Somewhat disappointed by HAL's service (oosterdam july 18th)

[matdark]

Here is a letter I just sent to Seattle.
Not enough to make it a really bad experience, though ;) but very annoying...

Dear Sir or Madam,
I would like to let you know my deep disappointment and discontent about the way many things were dealt with on board the MS Oosterdam during the July 18 Mediterranean Empires cruise.

Me and my wife got married last year, and spent our honeymoon on board the Cunard Line Queen Elizabeth 2. I have been an ocean liners enthusiast for years, and it was an utterly magical and an unforgettable experience, which met all expectations. We wanted to find some of this magic again by having our first wedding anniversary on board another classic former transatlantic line's vessel, Holland America Line. Among other things, it was a way to live some cherished memories again.

Some time before our cruise, I ordered several onboard gifts in order to make my wife a big surprise on our anniversary?s day (July 26). I carefully planned it and specified dates and locations of delivery: all but one gift were supposed to be delivered to our cabin the very day the surprise was to take place. Not only did it not happen, but the surprise was completely ruined. My wife arrived to our cabin first, and the invitations/gifts notifications for massage and Pinnacle Grill were already there, in plain sight. They were supposed to be delivered nine days later. She saw them at once, and it ruined it all. The one thing that was supposed to have been delivered (bon voyage package, i.e. champagne, balloon and ribbon) had not. It never was. I went down to the front office to ask for it. Champagne was delivered the next morning, without paying attention to the "privacy please" sign. No balloon, no ribbon. Anyways, it was supposed to be a "welcome aboard" gift for my wife. It failed.

I went back to the front office and told them they had delivered only champagne and not the rest of the package. I thought that, maybe, the staff had ?switched gifts? and that the champagne, balloon and ribbon would be delivered on the 26th. They were not. I had to go back to the front office. They were "sorry", the whole package would be delivered the day after at the soonest. The thing is, our wedding anniversary was NOT the day after. They called us at least three times the next day to "make sure" it had been delivered. It had not. Sparkling wine, NOT champagne, was finally delivered the next day. Too late. Is it really necessary to underline that sparkling wine is not Champagne? At least they got the flowers right. We never got the ballon and ribbon. I don't even know what they look like.

I can hardly believe that nothing but the flowers were delivered when they should have been. More, I can hardly believe that I had to ask so many times for gifts I had already paid for, and that not all of them were delivered. A few other things disappointed us, although not as badly: five different nationalities (hence languages) at our table, the whole aft deck emptied and closed for cleaning at 5pm while at sea whereas the ship was calling the next day, deckchairs noisily piled from 5 pm on... All these little things and the huge gifts failures prevented us from having the vacation and wedding anniversary we had dreamed of, and prevented us from being really relaxed. It actually really saddened us.

It's a pity, for the ship is really nice, and the ports of call absolutely amazing. Had the service been up to the task, we would have probably made Holland America our regular cruise line.
Yours faithfully,
Mathieu Pontécaille

[whogo]

Sorry about your experience. My daughter's flowers were in the cabin at boarding instead of being delivered on her birthday as requested. No big deal there, but a birthday is not an anniversary. It shouldn't be that way. After all their years in business, HAL should be able to deliver onboard gifts as requested and paid for.

The HAL loyalists will soon be posting to tell you what you should have done. Ignore them. You did all you should have done when you ordered and paid for the gifts. You can ignore all the HAL advertisements you will be receiving, too.

[photomikey]

I'm curious as to whether you asked for credit for the botched delivery onboard?

[Copper10-8]

Sounds like Oosterdam's staff dropped the ball and your surprise! Hope you can get some sort of satisfaction/"making things right" out of Seattle

[frbob]

I'm sorry you experienced the problems on your anniversary cruise. There are "service issues" on HAL at this time. I don't know if it's lack of training or poor attitude. We had very poor service on a recent cruise aboard the Rotterdam. I don't know what is behind the problems, but I hope HAL can fix this bad situation. They are no longer a 4 star experience, IMHO.

