You Have Me Worried

[esther e]

I'd enjoy sailing with you Esther and hope to find you on one of the cruises we have booked. :)

 

 

I hesitate to call complainers malcontents etc

Just because the toilet and air conditioning worked in my cabin, does not mean it worked in all cabins. Just because I had great dinner service, someone else may not have. Not all complaints here are frivolous or imaginary conditions though certainly there is a percentage that are. Use some judgment IMO to decide which sound 'credible' to you.

 

 

 

I also hope we sail together one day!

[zookiebird]

Ester, We were on the Noordam 2 months ago and everything was perfect. So much so that we will probably return to her next March. Enjoy!!!

[tjcox9]

We just disembarked the Maasdam on Saturday in Montreal and must say this voyage was MUCH more enjoyable than our cruise on the Maasdam last fall. (Other than the weather, that is!) ;)

 

Food in the MDR open seating was generally excellent for our tastes. Yes, a miss or two, but that's to be expected. It was simple to get a replacement. Service was also very good for us. It may have helped that there were still staff on board from last cruise, plus some from other previous cruises who remembered us.

 

Tendering seemed to run better than in the past, although we don't have to "get a number" due to our number of days. It seems they've wised up and don't keep people caged up in the showroom awaiting the call of their "number".

 

The food was also consistently better and more in line with what was on the menu than on our Veendam cruise in January. On that cruise and the fall Maasdam cruise, it was always interesting to read the menu and then await what actually appeared - especially at breakfast. Chilled soups were actually chilled also.

 

Unfortunately, as reported in another thread, we were in code orange or red for a great deal of the cruise. We felt it was handled quite well by the crew. We don't often go to the Lido, but the few times we did, we saw the Park West art guys serving as well as the future cruise consultant and his wife. I'm sure there were others pitching in as well, but these stood out.

 

Just our take, but it kind of restored our faith in HAL. Hope it continues as we'll be testing it out again soon!!

[momva]

To me, it isn't whether problems happen, it is how they are dealt with. On our Ryndam cruise a few years ago, my husband gave some less than stellar marks on the questionaire they give you at the end of the cruise. When we arrived on the Noordam for our Med cruise last July, he had a note waiting for him from the hotel manager expressing appreciation for giving HAL another chance. Honestly, the Ryndam wasn't that bad but apparently they take even minor criticism very seriously. Well, our cabin on the Noordam (an outside) had AC problems. After trying unsuccessfully to fix it (even the cabin attendant complained it was too hot), they moved us to a verandah. Wow! I didn't need an upgrade, just a room that was comfortable. Near the end of the cruise, someone stuffed a towel down a toilet and the whole ship experienced many hours with limited or no functioning toilets. The captain himself made shipwide announcements letting people know about the progress in getting it fixed and by the end of the day, it was. I consider this to be a good experience and our cruise on the Noordam ranks up there as one of our favorites. We are looking forward to taking another HAL cruise next year.

[Lady Chew]

We were on the Noordam late Feb/March ... beautifully maintained, wonderful service ... EXCEPT service in the MDR was painfully slow. We had no trouble getting a table for our group (My Time Dining or whatever it is on HAL) but it several times we had to wait a good 15 minutes before our orders were taken!! Another time we sat with another couple for 30 minutes! in spite of flagging down passing waiters. And the wine service is terrible. The food was delicious, though! I think they've cut back too far on service, I can't really blame the waiters.

Just a beautiful, beautiful ship. No problems with AC, although we did have one of the "delayed flush" toilets.

[ardeur]

It's been over a year since we were on a HAL ship (which was just about perfect) and what I've been reading about runners, a/c, plumbing, stewards, etc. are all negative responses.

 

Are these just gee-whiz threads or has HAL really gone down hill? I know people like to raise neck hairs, but come on, is it so bad?

 

Same concerns here, too. I've decided to chalk it up to a handful of squeaky wheels.

[kazu]

People come in here to report and many think that a scathing report here can be to used as leverage for greater compensation from HAL. Others come in and complain because they like to be in the center of things, or stirring it up. ;) The rest have legitimate gripes. So you have to take it all with a grain of salt.

I have been like you and fretted that a cruise was going to be horrible because of all the complaints here on CC and am usually very pleasantly surprised to find everything was fine. :rolleyes: So I now tend to take it all with a grain of salt and consider the sources before taking it to heart.

 

Really - a grain of salt? We have legitimate people telling us what's going on and you are doubting them:eek:

 

Each to their own;) but most HAL cruises are wonderful first of all. there have been now enough issues with the Zuiderdam that I would think anyone with any rationale would be rethinking it unless HAL comes on the boards and states what they are doing to rectify the problem.

 

Flame away - I'll gladly sail on certain ships and as much as I love this one it's off my radar - and I'll trust the words of sapper1 and startwin any day of the week:)

[localady]

Really - a grain of salt? We have legitimate people telling us what's going on and you are doubting them:eek:

 

Each to their own;) but most HAL cruises are wonderful first of all. there have been now enough issues with the Zuiderdam that I would think anyone with any rationale would be rethinking it unless HAL comes on the boards and states what they are doing to rectify the problem.

 

Flame away - I'll gladly sail on certain ships and as much as I love this one it's off my radar - and I'll trust the words of sapper1 and startwin any day of the week:)

 

I think you didn't understand what I meant. In general there are people that come in to CC to do reviews that may not be favorable, for various reasons. I was in no way suggesting that this is what the people who cruised on the Zuiderdam had done or were doing. This was a general statement about why some people post less than favorable reviews here, sometimes repeated bad reviews. I was not speaking of either cruiser you mentioned specifically, I was talking about bad reviews in general.

