Come along with Judy and Pete on the Zuiderdam’s Canada & New England Cruise

Day 9, Sailing toward Port Canaveral, Florida, US

As we continued our journey south, the weather became nicer, with blue puffy clouds and calmer seas. It still wasn’t quite warm enough for us to take advantage of our larger than normal aft facing deck. We are in cabin 4176 which we selected some time ago since we have never been in one of these aft facing cabins and wanted to see what they are like. Here are a few observations about these cabins.

They appear to be slightly larger than others in the same category, but not significantly larger and certainly not enough of a difference to make this a factor is picking this cabin over something else. The decks are much larger and are completely exposed to the sun and sky above, which also means they are completely exposed to other guests looking down on your deck. This doesn’t bother us, but this is something to bear in mind so you don’t find yourself surprised when you look over your shoulder.

Being further aft means you are that much further from everything else, particularly the Vista Lounge and Casino which are at the other end of the ship. On the other hand you are closer to the Lido and the main dining rooms.

Neither of us are prone to seasickness, but I didn’t notice much more movement than elsewhere. The forward cabins seem to pitch up and down more than these aft cabins. The aft cabins tended to shimmy sideways more in heavier seas and you could occasionally pick up some of the vibration from the ships screws. We didn’t hear any noise from the dining rooms or promenade deck immediately below. The view aft was nice and is a different perspective than looking sideways since you can see the ships wake. Whether this is better or worse depends on your own personal preferences.

I found none of this particularly bothersome, but then neither of us are light sleepers or disturbed by noises and vibrations. YMMV of course. After spending years aboard USN aircraft carriers, often sleeping under catapults, this was very mild by comparison.

Would we get them again? Probably not. We prefer to be closer to the aft elevator/stairs and value that proximity more than the larger deck and the view aft.

The mariners appreciation luncheon was today which was for everyone at any level in the mariner program where everyone would receive a ship tile. Before the luncheon they held a medallion ceremony/reception in the Queens Lounge at 10:30 AM for all current medallion holders and they would also be awarding medallions to guests who reached new milestones in the medallion program. The mariner medallion program is not well publicized or promoted as much as the 1-5 star mariner program. The only place I was able to find the medallion program mentioned on the official HAL website was in the Mariner society FAQ.

Unlike the mariner star level program, the medallion program only recognizes and rewards actual cruising days – there isn’t any bonus credit for suites or spending as there is in the Mariner Star Program. While achieving greater star status gets you very specific perks, achieving a higher medallion station gets you nothing more than the commemorative medal itself and local recognition including invitations to these special parties. While not associated with a medallion, there is the Presidents Club which requires members to have 1400 pure cruise days and also be specifically invited. The invitation requirement weeds out people with many sea days but not as full fare guests e.g. lecturers, travel hosts and agents etc.

Here are the medallion award levels

100 days – Bronze

300 days – Silver

500 days – Gold

700 days – Platinum

1400 days – Presidents Club

While there aren’t any specific perks associated with the various medallion levels, there are many perks associated with Presidents Club Membership, including, but not limited to:

Annual Holiday Gift e.g. Waterford Crystal Vases

Invitations to special onboard parties

Escorted “Head of the line” tender service

You choice of flowers/beverages/wine etc every 2 weeks

Special seating and recognition at onboard events

Plus more – there isn’t a specific list publicly available, but these are the highlights I have heard of based on many postings here by various Presidents Club members.

The Holland America Mariner Program is well documented on the website. Here are the thresholds for the various levels.

1 Star – completion of first cruise

2 Star – 30 cruise day credits

3 Star – 75 cruise day credits

4 Star – 200 cruise day credits

5 Star – 500 cruise day credits

If you are in a suite you get double credit for each day sailed. You also get one cruise day credit for every $300 in onboard spend.

See the HAL website for the various perks at the various levels.