[artistann]

So sorry about your experience - Although we love HAL and have been on 4 fantastic cruises with them - last one a b/b from June 12 - July 6 few weeks ago to the MED - same itinerary you were on - the Ships services and front desk on our Panama cruise last Nov. on Zuiderdam was similar. We had booked the Renewal of Vows for our 50th package through travel agent and ships services for $250 plus $12.50 per guest (we had 20). On the second day we received a letter saying we had only paid for 2 would we like more people? When I went down and showed my confirmation from T/A they said "only a typographical mistake." from there it went down hill, with changes in dates and times, no invitations to guests who by then made other plans for Pinnacle grill, etc. One couple never received theirs, even on the day.
I had given a list of names and cabins to front desk. One customer relations person, when she saw me coming would shuffle postcards and make believe she was busy. Thank goodness, another staffer took charge and we went to hotel manager who straightened it out. The captain did a beautiful job for us and 3 other couples at the event with photos, a cake, canapes, flowers, his poem - we did not want to complain to him. I wonder why HAL uses ship services to set this all up ahead if they are not capable. Again, all else has always been wonderful, but it left us with not wanting to ever book ahead for special events. On Oosterdam we arranged with dining room directly for Birthdays and Anniversary at our table of 6 and it went off like clockwork.:)

[AlexandNessa]

Sorry to hear. I too had a similar poor experience with an onboard gift for our travel mates.

I ordered them a caviar package they were offering, well in advance of our sailing. It was to be a surprise for them.

I had to continuously ask after it.

They finally apologized, and said there was no caviar on the ship to be had.

They brought out lobster tails and a bottle of Vueve to substitute.

1. The substitution was hardly the value of the package I ordered.

-- and --

2. I was made to feel that had I not been there to continuously ask after the caviar, my travel mates would've been none the wiser that they hadn't received a surprise. Then I would've been stuck trying to get a refund after the cruise was over.

I never order gifts from ship services anymore for the reasons that you state and from my own experience.

This is one thing that HAL does poorly, IMO.


P.S. One additional problem I had with ship services: we ordered my husband a special banana creme pie for his 35th birthday once (we paid for it). Out came this nastiness of coconut custard. He hates coconut. They would not admit their error and did not try to make it right for him. :( We're done special ordering any gift on HAL now.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Sorry to hear that all your surprises did not turn out as you had planned.

But I do have a question -- was this a 10 day cruise?

You mentioned that you got on the ship July 18 and your anniversary was July 26.

Personnally I would want the flowers delivered the first day of the cruise so that I could enjoy them for the entire cruise and not just 2 days.

[dandro]

matdark,
Sorry to hear about the problems with the gift orders. Totally understandable that you would be upset after all that planning you had gone through to insure that your wife would be surprised.

I would think that the language barriers would be common if sailing the Mediterranean.

I certainly hope that HAL responds to your correspondence. Please keep us informed.

And belated anniversary greetings to you and your wife.

[scopewest]

We did the renewal of vows on the Oosterdam a few years ago. Never received an invitation to the ceremony although we got the flowers, etc. that go with the package, but we found out where/when the ceremony was to take place and just showed up. We were able to participate and we did get an apology from the front desk. Told my TA about it when I got home and she got HAL to give us shipboard credit for our next cruise to make up for their mistake, I wasn't expecting compensation so it was a nice surprise.

I totally understand your frustration!!

[usha]

That would be very disappointing to make such detailed plans for a romantic anniversary,
and then have them botched by the people who were supposed to carry out the plans.:(
Hope you get a satisfactory resolution.

[Sir PMP]

Some time before our cruise, I ordered several onboard gifts in order to make my wife a big surprise on our anniversary?s day (July 26).

Did you order it through Hal or your TA?

[Seacruise]

I to was on this cruise as well as the cruise before it.

