Well… surprise surprise – HAL wins our business

[cruznbelle]

I can honestly say – I am amazed. I would never have guessed. I was so stressed about my decision to go with the Zuiderdam over New Year’s Eve to Panama Canal – I was sure I made a horrible mistake. Our preferred line is RCL. I spent hours second guessing myself after reading all the negative reviews of the ship, as well as my single past experience on the Maasdam in 2006. Add to that, when I booked, we had just returned from a weeklong cruise in a grand suite on the Allure – a ship I am in LOVE with – it is an experience in and of itself unlike any other. Until now, our single cruise experience on HAL was the Maasdam to NE/Canada in 2006 which was stellar in terms of suite concierge services (Rachel – I still remember her name), but we were ‘shaken to death’ on the ship and really did notice the skew towards a much older passenger demographic, and along with price, meant we shopped elsewhere. So for me to return back – was a stretch however Panama Canal was on the ‘bucket list’ and HAL had the best itinerary. But with all the consternation and second guessing myself, I have to say – the cruise on the Zuiderdam was top notch (rm #8147 for those who care). Again the suite experience was excellent, the ship was comfortable, the staff for the most part as good as we’ve seen, and most importantly we had a wonderful time. In fact our only big ding was HAL could learn a thing or two about embarkation / debarkation / going ashore – they actually are at the bottom racking of all our sailings, period – absolute worst. So imagine why I’m saying they have won our business… because in every other department – it was simply understated perfection. Does that mean it was flawless – no – does that mean they had the ‘best’ suite experience – no – it means that overall – they hit the mark and then some across all the areas we like to experience. Don’t get me wrong, I have every intention of cruising RCL at least once this year… but I am tickled pink to say I’ve already booked our 3rd trip to Alaska this summer on the Amsterdam for 14 days in July. And I’m not at all worried about demographics, getting on/off the ship, or lack of specialty restaurants – I feel confident that we will have as good a time as we did on the Zuiderdam. Big ships are fun – but there is definitely something to be said for a less ‘intensive’, smaller, high quality product which HAL delivered. I just had to take a moment to say – well done! We now have 2 cruise lines to call home.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your report.

Hope you will have as good a cruise on the Amsterdam.

[pam vessels]

I can honestly say – I am amazed. I would never have guessed. I was so stressed about my decision to go with the Zuiderdam over New Year’s Eve to Panama Canal – I was sure I made a horrible mistake. Our preferred line is RCL. I spent hours second guessing myself after reading all the negative reviews of the ship, as well as my single past experience on the Maasdam in 2006. Add to that, when I booked, we had just returned from a weeklong cruise in a grand suite on the Allure – a ship I am in LOVE with – it is an experience in and of itself unlike any other. Until now, our single cruise experience on HAL was the Maasdam to NE/Canada in 2006 which was stellar in terms of suite concierge services (Rachel – I still remember her name), but we were ‘shaken to death’ on the ship and really did notice the skew towards a much older passenger demographic, and along with price, meant we shopped elsewhere. So for me to return back – was a stretch however Panama Canal was on the ‘bucket list’ and HAL had the best itinerary. But with all the consternation and second guessing myself, I have to say – the cruise on the Zuiderdam was top notch (rm #8147 for those who care). Again the suite experience was excellent, the ship was comfortable, the staff for the most part as good as we’ve seen, and most importantly we had a wonderful time. In fact our only big ding was HAL could learn a thing or two about embarkation / debarkation / going ashore – they actually are at the bottom racking of all our sailings, period – absolute worst. So imagine why I’m saying they have won our business… because in every other department – it was simply understated perfection. Does that mean it was flawless – no – does that mean they had the ‘best’ suite experience – no – it means that overall – they hit the mark and then some across all the areas we like to experience. Don’t get me wrong, I have every intention of cruising RCL at least once this year… but I am tickled pink to say I’ve already booked our 3rd trip to Alaska this summer on the Amsterdam for 14 days in July. And I’m not at all worried about demographics, getting on/off the ship, or lack of specialty restaurants – I feel confident that we will have as good a time as we did on the Zuiderdam. Big ships are fun – but there is definitely something to be said for a less ‘intensive’, smaller, high quality product which HAL delivered. I just had to take a moment to say – well done! We now have 2 cruise lines to call home.

