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Holland America Line

MS Maasdam

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:Julie & Arthur
# previous cruises: 3
Date of Trip: December 10, 2000
Itinerary: Caribbean - Western

If you are under 45 you might want to give some other ships serious consideration before you book.If you are looking for food food, food entertainment and food service, in our opinion, keep looking! The reasons for these statements will be explained later in this review.

Our problem with the public areas were the lack of air conditioning. On this cruise, this ship had air conditioning problems. We were told by the crew that there had been problems for the last few weeks. There was no air cond. in the elevators, many hallways, and the public areas that had air, especially the casino it was not sufficient. The lack of air conditioning made portions of this cruise miserable. The public areas were clean and kept up and overall very nice.

Food. Our last cruise with Royal Caribbean left us looking forward to great meals and fantastic desserts. Boy were we disappointed with this ship. Many of the dinners were barely edible and had to send food back but did not do any food. Desserts were very bad. If it wasn't for ice cream and bread pudding we would not have had any desserts. They did set out dishes and desserts that looked tremendous but looks were very deceiving!! The waste we saw on this ship was unbelievable. Everyone would fill their trays, take a bite from each dessert and leave it with disgust. We witnessed many complaints in the dining area. Service was even worse. Many of the crew appeared not to know English or refused to speak it. We found the crew to be very rude at times. Others we spoke to found this also to be true. One evening we ordered room service and only had change available for a tip. We gave to crew member several dollars in change as tip. As he walked out the door he muttered something and threw the change on the floor in the hallway. One night we ordered drinks in the casino and found us in an embarrassing situation when the waitress delivered drinks to strangers sitting at the black jack table with us stating that we were buying drinks for them. Again, no english and was not easy to get this removed from our bill. One more thought: with RC soft drinks were included in your meals, on this ship you are charged for soft drinks at all times.

We had a mini suite room 048 with a balcony. If it was not for the room this cruise would have been a lot worse. Very nice room. Very nice balcony but we were surprised to find the decor to be very faded. Not a big deal but did not expect it. Cabin stewart was okay, but we did have to call to get our room done at 1:00 pm. Compared to Royal Caribbean, the service did not compare. With RC we had the cabin stewards number to reach him, here you have to call the front desk.

Entertainment on this ship was very poor. First night NO show. Second night HA"s band and dancers. It was very difficult to sit thru. Rather than to go into each night, 2 nights were decent, the other 5 nights were awful. With RC the shows were terrific and you looked forward to the shows each night. If you looking for entertainment, do not book this ship. Another point, if you would like to have a cocktail while watching the show, stop at a bar before you get there!! The only time i drink is on vacation and i do not feel that i should have to search for a waiter or waitress. That is exactly what we had to do on this ship.

Western Caribbean: Did not have much time on the Islands. By the time you got ashore it was almost time to head back. They left early afternoon every island!!Went to the Turtle Farm in Cozumel and that was very food. I thought Half Moon Cay was going to be a waste of time but it turned out to be pleasant and the high light of the cruise. All there is there is the beach. But you can get away to be on your own since there are no other ships but HA since they own this island. The lunch on the beach was very food.

I would guess 70% of the ship was over 60 years of age. The ship goes to sleep at 11:00. We are in our 40's. We knew this ship attracts an older group, however, we were not prepared for all the wheel chairs and just how old these passengers were. If you are looking for a romantic evening after 11 to dine and dance GO TO YOUR ROOM. We were not prepared.