I was on the Oosterdam last November and lets say the difference was like night and day yet I saw many people the same in the front Office Area.

They forgot to give me (even invite me) for my Medallion presentation.

A damaged piece of luggage was lost and turned into the Front Office for repair on day 3 of the first cruise and not returned some 2 weeks later. I asked about it and was told they lost it. I filled out paper work for it and was told it was easier to just pay me out than look for it. I had 2 ports of call left and little chance of finding a replacement bag. I asked they put some effort into finding it as it was well tagged. The next morning I received a calls saying they found it.

The outside of Crows Nest on the starboard side was not cleaned for the first 14 days of the cruise till I complained.

Trying to get a Wine Steward in the dinning room for the second 12 days was almost impossible. The first one went home after the first 12 days. Four Wine Stewards for the Upper Vista Dinning room is a joke.

The loss of 60 crew from one year ago is starting to show as the others can not expect to try and keep up with more work.

On another note it wasn't the worse cruise I have taken and I have written a review of it and posted it on the Seacruise page.

So does this surprise me, not in the least.

Phil

[onapea]

Had the same problems on Eurodam last year. With the market down so has the level of service.

[matdark]

Thanks for your support, I'll let definitely let you know what happens ;)

Some time before our cruise, I ordered several onboard gifts in order to make my wife a big surprise on our anniversary?s day (July 26).

Did you order it through Hal or your TA?

Through HAL, there are no HAL TAs in France yet, so I booked online.

[European_CruiseGirl]

DH and I love HAL but I have to agree that the onboard gifts are handled very poorly. So poorly that when my DH heard that I have booked our next HAL cruise his first response was: "Please no onboard gifts this time!". :o He knows as well as I do that in order to get the onboard gifts delivered it requires hard work for the first couple of days...

We have previously ordered onboard gifts through a TA and by contacting HAL through phone/fax and e-mail. We have always requested a written confirmation but still not even once have we received all the gifts we have ordered.

[kyriecat]

Unfortunately HAL seems to have several problems between the department that takes gift orders and the one that actually delivers them onboard. I ordered a Bon Voyage package and some flowers for my friends who were taking their first cruise. When they returned, they called to thank me for the flowers but didn't mention the champagne and balloons from the Bon Voyage package. I finally asked if they got them and found out they hadn't. I was eventually able to get my money back from HAL for the items that weren't delivered.

For my cruise, I ordered a few things for hubby and me that were to be delivered for sailaway (Friday). They never arrived. I brought my confirmation e-mail to the front desk the next day (Saturday) to see what happened. I was told that there was nothing they could do until Monday because they had to check with ship services in Seattle. I went back to the front desk on Monday with my confirmation and the front desk was able to confirm my order. I got some of my items on Tuesday but not all. I had to go back to the front desk again that evening. I finally got everything I ordered Wednesday evening. If I hadn't brought my confirmation with me, I probably wouldn't have received the items that I purchased.

[Fitzemt]

Seems to be an ongoing thing with HAL. Just returned from med cruise on Noordam. I had ordered chocolate covered strawberies and champagne for sail away...not there. Ordered 3 drink cards...got 1. reservations for 2 at Pin. grill.....they only had resv. for 1. They eventually got it all straight....the cruise was wonderful...just remember to take ALL confirmation e-mails and be prepared to go to the front desk. Still head and shoulders above most of the industry.:D

[whogo]

I hope someone from HAL reads this thread and does something about it. It is not the first thread to mention missing onboard gifts. Many cruisers would not know they were missing a gift from a TA, friends, or family members. Others probably figure that it is not worth the hassle of tracking down missing bouquets or balloons. I hope HAL has not found that there is more profit in not delivering gifts.

Assuming HAL is not deliberately cheating cruisers, they need to revamp their order handling process. Improvement may be as simple as putting one person in charge of fulfillment instead of a number of people who are not quite in charge, or in providing a list of gifts sorted by date instead of by cabin number or whatever. It is scary that the front desk needs a cruiser's confirmation e-mail to see what what was ordered.

