Maasdam 6/19/04

[frcia]

Just returned from this cruise. Overall ship was in great shape and food was above average. We were in a S suite cabin 024. For those hoping for dry cleaning the machine is down and has been down for weeks and probably will be down for a few more weeks as they are installing new machinery. Neptune Lounge specialty coffee machine was inoperable for the entire cruise.Men and Women sauna were broken and have been for six weeks.

 

I would like opinions on a situation where we cancelled our last shore excursion in Bar Harbor( Kayaking ) because of very cold and foggy weather. Tenders were delayed by the captain because visibilty was that poor. Shore excursion manager refused to refund the trip. He claims that they paid for these trips in advace and vendors will not refund HAL.

 

I'm currently in the process of filing a claim with the Seattle office and have also placed a hold on the Amex charge that was used for the trip.

 

If anyone has any questions on the sailing I will be happy to help.

[Stevesan]

I would like opinions on a situation where we cancelled our last shore excursion in Bar Harbor( Kayaking ) because of very cold and foggy weather. Tenders were delayed by the captain because visibilty was that poor. Shore excursion manager refused to refund the trip. He claims that they paid for these trips in advace and vendors will not refund HAL.

 

I'm currently in the process of filing a claim with the Seattle office and have also placed a hold on the Amex charge that was used for the trip.

That is so surreal. I hope you got that in writing. It would make a great souvenir! Did you make an appeal to the GRM while on board? Shore excursion folks aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. However, it's unimaginable that the GRM could be equally out of touch with reality.

 

Please follow up this posting with Seattle's response. You should have fun with this.

[FlorenceItaly]

Hi Fred - Did you by chance take a trip to Peggy's Cove on the ships tour.

There was a couple with two teenage daughters I was sitting behind on the bus. The girls were in front of me. In fact, while at Peggy's Cove, the gentleman bought a wonderful water color, and it turns out his wife had the same idea, but he was able to stop her in the nick of time...was this you? It didn't occur to me until later, otherwise, I would have asked you at the time :).

 

I would pursue the refund of the HAL excursion.

 

If I were a suite passenger I would have been very disappointed in the expresso machine not working, and no dry cleaning services. I did send a dress out, but it was for press only. It had been dry cleaned before the trip, but didn't survive the suitcase too well. About the sauna, I had a tablemate/friend who used the sauna. It was towards the end of the week, but don't remember the exact day.

 

It's good to hear you enjoyed your trip. I had a fabulous time.

 

Marie

[frcia]

That was me. I bought the one I liked, it's not to often I get that chance living with 3 women.

 

Fred

[FlorenceItaly]

Oh, I am so disappointed that it didn't occur to me until later. I would have said hello. Your girls seemed very nice...real sweet. I sat right behind them. I think it is wonderful that you got that special momento. I wish I would have thought of that :).

 

Marie

[frcia]

Marie

Did you try the gingerbread and ice cream in the little restaurant? It was to die for.

 

Fred

[FlorenceItaly]

I didn't, but now I wish I would have :).

 

I must ask you, with ALL the talk of the dress code on this board, what were your observations while onboard? Did you have a table for four, or a larger table? I was at a table for 8(6:15) and had delightful companions. There was another solo traveler, and the rest were mother/daughter, grandmother/granddaughter. My experience was there was not much nightlife but that was fine with me, as I was in my cabin by 11:00pm most nights, if not earlier. Did the girls have a good cruise?

 

Marie

[F5Loar]

On our 5/29 sailing out of Boston the men's sauna (hot and steam) were working just fine everyday and I used them everyday and everyday I went in there I was the only one to use it. I found the men's sauna area to be first class, clean and everything in working order.

In all my cruises if an excursion was cancelled you always got a full refund.

Please keep us informed on how HAL treats your situation concerning a refund.

[SharonN]

On our Veendam cruise last March we got into Costa Maya an hour or so late. We were scheduled for the All Terrain Vehicle Tour. They knew the night before we were going to be late so sent out a notice indicating that our time at the beach part of the tour would be cut short by 30 minutes and gave us a $10 credit per person. We also had an option to cancel the tour if the change wasn't acceptable. We thought it was more than fair. It may make a difference on the tour companies themselves.

[frcia]

Marie

We had the 8:00 seating on the upper level,a table of 10 with some fellow floridans and a nice couple from Cape May, men were dressed in tux on formal nights and jacket and tie on informal. Ladies had on long and short dresses. Casual was slacks and shirts,I didn't see any shorts at that time. I think overall for a domestic cruise in a northern area dress was pretty average. I do believe that Caribbean cruises especially in the summer have pretty much abandon any dress codes. We have sailed in Europe 3 times on 14 day trips and the dress was to the nines.

