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Jumped Ship Today 2/7/14...Maasdam to Noordam

innlady1

By innlady1,
in Holland America Line

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innlady1

innlady1

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We just did 11 days on the Maasdam in the Caribbean. And walked across the street to the Noordam today for another 10. Hoping for a better experience on the Noordam than we had on the Maasdam, sad to say.

This was our 3rd cruise on the Maasdam having done a 14 day cruise in January '11 and repeated that in January '12. We loved those cruises on Maasdam and expected the same this time...was not to be.

Internet time is precious here so I will just point out the highlights (or "low lights" as it is):

We had a lanai which we loved...it was actually the best thing about this cruise. However, the door would not unlock for us once we were out on the Promenade Deck so we had to come back into our cabin via the main doors! I complained every day...they couldn't fix it. So on Day 5, they moved us to another lanai. Whatever. :rolleyes:

My biggest complaint was there was no lemonade nor water upon return to the ship. At our next to last port, Martinique, I noticed the Noordam - in port with us - had the usual water and lemonade outside for returning guests. We had none. So next day in St. Croix, I asked an employee what was up with that. He told me that it is now outlawed in the US ports. OK. I asked why then did we NOT have it in any Caribbean ports...he didn't have an answer for that. I then mentioned that Noordam had it in Martinique...we did not. He just walked away because he knew I had nailed him. This is always something we've enjoyed in the very warm Caribbean...and to eliminate this is ridiculous.

Pizza is no longer offered on Maasdam. Mid cruise, they stopped offering hamburgers at the Lido Grill.

The towels were really dingy and gray. Bed linens the same.

Service was OK but nothing with the "wow" factor. For the 1st time in our 200+ days of cruising, we did not give extra tips. We, of course, left the 11.50 a day pp intact and that seemed adequate.

DH's beverage card never seemed to work, my room key kept failing, our room phone didn't work...a lot of glitches along the way.

Disappointing because we loved our two previous cruises on Maasdam and this really fell short.

The sad thing is that so many people said the same thing...last cruise on Maasdam unless the reports really improve.

The entertainment was the bright spot of the cruise...some wonderful shows.

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innlady1

innlady1

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Forgot to mention...the Internet was not working until the last couple days of the cruise.....due to transitioning to the new system.

Also, I had several people on the b2b from 1/17 that there was limited hot water on Deck 4 & 5. People were not thrilled having no hot water for showers.

This morning, when we disembarked, I heard about pipes bursting on Deck 5...from some people who came over to the Noordam with us.

There are quite a few of us.

The good news is that Mark Pells came on board Noordam today as the Hotel Director.

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innlady1

innlady1

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Sorry your Maasdam cruise did not live up to your expectations which were based on past Maasdam cruises. Hopefully the Noordam will be better.

 

Thanks...so many folks here love Maasdam...me included...and to see that she isn't living up to the expectations of many is sad.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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Thanks...so many folks here love Maasdam...me included...and to see that she isn't living up to the expectations of many is sad.

 

 

I'm so sorry to hear of your disappointment on Maasdam. It's no secret how much many of us love that ship and her crew. I wonder what's going on? Who was Hotel Director?

 

Hopefully, you'll find things more like you expect on the beautiful Noordam.

Thanks for checking in with us and have a great time.

 

How has the weather been? Calm seas?

 

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Oh dear Sheila - not good :eek:

 

Really concerned as we board when she comes back to FLL.

 

I know you are not one to complain about small things - neither am I, but this doesn't sound good at all.

 

Wow! I am just praying that by the time the ship returns either the hotel manager has been replaced or the surveys have had an impact.

 

Who was the hotel manager?

 

So sorry to hear this - if that is our experience, I doubt I will talk DH into getting onto another cruise :eek:

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innlady1

innlady1

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I'm so sorry to hear of your disappointment on Maasdam. It's no secret how much many of us love that ship and her crew. I wonder what's going on? Who was Hotel Director?

