LOUSY CRUISE ON ZUIDERDAM

[travelers07]

7 hours ago, senorjim said:

Sorry to hear of your troubles. We recently completed a 51 day Seattle to Sydney cruise on Westerdam. This was our first cruise since November 2019. We had several itinerary changes before departing and we went into the cruise with the attitude that we would "go with the flow". We then had a few medical evacuations which caused some delays and we had more itinerary changes, most of which were beyond HAL's control. We were one of the first ships returning to some of these ports since COVID.We received a $250 OBC per person and 10% of our base cruise fare in future cruise credits which were unexpected but appreciated because of the changes. Port fees were also refunded. We found the captain was very transparent about every change we made. For us it felt good to be back cruising again! I expect there will be more hiccups in the post COVID cruising world for the foreseeable future and we will continue to go with the flow.

 

Please let us know if they do something for you to make up for the lost ports! I hope they do!

 

Jim

 

Glad you had a good time! I will be sailing on the Noordam soon so have been watching your experiences in the area.  Happy holidays to you and Gloria! Miss you both!

[Tampa Girl]

3 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

I’m guessing HAL will soon be getting rid of their older ships. VOLENDAM probably is one. Sounds like this one is another. 

 

If HAL is going to have to resort to the larger ships for world cruises, their niche in the that arena is, IMHO, going to suffer.

[REOVA]

2 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

If HAL is going to have to resort to the larger ships for world cruises, their niche in the that arena is, IMHO, going to suffer.

The larger ships will be the bread and butter with short cruises. Not sure what their plan is for long voyages. Unless they acquire smaller ships (like they did Prinsendam) but I don't see small ships being built for HAL. Hopefully they learned from Maasdam. 

[Tampa Girl]

13 hours ago, REOVA said:

The larger ships will be the bread and butter with short cruises. Not sure what their plan is for long voyages. Unless they acquire smaller ships (like they did Prinsendam) but I don't see small ships being built for HAL. Hopefully they learned from Maasdam. 

 

What did HAL learn from the Maasdam?  I didn't follow that ship's path.  Hasn't it changed its purpose at least once?

[ottahand7]

On 11/24/2022 at 8:42 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

Hope you advised guest services / security about the weed smoking. Although things covering that topic have changed in certain states, ours being one of them, it is still not allowed on Carnival Corp cruise ships, incl. medical Mary Jane. I hate that smell, but that's a different topic 

A bit of thread drift but if anyone notices smoking from nearby cabins contact ship's services right away.   We were on a B2B and second leg we smelled the smoke starting on day one.  They tried to hide it by smoking early but we are early risers and got a snoot full every morning.  My dramatic coughing did nothing to curtail them so I ratted them out.   They were visited according to our NS concierge and told to cease smoking.  It isn't the bothering one's neighbors but more so the risk for fire.   

[Seasick Sailor]

4 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

They were visited according to our NS concierge and told to cease smoking.  It isn't the bothering one's neighbors but more so the risk for fire.   

 

Several years ago we sailed NCL Gem from Quebec to Boston. I came outside to enjoy a morning coffee and there was a lit cigarette on our deck. Scary!

[BetsyS.]

Many years ago when I was on the QE2, a passenger on an upper deck 

threw a LIT cigarette overboard and the wind blew it to a lower deck.

The garbage there caught fire. The crew quickly took care of it, but 

it was scary to smell the smoke. The crew did a great job.

[Boatdrill]

On 11/22/2022 at 6:49 AM, Florida_gal_50 said:

 I boarded on November 12.  You folks let way to many people board at once in boarding group a.  The “jetway” was backed up and soon the escalator was backed up.  

The escalator ? Were you boarding in the Broadway pier ?

[Boatdrill]

On 11/24/2022 at 4:53 PM, DAllenTCY said:

P.S.  This was not a Holland America cruise.  You can maybe guess which it was.

 

What were you doing "over there" ?  You know better. 🙂  

[Florida_gal_50]

14 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

The escalator ? Were you boarding in the Broadway pier ?

Yes if that’s the name of the older pier.  There is an escalator in the old pier.  It sounds like you are surprised.

 

I just googled the Broadway pier.  No it’s the old pier.

Edited November 30, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[DAllenTCY]

There are escalators at B. Street and Broadway Pier; however, the one at Broadway is only used for disembarking guests.

 

David

 

 

[Stakeout]

I might have missed seeing any post on this thread about 'masking up'..  this might be overkill on our part but just got off the Oosterdam for 64 days thru the Med and back to Miami  and we wore our masks in as many places on the ship as we could thruout the cruise-- just our personal preference and thought it to be the right thing to do on this our 104th HAL cruise .. and anyone who has medical problems and wants to cruise might want to think about that.. our choice was to 'mask up' as we didn't want any problems on our cruise as we were celebrating our 50th Anniversary-- didn't want anything to spoil our cruise especially Covid..  and does it bother us to wear a  mask.. not at all.. like I said --personal preference on our part

 

as for anyone complaining about medical evacuations of fellow passengers I won't even acknowledge that with a comment  except to say those complaining ought to seriously re-evaluate their priorities.. sad

[euro cruiser]

We just got off this cruise this morning.   Yes, there were disappointments, especially missing Huatulco, but overall we had a great time.

 

HAL in general has an older clientele, on longer cruises that's even more the case.  Health issues happen, as one who has frequently cruised with an elderly parent and two other health-compromised family members I've always felt confident that emergencies would be handled.   I was glad to see that this was still the case.  Besides the two evacuations that happened during the cruise, this morning two ambulances met the ship at Port Everglades and took two passengers off.

 

I did notice many differences from pre-Covid cruising but it was difficult to know if they were cost cutting measures or a result of inability to fully staff the ship.  I wrote an extensive feedback survey about the things I noticed, none of them deal breakers but annoying nonetheless.

