I now understand negative reviews

[Mary Ann 2]

I now understand some of the negative reviews I have read over the years after our June 12 Zuiderdam cruise. I had always before felt that these were just people that were too picky. But I now understand that sometimes you can just be overwhelmed by one bad thing after another and have a hard time getting back on top of it. I would never have believed before this cruise that we could ever have a bad day at sea. We absolutely love cruising and have always loved every cruise. However, on our first sea day last week, we had four things happen- one right after another that made it very difficult to enjoy our day. To anyone else, they might not seem all that upsetting, but when you are on a cruise, expecting the time of your life and run into one thing right after another, it can take some time to recover.

I would encourage anyone who has genuine problems to go to the front desk and leave a written message for the hotel manager. Within several hours, we had multiple phone calls, they delivered chocolate-covered strawberries, and the appropriate dept. addressed most of the issues immediately.

We were able to get back up on our feet and get back into having a good time, but it was an eye-opener. Overall, I think our memories will be good ones. We loved swimming with the stingrays and Half Moon Cay was as wonderful as we remembered.

[jhannah]

I'm glad you could get back in the swing of things. Funny, isn't it? When one thing happens, it all starts to domino ... and it's one thing after another. Maybe that's good, though, so you go ahead and get it all out of the way! ;) Sorry for the bad start, but happy it evened out.

Yes, HMC is a truly special place.

[Krazy Kruizers]

;)

I know what you are talking about.

Last summer on the Ryndam, we had several things happen within a few minutes of getting on the ship.

But we got through it and had 14 wonderful days in Alaska.

;)

[ron46936]

I agree with the original post. Not everything goes perfect on a cruise especially on older ships. We were on the Noordam this spring and overall had a wonderful time. Others might have let the noise and rattles get to them but to us it was just part of the experience. A few years ago we laughed at the waves in our water glasses on Song of America.

Now if they could just fix those annoying bingo announcements.

[blndee77]

Mary Ann 2 - As I am sailing on the Zui this Sept. I was wondering what specific things happened to you?

[superstein61]

Mary Ann 2 - As I am sailing on the Zui this Sept. I was wondering what specific things happened to you?

Yes, c'mon - dish out the dirt :) I am curious to as we will be on the Z this summer

[Tatka]

I will be on Zuiderdam in August for my first HAL cruise...I also want to know what kind of problems we should expect.

Please let us know.

[sail7seas]

I'm sorry you had bad experiences but am happy it worked out okay in the end.

I think you were sensible and did all in your power to make things get better for yourselves. You could have seethed and been angry and had a horrible time on your cruise if you allowed the "bad stuff" to overwhelm you and did nothing proactive to have them corrected.

Instead you chose to seek assistance in order for your vacation to be saved.

Good advice to go to the front office and either speak with the GRM or as you did, leave a note for the appropriate person.

I am very happy to hear that, once alerted to problems, they addressed them immediately.

Welcome back and thanks for a very helpful post.

[dst]

Sorry to hear that you had a bad start to your vacation; however I think the important thing is that they addressed it immediately and your vacation was not ruined. When you have 2,000 people all checking in at the same time, getting use to the ship together, it makes it difficult to assure everyone a wonderful time. Knowing that they addressed your concerns immediately is what counts in my book.

We are taking our first HAL cruise on the Zuiderdam in July and although I hope all goes well, I feel better that they are taking the time to address peoples concerns.

[Mary Ann 2]

I'm not sure if I tell you what happened that you will see the impact of it all happening in 6 hours time. It's very unlikely that anyone would have more than one of these happen, which would be easily handled.

It started with a couples massage seminar that we attended. I had attempted to do this on previous cruises, but had never succeeded in talking my hubby into it. But after extensive questioning about it at the spa, he relented. Unfortunately, they failed to tell us the most important thing...where the class would be held...in the gym on the hardwood floor. So instead of a relaxing, bonding time, it turned out to be a tortuous hour. My hubby had to kneel on a hardwood floor that entire time while I laid on a 1/4 inch mat which also ended up hurting my back. We are just in our early 50's and there were much younger couples there who also were having trouble with hurting by the looks of their faces and often switching positions. So it cost $49 and was nothing but torture, really.

Alone, we could have recovered, but next was my hair appt. for formal night. Since you have to make those before you know the schedule, I had made it for 4pm. When I found out that early dining had captain's party at 4:45, I went to the salon to find out if I should cancel - they told me no, they would be done by 4:30 at the latest - no problem. Well, you can probably guess...they didn't even start until almost 4:30 and then were in such a rush, it was not fancy for formal night like I wanted, just a blow dry. And of course, we were so late, we didn't even get to meet the captain, much less get a picture with him like we always do.

