Veendam A/C issues - cabin by cabin reports please

[Jade13]

Can anyone report the a/c problem with the inside cabins in the middle of the lower promanade toward the back?

403

407

400

402

415

419

412

414

thanks in advance!

 

Don't know but there are apparently problems accross the way in 406, 408, 410, and 416. See the other thread started by Karen.

 

karenj4546

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Jan 2002

Location: Colorado Springs, CO USA

Posts: 255

 

 

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

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

 

July 27th, 2010, 06:55 PM

karenj4546

Cool Cruiser Join Date: Jan 2002

Location: Colorado Springs, CO USA

Posts: 255

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Deck 5 aft....both sides...a total of 8 cabins which I know about (not those back-facing cabins). No A/C at all. Still waiting for another response from HAL...got one 3 weeks ago with "we'll respond in order of received complaints". Well, I'm guessing that there are a LOT of problems, since I'm still waiting!

[TPCRUISER2]

Yes, very aware! And on the other side of theses cabins, no problem. That's why i am curious about the middle!

[micki823]

We had a veranda suite on deck 9, starboard, front of ship, cabin 107. Our air conditioning was OK...not overly cool, but comfortable. One cabin forward of us had lots of problems with a too hot cabin. They were given a fan and told that the thermostats on the wall DO NOT regulate air temperature, only the flow of air.

[GPoll189]

I thought that I should put my two cents into this discussion. First of all the temperature to one person might not mean the same temperature to another person. For an example I live with my parents and love to keep the A/C on 68 degrees, however my mom feels that this temperature is too cold. If the temperature raises just a few degrees I feel sweaty and hot. Everyone is different. There is a possibility that you go into a room that someone report as being hot and you feel that is is comfortable. It all depends on how your body regulates itself and interprets temperature. The people that can't really regulate body temperature correctly are the babies and the elderly.

 

So I feel the need to post rooms where there are problems is a waste of time. Also I feel the need to carry a thermometer around is also a waist of time. If your little measuring devices says it is 72 degrees in the room and comfortable to you what are you going to do then. On ships that are older like the Veendam and its sister there are things that are going to break down. People report that they think this was caused by the addition of rooms however, people were reporting this before those rooms were added.

 

Finally, a list of rooms will only help the people that come into this forum and won't help the general public. HAL doesn't think there is a major problem. If they thought it was they would take the ship out of service and do a major overhaul of the system. They didn't do that in the dry dock so it must not be a major problem for them.

 

I almost forgot to mention. The person who thought that we should call Special Services for a room with a A/C is completely out of line. A/C isn't a medical necessity. People live in developing worlds without A/C with many different ailments. A/C is a luxury item. This isn't something that should be called into Ship Special Services. If they can make arrangements to move you to a new room that is ok but once a ship is booked solid there is little the customer representative can do.

[sail7seas]

<snip>

 

 

I almost forgot to mention. The person who thought that we should call Special Services for a room with a A/C is completely out of line. A/C isn't a medical necessity. People live in developing worlds without A/C with many different ailments. A/C is a luxury item. This isn't something that should be called into Ship Special Services. If they can make arrangements to move you to a new room that is ok but once a ship is booked solid there is little the customer representative can do.

 

The people you reference in developing countries are accustomed to conditions under which they live the same as our bodies (in developed nations) are accustomed to controlled heating and cooling. Humans adjust to ambient conditions and those in extreme climate are accustomed to it and can cope better than those of us not used to it. For those of us used to controlled heating and cooling, our bodies have higher requirement for it. My cardiologist permits me certain acitivities he does not for others because he knows of my conditioning and consistency. Yet, in this very hot summer we are experiencing he gave instructions that I was to limit certain acitivities due to the heat. He has often told me our bodies adjust to what we consistently do. My body is not consistently accustomed to no air conditioning in the tropics and will not do well and I am most assuredly not the only one in that situation.

 

Air conditioning on a luxury cruise ship sailing in tropical conditions for a 'once in a lifetime' vacation is not a luxury. It is expected.

 

Oh, almost forgot to add that many of those folks you reference who have all those ailments in developing countries often die at a much younger age than they would in our developed nations..... USA and Canada specifically (as they comprise a large % of HAL's guests ) but certainly many others.

