Maasdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

THE VERY GOOD: The cabin. The food. The cabin staff and the food and drink servers.

THE NOT SO GOOD: Shore excursions varied, some good, some bad - All overpriced. All drinks were overpriced. Entertainment varied, some good, some bad. Front desk service variable - good, if it was a simple matter - unhelpful, if it required a little imagination, see comments below.

THE UGLY: The ship's moving map stopped working after several days and was never repaired. The captain gave hardly any information as to where we were cruising and when he did make an announcement it was inaudible and the information given was about the port we were already leaving. We often docked at filthy commercial ports instead of cruise ports. At cruise ports we were nearly always moored at docks furthest from the port entrance or we did not even moor at the main cruise port. At Aruba we moored half a mile from the port entrance and on the cruise were many elderly people and persons with limited mobility (ie. Some in pushed wheel chairs and others needing walkers). Despite this, HAL provided no shuttle, golf carts or any other means to get these people to the port entrance where they could get transport. HAL should be ashamed of themselves for such inconsiderate behaviour. Front desk was unhelpful with arranging the meet up for shore excursions when people had not them booked through HAL, athough the ship did not even dock in the main cruise port. (HAL did not offer the excursions in question).

We had such an amazing honeymoon on the MS Masdaam! Overall, the staff were so friendly and helpful. We loved going to the Crows Nest for trivia with Jess. Caesar and the other bartenders up there were always so nice and made great drinks. Dharen at the Mix and Poy, kitchen staff on Lido were also so sweet and attentive. They always remembered our names and orders and greeted us with smiles and enthusiasm everyday. 

In general, the food on the Maasdam was excellent, as was the service.  Although there was a variety of entertainment offered in the theatre, the performers, with only a few exceptions, were just average.   The HAL singers and dancers were quite good, but only performed 6 or 7 nights of the 33.  On several evenings, there was only a Natural Geographic film offered.  There was a wide variety of daytime activities to chose from. Tendering presented a problem in several of the ports, with either rough seas or a very slow disembarkation process upsetting passengers.  The ship itself had problems with the air-conditioning and plumbing, and even engine problems.   Staterooms and hallways flooded, saturating carpet inside cabins and down hallways.  This caused very unpleasant moldy and worse! smells.  Snorkeling and swimming in the turquoise waters of the islands, relaxing on white sand beaches, and taking in the French Polynesia culture were the highlights of this trip.  It is just unfortunate that HAL, which has a r long-standing reputation for immaculate ships, tarnished its reputation this cruise with the Maasdam, which is definitely in need of maintenance and repairs.

I'll start with the few positive things on the Maasdam...the food was very good. The ships galley presented a large variety of choices each day.  Chef Peter did an excellent job of being visible and providing tasty menu options.  The ports were enjoyable. The waiters and the crew were all very friendly... which on most cruise lines they generally are.

Now to the negatives... The ship is OLD.  The carpets are miss matched on all of the decks.  We had 8 days when the toilets didn't work.  The veranda deck during those 8 days smelled like a sewer and feces.  In our cabin the smells ranged from sewer gas, engine exhaust, varnish and unidentifiable odors.  We had to purchase air freshener to mask the stink. We also had to keep the veranda door open so we would have fresh air in our cabin.  This was all brought to the attention of the customer service department who always provide a sincere apology and then did nothing.  When a maintenance person was sent up to check on the odors he said there was nothing he could do about them and provided an excuse on what he thought they was coming from.  On the ship they were constantly varnishing, painting or chipping paint.  Which created strong odors all over the vessel.

We purchased a Spa Veranda Suite at a cost of $19K+.  When we got to the room it was dirty and there were hairs all over the bathroom.  The hair dryer was so sticky and grimy that I refused to use it.  It was replaced eventually.  The room amenities that were listed for a Spa Suite were not in the room when we arrived.  We had to notify housekeeping to provide them for us.  Some of the drawers were broken and would fall on the floor when opened.  