The medallion award ceremony took about 30 minutes after which we all filed out to the main dining room. Judy and I were fortunate to be seated at a table for 10 hosted by the Hotel Director.

The lunch menu provided 3 choices for an entrée: Beef ribs, Barramundi or Quiche in addition to a salad and desert. We both had the Barramundi which was very good.

Once we were seated, the Captain made a few remarks and introduced the employee of the month. During the course of the meal, they passed out the “New Design” Zuiderdam Tile for everyone to take with them. We had a wonderful time chatting with our table mates and learning more about their backgrounds and recent travels. One of our tablemates was recently on the Koningsdam so we all peppered her with questions about her experience to help fill in some of the details about how Koningsdam is shaking out in her first year.

After lunch Judy went back to class and I headed off to the Texas Hold’em table. No luck for me today, but I am still ahead in the casino for the cruise.

I wandered by the Queens Room at 3pm and noticed that the Zuiderdam dancers were teaching a class on the Salsa. Maybe they will be using the HAL dancers in lieu of the dance instructors everywhere.

Today was our second Gala night and we decided to enjoy a dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. While the surcharge is now $35, the menu hasn’t changed as far as we could tell. Judy had the Halibut while I enjoyed the 10 oz filet with the additional 5 oz lobster tail for an additional $10. The service and food were marvelous as you would expect and we enjoyed having a little more time to catch up with Rick, the PG Manager who we had come to know on this year’s world cruise.

The HAL Singers and Dancers were the headliners tonight in the Vista Lounge. They put on a marvelous show that highlighted their extraordinary talents. Lauren, one of the singers, had a chance to show off her dancing ability in a few of the numbers. We learned later that she is booked as a Singer/Dancer as opposed to only being a singer.

Another sea day awaits tomorrow.

Catching up -- again.

Wonderful reporting.

Your tours all sound wonderful.

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise with us! :)

Day 10, Sailing toward Port Canaveral, Florida, US

We were greeted this morning by a long wake extending toward the horizon as we continued our southerly track toward Port Canaveral. The seas continue to be smooth and the temperatures are warming up nicely. There is something special about staring into a ship’s wake as you sail across the seas, and the aft cabin makes it easy to enjoy this sight. Another advantage of the aft cabins is that there’s less wind on your deck as compared to a cabin along either side of the ship.

As is our custom, we enjoyed another hot room service breakfast in our cabin as we prepared for our last full day at sea.

Judy was off to her morning knitting class while I headed to the Vista Lounge where the HAL singers and dancers would be answering questions followed by a tour of the backstage areas.

All of the cast members briefly introduced themselves and then Cruise Director Linda opened the floor for questions. Someone opened with a question as to why they used such a bright strobe light in one of the shows and requested they stop using the light. Cruise Director Linda reminded everyone that the lighting is programmed as part of the show and that the singers and dancers don’t control that part of the show. Next.

We learned that this crew all arrived and will depart together and are in the middle of a 10 month contract! That is much longer that I am used to seeing for staff entertainers. The audience continued to ask interesting questions about their life aboard ship, how the audition process worked and what were some of the challenges of making costume changes so quickly. After 30 minutes of Q & A, we were given the opportunity to go backstage and see the two dressing rooms and the hallway where the cast says that most of the quick changes take place.

The members of the cast were spread out backstage and were easily available for one on one questions and discussions.

I met Judy during her class break in the Lido where we both chose the Fish and Chips. HAL’s fish and chips are always quite good and we usually get them when we see them on the menu.

I played my last Texas Hold’em tournament but didn’t make it into the money. I ended up in the money 3 times out of 8 chances – I’ll settle for that all day long. I was in number 3 in the Blackjack tournament at $3500, but with a cutoff of $4200 to make it into the finals I didn’t get a chance to play again.