 

My daughters teased me about HAL because of the older PAX, but they had a good time with about 20 fellow teens in there age group. They had an inside cabin so they could sleep late or nap whenever. Being a suite pax they also enjoyed all the extra paties that we were invited to.

 

I would also say that the entertainment on board was above average. I thought at one point that Neil Diamond was actually on board.

[FlorenceItaly]

I am so glad your girls enjoyed the trip. It also sounds like you had great tablemates...that makes such a difference. Yes, I did enjoy the gentleman singer(his name escapes me, lol), especially his Neil Diamond songs because I am a big fan of Neil Diamond. I saw a few shows but not all of them.

 

Marie

[F5Loar]

How could you forget Paul Tanner's name? What a singer with a great looking wife to boot! He knew how to capture the audeince in song.

I believe he is exclusive to HAL ships.

[FlorenceItaly]

Yes, that is it, Paul Tanner. My bad memory is no reflection on his talents.

My memory is not so sharp, LOL.

He's a Texan, you know! He was really good, although the audience didn't react much...now if he would have been on Carnival or RCI, the crowd would have been going wild(I can say that because I travel on Carnival and RCI, so I am not dissing them, lol).

 

Marie

[sail7seas]

He is actually from Killeen, Texas. The Home of Fort Hood. My DH (and I traveling with him) was stationed at Fort Knox and when we first me Paul Tanner years ago on a HAL ship, we enjoyed speaking with him about the changes to that "army town".

[clopaw]

Gingerbread and ice cream in what little restuarant???? Don't tease us future cruisers that way!

[jayjo]

THe restaurant at Peggy's cove. It was to die for!

[frcia]

I will try and post a pic of my daughter and I sampling the warm gingerbread and vanilla ice cream. The best $3.95 I have ever spent.

 

Fred

[frcia]

Heard from Seattle today. The reply that I got was exactly what I was told on the ship. We are sorry but we are not refunding your tour as we feel that the weather conditions were acceptable.

As I'm a Amex card member I will contuine to follow up with my complaint through them.

Amanda Fritz is a special advisor in the Office of the Chairman of HAL,I believe that she spent 2 minutes on her investigation and another minute to send me a standard letter of rejection.

I will keep you posted.

[CruisinNana]

I am so disappointed in hearing of the (continuing) problems on the Maasdam. One of the reasons we book a suite, aside from the extra space, is for the dry cleaning perk, which allows us to pack more sensibly. And another reason we booked the Maasdam is because they added a Neptune WITH a coffee machine which I loved on the Oo.

 

We leave on Aug 21 and hope everything is repaired by then. We are in cabins 003 and 006. Does anyone have any information on the condition of these two cabins?

 

Peaches, was the dry cleaning equipment operable on your recent cruise? How about the coffee machine in the Neptune?

 

Thanks,

Dee

[FlorenceItaly]

Fred - I am disappointed in HAL's customer service through this situation. I am so sorry the outcome was not in your favor.

 

Marie

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

 

Cabin 006 - stayed in that cabin in November. It doesn't have the original refrigerator. In place is a used one. A hole was drilled through the back wall into the dressing room for an extension cord to be used for the refrigerator. That cord used up the only plug in that area. When we were in that cabin, there was a power bar on the floor in the dressing room.

 

:)

[peaches from georgia]

Dee-

I cannot verify or deny that the dry cleaning machine was broken the week of 6/12. We sent out regular laundry throughout the week and quite a bit of pressing, but never any actual dry cleaning.

 

I mentioned on another thread that the ice cream freezer was broken the first day of our cruise, so we did not have ice cream in the Lido for only 1/2 day until it was fixed.

 

As for any other problems- No odors, no plumbing or a/c problems, coffee machine in the Neptune was working fine whenever I wanted a latte or cappachino, soft drinks were cold in our refrig. Didn't hear of any problems from anyone else.

 

Machinery can break on ANY ship and problems arise (we had a water leak on the Rotterdam and had to change cabins), so it's not quite fair to take every little inconvenience when something breaks on a ship and make it sound like that ship is a bummer. These ships are running 24/7 'round the year with hundreds of cabins and almost 2,000 in pax and crew. Things happen on all ships and I bet the track record on the Maasdam is as good as on any other ship, HAL or not. Have a great cruise and don't worry about it.

[CruisinNana]

Thanks, Peaches. You always make me feel better. I guess I am a little more anxious than usual because my brother-in-law and sister-in-law are going with us and they have only been on the Oosterdam. They went with us on my 60th birthday cruise this past January, and they loved the ship and were so impressed with how clean it was. They were also thrilled with the Neptune and the coffee machine. (of course, it was new!) We chose the NE/Canada itinerary and only had the Maasdam to choose from on HAL. I have been on the Maasdam twice before, but it was fairly new then. I will just hope for the best and hope they are not disappointed. As for my husband and me, we will be happy no matter what. I absolutely love a cruise!

Dee