Tiles and Zuiderdam

[elkd43]

Returned from cruise 11/18 and as usual enjoyed the Mariner Brunch. As soon as we sat down we started talking to others at table and didn't realize tiles were not on table. When leaving servers were at door handing out tiles and received mine. Called over to DH to get his and we were told "only 1 to a couple". I said oh! and another guest said this must be something new. Is this a new cost saving policy?? Really liked this tile in particular. Much nicer and even thicker than others we received.

 

With all the negative on the Z I want to report that our cruise was great. Cabin was cool and once for a period of about 3 hours the toilets were not flushing on our line and cabin steward assured us they were working on the problem and it was solved!!!.

 

Food in MDR was very good and Lido breakfast was excellent. At lunch (unfortunately) I found they even had liquor (crème d'mint ) at the ice cream station.

 

Lounge entertainment very good-Olga at piano bar always had the room packed. Enjoyed the Adagio duo (piano added to enjoyment for me).Guitar player Michael Simons was very entertaining

 

I would cruise the Z again!

Thank you to Candy for the M&G!!

[Shmoo here]

Returned from cruise 11/18 and as usual enjoyed the Mariner Brunch. As soon as we sat down we started talking to others at table and didn't realize tiles were not on table. When leaving servers were at door handing out tiles and received mine. Called over to DH to get his and we were told "only 1 to a couple". I said oh! and another guest said this must be something new. Is this a new cost saving policy?? Really liked this tile in particular. Much nicer and even thicker than others we received.

 

With all the negative on the Z I want to report that our cruise was great. Cabin was cool and once for a period of about 3 hours the toilets were not flushing on our line and cabin steward assured us they were working on the problem and it was solved!!!.

 

Food in MDR was very good and Lido breakfast was excellent. At lunch (unfortunately) I found they even had liquor (crème d'mint ) at the ice cream station.

 

Lounge entertainment very good-Olga at piano bar always had the room packed. Enjoyed the Adagio duo (piano added to enjoyment for me).Guitar player Michael Simons was very entertaining

 

I would cruise the Z again!

Thank you to Candy for the M&G!!

 

We just were on the Veendam. At the Mariner lunch, the tiles were being distributed as we exited the MDR. DH & I each got one. Same as our Zaandam cruise last year, we each got one.

 

I'd probably contact the Mariner society and ask for another, if I were you.

[jtl513]

Called over to DH to get his and we were told "only 1 to a couple". I said oh! and another guest said this must be something new. Is this a new cost saving policy??

Sounds to me like something they trumped up, possibly because their supply was low. What if two people in a cabin are not a couple? If you want a second tile, email the Mariner Society. Edited November 25, 2013 by jtl513

[rkacruiser]

On the Eurodam, my traveling companion and I each received a tile at the Mariner's Brunch.

 

Another example of the inconsistency in practices among the various ships in the fleet.

[OlsSalt]

On the Eurodam, my traveling companion and I each received a tile at the Mariner's Brunch.

 

Another example of the inconsistency in practices among the various ships in the fleet.

 

Maybe it was not inconsistent practices; but merely a matter of available supply. We forgot to get ours from the last cruise since we did not go to the Mariners luncheons. A request to the Mariner rep on the website sent them out right away. That is consistently good service. Think about the weight of carrying all those tiles for thousands of passengers - they may have been a higher percentage of repeat customers on your cruise too thus requiring more rationing. Somewhere between consistency and variability is reality.

[Candiaccruiser]

We received one each on the Westerdam two weeks ago.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise -- Collectors Cruise -- we chose to not attend either of the Mariner's lunches.

We requested that our tiles be sent to our cabin.

We got 2 tiles each week. Not one per couple or 1 per cabin.

[startwin]

Returned from cruise 11/18 and as usual enjoyed the Mariner Brunch. As soon as we sat down we started talking to others at table and didn't realize tiles were not on table. When leaving servers were at door handing out tiles and received mine. Called over to DH to get his and we were told "only 1 to a couple". I said oh! and another guest said this must be something new. Is this a new cost saving policy?? Really liked this tile in particular. Much nicer and even thicker than others we received.