In the afternoon I attended the Q & A session with the Captain, the staff Captain, the Chief Engineer and the Environmental Officer. In some cases, the Captain will make a brief presentation but today, after they were all introduced, they opened the floor for questions. We learned that during the height of the storm earlier in the cruise the ship experienced winds over 90 mph and 45 foot seas. The ship rode fairly well considering the extreme weather but we were glad to be able and leave that behind.

For dinner I had the Caribbean Pot Roast and I couldn’t resist getting a order of the spaghetti and meatballs which are always very good on HAL. Judy had the Black Pepper Baked Salmon Mignon which she enjoyed very much.

After dinner, I went to the cabin and decided to get to bed early and missed the show. Judy maintained her perfect attendance for every show where we have been on the ship.

Jesse Kazemek, the Beatles tribute performer and Nathaniel Rankin, the magician-juggler-mentalist, returned to the Vista Lounge for encore performances. Judy reported that their second performances were improvements on their first performances, which were quite good by themselves.

Great report.

You certainly were busy for a sea day.

Glad to see that your ship had a traditional Q&A session with the captain, etc.

I enjoy reading your review. Thanks.

Day 11, Port Canaveral, Florida

Today will be our last full day of the cruise as well as our final day in port. We usually prefer the final day to be a sea day since we can start packing throughout the day and we seem to be less rushed.

We arrived in Port Canaveral at 8 AM and would depart at 7 PM which would allow enough time for excursions to Disneyworld or the Kennedy Space Center. The weather was forecast to be beautiful with nice blue skies and temperatures in the 70’s. Port Canaveral has a large cruise terminal and is a homeport for Disney, Carnival, Norwegian, RCI and others.

Our plan was to rent a car and drive to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Hertz has a car rental agency next to the nearby Residence Inn, less than a mile away. The agency closes at 4pm but they accept after hour drop offs. HAL offered a tour to the KSC for $110 per person or $220 for the both of us. We were able to rent a car for $30 (including gasoline) and buy two tickets to the KSC for $53 per person – total cost - $146 including taxi fare back to the ship from the Hertz once we returned the car.

The cruise terminal is pretty big, so there was plenty of walking once we were off the ship. We noticed on our way a sign ready to divert people boarding ships to different lines for having an embarkation picture taken or not.

Once clear of the terminal we came across a few people selling van sized tours to the KSC. We didn’t inquire about the cost. There was a Hertz shuttle bus standing by which took us to the Hertz car rental agency. There was only one person working the counter. It took 15 minutes for us to get a car as the people in front of us all had various issues regarding credit or something, but we weren’t in any particular hurry and we were soon on are way to the Kennedy Space center, about 18 miles away or 25 minutes. The GPS built into our phone gave us great directions and we arrived at the KSC around 11:30.

We bought our tickets in advance on-line so we avoided the line once we arrived. The line wasn’t very long this time of year regardless but you could tell by the number of line barriers they had set up that the lines in the summer could get pretty long.

Once inside the KSC we headed over to the area where they were held the extra event called “Lunch with an Astronaut”. It cost an extra $23 pp which included a buffet lunch followed by a 20 minute presentation by an astronaut. Today’s astronaut was Bruce Melnick (Space shuttle missions STS 41 and STS 49). Every 4 days they seem to switch to a different Astronaut (The KSC website has a schedule of who is appearing when.) After his presentation he took questions and then we had a chance to take a photograph with Bruce. The KSC staff takes a picture with their camera, but they also take a picture with your camera as well which was nice. We enjoyed this event and recommend it for anyone visiting the KSC.

After the lunch we walked over to the “rocket garden” where they have every rocket on display that was used in the space program from Mercury through Apollo. The one rocket missing was the Saturn V moon rocket which is on display over near the launch control center a few miles away. We would visit this area as part of our tour later. Every hour or so, one of the KSC’s docents stands in the center of the “rocket garden” and takes about 15 minutes to describe the significance of each of the rockets on display.

