Reply from Holland

[tommy]

We e-mailed Holland Customer Relations make them aware of problems we had on the Zuiderdam[A/C,sewage,and dining room service]We recieved in the mail today an apology,and stating they have recieved similiar complaints.She assured us they are addressing these problems and will rectifythese problems.As A offer of goodwill they gave us a shipboard credit certificate of 200 dollars,and thanked us for letting them know.So one there was a problem 2 It pays to let them know and 3 by letting them know they may attempt to rectify problems.Anyway I am happy with thier reply. TOM

[HeatherInFlorida]

Tom, I'm so glad you got such a quick and obviously personal reply. I think the $200 shipboard credit was a nice gesture on their part and I'm sure it goes a long way to putting those problems behind you:) . It's just good business on their part. I'm so glad to hear that they're trying to fix the problems.

[sail7seas]

Glad you are satisified with their response.


Good reason to book another cruise. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Shipboard credit is much better than a voucher on a future cruise because usually those vouchers have SO many restrictions.

[tommy]

We are happy with thier reply.We have already booked Veendam 14 day for next Oct. TOM

[tommy]

KK,You are right on the certificate it actually states the ship board credit can be used with any other promo. TOM

[JeffCoud]

Tom--

Sailing on the Zuiderdam 2 weeks from today (woo hoo!) Kind of curious if you could tell me what parts of the ship seemed to have the sewage and A/C problems. I am going to be in one of the aft balcony cabins. Should I bring my air freshener and a fan?? :) If you could tell me, thanks much,

Jeff

[tommy]

We were on the back 4180.The smell wasnt that bad.Just the floor drain in the washroom would occasionally back up a little,and waste would back up in our toilet.The biggest disapointment was the sevice in the dining room though.Even with these problems we had a great time,and the S Suite on the back was excellent,what a balcony.We also had friends on deck 7 with A/C problems our A/C was fine.Anything else I can tell you feel free to ask. TOM

[MandyGirl]

Tom--

Sailing on the Zuiderdam 2 weeks from today (woo hoo!) Kind of curious if you could tell me what parts of the ship seemed to have the sewage and A/C problems.
Jeff - We returned last night from Zuiderdam 11/20 sailing and noticed the sewage smell a few times on deck 8 (Navigation deck) on separate days. It was always the same area - when coming from midship elevators going forward, it was before you get to the group of four I-category inside cabins. We had one of those four cabins but could not smell it from our cabin. Our cabin never had any sewage problems. Also, on embarkation day, the hallway carpets on either side of our door were rolled up and they were putting some sort of black plaster looking stuff down. They were able to put the carpets back down a few hours later (around muster drill time), but we understood from crew they were trying to fill in the little "dips" under the carpet to make it more level. They had fans blowing in the hallway that day to help the stuff dry faster (like the fans you use if your house floods and you are trying to air out the carpet), but we were able to get through by hopping over those plaster areas. A wheelchair could not have made it through though.

[tommy]

Mandy,What did you think of the juggler[Edge],and did you meet Hunky Dorey?Also how was the service in the dining room? TOM

[MandyGirl]

Tom -

Did not see the juggler (did the magic show though). Definitely met Hunky Dory the first day in Lido. :D We had around 2100 pax onboard with 350 in Club Hal (I asked Club Hal that question since I'm a teacher - so I felt fortunate that I only teach 140 kiddos a day). Quite the crowded week and definitely different from our Thanksgiving experience on Maasdam the same holiday week last year. (Maybe if only 1800ish passengers it would not have felt so crowded but the Zui was well above the double-occupancy numbers) However, dining room for dinner was awesome. We had table 77 against the railing (happy to get that - when I had called HAL I was told we could NOT request tables as reported here on CruiseCritic). Of our five 7-nt Caribbean cruises (four with traditional dining, one with Freestyle), we had the BEST waiter ever (Nana). We made sure we told his head waiter, maitre'd and our cruise comment form about him. This was our first experience for a table for two (always had large tables). Dining room dinners were terrific - we didn't have a single item at all that we did not enjoy. Only had lunch in there once (found it to be quite limited in selection - hubby had fish and chips and I had a mushroom/swiss/avocado burger) and had breakfast in there once (it was good but the Belgian waffle was very small compared to what I get at IHOP so I had some pastries that were floating around as well). Had predinner cocktails at the midship atrium area bar on deck 3 before going to 8:00 dinner - but it was always a huge bottleneck going through the photo area (one in our group had mobility challenges and defiinitely found it to be a concern). Had Pinnacle one night - incredible. Even better than our Pinnacle experience on Maasdam last year. :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

