HAL Maasdam Review (back to back cruises)

One year when we boarded the ship in Miami, I forgot to tip the fellow who
took the luggage from our cab.

When the luggage was delivered, it too had terrible damage and we always
felt that it was done deliberately.

Our cabin steward patched it together for us but reported it to the
management and they told me to have them repaired and to send them the
bill which we did, and were reimbursed.


I will never forget to tip again. I am my "own ATM" because now I have
to have a wheelchair and the tipping is constant. rosaly

Nonnymus wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote:


Bob stated after he got off the GOTS that he was never cruising again,
but I wanted to go through the Panama Canal, so he agreed to do this
one. But he said it was like watching paint dry.

I think I like Bob.




When we got our suitcases, two of them which had been in perfect
condition when we handed them over to the luggage people were
basically destroyed. Bob had a side pocket torn partly off one of
his bags, although he didn't think he lost anything. And my big black
roller bag had one side of the aluminum pull out handle ripped out and
the other side was twisted around so badly that it could not be
re-inserted.

I'm afraid that I'd have complained to high heaven about that. Did they
do anything for you?

I did complain to the front desk, and they said if I would bring Bob's
suitcase in that they'd try to see whether they would repair it. But
he refused the offer as I think he thought he could do a better job of
it as he does car upholstery and sail repairs etc.

I don't think there is anything to be done about my suitcase though.
The basic problem is that it is too big, and even with just clothing
in it (not books or anything like that), it is too heavy for the pull
handle that was installed which was aluminum and would bend and then
wouldn't retract. I think that's what happened - they didn't take
care in putting it back in. I had only used the suitcase once before
because it was so heavy when packed - it was part of a set given us
by our children for Xmas.

And to answer Rosaly's comment - we did tip the baggage handler at the
pier - just not the van driver. (Although we tipped him the previous
night when we came from the airport).

The BIG BLACK MARK for this room and ALL the ones at this end of the
ship (and sometimes it wafted up to the dining rooms) was that
everything smelled of sewage - especially in the hall but also in the
room. More in port or when there were certain wind directions. This
was due to faulty engineering as the sewage stack odors were
re-entrained into the ventilation system. The toilets worked OK

If you you are saying is correct, the "sewer gas" is a combustible gas
that is potentially dangerous in quantity.

That's what Bob said.

Like the luggage, I'd sure
be taking to the airways complaining, if the "recirculating" thing is
correct.


We did complain - A LOT. Bob complained on the phone. We complained
on the interim sheet they gave us for suggestions. I complained on
the phone to the desk. Bob went up and took one of the desk ladies
down to smell for herself. We complained in the final evaluation
sheet. Other people complained too and had been told that there were
no other complaints. We discussed it among ourselves. The lady in
the room next to us (all of us got very friendly with each other at
that end of the boat) got a $250 credit, but we didn't get anything. I
understood that the engineer was quitting because he couldn't do
anything about it and he was tired of the quite justified complaints.
Sometimes it seeped up into the dining room. Of course after awhile,
your nose gets numb and you don't notice it so much, but it hit us in
the face every time we turned the corner into the hall.

This time I was prepared and had my earplugs in my ears
and my cane to sit on.

Thanks- now I've got to live with that image in my head for the next ten
years. grin

I wasn't using the cane in my ears LOL - it is one of those shooting
stick type things, only with a little tripod instead of a spike on the
end that is on the ground. One of the men on the hall also had one.

Lido: We learned to like the Lido, but rarely ate there. They still
have trays which is MUCH better than trying to balance everything on a
slippery plate.

With HAL catering to a more elderly crowd, we also found that the
busboys were quick to help folk using walkers or canes. One would grab
a tray and proceed to help Mrs. Nonny through the line and get
water/coffee for her when she was seated.

Yes but I don't usually carry my cane to the Lido - I only need it if
I have to stand around and it just gets in the way up there.. If I
keep moving I can ignore the pain and concentrate on where I'm going.
They did help me sometimes (even without a cane), especially if we are
under way. Otherwise, Bob goes and gets a couple of things and goes
and snags a table and sits, and then I join him. Then he goes and
gets dessert (at lunch) and after he's gotten his, I get mine.

So I switched to Personal Choice Dining and that really worked out
very well.

Yup, it's great to be able to walk up and be seated. We also liked the
varying people at our table.

Bob was pretty disgusted with the TV. He wanted to watch Fox News.
There are no broadcast channels at all - just CNN, ESPN a cartoon
channel, and TCM (Turner Classic Movies). All the rest are ship
channels. They did show the professional football games (which I
liked and he didn't) and some of the college ones I think, although I
didn't really pay much attention to those.

Like I said earlier, I really think Bob and I could get along. Did they
have professional wrestling? Mrs. Nonny likes to watch that and cheer
on her favorites. grin I think Bob and I could sit around and agree
on politics.

No professional wrestling. My grandmother used to like to watch that
when she was dying of cancer. She rooted for Gorgeous George (if you
are old enough to remember him). She was a very strait-laced white
haired Victorian lady - she had a pince nez. It was sort of strange
to see her rooting for the good guys and booing the bad guys.

Although he thinks CNN is biased liberal media, he insisted on
watching it anyway. He wrote on the interim comment card that they
should have an unbiased alternative to CNN. When I took it to turn it
in, I added to it the comment that as far as I was concerned I'd be
happy if I never ever saw Fox OR CNN ever again.

FOX is all I watch when there is a choice. They're still far too
liberal for my taste, but at least they're better than the socialist
channels.

I can't stand to watch any of it. If I watch before bedtime, I can't
sleep. At home we have two TVs and I watch football and game shows
and he watches whatever he wants and I don't have to look at it.

Excursions: I will do these separately as it was a long cruise and
there were a lot of them.

Ship


One elevator forward did not work for the whole cruise, and the first
night I got trapped in an aft elevator with several other people - the
elevator would go up and down, but would not open the doors for us to
get out.

This has happened to Mrs. Nonny before. On one cruise, she was trapped
on an elevator for 5 nights before I noticed and reported her missing.
The smell was terrible. We pried the door open slightly and slipped a
pizza in for her to eat while they tried repairing the elevator. They
got her out just as the ship was disembarking passengers, so I at least
got to bring her home with me, and not have her shipped home separately.

Speaking of shipping things home - I shipped the big black suitcase
home to myself. It weighed 55 lbs and cost $35 to ship from Miami to
Maryland.