Please check out my photo gallery, horriying of Holland Amer
o Holland America Executive Office:
I would like to bring to your attention a thread of distasteful experiences regarding my stay aboard the Holland America ship, The Rotterdam. Upon my arrival on the ship, I was given my stateroom number and pointed in the direction of my accommodations. Holland America prides itself upon providing a signature of excellence, yet my stateroom accommodations left much to be desired. After opening the bathroom door, my nose was greeted with the stench of sewage as my eyes beheld rust and corrosion. The corners of the shower held mold, rust, and even tangled hair in its crevices. I notified the front office concerning this travesty, but it was not addressed in a timely manner. These issues were then forwarded to Christiana, the front office manager who followed up with me.
Having been severely seasick for the first couple of days, I was unable to dine in the restaurant. Yet when I was given the opportunity to dine at the restaurant, I became aware of more issues concerning cleanliness. The table was set with a fork that had dried eggs from breakfast and my son’s food arrived containing a strand of hair. I quickly made the dining stewards aware and they apologized and retrieved the contaminated items. Yet, I am sure you can imagine that I no longer had an appetite for that restaurant. The next evening I was the first to arrive at the restaurant. Upon entering, I found that my table had multiple strands of hair and breadcrumbs spread across the tablecloth. Food particles were sprinkled underneath my table as well as the surrounding tables in the area. Prior to taking a seat I notified the assistant dining manager, Margaret, who witnessed my findings and reported them to her manager, Don. Don was not very apologetic and even alluded to his belief that the hairs may have been planted. Don stated that he and other dining employees had personally inspected the area due to my previous concerns regarding cleanliness. I challenged his allegations by pointing out that all of the additional food particles were in the dining area prior to any food being served for dinner. I inquired as to the last time the dining area was cleaned and was told that it is cleaned after lunch. Since this was the first setting for dinner everything should have been clean, yet Don nonchalantly stated that they must have missed some spots. At that time I asked Don to observe all the permanent stains that coated the dining facilities. As you can imagine I was quite mortified that the validity of my concerns were being questioned when the majority of the dining area was not thoroughly cleaned. After making Christiana aware of this problem she offered one night of dining at the Pinnacle Grill for my family.
Christiana has been very pleasant during the various ordeals and has assured me that she has passed on my sentiments to your corporate office. She has also made me aware that you feel it best to wait until the end of my stay to determine the appropriate compensation. As a gesture of goodwill, Christiana has given me a spa treatment. As this is appreciated, it pales in comparison to the considerable amount spent to partake in this Holland America cruise. I believe that I have provided the information necessary in determining just compensation for the inadequacies that my family has endured. I do not feel it necessary to wait until the end of my cruise, knowing the many problems that I have encountered thus far. I have also included various photos that provide a more detailed account of our staterooms’ filthiness. Christiana made it clear that it was no way that we could transfer to another ship for the remainder of our cruise, therefore I am requesting a full refund. Please make me aware of the expected compensation that you intend to provide as soon as possible. If any further clarification is needed please do not hesitate to have Christiana contact me. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Re: Please check out my photo gallery, horriying of Holland
Quote:
Originally Posted by ladell
Having been severely seasick for the first couple of days, I was unable to dine in the restaurant.
Ugh! There's NOTHING worse than feeling sea sick! Some people find ginger to be helpful. FYI, you can go to the infirmary for help with sea sickness if it's really bad.
If anyone does not believe my claims you should view the pictures in my photo gallery. Believe me the last thing I'm trying to do is tarnish a companies name without reason. I couldn't believe that they were not as horrified as I. I would like to think that this is an isolated incident however, I was not offered just compensation. More often times large entities try to get over on the average consumer. But, not this consumer I'm taking action in alerting other consumers of this mess!
Having spent more than 100 days on Holland America ships I frankly find your claims incredible. We have never encountered anything but the highest standards of cleanliness aboard HAL vessels.
__________________
RichStacy
Landlocked in Denver, but cruisin every chance we get.