Our next stop was out to the Apollo 8 Launch site at the Apollo/Saturn 5 Center. A bus leaves every 15 minutes and we didn’t have to wait for more than one bus. Once again, based on the available waiting area, these lines could get pretty long in the summer. The ride out to Apollo/Saturn 5 center takes about 10 minutes. Upon arriving we filed into a holding area which then opened up to the actual Apollo launch control center. We sat in a gallery overlooking the various positions and monitors which were used to control the launching of the Apollo rockets back in the 1960’s.

Once everyone was seated they started a 10 minute program that replays some of the news commentary from the time alongside some of the actual commentary and displays from inside the launch control center. After the countdown reaches zero and they show video of an Apollo launch, a large wall on the far side of the control center dramatically opens and the 5 rocket engines on the bottom of the mammoth Saturn 5 rocket come into view in the huge adjacent room.

The Saturn 5 rocket, over 360 feet long, is displayed horizontally and is separated into its 3 stages. This is an actual Saturn 5 rocket that was held in reserve as a rescue rocket, but fortunately never used, and then retired and is now on display. Surrounding the rocket are many displays from the various moon landings and in one area there is an actual moon rock that you can touch. This rock is quite smooth and is fairly unremarkable if you weren’t aware that it came from the moon.

We spent about 1 hour here wandering thru the various exhibits and completed our visit with sometime in the gift shop before we headed out to wait for a bus to take us back to the main KSC visitor center.

Back at the visitor center we chose to spend our last hour enjoying the Atlantis Experience instead of one of the IMAX movies or other exhibits.

After we entered the large Atlantis Experience building we walked up a ramp that took us up to the building’s third floor where we staged outside a theater. Once inside the theater we watched a 10 minute movie that gave some background on the Space Shuttle Program. After this movie finished, a large door opened and we went into another large theater to watch a movie that described and showed the launch of the Atlantis Space shuttle, which was the last space shuttle to fly in space.

When this movie ended another large set of doors open and we were now staring at the Atlantis space shuttle head on, in a 30 degree bank with the cargo doors open. The shuttle was not cleaned after its final mission. It still showed all of the burn marks and other minor damage the shuttle experienced during its final reentry.

The shuttle is suspended over an open area that is surrounded by a circular ramp that gradually returned us back to ground level. Along the ramp we passed various exhibits and memorabilia from the shuttle program. When we were one level above the ground we had an option to continue down the ramp and stairs or ride down a large plastic slide to simulate our “reentry” back to the ground floor. We took a pass and continued down the ramp.

Our final stop was the Space Shuttle Launch Experience which is a Disney style ride that simulates a Space Shuttle Launch. After an extensive safety brief and numerous warnings about how noisy and shaky the ride was going to be we entered the simulator which consisted of about 7 rows of seats roughly 8 across that sat in a simulated space shuttle cargo bay. We were strapped in like we were ready to go on one of those inverted roller coasters and then the simulator rotates backwards 90 degrees until we were flat on our back facing up. The countdown began and soon enough we were immersed in a sea of light and sound along with tremendous vibration simulating lifting off the launch pad. The back of our seat also inflates and moves to simulate the intense “g” forces associated with a shuttle launch. The ride took about 7 minutes, which was approximately the length of an actual shuttle launch. I found it interesting and worthwhile while Judy felt the intense vibrations jostled her too much and she probably wouldn’t do it again. There is an option to take part in the visual and sound part of the experience and bypass the jostling and tilting which is something to consider if you think you won’t like all the motion of the simulator.

We had a wonderful day here at the KSC, but with an all aboard of 6:30 we needed to leave by 5:30 to give us a little buffer as we headed back to the ship.

At 6 pm we arrived back at the Hertz car rental agency and after dropping off the car we used Uber to get a ride back to the ship, arriving back on board at 6:15pm.

