Maasdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Woke up grumpy? Need a great laugh? Order the fried eggs!

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Maasdam
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Sparkle144
First Time Cruiser • Age 90s

Rating by category

Value for Money
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Dining
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Additional details

Sail Date: Jan 2009
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Our embarkation was quick and painless, the usual friendly and very competent HAL staff guiding us through the usual maze of procedures. Unfortunately, our room category (as with most) was not ready and so we had no place, to our dismay, to leave our carryon baggage (wife's rolling bag, my camera bag and garment bag) and had no choice but to carry it all to lunch in the buffet restaurant. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, we found that this problem had exacerbated, the crowd also shut out, so to speak, of their cabins, and with luggage very uncomfortably in tow, we wandered and wandered to find a seat until we finally found someone leaving and camped out to claim their seats.

As we were finishing, it was announced that all cabins were now ready (Odd, how do all the Stewards finish simultaneously?) and so we, with great relief, made our way to our cabin 398, an obstructed ocean view, and settled in to get the lay of the land and wait for the rest of our luggage. First impression of the cabin? Well laid out and roomy enough with separate closets for hanging articles of both male and female persuasions. Balance of storage, very adequate, and the under-bed storage as on the Amsterdam neither present nor actually needed for two people on a two-weeker. Whoa! Wait! No air conditioning. At first I reassured the BW* that perhaps they had cut it back while on port to prioritize other functions. It became all to soon apparent that this was not the case, and despite several calls to the Front Office and comparing notes with other passengers, the A/C was not restored until we came back to check after (early) dinner. This seemed to be an ongoing problem and it was off again for several hours on another day. We did receive several follow up calls inquiring if it had been done and was satisfactory.

We had inquired about a refrigerator before boarding and were told that we had to order it at the front desk. There was no explanation as to why it could not be ordered online or by phone as we had done on other occasions. So, down I trotted (well, walked, my wife and I both being retired Seniors, myself much more so than she) to the Front Office and were advised that "if available" one would be installed ASAP. The next day, said refrigerator not having arrived, we went, guess where, back to the Front Desk to ask for a refund of our prepaid (non) refrigerator, $2 daily, if you care to know. Voila! Twenty minutes later we had a lovely functioning refrigerator!

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin HH

Dual closets for hanging clothes a welcome touch, plenty of drawer space. Comfortable bed and well though out bathroom, though with the usual "How the ..... do you turn this shower on?"

We did find hallway noise from earlier risers who apparently especially pre-breakfast conversations.

Our cabin (398) was in an obstructed promenade location,(Sixth floor) and we wondered if we could be seen by passing passengers, even though the window appeared to be tinted to some degree. So we left the lights on and went outside to look in. We did not see ourselves, so we went back in, and...there we were!

This cabin was close to the stern and convenient for most activities, though the opposite end from the Show Lounge. The good thing? A great way to walk off dinner.

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