Now it's suppertime, and again, the wine steward is too busy. Only this night, he's not just behind, by the time the entree was served, he still hasn't poured the wine. It was pre-ordered, so all he had to do was pour it! Well into the entree, we had to ask the waiter to find him.

Then it's off to the show. Now we are teachers, and so, sticklers for the rules. We listened very carefully this night as well as previous nights. "No video or sound recording and no flash photography" fine, understand...but my hubby always has taken a picture of production shows for my scrapbook with his really good camera with no flash-they did not say no photograpy. We are sitting in the front and half way through the show, someone comes up and grabs his $1000 camera and says they are confiscating it!!!! You can imagine his reaction!! No way, he is letting a stranger walk off with his camera! He finally convinces the guy that it is okay to just put it away. But hopefully, you can see this was just the last straw in a series of events.

I was practically in tears by this time, as cruises have always been such a special time for us...almost magical...and this was anything but that. We actually started the next day in prayer, asking God to help turn this around in our hearts and give us a good rest of the cruise.

I also went to the front desk later that day as I mentioned in my earlier post. The hotel manager said they would talk to the spa & salon -not much to expect could be done at this point. But the wine steward was at our table almost first each night and we had such excellent service after that, that my hubby even tipped him extra at the end. The cruise director is in charge of the shows, so she is the one that called us about that. She apologized for the way it was handled and said she would be listening to the pre-recorded tape about pictures and calling Seattle to get a policy decision. She called the next day and claimed that Seattle said were going to record a new message excluding all photography. I would be very interested in knowing if anyone notices that the message before the production shows changes.

The chocolate strawberries were a nice touch and all the apologies and improved service helped, but mostly it was a determination to get back on track for having a great cruise. So...don't think anyone else will have such a string of bad luck...have a great cruise!!!

[blndee77]

I do see how all of that happened could put a damper on your day!

Good to know I shouldn't try the couple's massage - I'm in my late 20s and my knees are shot. If I kneel down with my infant or to reach a low shelf in a store, I feel my knee pop and I have trouble walking. Kneeling anytime is never fun, especially not on a wood floor.

Also, I usually visit the hair salon once during the cruise on a formal night, but I have had some bad experiences in the past. I usually request a stylish updo...last cruise resulted in a teased out beehive on top of my head. Once, many years ago, in my early teens, was I happy with the haircut I received at the salon.

I can't believe they snatched your camera! We have often taken non-flash photos of shows on past cruises. I understand no video and no flash but what harm is there in taking a few pics for your personal use?

And not getting something you paid for (wine) is not acceptable either. My past experience with wine stewards is that some are excellent and others you can never find. What irks me there is if you don't order wine the first night, they don't come back at all during the week.

Anyway, sorry to hear about the negatives...but did you enjoy the ship and ports otherwise?

[Mary Ann 2]

Yes, we enjoyed the ship (although if you read the thread on BC guarantees, you'll see that we were not very thrilled that the 4th floor front verandahs are solid metal and we were "upgraded" to these B cabins and couldn't sit on our balcony and enjoy the view -very bad design flaw and rating this cabin a B is a joke!) My hubby had wanted to try one of the new Vista ships since they first came out. Loved the outside elevators! Wished they had the solid wall-to-wall glass in the dining room -missed that on the other lines and didn't realize they had changed this on the Vista class. Also loved the showroom - I much prefer the seating on the HAL ships over the other ships with theater seats. Never had a problem getting a seat like on some other lines either even with a full ship.

And the entertainers were the BEST we have ever seen!!! The comedian was by far the best of any on a ship yet, as was the incredible magician - he was first-class Vegas excellence!! Even the juggler was great. Of course, the HAl dancers were great also. We enjoyed every show.

We especially enjoyed the before dinner appetizers and dancing in the Crow's Nest. It was so great to have live music for dancing before even early seating - which is a problem on other lines. And the band in the Crow's Nest was so good - once they noticed that you preferred certain types of dances, they played those as soon as you came in! I can't praise the staff at the Crow's Nest enough. Nikkie became our preferred waiter and we loved his personal greetings every night. I also never had such great attention on other lines.

We bought a week's pass to the spa therapy pool and hubby especially loved our time there every day. It's so nice to have a kind of private place away from so many people. Only one sea day was it "crowded" with about 6 people there; otherwise only 2 or 3 others there.

