Maasdam Nov 9 - 20 - Late - Pinnacle- HMC

Hello fellow cruise critics! I am just off the Maasdam and wanted to give you some quick notes about the cruise. I have not yet read any comments from the cruise just before ours, so that my impressions would be shot from the hip, so to speak. I am going to give you my personal opinions, which may not tally with your expectations or experiences, but these are subjective and I hope you will read them as such and not flame me for personal observations.

 

Firstly: it was a great cruise and the five of us had a wonderful time! My last cruise on Maasdam in April was cursed by over 300 horrid kids (and a few nice ones). This cruise was mostly very nice older folks, although I saw a few kids and was absolutley grossed out by a child in the hot tub in a swim diaper. Thank goodness the hot tubs are frequently emptied and re-filled!

 

Yes, the Maasdam was late in arriving on Nov 9 - we saw her come through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel after 8:00 am, so we were prepared for a delay. We waited at our hotel, the Holiday Sands (high marks to them! They are renovating and look terrific and are catering to cruise travelers - more about them later!) When we finally were taken to the ship there were long lines, but most people in line were cheerful and polite. The ship's personnel saw that anyone with accessibility issues was taken right up front.

 

The ship departed about 30 minutes late, which I thought was remarkable. There had been an accident in the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, which delayed some travelers coming in by bus and/or car. This is one reason we always get to Norfolk the night before!

 

The ship overall is in great condition. We did notice a foul odor just outside the Starboard Lido from time to time, and another similar order outside the mid ship suites. Elevators were all working - I think! Never a problem, except a wee bit congested for shore excursions.

 

Pinnacle Grill first night was a major disappointment - even though the restaurant had very few diners, our party was seated partly on very uncomfortable benches (fake banquettes) along a wall. My DH emerged with a bad backache that lasted for days. The service was glacial. The food was ok but who can enjoy food when the waiters seemed to disappear every time you wanted them! Last cruise we dined in Pinnacle three times. This cruise once was more than enough.

 

HMC was terrific! But, and this is a big but, we had very little time there. We had rented the turquoise cabana - and we loved the use of it, but our occupancy was only about 2 1/2 hours. By the time we arrived, even on the first pax tender, it was about 1:00 pm. The shore staff started to scoot us out by 3:30 - even though the last tender was at 4:30. There was no snorkel equipment, no float mats, etc. The food was ok, but there were four humongous bowls of salsa, and about enough chips for half a bowl! When I asked the cabana boy if we could have more chips he disappeared and we didn't see him the rest of the time! I spoke with the Guest relations manager back on the Maasdam, reporting the situation, not asking for a rebate, but she graciously gave us a 40% reduction. This was quite satisfactory!

 

HMC looks great, despite the loss of some leaves and vegetation due to the hurricane. There are some cabanas missing - notably the blue one near the turquoise. The water was a bit chilly - but two of us went in anyway. DH and BIL went fishing on their own and DH caught a three foot barracuda!

 

Another ship - Rotterdam - was in but the cay was not crowded. I think the cloudy, cooler weather kept many pax on the ship.

 

Some pax from Maasdam did not arrive on HMC until around 3:00. This is a real shame, as the cay is lovely and well worth a visit.

 

IMHO the itinerary out of Norfolk needs some re-vamping. Especially with the new improvements to HMC it seems a shame not to allow pax time to enjoy it.

 

I'd gladly forego St. Thomas to have more time at HMC or San Juan!

 

More later - gotta run!

 

Crabby

Crabbyharper, Thanks so much for your review. I look forward to hearing the rest of it. We're going on the Maasdam on March 10th and anxious for any information. Sailed the Veendam and Zaandam years ago, but haven't been on Holland for a while, and have never sailed out of Norfolk. We are planning to go down the night before, as you suggest.

I'm going in Feb. Staying at the Marriott Waterside. I'm told that the pier is across the street. No taxi required.

Is there a Mariott Waterside in both Norfolk, VA and Tampa, FL?

 

 

We are booked in the Marriott Waterside in Tampa for pre-cruise stay for our cruise on Veendam.

