Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com

Events at Sea by Oosterdam

Other
HAL
Ships:
Amsterdam (2000)
Maasdam (1994)
Noordam (2006)
Oosterdam (2003)
Prinsendam (1988)
Rotterdam (1997)
Ryndam (1994) Statendam (1993)
Veendam (1996)
Volendam (1999) Westerdam (2004) Zaandam (2000)
Zuiderdam (2002)



Click here for Illness Outbreaks by Oosterdam
Click here for Illness Outbreaks by Holland America Line
Click here for Environmental Events and Fines by Holland America Line (Carnival Corporation)
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The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns when viewed separately by ship.




Updated 1 June 07
dd/mm/yy
2007
Incident
25.5.07
From a passenger:  There was a small electrical fire on the cruise to Alaska. The fire alarm (which sounded eerily similar to the 'put on your lifevest and head for the lifeboats' alarm) went off shortly before midnight on May 21, 2007. There were three announcements over the public address system; the final one informing us that the fire was due to an air conditioning belt in the Vista dining lounge area. The cruiseproceeded as if nothing had happened.
Small fire
2.4.07
From a passenger: The hoisting mechanism for life boat 12 failed when attempting to stow the craft after using it as a tender in Cabo San Lucas.  The ship left the port at about 6PM, but at a much reduced speed until the crew was able to lash the boat to the Deck 3 railing. The Oosterdam made the next port Mazatlan on time and the hoist was repaired while in port. Life boat problems
24.1.07
A reader reports that the cruise scheduled for 21 April 07 ( 7-day Mexican Riviera from San Diego) has been canceled due to overhaul of machinery.  She writes: Trouble with this had been reported on your site BEFORE we booked the cruise, and we had our travel agent check with HAL ...  She was told the problem had been fixed.  It was to be our 55th anniversary celebration and we had reserved 3 cabins for ourselves and our sons and daughters-in-law.  We are devastated by the news as it is too late to have any choice on another cruise at the same time.  Our sons have already arranged the vacation time for the dates of that cruise.  We will get a full refund, as we're too old to try to scramble for new reservations with some cruise line, but our plans of spending time with our family have been completely wrecked thanks to HAL not being honest with us.
Cancelation
21 April 07
dd/mm/yy
2006 and earlier
Incident
14-21.10.06
From a passenger:  The broken Azipod was still not repaired so HAL gave all passengers a $ 25.00 credit as well as a glass of wine.  Calls at ports were shortened somewhat, especially Puerto Vallarta.  In a conversation with the Captain, he indicated the propulsion unit would not be repaired until April during the next haul out.  The ship was able to maintain 19 knots instead of the regular 23 or 24 knots.  Docking had to be tug assisted. Propulsion problems
8.10.06
A fire alarm went off at 6:00 AM as a result of a fire (or excessive smoke) in the engine room and affected one of the azipods.  The problem was put under control with injuries of difficulty, however one of the azipods was now disabled.  Because of reduced speeds the ship will sail a revised itinerary for the remianing cruise days, skipping Puerto Vallarta.  This is a seven day cruise from San Diego and the incident occured the first morning of the cruises.  The ship will return to San Diego one day early and passengers will be permitted to remain onboard.  Compensation included a $150 shipboard credit and future travel discount of 25% of the fare paid for this cruise.
Fire
10.4.05
Though airlifts from cruise ships are not uncommon, it is unusual that three passengers would be airlifted the same day.  That was the case in San Diego.
A 78-year-old man who fell and broke his hip and a 64-year-old woman with a tear in her esophagus (reportedly after walking through a glass door at an onboard  shop) were airlifted Saturday night; the following morning a 55-year-old woman suffering "severe internal pain" was airlifted from the Paradise.  These are reminders not to travel without adequate health insurance that will cover such emergencies.
Airlift ill pax
11.3.03
The first two voyages originally planned have been cancelled because the ship's delivery will be delayed.  The maiden voyage will now depart August 3 (instead of July 10)
Cancellation




Illness Outbreaks at Sea by Oosterdam

dd/mm/yy
Outbreaks
1.3.08
From a passenger: We just returned from a 7 day Baja cruise.  Two days into the cruise my fiance became very ill and was quarantined to the cabin for 48+ hours. It was the virus. Naturally this ruined the cruise for us which was an Air America  Progressive Radio cruise, with 400 others. I never could find out how many others were ill, but I believe several. We were offered $200 in ship credit for this disaster, which we refused, going all the way to the Hotel Manager. There were inadequate services in place to deal with this quarantine and I was forced to carry meal trays and clean the bathroom! Regular stewards were not allowed to attend us.
23.12.06
CBS in San Diego reports an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on the 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise ending today.  While the cruise line says there were 55 passengers and crew reporting ill, reports from passengers indicate the number was higher.  One says about room service, "So many people were sick, they stopped answering the phone."  Room service was taking as long as three hours for deliveries.
10.6.06
Messages from several passengers report there was a small outbreak on the Alaska cruise ending today in Seattle -- the numbers may have been less than 3% (i.e., less than 55).  According to one passenger: "...passengers and crew became sick (total of about 36 I heard) with a stomach virus. The ship began taking precautions against contamination beginning about Tuesday (salt and pepper shakers disappeared, some crew wore gloves and masks, they were spraying something around the ship, lots of Purell being offered, etc.), but other than warnings to wash your hands and not shake hands, Holland America did not tell us much of what was going on."


Illness
on
Other
HAL
Ships:
Amsterdam (2000)
Maasdam (1994)
Noordam (2006)
Oosterdam (2003)
Prinsendam (1988)
Rotterdam (1997)
Ryndam (1994) Statendam (1993)
Veendam (1996)
Volendam (1999) Westerdam (2004) Zaandam (2000)
Zuiderdam (2002)