As far as ports, we liked Key West, didn't care for Cozumel, and loved Grand Cayman and Half Moon Cay. Cozumel's downtown is all torn up and getting a taxi to take you where you want is iffy and I even asked in Spanish, but we got dropped off blocks from where we wanted due to construction and he would have had to go out of his way to get us further downtown. I didn't feel like the prices were as good as we had gotten last March on the West coast cruise and ports.

Loved the swim with the stingrays. So incredible! As was HMC - it was as wonderful as I remembered! And I was so grateful that someone here had advised us to book a clamshell as soon as we could. Hubby and the sun don't do well, but I was able to stay at the beach hours more due to having the clamshell. And they were all booked up by that day. You can't book online; only on the ship - it's such a great deal -only $9!! We could have sat and looked at the beautiful turquoise sea for days! And the sand - it was as fine as I remembered - really no doubt, the best private island of any cruise line!!

So...lots of good memories and good times overall.

[MandyGirl]

Thanks for sharing MaryAnn. I too am a teacher and totally understand the rules saying!! :) I heard the phrase "flash photography" while we were in Scotland a couple of weeks ago, and I too had thought I could take a picture as long as there was no flash. My hubby told me that was how they refer to it over there - meaning "no photography at all". So I can totally see the other passenger's point of view due to interpretation.

On NCL and Celebrity, we were not charged for Couples Massage classes that were done in groups, so when we cruised HAL last year, we were surprised to see a charge (and did not participate for that reason). How yucky was that to be on the hardwood floor?? I'm 29 for these last few days, and no way could I do hardwood floors!!!

We are going on the Zuiderdam this Thanksgiving, and I do have a couple of questions for you:
- Were there ever any specials for the T-pool during the week? I could easily do a week pass, but hubby takes convincing. He might just do a day (and then get hooked!)
- What were 'clamshells' on HMC? We were there last Thanksgiving on Maasdam and just enjoyed the hammocks and lawnchairs. Are clamshells those half-hut-looking structures on the beach? I didn't know those had to be reserved if that's what I am thinking.

Thanks!!

[iluvcruzin]

Aww Maryann..I can see how that was upsetting to have so many disappointments on day one. Glad to hear the rest of your experience was wonderful. I think the price of the Clam shell is terrific and I hope to book one too. Does anyone know if you can reserve them online in advance?

[sail7seas]

The clamshells are reserved when aboard the ship through the Shore Excursion Office. They have numbers and when you get to HMC, the beach staff puts the pole into 'your' clamshell to hold it up.

[darnapar]

It is interesting the varied points of view on the same sailing, as halpinsg's report has a different set of cons. Not that I am dismissing your trials traveling (even premium cruises) requires flexability. I would have left the massge lesson if I knew the kneeling would bother me, canceled the hair appt as hairdressers like Drs never are on time for appointments and let "security" know I was following their written rules on photos so back off. Hopefully your next trip will be better.

[stillfrantic]

Great information, Mary Ann. I was looking forward to your return to hear about your verandah and such. I'm sorry you had a rough start. It sounds as though the week got better and saved the trip.

I am also interested in the therapy pool pass. How much is it currently? Did it also include use of the spa howers and tile loungers in the aromotherapy area?

Were there any problems getting lounger chairs around the pool for sunning and relaxing, or are they plentiful?

I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

[Mary Ann 2]

In response to the questions about the spa therapy pool, we only bought passes for the pool; they do offer passes for both the pool and the aromatherapy/sauna area, but they are $150 I think. Only the pool was $80 each, but as we bought two, they gave it to us for $150. There was some special on the little chalkboard near the spa area in the middle of the week but it was the combined pool/sauna pass, so I think it was still $80. I'm not sure that daily passes don't make just as much sense. We only found time to do the pool once a day especially on port days and if you miss more than one day you haven't saved anything really with the pass. Unless you have a rush on it, in which case, week passes have priority as they limit hown many get to us it at a time.

It appeared to me that most of the time there were chairs around the big lido pool.

The clamshells are royal blue cloth tentlike structures which cover two chaise loungers. They are located across the back of the beach behind the front three rows of loungers. The hutlike shelters that I think you referred to are very expensive-there used to be several threads about them.

Think that answered everyone's question.

[iluvcruzin]

Thanks for the info on the handling of the clamshell rentals s7s's. MaryAnn the therapy pool sounds wonderful. If they had one on the Maasdam I would definately check that out.