Once back onboard we realized that the ship had been without power for the last hour or so. We didn’t need the elevator to get to our room and the ships emergency lighting in the passageways was sufficient to make our way around. About 15 minutes later power was restored and we were still scheduled to leave Port Canaveral at 7pm. Unfortunately, the power loss caused the ship’s navigation or control computer to crash which required them to reload the software and try to get everything working again. It took a couple of hours and a few phone calls back to the experts in Seattle to finally get the computers working correctly. The Captain kept us informed about the status and we finally pulled away from the terminal about 10 pm.

The Captain said that they would be going full speed throughout the night to make up time so we wouldn’t be late getting to Fort Lauderdale.

Since we missed our early fixed dinner seating, we ordered some room service hamburgers and continued packing in preparation for our debarkation tomorrow.

More pictures on the blog

Day 12, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

When we left Port Canaveral last night, about 3 hours late due to the computer problems caused by the power failure, the Captain said that they would be able to go faster during the night to still arrive at Fort Lauderdale on time at 7 AM.

I woke up about 6 AM and figured that I would be seeing the lights of Fort Lauderdale in the distance. No lights – still dark and nothing but sea as far as I could see. I opened my cabin door to see if my final bill was delivered – it wasn’t – but what I found in its place was a long letter from the Captain explaining that they had some engine troubles during the night and couldn’t go as fast as they had planned. Consequently, we would arrive 90 minutes late at 8:30 AM. The letter went on to explain that people who booked air thru HAL would have their flights automatically rebooked if there was a risk of them missing their flights. We planned to stay in Florida visiting our friend from the 2016 World Cruise so we weren’t worried about our arrival time. In fact, we always plan on leaving the ship as late as possible to avoid the lines and the crowds in the cruise terminal, so this delay had zero effect on our plans.

The letter also explained that people would get free internet if they needed to rebook their flights on their own.

About 7 AM the Captain made an announcement that repeated most of what was in the letter we had received at 6AM.

We had requested our room service breakfast be delivered at 8 am and sure enough, exactly on time, there was the knock on our door followed by the ever pleasant room service waiter delivering our food. Having a full room service breakfast delivered on disembarkation day is not offered on many cruise lines – Holland America is the only one that offers this that I am aware of, but there may be another one out there somewhere.

We arrived right at 8:30 AM and the ship started its disembarkation soon there after. While we were waiting, we watched this large container ship come pretty close to us as it made its turn in the channel before heading out to sea.

The other wonderful feature of Holland America is that there is no requirement to leave your cabin by 8:30 and then wander about the ship or wait in a common area until your scheduled disembarkation time. Some may think that this delays the availability of cabins for those waiting to start there cruise, but it doesn’t – cabins are typically available by 11:30 am. This is possible because most people choose to leave their cabins early, which gives the cabin stewards plenty of work until the late people leave around 10. After everyone is gone, they only have a few cabins left and the stewards can knock these out quickly.

We left the ship about 10 am and found our bags quickly in the now largely empty cruise terminal baggage claim area. We found a porter to help us with our bags and then headed off to the line for Customs and Immigration. Fort Lauderdale has a separate line for those people in the Global Entry Program. Unlike using Global Entry at airports, you must have your Global Entry ID card on hand in order to gain access to the line. We probably saved 30 minutes by being members of the Global Entry Program.

Right outside the cruise terminal plenty of taxis were queued up. We grabbed one to take us to the Avis Car Rental Agency located in the Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel very near the cruise port. After we arrived at the Avis agency, we discovered that Avis has a shuttle bus that picks up people from the cruise ship piers.

We were soon on our way up north to the Port San Lucie area where we would spend a lovely weekend visiting Susan, one of our tablemates from the 2016 World Cruise.

This wraps up our 12 day cruise on the ms Zuiderdam and we had a wonderful time. Holland America continues to be our favorite cruise line primarily because of the friendly crewmembers and consistent service. We are planning on going on the 2018 World Cruise and will probably take one or two more cruises before then.