 

As a side note, as much as unhappy folks tend to find one another, the fact that you could not get time with the future cruise consultant for the last week of the cruise tells me that not everyone was as disenchanted as the OP.

Edited December 2, 2022 by euro cruiser

[Mary229]

7 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

Besides the two evacuations that happened during the cruise, this morning two ambulances met the ship at Port Everglades and took two passengers off.

 

That seems to be an unusually high incidence of medical emergencies.  Maybe one of our resident experts can weigh in on expected number of emergency incidents per week per capacity.  I fully understand emergencies happen but if this becomes a trend I could imagine a day where a doctor’s note is required for certain passengers.  

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

We just got off this cruise this morning.   Yes, there were disappointments, especially missing Huatulco, but overall we had a great time.

 

HAL in general has an older clientele, on longer cruises that's even more the case.  Health issues happen, as one who has frequently cruised with an elderly parent and two other health-compromised family members I've always felt confident that emergencies would be handled.   I was glad to see that this was still the case.  Besides the two evacuations that happened during the cruise, this morning two ambulances met the ship at Port Everglades and took two passengers off.

 

I did notice many differences from pre-Covid cruising but it was difficult to know if they were cost cutting measures or a result of inability to fully staff the ship.  I wrote an extensive feedback survey about the things I noticed, none of them deal breakers but annoying nonetheless.

 

As a side note, as much as unhappy folks tend to find one another, the fact that you could not get time with the future cruise consultant for the last week of the cruise tells me that not everyone was as disenchanted as the OP.

Just want to comment on the cruise consultant thing I’ve found it almost impossible to ever get an appointment with them even before Covid. They only seem to work for a few hours a day with passengers.

[euro cruiser]

She had a sign up sheet with hours from 9 AM - 5 PM, with one hour off for lunch from 12 - 1, plus people like me showing up at five till nine trying to get her attention.

[Mary229]

6 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Just want to comment on the cruise consultant thing I’ve found it almost impossible to ever get an appointment with them even before Covid. They only seem to work for a few hours a day with passengers.

Prior to the pandemic I would say the same but now it seems they are no longer part timers. They had good office hours on my 3 cruises this year. 

[Florida_gal_50]

Thank you both about the cruise consultant hours.  I had long given up on it because the hours were so limited.

[Boatdrill]

On 11/29/2022 at 6:04 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yes if that’s the name of the older pier.  There is an escalator in the old pier.  It sounds like you are surprised.

You had mentioned that the escalator became backed up with people. Since the Broadway Pier wasn't really designed to handle bigger ships like the Zuiderdam, I thought perhaps the ship was docked there. (Broadway Pier handles the Zaandam-size much better).  

 

[Crew News]

17 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Just want to comment on the cruise consultant thing I’ve found it almost impossible to ever get an appointment with them even before Covid. They only seem to work for a few hours a day with passengers.

Does booking with the onboard Cruise Consultant have an advantage (more OBC) than dropping a completed Future Cruise Deposit order form in the Cruise Consultant's drop box and then booking a cruise with your TA/PCC within 60 days of disembarkation? 

 

[Mary229]

6 hours ago, Crew News said:

Does booking with the onboard Cruise Consultant have an advantage (more OBC) than dropping a completed Future Cruise Deposit order form in the Cruise Consultant's drop box and then booking a cruise with your TA/PCC within 60 days of disembarkation? 

 

 There is no difference between sitting with them or dropping the form however there are a few of these consultants who are exceptionally good at their job and don’t miss a beat in finding all of the perks and the “best” cabin.

 

besides the OBC you have the generous penalty free cancellation.policy

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, Crew News said:

Does booking with the onboard Cruise Consultant have an advantage (more OBC) than dropping a completed Future Cruise Deposit order form in the Cruise Consultant's drop box and then booking a cruise with your TA/PCC within 60 days of disembarkation? 

 

I’m glad Mary answered the question.  I thought there was additional perks.   Glad I’m not really missing anything.  

[albingirl]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’m glad Mary answered the question.  I thought there was additional perks.   Glad I’m not really missing anything.  

Besides, the wait is so long to see them.  I gave up a long time ago and do my own research.

[Wakepatrol]

Update- The  Zuiderdam is now in the shipyard. It’s 80 degrees and the crew is scraping barnacles, painting the bottom and chipping and painting steel while constantly smelling acetone. They claim it’s tough work, but at least we are finally free of “That Guy”

[alexisaboard]

I’m surprised not to see mention of the dozens of buckets spread throughout the ship, across all decks, collecting dripping water from the ceiling. I work in hospitality - we would be terribly embarrassed if this were our guests’ experience. 
 

It seemed as though every other person I spoke with either had a toilet fail or AC break, or both. In our case, it was both. My husband got food poisoning, I got an ear infection. 

 

As far as shipwide experiences go: Significantly delayed embarkation, 2 cancelled ports (leaving a total of 4 ports for a 14 day cruise), 3 medical evacuations (not counting the two ambulances that met us at Port Everglades), 1/2 pools open for the first 5 days, menus on the app/TV never quite seemed to match up with the offerings in the lido.

 

The crew was phenomenal, but the Zuiderdam is on her last legs. It’s really rather appalling that HAL does not have more shame. The buckets collecting dripping water really say it all. And that was across all decks, from deck 1 to deck 10. 
 

We made wonderful friends and had a great time overall. We have a good attitude and are easy-going, pretty easy to please. But these issues, on paper, paint a pretty grim picture. As one of our new friends said, it felt like we were on the holodeck or an episode of the Twilight Zone. Something was just off on this voyage. 

Edited December 4, 2022 by alexisaboard