E
EddysMom
Guest
If you have a cruise scheduled on the Veendam in the near future, you may want to check with HAL to see if the propulsion system has been repaired. We were on a 14-day cruise in Alaska and it was very disappointing. This was our first on HAL, and our last. It should also be noted that the ship had just come out of 10 days in drydock and should have been in pretty good shape.
On the second day, the starboard propulsion system had serious problems and the ship was unable to maintain adequate cruising speed. We were several hours late into nearly every port, and College Fjord was skipped entirely both weeks. The noise and vibration in the rear of the ship was excessive - glasses skipped across our dining table and frightened many people out of the diningroom on Monday, May 24. Several people left the ship and flew home from Sitka; and more flew home from Juneau. I feel the fault lies with the Captain. The information he gave out about the problem was always too little, too late. My advice to the captain: when you have a problem that will affect the passengers, tell them what you know as soon as you can; and do not try to ply them with a "complimentary cocktail party" - not all of us are impressed with free alcohol.
My main complaint is that this problem went on for 13 days, getting progressively worse. But each day we were told that the crew was working around the clock to solve and problem and it "might be fixed." And each day it was not. People were still booking shore excursions daily, only to have them delayed, rescheduled, or cancelled altogether. The biggest problem however, was returning to Vancouver late and more than half the ship's passengers had to reschedule their flights home, many had to stay in Vancouver overnight. The crew was frazzled to say the least, and very short tempered. I personally witnessed the hotel manager and an assistant yelling at a passenger who was in tears about the late arrival in Vancouver. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it first hand.
The corporate office of HAL really needs to look into the problem with the Veendam, and do some employee training. I have never seen so many angry passengers.
If you are a TA and have clients booked on the Veendam, you may want to check will HAL to see that these problems have been resolved. I do not blame my TA at all - this was the cruise I chose to go on and my TA had nothing to do with the propulsion system problems. I do blame HAL for allowing the problem to drag on - the second week was so bad, I wish we had left the ship. It doesn't even feel like we had a vacation. My husband doesn't want to go on another cruise ever.
Post Edited (06-05-04 16:19)
On the second day, the starboard propulsion system had serious problems and the ship was unable to maintain adequate cruising speed. We were several hours late into nearly every port, and College Fjord was skipped entirely both weeks. The noise and vibration in the rear of the ship was excessive - glasses skipped across our dining table and frightened many people out of the diningroom on Monday, May 24. Several people left the ship and flew home from Sitka; and more flew home from Juneau. I feel the fault lies with the Captain. The information he gave out about the problem was always too little, too late. My advice to the captain: when you have a problem that will affect the passengers, tell them what you know as soon as you can; and do not try to ply them with a "complimentary cocktail party" - not all of us are impressed with free alcohol.
My main complaint is that this problem went on for 13 days, getting progressively worse. But each day we were told that the crew was working around the clock to solve and problem and it "might be fixed." And each day it was not. People were still booking shore excursions daily, only to have them delayed, rescheduled, or cancelled altogether. The biggest problem however, was returning to Vancouver late and more than half the ship's passengers had to reschedule their flights home, many had to stay in Vancouver overnight. The crew was frazzled to say the least, and very short tempered. I personally witnessed the hotel manager and an assistant yelling at a passenger who was in tears about the late arrival in Vancouver. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it first hand.
The corporate office of HAL really needs to look into the problem with the Veendam, and do some employee training. I have never seen so many angry passengers.
If you are a TA and have clients booked on the Veendam, you may want to check will HAL to see that these problems have been resolved. I do not blame my TA at all - this was the cruise I chose to go on and my TA had nothing to do with the propulsion system problems. I do blame HAL for allowing the problem to drag on - the second week was so bad, I wish we had left the ship. It doesn't even feel like we had a vacation. My husband doesn't want to go on another cruise ever.
Post Edited (06-05-04 16:19)
