Maasdam June 26

We recently returned from the 7 day Boston to Boston cruise on the Maasdam with our 8 year old grandson. He had a great time. I can only praise Camp HAL - it was wonderful.

This was our 7th cruise on Holland America including the 2nd on the Maasdam. I must truthfully say that if this had been our first cruise on HAL, it would certainly be our last.

The food was not good - there were several evenings whan all 8 people at the table had trouble finding something that they wanted to eat. Substitutions are not available unless ordered the day before. Vegetables were a garnish. Veal and lamb were quite tough. Serving 1/2 a lobster tail is ridiculous. Food on the Lido was not up to standard either except for the bread pudding.

Activities were almost non-existant except for bingo, casino and an occasional movie. If you choose not to go ashore (we had already been to most of the ports), there was nothing to do - not even a movie to watch. One afternoon they pushed everyone out of the pool so that a handful of people could putt golf balls for 45 minutes.

We intensely disliked the 5:45 seating. It is quite ridiculous on a formal night when you have been ashore. Our first stop was at the maitre de' - we never received any acknowledgment from him. Several days later when we approached the PR person - she immediately offered to have us changed, but by then we had bonded with our tablemates.

The cabin steward was somewhat upset when I asked him to have our grandson's bed turned back to the sofa during the day. He did comply.

The serving staff were usually as friendly and happy as they have always been. Not everyone onthe ship was thrilled with the new tipping policy.

Only through our complaining did the YUM YUm man appear after the 5:45 sitting. We definitely felt that most, if not all the activities were geared towards the late seating. Entertainment was ok with 2 very good comedians. the cast show was cancelled one night due to sickness of some of the singers and dancers.

Over the years we have felt a great sense of decline on HAL and it was certainly shown on this cruise. In the past year we have sailed Celebrity twice and they win hands down in all categories other than the cabins being a little smaller. One new welcome addition were the robes in the cabin and the make up mirror. Other than those 2 things, the new excellence program has not filtered down to the Maasdam.

My camera was stolen and hopefully it was not a crew member, but the front office was not very helpful when we reported it missing other than telling us to keep checking.

The cruise served our purpose and our grandson loved the experience, but I think that it will be a while until we sail on HAL - just booked another Celebrity cruise. Please accept these comments as our experience with this particular cruise.

Elissa

Elissa,

I'm really sorry to hear of your disappointment on your recent cruise. I'm leaving Saturday for the same cruise and am hopeful that my experience will be much better.

Hopefully, this and all other boards will serve a purpose for those in Seattle to take notice of complaints such as yours.

However, I do have to respond to your comment about the stolen camera. What did you really expect the Front Desk to do? Put out a search for it? I think you already know that it would be virtually impossible for them to do that. I lost an expensive piece of jewelry quite a few years ago. I did report it missing, but I did not expect to see it again. But, I had to take the chance in case it was to show up. That's all I could have hoped for.

Please don't write off HAL in total. Hopefully, in time, HAL will recognize the need to make whatever changes are necessary to keep their loyal passengers happy, therefore, returning.

Elissa.....Sorry to hear your cruise was not all you hoped it would be.

I also had a camera stolen on a ship....Zuiderdam. But, if you contact any hotel, any resort, any tour bus etc, I am very sure you will find it happens all the time at all locations where there are tourists and vacationers.

I reported it to the office in hopes that it would be returned. I had my name, address and cabin number on it.

I never saw it again.

It was my fault. Not the fault of the office or HAL If I left the camera out of my complete control and did not safeguard it adequately, that is my fault.

I hope your next cruise is more to your liking.

:)

Cameras stolen?

Elissa - was your camera stolen from your cabin?

Also same question for sail7seas - was your camera also stolen from your suite?

We mentioned about the Yum Yum man when we wrote our review on these boards in May. He was no where to be found after we finished dinner (5:45 dinner time). As we said, we saw him only once, and that was the evening of the Baked Alaska parade.

We had excellent food on our 13 day cruise.

:)

I havent been on HAL yet but have been on most the other lines several times. What I dont understand is the problem with finding a selection on the menu - most the other cruiselines have the same menus cruise to cruise, ship to ship (with longer cruises having often the best ). Its really one reason I like to try different lines !

I have to imagine that the seven day Caribbean itinerary has the usual menus in place. Its hard to imagine not finding anything appealing on the menu.I know I feel that way on French night on Princess (which now may be called Continental night or something due to politics). Its hard to see how not liking choices on the menu has to do with a decline in the cruise line. One persons lobster is another persons frog legs !

There are some nights nothing is too appealing to me but usually between all the courses there is a meal to be made- or the Lido. We tend to check the evening menu ahead to make sure that it is okay.

Hi Elissa - Thanks so much for your honest review. I am sorry your week was not better. I was on the week before you, and it was my first HAL cruise. Not having anything to compare it with, I had a lovely time, and came home and booked another HAL cruise for next month. I agree with you that there were not too many activities.

I had the 6:15 seating and the yum-yum man was always outside after our seating.

I did not think the level of service was any better on HAL than my previous cruises on RCI or Carnival. My service was adequate, not exceptional as the impression I sometimes get from this board. I have not cruised Celebrity yet, but do have one booked for April 2005. I DO love the extra's like the Java Cafe, movie theatre, appetizers in the lounges, the overall ambiance of HAL...etc, that is why I am anxious to return....again, I was a first timer. I did run into some longtime cruisers that expressed the same sentiment you did.