I know my "deliberately cheating" phrase will ruffle some feathers on this board. Yet I have ordered from catalogs for 30+ years and via the internet for 15+ years and have yet to have an order go unfulfilled. The big boys like Amazon and LL Bean know what they are doing, but so do the little entities that handle a one off request for grill parts, cables, or gps equipment. HAL could fill onboard gift orders properly too, if they put their mind to it.

[CowPrincess]

I know I always worry a bit when I order onboard gifts for friends. Fortunately all have been delivered... but then I don't need specific delivery dates.... just "have it in the cabin for sailaway".

I agree with other posters, this is an area that needs attention and improvement.

[cruisecrasy]

I hope someone from HAL reads this thread and does something about it. It is not the first thread to mention missing onboard gifts. Many cruisers would not know they were missing a gift from a TA, friends, or family members. Others probably figure that it is not worth the hassle of tracking down missing bouquets or balloons. I hope HAL has not found that there is more profit in not delivering gifts.

Assuming HAL is not deliberately cheating cruisers, they need to revamp their order handling process. Improvement may be as simple as putting one person in charge of fulfillment instead of a number of people who are not quite in charge, or in providing a list of gifts sorted by date instead of by cabin number or whatever. It is scary that the front desk needs a cruiser's confirmation e-mail to see what what was ordered.

I know my "deliberately cheating" phrase will ruffle some feathers on this board. Yet I have ordered from catalogs for 30+ years and via the internet for 15+ years and have yet to have an order go unfulfilled. The big boys like Amazon and LL Bean know what they are doing, but so do the little entities that handle a one off request for grill parts, cables, or gps equipment. HAL could fill onboard gift orders properly too, if they put their mind to it.

I believe u have stated it well.
Guess it amounts to: they 'cheat' because it is lucrative for them, they are mismanaging or worse...both! Any or all of which is poor business practice and shld be addressed.

Of course, if folks stopping ordering items and with their business suffering, they wld deal with it very quickly..without us having to point out the obvious..

Happy cruises & lots of 'em! :)

[Teresa Price]

Hi,
sorry about all your mix up but as we were on this cruise and the next we can see how it would happen. We found the front desk very badly informed and at times hopeless.

Phil - what did you mean by 60 members of staff down on last year? I could well see there were less room stewards than on our Z cruise last year - far too many cabins to do. Often our cabin didn't get cleaned until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. then they would come back for turndown at 5!

Cheers Teresa

[Seacruise]

Hi,

Phil - what did you mean by 60 members of staff down on last year? I could well see there were less room stewards than on our Z cruise last year - far too many cabins to do. Often our cabin didn't get cleaned until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. then they would come back for turndown at 5!

Cheers Teresa

I mean that the ship now has 60 less crew in areas such as House keeping and Dinning Room and a few spots in Entertainment. Dinning Room Wine Stewards were reduced as well as Cabin Stewards (Passenger and Crew) and Deck Stewards. Not exactly sure how many others and from where but the number I was given on board was 60 from 1 tear ago.
Do I think it is good, no I don't as it is starting to show. The problem is those new to cruising have no idea what it was like prior to this so they are no wiser.

Phil

[iceman93]

Regarding the OP's letter, I thought it was generally well-written although a bit overdramatic. A recitation of the facts and then a calm request to have the amount of the messed-up gifts credited back to your card would probably have been sufficient (and more effective). Those little cards are ALWAYS in your cabin the first day so that you can sign and return them, confirming the order. That's supposed to be their way of making sure that the right items get delivered at the right time--sorry that in this case your wife found them which ruined the surprise. And regarding "champagne" vs. "sparkling wine", it's true that an upscale line like HAL shouldn't confuse them, but you do have to realize that to Americans we generally don't draw a distinction between the two. This is an incredible emotional issue for the French (which I see you are) that we simply don't acknowledge like we probably should. But you have to admit that merely the appelation "champagne" does not guarantee good wine, and that there are many sparkling wines from around the world that are quite excellent...