We have done the 14 day trip you have booked and it is wonderful. You will love it. We didn't have a suite but the outside cabin on Lower Prom. was great.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Thank you for your report.

 

[cruisinggranmama]

Thank you for your review. So glad to hear you had a good/great cruise.

 

We are so looking forward to crossing this off our "bucket list" too.

 

We leave for the Canal on 2/6 and are having some of the same misgivings after reading some reviews. Your review helps to bring my expectations back up.

[kazu]

So nice to hear that you enjoyed your cruise. We did the Panama on the Zuidie and really enjoyed the ship so I was disappointed to read the negative reviews. So glad everything was up to snuff. i think you will really enjoy the Amsterdam and Alaska. Thanks for your review:)

[gelo7]

Glad that it went well for you.

[josie724]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. When you are so worried about the decision and it turns out as positive as yours that's wonderful.

 

I have to say, it's refreshing to hear someone who can appreciate and like both the mega cruise ships as well as the more intimate ones. So many times I hear on these boards the bashing of the Mega Lines. Thank you for comparing the pros of each ship.

[awboater]

We're in kind of the same "boat", and I am glad you had a good experience.

 

After 11 cruises in the Caribbean on RCL (with at least one cruise on each class of ship), we have been a bit disappointed about their limited of ports-of-call in the Caribbean - at least for Florida departures.

 

Going to the same old islands time and time again has gotten a bit monotonous, and we were looking for something new.

 

So, for a last minute Christmas gift to ourselves, we decided to go on the Zuiderdam (Feb 2012), on the 11nt Panama Canal cruise. We went on RCL's Jewel OTS last March on a 11nt cruise with almost the same itinerary, but only stopped at Colon without actually going into the canal, so we wanted to try HAL's itinerary.

 

I am pretty excited about the Zuiderdam actually going into the canal, and visits to Curacao and Bonaire - neither of which the Jewel visited last year.

 

I am glad that you found your cruise on the Zuiderdam enjoyable compared to your RCL experience. Looking forward to a similar result ourselves.

[Winters in NZ]

We do a lot of last minute cruising, and we are always elated when we are able to snag a HAL ship. We have had some inconveniences such as a temporary malfunctioning toilet on an Alaskan cruise, but in spite of such minor annoyances, HAL remains our favourite....probably because of the Canaletto and the Pinnacle.

 

Great to hear that you enjoyed your HAL cruise.

[Boytjie]

Glad you had a good cruise on HAL! :)

 

I would be interested to hear more about what you did not like about HAL's embarkation/disembarkation/going ashore process. We have sailed mostly on HAL but I have not noticed much difference between it and the times we sailed on Cunard, Princess and NCL in this regard.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We had 8147 for our Hawaii cruise on the Oosterdam so totally know how great that cabin and location is :)

I am glad you had a great time. I agree with your assessment granted everything is not perfect but over all everything is just better ;)

You will love the Amsterdam and that itinerary to Alaska.

 

Some day I would like to just visit and spend the day on the Oasis or Allure but doubt I would want to spend a whole week. DH and I know what we like and have given RCCL a try 3 times now and it was just not our cup of tea so to speak. But that is why each cruise line is a bit different as well it should be. Everyone does not like the same things. Some like just HAL, while others will alternate between HAL and Princess or Celebrity. We really enjoyed Celebrity but like NCL better.

 

Glad that your Zuiderdam cruise was so much better than you were expecting. :)

[Winters in NZ]

 

Some day I would like to just visit and spend the day on the Oasis or Allure but doubt I would want to spend a whole week.

 

We were docked next to the Oasis in FLL, April 2010, while aboard the Costa Atlantica.

My jaw must have made a definite thud when hitting the deck rail as I stared in stunned amazement at this Gigantic Floating City...but I'm of the same view as you.

I am very curious to actually set foot aboard such a 'vessel'.

Some day, perhaps.

