Zuiderdam Sept 11-18....Eastern......

[Lois R]

Hi Peg...thank you so much for kind words...it is appreciated:) .

[Vicar]

HEY Lois

 

Welcome home,

 

Been away from the boards a few days so I am just reading all this.

 

I am sorry you had suc a bad experience.

 

You absolutely are NOT whining, I think the the Maitre D was very out of line for treating you that way. That just wasn't right.

 

Also the bartender in Odyssy. I mean come on, someone couldn't have gotten you a glass of wine? Please.

 

It does sound like you had a good time otherwise and made some very nice friends.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Hi, Lois, and welcome home. I've been up North for a week so only just got to read your experience. I am so sorry that you had some disappointsments and it certainly sounds like the Maitre d' needs some schooling! I always so admire people who are comfortable travelling alone, and you certainly don't need anyone making you feel awkward or out of place. There's no excuse for that.

 

But obviously you let the light shine through and managed to have a good time in spite of the bad service. Good for you. But I'm still so sad that your first HAL experience was not the best ... guess you won't be checking in again any time soon;) .

[Lois R]

hi Heather and Vicar:)

[Lois R]

Heather...are you and hubby ok? ......looks like Jeanne is going be landing near ya'll.......:eek: :( ....

(just checking in;) ).

[JanetMarie]

Lois, as you know, we were booked on the Z and we changed last minute to Celebrity because of all the reviews I had read in the Z. The people, the food, the service. I have even, IMO, so please no slamming from the HAL folks, but I have even found the HAL folks on the boards to be a bit snippy. We won't be sailing the Z any time soon. Period.

[voyeurism26]

Hi guys and gals,

 

I have been reading all the replies regarding the Sept. 11th cruise on the Zui and I too did not have the service and the food that made HAL a true cruise vacation as in the past. I think years ago HAL did a much better job with service and food.

 

I would also like to mention, last year we decided to go on the Celeberity Century in 2003 and found the service and food to be excellant. After our Celebrity Cruise last year we went on the Zui in 2003, we found both lines to be comparable...matter of fact I wrote a thread comparing both lines and how wonderful they both are in service and in food.

 

This year 2004, a year later, we found that HAL has been cutting back in food, the service was not what we expected and I was dissappointed in the overall food and service of the zuiderdam (with the exception of the pinnicale grill/odyssy restuarant), although we did have a great time,and rested, I somehow felt many changes in service and cost cutting measure's throughout the ship.

 

What I remembered from our cruise onboard the celebrity century, I think my experience on the celebrity compared to the zui this year...the century we much was much better in many aspects. The celebrity ship the service was the best overall service I have experienced on any ship before, the food on the celebrity was fantastic and you can even order off the menu and make special request without advance notice. The midnight buffets are out of this world and we felt that the staff and crew took pride of there ship.....just not going through the motions as they did on the HAL. Just to give you an example of how good the service was, I can still remember our waiter in the dinning...Budi was our waiter and his assistant was Allan...after over a year I can still remember there names and the service we recieved.

 

Since this has been such a great experience, we have decided to book our new cruise on the Celebrity Millienum for a 14 day Transatlantic Cruise in November 6th. The price was great!

 

While we were deciding which cruise too take next, we were looking at HAL and Celebrity and we have found that HAL and Celebrity was price comparision to be the same. Celebrity does not play the price game that HAL does! For those who say...HAL was cheaper, keep searching....RCCL, Celebrity, NCL have just the same or close in price.

 

We compared two 14 day transatlantic cruises and we have decided that Celebrity is the choice. The price was great! and we felt it was time to try Celebrity Cruise Line again. Lets see what happens...in the meantime...I will be searching for another 7 day cruise before we do the 14 day tour.

 

-V26

[tuggers]

I am so sorry for the way you were treated as a single. And this from a line that is courting singles by giving very good prices to us! They may get some of us once, but it won't keep us there with actions like these! I give you credit, girl! I would have either lost it and made a scene or dissolved in tears, depending on the ***** moment! LOL!!

 

I hope that some of this is taken higher, if not for you, for the others that follow. One would hope that there is a President or CEO who cares about such things. I would be looking for that person.