 

With all the negative on the Z I want to report that our cruise was great. Cabin was cool and once for a period of about 3 hours the toilets were not flushing on our line and cabin steward assured us they were working on the problem and it was solved!!!.

 

Food in MDR was very good and Lido breakfast was excellent. At lunch (unfortunately) I found they even had liquor (crème d'mint ) at the ice cream station.

 

Lounge entertainment very good-Olga at piano bar always had the room packed. Enjoyed the Adagio duo (piano added to enjoyment for me).Guitar player Michael Simons was very entertaining

 

I would cruise the Z again!

Thank you to Candy for the M&G!!

 

Thank you for the report on the Zuiderdam - may I ask which cabin you were in? And I do think the MDR food on that ship is excellent, as good as if not better, than the PG, in fact.

[sail7seas]

Sorry you only got one tile and I agree with the others. Contact Mariners Society and they likely will send you another.

 

Happy you enjoyed Zuiderdam. :)

[elkd43]

We were in 7017 (inside cabin.) Think I'll contact Mariner society and see

if we can get another tile!!

[kazu]

We were in 7017 (inside cabin.) Think I'll contact Mariner society and see

if we can get another tile!!

 

absolutely do it. We've never not received one tile person on many HAL cruises except the cruise when they didn't have any. an email to the mariner's society did it and we had them shortly. their service is really good:D

[stlouistravelers]

Maybe it was not inconsistent practices; but merely a matter of available supply. We forgot to get ours from the last cruise since we did not go to the Mariners luncheons. A request to the Mariner rep on the website sent them out right away. That is consistently good service. Think about the weight of carrying all those tiles for thousands of passengers - they may have been a higher percentage of repeat customers on your cruise too thus requiring more rationing. Somewhere between consistency and variability is reality.

 

I agree about requesting the tiles but I reject the notion that they are too heavy. Its a 100,000 ton ship with unknown variables such as passenger weight and luggage. A key to any good business (and I'm not saying HAL is not a good business) is consistency. The passenger list is set well in advance of the sailing so tiles plus 10% is a reasonable expectation. Sounds like someone in procurement did not estimate the ordering of the tiles properly.

[jtl513]

Sounds like someone in procurement did not estimate the ordering of the tiles properly.

Or there were production problems and they couldn't get as many as they wanted. That is what delayed the introduction of the current set of tiles by about a year.

[MermaidWatcher]

:

Returned from cruise 11/18 and as usual enjoyed the Mariner Brunch. As soon as we sat down we started talking to others at table and didn't realize tiles were not on table. When leaving servers were at door handing out tiles and received mine. Called over to DH to get his and we were told "only 1 to a couple". I said oh! and another guest said this must be something new. Is this a new cost saving policy?? Really liked this tile in particular. Much nicer and even thicker than others we received.

This being our first Mariner Brunch, we just took one, assuming that it was a per couple memento. Glad to see in other posts about e mailing to receive another. Seemed that they were short on supply from what I observed. A very nice keepsake, now I understand why everyone talks about getting their "tiles".

 

With all the negative on the Z I want to report that our cruise was great. Cabin was cool and once for a period of about 3 hours the toilets were not flushing on our line and cabin steward assured us they were working on the problem and it was solved!!!.

 

 

 

 

Food in MDR was very good and Lido breakfast was excellent. At lunch (unfortunately) I found they even had liquor (crème d'mint ) at the ice cream station.

 

Lounge entertainment very good-Olga at piano bar always had the room packed. Enjoyed the Adagio duo (piano added to enjoyment for me).Guitar player Michael Simons was very entertaining

 

I would cruise the Z again!

Thank you to Candy for the M&G!!

 

Our only 2 experiences with HAL have personally been excellent, but I was really disappointed to see their callous treatment of passengers on the AC issue. The food is hands down superior to that on RCI, and the quieter, more laid back atmosphere and entertainment suits us fine.