Regarding on-board gifts in general, my experience (knock on wood) has been prefect so far. And by "perfect", I mean 100% on every HAL cruise. We like to get lots of the little packages and amenities, and every single time they have been exactly what was promised and delivered as requested. There are enough other people in this thread who've had problems to indicate a systemic issue, but I will just say that I've been lucky so far.

[SparklingBlonde]

Quite a few years ago we had family friends that went on their first Alaskan/ HAL cruise. We ordered flowers to be delivered as a Bon Voyage gift. After they got back they never mentioned the flowers, so we asked if they got them.... Yeah, they got them, but they didn't have a card, so they thought it was a nice present from HAL. We were quite annoyed with the cruise line since we paid for them, but they got the credit.

[takemewithyou]

This has been going on for quite some time. Two years ago we met some folks on our Panama Canal cruise...the husband had ordered flowers for their room as a surprise for his wife - they never came. He had to go down to the front desk several times. They never got the flowers - I assume he got a credit.

Fast forward to last Dec., we were going on HAL Zaandam to Hawaii. Our cruise was I think 12/7 for 15 days - the one before the Christmas cruise. My friend wanted to surprise us with a dinner at the PG and a holiday basket of flowers with Christmas decorations. I called her from San Diego to thank her for the PG dinner - certificate in the room. She asked if there was anything else. I said no.

Turns out she had ordered this Holiday Basket for us. She had called to inquire if these would be available for our sailing. They even faxed her a picture of what the basket would look like. She was assured they would be available. She ordered.

So, after several trips to the front desk - they knew nothing about this. They had to investigate.....about 2-3 days after boarding, they said they were not available for this sailing. I told them to credit my friends credit card then. It is not fun to have to go back and forth with the front desk over something that should have been taken care of. Not fun for the recepient and embarassing for the gift giver. Inexcusable!

My question is...how many gifts are ordered and then never delivered? Many people, if the gift is a surprise, never inquire as to it's whereabouts and the cruise line takes the money and runs - whether intentional or not!

[suse]

and you should be like me. No gifts, please, I have everything I want honest! Although, I understand. I have friends who are really, really into this thing.
The five nationality thing at your table intrigued me the most. Think of the possibilities! The languages you could learn! I love it. We were seated with a Vietnamese couple once, who were sweet peas, and we had a ball pointing at things. Honest, it was fun. It's all in what you make of it.
Best wishes to you.:)

[lulubell]

Frankly ,we were on the same sailing and agree with most of the criticism.
Our room was dirty,and stayed that way the whole time ,though we complained numerous times.Ventilation may also be a problem on board,all four of us constantly itched in our room [no bites] and only in our room-not in any other place on the ship!
The BEST about the housekeeping was the unlimited laundry for $80, but I don't even want to know how they wash the stuff...
The food in the dining room was 'eclectic' or plain bad to many-spinach&cheese pie with rasberry jam, cut up watermellon drizzled with balsamic vinegar etc. My kids noticed that the chef made great use of leftovers -so yesterday's cherries jubilee showed up in today's trifle and yesterday's shrimp became today's appetizer.Orders in the dining room were frequently forgotten or mixed up.We ate at Canaletto one evening ,the food was just O.K. but the service was even slower.
The best part was the fact that there were multiple stations of PURELL all over the ship and people actually used them!
By comparison, the food and service at the Pinnacle was much better.
Oh, and room service-What room service ? it was practically non existant!
When I spoke to the hotel manager he blamed it on the 350 kids on board pulling pranks.We have sailed Carnival,Royal Carib,Celebrity,Princess, Disney and they all had wonderful room service with double and sometimes triple the amount of kids on board.So the question that arises is simple are all the misbehaved ones sailing on HAL or is HAL just incapable of coping with kids?:)

[suse]

What do you mean that four of you itched all the time and no bites. What is up with that.
Also, the reinvented food thing. Huh?:confused:

[matdark]

But you have to admit that merely the appelation "champagne" does not guarantee good wine, and that there are many sparkling wines from around the world that are quite excellent...

