First-time cruiser's "surprises" on Zuiderdam to Alaska

DW, DS (15), and I just returned from the Zuiderdam's 7-day round-trip through the Inside Passage. Thanks almost entirely to CC's forums, we were much better prepared than we otherwise would have been. Thanks to all here for that! There isn't much in this post for the "old-timers", but perhaps some novices might learn from our experience.

The first surprise we encountered was seeing some of the railing being varnished even before boarding began. Some areas still need it, but at least HAL recognizes that and seems to be addressing it.

We had booked an SZ cabin which appears to be slightly larger than the SS cabins due to being at a "bend" in the ship. That allows a little more room on the balcony with a bit of a wider view as well as a nice corner just inside the balcony door to sit and enjoy the view. We discovered that when we watching from our balcony for whales (which we saw many), if one person sat at each end of the balcony, we could view a lot of area without either one having to turn their head to scan the water.

We loved the balcony, but we were very disappointed at the height of the railing. If seated, the railing was just at the right height to block one's view much of the time. And the smoked plexiglass below the railing wasn't ideal for an Alaskan cruise IMHO. I'm certain that the railing must be placed at that height for safety, but what ended up happening (at least on our balcony) was that DW and DS would sit on the back of the chairs (with feet on the seat) to gain a better viewpoint. That was hardly safe, and I would have not allowed DS to do that had his mother not been doing it first. And I was not about to ruin a very pleasant cruise by giving her a safety lecture!

We did not spend much time in the Crow's Nest, but it appeared to me that the angle in the windows was much like the balcony railing in that it appeared to be at a position which lessened the view dramatically.

Early in the cruise, we noticed an odor in the hallway on one of the lower decks (don't recall which) that was likely due to a plumbing problem. We never noticed another odor issue until the last sea day when we noticed one well aft of our cabin on Deck 6. By evening it was noticeable in the hallway outside our cabin. The next morning it was gone. We never heard any complaints from other passengers about plumbing issues or the odor though.

Having never cruised, we were unprepared for how the toilets worked. Apparently they are flushed electronically. And they do not flush at the push of the switch--at least ours didn't. It took several pushes, and not always the same number, to get it to flush. I could not figure out the pattern and felt like one of B.F. Skinner's rats or a gambler at a cold slot machine. But it always flushed--at least until it didn't one morning. DW called to report it, and a few minutes later we heard it flush while none of us were in the bathroom. No staff came to the cabin, and we never had another issue with it.

On the first sea day we noticed that one of the pools had been drained and the crew was scrubbing away inside it. I have no idea if that was routine or due to an issue. Frankly, I did not want to know, so I never asked.

We had requested open seating for dinner, and that was confirmed on every contact I had with HAL--until we were issued our key cards which had us assigned to a table for the 7:45pm seating. We decided to just try it the first night and if we weren't satisfied with the arrangement, we would complain and ask to have us assigned open seating as we had requested and seemingly been confirmed for. However, we enjoyed the table and other passengers there, so we were happy with the outcome. We mentioned that at breakfast one morning to our tablemates who said they experienced the same thing and handled it exactly as we did.

We took the Tracy Arm excursion which boarded from the Zuiderdam during a service call in Tracy Arm. When the excursion boat took us to meet the Zuiderdam in Juneau, we found out the Z was not docked but was tendering passengers! The tendering was not mentioned on our itinerary, and we did not find it terribly inconvenient, but it was definitely a surprise.

The biggest, and most pleasant, surprise was what DS found. Like many other posters on CC, we wondered if he would be "lonely" and bored while on-board. He "pooh-poohed" all suggestions we had made prior to boarding about at least checking out The Loft area for teens. Within a couple of hours of boarding he had met a few teens traveling with a large family get-together, but he was still resistant to checking out the Loft. After going to dinner with us, he was bored enough to go see what was happening. He returned in less than 5 minutes to get a swim suit to go to the pool and hot tub with some kids me had just met at the Loft. After that, he spent every spare minute on-board hanging out with the same group which grew from a core of about 8 to about 20 teens. In fact, we had to place a curfew on him so he could wake up early enough to enjoy our excursions. On the last two days we lifted the curfew, and on the last night he came in at 3:30am! He had an absolute blast on the ship as well as off.