MandyGirl, very strange HAL saying that you cannot reserve specific tables. In their literature they clearly say that you can "request" a specific table, but they cannot guarantee it. When I called Ship's Services they happily and encouragingly took my "request" for a round table for 8 or 10. We got an oblong table for 6:) . We were perfectly happy with it in the end, but so much for "requests".

Still, in their defense they did not lie. They did take my "request:o .

[tommy]

Mandy,glad you had a good time.We booked direct with Holland and requested table 37 a table for 2 and they told us they would put it on our reservation but couldnt guarentee it.It turned out we did get #73,I wish we had the same waiter as you. TOM

[MandyGirl]

Heather - Yes, I had found it was strange when calling to make the Pinnacle reservation prior to the cruise that we could not request a table for normal dining (I also understand the difference between requests and guarantees - but was surprised she told me she could not even take a request). I had then asked if we could even request a particular part of the dining room (such as near the railing since we were confirmed for 8:00) and was told 'no' by that phone rep because (according to her) if one person requests and then others request, they cannot determine who gets the request if too many request. I had not read the literature that closely, so thanks for pointing that out! I phoned a while back when the threads were going on here on CC about dining room maps, so it did confuse me as to why some get to request while others don't, but then again this was only my second HAL cruise so maybe that mattered. Of course, it could have been that specific phone rep - sometimes you can call two different times, get two different reps, and get two different answers. Regardless, we really enjoyed our table and cannot speak highly enough of Nana (our waiter). Sometimes inbetween courses we would watch him working away - he was nonstop. However, no matter how busy he was, he always greeted us both by name, whether it was dinner time, dessert extravaganza, or breakfast in the dining room.

We did see our share of blue jeans, tennis shoes, midriffs, belly buttons, flip flops, etc in the dining room. I know showing midriffs is the style now (I teach middle school) but hubby told me that when we have children, if we have a daughter and he doesn't let her out of the house dressed the way we saw some teens dressed for dinner, he hopes I understand. Heck yea I would understand!

[tommy]

My fingers were moving faster than my brain,we did get table.We did get table #37 the one we requested. Mandy you are right about the phone reps.If you dont like the one on the phone call back try another one you might just get a different reply. TOM

[MandyGirl]

Don't you hate that, Tom? The finger-brain thing... :D I had thought of calling back but since I knew it wouldn't make or break the cruise I just let it go. Figured I would be surprised on embarkation day. I will definitely say that the Pinnacle was absolutely awesome! I didn't remember it being so awesome last year on Maasdam (it was relatively new then) but this time it definitely "wowed" both of us! I couldn't even finish the volcano cake even though I'm a chocoholic!

[tommy]

We just put a hold on the Veendam for Oct 2005 and the rep told us they no longer give comp holds we would have to put deposit on it we declined.I called the Mariner # 5 minutes later and they said no problem they could hold it for a week. TOM

[HeatherInFlorida]

....... I couldn't even finish the volcano cake even though I'm a chocoholic!
:D I finished it.......;)

You're absolutely right, Tom and Mandy, it's the rep you get that makes a difference. Makes no sense but a couple of times if I felt I wasn't getting anywhere with one, I'd call back and she/he would bend over backwards for me. So it's the luck of the draw. We live ... we learn:) .