Polynesia, Carib. '86
Cr. Odyssey, Scandinavia, '91, 30 Day S Pac. 2002
Crystal Harm, Aust., N.Z., '94
Royal Odyssey, AK,'96
Old Cr. Pr. Canal, '97
RCCL, Carib, 1998
Volendam, Car, 2000
Ryndam, 35 day S. Am., Antarctica, '03
Is. Pr., Canal, 2004
Statendam, 34 day China, Japan, AK '06
Cr.Pr., Carib. 08
Eurodam, Atlantic, Med. '10 Golden Princess
A check of 6 more HAL ships revealed 2 100s and the rest in the high 90s. Sorry Ladell, but you are busted. BTW it is not at all unusual to smell sewer gas in ships while in a service/turnaround port where the sewer system is being serviced. That is quite normal. Get over it. Also, this may come as a shock, but in a ship that is more than a few years old, some rust happens -- no matter what. That is the nature of the sea.
__________________
RichStacy
Landlocked in Denver, but cruisin every chance we get.
Polynesia, Carib. '86
Cr. Odyssey, Scandinavia, '91, 30 Day S Pac. 2002
Crystal Harm, Aust., N.Z., '94
Royal Odyssey, AK,'96
Old Cr. Pr. Canal, '97
RCCL, Carib, 1998
Volendam, Car, 2000
Ryndam, 35 day S. Am., Antarctica, '03
Is. Pr., Canal, 2004
Statendam, 34 day China, Japan, AK '06
Cr.Pr., Carib. 08
Eurodam, Atlantic, Med. '10 Golden Princess
This poster was already posting on another popular cruise board. I feel that this is just a ploy to get more compensation from Hal. All the problems where looked after. So now in my humble opinion i feel that this is re-dundent
This poster was already posting on another popular cruise board. I feel that this is just a ploy to get more compensation from Hal. All the problems where looked after. So now in my humble opinion i feel that this is re-dundent
It looks like that other board has deleted the thread started by the OP where she used a different name. She got very little sympathy over there.
I just cannot believe that the House keeping staff would let the tile and mold to build up in the shower like that,it looks more like a dirty shower in a dilapidated house trailer. Pictures can lie,sorry I just dont believe it.
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Sunward 1982
River Symphony 2004
Zaandam 2005
Zuiderdam 2006
Westerdam 2007
Statendam 2008
River Odyssey 2008
Prinsendam 2009
Volendam Booked for 10-26-09
Bizet Booked for 5- 7-10
Can anyone verify that the bathrooms even look like that?
I was on the Statendam recently and had a seemless tub/wall liner in my bathroom and would assume that most of the bathrooms have this as the Statendam had not been recently renovated or anything... this really does not seem possible.
If you have any pictures of the bathroom from further away that show the bathroom door or part of the cabin to prove that these are actually on the ship, it would certainly make your story more credible but for now, no one is buying your very far fetched story.
That's very good point that you have made. I also Cannot believe that this was on any Hal Ship. I will post shots of my my Cabin Etc. After the Zanndam
cruise less than three weeks to go now
Will post a review late October has we are also going to Vegas for a few days after the cruise.
Would put my money that complainer is looking for a free cruise and or compensation. Having over a 100 days on Holland on numerous ships I find this hard to believe. All of us have encountered those who are not content with anything unless complaing and my advice is to seek out another type vacation. Holland is a class act and keep up the good work.
Since my wife and I have recently (2008) traveled on the Rotterdam I have decided to post a comment. When a passenger goes aboard a cruise ship he/she already has a mind set after just a few minutes. It only takes the first ride in the elevator to the top deck to help establish this mind set. Dirty elevator carpet may make every carpet on the ship equally as dirty. One dirty knife or fork "makes every knife and fork" on the ship dirty. You know our dishwasher occasionally misses cleaning a fork or knife really well and we just wash it again.A bar of soap left in the shower makes the shower unclean. We too make those "mind sets" on our cruise. However we usually "toss them aside" and get on with a great cruise.
Please check out my photo gallery, horriying of Holland Amer
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