Riversedge

On our recent Voyage of the Vikings we had them both in the dining room and the Lido.  Sometimes an employee standing watch but not always. 

Can someone explain the value of a beverage card?  Do people buy them in advance just so when they get on it isn’t part of their final onboard account?  Is there something that makes it easier to use onboard rather than using your regular ship card?  

I honestly can’t imagine why anyone would do Club Orange.  I wouldn’t use most of those things and I don’t need an orange card to label me as “special”.  My friend was offered it for $10.00 per day on her cruise and she declined. 

On 10/1/2019 at 2:52 AM, Sue from Canada said:

I'm going to try this next month on the Volendam.  My lips are sealed😉

But please come back and let us know!

I think how many men wear jackets varies from cruise to cruise.  On our Voyage of Vikings most men wore jackets on gala nights at fixed seating. Not required, but most did.  Can’t speak for open seating because it was on a different deck. 

I’m enjoying your honest and well written review.  We had fixed seating on our last cruise and it was a disaster. We usually feel fixed is much better but it sure wasn’t this time. The waiters have too many tables. We often didn’t get water refills and sat with dirty plates for a long time.  No napkins in the lap and no serving women first and no simple chit chat.  All gone as they are running around like crazy.  By the time they asked if everything was ok the meal was done.  Not that I’ve ever sent anything back but it’s nice to be asked if you need anything else.  My local mom and pop restaurant does a better job.  

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Enough with the 14 days already!  :).  We are talking about a Vista Class ship (we have been on all the Vista ships) and it is complete baloney that they were "designed" for 14 day cruises.  In fact we have taken Vista Class ships across the pacific on 28 day cruises (one way).  The ship has adequate storage space for longer cruises and the VOV cruise gives them more then adequate opportunity to replenish stocks at various ports along the route (Reykjavik being an option).  HAL is used to operating longer voyages and the norm is to "spot" containers with necessary supplies along the route.  Yes, sometimes on long cruises some items will eventually be out of stock, but this is not a norm.   If the senior staff used this 14 day thing as an excuse then shame on them.  Perhaps they were simply making excuses for their own incompetence or bad planning or covering up for a mistake at Seattle. 

 

Hank

I have to agree with you, Hank.  This cruise was changed from the Rotterdam to the Zuiderdam MONTHS ago.  There should have been ample time to do the preparations and planning.  An excuse is usually another name for passing the buck.   I suspect the horrible toilet paper (a small issue, I know) was because they didn't order enough.  It was fine when we started and changed mid cruise.  I also suspect that the stuff we were given, which was truly awful, is what they usually use for the crew.  Sad.  

The captain did give good updates a couple of times a day.  I did see him on the dock after the first couple of weeks.  I never saw him smile or talk to anyone but we usually get off and go and don't linger around the dock area.   When we approached the travel host to ask where the taxi stand was his comment was "you should pay for the Holland America shuttle".  (which was more than the taxis we took)  Our friends told him that the last time they did that they waited 2 hours at the other end to get back.  His answer was a hmmph and turned his back on us.  He mentioned more than once that we should be spending money on drinks, tours, in the shops, etc.  I guess that turned me off completely to anything that may have been good.  I hope that Seattle isn't forcing the captains to be sales agents.  

Our dinners always took 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.  I don't know how you could finish in 45 minutes unless you went to open seating when the doors open.   There were a couple guys that served in the Lido that were singing every day.  Good for them.  That's how I remember all of them being in the past before all the work was piled on.  

Not a fan here either. 

10 hours ago, Pchamb3 said:

 

 

For those of you that have done the VOV, do we need any special visas? We are Americans.

 

Also, did you use credit cards for purchases off ship or did you convert to local currency before the cruise or would this be possible at guest services onboard?

 

Just a side note: we really liked the more sophisticated ambience that was present on the ship and with Hal’s passengers.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

We we did not need any visas and can’t imagine why you would next year either but it’s always good to check to see if there’s changes.    We used credit cards for most purchases but also sometimes took money out of an atm so that we had local currency for small purchases or tips.  There a lot of different currencies needed for this cruise. I think the front desk had some monies available but can’t tell you which as we didn’t go that route. 