Overall, we were quite happy with HAL. As first-time cruisers we have no basis for comparison to other lines, but we definitely would not hesitate to cruise with HAL or on the Zuiderdam again.

So glad you liked cruising and could point out the positives as well as the things that need improvement. So, where is your next cruise to & when?

So glad you liked cruising and could point out the positives as well as the things that need improvement. So, where is your next cruise to & when?

LOL! This one hasn't seemed to end yet! We were bushed last night but downloaded our pictures and re-lived the trip again knowing that we'd pay the price this morning.

But, seriously, we discussed this a couple of times already. It seems we are much more interested in the destination than the cruise experience per se. However, we agreed that cruising enhanced the travel beyond what we expected and far beyond what we would have otherwise experienced. We'll definitely have to research destinations, but the Mediterranean seems appealing. We also want to research re-positioning cruises after hearing a few people on our cruise discussing them.

DW, DS (15), and I just returned from the Zuiderdam's 7-day round-trip through the Inside Passage. Thanks almost entirely to CC's forums, we were much better prepared than we otherwise would have been. Thanks to all here for that! There isn't much in this post for the "old-timers", but perhaps some novices might learn from our experience.

 

The first surprise we encountered was seeing some of the railing being varnished even before boarding began. Some areas still need it, but at least HAL recognizes that and seems to be addressing it.

 

We had booked an SZ cabin which appears to be slightly larger than the SS cabins due to being at a "bend" in the ship. That allows a little more room on the balcony with a bit of a wider view as well as a nice corner just inside the balcony door to sit and enjoy the view. We discovered that when we watching from our balcony for whales (which we saw many), if one person sat at each end of the balcony, we could view a lot of area without either one having to turn their head to scan the water.

 

We loved the balcony, but we were very disappointed at the height of the railing. If seated, the railing was just at the right height to block one's view much of the time. And the smoked plexiglass below the railing wasn't ideal for an Alaskan cruise IMHO. I'm certain that the railing must be placed at that height for safety, but what ended up happening (at least on our balcony) was that DW and DS would sit on the back of the chairs (with feet on the seat) to gain a better viewpoint. That was hardly safe, and I would have not allowed DS to do that had his mother not been doing it first. And I was not about to ruin a very pleasant cruise by giving her a safety lecture!

 

We did not spend much time in the Crow's Nest, but it appeared to me that the angle in the windows was much like the balcony railing in that it appeared to be at a position which lessened the view dramatically.

 

Early in the cruise, we noticed an odor in the hallway on one of the lower decks (don't recall which) that was likely due to a plumbing problem. We never noticed another odor issue until the last sea day when we noticed one well aft of our cabin on Deck 6. By evening it was noticeable in the hallway outside our cabin. The next morning it was gone. We never heard any complaints from other passengers about plumbing issues or the odor though.

 

Having never cruised, we were unprepared for how the toilets worked. Apparently they are flushed electronically. And they do not flush at the push of the switch--at least ours didn't. It took several pushes, and not always the same number, to get it to flush. I could not figure out the pattern and felt like one of B.F. Skinner's rats or a gambler at a cold slot machine. But it always flushed--at least until it didn't one morning. DW called to report it, and a few minutes later we heard it flush while none of us were in the bathroom. No staff came to the cabin, and we never had another issue with it.

 

On the first sea day we noticed that one of the pools had been drained and the crew was scrubbing away inside it. I have no idea if that was routine or due to an issue. Frankly, I did not want to know, so I never asked.

 

We had requested open seating for dinner, and that was confirmed on every contact I had with HAL--until we were issued our key cards which had us assigned to a table for the 7:45pm seating. We decided to just try it the first night and if we weren't satisfied with the arrangement, we would complain and ask to have us assigned open seating as we had requested and seemingly been confirmed for. However, we enjoyed the table and other passengers there, so we were happy with the outcome. We mentioned that at breakfast one morning to our tablemates who said they experienced the same thing and handled it exactly as we did.

 

We took the Tracy Arm excursion which boarded from the Zuiderdam during a service call in Tracy Arm. When the excursion boat took us to meet the Zuiderdam in Juneau, we found out the Z was not docked but was tendering passengers! The tendering was not mentioned on our itinerary, and we did not find it terribly inconvenient, but it was definitely a surprise.

