msZuiderdam Front Desk staff was HORRIBLE. Won't be booking HA again

[canadianbear]

We were on the Amsterdam in Alaska, a charter, no kids, all adults. The charter company's daily schedule highlighted what should/should not be flushed down the toilets (condoms specifically mentioned as a no-no). So what do they find in the clogged plumbing? A wash cloth. Really? Stupid people everywhere.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head :D

[Boytjie]

The sign says that NOTHING should go in the toilet except the toilet paper provided by the ship and that for which one uses the toilet for what it is intended.

 

They could not possibly make a list of everything that should not be flushed....

There isn't room on the wall to put the whole long list!!! :)

 

Maybe they should draw pictures! :eek:

[Boytjie]

A photo of the sign beside or above every toilet on all 15 of HAL ships. This one is from the Oosterdam this past spring:

Click on it to read it better (full sized and quite readable).

 

 

Joanie

 

Love the bottle going in the bowl! LOL

[Boytjie]

My TA contacted Seattle this afternoon and spoke to someone in Ships Services, whatever that is... and that person said they are unaware of any ongoing issues with the plumbing or A/c on the Zuiderdam, and she is not due for any major work until November 2012. Oh dear.

 

Well, its fairly well known that Seattle can be quite clueless about what actually happens on a cruise ship. ;)

[jrzebird]

When I sailed on the Zuidy's sister, the Noordam, about 5 years ago, I had the exact same problem with the toilet not flushing. It had nothing to do with the toilet being clogged, and everything to do with the pressure not being there to flush. You'd push the button and .. nothing. I had to use the public bathroom down the hall several times. They finally got it fixed but it was out a good portion of the day. Obviously, this is a problem that is fleet wide!

[Big Dawg CC]

First, let me say that our toilet - 5062 - did work the whole time. However, one day, we noticed that the rest of our floor (from Room 5064 to mid ship) had a letter in their box stating that the toilets were malfunctioning and that they would be shut down from 1 to 4 that day for servicing. We also noticed that the urinals in the men's restroom in the rear of the Lido were out of order the entire cruise. Blame the men and their excessive use of tampons (yes, a joke)!

 

There have been numerous posts regarding the condition of the ship. We, too, were very concerned going in. Glad to report, that overall, we found the ship in decent shape and we had a great cruise. However, if you look for them, you will find lots of signs of wear and tear, and signs of water damage in the Lido, mostly consisting of bubbled wall board. We also found the gym inadequate, having too few of the most popular machines, leading to fights and frustration among passengers. For example, threre were only two Precor ellipticals (each of which was rusted, had torn handle grips, etc.). Nothing major, in either case, and nothing to ruin an otherwise great cruise, but the ship does need refurbishing.

 

What distrubed me the most was the ship's processes and attitudes. This was our 10th HAL cruise, and out 7th HAL ship. Until this cruise, I have never waited in any lengthy lines to get into early, fixed dining, and each night, there was a long line (past the stairway) to get in. Also, on disembarkation, the line from the gangway (midship) went to almost all the way to the front and aft of the ship. Again, we have never had to wait in any line more than several people deep to disembark before this cruise. Frustrating when we saw that there was only one person scanning cards, when we usually see two.

 

We found the Pinnacle Grill manager to be snooty, service poor and our food poorly prepared (overcooked lamb for two of us and a severly overcooked burger for my daughter; we also had a baked Alaska that had no ice cream - go figure that one out!). We also had a waiter who forgot to ask us in advance if we wanted soufflet, only to be told upon ordering dessert that we could have the souflet, but that we would have to wait 20 minutes for it. I can go on, and, yes I am bordeline nitpicking, but that entire experience was so inadequate compared to the exceptional Pinnacle Grill staff and experience we have had on both the Nieuw Amsterdam and the Amsterdam.

 

Our room steward, although pleasant, paled in comparison to those we have had in prior crusies (bringing in sets of towels each day for three, when there were four in the room, missing a clean-up of our room when we were at dinner, etc.). In contrast, our dining room stewards were some of the best we have had and, of course, Jason rocks as HAL's most awesome Cruse Director.

