Bad Noordam Reviews

[mcrcruiser]

Why is Noordam sailings getting such bad reviews . Concerned :o

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were on the Noordam in November for 21 days and had a wonderful time.

I don't do reviews. But we found the ship to be in great shape. Crew friendly.

[momatibm]

I looked at the member reviews -- I would take the 1 and 2 star reviews in the last few months with a grain of salt -- they look to be the typical 'one' and done type of reviews. Joined only to complain -- no other postings. At least one complained of smoking being allowed -- if they looked at the Holland Web site they would have know this before they went.

[Alcarondas]

I personally don't put much stock in the "official" reviews on the main CC site. I take them a lot more seriously coming from the posters on this board, whose attitudes, preferences and style are known to me (or can be found out by searching prior posts).

 

Another benefit of going by the reviews posted here is that they are open to a bit of "cross examination" where the rest of us can ask questions, pin things down, compare our own experiences, etc. The ones out front are inscrutable.

[POA1]

We were on the Noordam for 10 days last year. Friends of ours were on for 21. Everyone had a good time. The staff was great. The ship was in good condition - and it's been through a dry dock since then. Sad as it may be, there are a fair number of of reviews on this site that I would have trouble trusting. That goes for all the cruise lines, not just HAL. One of the best skills you can develop is reading between the lines. We usually read the reviews from Frommer's, Fodor's, Travel & Leisure, and other sources of objective reviews. In our experience, they're far more reliable. It's too easy for someone with an ax to grind to get a review published on sites like this or TripAdvisor.

 

Read with a critical eye. If the reviews bother you too much, then pick a different ship or a whole 'nother type of vacation. If we paid too much attention to CC, we'd have been scared to cruise. :eek: Ever.

[OlsSalt]

I like that description "one and run". Some almost sound like plants from another cruise line competitor out to ruin business.

 

Do they get read by the cruise company themselves, you betcha. And yes, these hit and runs do affect all cruise lines. Some are laughable compared to one's own experiences on the exact same ship and often on the exact same cruise. But they certainly do carry a scare factor for new cruisers.

 

From all reports I have read the Noordam remains the best of the entire Vista class - where they got everything right and have not tampered with her. I know I would have no hesitation sailing on the Noordam, if you could ever pry me away from the smaller Hal ships.

[Fouremco]

We haven't sailed on the Noordam for a couple of years, when we spent a wonderful 21 days aboard. Other than an issue with smoking neighbours, which was resolved by moving us to another cabin, in itself a very positive reflection of the attention paid to guests, we were extremely pleased with the ship and its crew. I find it hard to believe that there could have been such a drastic slide towards mediocracy in such a short period of time.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I have not read the recent reviews of the Noordam but have to say our 10 days on her in November 2014 were great. First time on the ship and found the service in the MDR absolutely wonderful - we had Open Seating and secured our table for the cruise by the rear window. Cabin stewards were very attentive. I liked the ship layout with the Explorations Café and Library NOT in the Crow's Nest.

[PatsyAnne]

We've been on the Noordam four times, and really like her. Our last time was earlier this year through the Panama Canal, and one of the reasons we took the cruise was the Noordam. You can always fine something wrong if you look hard enough. You can also find something right.

[IRL_Joanie]

We were on Noordam in May 2015 for 2 weeks, shortly after she came out of Dry Dock (IIRC). The ship was great. The Crew was Great and our cruise was GREAT.

 

I will not read the Reviews not on the HAL site because as anothe poster to this thread said, "The One and Run" reviews.

 

Noordam was GREAT, and I cannot believe she has changed drastically in 2 months.