 

[HeatherInFlorida]

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

So I feel the need to post rooms where there are problems is a waste of time. Also I feel the need to carry a thermometer around is also a waist of time. If your little measuring devices says it is 72 degrees in the room and comfortable to you what are you going to do then. ........................

 

Finally, a list of rooms will only help the people that come into this forum and won't help the general public. HAL doesn't think there is a major problem. If they thought it was they would take the ship out of service and do a major overhaul of the system. They didn't do that in the dry dock so it must not be a major problem for them.

 

I almost forgot to mention. The person who thought that we should call Special Services for a room with a A/C is completely out of line. A/C isn't a medical necessity. People live in developing worlds without A/C with many different ailments. A/C is a luxury item. This isn't something that should be called into Ship Special Services. ..................

 

You entire argument here is full of holes and I'm sure many wonder why you would argue for HAL instead of the consumer (which is what we all are here, right?).

 

So this thread may be a waste of time for you, but not for some. So ignore it and move on to the next thread. You're not going to convince anyone who believes that it's not a waste of time that it is.

 

Because everyone reacts differently to different temps, a thermometer is a very good way to report the comfort level here. Most people know what 72 feels like to them and whether it's comfortable so it's an excellent guide.

 

As for the list of rooms only being beneficial to those reading this forum, everything discussed here is only helpful to those reading this forum. So if that's your argument, this forum might as well shut down.

 

I marvel at your confidence that HAL doesn't think this is a major problem. My guess is they do know it's a major problem and are trying to use band-aids to fix it ... it's not working.

 

And while you may not feel that A/C is a medical necessity, it is absolutely a medical necessity to many people. Your argument may be that if it is a necessity, these people should not travel. I wouldn't go there if I were you.:o

[mamaofami]

Air conditioning IS a medical issue for many people. There are many different medical issues which require cool air for breathing. That's why we often hear an advisory about difficult breathing conditions outside and that people should stay indoors where it's cool.

 

While I'm not sure about the death rate in developing worlds, I chose not to live there. I expect to have air at a comfortable level for breathing and sleeping.

 

Lack of sleep because it's too hot would absolutely ruin my cruise. I don't do well without it and would be a mess in 2 days.

 

Lack of cool air would be a medical issue for my traveling companion.

 

This whole discussion is ridiculous. Hal should either fix the problem (which it seems unable to do because of mechanical issues) or take the Veendam out of service.

[charleysmom]

We had a veranda suite on deck 9, starboard, front of ship, cabin 107. Our air conditioning was OK...not overly cool, but comfortable. One cabin forward of us had lots of problems with a too hot cabin. They were given a fan and told that the thermostats on the wall DO NOT regulate air temperature, only the flow of air.

 

This is really interesting to me. My office is much the same way. There are a couple of "master" thermostats that measure the temp and adjust the HVAC accordingly. There are also a bunch of things that appear to be thermostats that will increase or decrease the airflow depending on the setting. However, if the master thermostat doesn't register that the temp needs adjusting, those thermostats don't have much of an impact. My own office has one of the airflow "thermostats" and it affects the four or five adjacent offices. The trick seems to be to adjust the master and the air flow thermostats in coordination with each other, but we still have lots of issues with hot spots (my office!) and cold spots (the central cubicle area). The comfort level of the central cubical area tends to win out b/c it impacts the most people, but it ends up being a lot of trial and error and compromise.

 

I've been in some older hotels that seem to have a similar sort of "zoned" set up and I bet that the Veendam does too. If this is the case, it makes sense that the problems move around the ship and vary from cruise to cruise (and day to day) depending on the weather, the location of the "masters" and who is controlling them. If this is indeed the case, it might be very helpful info to have if you do have a problem and are trying to get it resolved. I would think that the engineering staff has some idea of which thermostats actually control the temp and could tweak those to boost up the AC (or turn it down as the case may be).

 

A.

[ariawoman]

I agree with other posters that non-AC can indeed cause a medical condition. Personally I can attest that ever since I had pneumonia, I do not breathe well in a room (or outside) if the air is humid. My lungs aren't the same since the pneumonia. And that's MY reality.

 

Several people on this board have other realities that they are dealing with on a daily basis, so for people to come to this thread and say it's just a luxury, please go get pneumomia or emphysema and report back to us. It's just not a luxury when it physically hurts you to breathe. Sorry.