 

In the end, we had a great cruise and enjoyed the ports. However, there just seemd to be a shadow of "attitude" hanging over this ship, which we have not found on any other HAL ship. I think this is a ship management issue that needs to be addressed.

[IRL_Joanie]

Oh, Joanie... would love to sail with you one day! :)

 

And I'd love to sail with you and yours!!:) How about Alaska May 2013 on "GASP" The Zuiderdam:) Yeppers, we is on her again for the first 2 sailings out of Vancouver!!

 

Or even on Nieuw Amsterdam 25 November 2012 for the Caribbean??:)

 

Joanie

[FrankNJ]

Well, its fairly well known that Seattle can be quite clueless about what actually happens on a cruise ship. ;)

 

Maybe they're forbidden to read cruise critic ? lol.

 

Seriously though , I have received a few non answers from them in the past that were several paragraphs long and , said nothing ! "Nothing to see here folks , move along"

"We haven't heard of that ". blah blah blah , hard to get a simple answer to a simple question.

 

Those toilets better be working when I get there !

[gelo7]

That's awful...

[sapper1]

As an fyi, when we sailed on the Veendam this past August, we had really bad A/C issues in our suite. When we told the concierge they told us that they didn't know of any issues. Really??? The A/C issues on the Veendam have been going on since they added the lanais. After two days of complaining and my husband being an Engineer and explaining what was going on, we finally got a solution! After the fact, we received compensation, which we eventually gave back to the Concierge, who kept on top of things. It just seems that HAL is ignoring these "older" ships with an agenda to have an excuse to get rid of them. P.S. we also had toilet issues for about 1 day.

As an fyi, the cabins which were added to the Veendam were the aft cabins. The lanais were always there as ocean view cabins. The windows were just replaced with floor to ceiling opening doors. The additional aft cabins no doubt put a strain on the existing air conditioning system. There are a lot of AC complaints about the Veendam here on CC. We did travel in one of the new aft cabins and did not experience any problems there but I guess from what I read that we were just lucky.:)

[IRL_Joanie]

One suggestion for those of you contemplating the Zuiderdam or already booked on the Zuiderdam;

 

WAIT until after the first 2 cruises after the New Year's Cruise is over and then read the reports/reviews of the problems with the toilets and personnel problems before getting so alarmed and then make a decision.

 

I believe that the problems are related more to the... overload of the system... I cannot think of any other way to put it, than to a major problem with the plumbing on the ship.

 

I for one, am NOT cancelling any cruise on the Zuiderdam as I KNOW it is a good ship and that I've never encountered any problems with her except for a verandah door latch, which was promptly fixed.

 

Crew from Captain down to the young men and women cleaning and shining the brass were awesome to include all the Concierges and Front Desk staff.

 

As an aside HAL Seattle does read these boards!! Several even post here to include the PR section of HAL. Believe me, they are aware of your complaints, just from reading the posts.

 

Joanie

[sapper1]

I'm not being rude. I'm defending myself. First there was the comment about how young people shouldn't be cruising because they aren't smart enough and then there was the comment with things underlined because apparently, I'm not able to read :rolleyes:

 

By the way, thanks for being my number 1 CC stalker! I always wanted one :rolleyes:

 

It is sometimes easier to underline items you want to comment on in a post than to erase everything else in the post and leave the comment-worthy line in place. It is no reflection on whether a person is deemed able to read or not.

Time to slow down, lose the angry red font and sarcastic icon and rejoin the group in a friendly manner. You will find that for the most part we are a congenial group over here who have gotten to know each other quite well over the years. We have the occasional dust up but for the most part we treat each other well.

When you come from another board and don't "know" the regulars here very well, it may be easy to read things into posts that really aren't there.

This thread has valuable information and it shouldn't be shut down because of name calling.

Stick around and you may even decide you like us here.:)

[Mary Ellen1]

I, too, was on this Christmas cruise on the Zuiderdam. I was quite concerned to receive a letter one day, mid-cruise, notifying us that they would be disabling the toilet system for 3 hours for maintenance. I thought *that* was bad, but the OP's problems take it to a whole other level. Yikes! I had no idea.

 

I saved the letter (along with the one about disabling the AC for maintenance :() and will try to post it later...