Crabby Harper - most anxious for your comments on the Holiday Sands as we are staying there next week - the 29th - for the cruise leaving on the 30th which is also the 11 day cruise. Was the parking secure and did you get prompt shuttle service? We are ready for a peaceful vacation after a hectic six months of stress - don't mind the itinerary as we just love being at sea. Thanks for all your help in the past. Hape

Thanks for the review.

With all the problems had with their schedule last year from Norfolk, you would have thought that by now they would have everything worked out so that people could spend more time on HMC.

Agree with you that the amount of time was way too short to enjoy the island.

 

CrabbyHarper,

Thanks for your honest review! Sorry to hear about the short time on HMC, personally I feel you should get more than 40% back, and if I were you I would persue it further. After all nothing was as promised that you paid for! Why did they not arrive till 1 pm ??? Thats almost and insult as a port stop IMHO! Anyway, welcome home! Glad you had a good time :) and made lemonade out of lemons!

CrabbyHarper - interesting what you said about the Pinnacle. i had read so much great stuff about it that for the first time dh & i tried it on the massdam in july. our service was ok, but not great, & the food was poor to ok. maybe the problem is with the maasdam, not the pinnacle?

Crabby,

 

I was on the 10/30 Maasdam sailing. We had a generator go bad and have to be taken off line. That slowed us down and was responsible for us arriving late. Did they have that fixed? I'm wondering if that caused you to arrive late at HMC. Perhaps they didn't finish repairs until you were underway for a while.

 

I also had a not so good experience at the Pinnacle. The side dishes were lukewarm and the filet was way overcooked (ordered medium rare, received somewhere between medium well and well). Ironically, I had filet twice in the dining room, and it was perfect both times.

Orcrone.....sorry you filet was not cooked as you requested it. I would not have liked that. Did you send it back and ask for another?

Crabby, I don't think you're "crabby" at all, but quite fair. What stands out for me is the turquoise cabana since that nice little hut was ours on Saturday, 11/13!!! I think the problem must have been with your cabana boys because we had tons of chips (he left us with the entire bag) with salsa and guacamole. We also had more fruit than you can imagine as well as all the burgers, ribs, steaks, corn, etc., etc., we could possibly eat. They also brought a plate of brownies that would serve about 25 people so we wondered if they weren't looking forward to what we left behind;) .

 

Anyway, thanks for your review! Hope you'll tell us more.

I will post more about the entire voyage, but here are some more comments on Holiday Sands.

 

It was relatively cheap - the lovely room on the Bay front with view of Bay Bridge tunnel was, with taxes and all fees, $94. This included the parking! The parking lot is outside, well-lighted, and in view of the registration desk. The location at Ocean View is about 20 minutes from downtown, quite accessible by car, about five minutes from the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel. In fact, I prefer Ocean View to downtown - less congestion, less likelihood of vandalism to car.

 

There is some ongoing renovation to the facility. The last time I stayed there I would have rated it two AAA diamonds, now it is closer to three.

 

Shuttle service can be problematical. Because the ship was late in arriving, the shuttle would not carry us to Nauticus when we wanted to go - and indeed I preferred waiting and playing cards with my companions in the nice breakfast room at the motel. By the time we heard that the ship was embarking passengers, there were about 22 of us to go to Nauticus on two shuttle vans, with mountains of luggage. The vans could not hold us all, but the hotel met this need quite satisfactorily! The hotel PAID for the four of us to go by taxi - I thought that was quite fair.

 

We debarked early from the ship - had priority debark - and were reluctant to wait for the shuttle, so we took a taxi back to the hotel - the cost with tip was $22 - very reasonable we thought.

 

The hotel has rooms that are not "bay view" and also has some suites that sleep four or more people, so one could stay there for less than $94 per night - But $94 is cheaper than parking in a municipal lot for the duration of the cruise.

 

Hope this helps. More later with another thread.

 

Gerry the Crab ( Love those callinectes sapidus!)

Orcrone.....sorry you filet was not cooked as you requested it. I would not have liked that. Did you send it back and ask for another?