 

As for temperature, yes, this is subjective, one persons cold is another persons hot, however we aren't arguing temperature. People are merely being nice and offering to bring back their cabin # and daily temps so that other posters can make informed decisions based on how their bodies work.

 

Personally, i think it's a great idea. Certainly doesn't hurt anyone. Will it be an exercise in futility? Maybe, but those who find it futile need not re-visit the thread.

[seadrifter]

We boarded this AM and are in 226 (stern cabin - wake facing). The a/c is working well. I have an alarm clock that tells the temperature and it shows 71; we aren't underway yet so it may get cooler. The ship is lovely and the temp is comfortable everywhere we have been. It's great to be back on a dam ship;). Looking forward to Bermuda.

[family cruisers]

We watched you sail by us today as we watched from the waterfront in Jersey City. Did you see us waving goodbye to you ???!!!!!!!

2 more weeks and we'll be waving goodbye to those on land :-)

Can't wait.

We boarded this AM and are in 226 (stern cabin - wake facing). The a/c is working well. I have an alarm clock that tells the temperature and it shows 71; we aren't underway yet so it may get cooler. The ship is lovely and the temp is comfortable everywhere we have been. It's great to be back on a dam ship;). Looking forward to Bermuda.

[family cruisers]

What time did you get to the pier and what time were you on the ship ?

 

We boarded this AM and are in 226 (stern cabin - wake facing). The a/c is working well. I have an alarm clock that tells the temperature and it shows 71; we aren't underway yet so it may get cooler. The ship is lovely and the temp is comfortable everywhere we have been. It's great to be back on a dam ship;). Looking forward to Bermuda.

[seadrifter]

What time did you get to the pier and what time were you on the ship ?

 

family cruisers - I predict that you will love your cruise in 2 weeks. The Veendam is beautiful. We drove up from the Philadelphia area, arriving at the pier at about 9:30. We received #1 for boarding, which began at 11:30 for suite passengers and #1. They didn't begin checkin until 10:30 and boarding started at 11:30. We were aboard by 11:40 and had to wait for the dining room to open at noon for lunch. It was a quick and easy process for us.

 

Our cabin temperature is down to 68 since we sailed. Just about perfect as far as I'm concerned. (I like it cool to cold for sleeping.)

 

Have a wonderful time on your upcoming Veendam cruise to Bermuda.

[babygirl722]

We were in Cabin 184 and it was cold the entire trip. We needed a few extra blankets. We never hit a hot spot on the ship but there were a few cold ones.

[jerseyjjs]

Can anyone report the a/c problem with the inside cabins in the middle of the lower promanade toward the back?

403

407

400

402

415

419

412

414

thanks in advance!

 

 

 

 

We were in cabin 401 for the 6/27-7/4 Bermuda sailing and had to repeatedly call for service to our A/C. They came down 4 times throughout the week and took temperature readings and not much else. They confirmed there was a problem but nothing was ameliorated. By the end of the cruise, we were refunded $120 off our bill.

[cruisecrasy]

We had a veranda suite on deck 9, starboard, front of ship, cabin 107. Our air conditioning was OK...not overly cool, but comfortable. One cabin forward of us had lots of problems with a too hot cabin. They were given a fan and told that the thermostats on the wall DO NOT regulate air temperature, only the flow of air.

 

Something odd about stating the thermostat only allows flow of air and even if so, what exactly was blocking the flow of air?? I am sure though the cabin occupants didn't care, they just wanted the A/C to work..:(

 

Sad state of affairs when a cruiseline is so desperate for pax they will do nothing about a very serious problem onboard..and even lie and say nothing is really wrong or its been dealt with??

 

Step up HAL and either fix the Veendams A/C problems (even consider getting rid of the extra cabins) OR get rid of this ship. Word travels fast and folks won't cruise on her....esp not a second time if they experience poor A/C...Very poor PR here...

 

IMO anyway, HAL screwed up 'royally' when they added extra cabins & that shallow rear pool for extra revenue of course and now it cld instead of making them $, cost them $ instead..

