Concerned about Maasdam

[Castronu]

Hi, I'm thinking of signing up for the Massadam trip departing next aug from rotterdam, cruising north, then arriving at Boston. I've seen a number of very critical reviews of the ship...sounds like food is a crap shoot (that doesn' bother me so much) and that the staff is not helpful. Anyone else considering a maasdam trip? I'd love to hear from you or anyone. Thanks, David C

[sail7seas]

I'm very surprised to read your post saying you have read 'a number' of reviews that concern you. Where? Most of the reviews posted here this summer by folks doing the Canada/New England Maasdam cruises have been very positive.....including my own.

We have cruised Maasdam a great number of times through the years and know that ship just about as well as any pax do. We have a fantastic time on her in July; found her in excellent condition; lovingly maintained with a fabulous crew. With hundreds of crew persons, I am sure someone ran into or dealt with one who was less helpful than they would have wished. But, to my mind, to go to a BB and post the WHOLE crew is unhelpful is most inaccurate. We love the crew on Maasdam and could not have wished for better service.

Great cabin steward; wonderful dining stewards; terrific deck stewards; bartenders the best.....Was the ship and cruise perfect? No, of course not. Did we try to book another week while we were aboard so we did not have to leave that great ship?? Yes!!!

Food was very good to excellent IMO...subjective as it may be. We have been on HAL ships recently where we thought the food lesser than we found on Maasdam. We very much enjoyed too much of that good food.

Any specific questions....please ask away.

[sail7seas]

BTW.....I just noticed this is your first post. Welcome to CC and to the HAL area. Hope you join us often.

[Castronu]

Hi folks and thanks for posting answers. I guess that on cruisecritic site I read a few reviews that were very positive, but these seemed to be from people traveling in higher categories (cabins with verandahs etc.) . The more negative comments came from people in lower categories...and I myself will be in a lower category (I think it is the lowest one that is still an outside cabin). I don't know anything about cruises so I'd be grateful for any advice for a first timer. I'm not a fussy traveller, and I certainly understand how people could run into "one bad apple" among staff, and also that it is basically impossible to make everything in the dining room go 100% smoothly. OK, thanks, I'll look for more postings because I am a neophyte (sp?). Dave:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We have also cruised a number of times on the Maasdam - the most recent being this past May - Ft Lauderdale to Montreal.

We love the crew and the ship and have always said positive things about her. The only time we had a negative was when the Pinnacle was added last November and we were among the first to try the new European crew working there. They were new and were clueless about everything. But that didn't stop us from eating there again when we sailed her in May. In fact we ate there several times.

We thought the food in the main dining room was excellent.

[FlorenceItaly]

Welcome to CC. I cruised on the Maasdam, in June...my first with HAL, and my first solo. I stayed in an inside cabin. I enjoyed myself so much I came home and booked another cruise on the Veendam...I returned home yesterday. The food was excellent. The service was good. I didn't find the crew as friendly as I found on the Veendam, but it did not effect my trip.
I would not hesitate to book the Maasdam again. Book your trip, you will not be disappointed.

Marie

[2rg]

We sailed the Maasdam in March and loved the ship and crew. We seldom book above Cat. C and this past cruise we were in Cat. E. Many posters book in S and they are getting some special perks but they are also paying for them.

We totally agree with S7S that the crew friendly and helpful. But everything is in the eye of the beholder and every cruise can be different than the last. Food was a mixed bag, some excellant some not so good. We only had 2 real complaints, one was with the Spa personnel and the other was a tendering problem. As you can see from my signiture I cruise nothing but HAL and we are in the process of planning our next cruise.

So fear not and book your cruise.

[PrincessMelody]

Maasdam Rules!!!



jmho:D

[Spot]

Our first time on HAL was the Maasdam and the great service, staff, and food were what has made me a total HAL believer.
The ship is wonderful and is a favorite amongst the grand ole DAM crusiers (and believe you me, they are a scrunitizing bunch of critics).

Book your cruise and get yourself ready for a wonderful vacation!

Deb

[iluvcruzin]

I must have missed the negative reviews on the Maasdam. I have read positive things about this ship. I am leaving in 60 days and will be staying in an inside cabin on the Navagation Deck. I know I'm hyped about this cruise and ship and am looking forward to a great cruise. I would suggest reading more reviews. You will find many positive ones posted on various cruise message boards.

[Tatka]

I've never been on Maasdam (although waived to her couple of times in Boston).

I got the feeling that there is some kind of anti - HAL agenda... We read horrible reviews about Zuiderdam whole summer long and had mighty fine cruise. I would rate it very close or even (every cruise is different) to my first and favourite cruise on Celebrity Century. Who are those people that write these reviews?

[sail7seas]

Tatka.....Sometimes I think the competition plants mystery posters to go from Board to Board writing all sorts of negative things. I think they may have vivid imaginations and are wonderful fiction writers.

Sure....not every cruise is perfect for everyone. There can be 1,200 pax on a ship and 1190 of them are very well satisfied....but the ten who were disappointed (either justifiably or unreasonably) can make alot of noise while the happy/content pax go merrily on their way and we hear little from them.

[ekerr19]

Hi folks and thanks for posting answers. I guess that on cruisecritic site I read a few reviews that were very positive, but these seemed to be from people traveling in higher categories (cabins with verandahs etc.) . The more negative comments came from people in lower categories...and I myself will be in a lower category (I think it is the lowest one that is still an outside cabin).

We cruised on the Maasdam 4/3/04. We were in catagory FF, outside quad, and it was fantastic! We LOVED the Maasdam and our cruise out of Norfolk. Would sail on her again in a heartbeat!