 

I was trying to reassure the op that although reports of terrible incidents happen here on CC, I have found that my experience differed when I got onboard generally. But that happened after a lot of needless worry on my part because of what I had read here at CC. Thus, I now take it with a grain of salt......

[kazu]

I think you didn't understand what I meant. In general there are people that come in to CC to do reviews that may not be favorable, for various reasons. I was in no way suggesting that this is what the people who cruised on the Zuiderdam had done or were doing. This was a general statement about why some people post less than favorable review here, sometimes repeated bad reviews. I was not speaking of either cruiser you mentioned specifically.

 

Sorry Sher - I did misunderstand :o Oh the problem with the written word.

 

Agree - some come just to aggravate - I thought that the op was asking with worries based on the Zuiderdam reports and, of course I was thinking in terms of those;)

 

Thanks so much for coming back and apologies if I misunderstood your post Sincere apologies.

[localady]

Sorry Sher - I did misunderstand :o Oh the problem with the written word.

 

Agree - some come just to aggravate - I thought that the op was asking with worries based on the Zuiderdam reports and, of course I was thinking in terms of those;)

 

Thanks so much for coming back and apologies if I misunderstood your post Sincere apologies.

 

No problem Jacqui, no apologies necessary! :D

I just know the worries I have had about "issues" that I have read and stressed about needlessly during the years I have been here on CC. I hated to see another cruiser have that experience also.

[kazu]

No problem Jacqui, no apologies necessary! :D

I just know the worries I have had about "issues" that I have read and stressed about needlessly during the years I have been here on CC. I hated to see another cruiser have that experience also.

 

Thank you Sher;) muchly appreciated :)

[Cindy]

If "acceptable normal" is no cabin A/C and toilets that take hours to flush, most people cannot "roll" with that!

 

I agree! There's nothing acceptable or normal about toilets that malfunction for days or being without A/C for an entire cruise, especially when it's a widespread issue and not an isolated and quickly corrected problem. I've been on 15 cruises...three different cruiselines...10 different ships, plus a short "cruise" on an ancient converted ferry. All three cruiselines (Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival) and the bucket of bolts ferry "Scotia Prince" were able to provide air conditioning and plumbing for the duration of the cruise. Wow! I must have been cruising luxury lines all these years at mass market prices...lucky me!;):rolleyes:

 

Have I experienced a delayed flush or that funky cruise smell? Absolutely! The difference is the delayed flushes were for a minute or two, the funky cruise smell was passing in nature, and I had air conditioning so things didn't get too rank while I was waiting for the flush!:eek:

[Viesczy]

Go on your cruise. Don't sweat the small stuff you read here.

 

Plan on having a great time, and you will.

 

^Agreed to infinity!

 

A lot of folks are pathologically incapable of having a good time and it shows in how they completely worry over the minutia of the insignificant. They'd complain if they got a million cash and it was in 5 dollar bills and they wanted it in all in 2 dollar bills. Really.

 

You're going to have a GREAT time!

 

Derek

[Mare10]

I agree with Derek and all the other "positive" posters! Just broused through the whole thread and didn't see mention of the Volendam. I'll be sailing 2 weeks from tomorrow and am very excited. Any tidbits about that ship?

Marilyn :)

[esther e]

Again, I thank you all. I certainly didn't mean to create any problems on this thread and for that I apologize. We will cruise without a worry, although to be honest, I hope we don't have a/c or toilet problems for more than a few hours! You are fantastic people and I appreciate your help.

[MrsMuir]

We spent 23 days on Volendam in April (Sydney-Vancouver). Out of seven HAL cruises, Volendam was the best-run ship so far. Due to a pre-cruise injury I was onboard most of the time, but what I saw of her hull and superstructure was virtually rust-free. There was always someone washing down, polishing or painting. Our stateroom and the public rooms were in fine shape, and we had no toilet issues at all. After the customary 2-day precautions we never had any Code Red, Orange or whatever.

 

The food in the MDR was by far the best. We especially enjoyed having lunch on sea days in the MDR, after sleeping through breakfast. What a nice way to begin the day. The waiters were short-handed but ours (2nd Seating) were very efficient. Best of all, the crew seemed happy. You'd think on such a long cruise you'd run into one crewmember having a bad day, but that never happened on Volendam.

 

She's a perfect size with a wonderful crew, and we hope to sail in her again.

 

Mrs M (booking a new home instead of a cruise)

[mearsfansinboise]

Just got off the Oosterdam and we had some severe plumbing issues. But as I was writing my review, I didn't think about it until the end. It was a hassle then, but our memories and overall experience are still tops. I think sometimes you just gotta let things happen, let it go, roll with it, and laugh.

[startwin]

I agree with Derek and all the other "positive" posters! Just broused through the whole thread and didn't see mention of the Volendam. I'll be sailing 2 weeks from tomorrow and am very excited. Any tidbits about that ship?

 

Marilyn :)

 

The Volendam is my all-time favourite ship - you will love her!

[Mare10]

Thanks for the positive words about the Volendam. I'm really looking forward to this cruise! We're doing anytime dining since we're in Alaska with excursions planned. I hope we made the right choice with that type of dining.

 

Opinions?

[Viesczy]

I agree with Derek and all the other "positive" posters! Just broused through the whole thread and didn't see mention of the Volendam. I'll be sailing 2 weeks from tomorrow and am very excited. Any tidbits about that ship?

 

Marilyn :)

 

I have one, you're going to enjoy the STUFF outta your cruise! The only complaints I've heard about the V-dam are from folks who aren't able to smile!

 

I am crazy jealous of you, 2 weeks? You are in the COUNT DOWN!

 

Derek

[frenchy2774]

Hope that you are well on the way to recover and that pleased that. you enjoyed the cruise as much as we did fond regards Phil and Shelly the cruise critic group was a great bunch of people.