 

The biggest, and most pleasant, surprise was what DS found. Like many other posters on CC, we wondered if he would be "lonely" and bored while on-board. He "pooh-poohed" all suggestions we had made prior to boarding about at least checking out The Loft area for teens. Within a couple of hours of boarding he had met a few teens traveling with a large family get-together, but he was still resistant to checking out the Loft. After going to dinner with us, he was bored enough to go see what was happening. He returned in less than 5 minutes to get a swim suit to go to the pool and hot tub with some kids me had just met at the Loft. After that, he spent every spare minute on-board hanging out with the same group which grew from a core of about 8 to about 20 teens. In fact, we had to place a curfew on him so he could wake up early enough to enjoy our excursions. On the last two days we lifted the curfew, and on the last night he came in at 3:30am! He had an absolute blast on the ship as well as off.

 

Overall, we were quite happy with HAL. As first-time cruisers we have no basis for comparison to other lines, but we definitely would not hesitate to cruise with HAL or on the Zuiderdam again.

Aww, this post makes me nostalgic for the Zuidy! Was Capt. Timmers still Master?

P.S. I do not think you will find balcony railings at any significantly different height on any ship, any line. As for the smoky glass, we did not have any trouble with it, but then, we were sailing the Caribbean.)

Thanks for a great post!

P.S. I do not think you will find balcony railings at any significantly different height on any ship, any line.

I was thinking the same thing. They are the same on every ship I've been on, on several lines.

Aww, this post makes me nostalgic for the Zuidy! Was Capt. Timmers still Master?

 

P.S. I do not think you will find balcony railings at any significantly different height on any ship, any line. As for the smoky glass, we did not have any trouble with it, but then, we were sailing the Caribbean.)

 

Thanks for a great post!

I was thinking the same thing. They are the same on every ship I've been on, on several lines.

I believe the height is regulated. Because of several incidents over the last few years some people have been pushing to make them higher.

:D Great review!! Welcome to the world of cruising!!!

Very nice review. The Zuiderdam was our first HAL ship. We were told (about the flushing problem) that when you push the button isn't necessarily when the toilet will flush. Because of pressure problems, pushing the button just puts your toilet into a "waiting mode" until the pressure is adequate to flush, and then it will flush. Most of the time, when you push the button, it worked fine, but not always. It seemed to happen a lot during those times that many people were most likely to be using the toilet (mornings, before dinner, after the shows, etc).

I didn't recall that the plexiglass was smoked, so I had to go back and look at my pictures. :D

Thanks so much for your review. I always really enjoy reading a new cruiser's view on their first cruise.

Yup, those toilets can be a bit finicky.

So happy you and your family enjoyed your cruise so much.

Welcome back. :)

Isn't it great when the kids enjoy it, too? Our son was 17 and 18 on the first 2 cruises we took him on and he found the right gang to hang with as well. Sure took some pressure off. And they were "good kids" - we did not worry. :)

Aww, this post makes me nostalgic for the Zuidy! Was Capt. Timmers still Master?

 

P.S. I do not think you will find balcony railings at any significantly different height on any ship, any line. As for the smoky glass, we did not have any trouble with it, but then, we were sailing the Caribbean.)

 

Thanks for a great post!

I'm sorry, but I can't recall who the Master was although Timmers does seem to ring a bell (no pun intended). The copy of the ship's "log" that was distributed was one of the few pieces of paper I considered keeping but decided it would end up misplaced in a forgotten location as most souvenirs do.

I felt certain the height of the railings was regulated or based upon some safety requirements rather than being arbitrary. I really didn't even have any thoughts such as "it would have been so much better if they had placed them ..." It was just a disappointment that the railing frequently blocked a view of the shoreline or hampered our search for whales. But, like everything else we found on the entire trip, if it wasn't perfect, there was always an acceptable "work-around". If something was worth seeing from the balcony, it was certainly worth leaning forward or standing up for a few minutes if it couldn't be seen from my seat!

And I'm sure the smoked glass is far preferable for cruises in warmer climates. It is almost certainly the better all-around choice. Clear would undoubtedly be brutal with the reflections from the water on tropical cruises and may even allow too much glare for many on an Alaskan cruise.