 

Joanie

[mcrcruiser]

Thanks very much for every ones positive posts .:D

 

We are looking forward to our Oct 3rd ,21 night cruise from San Diego to Sydney Australia;) . Although we have sailed HAL in the past as well as other cruise lines ,we have been most loyal with many Celebrity cruises .now since we have done Alaska 4 times & the Panama Canal 2 times ,we feel that HAL can give us more local cruises from San Diego or the World Cruise Center, near Los Angeles .;)

 

We are at the stage of wanting not to have to fly to take cruises & both HAL & Princess have cruise offerings close to our home ;which are reachable by car .:)

 

There are several cruises which we still can do locally ,including a 28/29 day R/T Hawaii /Tahiti cruise on Princess . R/T Hawaii on HAL or Princess .West Coastal cruises on Princess & Mexico on HAL or Princess . :D

[OlsSalt]

Thanks very much for every ones positive posts .:D

 

 

We are at the stage of wanting not to have to fly to take cruises & both HAL & Princess have cruise offerings close to our home ;which are reachable by car .:)

 

There are several cruises which we still can do locally ,including a 28/29 day R/T Hawaii /Tahiti cruise on Princess . R/T Hawaii on HAL or Princess .West Coastal cruises on Princess & Mexico on HAL or Princess . :D

 

 

I hear you. We have gotten to the same point.

 

Don't overlook the HAL South American trips - we thought we would not like this destination and put off doing anything in South America. But we did a lot more homework about our neighbors to the south and way south, came back raving about this trip from San Diego on the beautiful Zaandam, round the horn to Buenos Aires - then it is a relatively decent flight via Houston back to LAX.

 

But we certainly do not have a lot of choices for West Coast departures. Disney is also something to look at out of Long Beach - never been on them but they say these are good cruises for adults too and have separate areas and activities for adults and kids. Crystal pops in every once in a while too to west coast ports.

Edited July 31, 2015 by OlsSalt

[Emperor Norton]

There's nothing inherently wrong with a one and done review. What there is something wrong with it using tossing the one and dones to support confirmation bias.

[scopewest]

We were on the Noordam last year. Love the ship. Have a great cruise!

[POA1]

I'm not aware of any search engines that use Cruise Critic to drive aggregate ratings. Yelp? Sure. Google+? You bet. Foursome? Uh huh. TripAdvisor? Absolutely! (Pretty sure that I know what I'm talking about. It's my job.)

[WpgCruise]

There's nothing inherently wrong with a one and done review. What there is something wrong with it using tossing the one and dones to support confirmation bias.

 

I agree.

 

Past experience has demonstrated that within the space of as little as 4 months the same itinerary on the same ship can be a night and day experience.

 

Crew changes, different passenger mix, management focus on other areas, alternate food suppliers, changes in entertainment, maintenance deferral programs all can have an impact. My cruise could be perfect, yours a problem filled frustration laden experience you would rue forever.

 

It's for this reason when someone says for example "Well, I have over 500 days with XXX cruise line, I must know what I'm talking about" my interest in what they have to say wanes. I'm interested in recent experience, not what happened 2 or 20 years ago.

 

I value most cruise reviews, as they reflect the writers opinion of events that occurred to them, at that time. Discounting their experience because it was not mine would be counter productive.

Edited July 31, 2015 by WpgCruise

[Okie1946]

A long time ago - I learned that someone who has an absolutely horrible time at a specific activity will be the ones who write the most critical of reviews. At the same time there will be 20 people who were on the same trip and had an absolutely WONDERFUL time.

 

The ones who complain were probably the cruisers who came on board expecting to have the crew and all of the other passengers to bow down and kiss their ........ feet. When that did not occur they set out to have the worst trip ever and even wrote about it. Then, that is when the rest of us need to realize that we should also be writing reviews and give the people to read about others trips before making a decision about a trip. That would at least give them a balanced view.

 

Anyway - that is my 2 cents worth. :D

 

Okie1946

[CowPrincess]

I agree.

 

>SNIP<

 

I'm interested in recent experience, not what happened 2 or 20 years ago.

 

I value most cruise reviews, as they reflect the writers opinion of events that occurred to them, at that time. Discounting their experience because it was not mine would be counter productive.

