Maasdam Review
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Maasdam - March 31, 2005 - Norfolk, VA to Eastern Caribbean.
My husband and I are experienced cruisers with HAL and other cruise lines. May I say from the beginning that there is a difference between a review from an experienced cruiser and one that is completely new to cruising and is reviewing their first cruise. A new cruiser is excited and loves most everything on the ship. An experienced cruiser knows what to expect especially from one cruise line. This is the case with us. We found out on the Maasdam that HAL is NOT consistent with all of their ships. The Maasdam does not measure up with the three other HAL ships that we have been on. I just finished reading some reviews on the Ryndam, the sister ship to the Maasdam, and it sounds very similar to the Maasdam as far as our rating goes which is poor.
I must say we agree with Seagoing JLW who wrote a review on her 12/04 cruise on the Maasdam. We found the same poor things and more on our cruise. No officers to greet us when we boarded the ship,we also thought the cruise directors and assistants looked a bit sloppy and shoes needed shining (that goes for some of the head waiters in the dining room), a toilet that didn't work properly or at all at times, mold in our bathtub and on the bathmat, water turned off for 4 hours in our cabin one day, dusty corners in our cabin, dusty/dirty silver tray that the ice bucket sits on, service in the Lido that was awful with waiters standing and talking instead of taking care of the tables or helping people with their trays. There was a manager in the Lido but he didn't see to it that the waiters did their jobs. I cleared our table some days. There seemed to be a shortage of china and silverware as there were days that only bread plates were available at times and half the time you had to go looking for silverware. The wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice that almost everyone absolutely loves and is so special was undrinkable to me. I saw glasses of it untouched on the tables as was mine. The oranges must have been seconds or something. Also, the pineapple juice in the dining room was watered down and I didn't drink that either.