As the OP I will gladly report if I receive a reply from Orlando.  I’m not holding my breath. 

As was was previously reported, this cruise was originally planned for the Rotterdam.  Maybe that would have helped.  I’m sure they thought a larger ship would bring in more money and maybe that’s so but I think it downgraded our experience.  If I remember correctly we were about 150 persons less than full.  However, we have a friend currently on the Rotterdam and all is not well on there either. 

I am reading that that some of you on the cruise did not agree with my assessments. Here is an email I just received from our dinner mates from the 35 days.  (We were on fixed seating)   They were continuing on the Zuiderdam for another 47 days after we got off.  I am posting this so you can see it was not my imagination.  It also may explain why the passengers after us didn’t notice as many problems.  

From my email:

“Once the Vikings  cruise was over, a major change in attitude and friendliness is very apparent.   We had a long discussion with the Hotel Director-- cocktails and a very formal  dinner with a very Frank discussion.   Since the ship was designed for 14 day cruises maximum they had huge problems with inventories, deliveries and storage and to complicate matters Seattle was asking for MUCH statistics etc.  A great relief was obvious. He vented much frustrations .  We can now understand some (not all) of the attitudes  of senior management  aboard including Koman the Maittre,d.” (End of email)

I’m glad for their sake that things got better.  And I’m glad that they had a chance to voice their dissatisfaction while still onboard.  I don’t see how all the broken tiles and broken pipes could’ve been fixed so fast when we had to live with the buckets in several hallways for the whole 35 days.  But, if they are fixed, that’s a good thing.  I know I’ll never get my husband on this ship again.  

For the the person who asked if there was a band in the Ocean bar, the answer is no.  

Happy cruising everyone.  No matter what ship you chose to go on, the ocean is still blue and the horizons are broad.  May we all continue to enjoy for many years. 

11 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

But how many times did you mention how much you paid? Always the best way to approach things, like discussing religion or politics!

Enough already.  I made my point, you made yours. 

14 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

I am wondering how many times you can mention how much you paid? And how you know so much about the other 2000 pax on board's take on things?

I could've mentioned how much I paid a lot more than I did....that's the point, right?  A cheap cruise equals lesser expectations.  As to how we know how other people feel?  People talk everywhere....at breakfast, lunch, dinner, shuttles, bars, etc. and it was often overheard from other people talking nearby.  You would've had to be deaf not to hear it.  The crew (for the most part) didn't look any happier than the guests.  

We returned a couple weeks ago from the Voyage of the Vikings.  Since we paid more than what it's costing us per day than the Grand Voyage we have coming up, we expected something very special.  We only had a lowly Oceanview room.  Most people on the cruise paid WAY  more than we did.  Since we could have bought a new car for what we paid for 5 weeks we were expecting a special onboard experience.  The crew looked the most overworked and unhappy as any we have ever seen anywhere.  We heard that the Zuiderdam had never done more than a 14 day cruise before and therefore was unprepared for the expectations of people expecting a bit more for the price we paid.   I have never heard so many people complaining in my life.  Even the people at our table that were President's Club said it was the worst experience ever and that they didn't care if they ever sailed HAL again.  That seemed to be the overwhelming feeling of most people onboard from 5* to the newbies.   We truly enjoyed the ports and at the end of the day we considered ourselves fortunate to have experienced the things we did.  We only did one HAL tour so can't comment on those but we heard many complaints about the cost and some of the guides.  

This is the letter I wrote to Orlando.  I've not heard anything back yet as it's only been about 10 days.  If we weren't already booked on another voyage we would be done with HAL.   Even the HAL people with the "rose colored glasses" were disappointed with their shipboard experience.  If Holland America doesn't do something positive soon they will lose many customers.  I'm not expecting Orlando to answer but if we all sit around and do nothing things will never get noticed.  I imagine they had all kinds of bad survey marks but do they even pay attention?  I'm sure some of you will go "not another Holland America hate thread" but we're all entitled to our opinions and expectations.  Not everyone has to agree with my perceptions.  We are 4* and younger than the average passenger.  From looking at age of most onboard, in 5 years none of those people will be able to travel anymore.  Then what??  Something has to be done to attract future cruisers. 