[MandyGirl]

Thanks for the info MaryAnn! Yes, I recall the cabanas at HMC (we laid in hammocks right before the first cabana - quiet and peaceful down there). Now I see what is referred to as clamshells - we had seen those as well but never realized those were rentals too! Learn something new every day! :) And thanks for the tidbits on the T-pool --- totally makes sense to use a day pass.

[tonyrobin]

Is the therapy pool like a jacuzzi? Thanks Robin

[Mary Ann 2]

Yes, the T-pool is something like a Jacuzzi, only more. At one end, there are metal poles foming long reclining loungers under the water with bubbles coming up all around you. At the entry side, there are two water spouts that drop water on your shoulders and back to massage them; they change intensity from very hard to light. Then in the center there is a circle enclosed with metal walls to hold on to with very large bubbles that massage you all over. The last day, I finally discovered that on the sides there are 3 jets under the water at three different heights to massage your calfs, thighs, and back. It is supposed to be at body temperature unlike most jacuzzis, so you can stay in the water much longer. (I say supposed to because it sure seemed to several of us that it warmed up over the week, but there was a tech in there one day checking the temp. and he said it was right at body temp.)

[Mary Ann 2]

Finally finished our website with pictures of clamshells and hydrotherapy pool among many others for those interested:

http://gallery.scrapboxlabs.com/zuiderdam

Unfortunately, I don't know how to make this a clickable link at this board, but you can copy and paste into address. Oh, it looks like it does it automatically.

[PoohUnderstands]

One section of the comments caught my eye. The taxis into town in Cozumel. If you want to go into town and not take a tour, go early in a.m., around 9:30-10:00 and you will have no problem getting a cab. We came back at around noon and the lines were extremely long and daunting!
Also, tell the driver you want to get off at Las Cincos Soles and then you can walk back uptown towards the ship. Our driver, too, tried the I can't get any further routine and tried to let us off way up on the south end of town. Make a map of Cozumel off the internet and I just told our driver to go east to 10th and over and back down! When he knew he couldn't pull the wool over our eyes, he dropped us off at Las Cincos Soles with no problem at all. This is a gimmick the cab drivers use to make quicker turn arounds and to use less gas. Don't fall for it!!!! Also if you have time don't forget to go play minature golf at Sally's and have a great break!

[idiebabe]

Thank you Maryann for your feedback.

I'm thinking of booking on the Zuiderdam but I have read so much negative on the ship. Although I've been on 11 cruises I have never sailed HAL. My husband and I are 51 but we enjoy having a good time which includes staying up late. I have read that there is no nightlife on the ship that after 10:00 everyone goes to bed.

A few questions for those who sailed: Is that true? Are the lounges and casino quiet? Also, do they have adult comedy shows at midnight, etc. Also, how is the food?

I'd appreciate the feedback. We're thinking of the Superior Suite - has anyone stayed in that type room?

Eileen

[Mary Ann 2]

Any night that we went to a lounge, there were people there and live music. I wouldn't say that the place was jumping, but it wasn't dead either. One night they had a late adult comedy show that was very good. The food was good - the dessert chef was very good. Some meals were much better than others, but on average, the food was above average. Many of their soups were spectacular and some of the desserts were to die for.

I don't think that you need fear anything that happened to us - it could all have happened on any line or ship - just a string of bad events. We have sailed HAL, Princess, and Celebrity and consider them all good lines, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, but all a wonderful place to spend a vacation!

[idiebabe]

Thanks for the info, Maryann. I agree that nothing is perfect. I've been on 11 cruises and one cruise the wait staff wasn't as good as all the others but we still had a great time.

I saw so much negative on this ship. Glad to hear the food is good, the comedy show, etc.

Thanks again for the info.

Eileen

[darnapar]

Maryann you took some great pictures.

[Giorgi-one]

Why would anyone think there is a difference between flash photography and non-flash photography?

[blndee77]

Why would anyone think there is a difference between flash photography and non-flash photography?
Flash photography can startle performers? No-flash they wouldn't notice it?

I have been many places that allowed photography but not with a flash for that reason.

[Mary Ann 2]

blndee77 was exactly right - on our last Princess cruise, they actually explained that there was no flash photograpy for that reason, but taking pictures without flash was okay

that's why we would think it was okay!! And the point really was how they handled the whole situation anyway!!