 

Hopefully, you'll find things more like you expect on the beautiful Noordam.

Thanks for checking in with us and have a great time.

 

How has the weather been? Calm seas?

 

 

Disappointing, yes, as we, too, love Maasdam. Hotel Director is/was Francois Birarada. New to us. Weather has been wonderful...calm seas except for a day and a half or so. Luckily, we're not bothered by that. Expecting that our Noordam cruise will be wonderful...Mark Pells, Hotel Director, boarded today, and it's no secret that he is awesome! The more we cruise, the more we realize it is all in the hands of the Hotel Director.

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innlady1

innlady1

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. Really sorry you were disappointed with Maasdam.I hope you have a better experience on the Noordam.I'm glad you did like the lanai inspire of the broken door.Have fun.

 

It is what it is, I guess, Carol. Once we could get out/in on our lanai cabin, we LOVED it. I would never hesitate to book one again. You know I'm not a complainer, but the Maasdam has dropped to the bottom of my list of ships.

So far, Noordam has been great...Mark Pells is the HD as of today...and he is outstanding. So, I'm expecting these 10 days to be more to our liking than the previous 11.:)

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innlady1

innlady1

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I'm trying to imagine what the excuse is for no hamburgers at the grill? Huh? What is that about?

No pizza? :confused:

 

I don't know, Judy. It was a really strange cruise. We don't usually look for pizza or burgers, so I heard these complaints from other folks...many of them. Lots of "unhappy cruisers" on this cruise.

Hate to point it in the direction of the Hotel Director but I have to think it's his way of cutting costs.

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startwin

startwin

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Oh my. I know you are definitely not a complainer, Sheila, so it really must have been bad. I just can't imagine the "no pizza or hamburgers".... What the heck was that about? And the broken door, dingy laundry and the broken phone sounds more like a run-down Motel 6.:eek: I hope you have a much, much better experience on the Noordam. You're quite famous now by the way - you got a shout-out from the webcam op (Lou or Dave) on the sailaway.:D

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fivechip

fivechip

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We were on the Noordam,Jan6 to the 27th.The HD was a charming man named Gerard O'Reilly.We had a great dinner with him.He left the ship on the 27th.Mark Pells got on board the 27th as we just missed him,but got a nice e-mail from him

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Oh Sheila

I am so sorry to hear that you did not have a great cruise on the Maasdam.

We have had Hotel Director on the Veendam and the Amsterdam -- and he was great.

Another person also reported about their bad cruise on the Maasdam -- cruise right before yours -- and how run down the ship is.

We were scheduled to be on the Maasdam -- have cancelled that cruise.

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pbnjrockette

pbnjrockette

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Sorry your cruise on the Maasdam was so disappointing…hope the Noordam is better.

 

Just wanted to comment on the "dingy and gray" bed linens and towels. We found the same on our recent Statendam cruise. REALLY dingy and old. HAL needs to turn these linens into cleaning rags and invest in new ones!!!

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G&G

G&G

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Thanks for your review and sorry for your bad cruise.

 

Apparently nothing has changed on the Maasdam since our 42 day cruise ending 12/06/13; except we had pizza and hamburgers. As posted in my cruise review pipe breakage has become the norm on HAL cruises and the Hotel Director was MIA.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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I'm going to pay close attention to Maasdam comments before I make the final payment for the 42-day cruise next fall. Last time on her was May 2009 and we noticed some subtle changes in service from our experience in Oct. 2008.

 

We are on her at the end of March. Assuming there is internet, I will do a live thread. If there isn't then a report at the end. I hope things turn around substantially by the time we board.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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I'm going to pay close attention to Maasdam comments before I make the final payment for the 42-day cruise next fall. Last time on her was May 2009 and we noticed some subtle changes in service from our experience in Oct. 2008.

 

The last time we were on her was in Feb/Mar 2012 and we saw changes then.

Some good -- some not so good.

Sheets and towels were worn.

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