Tendering was a nightmare.   The first port of Hilo we waited for 3 hours to get on a tender.  In the port of Kona it was just as bad with a 2 hour wait to get on the tender leaving us only 3 hours of free time in this port.   The Captain did somewhat apologize and gave everyone one hour of free drinks.  During the wait time to get on a tender no reason was ever given as to why the wait was so long.   Trust me when I say...NO ONE was happy tendering.   Well, I take that back....maybe the people who are 4&5 stars who got all of the early tender tickets for themselves and their friends.

Here was our experience with the ships specialty restaurant called the "Pinnacle Grill".   The first time we went we ordered Halibut & Shrimp.  We had seen this demoed in the Culinary Arts Center.   It look delicious at that time.   When our Halibut arrived in the Pinnacle Grill it was dried out and salty.  They offered to replace it.  It was already late and we didn't want to wait for them to recook the fish and declined the offer.   We decided to give the Pinnacle another try.  Our second time was worse then the first experience.  I ordered a petite filet cooked medium rare.   It came out well done.  I sent it back.  The second filet came back raw.   They returned it to the kitchen and recooked the same piece of meat.   This time it was brought back dried out....plus all of our side dishes by now were cold.  We requested they bring us some new sides which they did.  After that, they never came back to ask if everything was okay.  Having been to other "Specialty Restaurants" on other cruise lines and had excellent food and service....my advice is save the $35/person cover charge for the Pinnacle Grill and get a good meal in one of the ports.   

We have cruised on RCCL, Celebrity, Viking and Azamara many times before.  This was our first time cruising on Holland America.   We definitely did not feel like welcomed "new" guests.   They did nothing extra to make us want to cruise with this line again.   We only selected this cruise because of the itinerary.  Had we known the ship was is such disrepair we wouldn't have gone this voyage.

Based on our experience with Holland America....we are not sure we would recommend this to fellow travelers.   Especially not traveling on the Maasdam until it has been refurbished or replaced.    

Sailed on the Holland America ship Maasdam on Feb 22 - March 24, 2017 on a 30 day South America cruise roundtrip from San Diego, Calif.  The first part of the ship was good but then we ran into a rain storm.  They were putting buckets all over to catch the leaks.  Had to be careful where you sat so you didn't get a wet bottom or rain splashing on you.  I did not care for many of the nightly entertainment.  I don't like to sit and listen to someone play the piano, the harp, or any other instrument for 45 minutes.  The comedians, ventriloquist, and some of the Holland America entertainers shows were good.  Out of all the shows we went to 5 or 6 of them.  The food was good and the dining room service was excellent.  The room stewards were excellent also.  This is the second 30 day cruise we have taken with Holland America and I would go again, just on a different ship.

This is the first cruise we have taken on Holland America. Our cruise consultant, Harry, was the best - very informative and helpful. He answered all of our questions and provided excellent customer service throughout the booking process. The best part of the trip was being able to visit Australia and New Zealand.  All of the ports had something to offer - we especially liked Napier - just beautiful.  The wildlife parks were a great joy - getting up close to the native animals- kangaroos, wallabies, koalas and some others.  We also enjoyed visiting the various wine regions throughout the voyage - we were able to purchase wine and even bring some home with us.  Learning about the Maori culture was also very interesting. We visited one of the Maori villages in one of the ports and saw some of the native dances.  The nightly entertainment onboard was very good. The Maasdam singers and dancers were very professional.  On one of the last days of our trip we were able to have a "meet the performers" session where they answered questions that we had and we were able to go behind the scenes backstage - very enjoyable. Meals onboard were good. We had dinner in the Pinnacle Grille one night and it was the best meal we had onboard.  There was an issue with  the wine packages we purchased -  we purchased a 5 bottle package and only ONE of the wines we requested was available. We kept being told the wine would be brought on at the next port but this did not happen. The wine steward did meet with us and several others who had the same issue. He allowed us to select other wines in place of what we could not get in our wine package. It was a little frustrating. Two days before we were to disambark, the air conditioning system on our floor went out. I called the front office and was told the problem was being worked on. However, at about 9 pm that night I called again and was told the proble, was fixed. The temperature in our cabin was 77 degrees and did not cool down overnight. It actually got hotter. The next morning I called again and was told the problem was "being worked on". I called several times again on that day and received the same response. Upon returning to our cabin later in that day, there was a workman in our cabin supposedly fixing the unit in the ceiling. However, when he was finished, the temperature kept rising and got up to 83 degrees. At that point I want to the front desk to complain since I was getting nowhere with phone calls. The cabin was extremely uncomfortable and I was told the supervisor was aware of the problem and was working on a concession for us. The next morning (the day we were getting off) we received a letter stating we would get a $250 credit for our inconvenience. The restaurant and wait staff were very good at their jobs. The ship is older and, I feel, in need of the care. Specifically, in the lower dining room one of the windows has a crack from top to bottom - it was not very comfoto see that crack. Shopping was just OK - nothing spectacular. It would have been nice to have more items of the local areas that we were sailing through to purchase onboard. The itinerary was wonderful but the ship needs some TLC. I would definitely recommend the itinerary. I absolutely recommend our cruise consultant. Thank you. 