Linda

Dear Orlando Ashford:

We recently returned from the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings onboard the HAL Zuiderdam.  I can’t express how disappointed we were.  If this is the sign of how things will be on Holland America from now on, count us out.   I will address the issues in parts, but first let me remind you that this is a SPECIALTY cruise.  We booked an ocean view room so we were paying less than most of the people on the ship but we were still paying more per day than we are on our upcoming Grand Voyage.  An upper price point makes one assume that the experience will be special.  Not so. 

The positives:  There were some positive aspects of our cruise.  The ports themselves were amazing and we were so glad to have experienced them.  The cabin was comfortable and our room stewards, Putu and Rai were very good.  The temperature was easy to maintain and we liked the new interactive tv’s.  Jessica, who did most of the EXC talks was the best we’ve ever had.  The dessert chef is the best ever and the sticky buns at breakfast were excellent as well as the beef at dinner.   We enjoyed our one night at Sel de Mer.  The new tenders made the tendering process so easy and we never had to wait to get off.  Front desk was so helpful and friendly.  Lunch in the Pinnacle was excellent.  Justine, the Assistant Beverage Manager, is a huge asset to Holland America.  That’s where the positives end and the negatives begin.

Officers:  The top officers on this cruise, Captain Vaartjes and Hotel Director Darren Lewis were unfriendly and unapproachable.  The Captain's welcome talk was all about spending money at the onboard shops, at the bars and booking their tours (because we might get left behind if we didn't)   Our cabin was in the same hallway as the Hotel Director’s office so we saw him often when he almost knocked us over hurrying down the hallway.  Never an excuse me or hello and the two of them would sometimes be on the dock as we were getting off talking to each other.  They did not greet guests….just stood there with their noses in the air.  The friendliness of the ship begins on top.  It is the HD’s job to make sure a cruise is a positive experience in all areas.  Didn’t happen.  I don’t think we’ve ever had a hotel director that did a worse job.  

Ambience of the ship:  There were buckets everywhere in the hallways to catch dripping water.  Two buckets were outside our room for 8 days until I made the comment to our room steward that I was going to buy pool toys and have a pool party in the hallway.  They finally fixed it but there were other buckets in many of the hallways the entire cruise.  There were cones in the Lido a few places to mark where the tiles were broken.  There were very few flowers around the ship and none on the tables anymore.  Instead we had an empty lamp that didn’t even have a battery light in it.  No coverings on the chairs at gala night and some of the windows were so damaged that you couldn’t see out of them.  We never had a single decoration to show it was a specialty cruise.  No special celebrations other than the usual birthday song.    Nothing extra to show that this was, indeed, a specialty cruise.  

Dining Room:  The service was terrible.  We often didn’t get coffee, tea or water refills.  The first two weeks of the cruise we couldn’t even get our wine glasses refilled. At that point we got a new wine steward and things improved.    I had a lobster dropped in my lap with no apologies.  The staff was so overworked that there was no time to have any short conversation with them.  They couldn’t keep up with anything.  The maître d only showed up the two nights that an officer dined with us.  Never any other time and we did not see him trying to help out.  The dining room was very poorly run.  It often took an hour to get our first bite of food.  The assistant maître d came often and asked how our dinner was but didn’t really care.  When I mentioned that the fish in the seafood pie was old he said, “well there are 600 meals being prepared at once so we can’t make everything good.”  When I mentioned the same complaint to the waiter his answer was “enjoy”.   They were working hard but clearly not enjoying their jobs because they can’t keep up.  Breakfast and lunch were even worse than dinner.  What happened to having the women served first?  That didn’t happen as the waiter started with whomever he pleased.  The soups were barely lukewarm and apparently we don’t have an option of a cold soup anymore. 