[Casino Player]

I can honestly say – I am amazed. I would never have guessed. I was so stressed about my decision to go with the Zuiderdam over New Year’s Eve to Panama Canal – I was sure I made a horrible mistake. Our preferred line is RCL. I spent hours second guessing myself after reading all the negative reviews of the ship, as well as my single past experience on the Maasdam in 2006. Add to that, when I booked, we had just returned from a weeklong cruise in a grand suite on the Allure – a ship I am in LOVE with – it is an experience in and of itself unlike any other. Until now, our single cruise experience on HAL was the Maasdam to NE/Canada in 2006 which was stellar in terms of suite concierge services (Rachel – I still remember her name), but we were ‘shaken to death’ on the ship and really did notice the skew towards a much older passenger demographic, and along with price, meant we shopped elsewhere. So for me to return back – was a stretch however Panama Canal was on the ‘bucket list’ and HAL had the best itinerary. But with all the consternation and second guessing myself, I have to say – the cruise on the Zuiderdam was top notch (rm #8147 for those who care). Again the suite experience was excellent, the ship was comfortable, the staff for the most part as good as we’ve seen, and most importantly we had a wonderful time. In fact our only big ding was HAL could learn a thing or two about embarkation / debarkation / going ashore – they actually are at the bottom racking of all our sailings, period – absolute worst. So imagine why I’m saying they have won our business… because in every other department – it was simply understated perfection. Does that mean it was flawless – no – does that mean they had the ‘best’ suite experience – no – it means that overall – they hit the mark and then some across all the areas we like to experience. Don’t get me wrong, I have every intention of cruising RCL at least once this year… but I am tickled pink to say I’ve already booked our 3rd trip to Alaska this summer on the Amsterdam for 14 days in July. And I’m not at all worried about demographics, getting on/off the ship, or lack of specialty restaurants – I feel confident that we will have as good a time as we did on the Zuiderdam. Big ships are fun – but there is definitely something to be said for a less ‘intensive’, smaller, high quality product which HAL delivered. I just had to take a moment to say – well done! We now have 2 cruise lines to call home.

 

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO bunnelc: Holland America seems to be committed to having medium sized ships and not go with the large ships. We have had bad experiences on a few cruise lines and doubt if we will be cruising with them in the near future. If the ship goes to where you want to go and you haven't had a bad experience with the cruise line then why not? Some of the cruise lines you haven't tried may surprise you with the product they deliver.

[SwissMyst]

There is a consideration now lurking in the back of many of our minds now after the Costa tragedy. Without any proof whatsoever to back up my conclusion other than also seeing the high level of competence in the "front of the house" on HAL cruises, I also have the perception the back of the house - from navigation to engineering is also spot on too.

 

I cannot imagine any HAL ship would be as reckless as it appeared the personal choices made on that ill-fated Costa cruise. And the only thing I have to go on is the front of the house on HAL ships for this assurance. So what you reported, even though not always perfect, appeared to instill a high degree of confidence and sense of competence that would reach up and down the ship and the cruise line itself.

 

Thank you for your report and happy you made the choice to try HAL again. She is solid and a bit staid from our own experience, but today that counts for a lot more than it used to.

[califgary]

We just did a 14day Panama on Statendam and we too were so pleasantly surprised at how much we loved being on the smaller ship - We enjoyed our trip so much we booked the same trip again this year!

[cmdchiefthom]

Bunnelc,

 

I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise aboard the Zuiderdam. We really love the Zui and the canal itinerary. We love it so much we're doing it again in March.;)

[cruznbelle]

Thanks everybody for all your comments! We really really had a great time. The canal was fascinating and we absolutely loved Curacao – I know we’ll go back to that island again. And we enjoyed the HAL product and ships staff – excellent overall – The staff was top notch (okay yes perhaps not the front desk) – from the bar tenders, the Pinnacle hostess, the Neptune staff, and I so enjoyed DJ Mario – his smile is infectious. We actually ate in the Pinnacle 5 times for dinner including Le Cirque plus the Indonesian lunch, Italian restaurant twice, did the ship’s tour (which the gift bag was a whooping bit better than the Allure’s). The ship’s tour was just done so superbly. The one officer let us see his own cabin with a nice living room/office. I really liked that as I always wondered about that. Then he and the tour director stayed and chatted with us all in the Ocean’s bar while we ate hors devours and had a drink on HAL – just a fascinating tour and well done experience. We’ll probably do it again if offered on the Amsterdam. DH loved the Pinnacle steaks so much he just ordered 6 bone-in Rib Eyes from Sterling Beef Co to the house - so much for dieting after I returned

 