 

Had never sailed HAL before, and was upset on the final night to see that Stewart had removed the spare roll of toilet paper (leaving us with a scant 1/4" left on the existing roll - let me say "yikes!" again :mad:). Should I be connecting any dots here? Might this be their pre-drydock interim solution -- simply removing the toilet paper? ;)

[FrankNJ]

I always grab a spare roll of toilet paper and hide it from the steward , just in case we really run out . It has never happened yet , but I still do it.

 

On a few boats (not ships) I have seen toilet signs that say "Don't put anything except paper in the toilet , unless you've eaten it first".

 

Now that I think back , the flush power on my last 2 Hal ships , Noordam and Eurodam, was so powerful I was a little intimidated by it . Some kind of jet flush vacuum assist. Worked really well . I'm sure Zuiderdam has the same system so maybe it really is the guests gumming up the works . We'll see.

[Caribbean Chris]

I interviewed the Environmental Officer on the Noordam for a magazine article a few years ago, and he talked about the problems they have with an amazing array of items passengers flush into the system, including false teeth. Surely accidental!

 

We had repeated problems a couple of years ago on the current Rotterdam, and the maintenance staff was prompt and pleasant. I am pretty sure we called them directly rather than the front desk. I am so sorry for the experience the OP had.

 

I think the ships' staff members work hard at dealing with plumbing problems. Think about it...if the ship's overall system is in trouble, the staff and crew may be having the same issues in their own rooms.

[sapper1]

One suggestion for those of you contemplating the Zuiderdam or already booked on the Zuiderdam;

 

WAIT until after the first 2 cruises after the New Year's Cruise is over and then read the reports/reviews of the problems with the toilets and personnel problems before getting so alarmed and then make a decision.

 

I believe that the problems are related more to the... overload of the system... I cannot think of any other way to put it, than to a major problem with the plumbing on the ship.

 

I for one, am NOT cancelling any cruise on the Zuiderdam as I KNOW it is a good ship and that I've never encountered any problems with her except for a verandah door latch, which was promptly fixed.

 

Crew from Captain down to the young men and women cleaning and shining the brass were awesome to include all the Concierges and Front Desk staff.

 

As an aside HAL Seattle does read these boards!! Several even post here to include the PR section of HAL. Believe me, they are aware of your complaints, just from reading the posts.

 

Joanie

You may have hit the nail on the head Joanie---I am willing to bet that if everyone flushed in unison the silence would be deafening. :eek: It doesn't bear contemplating.:D

[whogo]

If I had problems with my toilet or HVAC that HAL would not fix I would ask if they couldn't refund my fare and fly me home.

 

I wondered how the usual HAL cheerleaders would put a positive spin on this. The answer? The toilet issue cannot be widespread and no one should cancel a HAL cruise over it. Sometimes I think HAL cheerleaders are sales agents for the cruise line.

[spacepotatoes]

All of these recent comments about the Zuiderdam have made me a bit nervous too. We don't sail her until July, so hoping things get back to normal by then. Joanie's theory that the system has been overloaded during the holidays is a good one. It is still bothersome, though, that the ship can't seem to handle that load (no pun intended!).

 

Regarding flushing things down the toilet, NCL ships have a very similar, if not identical, sign to the one posted in this thread by all of their toilets. I'd be surprised if Carnival doesn't have the same info posted somewhere as well.

[jill_delaware]

As a passenger who has recently (less than 90 days ago) cruised on Zuiderdam, to include one of the staterooms mentioned SB 7142 ( I was on for 2 weeks), I disagree with your "conclusion."

 

My reasoning is this; On the past few cruises where these flushing problems are mentioned, there have been a LOT of younger people (thinking children here) and even young adults, who do not know what can or cannot be placed in a toilet aboard a ship. AND who either cannot or will not read the little sign beside the toilet.

 

Gonna try and not be crude here, but want to stress just how badly the following can affect the toilet system from just one stateroom.

 

Stateroom 12345 on deck 6 is a young lady between the age of 12-24. She is at a time of the month that most women hate. She uses a device during that time of the month that allows her to swim etc, without anyone knowing she is.... What does she do with that device at home or anywhere else on land?? She flushes it down the toilet. So what does she do while on a ship?? SHE FLUSHES IT and that can cause serious problems, not only for her stateroom but others on the same system!!!!!!