Laundry:  Some items came up missing that we never got back.  We were told the ship was not expecting so much laundry but how hard is it to know in advance how many 4 and 5* members are going to be aboard and plan accordingly?  We saw the laundry guys in the hallway and they looked completely exhausted and unhappy but kudos to them for working hard. 

Bars:  Hardly anyone there during any time except happy hour.  Why not lower your prices and make it affordable at any time?  Even at happy hour prices the drinks were expensive.  And the wine packages had $8.00 wine for almost $50 a bottle if you didn’t have 4* status.  Many of the bar waiters were obviously not enjoying their jobs.

Shuttle costs:  When passengers are paying well over $500 per day per cabin why are we being charged $20.00 per person for a shuttle to town?  This happened 3 times.  Did we not pay enough for this to be included?

Cruise Director:  Jonathan Beaumont.  What a disgrace.  He was clearly not experienced and always had to read names off a paper when announcing entertainment or officers.  He was not visible around the ship.  Worst we’ve ever had.  Maybe the new distribution of jobs is not working??

Spa:  In advance of this cruise we had bought a couples pass to the thermal suite.  I called Seattle twice to make sure the price was for the whole 35 day cruise.  They said yes so we purchased it.  When we got onboard they said, no, it was only for half a cruise.  I called Seattle and they did say they had told me wrong.  The spa was supposed to work up a deal for us and call us but we never heard from them.  If you promise on something…..deliver.  At least honor us with a phone call to our room. 

EXC guide:  Apparently HAL has decided that the cruise director should take on this job.  When we had Jessica, the travel host, she was BEYOND amazing.  So upbeat, had us excited about the ports and gave us knowledge we needed.  She was always available when we were leaving the ship for the day.  Please do NOT take this position away as it was one of the things this ship did well.

Entertainment:  As we all know, the ship’s cast and crew are a thing of the past.  We enjoyed them so much but they were taken away.  Now there’s not much to like about the evening’s entertainment.  Modern Jukebox is a joke.  And how many people actually like to hear an hour of saxophone music and other musical instruments night after night?  Can’t there be something that’s enjoyable for all?  The comedian, Doug Funk, was a hoot and loved by the audience.  Movies, especially BBC, were shown over and over.  How many times do you think we need to see the same thing??  BB King could be enjoyable but it’s too loud and they play the same songs multiple times a week. 

Orange Party:  What a joke.  It was really a non-event except for getting people to go to the bar and buy a drink because they thought it was going to be a big deal.  Won’t have to bother with that again.  Most people left after the first set. 

Toilet paper:  I’m giving this a mention on it’s own because I have never seen such cheap toilet paper in my life.  It was worse than dollar store paper towels.  One person even had toilet paper that was full of holes.  Seriously?  Over $400 a day can’t buy decent toilet paper?  How cheap can you get?

We were told that the Zuiderdam had never done more than a 14 day cruise.  It was very obvious that they had no idea how to make a cruise special.  I have never heard so much complaining and unhappiness amongst passengers.  The staff was overworked and unhappy and it showed.  The majority of the passengers said they were done with Holland America, even the ones with over 1000 days.  I’m sure the surveys showed the negatives but I’m not sure how much attention is paid to them.  If you are going to provide a specialty cruise at high prices, then the experience should match the money commitment on our end.  When we booked this cruise it was to be on the Rotterdam.  Maybe that would have been a better experience.  The Zuiderdam had plenty of opportunity to plan for a long cruise but clearly nothing was done that showed it was being treated any differently than a 7 day cruise. 

There was nothing on this cruise to ever convince people to return.  Several people said it was their first and last cruise on HAL.   A cloud of dissatisfaction and unhappiness was over everyone aboard from crew to passengers.  This cruise ended up being merely a transport from port to port without any of the special experiences we normally get from a cruise. 

We have another cruise planned in January….a 41 day portion of the Grand South America.  We are still within the cancellation period.  Someone needs to convince us that we should continue with our plans for this cruise or we will be looking elsewhere.  If we’re going to pay the big prices, we expect big experiences. 