Isn't it great when the kids enjoy it, too? Our son was 17 and 18 on the first 2 cruises we took him on and he found the right gang to hang with as well. Sure took some pressure off. And they were "good kids" - we did not worry. :)

It certainly is! We knew he'd have a good time even if he "had" to hang out with us the entire time. He assured us the first night that they were "good kids" and we (ok, I) questioned how he knew. After the first night passed and we received no complaints from the staff, we relaxed and figured he was probably right. Every night that he didn't attend dinner in the MDR with us, our tablemates asked about him. And when we explained what he was doing instead, we could almost tell that they wished they were that age again--as we did at times :D

Great review, very even. Did you get pictures of your cabin? Is so would you consider posting them, it would be really helpful. We will possibly be sailing on HAL for the first time, and your cabin happens to be the one we are thinking about getting. How were your butler and Concierge, I know what they do on NCL, but haven't found any description of their services for HAL suites?

Enough questions from me, your review was very helpful.

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a wonderful Alaskan cruise and your son found teens that he was able to hang out with.

Great review, very even. Did you get pictures of your cabin? Is so would you consider posting them, it would be really helpful. We will possibly be sailing on HAL for the first time, and your cabin happens to be the one we are thinking about getting. How were your butler and Concierge, I know what they do on NCL, but haven't found any description of their services for HAL suites?

 

Enough questions from me, your review was very helpful.

Sorry, no pictures of the cabin. Don't even ask how we came home with 676 pics but none of the cabin. I'll try to address what my concerns were before we sailed as some may be similar to yours.

There seems to be some extra floor space due to the small triangle-shaped area in the bend by the door to the balcony. We found this to be a perfect place to sit to view the scenery through the door or to have our room-service meals on the coffee table. That area is at the head of the sofa-bed.

The balcony definitely has more linear footage than the SS suites and was quite roomy for the four chairs, one large table, and one small table. As noted, there is a wider viewing angle from this balcony than from adjacent ones. I expected there to be little (or at least less) wind on this balcony while sailing than on adjacent balconies. Now I am not convinced that this is the case. There were spots on the balcony that were definitely less exposed to the wind than others, but these locations seemed to change from time to time--probably due to differences in the wind direction, ship's speed, etc. There seemed almost always to be at least one seating position more protected from the wind than others, but it was not always the same spot. The balcony was not protected from cigarette smoke from other balconies if that is a concern. We never found it to be overwhelming or obnoxious, but it was definitely noticeable as coming from at least two different balconies.

Viewing from this balcony on our trip proved to be a real asset as we saw numerous whales from it. The wider angle allowed us sometimes to spot one farther in front of us than would have been possible from an adjacent balcony (without leaning over the rail), and there was one particular instance where a couple of whales stayed just out of the wake of the ship as we passed and we were able to continue to watch them after passengers aft of us (on all decks with balconies) had long abandoned their viewing. We were undoubtedly very lucky in our timing, and I considered this a rare bonus.

Your questions about the butler and concierge are best asked of more experienced cruisers than I. The SZ suite comes with "phone concierge" service rather than full concierge service, and your inquiring about butler rather than steward makes me wonder if you may not be asking about the penthouse suite which was directly above us on Deck 7. IIRC, we only called the concierge once. We were pretty low-maintenance and far more interested in the scenery and excursions than the amenities of the ship. The room stewards were fine. They were much what I expected from reading others' TRs. I don't have enough experience to know what some stewards do to garner rave reviews from some posters.

The bed was quite comfortable. DS found the sofa-bed to be comfortable, which was a pleasant surprise as I had read a relatively recent post about one of HAL's sofa-beds being extremely uncomfortable.

There were two electric outlets--one at each desk. We took an adapter with extra outlets but really didn't need it. The window above the desk is of little use except to allow extra light into the cabin.

The cabin was very quiet. We never heard noise from above, and only once heard voices from an adjacent cabin.

We figured there was some sort of "catch" to this cabin being slightly cheaper than an SS cabin, but if there is, we never noticed what it was.

Thank you for your quick response. The reason I asked about the butler is that on NCL in all suites we have a concierge, a butler, and a steward. I have not seen any mention of a butler (I am just starting looking into this) on HAL's website and figured that asking someone who had just cruised in a suite would be the fastest way. Thank you again for your quick answers, it answered all my questions.

DW, DS (15), and I just returned from the Zuiderdam's 7-day round-trip through the Inside Passage.