There are very good sparkling wines and not-so-good champagnes indeed. Still, they really have nothing tio do with each other, it's definitely not the same thing. Regarding the service being slow in the dining room, I couldn't agree more: at least 2 hours without coffee... which would be OK for excellent food, not average IMO. We finally gave it up and ate at the lido almost every night, which allowed us to enjoy sunsets and deck space ;)
Well, still no news from them for now...

[AtMaui]

The only gift I had delivered on the same cruise was a bottle of wine from my travel agent. A bottle of chardonnay that was being sold on the ship for $19 and my TA paid $45!!!!!!

I also agree with the service in the dining rooms and the food, to me anyway, was just so-so, other than in the Pinnacle Grill. I didn't have a problem with the cleaning of my cabin other than the sporadic timing -- morning one day and late in the afternoon another day.

The customer service from the front desk was deplorable. It felt like they didn't care about their passengers. They did very little to help my friend who had no luggage for an entire week. Granted, they didn't lose it (Alitalia did); however, they did not offer him any compensation (other than a few items of clothing when we first arrived), and did not let him know if they were even trying to track down his luggage. He did finally received it one day after we got home.

My last trip on HAL was last Thanksgiving on the Veendam and I definitely noticed a decline in service since then. I'll be anxious to see what I think of the Eurodam for a cruise this Thanksgiving.

[kendon]

Sounds like this is a problem coming down from corporate. These problems are occuring in a big way across the board on too many of this ships run by Carnival Corporation, including Princess (just off a Princess cruise several days ago). I understand some cutbacks may be in order, but the blatant neglect in service and cleanliness is out of control. Surest way to lose loyal customers!

[lulubell]

What do you mean that four of you itched all the time and no bites. What is up with that.
Also, the reinvented food thing. Huh?:confused:
There was some allergy causing factors in the cabin we could not identify.After changing sheets& mattresses,one can only assume it was in the ventilation system.The itching only happened in our inside cabin 6081 and it was so bad we all took benedryl continously!When we were on shore excursions and in the public places such as the restaurant we were fine.By the way,we have not itched since we left the ship!
As for the food, many of leftover items served one day appeared in the next day 's recipes ,such as the cherries in the jubilee.Also the chef's had weird recipes as i mentioned before.

[matdark]

Hello again,
I told you I would let you know what response I would get. Well, none. Not a word. It's been quite a while now, I guess they won't even bother answering. It's a pity, really.

[PenelopeCorelli]

Hello again,
I told you I would let you know what response I would get. Well, none. Not a word. It's been quite a while now, I guess they won't even bother answering. It's a pity, really.

You could phone them daily until you get satisfaction. Or, resend the letter! (Remember Tim Robbins' character in Shawshank Redemption? He writes a letter a week requesting funds for the library - he got what he wanted and more, years later :eek: - with a request to please stop writing!:D) - You could redo the letter slightly and send it every week - or email them daily! They will acknowlege it eventually! Be sure to cc it to all the bigwigs.

We were on the B2B from July 6-30 & thought about renewal of vows, but now glad we didn't.....we preordered dinner on the Pinnacle - glad we took our confirmation! BTW, our 40th on the O was also July 26!:) Were you there at the PG? Saw a couple across from us on a special date. ;-)

[matdark]

yup we were there, not by the windows but on the other side of the aisle. we really enjoyed PG ;)

[Bethwte]

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience and especially about the lack of response. My family has just returned from a cruise on the Oosterdam as well, and we had quite a few issues on board (many of which were service related like yours). I was planning to write to Holland America about this, but now I am not so sure if it is worth my time. I can only hope this kind of service is not indicative of HAL as a whole.