We are hoping to hear from you to convince us to return to Holland.  We need assurances that it can be a better experience. 

Sincerely,

19 minutes ago, awhcruiser said:

Ok...My bad...How many cruises have you done?  I didn't find my post particularly amusing.

I found it funny that anyone would say I wasn’t cut out for cruising when I live to be on the water in any way I can. I don’t count cruises.....lots.  

10 minutes ago, awhcruiser said:

Msybe cruising is not your thing?

 

Seriously???  That is funny.  You have no idea how many cruises I have done.

I thought it worked well on the Zuiderdam in August.  However, as as previously been said, it didn’t always match up with the When and Where.  It was nice being able to see the day’s menu but I could do that on my tv as well.  It always reminded me that I had dinner in the dining room scheduled even though it was just fixed dining.  I don’t sign up for other things onboard so can’t speak to anything but dinner. 

21 hours ago, pete_coach said:

 

We know nothing abut the past or what was offered back then but we do have concerns about the complaints (as opposed to the hates) that so much is no longer there. We truly hope that we are not getting on a boat that is just transportation from port to port.

I hope you are are happy with HAL.  We just got off from our cruise and it was exactly as you are afraid it might be....just a means of transportation from port to port. 

The only thing I ever do is bring some glass wipes if we are in a verandah.  For the outside, not the inside, because they get spattered by salt water.  I would never bother to clean inside.  My bathroom on the ship gets cleaned much more frequently than at home.  After being a teacher for 34 years I do not get freaked out by germs.  I just wash my hands after being out of the room.  

I am not a fanatic about wiping things down or worrying about who touches things in the Lido.  You’re going to be exposed to germs no matter what.  I used to get sick on cruises but my ENT suggested using a NeilMed sinus rinse twice a day.  It cleans all the germs out of my nose and sinuses and I haven’t been sick since I’ve started doing that.  You can’t use tap water but I take a survival filter pump that I bought on Amazon.   I fill 2-3 empty water bottles at a time with the filtered water, add the needed salt packets that come in the kit and then use that water 2 times a day for flushes.  I then pump more water into the bottles as needed.  It’s a little bit of a pain but I feel it keeps me healthy. 

4 hours ago, ja940 said:

We are a very active couple in our early 60's, cruise very often. Mostly take Celebrity for Caribbean, ports not important. 

Last on HAL about 10 years ago, and just too quiet at night. Is it still? Eyeing Zuiderdam 10 day in October.

 

 

We just returned from 35 days on the Zuiderdam.  Wouldn’t recommend for many, many reasons.   BB King is too loud and we are people that like a lively atmosphere and are in the same group as you.   They also seem to play the same songs a lot.   I am going to post some comments about our cruise in a few days.  Trying to get all the things done at home that seem to mount up while gone.  

I’m surprised at the number of people who want quiet. We really miss the live bands by the pool. They weren’t too loud and the music got us into a vacation, relaxing mood. We’ve heard many complaints about the lack of a band for an hour or two in the afternoon. We heard they stopped the bands because of danger of electrical cords near the water. Apparently there was an incident somewhere. I’m more likely to think it was another cut back.  We like the more sedate ambience of HAL but honestly sometimes it seems half dead. 

We booked back to back cruises last fall through the same travel agent.  They both had a fair amount of OBC from the travel agent.  HAL said that one of my cruises had refundable OBC and the other did not.  They could not explain why (it was because they goofed).  Now I check a couple of days after I board to make sure how they have it listed correctly on my account.  Since my agency gives a LOT of OBC I expect to have any excess credited to my credit card at the end.  They use your future cruise deposit and Stock option money first along with any promo HAL gave when you book.  Any OBC from your agent should be refundable.  No need to buy stuff you don't need just to spend the money.

The noise level should be no different than a regular cabin.

Personally we don’t think it’s worth it but what’s good for one is not necessarily good for another. We like the food in the dining room better.  The lunch in the Pinnacle grill is worth it to us though. 

Alaska is one cruise I would never do without a verandah.  Unless you have to cut back somewhere else, go for it.  You won't regret it.