The food in the Pinnacle Grill on our cruise was fantastic. Can't wait to go back. :)

[Spot]

Ooops! Posted to wrong thread (thinking about another, sorry)

[Castronu]

Thanks to all of you who posted messages that are so reassuring... I'm not an anti-HAL agent:) -- I think that what some of you said is true, a few people can badmouth something, and if that's all you hear, it seems much worse than it is. You all have really gotten me psyched for this trip. I just put down my deposti. Now I HOPE TO HEAR FROM OTHERS WHO MAY BE TAKING THIS SAME CRUISE, Aug 2 . 2005. Rotterdam--->Boston.

CHeers, David

[ekerr19]

David-

Congratulations on your first Maasdam cruise! We loved her - hopefully you will as well. :)

Also, welcome to the boards, they are such a great place for all kinds of helpful advice.

So many of these posters truly feel like my friends... :D

[jascruise]

... I guess that on cruisecritic site I read a few reviews that were very positive, but these seemed to be from people traveling in higher categories (cabins with verandahs etc.) . The more negative comments came from people in lower categories...and I myself will be in a lower category (I think it is the lowest one that is still an outside cabin). ...Dave:)

On our Maasdam cruise earlier this month, we were in an inside room at the absolute aft end of the ship, main deck. So our accomodations were not top-of-the line by any stretch, yet we were very pleased with the ship, the staff and the food. For specific comments, I posted a review following the cruise. There were somethings that could have used attention, but overall we were very pleased.

In short, this is a nice ship. Given the right circumstances, we'd sail on her again.

[CrabbyHarper]

I can see where castronu got his/her impression that there were bad reviews of the Maasdam. On the Cruise Critic home page, press on the "reviews" tab, then type in "Maasdam" and choose from the "Member reviews" There are several that rate only two "stars" or whatever that icon is. I read them and could see where one could get a negative impression.

Who chooses what reviews get published there? Reading the boards is actually a better way to get a balanced view.

For instance, one of the "two star" reviews on Maasdam on the member reviews section was a cruise I took - April 3, 2004 - ekerr took that one too. I would rate the curise at least a 3.5 and probably a 5 if not for the badly disciplined kids running amok.

While it is true that there was terrible problem with runaway kids, and I will never again book during any kind of a school break - we HAVE booked Maasdam again, twice - Nov 9 and April 21.

We liked the size of the ship, we liked the port of Norfolk, and we liked the itineraries.

Is HAL superior to the other cruise lines I have sailed on? Not really, IMHO. I loved Celebrity and RCI, but for now Maasdam has my loyalty. The cabin was the nicest we have ever had - a balcony not a suite - the food was good if not perfect, the Pinnacle Grill was worth the extra money, the Indonesian and Fillipino staff were so nice and eager to please. All in all a good vacation and we look forward to our next two cruises on Maasdam.

HOpe this helps.

Gerry the Crabby Harper

[sail7seas]

Congratulations on your booking, David. I hope you enjoy your cruise on Maasdam as much as we have enjoyed very many on her. :)

BTW....I wasn't implying YOU were a 'plant' from the competition. :) Just that sometimes I cannot understand some posts I have read and speculate that it could be a little mischief. ;)

[lipoppop]

Thanks to all of you who posted messages that are so reassuring... I'm not an anti-HAL agent:) -- I think that what some of you said is true, a few people can badmouth something, and if that's all you hear, it seems much worse than it is. You all have really gotten me psyched for this trip. I just put down my deposti. Now I HOPE TO HEAR FROM OTHERS WHO MAY BE TAKING THIS SAME CRUISE, Aug 2 . 2005. Rotterdam--->Boston.

CHeers, David

David, If you are not aware of it there is a separate set of threads call "rollcalls" where people on the same cruise chat. It might be early for the August 2005 Rotterdam cruise but check anyhow. In fact why not start the thread!

It is an addiction. Once you cruise HAL you kep comming back again and again.

[ekerr19]

I can see where castronu got his/her impression that there were bad reviews of the Maasdam. On the Cruise Critic home page, press on the "reviews" tab, then type in "Maasdam" and choose from the "Member reviews" There are several that rate only two "stars" or whatever that icon is. I read them and could see where one could get a negative impression. Gerry the Crabby Harper

Gerry-

I didn't realize there were so many negatives reviews of the Maasdam and one really bad one from our cruise. Even luvtravelin posted she experienced problems with all the rowdy kids. I know you did not care for some of your experiences with them either... boy, where was I? I did not notice any rowdiness at all! We thought the kids on the Maasdam were a dream compared to those on the Zuiderdam... :)

[obriendan]

Castronu,

We will be this cruise, Rotterdam to Boston, Aug. 2-20, 2005. This is the last half of a 35-day Boston to Boston cruise and is listed on the Rool Call Board under "Maasdam 7/16/05". Its on the second page, so why don't you sign on to it and bump it up?

[gliles]

I guess that on cruisecritic site I read a few reviews that were very positive, but these seemed to be from people traveling in higher categories (cabins with verandahs etc.) . The more negative comments came from people in lower categories.
This says something to me but I don't know what. Perhaps the people in the lower caregories are new to cruising and don't know what to expect? Problems with the food and staff wouldn't necessarily matter what cabin you were in. I will say that the more I cruise, the better the cabin I want. Started out with a tiny outside guarantee on Carnival many many years ago and have since experienced the Owner's Suite 3 times, balconies and yes, even one inside just because the 7-day cruise was only $199 but basically the more we cruise, the more we know we don't want an inside or bottom of the line outside unless of course the price is right because money doesn't grow on trees!