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3.2

Because my travel companion, and I previously enjoyed three Holland cruises that far exceeded our expectations, we recently completed our fourth Holland cruise which was to be our dream trip to South America.

This trip, however, was filled with disappointments. We quickly learned that our ship, the Ms. Maasdam which is reportedly around 23 years old, was not passenger-ready even though it had been in dry-dock for several days. For the first four days of our cruise, we along with passengers located in our area, were without hot water. We were told several times by Customer Services that the problem would be fixed, or that it had already been fixed, only to learn that the water continued to be slightly lukewarm. On the fifth day, the hot water appeared to be restored. About a week later, the hot water ran out again and we insisted upon getting another room, at which time we were told by Customer Services that the ship was full and there were no more rooms available. We asked to speak to someone in charge, and we were finally referred to LaToya in Customer Relations. LaToya offered us another room which was not of equal value and the door to the room would not close securely. We elected to stay in our regular room and take our chances, thinking another room might be more problematic.

The next disappointment came on an excursion, in which the inefficient use local government tenders resulted in a group of Holland passengers enduring a 3 1/2 hour wait on the deck in the pouring rain, with no food, water or restrooms while waiting on a second group of passengers stranded on a broken-down tender to be rescued. The 3 1/2 wait was a result of a government tender carrying the second group of Holland passengers breaking down in the water, becoming stranded and heavily leaning to one side. This second group was literally stuck in the water for hours. Another government tender was trying to make a rescue, but to no avail. While we could clearly see what was going on, we had no communication from Holland staff about what was happening. During this 3 1/2 hour wait on the deck, two passengers in our group had to be medically evacuated and one passenger fainted. Eventually a tender pulled up alongside a docked ferry near our group. We were instructed to step onto the ferry, and then exit from the other side to get onto the available tender waiting for us. We were able to do that successfully. When our tender finally came in sight of Ms. Maasdam, the government tender crew appeared to be physically unable to navigate the tender to the opening of the ship, resulting in the Holland America crew hoistering a rope to pull the tender close enough to the ship to disembark. While we were impressed with the Holland America crew coming to the rescue, we had no step or stair access to the industrial belly of the ship where we were deposited. My friend, who had a fractured hip and walked with the aid of a crutch, was told (along with everyone else) to jump down about 3 feet from the tender onto the ship. My friend reinjured her hip and hurt her right knee. The following day, neither of us were able to go ashore and enjoy the day due to fatigue, dehydration and Ms. Harper's hip and knee injury. We are both senior citizens and such an activity was a challenge to us and many others as well.

Our next disappointment came during the last week of the cruise when toxic fumes were continually coming through the air vents in our room. It seems that painting was being done on parts of the ship and somehow we were beneficiaries of the fumes. Our symptoms were difficulty breathing, sinus problems, metallic taste in mouth, headaches and nausea. After several days of complaining to Customer Services, we were told to vacate our room for several hours a day, while a standing fan was brought in to clear the air. Needless to say, the fan did not resolve the root cause of the problem. The paint that was being used apparently had not been tested to be suitable for use on a cruise ship full of people. Again we were told by Customer Services that no one else was having this issue. Again this was untrue, as the whole wing of our side of the ship was affected and passengers were having to leave their rooms due to fumes. This is how we ended our cruise.

Considering the number of days we were incapacitated along with the days we did not have full use of our room, we estimate that we had only 12 days that were problem-free, notwithstanding my friend's physical difficulties as a result of her injury.

Reason of review: Bad quality.

Holland America Line Cons: Customer service toxic fumes no hot water miscommunication.

Location: Austin, Texas

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