Volendam - Dec 6 to 20 - Disappointed!

[JRG]

This is difficult to read about, especially for people coming off the ship but also for those scheduled to embark.

 

I'd write the letter, but print out this thread as proof of the general clientele disappointment and as evidence that word will spread unless addressed.

 

You deserve a free make-up cruise.

[Sea42]

This is difficult to read about, especially for people coming off the ship but also for those scheduled to embark.

 

I'd write the letter, but print out this thread as proof of the general clientele disappointment and as evidence that word will spread unless addressed.

 

You deserve a free make-up cruise.

The OP smelled paint and heard a drill one day. I don't think that really warrants a free cruise. It was other cruisers who had water and air conditioning issues.

[RuthC]

I was on the cruise prior to the ship going into dry dock. There was no visible preparation work being carried out during the cruise.

I've been on the final cruise before drydock twice. In both instances there was going to be extensive reconstruction of the ship, but in neither case was there any interference with the cruise, at least until the last night after dinner.

The elevators were heavily padded, with the floors covered, in anticipation of equipment being moved in there. The shops were rapidly packing everything up. But before that? Only if you noticed that people were cleaning up after themselves in the Lido, and were wearing steel-toe shoes.

[iancal]

It is called cheating your customer.

 

HAL, and others, know very well how long a dry dock should be scheduled for.

 

They purposely cut back the dry dock time in order to minimize the out of service time in the full knowledge that it will negatively impact customers and result in a poor customer experience.

 

Then they hand out shut up and go away future cruise credits, bottles of cheap wine, etc th those who have the nerve to complain.

 

It is just one reason why will never be loyal to any one cruise line. They think nothing of disrespecting their customer if it enhances the bottom line.

Edited January 1, 2018 by iancal

[jcarruthers]

Thanks to all for clarifying some things. I just re-read the “Express Docs” we were provided with by HAL for boarding. The Gala night dress requirements there-in were a little ambiguous and unclear but we will certainly take the advice of RuthC - anything to save space in the luggage ! And the advice re food celebrations does make sense. As some have mentioned we have learnt not to be loyal to any one cruise line. As four star “Mariners” (and similar on other lines) we noticed no benefit at all.

Regards and happy cruising to you all.

 

 

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[esimon]

It is called cheating your customer.

 

HAL, and others, know very well how long a dry dock should be scheduled for.

 

They purposely cut back the dry dock time in order to minimize the out of service time in the full knowledge that it will negatively impact customers and result in a poor customer experience.

 

Then they hand out shut up and go away future cruise credits, bottles of cheap wine, etc th those who have the nerve to complain.

 

It is just one reason why will never be loyal to any one cruise line. They think nothing of disrespecting their customer if it enhances the bottom line.

 

its called making money - how dare they -- if you know this dry dock issue is a problem - Why are you booking right before or after? How is that HAL's fault - duh

[iancal]

We don't and we did not. Nor would we book an inaugural cruise.

 

This is one of the reasons that we never book on HAL's olderr ships.

 

This may seem odd to some people but we like to get what we paid for.

 

We have an aversion to spending time in a cabin with no hot water, flooding, or non functioning HVAC. Nor do we find anything luxurious about having to sleep in another cabin if ours is uninhabitable. Like some of the folks reported on their very recent Rotterdam post dry dock cruise.

Edited January 2, 2018 by iancal

[esimon]

so when you booked you had NO idea it was coming out of dry dock? sounds like a question I will begin to ask my TA

[iancal]

Fortunately we were not on this cruise.

 

Are you actually suggesting that cruisers should expect a sub par cruise on a post dry dock cruise? Do you think people should consider this as a norm on HAL? Or that it is up to the customerto check, the implication being that the pie substandard experience was of their own making?

 

Not everyone is an experienced cruiser or has a competent TA.

 

Would you expect a HAL PCA to discourage or recommend that someone not book a post dry dock cruise? Yet another reason for using an experienced TA.

[LMaxwell]

its called making money - how dare they -- if you know this dry dock issue is a problem - Why are you booking right before or after? How is that HAL's fault - duh

 

Many people in this site are "in the know" on not to book pre or post dry dock. I was going to book a short cruise on NA around a dry dock and thought better of it, despite this forum telling me it would be all but perfection. However this forum makes up maybe .1% of active cruisers, and I suggest that number is charitable.

 

This is absolutely HAL's fault; they won't disclose dry dock over the phone to someone booking. They are telling you that you will have the same experience regardless. You aren't offered a cut rate and told you may not get everything advertised. HAL is surely not the only offender, this happens on all cruise lines. Paying guests are given less than they were bargaining for and the excuse is "dry dock".

 

I recently went on another cruise line for a short weekend trip; timing was just right. After final payment I found out about dry dock starting right after our cruise and was again told don't worry, things will be fine. The only ship in 27+ years that I've gotten black feet in my cabin, had mold in my shower, the MDR closed for breakfast final day and the cafe serving bean burritos for departure breakfast that were left overs from the buffet the night before and numerous other small items that showed this cruise was NOT up to company standard. I raised a bit of hell with that cruise line and received fair compensation but had to push hard for it. OP should as well.

[cruisemom42]

its called making money - how dare they -- if you know this dry dock issue is a problem - Why are you booking right before or after? How is that HAL's fault - duh

 

Is there no end to what we will condone in the name of "making money"? :confused:

 

I have no problems whatsoever with the cruise lines making money. But taking money from passengers for a cruise and then not providing running water or air-conditioning seems highly improper and should be challenged.

 

If one were in a land-based hotel, one could leave and go to a different property. At sea, there is no recourse -- and in my opinion at least, the cruise line is not living up to their end of the contract if they do not provide a habitable cabin.