Loved the staff on the ship. Everyone was friendly and they did an exceptional job accommodating some special requests and making up for a cabin issue we had (see cabin review). The service was truly beyond reproach! 

We were unable to make it until Akaroa (Christchurch) due to rough weather, so that was disappointing but probably not their fault (some other passengers questioned whether or not we really needed to cancel that port, or if they were just trying to save money, but we'll never know). 

By today's standards, the ship was a bit small, old, and unimpressive. However, it was clean, nice-looking enough, and easy to navigate around. Just not one of these mega huge, modern ships. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the on-board entertainment. With the exception of one or two great performers and/or activities, most of it was pretty poor. We went for the ports and excursions though so it wasn't too bad. It just made the at sea days a bit boring. 

Also, be aware that the reputation Holland America has for catering to an older crowd is very true. The average age on the ship was about 65-75. We were very much in the minority, being in our 40's. But again, we were there for the excursions and ports, so this wasn't a big issue for us. 

After a very tiring flight, we got on board and discovered a very well worn room.  There was no place to plug in our CPAPs for sleeping.  We had informed the cruise line that this was necessary.  Our cabin steward had to get an extension cord and tape it across the floor.  The bathtub was peeling and very difficult to get in and out of.  The crew was very nice and we enjoyed meeting so many interesting people.  The docking for the ship was far from the communities and required a bus ride or shuttle to get to anything.  We loved our tours and I particularly enjoyed going into the bush to see kangaroos and koalas.  For anyone planning to go, give yourself an extra day or two at the beginning of the cruise to be over jet lag by the actual departure day.

New Zealand is gorgeous and green this time of year, but still not hot (in fact, rather cool).  The highlight was cruising Milford Sound in Fjordland National Park.  Also loved the Te Papa museum in Wellington, Christchurch, and the Moeraki Boulders and Larnach Castle in Dunedin, Tasmania, and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

The food and waitstaff were wonderful. Excellent variety, presentation and taste.

The ports-of-call, optional excursions and at-sea days were exceptional and fun. The relatively small ship which had been re-furbished since our last trip on her was a very nice surprise.

I would absolutely recommend this cruise to anyone considering a relaxing vacation, needing a break from stress, and seeking an adventure!

My husband and I planned this trip about 9 months prior. We scheduled amazing excursions at most of the ports. At others we just walked the town and enjoyed the local restaurants, shopping, and people.

As for the ship, the Maasdam is a bit dated and shows it age in several places. The stateroom furniture is a bit worn and the paint layers are very thick! However, none of that mattered to us. We were there to relax and we did!!! We enjoyed room service for breakfast and the balcony for great views and moonlight!

The food was delicious everywhere on board. We were surprised by the scrumptious hamburgers served poolside! We sampled strange new adult beverages during happy hour in the Crows Nest. We were spoiled at dinner in the dining room by Heri, our server and his team.

Entertainment was delightful in a variety of areas and times on the ship. We walked around each evening to see what was happening, and we were never disappointed, with the exception of not winning the raffle at the jewelry counter!