In terms of embarkation - it was a bit chaotic - I am not a big fan of being put ahead of folks that are waiting in the lines just because we have a suite - I like having a clear cut suite line for check in and queue to the ship –it avoids all that 'cutting in' stares and comments from other pax. I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for a suite perk offered by the cruise line (just a pet peeve – this is why we never use our priority tender tickets – too unpleasant mostly). HAL did have a separate check-in area but it was over-full apparently so they directed us to the international line (non-US passports) so we could see an agent faster (direction was by attaching an “S” badge on us and pointing in the general direction with brief instructions of “go there” and thus we were slightly confused – did they understand we were US citizens? Did we hear them correctly? - it was obvious to them but not for us newbies). Then the HAL guy handing out health questionnaires was incredibly rude - we wrote this up in fact as it was over the top - and I'm a “water off my back” kind of person. Poor DH made the awful mistake of reaching for his form from a stack on the table while the guy was handing me mine. The guy bit his head off for not taking the one he was giving out – as in “There’s a reason I have these in my hand sir– that’s why I’m here. You are to take the sheet from me”. Geesh Louise! I was very surprised (and glad) DH didn’t respond back. The process was now starting to get on my last nerve – I’m usually laughing and giddy by now to see the ship. Plus I thought it strange to have an S badge put on so that HAL people working the crowds could usher us to the front of the queues.. didn't feel good - not that I wanted to wait mind you but it was an uncomfortable start. Again not a big deal - just a HUGE contrast from the Allure where the gal walked with us all the way from security to the counters, asking us if we’d sailed before… etc etc plus radioed ahead we were coming and there was no crowded queues as suites had their own queue lines – practically the fastest we’ve ever gotten on any ship.

 

Getting off at port: One small 2-person wide stair well on deck 2 mid-ship, with folks all crowding and pushing back to the guest relations counter from the stair well around the corner. Must be ship design but it's simply too small of a stair case to try to push 500-1000 people thru all at once... but hey we met some interesting people, exchanged cards with one couple (the guy works at same company as DH - go figure) and we managed to chat with the port shopping guy while we all waited in one big mass group to get off. No order to the exit at all. Plus of course one whole family got down the stairs without a key card for one of the kids… So Mom and family had to SQUEEZE up the stairs since there wasn’t any place for anyone to go to get out of their way. Nearly every day seemed like a problem of one sort or another – again – no biggie just a lot of go here – no go here.

 

Debarkation - not bad other than we do express walk off and there was a huge issue with folks not understanding that the queue to get off didn't include the luggage express people as they would be next after express walk-off. And the person making the announcement would only go half through the line leaving a big backup of folks still anticipating they will be called and not wanting to get out of line to allow folks that were express walk off - to walk off - that was weird - usually we just walk off with perhaps a pause here and there - this was a big queue with many in line that were not express walk-off with little direction from staff. Apparently debarkation was running a half an hour behind – which proceeded to be an hour behind from what we heard later from other folks at the airport. So why call folks down?.. it reminded me of years back when everyone was told to leave their staterooms - can you imagine if the mega ships did that? - oooo it'd be UGLY... Again it was surprising because you expect issues with 6k passengers – which we had NONE of this and you figure it’ll be easy peezy on a smaller ship – so opposite in this case.

 

Anyway - since I was asked to elaborate that was my experience - did it matter - no - now that I know what to expect - we'll be just fine. If it goes better next time – wonderful – if not - MEH – we’ll just roll with it. It takes a lot more than what’s listed above to impact us having a good time – we simply LOVE to cruise.

 

And for those worried about the ship, we wouldn’t hesitate to sail on the Zuiderdam again – in fact we came very very close to booking on her for an Alaska cruisetour because the penthouse is still open and cost 2k less than a SB on the Amsterdam – that was a tough call - since it has a hot tub on the balcony – I mean – hellooo – Alaska – hot tub – huge balcony – beautiful looking suite – but finally the explorer itinerary won out over all that. I’m happy and really wanted to let anyone stressing over sailing the Zuiderdam know that it was fine for us – not perfect in every detail – but no cruise is.

[Himself]

I am glad you enjoyed the Zuiderdam. I did the two week Amsterdam Cruise to Alaska and would book it again in a heartbeat. Enjoy it.