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

[mszula]

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'.

 

7 Seas.. what you said above is all well and good. The problem is that this is not happening for a large number of passengers. I personally do appreciate your good wishes for the best of toilet luck.

 

Regarding Seattle saying that they are unaware of any problems... I believe that the statement is pretty much their answer to all problems.

 

If we have unresolved toilet problems on our upcoming cruise.. I can say for sure that it will be our last HAL cruise.

[jimmy2x]

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.:)

 

You are truly a lady of tact and uncommon good sense. We are fortunate to have you frequent this forum.

[Boatdrill]

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.

 

Ships Services dept. doesn't handle the fleet's engineering and mechanical problems !!!!

[startwin]

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.:)

 

 

The voice of reason.:)

[sapper1]

You are truly a lady of tact and uncommon good sense. We are fortunate to have you frequent this forum.

Why thank you, sir. (There is no "blush" icon to use here):)

[cmdchiefthom]

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!

 

Derek, off topic, but I asume you know who shot Kennedy?:rolleyes:

[GeriatricNurse]

You are truly a lady of tact and uncommon good sense. We are fortunate to have you frequent this forum.

 

The voice of reason.:)

 

Yes, I agree! :)

[kazu]

Why thank you, sir. (There is no "blush" icon to use here):)

 

Excellent post Sapper - and there is a blush icon = :o but there is no need for you to use it:)

[iancal]

On the very first day of customer service training they probably spend a day learning to say, in a very sincere manner.....

 

'oh sir (or madame), this is the very first time that we have heard of this issue.' The trick is to be as sincere on day one as they are on say, day 14 of the cruise.

 

It has to be done in a sincere and compassionate manner so that the poor sap on the customer side of the desk feels he or she is the only one to ever experience this in the history of the cruiseline and that immediate steps will be taken to remedy the issue-even if this is not the case or is impossible to achieve because of a larger issue.

 

On day 2 -3 they may get training on a host of specific 'drawer' phrases that can be used to imply that whatever the particular issue , it is really attributable other cruisers and therefore beyond remedy (and responsibility) by the cruise line.

[los cruceros]

On the Amsterdam during the GVAsia/ Australia some one was stuffing toilet tissue and/ toilet seat sheets in the bowl and flushing.

I personally found this in 3 public restrooms... the maintenance was quick to respond..do not know how many others were backed up..this happened in both the men´s and women´s restrooms

There was only 1 child on board with her nanny and well supervised.

So, someone was angry about something or just sick.

[Bookfinder]

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.

 

Sorry Awsum9 --

We were on this cruise and one night after dinner in the MDR (late seating) - we were on our way to the theater and stopped at every woman's bathroom on Deck 3 looking for a working bathroom -- All had "Out of Service" signs on them except for one stall of only two just before the theater on the left just before the stairs. In fact, there were several other ladies and one asked what could be going on and that something needed to be done. We also encountered non-working bathrooms on Deck 2 as well.

 

Our stateroom toilet did not work properly for two days and we don't use Depends or sanitary napkins. When I contacted the service desk the second time I was told they had a problem with the vaccum system and were waiting for a part.

 

I'm glad you managed to cruise for 11 days and not have to encounter the problem. You were blessed.

[RuthC]

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.

Then, no, you didn't use them all. At least you didn't use all the women's rest rooms.

There were several that were out of order the entire cruise. There were a few that every stall was out of order, next day one stall was working, then day after that all stalls were out of order---again.

 

Promenade Deck, mid-ship port side, just forward of the Ocean Bar. Main Deck, mid-ship, starboard---totally out of order. Lower Promenade, outside dining room. Outside the Crow's Nest.

Shall I go on?

[michigan tim]

oops, better delete it...

[awboater]

I have both of these signs in the "head" compartment of my boat:

 

 

 

While these signs are a bit tongue-in-cheek, they are not far from the truth. The only exception is we allow single-ply toilet paper that we buy at the RV store, as it will readily dissolve in the holding tank.

 

It is incredibly easy clog up a toilet if you are throwing stuff in it that doesn't belong there. The head in my boat is not all that different than the ones on a ship, except that the ship's heads are more industrial.

 

I'd venture to say that someone clogging a head on a ship is a continuous issue, and probably happens several times each cruise, as some people just don't pay attention.

[tandkquinn]

Honestly - how many people who cruised this ship in the last month or so have to post with stories of toilets that did not function have to post here before it is clear to everyone that there is a problem???

 

This is not one person who is complaining that there was a 1/4" of paint chipped off of their balcony railing, or that the ice cream was too cold. This is a pile of folks who personally experienced nonworking cabin and public toilets all over the ship.

 

Do people think that mysteriously every one of the only a dozen or so folks who had this happen over the last month are posting here?

[tandkquinn]

ok, that was typo city, but I think that the point is clear, lol.

[Holly g]

Sail, there was a post within the last week saying aprox 60% of the public washrooms were not useable. Thats a problem. They have 39 days to fix it please!!

 

Mar56

 

We will be on this cruise as well and reading these posts is really really freaking me out! How can they even think of running these cruises with broken toilets? Isn't there some kind of health codes they have to adhere to? I think we should all research this idea and write to the proper authority to investigate. I would think they could be fined when public toilets and cabin toilets are inoperable? I feel like we are going on a third world cruise! They really need to wake up and get this situation fixed or take the ship out of commission until the problem is solved! I'm almost ready to cancel and try to find another cruise for that time frame! I hope Holland America people are reading these boards and are waking up to the bad publicity they are getting here. This will be our first time on HA as we have been cruising Celebrity and loving it! We've been so looking forward to this PC cruise, I just hope they don't turn it into a miserable experience.:eek:

[RuthC]

I don't know where it came from, but I got the sense that either the cabin toilets could be kept operational, or the public toilets could be fixed---but not both.