 

The above is just one of the things that can and will cause the system to become blocked.

 

I cannot for the life of me believe that this is a permanent problem. I believe it is showing us that we are smart NOT to cruise with lots of young people on board. DO NOT GET ME WRONG I LOVE young people, just not willing to cruise with lots of them like holiday times get.

 

Joanie

 

It doesn't matter what caused the problem. And if the toilet was merely clogged, it wouldn't have taken down the plumbing on the entire ship - and it wouldn't be down for 11 days. This appears to have been a long standing issue that was there when we boarded the ship. I had every right to expect the toilet in my cabin to work. The plumber was there several times and said it was a SHIPBOARD issue (we have letters from Holland America that were delivered to our cabin proving this and they will be forwarded along with our letter to Holland America) and they said it is a vacuum issue. If they repeatedly have these issues, they need to fix them. It is a MISERABLE cruise when your bathrooms don't work - especially when there are 3 adults sharing a room. It was not merely an inconvenience, it is UNSANITARY. We paid a lot of money for this cruise. Even a Super 8 hotel would have working bathrooms and we sure paid a whole lot more for this cabin. And to be treated how we were treated was inexcusable. Make all the excuses you want for the other passengers causing the issue, but is is still Holland America's lack of response in fixing it and poor customer service in how they treated us. Absolutely unacceptable.

 

And yes, several of the public toilets on the ship had Out of Order signs on them the entire cruise.

 

It saddens me that hours after we departed this ship, another group of passengers were heading out for another 11 day Panama cruise and they will have the same problems.

[IRL_Joanie]

It doesn't matter what caused the problem. And if the toilet was merely clogged, it wouldn't have taken down the plumbing on the entire ship - and it wouldn't be down for 11 days. This appears to have been a long standing issue that was there when we boarded the ship. I had every right to expect the toilet in my cabin to work. The plumber was there several times and said it was a SHIPBOARD issue (we have letters from Holland America that were delivered to our cabin proving this and they will be forwarded along with our letter to Holland America) and they said it is a vacuum issue. If they repeatedly have these issues, they need to fix them. It is a MISERABLE cruise when your bathrooms don't work - especially when there are 3 adults sharing a room. It was not merely an inconvenience, it is UNSANITARY. We paid a lot of money for this cruise. Even a Super 8 hotel would have working bathrooms and we sure paid a whole lot more for this cabin. And to be treated how we were treated was inexcusable. Make all the excuses you want for the other passengers causing the issue, but is is still Holland America's lack of response in fixing it and poor customer service in how they treated us. Absolutely unacceptable.

 

And yes, several of the public toilets on the ship had Out of Order signs on them the entire cruise.

 

It saddens me that hours after we departed this ship, another group of passengers were heading out for another 11 day Panama cruise and they will have the same problems.

I agree with you 100% that it was unsanitary and should not have happened!!!

 

BUT, you are incorrect in that 1 stateroom flushing an item down and clogging that toilet would not affect others. IT DOES!!! All the way down the line:( Just as someone leaving their verandah door open, whether out of ignorance or not caring, will affect other staterooms, even so far as to affect sporadically around the ship.

 

The plumbing was not an issue less than 90 days ago. It was only reported here on CC since the Thanksgiving cruise and I think will continue through the cruise it is on this week. Why? Because the ships is at full capacity, more than likely. And people do not/will not read what is before their eyes.

 

IF, during my cruise in SB 7142, this past Sept, had flushed an object down the toilet and it caused a problem it would not only have affected my stateroom but others on down the line. It would affect I believe all staterooms that were on the same line as mine was.

 

I am sorry and really do feel that you and others that had these problems should NEVER have had to go through them. But what was HAL to do with a fully booked ship and nowhere else for passengers to go? They can only do so much, and if they hadd plumbers working on the situations, they were doing what thye could with what they had.

 

Being without a working toil;et for 11 days I would be requesting, strenuously some serious recompense!!

 

Edited to add: To clarify, "on down the line" does not mean the staterooms beside mine or even on the same deck. Remember, liquid flows downwards.