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with a one and done review. What there is something wrong with it using tossing the one and dones to support confirmation bias.

 

Just wondering if either of you read the two most negative reviews, that I think the OP was referring to. Both of those reviewers complained bitterly about the HSC, and one even counseled future cruisers to go to the Front Desk to have it removed. To me, that doesn't sound like "events", or "something wrong" with the ship, cruise or crew.

 

I too like to hear the bad with the good about the ship, the itinerary, food, crew.... but a one-star review because someone thinks the HSC was too high? IMHO, that kind of review doesn't help anyone learn anything or make any kind of informed decision.

[CowPrincess]

I'm normally pretty good with math and logic, but I'm having a hard time understanding how you came to this conclusion. >SNIP<

 

This is the internet. There is lots of room for videos and cartoons on the internet; logic not so much ;)

[RetiredMustang]

A long time ago - I learned that someone who has an absolutely horrible time at a specific activity will be the ones who write the most critical of reviews. At the same time there will be 20 people who were on the same trip and had an absolutely WONDERFUL time.

.... :D

 

Okie1946

 

That is a pretty good description of what I learned in school as a "regression to mean." Basically, go to TripAdvisor or wherever and toss out the 5's and 1's, and then read those 2-4 ratings and find out WHY they gave that rating. And then make up your own mind, based on whether whatever bothered the reviewers was something you cared about or not. And look at the pictures, especially those from visitors and not the management.

 

FWIW, we have enjoyed every trip we have taken on Noordam.

 

Dave

Edited August 1, 2015 by RetiredMustang

[kjw869]

We were on Noordam in May 2015 for 2 weeks, shortly after she came out of Dry Dock (IIRC). The ship was great. The Crew was Great and our cruise was GREAT.

 

I will not read the Reviews not on the HAL site because as anothe poster to this thread said, "The One and Run" reviews.

 

Noordam was GREAT, and I cannot believe she has changed drastically in 2 months.

 

Joanie

 

We were on the same time as Joanie and Roger and agree with her comments. We had been to Alaska five of the last six years and were going to take a break from that itinerary.

 

When we found out the Noordam would be coming to Alaska, we changed our mind and booked B2B cruises embarking in San Diego. Wonderful ship.

[MacThespian]

From all reports I have read the Noordam remains the best of the entire Vista class - where they got everything right and have not tampered with her...

 

Just wondering (since I have an upcoming cruise on Westerdam), what wasn't gotten right on the other Vista class ships, and what's been tampered with? I'm not disagreeing with your conclusion, but I haven't sailed on HAL for about 20 years and I'm trying to learn.

 

Thanks.

[Himself]

We were on the Noordam in November for 21 days and had a wonderful time.

I don't do reviews. But we found the ship to be in great shape. Crew friendly.

 

Krazy: You must have been on with me a part of the time. I did 10 days in November. I agree with you. I do not see how anyone can give this wonderful ship a bad review. IN my opinion this ship is the BEST of the Vista Class Ships and they are all good.

[Copper10-8]

Just wondering (since I have an upcoming cruise on Westerdam), what wasn't gotten right on the other Vista class ships, and what's been tampered with? I'm not disagreeing with your conclusion, but I haven't sailed on HAL for about 20 years and I'm trying to learn.

 

Thanks.

 

Not WEDM, but on NODM, her Exploration's Café (coffee shop/library) is located on Deck 3 fwd ( a better, more roomy location IMO) whereas on her three Vista sisters, the Café is all the way up on Deck 10 as part of the Crow's Nest.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Copper10-8

[Sundagger]

I was on the Noordam for a week in May, and it was probably the best cruise I've been on. The staff is outstanding. The only problems we encountered were some incredibly rude passengers. We abandoned the Lido for lunch due to the poorly behaved passengers - bumping into us with their backpacks when we were carrying food - yelling at their companions. I wouldn't hesitate to cruise on the Noordam again (and hope for passengers as nice as the staff).