Zuiderdam rooms with known a/c problems

[kaylasnana]

I think a separate thread just listing known rooms that have had a/c problems over the last year (although it sounds like it's gone on longer) There are many threads addressing this issue but none that I can find listing cabins. Obviously not every cabin that had problems will continue to have problems but it would be nice when you are booking to at least have the knowledge. It looks like decks 6,7, and 8 are mentioned the most. Let's hear some cabin numbers please.

[peaches from georgia]

Starboard Rotterdam Deck Neptune Suites 7077, 7087, 7089

 

These three were just listed yesterday on the Hollow America Zuiderdam thread. They are all in the same area, so I wouldn't book any starboard cabins from mid ship elevators aft. Actually I wouldn't book on Zuiderdam at all. Someone else posted he/she was told by a reliable source recently of a cruise with 150 cabins with A/C problems.

[startwin]

What about the plumbing problems? Those seem wide-spread too, though not as bad as when we cruised on her in April 2012. At that time, my cabin 4166 had a toilet that refused to flush most of the 22 days. Also other cabins, and several of the public toilets in various locations throughout the ship. Happily 4166 had good a/c:D

[Stevero2]

Any news a bout N1010 or N1012?

[GeriatricNurse]

Starboard Rotterdam Deck Neptune Suites 7077, 7087, 7089

 

These three were just listed yesterday on the Hollow America Zuiderdam thread. They are all in the same area, so I wouldn't book any starboard cabins from mid ship elevators aft. Actually I wouldn't book on Zuiderdam at all. Someone else posted he/she was told by a reliable source recently of a cruise with 150 cabins with A/C problems.

 

What about the plumbing problems? Those seem wide-spread too, though not as bad as when we cruised on her in April 2012. At that time, my cabin 4166 had a toilet that refused to flush most of the 22 days. Also other cabins, and several of the public toilets in various locations throughout the ship. Happily 4166 had good a/c:D

 

Personally, I wouldn't be booking any cruise on the 'Zuiderdam' unless & until all the issues related to lack of/non functioning a/c/toilets until these issues are finally & fully completely resolved by HAL! :mad:

[peaches from georgia]

On another thread poster Lcar66 reported another Zuiderdam Starboard Rotterdam Deck cabin with little to no A/C- Penthouse 7045.

 

That makes 4 cabins in the same area of the same deck on Zuiderdam with serious A/C problems. I can't imagine what the true situation would be like if more pax were CC members. Only a very small % are.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

I was on her in November my cabin was 6069 I had problems

 

 

Mary

[startwin]

Hi

I was on her in November my cabin was 6069 I had problems

 

 

Mary

 

 

What kind of problems' date=' Mary? Or did you mean "no problems"? Your cabin is very close to where mine will be, so I'd love to know.[/size']

[Hflors]

We got off Zuiderdam on Dec 20th and were in 8069. Our problem was the opposite. To much a/c. It was so cold in our cabin that most of the time we had to keep the thermastat on heat just to be in there. When we were in columbia and Panama Canal that changed and we then needed the a/c. Once we left Panama it was back to heat!!

 

Note: I was going to write a review, but decided against it as we weren't happy with the Zuiderdam at all. (The crew were very hard workers and we do not fault them) But for the rest even my laid back dh was complaining) He has told me "no more cruises"!

[startwin]

We got off Zuiderdam on Dec 20th and were in 8069. Our problem was the opposite. To much a/c. It was so cold in our cabin that most of the time we had to keep the thermastat on heat just to be in there. When we were in columbia and Panama Canal that changed and we then needed the a/c. Once we left Panama it was back to heat!!

 

Note: I was going to write a review, but decided against it as we weren't happy with the Zuiderdam at all. (The crew were very hard workers and we do not fault them) But for the rest even my laid back dh was complaining) He has told me "no more cruises"!

I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience. It looks like - to the untrained eye - that there is a major imbalance in the Zuiderdam's a/c system, which they just can't seem to fix. I will keep my fingers crossed that I get one of the cabins that's too cold;).

 

I do wish you'd share your experience, though. I've had major mechanical issues on the Zuiderdam too, but I do love the ship and the crew.

[retdon]

Anyone been in 6072, 6074???? We have a group going with 12 cabins already booked for P canal in Oct. I hope everything is fixed during the dry dock as I recommended the cruise.

[alwaysfrantic]

In hindsight, I would say that the aft corner room 4185(?) had issues for a couple of days. At the time I blamed it on myself for not closing curtains combined with tropical heat. But, really, I don't go around closing my drapes at home. The AC compensates. It was only for 2 days and the room was very hot but we never complained. But since CC Sleuths are trying to figure out what HAL engineers clearly either can not solve or don't care to solve, I will throw it out as a having a warmness intermittently.