[E.J.'sMOM]

Hi, MaryAnn,

I was looking through the message board and saw your message. It was great meeting you and your husband on the cruise. I was sorry to hear about your problems...we had a great times. E.J.'s trying to convince me we can go on another before school starts! I received the strawberries the day after I fell on the Lido deck...a welcome treat!

Your pictures are beautiful. Have a great summer...school days will be here before we know it!

Micky

[cusyl]

I think they don't want you photographing the shows because of copyright laws, or don't want someone to copy their costumes or steal their material.
We've had a couple incidents where we were videotaping a Disney on Ice show and they almost took our camera. It's a definite no no. Also, when we were in Florence Italy a lady in the gallery took a flash picture of a work of art and the guards escorted her out the door.

I know it's disappointing when you have these things happen on a cruise, but hope you made the best of it and didn't let it ruin your cruise.

[Orcrone]

I think they don't want you photographing the shows because of copyright laws, or don't want someone to copy their costumes or steal their material.
We've had a couple incidents where we were videotaping a Disney on Ice show and they almost took our camera. It's a definite no no. Also, when we were in Florence Italy a lady in the gallery took a flash picture of a work of art and the guards escorted her out the door.

I know it's disappointing when you have these things happen on a cruise, but hope you made the best of it and didn't let it ruin your cruise.Cusyl,

I agree with what you say about copyrighted material. But this is not Broadway. I don't think anyone is on board to steal material from the show. With this in mind the crew should have assumed that this was a passenger taking pictures for his own benefit and handled the situation much better. Asking him to please refrain from taking pictures would have been the proper way to handle it.

[gliles]

I would think that flash photography would be distracting to the audience if nothing else. I always assumed that was one reason to not allow it.

[blndee77]

I think they don't want you photographing the shows because of copyright laws, or don't want someone to copy their costumes or steal their material.
We've had a couple incidents where we were videotaping a Disney on Ice show and they almost took our camera. It's a definite no no. Also, when we were in Florence Italy a lady in the gallery took a flash picture of a work of art and the guards escorted her out the door.

I know it's disappointing when you have these things happen on a cruise, but hope you made the best of it and didn't let it ruin your cruise.
Video is understandable because you could take a video of an accident on stage or something like that where there is proof in court that the cruise line did something wrong. (I have heard that is why some doctors don't let couples video ultrasounds and childbirths because of malpractice suits).

As for works of art and antiques in Europe and elsewhere, flashes and sunlight are known to deteriorate the piece. So you can often take non-flash photos. I have many photos from the Louvre in Paris including one of the Mona Lisa. All ok to take without a flash.

[iamirish]

I would encourage anyone who has genuine problems to go to the front desk and leave a written message for the hotel manager.

When I cruised on the Ryndam last December, I had a problem with the air conditioning in my room (cabin 384). I made the mistake of first talking to the front desk personnel and then to the Guest Relations Manager. She acted like I was bothering her. She was of NO help whatsoever in resolving the problem that my air conditioning was not working. I was stuck in a very hot room for the balance of my cruise!!

It will be a long time before I cruise on HAL again.

Tom

[Ellya]

I'm thinking of booking on the Zuiderdam but I have read so much negative on the ship. Although I've been on 11 cruises I have never sailed HAL. My husband and I are 51 but we enjoy having a good time which includes staying up late. I have read that there is no nightlife on the ship that after 10:00 everyone goes to bed.

A few questions for those who sailed: Is that true? Are the lounges and casino quiet? Also, do they have adult comedy shows at midnight, etc. Also, how is the food?


Eileen

We just returned yesterday from a 7 day cruise on the Zuiderdam. Although this was our first cruise, I will say that we were on the go from early in the morning to late at night. We usually collapsed between midnight and 1 a.m. There is a 10:30 show every night in the main show lounge, there is dancing of some sort in both the Crow's Nest and the Northern Lights nightclub area. The casino was open late every day. Some of the first nights the nightclub was kind of quiet, but it seemed to get more popular as the week went on. There was a late night (11:45) adult comedy show one night and adult kareoke another night. Frankly, after long busy days in ports we were too tired to stay up as late as we wanted to for some of the late night activities! So, I think you will find plenty to do at all hours.

The food was very good with lots of dining choices. The dining room is open breakfast, lunch and dinner for sit down multi-course meals. The Lido buffet offers casual dining, but still excellent food (I had a salmon dinner there that was very excellent). There is also a poolside grill for outdoor casual dining which is open for "off hour" meals. There were also some special occasion meals like a BBQ by the Lido pool.