Can't wait to plan our next adventure with Holland America!

One of our best cruises. The Maasdam is excellent with very good food, activities and crew.  The smaller passenger size is a definite plus as it was easy to find seating in the restaurants and shows with an very friendly ambiance and crew interactions. It has essentially all the amenities and public areas pluses of a larger ship but is easier to reach and has a higher comfort level relative to crowing and noise due to the smaller to mid-size of the ship.

A pleasant cruise . Food and dining good . excursions not memorable. Recommendation that people check other websites before booking excursions . Ask HAL.to have a representative check excursions before listing as booking options 

Our crossing was very smooth and we have been to most ports of call. It was a litlle cool from Seattle to Hawaii, then it starting getting very nice. We loved the small islands and snorkeling in Kona,Noumea, and Hamilton Island (Great Barrier Reef). The Komodo Dragons were very cool see. We enjoyed the history and the other wild life including Jumping Crockodiles, Kangaroos, and Koalas. If you like that kind of adventure, we recommend this trip.

THE ENTERTAINMENT WAS REALLY VERY GOOD! 

The classes at the gym helped us not gain so much weight! 

OUR FAVORITE PART WAS THE PEOPLE WE MET, the dining experience was wonderful also. Everyone was so helpful and personable. the ship was kept VERY CLEAN! 

My absolute favorite part of the cruise was the three massages I had by Lisa in the spa. When the dining room steward arranged for Panama rolls to be delivered to our room (twice!) I was in love. 

When the carpet was replaced in our hallway during the night, we got little sleep. The fuel fumes in the back of the boat were also nauseating. 

We particularly enjoyed the ports and views of the glaciers. The service was wonderful and we had a lot of confidence in the captain to get us through one day of really rough seas. However, we didn't realize that Holland America catered to the older senior crowd who weren't very outgoing or friendly. The entertainment and activities were also geared to their interests and tastes. I realize that Carnival caters to the younger crowd, but I the young rowdy crowd is not fun either. I think the people who are now in their sixties will be the new target market for Holland America real soon so they might look into finding more energetic entertainment and entertainment.

The Maasdam was  very comfortable  and nicely maintained even though it is an older ship.  The staff were superb in every way - very friendly and responsive to any request.  The ports of call each offered a variety of shore excursions.

Where to begin? The staff of the Maasdam is beyond expectation. Room Steward Koko literally serviced our room at least 4 times a day, I swear he could hear a towel drop from the shower and was there to replace it in a heartbeat. He also taught us something, the ship has laundry service, $20 a bag, however, something that is on the laundry order sheet is "unlimited". Now think about this, for $98, we (wife andmyself) had laundry done, sometimes two times a day, washed, dried, folded or placed on hangers and back in our room in as little as 5 hours. The only laundry we came home with, was the items we were wearing!

Food in main dining room was very good, plenty of selections, and second and third portions were readily available (especially on Lobster night). The buffet in Lido was above our expectations. We had read and read about how your food is dowled out by the staff, and it is, however if you want twice as much, or a FULL plate of something, simply ask, there are no limits and plenty of smiles.

Swimming on the ship (remember this is Alaska) was available in the Lido pool, but rarely used. The outdoor pool, as far as I know was not used other than for the "polar bear challenge".

Not one day went by that we did not receive "mail" from the front desk, the communications were out of this world, they kept us abreast of everything you ould coneive of. Embarkation was a breeze, and debarkation was almost as easy. We suggest strongly, that cruizers take advantage of the Luggage Direct program. Read carefully: $19.95 for two pieces of luggage, NO WEIGHT RESTRICTIONS, taken from your stateroom door, and on the carousel waiting for you when your flight lands. My personal bag weighed 81 pounds when I weighed it at home, and I paid the airline not one nickel.

Our experience aboard this "old lady" was wonderful, the median age must have been close to 65 or higher, few if any kids. Would choose this ship again, if I find the right itinerary.

A 14 day out of Seattle will attract us every time. Holland America has wonderful crews and customer service. The ports included on this particular trip are very nice, of course some better than others. Would do it again.