 

No toilet flushing problems at all.

Edited January 4, 2014 by alwaysfrantic

[VMax1700]

Anyone been in 6072, 6074???? We have a group going with 12 cabins already booked for P canal in Oct. I hope everything is fixed during the dry dock as I recommended the cruise.

 

I don't think that any dry dock is scheduled before March 2015. There certainly isn't any gaps in her schedule for 2014 that I can see.

[Tarpeian Rock]

I don't think that any dry dock is scheduled before March 2015. There certainly isn't any gaps in her schedule for 2014 that I can see.

 

 

 

There are dry docks and then there are dry docks. Zuiderdam has had at least one dry dock since we were on her in Nov. 2012, but the problems continued to persist. It's not clear that the a/c was even looked at during that dry dock.

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

I was on her in November my cabin was 6069 I had problems

 

 

Mary

 

 

Sorry I had NO problems

 

 

Mary

[Watson's aunt]

What kind of problems, Mary? Or did you mean "no problems"? Your cabin is very close to where mine will be, so I'd love to know.

 

 

Starwin.. I had No problems very nice cabin

 

Mary

[MermaidWatcher]

Nov 8, 2013 sailing. The aft facing cabins on decks, 6,7,& 8. Don't know if it was everyone of them, but all the people we talked to with issues were in an aft facing cabin on these decks.

 

We were in 6145 and had working ac, although it seemed in spite of the numerous apparent markings on it, the wall thermostat only had two real settings....a bit too warm or a bit too chilly :D

[IRL_Joanie]

10-Day Panama Canal Sunfarer departing on Nov 29, 2013

 

SC 6166 Aft NO Problems A/C or Toilet!!

 

K 6158 did have toilet overflow problems early morning hours (3 am one morning, 4-5 am next morning) the last 2 days. A/C worked beautifully.

 

Joanie

[WayneFougere]

my cabin 4166 had a toilet that refused to flush most of the 22 days. Also other cabins, and several of the public toilets in various locations throughout the ship:D

 

How did you survive even a day without a flushing toilet?

[GeriatricNurse]

What about the plumbing problems? Those seem wide-spread too, though not as bad as when we cruised on her in April 2012. At that time, my cabin 4166 had a toilet that refused to flush most of the 22 days. Also other cabins, and several of the public toilets in various locations throughout the ship. Happily 4166 had good a/c:D

 

How did you survive even a day without a flushing toilet?

 

If memory serves me correctly from previous posts, there were lineups at toilets onshore at the Mexican ports of call! :D

[MermaidWatcher]

Nov 8, 2013 sailing. The aft facing cabins on decks, 6,7,& 8. Don't know if it was everyone of them, but all the people we talked to with issues were in an aft facing cabin on these decks.

 

We were in 6145 and had working ac, although it seemed in spite of the numerous apparent markings on it, the wall thermostat only had two real settings....a bit too warm or a bit too chilly :D

 

Follow up on the plumbing issue subsequently raised. We did experience a few delayed flushes, about 3 or 4 that I guess were between 5 to 10 minutes, and a few that were in the 1 to 2 minute range, but no overflows or total outages.

Edited January 6, 2014 by MermaidWatcher

[startwin]

On one of the Zuiderdam threads (hopefully this one!) I promised to report back when I heard from HAL about my concerns re my upcoming cruise. Just received this.... and if I hadn't experienced major problems in a cruise in 2012, I probably would believe them.:(

 

Thank you for the email regarding your upcoming ms Zuiderdam sailing on (my deletion), 2014. We are grateful that you have given us this opportunity to review your concerns and to respond to the feedback you have mentioned.

 

We understand that you have concerns over some comments you read on-line regarding air conditioning and plumbing issues aboard this particular ship. Like you, we feel that travel websites are a valuable resource for people who are researching the various cruise lines, and we would like to note that the majority of our reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Occasionally some issues or problems may develop which could inconvenience a guest, and Holland America Line always strives to alleviate any unfortunate situation as soon as it is brought to our attention. Most of our guests sail without incident, and our overall satisfaction ratings are very high. We assure you that guest feedback is taken very seriously, both criticisms and compliments, as this helps us to identify and address any areas where we may continue to grow and improve. We look forward to being given the opportunity to create for you the positive experience for which our sailings have been known over our 135 year history of faithfully serving our guests.