My wife and I are on the 8/31 sailing. This is our first HAL sailing and we were hesitant to book HAL because there seems to be a lot of complaints, but having traveled a lot, and read a lot of reviews on many topics, we concluded a long time ago that there are people who just habitually complain about everything.

 

We loved the balcony, but we were very disappointed at the height of the railing. If seated, the railing was just at the right height to block one's view much of the time. And the smoked plexiglass below the railing wasn't ideal for an Alaskan cruise IMHO. I'm certain that the railing must be placed at that height for safety,

You are correct about the height of the railing being a CG requirement, but that doesn't stop me from complaining about it incessantly every time we go out on our balcony. RCCL uses a deep blue tint on it's railing glass, and you can't see anything through it either.

Early in the cruise, we noticed an odor in the hallway on one of the lower decks (don't recall which) that was likely due to a plumbing problem.

This one, I'm a little scared of, as it seems to be a pretty consistent complaint, and my wife has a nose like a blood hound. If so, there are going to be quite a few crew members with huge holes in the side of their head, where she has knawed their ears off about this every single waking hour.

Having never cruised, we were unprepared for how the toilets worked. Apparently they are flushed electronically. And they do not flush at the push of the switch--at least ours didn't.

They are a vacuum system (line an airplane), but it is operated by the adjacent switch. Apparently, your had electrical problems.

 

We took the Tracy Arm excursion which boarded from the Zuiderdam during a service call in Tracy Arm. When the excursion boat took us to meet the Zuiderdam in Juneau, we found out the Z was not docked but was tendering passengers! The tendering was not mentioned on our itinerary, and we did not find it terribly inconvenient, but it was definitely a surprise.

If I had not seen it here, that would have definitely been a surprise for me too. I just always assumed that Juneau was a docking port. But as you said, no big deal.

 

Overall, we were quite happy with HAL. As first-time cruisers we have no basis for comparison to other lines, but we definitely would not hesitate to cruise with HAL or on the Zuiderdam again.

Always glad to hear of a happy cruiser. I'm sure we will enjoy HAL also, as we are not in that group of people who seems to always have expectations that cannot possibly be met.

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a nice review of your Zuiderdam cruise. Glad to hear you enjoyed your Alaskan cruise.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the cruise. It got me excited to try the ship in Sept.

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Always glad to hear of a happy cruiser. I'm sure we will enjoy HAL also, as we are not in that group of people who seems to always have expectations that cannot possibly be met.

I think you guys will have a great time. I wanted to respond to a couple of your comments inside the quote box.

The plexiglass on the railing is tinted but it is not so dark that it can not be seen through at all. It just isn't completely transparent. We never wore our sunglasses on the balcony, but the glass might seem opaque if you do.

Juneau was scheduled to be a docking port, but for some reason we were tendered. That was simply a very minor inconvenience to us, but it may have been frustrating for those with tight excursion schedules. I never heard why we were tendered rather than docked, and I wasn't concerned enough to ask.

Have a great cruise!

Wonderful post. We are on the Zuiderdam Sept. 21 for the second time, (5th to Alaska). Do they still put on the late desert spread around the Lido Pool?

Thanks,

JCH

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Great review! This will be our third time on this ship, but the first time we will be on her in Alaska. Always great to see a well balanced review. We will be sailing 8/31

Wonderful post. We are on the Zuiderdam Sept. 21 for the second time, (5th to Alaska). Do they still put on the late desert spread around the Lido Pool?

 

Thanks,

JCH

 

 

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DW and I were too stuffed from late dining to go exploring for food before breakfast. DS (who is my go-to expert on food at any hour) tells me everything poolside was shut down at 10pm but he never ate anything poolside so he doesn't know what was available before 10pm. Desserts were available in the Lido until 11:30pm. After that, it was coffee, tea, and water only.

Have a nice trip!

Thanks for sharing :)

We've had too many cabins with "delayed reaction" toilets to believe it was a switch or button problem in all of them. On more than one ship we have noticed that the delay (which ranged from a few seconds to several minutes) was much more likely to happen when the ship was in port. I speculate that the vacuum may be lower when the engines are just "idling" to produce electric power than when running at full speed under way. I've never questioned any ship engineer about that theory, though. :)