For the most part the cabin toilets did work properly. Yes, there were breakdowns, but only to the level we expect happens on any cruise. And with few exceptions, those were fixed promptly.

[sail7seas]

Zuiderdam had USPH Inspection on December 5, 2011 and scored a 99 out of a possible 100.

 

The score speaks for itself.

We all (most of us ?) know how tough those inspections are.

 

[kazu]

And there is a very nice review from someone just on the ship. I just wonder if they shut down some of the public toilets due to issues with flushing the wrong things? No answer I know. No working toilet is no fun.

 

I feel for the op. I feel for anyone on this type of cruise. But a lot of things cause these problems.They shut down a couple on the Prinsendam and when I talked to the engineer he basically told me things were being thrown down that didn't belong. You can take that as you wish. I'm not blaming anyone for these things but ship does happen.:)

[aliaschief]

We will be on this cruise as well and reading these posts is really really freaking me out! How can they even think of running these cruises with broken toilets? Isn't there some kind of health codes they have to adhere to? I think we should all research this idea and write to the proper authority to investigate. I would think they could be fined when public toilets and cabin toilets are inoperable? I feel like we are going on a third world cruise! They really need to wake up and get this situation fixed or take the ship out of commission until the problem is solved! I'm almost ready to cancel and try to find another cruise for that time frame! I hope Holland America people are reading these boards and are waking up to the bad publicity they are getting here. This will be our first time on HA as we have been cruising Celebrity and loving it! We've been so looking forward to this PC cruise, I just hope they don't turn it into a miserable experience.:eek:

 

Disembarked from this ship Dec. 5. We had a great cruise. Some public restrooms were out of order and I have seen this on several cruises. Inconvenience to find a restroom? Not really, but that may be different for someone who has mobility issues.

 

Ship's are marvelous machines and many things can go wrong and you don't have the local Ace Hardware to always run too.

 

I hosted the RC for that cruise and we were in contact with most of our CC members. I believe I heard from one couple that there toilet wouldn't flush and it was quickly repaired.

 

Previous reviews before our cruise the Zuiderdam was getting slammed with AC problems and everyone I met was happy with the exception it was quite cool at times in the forward Show Room.

 

Met a lot of people on this cruise and the vast majority seemed to be having a grand time. Our crew experience was the crew exceeded the Standards Of Excellence.

 

The best advice I can give anyone going on a cruise is embark with a good attitude and don't pay much heed to reviews. I agree with the OP and feel the management should have been more involved and communicative.

 

IMO, Hal at times does not do a good job of honestly admitting that a problem exist. I personally would like to be given the truth and how we can work around it. Though you usually won't hear that from anyone unless they are in a management position high enough to reply.

 

Enjoy your cruise on the MS Zuiderdam too the Panama Canal and great ports of call. We sure did. A couple of minor issues were never a factor in our final rating.

 

Would so love to sail on the MS Zuiderdam again.

[GeriatricNurse]

Zuiderdam had USPH Inspection on December 5, 2011 and scored a 99 out of a possible 100.

 

The score speaks for itself.

We all (most of us ?) know how tough those inspections are.

 

 

Do you think that the inoperatinal toilets were included in the USPH Inspection? :confused:

[Justjanet]

We sailed on the Zuiderdam in early December and I noticed a lot of the public bathrooms were closed or "out of order." At times, I had to walk up one floor just to use the restroom. Some guests we met were having problems with their toilets flushing and some complained because they never had hot water. Our bath tub took forever to drain. I hate standing in ankle deep water while I am showering. It sounds like this ship has major plumbing problems.

[hypercafe]

If this ship is really in as bad a shape as it seems people on it should adjust their tipping as well. People will say it's not the fault of the crew or it's not HAL'S fault, but then whose fault is it?? If I spent 2 weeks with no working toilet or had to search around the ship to find a working bathroom I wouldn't participate in a program that takes money from me to pay the crew. We are going on this trip in April and if it is as bad as it sounds, much ware and tare, plumbing not working, AC not working and customer service not caring then there will be NO tipping. Maybe HAL should scrap this ship !!

[GeriatricNurse]

We sailed on the Zuiderdam in early December and I noticed a lot of the public bathrooms were closed or "out of order." At times, I had to walk up one floor just to use the restroom. Some guests we met were having problems with their toilets flushing and some complained because they never had hot water. Our bath tub took forever to drain. I hate standing in ankle deep water while I am showering. It sounds like this ship has major plumbing problems.

 

If this ship is really in as bad a shape as it seems people on it should adjust their tipping as well. People will say it's not the fault of the crew or it's not HAL'S fault, but then whose fault is it?? If I spent 2 weeks with no working toilet or had to search around the ship to find a working bathroom I wouldn't participate in a program that takes money from me to pay the crew. We are going on this trip in April and if it is as bad as it sounds, much ware and tare, plumbing not working, AC not working and customer service not caring then there will be NO tipping. Maybe HAL should scrap this ship !![/quote]

 

Oh my! :(