My attention was directed to another cruise website. In this there is an horrendous listing of recent problems.

Biggest problem seems that Holland America are totally ignoring the inrush of customer complaints they are receiving.

I have now sent three repeats of my case to HAL.
No acknowledgement yet.

quote:

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Originally posted by CB:
Also, the usual debarkation problem where they keep announcing foreigners to come to immigration. I wonder if these people hide under the bed.[/QB]

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The January trip we took on Holland America this year was the first time I had experienced Americans also having to check in with Immigration authorities.

I think many of THEM must have hidden under their beds,as the last people to check in were 4 or 5 American citizens - the rest of we foreigners were thanked for our promptness.

quote:

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Originally posted by topgun:
I think it might be easier to question the immaculate conception instead of casting any doubt about the excellence of Holland America Cruises.

Only one respondent asked, why? Interesting.

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The cruise was a recent trans-Canal on "Amsterdam."

It stressed the incessant "Kitsch"* and the constant yammer of the loudspeakers urging people to participate in this, that, and the other thing,(art auctions were a particular annoyance) which significantly diminished the reporter's ability to relax and enjoy himself.

I was going to look this up and post it on Monday last, but I did not get to do so --superbowl and all that.

I felt it represented a minor pollution of the Holy Water which is constantly being poured on HAL here, and wanted to see if other had experienced anything similar.

After I post this, I shall track down the NYT files and see if I can recover the article and post the relevant parts.

* As a non New Yorker, I am not completely sure of the definition of 'Kitsch' but I sense it may be synonomous with "schlock." It is becoming endemic on the lower-end cruisesm and I know what the author was driving at!

[ 02-08-2002: Message edited by: Cambodge ]

After boarding there was no evidence of a cabin steward. Returning from dinner on the first night, the cabin had not been attended to or made up.

We tried the front desk a few times. No answer. Room service could offer no help. They did offer ice, it never came.

Next morning, the steward appeared at 8 am to apologise that he had "forgotten us".

We returned to the cabin at 3pm on the first day at sea, and I quote from an email to a friend;

"After about ten minutes in the cabin, all hell broke loose. Coming from the next cabin it sounded like a road gang using sledgehammers and air drills. I got up and looked into the open cabin door.In fact it was vacant. A work crew had gutted the cabin and were in process of breaking up a 12 inch layer of concrete from the deck under the carpet. The noise was unbelievable. Renee blew up and took off for the front office and was gone for about 30 minutes. On her return, she had obviously lost control, especially after the previous nights fiasco. She could not get anybody to listen at the front desk and broke into tears out of sheer frustration. THIS GOT THEIR ATTENTION.

She returned with a purser in tow who was obviously appalled at what she found. We had to move away from the work area to converse. She suggested that the work had to be done and that we should let them know when we were out so that they could sledge away at their content. I pointed out that we had not spent our money with them to have a work gang next door. I could have more peace and quiet at less cost by staying home.
The net result being that the work crew was pulled off and kept returning for the balance of the cruise. The cement dust and smell of carpet adhesive was evident all week."

At the end of the cruise, I did fill in the questionnaire to the hotel manager and followed up with an E mail of confirmation on return home,

Thats it. I received a reply from HAL yesterday extending their apologies. As a gesture of goodwill, on our next cruise with them we are extended "VIP status". I have replied and asked for details. Apparently we do not get paraded around in a throne or get to toot the whistle.
I am told that we get a bottle of champagne on boarding and get to attend a reception with the captain. I have declined these offers

I get a sense HAL (through its Carnival overseer) is wrestling with serving its veterans vs. the new group of pax who come aboard with lower expectations from Carnival. The front office says we can do some things cheaper, so HAL can too.

As the line has expanded, there aren't enough veteran officers (deck, engineering and hotel) to go around. The new breed knows nothing of the Tradition of Excellence.

Then there's the onboard revenue issue. Bingo makes money, so more announcements. It's the same reason why Where's The Fleet was replaced by Steiner ads or Drink of the Day pitches.

There are too many complaints recently about a lack of customer service (although few as extreme as topgun).