[FlorenceItaly]

I too, am very sorry to hear of your experience as a solo cruiser on the Zuiderdam. It seems I was fortunate on the Maasdam and Veendam, maybe the smaller ships make a difference. If I were you, I probably wouldn't go on another solo cruise with HAL either. I see prices rising, and may soon be outpriced from sailing solo on HAL and am fortuante to have experienced NE/Canada, plus Alaska with them this year. Honestly, believe it or not, I have done too much cruising in a short period of time, with 2 more to come within a month, and I am BURNT OUT! I think dh is glad to hear it :).

 

Let us know when you are booked on your next cruise!

 

Marie

[Lois R]

Hi Gail and Marie:) thanks for the kind words.......appreciate them. I think most of the folks on here feel the same way as you do.......

That the staff was quite unprofessional about things.

[KSTAZMAN]

We know none of this would happen on "THE CENTURY".Can I get an amen Lois?

[brigittetom]

I think seating many times is the luck of the draw. On our first Celebrity cruise we were seated in the far corner of the diningroom (back kitchen entrance) at a table for 10 with one other couple that were not even compatible with each other. On the next cruise they walked us right to the same table and there again was one couple seated. I turned around and said absolutely not. The Mairtre d' was seated outside of the diningroom with his little cards. I said that our TA had requested a full table somewhere twards the middle of the diningroom because of our last experience. I was told in no uncertain terms that HE was the only one making these decisions.

 

On our Volendam cruise we had the perfect table. If we had sent in questionaires it couldn't have been more perfect. On subsequent Celebrity cruises we have been lucky with the dinner tables also. My husband and I have also been seated at lunch with 4 seperate lady couples at a table for 10 with no one wishing to speak to anyone but there were two empty chairs so that's where we were seated. Not always the perfect solution either.

 

I actually can understand that they might hesitate to seat a solo with a family not wanting the solo to feel out of place, or not wanting the family's private time interrupted. I don't really think they have the time to assess all the different table situations and I would like to think if he was looking around the room he was looking for the best logical table. As I said, I would like to think that's what he was doing.:)

 

As far as leaving a solo cruiser or even a lone diner at a larger table for the evening is the poorest excuse for a Maitre'd. No excuse.

 

Lois, I'm not sure if you can blame this on HAL alone. I think this could have been an isolated situation on any cruiseline. Your first cruises on Celebrity were fantastic, ours actually were not. On the other hand, now when we get on a Celebrity ship we know to go to the lounge to check to make sure we have a large table as requested and that there are actually people assigned to it. Some years ago you had to wait until the first dinner and deal with a surly Maitre'd if you were unhappy with your table. Obviously there were complaints so this system was changed. We've also encountered a very very rude Casino Mgr. on X. He closed the casino at 11PM the first night saying that his staff was tired and needed to get off their feet. I've since heard that everytime one of the casino staff leaves the ship, they send them off with an all night party. Yaay for them but there were at least 30 people in the casino who were expecting a 10 day cruise. We were on the same ship 2 months later and he had been demoted due to complaints.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to make this so long, but I was just trying to make the point that all cruises can have problems. Rude service is never an excuse but it can happen on any line.

[iamirish]

Sorry, I didn't mean to make this so long, but I was just trying to make the point that all cruises can have problems. Rude service is never an excuse but it can happen on any line.

 

I couldn't agree more - but - how a cruise line handles the problem when it is brought to their attention - IS the test of a good cruise line. Based on what I have read - HAL failed badly.

 

Tom

[tuggers]

Tom is right on target! I still say this should be forwarded up the food chain to someone in Seattle who would care, namely a President or Ceo. JMO.

[Lois R]

Hi Gail Hi Tom:) .............I filled out my comment card and asked for additional stationary to go with it...and I was at the front desk when it was all stapled together.

No, I don't want anyone else to be treated the way I was, but to be honest, I am really tired of thinking about it:eek: ....if that makes me bad...oh well,.....

 

They just won't have me as a repeat customer......and from the way the Hotel Manager acted, they don't care either. They have enough loyal passengers that one displeased cruiser isn't going to make a difference..but it is probably that way on every cruiseline.

Maybe in a couple of weeks I will feel like contacting Seattle......and then, they will say, why did I wait so long to do it?:rolleyes:

[brigittetom]

I agree 100%. How they handle a problem is the sign of good management and I think Lois should write letters to the very top to get satisfaction. I'm just trying to make the point that bad service can happen and we have had it happen on Celebrity and had no better response than Lois did on Hal, so Celebrity failed also. It's going to happen on any line. I've learned that from reading these boards. :D