Another Review Maasdam 7/17-7/24

[AirGorilla]

Thanks, Lefty Bob!

[jascruise]

Do you happen to recall the sequence of the dress code (?) during the cruise. I assume that the 2nd and 6th nights are formal, but which are the casual and which is the informal?

 

My wife is curious. As might be expected, I am ambivalent.

 

Thanks.

[lindacat]

I believe it went as follows

 

Casual, Formal, Casual, Casual, Informal, Formal, Casual...

[sail7seas]

I believe Linda has it in the correct order.

[jascruise]

Thanks to both of you!

[hotspur]

In my mention of the service not being exceptional, but adequate, I did so because on this board the impression is sometimes given that ALL HAL service is exceptional...I did not find that the case. Did I have a wonderful cruise, ABSOLUTELY...will I cruise HAL again...ABSOLUTELY...I came home and booked another cruise for next month, because I enjoyed HAL so much last month.....MY EXPERIENCE was that my service was no better than I received on Carnival or RCI....I know some don't like to hear that, but that was my experience...perhaps the Veendam next month will hold the exceptional service so talked about here.

 

Marie

This was our experience on Maasdam, too, Marie. It's really puzzling that some here simply cannot accept any criticism of their beloved HAL without reacting in a knee-jerk fashion. Our Maasdam cruise was no better than our NCL or Renaissance cruise in terms of either service or food. Typical mass-market cruise line experience, despite the rose-colored-glasses raves of many regulars here.

 

We'll cruise HAL again, just as we will NCL and, I expect, Celebrity. I only wish we could cruise the old Ren again. Their cruises provided much more information and emphasis on ports, much less unwarranted pretentiousness, and less focus on shopping, bingo, and other similar distractions.