pictures - this is Saturday evening before we left to go down to the Dining Room. :(

 

I am surprised she could wear heals. That doesn't look comfortable (But I would have had a problem too as we only brought dress shoes and sneakers). Btw, you didn't tell us what you thought of the food in the dining room?

[SeaMatesNYC]

I was puzzled by opening the door over her foot. Since opening doors is something most of us do without thinking about, this accident seemed odd. I have now tested all of my doors....and the 'natural' way to open a door is not over your foot. On most doors it would hit your toes....and while this probably does happen once in a while, I don't think it's common. I'm guessing the door at the spa was raised a bit and that's why it cut above the toes.

 

If you have seen this door (very heavy metal and glass locking door), you would understand right away how this could have happened. The door jam is raised (to keep water from flowing into the hallway) and I am surprised that there have not been more reports of such mishaps. If memory serves me right, one needs to slip the key into a slot above the handle on the side where a wall immediately comes out at right angles. I remember it being very cumbersome, and I am a pretty strong guy. Granted this was on the Noordam, but I am pretty sure the layout is identical.

[photomikey]

the 'natural' way to open a door is not over your foot.

 

This was the first thing I thought, when I read this post. I have scraped my own foot while opening high-mounted doors in public pools. I didn't sue anyone, I learned an important lesson... step aside from the door, and don't open it onto your foot.

 

Your carefully worded posting on the matter so soon after getting home and the fact that you are not a frequent poster, indicates you are hoping HAL reads this and any posts in your support to 'prep' for your complaint to HAL....right down to the 'wrong pillow' detail.

 

This was the second thing I thought.

 

You injured yourself opening a door, which could have just as easily happened anywhere you pass through a door. We don't need to sue anyone to start removing doors and have the world become one giant breezeway, we need to be responsible for ourselves.

 

With all due respect, this is different than when you're sitting at dinner and the waiter starts your hair on fire. I think you have a reasonable expectation to sit at dinner and not be set aflame. I think a free cruise is an appropriate gesture when the cruiseline or it's employee has an accident that cannot be directly compensated monetarily (i.e. if the waiter set your jacket on fire, they would owe you a new jacket... the hair would be harder to put a price on). You injured yourself by your own error, and the cruiseline seemed to make several nice gestures you didn't appreciate, and I can understand that - I wouldn't be a happy camper if I'd hurt myself on day 1 aboard either. But I don't think you can blame the cruiseline for not having doors that protect people from opening them onto their toes.

[Mt Hope Bay]

I was expecting much worse from reading your post than what the picture shows. The fact that she could wear those shoes - couldn't have been too much swelling!

 

I was puzzled by opening the door over her foot. Since opening doors is something most of us do without thinking about, this accident seemed odd. I have now tested all of my doors....and the 'natural' way to open a door is not over your foot. On most doors it would hit your toes....and while this probably does happen once in a while, I don't think it's common. I'm guessing the door at the spa was raised a bit and that's why it cut above the toes. While I'm not excusing the fact that the underside of the door was sharp enough to cut, I think the brunt of the responsibility lies with your wife. Try opening a door and see if you have placed your feet in such a manner that the door would hit them. It's an accident, similar to opening a door and bonking yourself in the head because you weren't paying attention. It's not the norm, but does happen. Would you expect any compensation in that case?

I agree that the medical expenses should be taken care of, and maybe some small gift in cabin. The fact that spa expenses were eliminated could have resulted in a large 'gift'. I think that's enough. Your carefully worded posting on the matter so soon after getting home and the fact that you are not a frequent poster, indicates you are hoping HAL reads this and any posts in your support to 'prep' for your complaint to HAL....right down to the 'wrong pillow' detail.

 

I should have grabbed my camera when I was rushing out the door. :confused:

 

She had not anticipated an accident, as none of us would. Out of the shoes that she brought, these are the only ones that would fit over the dressing. Because she is a trooper, she insisted that we go out to dinner and she wasn't going to let it slow us down. I give her all the credit in the world for that, and I was the one helping her try on all the shoes that she brought to see what would be comfortable.

 

To marginalize the injury because of the design of the shoes is... unreasonable.

 

I have maintained that we are going to write a letter, and see what happens. I would hope that HAL recognizes our situation as a result of our correspondance and offers an apology but nowhere have I stated that we expect anything. Reading through everyone's posts one might give you that feeling but I haven't stated this anywhere. Nor do I expect HAL to read my posts. In fact, I'm weary that they may have and due to some posts suggesting a legal opportunity, frightens me because that is not my intention. I could have not posted at all, the letter to HAL would have gone out just the same. Feedback was, and still is, the goal.

[JPH814]

Wow! - reading these negative reviews - I can't wait to go on the other holland America ships. If all you folks who have loved HAL in the past felt that the Eurodam was a shallow tub by comparison, I am anxious to try the other HAL ships that must be incredible - because I thought this trip on the Eurodam was pretty "dam" good itself! If the HAL standard is that much higher than this, I can't wait.

[bepsf]

Now that you've returned home, I hope that HAL takes care of you - I'm sorry for your misfortune...

 

...but I would certainly not judge HAL or any other line by the lackadaisical service of a 3-day cruise loaded with TA's and other non-paying guests. The staff don't even like those cruises, so it's no surprise that many passengers (based on what I've read about other similar cruises on other ships and my own personal experience) will avoid them at all costs.