Criticisms of Rotterdam in September

[fayruz]

Captain de Boer was worried about the GI problem. Ordered extra measures. Seems that our HAL travellers to Macchu Pichu etc brought it on board?

 

 

Nope, probably someone left it on board from the previous cruise : I met at least a couple of passangers that were still sick on disembarkation day.

 

 

I had a problem with my cabin a/c. The temperature got cold at nite. So, I turned the control almost to the warm extreme before it had an effect. Seems like the response has a big lag effect. I ended up swinging back and forth as I tried to fine-tune the room. Finally, I'm bundling up for the night.

 

 

The cheapo fifty-cents temperature control dial might be part of the problem?

 

I got them to close it down completely, that solved the problem :)

Yes, cheap control dials do give problems :)

[KirkNC]

it is easier to catch a cold than lung cancer. I must say both would spoil your cruise, though.

 

I know which one I would rather catch.

 

Kirk

[casamariposa]

I've been on over 20 cruises over the past 50 years on many cruise lines, most of them longer itineraries. I have experienced some very rough seas and seen older, disabled passengers laughing through the violent rolling and pitching, continuing to eat dinner, while younger passengers are turning green!

 

Yes, I've seen older passengers being off-loaded some of the ships I've sailed on on stretchers or body bags, headed for the nearest hospital. I've also seen younger passengers (in their 40s and 50s) being helped on board after injuring themselves on rented Vespa scooters on day trips, heads bandaged and/or legs in casts. I've witnessed one passenger, 50+, take a header down the winding staircase in the atrium with a drink in each hand. All this on HAL.

 

My philosophy is to find a cruise line(s) you like and enjoy it. I'm in my early 70s, just retired. I have almost 200 days cruising with HAL, and have seen the passengers get younger and younger. Of course they are! I enjoy meeting the "boomers" and enjoy meeting the generation before me, "The Greatest Generation." It makes life interesting.

[Himself]

I sailed the Rotterdam in July and would gladly sail her again. I sailed her before the improvements on several occasions and I sailed her last July and loved the ship and I thought the food was quite good.

[sbmaureen]

I was on this cruise and while there were problems I would go again in a heartbeat. The main problem we had was the fuel smell in our original room which was on the first floor right in the center of the ship. We were moved to the second floor in the back and it was way better. The smell was off and on through the first 3 weeks or so but they did seem to get it under control at the end. There we lots of over 70's but also many in their 50's and 60's. I saw waaaay more scooters on an RCL to Hawaii a few years ago, but that could be because there were so many more people.

 

Sometimes in reading the complaints it's like I was on a different cruise. Saying the gym was tiny but never used anyway just isn't true. It is definitely smaller than a mega ship gym, but I thought it was well equipped. They had newer cardio machines with individual video screens and more varied weight machines than lots of small ships. And it was crowded every morning with a wait for an eliptical most days. One problems was that if something broke it was never fixed as was the case with one of the eliptical machines. I thought they could have used more exercise classes and maybe one more staff person in the gym. Though halfway through the cruise the use of the gym seemed to drop off, so not so much waiting.

 

The ship didn't have a ton of organized activities but I managed to fill all of the sea days with fun so I can't complain about that. The CC group was great and the ship was small enough that you could always find people you know. Now, at 4 pm I look for the elevator to deck 9, crow's nest every day but no happy hour for me, boo hoo......at least until the next cruise!

[HappyInVan]

Another update.

 

 

So, it's true about the noise and a/c. Attended the Q/A with Senior Staff. Humble pie eaten by said officers. The lower decks have been 'without heat' in the a/c since San Diego. Finally, someone informed the Chief Engineer directly (Day 22). Say what?

 

 

The problem was attended to the next day. But, the Chief Engineer says that no one told him! So, you know what to do. Go up the chain of command until someone does something.

 

 

Hans (hotel manager) tells me that I am under the kitchen. The noise culprit is probably the dish washers. He had received complaints and thought that he had stopped the after-midnight noise!

 

 

I like the cold starters and salads for dinner. Try the chilled berries minestrone, duck salad, orange and avocado salad, chilled raspberry soup etc.

 

 

On the other hand, the Asian cook still comes up with inscrutable menus like Pepper Shrimp in Peanut Sauce!

 

 

Just some anecdotes about the elderly. The champion from the Pachoce walk was a great grandmother (weighing @75 pounds) who exercises 3x a week. It's not about age. It's about your girth.

 

 

I was chatting with a very elderly couple. SHE says that I'm a spring chicken. I tell her that I am retired. SHE says that HER CHILDREN are retired. I tell her that she looks GREAT!!!

[HappyInVan]

Code Red cancelled after 8 days. Leak again in my cabin. Disembarked in San Diego on Monday. The review is here ...

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=26970454&posted=1#post26970454

[ScottishMaid]

On the Rotterdan now sailing toward Hawaii. No visible problems.