Sail,

 

When I was about 3/4 of the way through the filet I pointed it out to our dining mates. It turned out that mine wasn't the only one overcooked, although it was by far the worst. I was then prodded by them to point this out to the maitre'd so he at least realizes things are not coming out of the kitchen properly, tepid sides in addition to overcooked filets. However, by that point I was not hungry enough to have another filet. Also, I have to confess, this was less than an hour after several from our party were at the front desk and received poor customer service regarding the lack of A/C that they were experiencing (luckily not us). So we were also curious about how the Pinnacle would handle it. So I told him I didn't want another filet as I wasn't hungry, but I felt he should realize how things were coming out.

 

His first response was that it is difficult to cook the Pinnacle size portion medium rare throughout, that it would be more well done near the edges. This did not seem an acceptable response, as there was not any pink at all to this filet, and the dining room cooked it to perfection twice. But I did not comment any further. Then after dessert was served he came over and said that he spoke to the chef and that there would be no charge for my meal. So they handled it properly at the end.

 

BTW, I learned at least one lesson. When I initially saw the way it was cooked I should have cut it down the middle and spoke to the maitre'd immediately.

 

I will say that the service we received during the meal was very good.

Thanks so much for the update Crabby. Sounds like we have nothing to worry about as to the parking situation. I assume you found your car in perfect order when you returned by taxi. Are you supposed to call the Holiday Sands for pickup from the ship or do they do it automatically when they know they have guests arriving? What did you put on your disembarkation slip to let them know you wanted off early? Sometimes if they know you have your own transportation you get a higher number. Time to start packing and get ready for Norfolk.

Yes, the car was in order. We had to call the Holiday Sands from the ship (cell phone) for the shuttle. In our case, there were five of us to pick up and the lady at the hotel said they had already dispatched the "small van" and probably not all of us could fit. AT that point we thought the cab fare was reasonable to get going. Our companions waited for the shuttle and were glad they did, as before they left the Nauticus area they discovered that my BIL's wallet had been left in the safe and he had to go back aboard the ship!

 

We got off early because we were suite passengers - more about the last minute upgrade and the suite life in a later post.

 

Now I really must get back to reality and will post later today.

 

Gerry

Orcrone...

 

While I think it appropriate they not charge you for your overcooked meal, your comments to the Maitre d' were not about money. You were not able to enjoy your dinner. I am sure you would have much preferred to pay for your dinner and enjoy it.

 

 

There is no winning when one person's dinner comes out 'wrong' and you have to request it be redone. The rest of the table has their meal and, of course, you insist they eat while it is hot. You sit and watch. Then finally your meal comes and everyone else is just about finished, so how can you leisurely enjoy yours. Your companions now feel bad about your disappointment and you feel uncomfortable and your meal is now wrecked no matter what. IMO

Orcrone...

 

While I think it appropriate they not charge you for your overcooked meal, your comments to the Maitre d' were not about money. You were not able to enjoy your dinner. I am sure you would have much preferred to pay for your dinner and enjoy it.

 

 

There is no winning when one person's dinner comes out 'wrong' and you have to request it be redone. The rest of the table has their meal and, of course, you insist they eat while it is hot. You sit and watch. Then finally your meal comes and everyone else is just about finished, so how can you leisurely enjoy yours. Your companions now feel bad about your disappointment and you feel uncomfortable and your meal is now wrecked no matter what. IMO

Everything you say is true. I was actually flabbergasted by his first statement that it's normal for it to be cooked like that away from the middle, but at least he did the correct thing at the end. I honestly was mostly curious as to his handling of the situation. We obviously just hit the Pinnacle on an off night, as so many people have raved about it.

 

On the other hand, after hearing about the small servings of lobster in the DR I was pleasantly surprised at receiving an entree with two full tails. Not to mention that the filet served in the DR was excellent.

Marc, do you mean people had small servings of lobster in the DR? We had 2 full lobster tails that were incredibly good ... mostly because they were Maine lobsters, not Caribbean which I don't even consider lobster. But they were ample and delicious.

Marc, do you mean people had small servings of lobster in the DR? We had 2 full lobster tails that were incredibly good ... mostly because they were Maine lobsters, not Caribbean which I don't even consider lobster. But they were ample and delicious.

Yes. At least that's what was reported. We also had two full tails. However, recently there had been posts about the lobster tails being very small, maybe 1/2 of a full tail. I'm guessing that this is a recent change for the better to the dining room.