Maasdam review December 6th, Southern Caribbean, 14 nights

Thought I post a small review from our cruise. Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors but English is not my native language.

Embarkation: very smooth and only a very small queue at check in, we arrived around 12:00 noon. The only thing which I was a little bit offended was outside with the luggage boys who said to us: "we expect 5 Dollars and we then make sure your luggage is safe". I found this a total insult and almost black mail.

Main dining room: Food was ok on most nights so no major complaints there. Service was friendly. All in all it was ok, but not outstanding regarding quality of food.

Pinnacle Grill: Food was fantastic, service and sommelier also outstanding. We booked Le Cirque and this was disappointing to my amazement. We waited for our drinks and starter for over 1 hour. We had the additional matching wines but there was no explanation at the table which wine we were served as the waiter disappeared very quickly. I can only assume they were understaffed. Food was ok, but not as special as I thought it would be. The "other normal" Pinnacle evenings were much better.

Lido Grill: Okay food, no other comment, friendly service

Cabin: We stayed in the Neptune Suite and no complaints there, our room stewards were absolutely wonderful. My only criticism is the lack of a bell outside the room as it is literally impossible to hear the knock on the door when we were on our balcony and many times staff let themselves into our room. We overcame this problem by hanging our "privacy please" sign outside the door. A lady who we met on the ship stayed in an inside cabin and she complained about shower gel not being filled and she had to ask 3 times for it to be refilled which was done eventually but only half full.

Neptune Lounge: Great food and lovely staff, internet very slow and totally overpriced

Shopping on ship: I needed some beauty items and went to the area where they sell perfume (hope you know which area I mean). Needed some advice from the shop assistant but she was not very knowledgeable and could not help me.

Seaview bar: As we are smokers, we tend to spend time there and it was cosy, good service with drinks being delivered to the tables. Pool was warm, area kept very clean.

Onboard staff: We were a little bit disappointed with the not-friendliness of some staff in bars and in particular with one staff in Pinnacle Grill (which has left after our cruise). We sailed on Zaandam last year and found staff there much friendlier in general.

General cleanliness on ship: No complaints there and still the "daily rugs in lift" :)

Ports: Despite a quite windy sail in the Eastern Caribbean, the Captain managed to get us into St Barts with great effort on his side. Curacao was our favourite island and also the helicopter trip on St Lucia was amazing.

Disembarkation: Again as smooth as embarkation.

Only one little incident on our cruise when a fire broke out on B-deck and the alarm went off. The Captain was very quick to inform all passengers that a fire had broken out in the incinerator but he would inform us as soon as he had clarity. We could actually smell the smoke on the balcony but it was under control 10 minutes later. It was a little scary and my first instinct was to turn tv on to see how close we were to the next island, where my warm clothes are and tried to picture in my mind how to put the life vest on.

All in all, we loved our cruise (yet again) and have booked our next cruise for 2015 and this time for 21 days on the Zaandam. :)

If anyone has any questions, I am happy to help.

Happy new year to all

Andrea :)

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience. Well done.

Glad you had a good time. Exciting to be booked for 2015, and appreciate your sharing.

Thank you for your review.

Was there a door bell at your stateroom door when you sailed on Zaandam?

The Volendam on which we have sailed,has doorbells.

Thanks for your review.

Thank you for your review.

 

Was there a door bell at your stateroom door when you sailed on Zaandam?

The Volendam on which we have sailed,has doorbells.

I can't recall a doorbell on Zaandam either but we never had the problem of staff just entering the room. I do however recall a doorbell on Princess.

Andrea

Thank you for your review.

We had doorbells on Zaandam that could be heard on the verandah. We just learn to put the extra lock on the door as well as put out the "privacy" sign.

Fire in the incinerator -- has happened many times to us on various ships.

Thank you for your review.

We had doorbells on Zaandam that could be heard on the verandah. We just learn to put the extra lock on the door as well as put out the "privacy" sign.

Fire in the incinerator -- has happened many times to us on various ships.

Thanks Krazy, I could not remember if there was a doorbell. Regarding the fire, for us newbies this is something which we had not encountered before hence my dash to the television. :D

Great Review. Thank you for taking the time to share with us and wetting my appetite for March :)

Great Review. Thank you for taking the time to share with us and wetting my appetite for March :)

Have a fantastic cruise, Kazu :D jeeeeeeeealous ;)

Thanks for the review! Yikes a fire warning would cause the same thoughts for me as well. Your Le Cirque comments help solidify our decision to forgo that on our next cruise. While have always enjoyed it, it has never been any better than the regular PG and yet the price keeps going up.

I forgot all about the fire warning. So I have more to tell - as if family and aren't tired of hearing the tales of our cruises. The Dec. 6 Maasdam was very enjoyable. Our first balcony on a Maasdam size ship. Now back to an inside cabin on the Volendam in Sept and very much looking forward to it.

Thanks for the post - we are getting on for 21 days starting Jan 17th which is right after the dry dock. :D