[micro yaya]

Were we on the same ship? This was our 29th cruise our 5th on hal, and we had a blast, our inside room was clean when we got back from breakfast, our onboard gifts were delivered on time . We actually thought some of the adults onboard needed some manners lessons, but the kids never really bothered us. But you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if i had issues i would havae gone to the front dest and complained until i got some service oh well.........

[leoandhugh]

As staff have been cut throughout the cruise industry, service has suffered all over. But it seems more noticeable on HAL where service was always so good. They still try hard and work hard, but there just is not enough staff employed, in my opinion:)

[Bethwte]

Were we on the same ship? This was our 29th cruise our 5th on hal, and we had a blast, our inside room was clean when we got back from breakfast, our onboard gifts were delivered on time . We actually thought some of the adults onboard needed some manners lessons, but the kids never really bothered us. But you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if i had issues i would havae gone to the front dest and complained until i got some service oh well.........

I'm really glad you enjoyed your cruise- we talked with many who did and so I am not sure if some of the issues we had were hit or miss. However, we did often end up at or calling the front desk, and I have to say that the staff there did seem pretty inept. Maybe it was a fairly new set of staff members or something? We would get 3 different answers (sometimes none of which were correct) to the same question, and this happened multiple times with different questions each time. It also seemed to me to take a very long time for the people at the desk to resolve issues when they were able, resulting in long wait times.

Sorry for the threadjack here, but as I know micro was on our cruise, I have a question I'm dying to ask. Where were they hiding the croutons in the lido? I was forever searching for some for my salads and never did find any. Not a big enough problem that I bothered to complain or anything- more amusing to me than anything else.

[Luke Warmwater]

Let's be realistic about this - the romantic view that many cruise passengers have of their cruise is far removed from reality. It is a vacation factory. Passengers believe that the smiles they get from staff are sincere and, when they leave at the end of the week, the staff are sad and sorry to a see them go. Think of it from their point of view, you are a commodity and, next week, thee will be another bunch coming in with great expectations. Simply, demotivated staff do not really care too much about anything. Arrange something with important dates and deadlines and it wil be affected by whatever the staff and management deem more important. I have cruised for a total of 210 days in the last 10 years, mostly with Princess and HAL. I have never expected more than the basics because I like the surprise when I get something better. Cynical I know but realistic.

[Glenndale]

I've never sailed with HAL before but had thought they were a 4* line.
Reading through these posts makes me wish I'd stayed with Cunard.
Oh well, expectations are now seriously lowered for the cruise on Oosterdam next week.
Were there any good things about Oosterdam Mathieu?
Glad I haven't pre-booked anything with them apart from 1 excursion.

[hoopman]

I was on the Oosterdam for the July 30th Mediterranean sailing and the cruise was perfect exceeding my expectations and they were high. I guess maybe it was the luck of the draw, but try as might I couldn't find anything to complain about. We even oredred the renewal of vows package. It was delivered on time and went off without a hitch. Just lucky I guess.

[stevexy]

I was on the same med cruise and thought service was more than fine--read my review on the oosterdam. I did get staph aureus food poisoning from what I think was improperly stored food on the oosterdam (i.e a cream based product sitting at room temperature too long is a common cause). so that was a downer and I would give the Oosterdam a lower rating. But service was fine--this isnt a luxery cruise line and I wouldnt expect the same level of service as a higher end cruise line. I didnt see any decrease in service from my last years HAL cruise. PS you dont want to get food poisoning--very unpleasant.

[PenelopeCorelli]

I've never sailed with HAL before but had thought they were a 4* line.
Reading through these posts makes me wish I'd stayed with Cunard.
Oh well, expectations are now seriously lowered for the cruise on Oosterdam next week.
Were there any good things about Oosterdam Mathieu?
Glad I haven't pre-booked anything with them apart from 1 excursion.