 

Joanie

[awsum9]

I hope all recent Zuiderdam cruisers , and cruisers over the next few cruises from now will be kind enough to post here or to post reviews regarding their plumbing experiences good and bad .

Hopefully all will be well . I had a toilet problem on Eurodam a few years ago but they fixed it right away.

 

 

 

We were on the Dec 5 sailing and had no plumbing issues, and saw no toilets in any public restrooms that weren't working, and we used them all I think.

[sail7seas]

<snip>

 

 

Those toilets better be working when I get there !

 

 

:confused: Or What?

 

 

 

 

It doesn't matter what caused the problem. And if the toilet was merely clogged, it wouldn't have taken down the plumbing on the entire ship - and it wouldn't be down for 11 days. This appears to have been a long standing issue that was there when we boarded the ship. I had every right to expect the toilet in my cabin to work. The plumber was there several times and said it was a SHIPBOARD issue (we have letters from Holland America that were delivered to our cabin proving this and they will be forwarded along with our letter to Holland America) and they said it is a vacuum issue. If they repeatedly have these issues, they need to fix them. It is a MISERABLE cruise when your bathrooms don't work - especially when there are 3 adults sharing a room. It was not merely an inconvenience, it is UNSANITARY. We paid a lot of money for this cruise. Even a Super 8 hotel would have working bathrooms and we sure paid a whole lot more for this cabin. And to be treated how we were treated was inexcusable. Make all the excuses you want for the other passengers causing the issue, but is is still Holland America's lack of response in fixing it and poor customer service in how they treated us. Absolutely unacceptable.

 

And yes, several of the public toilets on the ship had Out of Order signs on them the entire cruise.

 

It saddens me that hours after we departed this ship, another group of passengers were heading out for another 11 day Panama cruise and they will have the same problems.

 

 

 

I agree with [most] of this.

At the least, a guest has a right to full expectation HVAC and Plumbing in their cabin work properly and if they are malfunctioning, they should be dealt with promptly, efficiently and courteously. Their concerns should be taken seriously and 'heard'.

 

[Viesczy]

I am late to this bee's nest!

 

That completely SUCKS that your holiday was ruined due to faulty plumbing! Another example of how you know we never made it to the moon in '69 with technology that started in the late '50s, we can't even get plumbing working in 2011!

 

As for your handling @ the front desk, I'll tell you why you were handled that way--refusal to call the manager & only $200 OBC.

 

It is the Corporate mindset that PERMEATES the world now; the lack of latitude afforded to "underlings" that actually deal with customers by the overpaid Corporate heads, senior excutive vice presidents of paperclips and such is simply sad. It isn't an HAL problem nor an industry problem, but a world problem.

 

The mgrs were well aware of the situation, couldn't do anything about the situation, didn't want to hear about the situation anymore, gave grief to the folks @ the front desk toiling under near slave conditions about having to hear from passengers about a situation that they couldn't remedy, and the only thing they could give is the $200 OBC because that is all they're allowed by Corporate. There is no going above and beyond, there is no superhero to save you, because as an employee they're given X amount of room to move by the bean counters @ Corporate.

 

In the Corporate world they couldn't care less, they have your money and you're nearly in a prison while on board. They'll toss some OBC at you because it'll be knocked off the overpriced booze, excursions, or pics you're going to pay for, that OBC is well within their variance of allowed %s. Your letter might be responded to with platitudes of sorrow and concern, but they got what they wanted, your money. In their opinion, for every "dead" body that falls out of love with their product there are other warm bodies just waiting to purchase their product.

 

Again, no slam on HAL but a comment on the world in general now as it is EVERYWHERE. :eek::mad:

 

I'm sorry your cruise was far less than you hoped and deserved. I'm sorry that the employees on board weren't able to or afforded the means to remedy the situation for you.

 

Derek

[FrankNJ]

Now I'm wondering , if it is a vacuum problem , there could be leaks in the vacuum assist system and that's why they won't flush or are slow to flush ...... here's what I'm wondering ;

Once you press the flush and the flap at the bottom of the bowl opens , would it work to dump a pail of water to help it along ? Just wonder.

[FrankNJ]

Wow , just read your post Derek . You are , unfortunately , absolutely right about the state of "customer service" as it exists today . Excellent , well written post.