[drcpa]

On this board if you haven't found any problems you must not be looking hard enough....

[Tropic]

[

"So, it's true about the noise and a/c. Attended the Q/A with Senior Staff. Humble pie eaten by said officers. The lower decks have been 'without heat' in the a/c since San Diego. Finally, someone informed the Chief Engineer directly (Day 22). Say what?

 

The problem was attended to the next day. But, the Chief Engineer says that no one told him! So, you know what to do. Go up the chain of command until someone does something."

 

Above qouted from prior message

 

 

 

Well, I must own up... I was the passenger that asked the Captain about how he deals with problems on his ship. The fuel smells occurred in San Diego, Cabo, Pueto Vallarta and in Corento and one other port on the return. Some of this was related to refueling processes, but they need to find a way to do this without pumping fumes into the cabins (at one point I suggested they try redirecting the fumes to the Captains quarters as that might get some action) ...the front office simply said the problem was coming from the "pier" rather than pass this info on to engineering. We reported our a/c not working numerous times as did others in the midships areas (response from housekeeping was to provide noisey fans in the rooms). Finally, spoke with the Chief Engineer on the 21st day of cruise... that afternoon the a/c was working reasonably... though I don't really know if all were satisfied in the mid ship area. (other areas complained of it being to cold). We slept without even a sheet and still sweated at night until finally some sort of adjustment was made. Biggest complaint we had was how complaints were address with a "sweet" call from the front office to say they were sorry but never really passing on the info to higher ups or to "engineering" who seemed able to correct the problem.

 

This is a command problem I suspect beginning with housekeeping and hotel management... they claimed to have never heard of the compaints (in fairness engineering said the same thing) until late in game... that seems to say that there is probably a "management" style on the Rotterdam that doesn't want to hear complaints so they don't get them to watch for issues that crop up in "areas" of the ship not just in individual cabins. I restate that whenever I had the opportunity to discuss these two problems with the chief engineer the problems seem to be resolved (expect for the deisel fumes when they refueled... but that just should not be found in any cabin on board a ship). We liked our cabin and it's location and never even suggested being moved, but just wanted these problems resolved. And apparently they were resolveable for the most part... just no "real" follow through.

 

Would we go on the Rotterdam.... yes inspite of the "problems" we liked our cabin and for all other reasons (layout/storage/cleanliness/food was ok/TV channels choosen were lousy... but we were on a cruise, so I shouldn't be watchin TV anyway). Just seems that the ship is just not quite "right" and I could never put my finger on where the problem really lied even after 30 days.

 

By the way HAL or whoever needs to do something about the "slow" port clearance process at San Diego... maybe I'm just forgetful, but it seemed awfully slow for "expedited" folks who ended up "packed" in the hallways trying to get that final clearance. Not sure that is fully the ships fault, but they need to review how they handle the on-ship clearance of folks taking almost 3 hours to complete. Maybe they needed their bouncers to go and round up no shows rather than simply make repetitious anouncements over the PA. But this is a comment more than a complaint.

 

Finally, this itinerary had some wonderful, wonderful ports and others were not so wonderful. Many of the older folks had some difficulty with these and simply didn't get off ship (such was the case in Lima). As a result, they got an entirely wrong impression of what many of the ports had to offer though it was admittedly difficult to get there from here when busy cargo ports had to make due. I think this was the only option with the exception of Costa Rica and that one just didn't make much sense when HAL is the only line that opts for the cargo pier over the cruise pier in Costa Rica.

[HappyInVan]

[

 

 

Well, I must own up... I was the passenger that asked the Captain about how he deals with problems on his ship. ... Finally, spoke with the Chief Engineer on the 21st day of cruise... that afternoon the a/c was working reasonably... though I don't really know if all were satisfied in the mid ship area. (other areas complained of it being to cold)... This is a command problem I suspect beginning with housekeeping and hotel management... they claimed to have never heard of the compaints (in fairness engineering said the same thing) until late in game... that seems to say that there is probably a "management" style on the Rotterdam that doesn't want to hear complaints so they don't get them to watch for issues that crop up in "areas" of the ship not just in individual cabins. I restate that whenever I had the opportunity to discuss these two problems with the chief engineer the problems seem to be resolved (expect for the deisel fumes when they refueled... but that just should not be found in any cabin on board a ship). We liked our cabin and it's location and never even suggested being moved, but just wanted these problems resolved. And apparently they were resolveable for the most part... just no "real" follow through.

 

 

 

Got to be pretty bad when it took 21 days to resolve major problem. No wonder there were so many rotten tomato in the reviews. It's important to remember that a ship is different from a factory.

 

 

Factories in a company have common standards and best practices . A ship of a cruise line is an operational field unit. Everything depends on the senior officers and department heads. They set the standards. For example, Captain de Boer chose to set an absolute Code Red.