 

I mean common sense tells rational folks that adding extra cabins onto an A/C system already near or at capacity is 'dumb' and yet some engineers paid to know this - didn't?? Then there is that useless so-called 'pool'..Who's 'hairbrained' idea was that?

No wonder these same refurbishments were cancelled for other ships - at least HAL learned something..

 

Be interesting to see what happens..

 

Have happy cruisin' all :)

[family cruisers]

Thanks so much for your info.

We're getting excited now. 13 more days !

 

We still don't have our GTY cabin assignment yet but thats ok. I know we'll be somewhere :-)

family cruisers - I predict that you will love your cruise in 2 weeks. The Veendam is beautiful. We drove up from the Philadelphia area, arriving at the pier at about 9:30. We received #1 for boarding, which began at 11:30 for suite passengers and #1. They didn't begin checkin until 10:30 and boarding started at 11:30. We were aboard by 11:40 and had to wait for the dining room to open at noon for lunch. It was a quick and easy process for us.

 

Our cabin temperature is down to 68 since we sailed. Just about perfect as far as I'm concerned. (I like it cool to cold for sleeping.)

 

Have a wonderful time on your upcoming Veendam cruise to Bermuda.

[dogsister]

Has anyone been in 587 recently? I see that 586 had no problem with A/C but we will be on the other side of the ship. We are scheduled for Buenos Aires to Santiago in Feb. and we are very concerned about potential a/c problems. I have asthma and need a/c. Unfortunately, I got our air tickets before hearing about this problem. Any info about starboard deck 5 mid-ship would be greatly appreciated.

[Heik]

We were in cabin 401 for the 6/27-7/4 Bermuda sailing and had to repeatedly call for service to our A/C. They came down 4 times throughout the week and took temperature readings and not much else. They confirmed there was a problem but nothing was ameliorated. By the end of the cruise, we were refunded $120 off our bill.

 

$120, really!? Thats it?

:eek:

[bermuda triangle]

Lower Promenade deck port side aft cabins were without a/c that would be 390, 392, 394,396, 398, 404, 406, 408, 410, 416.

Laura

[family cruisers]

AC report please. Cabin #'s low 600's Veendam

Igloo or Steambath ???

[Solo1959]

June 13-20, FF712 was cold. No A/C problem.

[SwissMyst]

Will be on the Veendam next week..When we return I'll post my cabin No. & temp..Will have an atomic thermometer with us..

cheers....:)Betty

 

Thank you so much for taking the time on your cruise to get this objective temperature information back to us. Hope all goes well. Allegedly the expected comfort range for cruise ship cabins goes up to 74 degrees. While this might work during the day, this same temperature might feel uncomfortable at night.

[TwinAnchors]

We were in Cabin VD204 on the 'Veendam' for a months cruise in March-April

of this year.We kept our thermostat at the minimum setting for the entire

cruise and the temperature was perfectly fine with us, pleasantly cool!

We also did not keep our balcony door open for any extended period of time..

[TCF]

Let me say that this goes back to our five weeks on Veendam in 2008 (Sept/Oct) so it may have no validity whatsoever now!

 

We had A/C problems for four of the five weeks...even after a technician was brought on board. It was explained to me that there are four A/C units on the ship with each unit serving a different chunk of the ship. Our problem....we were told...was that one of the four units was down, and while they could redistribute the remaining three A/C units output to different chunks of the ship it was not very efficient.

 

We were on deck nine and even at the equator the cabin temperature was not bad....not cool by any measure...but not smokin' hot either....we were not intolerably uncomfortable. Our table mates who had a cabin on deck ten were so uncomfortable they were moved to another cabin....but it was just as bad. Right through to the end of the cruise they were miserable....as were others on deck ten.

 

I honestly thought that HAL would have fixed/replaced the malfunctioning/broken A/C unit when it went to drydock....but apparently they were more interested in getting the new cabins added than they were correcting the A/C problem.

 

We just won't take a chance cruising on Veendam again.....which is a real shame because other than the chronic A/C problem it is a wonderful ship.

 

BTW we were very well compensated by HAL for the failure of the A/C on that cruise,as were others; but, this was more for the fact that we could prove that both ourselves and our travel agent had separately confirmed with Seattle before the cruise that the A/C on Veendam had been repaired and not an admission by the company that the A/C was broken before we left Vancouver.