Food is very subjective. Everyone at our table raved about the food all week long. Our table did consist of mainly first time HAL sailers, but there was one woman who had sailed HAL consistently and said this was the best food of all her HAL sailings. I wish you would have been on a week earlier with us :).

I am sorry about your camera. An incident like that is very upsetting.

Marie

Oh, Elissa, such a disappointment. I feel so badly for you. We so look forward to these cruises and when they don't live up to our expectations it just feels rotten. I, too, am curious about the theft. I've never worried about my cameras! I lock away credit cards, money, etc., but often leave my camera right on the bed or dresser.

Our Maasdam cruise in 2002 was one of our best ever, but partially because of the people we met. Who knows where that leaves off and service begins. I will say I was not overly impressed with the food (except for the hamburgers and tacos up on the pool deck ...yum).

Hopefully you'll not give up HAL entirely. I said that once about Celebrity years ago, but last year we sailed on the Millennium and loved it. So you never know:)

I am sorry that the trip was not all you hoped for. My family and I will be traveling on the Maasdam on 7/17 out of Boston. My 7 year old niece is traveling with us. I have read some conflicting reports on Camp Hal, so I am happy that your grandson was so pleased with his experience.

Were there many children on your cruise, and what type of activities did your grandson enjoy? My niece is looking forward to pool time and is not sure whether she will participate in camp hal program. I have been concerned that the weather might be too cool for the pool all week. I would like to be able to tell her about some of the activities before we leave on Saturday.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Linda

Wow, sorry to hear about your cruise on the Maasdam. We were aboard this past April and were thrilled. Our previous HAL cruise had been the Zuiderdam and I was ready to jump the HAL ship - we decided to give it one more chance and ended up on the Maasdam and loved it.

We thought the food to be the best (other than Veendam) we'd ever had - sorry to hear it wasn't quite up to par.

The thing we disliked most was Club HAL - I heard it was great for the younger kids, but ours are 11 & 15 - there was nothing for them - even though we had over 300 kids on board for our sailing, many in the older age brackets.

We had hoped to repeat the Maasdam next Spring Break but want to keep the memories we have - so we are looking at the Volendam (I hope she's not too big). I am glad we experienced the Maasdam, I would sail her again - hopefully we'll have just as a delightful experience... sorry your's wasn't better - she is a beautiful ship.

Elissa,

I'm a little perplexed about your comment that some nights none of the 8 people at your table could find something to eat on the dinner menu. What kinds of entrees were you looking for?

I sailed Maasdam last May, and thought maybe there has been a drastic menu change. Peaches just posted the menues from her Maasdam cruise and there was everything from beef to tofu, with fish, chicken, and pork in between.

I will agree with you that the vegs are more of a garnish, which is why I load up on vegs at the Lido at lunch...also fresh fruit at breakfast.

Roz

The pools are nicely heated and the top will be closed on mid pool if raining or too cold outside to enjoy the pool. However we didin't apreciate a great swim day at sea and they run us out for golf pool games.

Our 7 year old loved club HAL so much she couldn't wait to get back to each session. They even had a swim night with all the children. Because a ship's pool can be rough and rocky I don't recommend any small children being left alone in the pools. I saw one child that almost slept in the pool he was there so much. There was not a time I walked by he was not in it. I never saw parents around watching him. He was about 8 or 9 and never went to the Club HAL except for the pillow fight night and pizza night.

Food was great our week. Service was a good as any cruise we've had but not superior to others.

F5-

Kids (I think it's 12 and under) are supposed to be supervised at the pool. I can't imagine someone leaving a youngster at the pool for hours on end without somone watching? Maybe a grandparent you may not have noticed? My parents sit at a table in the shade, not close to the pool, but within watching distance.

If the child was truly unsupervised, I would have reported it - a child can drown in a matter of minutes, especially in a crowded pool.

My niece is not a great swimmer, she is still learning. Right now either her mother or I plan on being in the pool anytime she is.

We were hoping that there would be club hal activities which might keep her occupied, so that we can "dry" out. She is pretty outgoing and makes friends easily, but she is soooo excited about being somewhere where there is a pool available that I fear that it will be difficult to convince her to try the Club Hal. It is her vacation too, and we don't want her to to do anything she may not find enjoyable.

linda-

You may want to sign your niece up for Club HAL even though at this point she may want to swim all day :D

There are tons of great activities for younger kids, including swim parties, slumber (not overnight - but movie watching in PJ's), pizza parties, etc.

On our last two cruises, if we didn't sign our kids up the first day, it was difficult to get them included. You will have a special invitation in your cabin for your niece indicating when & where the first Club HAL meeting will take place.

Also, there is usually a Club HAL staff member at the gangway handing out info to the kids as they board the ship. My daughter (now 11) still loves Club HAL.

Thanks for the info.

This will be her second cruise. Her first was on Disney when she wasn't quite 3. She was two young for Club Hal so spent all day by the pool with her parents, my parents and myself. She still remembers the pool from that trip. I am afraid that is all she thinks cruising is.

We are hoping once we sign her up, she will enjoy the activities with other kids and have a little more balance on this cruise. We will definately attend the first meeting.