 

 

It is bad when the Chief Engineer doesn't know that he has a major problem. Suggests that his staff isn't pushing a problem up to him because they know he doesn't want to hear about it.

 

 

The Captain asked him at the Q/A how many complaints there were. The Chief Engineer replied that he could find out. It is surprising that he still didn't know the details. He blames his staff for keeping the news from him.

 

 

By comparison, the Captain took immediate and personal responsibility for the GI virus. Acted decisively.

 

 

That's why HAL has lost a lot of credibility with me. It's not just the cost cutting. HAL has a serious bureaucratic problem that extends onto the ship.

[Tropic]

"It is bad when the Chief Engineer doesn't know that he has a major problem. Suggests that his staff isn't pushing a problem up to him because they know he doesn't want to hear about it." qouted from Happy Van

 

Happy I think you misunderstood where I thought the problem lie.... my complaints went to housekeeping and Hotel Management who apparently did not forward this problem on to the chief engineer. To top it off they were the ones who did not know about my complaints, which were not escalated up to them and then over to Engineering. Thus my conclusion is different from yours... I think this is a management problem for which the Captain is the ultimate person responsible to see that his managers are communicating with each other. His daily statistics of complaints are not always telling him the full story.

 

Hope that clarifies a bit where I'm coming from.

 

ps I do agree that while I didn't like all the restrictions they placed on activities... he along with the medical staff at HAL's home office were decisive and fair such as opening the laundries back up within a few days (some common sense was asked for and acted on).

[bcnvcanada]

Plecase, to ask, if you stopped in Guayaquil, Equador, some information about this port. If so where there things to do nearby? Also did you stop in Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. Were there taxis to go to Tapachula and the ruins nearby? Thanking you for your assitance.

[Cinder Again]

You know, I have to agree on the chain of command/complaint issue. Several times on my last Rotterdam cruise we had to call for help (I was on her post dry dock) and the front office staff was very nice, but I never really got the impression they were passing the messages on to anyone in a position of authority.

At one point, a "clunking"noise resurfaced, and when I called about it, they tried to start at the bottom " I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, I'll tell housekeeping", and I had to get downright insistent before they referred it to the engineering staff. (They had already been there, and fixed it once by removing our whole ceiling, we were out of our cabin for several hours for that to take place). Because I insisted, the new repair took minimal time, since they sent the same guys. If I ever encounter similar problems again, I think I will request an appointment with the Hotel Manager, or the Chief Engineer. I don't want to spend my time with trial and error fixes, I just want to enjoy my cruise. If I wanted to supervise workman, I'd stay home!

On the bright side, we did get tons of chocolate covered strawberries and bottles of wine as apologies that trip, and I am using my credit to partially pay for my next cruise:D

[SwissMyst]

Maybe HAL needs to sell post-drydock cruises at dress rehearsal prices.

 

When someone gets compensation after experiencing a cruise problem, is it still a complaint or is it a negotiated settlement. No harm, no foul?

[HappyInVan]

Also did you stop in Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. Were there taxis to go to Tapachula and the ruins nearby? Thanking you for your assitance.

 

 

As I recall, Tapachula is some distance from Chiapas. About 45minutes to an hour on the excursion bus. And, Izapa is further away on minor roads near the border. I'm not sure if I would hire a local taxi to take me that distance!

 

 

The restored ruins we saw at Izapa were quite minor. The ruins cover an extensive area, but only a very small area was open to tourists. For me, I was interested in the scale of a civilization much earlier than the militarist Inca and Aztec.

 

 

[Nowisthetime1]

We had a 12 day cruise on the ship and it was wonderful. We had no complaints and did not meet anyone who did.

 

Every ship can have a complaint from someone. Sometimes it is the attitutde of the guest reaction and sometimes things happen.

 

I would gladly go on the ship again. Have fun!:)

[Tropic]

Plecase, to ask, if you stopped in Guayaquil, Equador, some information about this port. If so where there things to do nearby? Also did you stop in Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. Were there taxis to go to Tapachula and the ruins nearby? Thanking you for your assitance.

 

There is a ship's shuttle bus that takes you downtown ( cost was $18/person rt) and that seemed reasonable... there is a ship's tour that takes you to their historical/living culture park and downtown that some at our table took and really enjoyed. Just getting a taxi didn't seem a useful option at that port. The shuttle lets you out at the main square with it iquani's (sp?) everywhere!!!!!!

 

At Puerto Chiapas there are taxis outside the gate, but at some distance. At the port there are tour alternatives to the ship's buses (it is some distance to town). We took a tour to Izapa and spent about an hour downtown (that was all you needed there) for 4 1/2 hrs with a group of about 12 in a comfortable van/bus. The port facilities were outstanding here and many just made use of the facilities there if only to get off the ship (lots of crew didn't go any further).