 

The Zuiderdam did have some unfortunate air conditioning issues that affected a couple of sailings. Our staff on board worked diligently to try and rectify this situation. They attempted to fix what they believed to be broken and when this didn’t work, they kept trouble- shooting the problem until the decision was made that special ordered parts and specialized technicians would need to be linked up with the ship in order to replace these parts. While it is unfortunate that this process took longer than predicted, this was in no way a decision made to deceive our guests, but rather a continuous attempt to fix a problem that ended up being a bigger issue than expected.

 

Along with the air conditioning issues, the plumbing is also a matter that gets a lot of attention. As our ships are continuously sailing and we are basically a floating hotel where situations arise at times that are not only beyond our control but also not predicted. Our plumbing works off a “vacuum” type system and while the system works well, it still can have its hiccups as it works to constantly process the output from guests. Neither of these matters are ongoing issues but ones that we are always striving to improve upon.

 

While we cannot make a promise that you won’t ever be faced with any issue on board, we can assure you that we do everything we can, at every moment of the day, on every one of our ships to give our guests the 5 star level of service that they have come to know us for.

 

Thank you once more for contacting our office. Mariners like you are the core of our business and the reason we continue sailing, and we look forward to welcoming you on board in the very near future.

 

Best regards,

 

Daphney Newtson

Special Advisor

Office of the President

[kazu]

On one of the Zuiderdam threads (hopefully this one!) I promised to report back when I heard from HAL about my concerns re my upcoming cruise. Just received this.... and if I hadn't experienced major problems in a cruise in 2012, I probably would believe them.:(

 

Thank you for the email regarding your upcoming ms Zuiderdam sailing on (my deletion), 2014. We are grateful that you have given us this opportunity to review your concerns and to respond to the feedback you have mentioned.

 

We understand that you have concerns over some comments you read on-line regarding air conditioning and plumbing issues aboard this particular ship. Like you, we feel that travel websites are a valuable resource for people who are researching the various cruise lines, and we would like to note that the majority of our reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Occasionally some issues or problems may develop which could inconvenience a guest, and Holland America Line always strives to alleviate any unfortunate situation as soon as it is brought to our attention. Most of our guests sail without incident, and our overall satisfaction ratings are very high. We assure you that guest feedback is taken very seriously, both criticisms and compliments, as this helps us to identify and address any areas where we may continue to grow and improve. We look forward to being given the opportunity to create for you the positive experience for which our sailings have been known over our 135 year history of faithfully serving our guests.

 

The Zuiderdam did have some unfortunate air conditioning issues that affected a couple of sailings. Our staff on board worked diligently to try and rectify this situation. They attempted to fix what they believed to be broken and when this didn’t work, they kept trouble- shooting the problem until the decision was made that special ordered parts and specialized technicians would need to be linked up with the ship in order to replace these parts. While it is unfortunate that this process took longer than predicted, this was in no way a decision made to deceive our guests, but rather a continuous attempt to fix a problem that ended up being a bigger issue than expected.

 

Along with the air conditioning issues, the plumbing is also a matter that gets a lot of attention. As our ships are continuously sailing and we are basically a floating hotel where situations arise at times that are not only beyond our control but also not predicted. Our plumbing works off a “vacuum” type system and while the system works well, it still can have its hiccups as it works to constantly process the output from guests. Neither of these matters are ongoing issues but ones that we are always striving to improve upon.

 

While we cannot make a promise that you won’t ever be faced with any issue on board, we can assure you that we do everything we can, at every moment of the day, on every one of our ships to give our guests the 5 star level of service that they have come to know us for.

 

Thank you once more for contacting our office. Mariners like you are the core of our business and the reason we continue sailing, and we look forward to welcoming you on board in the very near future.

 

Best regards,

 

Daphney Newtson

Special Advisor

Office of the President

 

Hey you got a different Special Advisor to the President :p

 

did you tell them that you had problems on your last cruise?

 

If I was in your shoes, I would and that your problems existed nearly the entire cruise and fell on somewhat deaf ears.

 

Thanks for posting the reply

[startwin]

I guess I'm just special:D Oh you can bet they checked and found out all about the issues in 2012. But I may just gently respond to that effect. You get much more response and keep credibility by not attacking.;)

[CowPrincess]

we can assure you that we do everything we can, at every moment of the day, on every one of our ships to give our guests the 5 star level of service that they have come to know us for.

 

I don't think I believe this part, for sure :eek: ;) Just on CC, we've seen plenty of reports of non-responsive staff and crew onboard.

 

 

We've got friends considering an Alaska cruise on Zuiderdam. They both have health issues that make them unable to cope with heat. I really really hope our friends choose another ship.