[igraf]

The answer is simple: HAL does not allow enough time for dry dock repairs. I would go as far to say that they are now accepting the situation that the work will continue into the cruise following dry dock.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

I never could understand why all the work that is suppose to be done, never is. It seems every post dry dock there is always more work done after, well the ship is cruising with paying passenger. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Allan

[iancal]

Would you just excuse it as GM making money if you orderedi and paid for a Cadillac but they delivered a tiny sub compact in it's place?

 

Or is it just acceptable, and their own fault, when it is someone else's money, time and experience?

[Epicureangirl]

Most people who cruise aren't even on the forums, would not know about a dry-dock schedule or what issues can crop up post dry-dock. Even if they were aware of all of this, it would hardly be THEIR fault that the ship was still in disrepair. To the OP, sorry you had a bad experience on the Volendam, I would certainly formally complain and see where it goes. I don't think HAL will be giving out free cruises, but some future shipboard credit MIGHT just make me consider sailing them again (not sure if that would do it for you though). I'll be on her in a couple of weeks so am certainly worried about the conditions -- I surely hope they have the maintenance completed and that my stateroom is functioning properly.

[princess_blue]

Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry to hear. We will be on this ship later in February. Slightly off topic, but could you provide some more details on the port stops, particularly Thailand (Laem Chabang) and Vietnam(Phu My)? Just wondering since a couple of those ports are far from the city center in the middle of nowhere and wanted to know if you prebooked transportation or used the ship excursions. Thank you

[jcarruthers]

Although we are experienced cruisers, the fact that we (luckily) have not had a “bad” one made us a little ignorant of the “dry dock” issue. Now we know! Thanks to freestyling for the thread link to ships dry dock schedule. We will definitely make use of that in future.

 

We have contacted Guest Relations at HAL but have (unsurprisingly) not heard back. Will send them a reminder, not that we expect much. Will update folk here if we do. In hindsight we should have lodged a written complaint on board prior to disembarking but we were in a hurry to get off.

 

Princess_blue - we have been to Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and Saigon (Phu My) a few times. For Laem Chabang we can thoroughly recommend Oriental Escape - https://www.orientalescape.com/thailand/transfer/bangkok.html . We booked a private car for a return trip to Bangkok city. Well organised system at the port and nice clean cars/ drivers. Takes about two hours each way. Some of our fellow passengers we found got ripped off by the taxi drivers at the port - they have a captive customer base! Good drop off and pick up point in Bangkok is the Shangri La hotel - on the river close to most things and you can use their facilities as a base. At Phu My we simply used the HAL transfer excursion. Reasonable cost and hassle free.

 

 

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[kazu]

The answer is simple: HAL does not allow enough time for dry dock repairs. I would go as far to say that they are now accepting the situation that the work will continue into the cruise following dry dock.

 

igraf

 

Most, if not all cruise lines do not allow enough time for dry dock. I learned the hard way not to do inaugural or post / pre dry dock cruises.

 

And one of those was NOT a HAL cruise ;)

[iancal]

It definitely happens on other cruise lines.

 

What I find sad about it on some forums is the cheerleaders who like to gloss over with the 'ship happens' comment or the ones who actually blame the luckless cruiser who is the victim for his or her own misfortune. Let them try it for a week or so on a cruise that they have saved so long to enjoy. It is a sad commentary on any cruise line that has to stoop this low in order to maintain or enhance the bottom line.

 

When we were new at this cruising business we were fortunate enough to have a great TA. Someone who told us never to book post dry dock, etc, ships to avoid based on our preferences, and try to have a cabin location with cabins above and below, etc.

 

I shake my head when I think of the HAL and other cruise line PCC's, CSR's booking unsuspecting folks on these post dry dock fiascos.

 

It seems to be happening more often. Next, they will have the customers helping with the renovations .

Edited January 3, 2018 by iancal

[freestyling]

Seems to me that there are extremes views of HAL on both sides.

[llbz327]

we had many of the same problems on the nov. 4 sailing on the rotterdam. we did not know of the dry dock. would NEVER book post drydock.

[dogo88]

It definitely happens on other cruise lines.

 

What I find sad about it on some forums is the cheerleaders who like to gloss over with the 'ship happens' comment or the ones who actually blame the luckless cruiser who is the victim for his or her own misfortune. Let them try it for a week or so on a cruise that they have saved so long to enjoy. It is a sad commentary on any cruise line that has to stoop this low in order to maintain or enhance the bottom line.

 

When we were new at this cruising business we were fortunate enough to have a great TA. Someone who told us never to book post dry dock, etc, ships to avoid based on our preferences, and try to have a cabin location with cabins above and below, etc.

 

I shake my head when I think of the HAL and other cruise line PCC's, CSR's booking unsuspecting folks on these post dry dock fiascos.

 

It seems to be happening more often. Next, they will have the customers helping with the renovations .

 

Spot on!

[bcummin]

What shape was the library in, jcarruthers? I do not expect a librarian.

The ms Volendam deck plans that I printed out yesterday have no space labeled "Library." I would guess that it is the space aft of the Explorations Cafe.

 

Thank you for the Bangkok information. Maybe someday we can use it. :)

 

Barbara

[jcarruthers]

Hi Barbara

The Library is just where you said. My wife is a big reader and she seemed happy with it.

 

 

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[bcummin]

Thank you. I am glad to hear that the library still survives.

Barbara

[jcarruthers]

Finally received a response from HAL. They have acknowledged and apologised for the experience we and other passengers had on that particular cruise. We appreciate that the problems have been acknowledged, and hope that others may be spared similar experiences. For our part we will research and choose even more carefully our next cruise.

 

 

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