[HappyInVan]

The port facilities were outstanding here and many just made use of the facilities there if only to get off the ship (lots of crew didn't go any further).

 

 

 

Tropic,

 

 

As I recall, Chiapas was a small isolated facility. There was a small band at the dock side. There were several performances at the thatch pavilion. There was a restaurant with a small pool. But really! I would not call it outstanding?

[Palmetto Lady]

It's strange - We were on the Hawaii/Polynesia cruise and I didn't notice people coughing and sneezing except for perhaps one or two. My husband woke up with a cough and fever one day, but after a trip to the medical center and some antipiotics, it was gone within 24 hours. I've been on other cruises where the medical center was so crowded, you had to stand in line. On some cruises, they ran out of cough syrup and cough drops. In my opinion, the sickness was minimal. I can't believe that Fayruz and I were on the same cruise. But then we had other differences as well particularly in regard to the food, but then I didn't eat the Italian food in the MDR, but only in Canaletto and don't remember any oregano in what I ate. I'd say that in general, the food was above average for mass feeding. The beef was of very good quality. My husband and I have eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the country and some in the world so it isn't that we don't know what good food is supposed to be.

Compared to other HAL ships were have been on, I didn't think the air conditioning was particularly cold. On Voyage of the Vikings, I wore a sweater all the time. On this trip, the only time I needed my shawl was in the show lounge which was normally not crowded at the late show.

[Tropic]

[quote name=HappyInVan;

 

As I recall' date=' Chiapas was a small isolated facility. There was a small band at the dock side. There were several performances at the thatch pavilion. There was a restaurant with a small pool. But really! I would not call it outstanding?[/quote]

 

Compared to the dock at Lima, the dock at Trujillo, the dock at Quayquil, the dock at Manta, the dock at Costa Rica, the dock at all other central american countries (excepting Panama)... this was a nice port if you don't want to go any further than just "off" ship. It think more people stayed in port that day (off ship) than any of the above listed ports. As a whole, Mexico is really trying to create great port and destination surroundings. I grant you Puerto Chiapas was small as compared to other destinations, but compared to the ones I listed it was a breath of fresh air.

 

I know you missed some of these ports by getting on at Lima, but the port at Costa Rica had become the norm for this cruise, so thumbs up for Chiapas... if only a break from the "cargo" ports we had been seeing for the two weeks prior. This is not a comment on what was to be found outside the ports on this trip. But sadly many stayed on the ship in some of the "cargo" ports and never really saw what great city centers Lima and Trujillo had, or the fantastic archealogical/historical sites to be seen in Peru, or the colonial city of Antigua, Gautamala, or the tropical forest of Costa Rica because of the starkness of the ports associated with these destinations.

 

I know, that's kind of sad, but I did witness that happening. I found Izapa fascinating (not on the scale of Peru), but still important sites to visit for what is thought to be the beginnings of the Mayan calendar so we did not spend our day at the Port of Chiapas, but I saw a lot of people from the ship having a lot of fun with some great shops at "fair" prices, a good internet cafe that was packed... so I rest my case for an outstanding job at Puerto Chiapas even if it was small, but then the Rotterdam isn't exactly a "large" ship either and it's still outstanding (not withstanding problems needing to be worked out)!!!!!!

[manouchka2]

I just return home after 30 days; in all port you ask for, we have taken a private taxi for a few hours directly on the pier; I negociate a price per hour, very raisonnable; I speak spanish which help certainly !Montains of Chiapas are fabulous , dont just go to the first city and Izapa ; in the mountains, plantations of cafe, autentic village whithout tourist, and a beautiful restaurant name CASA GRANDE , old house in wood sculptured which was the house of the plantation owner; and also,if you have time continue to the last village at more than 2 500m, cool, surrounded by volcanoes.... enjoy your day in Chiapas!

[manouchka2]

In Guayaquil, we took a taxi for the day (10$ per hour) stop in the center, walked the malecon, visit the seminary park, the cathedral, and climbed to Santa Ana (beautiful architecture) and then went far away to the Historic Park, situated at the border of the rain forest, walked there in the jungle in a like a zooological park fabulous in the nature!!

excuse my poor english, I am french....

[fayruz]

I can't believe that Fayruz and I were on the same cruise.

Surely we are accustomed to different temperatures and never met because of this.

Italian food was lousy, even in the Canaletto, that had the same cooks as MDR and Lido buffet. And believe me, I do know very well what italian food is like.

[Palmetto Lady]

Surely we are accustomed to different temperatures and never met because of this.

Italian food was lousy, even in the Canaletto, that had the same cooks as MDR and Lido buffet. And believe me, I do know very well what italian food is like.

 

I'm sure you do. And I'm sure that even in Italy, it varies from place to place and that people have individual preferences as to seasonings, etc.