:D apologies to anyone who could not get any bread pudding in the Lido because I ate it all. :D

Edited November 26, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[elkd43]

Thanks to the suggestion of several experienced cruisers, I wrote to the Mariner Society. Had problem with email going through so I got out the monogrammed stationery and wrote to Mariner Society (in my best Mrs. Bucket manner) and told them what happened. Today I received in the mail the missing tile! They paid $2.58 postage!!

 

Tomorrow I'll write a thank you note to them. HAL is certainly a class act!.

 

Emily

[Copper10-8]

Sounds like a case of low/short supply on ZUDM; glad you received your second! Happy collecting!

[sail7seas]

Thanks to the suggestion of several experienced cruisers, I wrote to the Mariner Society. Had problem with email going through so I got out the monogrammed stationery and wrote to Mariner Society (in my best Mrs. Bucket manner) and told them what happened. Today I received in the mail the missing tile! They paid $2.58 postage!!

 

Tomorrow I'll write a thank you note to them. HAL is certainly a class act!.

 

Emily

 

 

 

Happy you got the tile, Emily.

We have found Mariners Society to be very responsive. :) They truly do an excellent job IMO

 

[djhsolara]

Thanks to the suggestion of several experienced cruisers, I wrote to the Mariner Society. Had problem with email going through so I got out the monogrammed stationery and wrote to Mariner Society (in my best Mrs. Bucket manner) and told them what happened. Today I received in the mail the missing tile! They paid $2.58 postage!!

 

 

 

Tomorrow I'll write a thank you note to them. HAL is certainly a class act!.

 

 

 

Emily

 

 

"It's Bouquet!!"...sorry, just had to say it. Love Hyacinth.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[djhsolara]

We did not go to the Mariner Brunch on Zuiderdam but we asked for and received our tiles in the Neptune Lounge.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks to the suggestion of several experienced cruisers, I wrote to the Mariner Society. Had problem with email going through so I got out the monogrammed stationery and wrote to Mariner Society (in my best Mrs. Bucket manner) and told them what happened. Today I received in the mail the missing tile! They paid $2.58 postage!!

 

Tomorrow I'll write a thank you note to them. HAL is certainly a class act!.

 

Emily

 

I am happy to hear that you did get your other tile.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We did not go to the Mariner Brunch on Zuiderdam but we asked for and received our tiles in the Neptune Lounge.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

 

 

We also did not go to either of the Mariner's brunches on our last Collectors Cruise and the concierges got the tiles for us.

[jimdalva]

We are cruising Holland America for the first time this Feb. What are these tiles you speak of?

[Topsham]

Just a little of FYI.....

 

The factory in Netherlands ships out the Mariner tiles by a crate to the US about once a week... something like 5,000 tiles. These must be then packed by each HAL ship to supply embarking ports. Some ships might be sailing on 7 day itinerary, some much longer. This must also be supply to sufficient tiles for each Mariner. One glitch in the system.... could even by weather delay... may mean that on one cruise there might not be on board for each Mariner. It will get to you in the end. This is just one little item in the inventory stocking on board for a cruise.... have a give a little heart if one day your does not disappoint in the moment you tile is handed in your hand when you leave in the MDR.

 

Stephen

[jtl513]

We are cruising Holland America for the first time this Feb. What are these tiles you speak of?

CLICK HERE, then click Onboard Gifts on the left side. You may also see them called tegels from time to time.

 

However - if this if your first time on any "Carnival family" ship (Carnival, Princess, Costa, Cunard, Seabourne) then you do not qualify to go the Mariner's Brunch or receive a tile.

.

Edited December 20, 2013 by jtl513

[jtl513]

However - if this if your first time on any "Carnival family" ship (Carnival, Princess, Costa, Cunard, Seabourne) then you do not qualify to go the Mariner's Brunch or receive a tile.

.

If you see a symbol in your OnLine CheckIn or your Reservation page then you qualify.

..