Maasdam - Norfolk Late Arrival

[Noreen]

We just returned from a 10 -day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Maasdam, and it ended up costing us a lot of extra money! Is their late arrival problem one that has been going on for awhile? Have others had problems with them? They do not leave enough time for turn around in anything but calm seas - and I don't think that's happening in the Atlantic in the wintertime!

We ended up arriving over five hours late. Holland said they would only cover additional cost of airline if they made the arrangements. We missed our flight out, and had to pay a penalty to reschedule - over $200. Anyone else had problems?

[iluvcruzin]

Unfortunately this is a common occurance on the Maasdam's Norfolk - Carribean itenerary. Over the past 6 months there have been all sorts of issues - Repetative Engine problems, speed of the ship against the sea currents which has caused delays on returning to Port. They tried changing the itenerary last summer and still - our end of October Sailing arrived late - around noon. We drove to the pier but had a 11 hr drive home in which would have been fine if we arrived on time, instead we were left around 1:30pm. I really think HAL should replace this ship on this itenerary with one that has a bit more power and less problems. It's really not a "winter" thing as HAL knows this is an ongoing problem on arriving on time regardless of the season.

I would write a letter to HAL pointing out the known occurance of the late arrival issues. Unfortunately they do not have a history of reimbursement - however, maybe shipboard credit would suffice?

[geoff]

We returned to Norfolk well over an hour early on Feb 27 -- it really is a matter of sea conditions during the long sail up from San Juan - which need to be allowed for this time of year -- I wound up with a lot of waiting time at the airport - just one of the variables you have to make room for.