Please check the “Subscribe” button on the blog so you don’t miss our next updates!

Happy Cruising.

Day 12, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

 

When we left Port Canaveral last night, about 3 hours late due to the computer problems caused by the power failure, the Captain said that they would be able to go faster during the night to still arrive at Fort Lauderdale on time at 7 AM.

 

I woke up about 6 AM and figured that I would be seeing the lights of Fort Lauderdale in the distance. No lights – still dark and nothing but sea as far as I could see. I opened my cabin door to see if my final bill was delivered – it wasn’t – but what I found in its place was a long letter from the Captain explaining that they had some engine troubles during the night and couldn’t go as fast as they had planned. Consequently, we would arrive 90 minutes late at 8:30 AM. The letter went on to explain that people who booked air thru HAL would have their flights automatically rebooked if there was a risk of them missing their flights. We planned to stay in Florida visiting our friend from the 2016 World Cruise so we weren’t worried about our arrival time. In fact, we always plan on leaving the ship as late as possible to avoid the lines and the crowds in the cruise terminal, so this delay had zero effect on our plans.

 

The letter also explained that people would get free internet if they needed to rebook their flights on their own.

 

About 7 AM the Captain made an announcement that repeated most of what was in the letter we had received at 6AM.

 

We had requested our room service breakfast be delivered at 8 am and sure enough, exactly on time, there was the knock on our door followed by the ever pleasant room service waiter delivering our food. Having a full room service breakfast delivered on disembarkation day is not offered on many cruise lines – Holland America is the only one that offers this that I am aware of, but there may be another one out there somewhere.

 

We arrived right at 8:30 AM and the ship started its disembarkation soon there after. While we were waiting, we watched this large container ship come pretty close to us as it made its turn in the channel before heading out to sea.

 

 

The other wonderful feature of Holland America is that there is no requirement to leave your cabin by 8:30 and then wander about the ship or wait in a common area until your scheduled disembarkation time. Some may think that this delays the availability of cabins for those waiting to start there cruise, but it doesn’t – cabins are typically available by 11:30 am. This is possible because most people choose to leave their cabins early, which gives the cabin stewards plenty of work until the late people leave around 10. After everyone is gone, they only have a few cabins left and the stewards can knock these out quickly.

 

We left the ship about 10 am and found our bags quickly in the now largely empty cruise terminal baggage claim area. We found a porter to help us with our bags and then headed off to the line for Customs and Immigration. Fort Lauderdale has a separate line for those people in the Global Entry Program. Unlike using Global Entry at airports, you must have your Global Entry ID card on hand in order to gain access to the line. We probably saved 30 minutes by being members of the Global Entry Program.

 

Right outside the cruise terminal plenty of taxis were queued up. We grabbed one to take us to the Avis Car Rental Agency located in the Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel very near the cruise port. After we arrived at the Avis agency, we discovered that Avis has a shuttle bus that picks up people from the cruise ship piers.

 

We were soon on our way up north to the Port San Lucie area where we would spend a lovely weekend visiting Susan, one of our tablemates from the 2016 World Cruise.

 

This wraps up our 12 day cruise on the ms Zuiderdam and we had a wonderful time. Holland America continues to be our favorite cruise line primarily because of the friendly crewmembers and consistent service. We are planning on going on the 2018 World Cruise and will probably take one or two more cruises before then.

 

Please check the “Subscribe” button on the blog so you don’t miss our next updates!

 

Happy Cruising.

Thank you for taking us along. We enjoyed this itinerary in 2012. Still waiting for our GE cards, hopefully, in time for our K-dam cruise in December.

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I was on this cruise as well. It was so nice to hear a nice review of it. So many people complained so much about the trip. It was one definitely one of my most memorable cruises, but I really had a great time.

Your cabin was just two over from my parents' on the back of the ship -- I recognized their cabin steward in your pictures. :)

Thanks for helping me re-live and remember the cruise. :)