Before you read this thread, how excited were you? Get it back!:) The one drawback to these posts is that they can dampen spirits if allowed. As you are from a damp enough place, you don't need it! We had a wonderful time, although there were issues. On one post somewhere I had read that something will always go wrong, but there's no need to let it affect your enjoyment of the holiday. In that regard, it's much like a wedding day, but even though it's not perfect, it's still going to be one of the best days of your life! The worst day cruising beats the best day at work, right?! Okay, so get some good info and valuable tips, then expect the best:), prepare for the worst:mad:, and enjoy!:):) Aaahhh! Feel the breeze, smell the fresh air, another dessert, please!:p

[dandro]

I'd like to ditto #45.

Your cruise is what you make it. Not everyone is going to have the same cruise experience, even if they are on the same ship, eat the same food, stay in a cabin identical to yours, etc. A positive attitude will go a long way on your cruise. Relax and have fun.

[matdark]

Let's be clear: other than the mishaps with service, rather annoying, HAL IS a great cruise line. I enjoyed it less than Cunard but once again, I am biased having been an ocean liner buff for years. HAL is a great experience, the Oosterdam is a great ship, the ports of call are awesome ;)

[Glenndale]

Yes I totally agree - your cruise is what you make it and generally I go with an open mind.

I'm looking forward to seeing all those wonderful Mediterranean ports again and enjoying some sunshine (fingers crossed).:cool:

Just a little concerned over the seeming ineptitude of the customer relations staff and I do like to return from breakfast to find my bed made.

Have a VA cabin at the rear of the ship so can sit and watch the wake at night, wonderful.

Thanks for your replies.

[micro yaya]

i'm really glad you enjoyed your cruise- we talked with many who did and so i am not sure if some of the issues we had were hit or miss. However, we did often end up at or calling the front desk, and i have to say that the staff there did seem pretty inept. Maybe it was a fairly new set of staff members or something? We would get 3 different answers (sometimes none of which were correct) to the same question, and this happened multiple times with different questions each time. It also seemed to me to take a very long time for the people at the desk to resolve issues when they were able, resulting in long wait times.

Sorry for the threadjack here, but as i know micro was on our cruise, i have a question i'm dying to ask. Where were they hiding the croutons in the lido? I was forever searching for some for my salads and never did find any. Not a big enough problem that i bothered to complain or anything- more amusing to me than anything else.

what croutons lol?

[hoopman]

Yes I totally agree - your cruise is what you make it and generally I go with an open mind.

I'm looking forward to seeing all those wonderful Mediterranean ports again and enjoying some sunshine (fingers crossed).:cool:

Just a little concerned over the seeming ineptitude of the customer relations staff and I do like to return from breakfast to find my bed made.

Have a VA cabin at the rear of the ship so can sit and watch the wake at night, wonderful.

Thanks for your replies.
We had room service for breakfast most days and the cruise was so port intensive that we wouldn't get back to the room until late afternoon. Bed was always made up by the time we returned.

[matdark]

Hi, I wanted to let you know that HAL gave me a refund for the gifts that weren't delivered. All's well that ends well ;)

[wander]

Thank you for the feedback. Too often we never hear the outcome of such situations.

[onthegogirl]

I'm sorry you experienced the problems on your anniversary cruise. There are "service issues" on HAL at this time. I don't know if it's lack of training or poor attitude. We had very poor service on a recent cruise aboard the Rotterdam. I don't know what is behind the problems, but I hope HAL can fix this bad situation. They are no longer a 4 star experience, IMHO.

Encountered the same on the Eurodam. Whether it's lack of training or a poor attitude due to working conditions, we the customers pay the price. With one or two exceptions I have found the front desk and the Guest Services department less than useless. Rather than solve the problems which often can be done with little effort, they fib and stall and stonewall and treat the guest as a nuisance and a bother. I often wonder what they think their job is.:confused: