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Saying goodbye to Holland...Veendam A/C problems


karenj4546

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With a snail-mail received yesterday, I'm breaking my silence about the A/C problems on Veendam. Stay away from cabins 406,408,410 and 416. None have any a/c or air movement (until they put a fan in your room). Holland America has sent me their final offer for 7 sleepless nights in 2 cabins and it's absolutely unacceptable.

Karen

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With a snail-mail received yesterday, I'm breaking my silence about the A/C problems on Veendam. Stay away from cabins 406,408,410 and 416. None have any a/c or air movement (until they put a fan in your room). Holland America has sent me their final offer for 7 sleepless nights in 2 cabins and it's absolutely unacceptable.

Karen

 

What a shame and it can sure spoil a holiday that you have paid dearly for. I'm sorry that HAL will not offer you something that you are happy with so that you will continue to sail with them. There is lots of competition out there to try but you shouldn't have to-they should make it right as long as it is reasonable.

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With a snail-mail received yesterday, I'm breaking my silence about the A/C problems on Veendam. Stay away from cabins 406,408,410 and 416. None have any a/c or air movement (until they put a fan in your room). Holland America has sent me their final offer for 7 sleepless nights in 2 cabins and it's absolutely unacceptable.

Karen

 

 

YIKES!!!!! We are leaving on 9/12 and have friends who are booked on the Lower Prom deck mid-ship. I have been watching and reading about all of these A/C problems and I am more than concerned. One of these couples has recently (6 months ago) had a triple bypass and his wife is over 70 and has had hot flashes for over 28 yrs. The other person on that deck is in an inside J Cat and also has respiratory problems.

 

When I contacted ship services their answer to me was not to believe everything I read on CC and just put it out of my mind.

 

I only wish I could put this out of my mind but something tells me when there are this many complaints about the A/C there must be some truth to the matter. I am holding my breath to see what kind of comments we will see after tomorrows cruise ends.

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What was the offer? It may have been adequate in some eyes, so best we don't decide whether it was or not until we know what it was.

 

Maybe it is based upon an average time one is expected to be in full use of their cabins, let's say 50% of the time for sleeping and changing for meals, but not for the hours one is in port, or during meals, or a reasonable expectation of on deck activities in public areas.

 

So would a 50% compensation be appropriate for lost enjoyment of the actual numbers of hours impacted by the failed A/C cabin, because I agree A/C on a ship is really important. This is not a trivial complaint.

 

But what is fascinating in general about this type of very real complaint is how an assessment of damages/inconvenience would be put into monetary terms.

 

Should a damage assessment be made on objective or subjective temperature requirements. Let's say the cabin could be reduced to 72 degrees with the operating A/C, but not to 68 degrees which was more of a personal comfort requirement, should the compensation offered be based on some objective temperature comfort scale?

 

HAL should be objectively assessing the actual cabin temperatures when complaints like this are made. There must be some sort of temperature measuring device if they are going to truly understand what is going on.

 

Maybe the ship needs to carry some stand alone evaporative coolers as back up for some of its balky cabins or for more individual comfort needs not met with its standard A/C capacities.

 

No one should pay full price when A/C is not functioning. But let's be objective about what temperature range is appropriate to expect first, how many hours should you consider the cabin be available at that temperature and should there be a sliding scale for damages according to hours and temperature experienced.

 

Does one sign up expecting to stay in their cabin 100% of the time and have the cabin be within a certain temperature range or else there is a sliding scale of compensation if this is not available? That would be at least one place to start.

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... snip...No one should pay full price when A/C is not functioning. But let's be objective about what temperature range is appropriate to expect first, how many hours should you consider the cabin be available at that temperature and should there be a sliding scale for damages according to hours and temperature experienced... snip ...

 

I would consider 24/7 to be the appropriate hours for operable air conditioning. No one should have to adjust their cabin occupancy to arbitrary hours because of intolerable temperatures.

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Karen, I am sorry that HAL did not come up with a compromise that yo could agree to:(

 

Everyone on a cruise should expect to be able to have their stateroom at a temperature that is comfortable for them 24 hours a day!

 

I have read so many complaints on this board regarding the lack of A/C or to much A/C throughout the Veendam these last few months. This is unacceptable to anyone!!

 

I do hope though that before you switch permanently to another cruise line, that you might consider a newer ship. You have the offer from HAL for the seven (had to be absolutely miserable) nights and days, please use it to try another bigger and newer ship. Do not let this one week sour you forever.....

 

Whatever you do decide, I wish you happiness and a FANTASTIC cruise!!

 

Joanie

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I would consider 24/7 to be the appropriate hours for operable air conditioning. No one should have to adjust their cabin occupancy to arbitrary hours because of intolerable temperatures.

 

I'd have lasted a couple of hours max!! Then I would have taken my body, oxygen concentrator, white noise machine, pillow and comforter to the Atrium lobby and slept there. I'm pretty confident they had A/C...

 

Joanie

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I'd have lasted a couple of hours max!! Then I would have taken my body, oxygen concentrator, white noise machine, pillow and comforter to the Atrium lobby and slept there. I'm pretty confident they had A/C...

 

Joanie

 

 

Joanie, This is exactly what I think we may be reading about if this A/C problem continues. Atrium Lobby, Crows Nest, Explorers Lounge could very well end up becoming sleeping quarters for some. Not too funny.

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HAL should be objectively assessing the actual cabin temperatures when complaints like this are made. There must be some sort of temperature measuring device if they are going to truly understand what is going on.

 

Maybe the ship needs to carry some stand alone evaporative coolers as back up for some of its balky cabins or for more individual comfort needs not met with its standard A/C capacities.

 

No one should pay full price when A/C is not functioning. But let's be objective about what temperature range is appropriate to expect first, how many hours should you consider the cabin be available at that temperature and should there be a sliding scale for damages according to hours and temperature experienced.

 

Does one sign up expecting to stay in their cabin 100% of the time and have the cabin be within a certain temperature range or else there is a sliding scale of compensation if this is not available? That would be at least one place to start.

 

Someone came to our cabin to measure the air temp with some sort of hand-held device. IMHO the cabin was around 90 or 92F. The person doing the measuring would say only the temp was "outside of acceptable range". After our a/c was fixed, the person said the temp in our cabin had been 78F. Uh, no. So in my personal experience only, the measurement of cabin temperature on HAL leaves a lot to be desired.

 

As for a percentage? Seriously? If I'm not sleeping because the cabin temp is too hot, that affects 100% of my life onboard and ashore. We need to remember, too, that not everyone has unlimited vacation days. A non-sleeping cruise could conceivably be the only vacation a person gets for an entire year. I'd be wild if that happened to us.

 

JMHO, the OP has no obligation to disclose what HAL's offer was -- that is between her and HAL, and IMHO is really none of our business.

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I think some people would be surprised to know how many hours some cruisers spend in their cabins. Everyone wants something different from their cruises and there are those of us who don't run around doing lots of ship activities. We book a comfortable cabin so that we can be comfortable in it. I cannot 'roll with it' if our cabin is too hot. Some medical conditions make air comfort mandatory. If it became extreme, there is every chance we would have to leave the ship.

 

Our comfort in our cabin is far more important to us than shows, trivia, casino and other activities aboard ship.

 

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If there were no heat in the cabin on a colder climate cruise-- everyone would be up at arms.

Not having adaquate A/C is just as unacceptable. My mom has a heart condition, and does very poorly when she gets too hot.

 

If HAL cannot resolve the A/C issues in these rooms, they need to cease selling them until they can get the problem resolved.

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The OP also mentioned "no air flow." That would worry me even more. I know you aren't going to suffocate, but inside and oceanview cabins have no source of fresh air other than the AC. Our cabin (main oceanview) on Veendam was a bit warmer than I'd like, but not really bad. However, it was also somewhat stuffy (due to poor airflow?). When a room gets stuffy, I get uncomfortable.

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A/C working 24/7 with a capability of a temp of 66 degrees.

 

Obviously HAL isn't going to fix the A/C permanently ship-wide until it costs them serious 'dam dollars not to fix it, either in compensation, decrease in bookings or bad publicity which starts to hurt the bottom line. The cost of not fixing it has to be more than the cost of fixing it. Or sell the ship. I give karenj a lot of credit. Too many people have been complaining for years about this but doing nothing.

 

It darn well better be working on our upcoming Maasdam cruise. We are in an S port cabin.

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We were on a Princess Cruise many years ago where the noise level in our cabin kept us awake night and day. Until you've experienced sleep deprivation it's almost impossible to understand how truly miserable it is. It can permiate your entire experience. Instead of a relaxing break from work we felt we were being held captive. On a 14 day cruise we were finally moved to an upgraded cabin (due to the other cruiser's medical emergency) on about day 6. While we don't blame the cruise line for our 'bad' cabin, we've never cruised Princess again. Too many other choices. I'm sorry the OP had such a bad experience, and hope future cruises are much better. If Karen never cruise HAL again, I'd completely understand her feelings.

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A/C working 24/7 with a capability of a temp of 66 degrees.

 

Obviously HAL isn't going to fix the A/C permanently ship-wide until it costs them serious 'dam dollars not to fix it' date=' either in compensation, decrease in bookings or bad publicity which starts to hurt the bottom line. The cost of not fixing it has to be more than the cost of fixing it. Or sell the ship. I give karenj a lot of credit. Too many people have been complaining for years about this but doing nothing.

 

It darn well better be working on our upcoming Maasdam cruise. We are in an S port cabin.[/quote']

 

From other posts and threads regarding these severe A/C problems... To completely fix the problem the ship has to be completely gutted. It cannot be fixed here and there:(

 

I think I remember reading one of our HAL CC experts making a statement in reply to the question of, "What would it take to fix the A/C problems on the ship?" and the reply was, (NOT VERBATIM!!) "It would take selling the ship."

 

Unfortunately, it is my belief that since HAL just spent a few $$$$ to fix the ship..... They will not be selling her anytime soon. UNLESS enough people go to the media, send Stein Kruse (spelling?) snail mail and/or flood HAL's corporate offices with their complaints:(

 

It is just intolerable that so many cruisers have to suffer in the meantime:(

 

Joanie

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If there were no heat in the cabin on a colder climate cruise-- everyone would be up at arms.

Not having adaquate A/C is just as unacceptable. My mom has a heart condition, and does very poorly when she gets too hot.

 

If HAL cannot resolve the A/C issues in these rooms, they need to cease selling them until they can get the problem resolved.

 

 

At the very least they should offer all future cruisers an opportunity to back out and cancel with no penalties.

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Because of the many posts that have been circulating about the air conditioning in the Veendam there must be a problem.

In several posts I have read comments that calls and comments to HAL went unanswered or thought of as trivial, so it seems that HAL is perhaps not taking it too seriously; that is sad for I have always had a high regard for HAL and it has always been one of my top choices, because of its perceived professionalism.

I am booked on the Rio-Ft Lauderdale trip for next year and am seriously concerned whether I should cancel and look elsewhere, I e- mailed HAL and hope to have some comments from them but will certainly keep an eye on the Veendam before final payment.

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We were on a Princess Cruise many years ago where the noise level in our cabin kept us awake night and day. Until you've experienced sleep deprivation it's almost impossible to understand how truly miserable it is. It can permiate your entire experience. Instead of a relaxing break from work we felt we were being held captive. On a 14 day cruise we were finally moved to an upgraded cabin (due to the other cruiser's medical emergency) on about day 6. While we don't blame the cruise line for our 'bad' cabin, we've never cruised Princess again. Too many other choices. I'm sorry the OP had such a bad experience, and hope future cruises are much better. If Karen never cruise HAL again, I'd completely understand her feelings.

 

Absolutely agree about the sleep deprivation. We were on a ship that had air conditioning problems (Volendam). After a night of no sleep DH and I were completely crabby and dreaded the thought of having to put up with this for the entire cruise. Fortunately it was fixed. However, every time we entered the cabin we held our breath, fearful that the room would be hot.

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..................

When I contacted ship services their answer to me was not to believe everything I read on CC and just put it out of my mind.

 

I only wish I could put this out of my mind but something tells me when there are this many complaints about the A/C there must be some truth to the matter. I am holding my breath to see what kind of comments we will see after tomorrows cruise ends.

 

My bold above. Generally I would side with HAL on this one because the truth is you shouldn't believe everything you read on CC. There's a lot of nonsense (in both directions) posted here. Half the time HAL can do no wrong which is just nutty and then there's the nonsense about how horrific it is ... not true either.

 

But in this case, believe everything you read. This goes back years. It's ongoing (our cruise was November 2007). It's all different people posting the same thing over and over. You may be lucky and get a comfortable cabin, but you also may not. And the entire ship runs either too hot or too cold.

 

Seriously, book on Veendam at your own peril.

 

What was the offer? It may have been adequate in some eyes, so best we don't decide whether it was or not until we know what it was.

 

Maybe it is based upon an average time one is expected to be in full use of their cabins, let's say 50% of the time for sleeping and changing for meals, but not for the hours one is in port, or during meals, or a reasonable expectation of on deck activities in public areas.

 

So would a 50% compensation be appropriate for lost enjoyment of the actual numbers of hours impacted by the failed A/C cabin, because I agree A/C on a ship is really important. This is not a trivial complaint.

 

But what is fascinating in general about this type of very real complaint is how an assessment of damages/inconvenience would be put into monetary terms.

 

Should a damage assessment be made on objective or subjective temperature requirements. Let's say the cabin could be reduced to 72 degrees with the operating A/C, but not to 68 degrees which was more of a personal comfort requirement, should the compensation offered be based on some objective temperature comfort scale?

 

HAL should be objectively assessing the actual cabin temperatures when complaints like this are made. There must be some sort of temperature measuring device if they are going to truly understand what is going on.

 

Maybe the ship needs to carry some stand alone evaporative coolers as back up for some of its balky cabins or for more individual comfort needs not met with its standard A/C capacities.

 

No one should pay full price when A/C is not functioning. But let's be objective about what temperature range is appropriate to expect first, how many hours should you consider the cabin be available at that temperature and should there be a sliding scale for damages according to hours and temperature experienced.

 

Does one sign up expecting to stay in their cabin 100% of the time and have the cabin be within a certain temperature range or else there is a sliding scale of compensation if this is not available? That would be at least one place to start.

 

Are you serious????!!!! You can't be. There can be no offer that is sufficient for 99.9% of the population that will be worth being in a hot cabin for any amount of time ... one hour, two hours, whatever.

 

I expect full use of my cabin 100% of the time I am on the cruise. I may or may not use it, but I expect full use. I don't know what you can possibly mean by "sliding scales" and "subjective temperature requirements". Hot is hot.

 

One expects A/C in their cabin. One expects to be able to sleep at night. We brought a thermometer with us because we had heard about the problems and if we had one of the cabins without A/C I wanted to be able to prove it. We were lucky ... putting it all the way to the coldest setting made our cabin bearable at night, but during the day we had to black out the cabin to even bring it down to 79 degrees which was bearable most of the time, but not what it should be.

 

No amount of money will ever get me on the Veendam again and I'd think twice about booking one of her sister ships because the clock is probably ticking.

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If it is a group of cabins in the very least isn't there a way to have temporary air conditioning systems in case something like this happens, which could happen on any ship. However, I assume all need to be vented somewhere (such as out a window), but maybe there is technology that I am not aware of.

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