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Live frm Zuiderdam - Panama Canal partial transit

unfdoug

By unfdoug,
in Holland America Line

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isujim

isujim

Posted
Posted

Just a post of THANKS. This was very informative. We are taking our second HAL cruise this fall, the exact same itinerary. Really provided some great insight. Thanks for taking the time and effort to do this.

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justpack

justpack

Posted
Posted

thanks unfdoug for the great daily report. Can you please advise those of us sailing on her in a month or so about the condition of this ship, the food and the service. The latest reviews on cruise critic member reviews has this ship listed as tired and worn out. Your comments would be appreciated.

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O2B@C

O2B@C

Posted
Posted
Many thanks for the great feature on your Zuiderdam cruise, nice warm-up for our full transit, coming up in a couple of weeks.

 

I join in Alphen's, and everyone else's, thanks for this informative narrative.

 

And Alphen: Would you consider "paying it forward" by posting about your upcoming full transit? I'm doing that in October, and would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks! :D

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  • 4 weeks later...
froggy500

froggy500

Posted
Posted

Also took this cruise.

(P.S. Loved It!!!)

Here are my notes:

Holland America Zuiderdam

Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale

Panama Canal Cruise

3/19/2012-3/30/2012

 

The Ship

--------

The Zuiderdam is a larger Holland America ship. We had previously been on the Ryndam,

which was smaller and far more elegant; but this ship was very nice. We had an inside

cabin. It was one of the largest cabins I have ever had on a cruise ship. Apparently

all the inside cabins on the main deck (Deck 1) are very large; larger than the outside

cabins. The inside cabins on the other decks are much smaller.

 

The ship has a main pool area which can be enclosed due to weather considerations.

There is also a sizable aft pool. Both of these are on deck 9. Deck 9 also contains a

magnificent indoor "spa" pool, but you have to pay to use this one and the cost was

something like $175 per person for the cruise.

 

There are a number of eateries on the ship:

 

Vista Dining Room - The main dining room is a 2 story affair and is fairly large. Most

seating is typical ship with other guests. Food here was somewhat spotty - mostly it

was Very Very Very good, but there were some nights when it was a real clunker. Filet

(filet mignon?) was offered several times on the cruise, as well as prime rib. There

was a lobster night (yumm), which is something alot of cruise lines are stopping. But

there were three nights (out of 11) when I couldn't find a viable dish. Our tablemates

were Indian, and there was a very limited vegetarian selection offered. They were very

unhappy and ended up eating dinner in the Lido. Be aware that on an 11 night cruise

there were 3 formal nights. In general, desserts on the ship were mediocre, soups were

nothing special. Most of the times the mains and appetizers were delicious. Be aware

that you need to ask for American cocktail sauce if you want it on your shrimp - many

of the guests were not American. Also, they had a tendancy to drench their salads with dressing, so I started asking for it on the side. That solved the problem.

 

Timing on this ship is an issue. Apparently the food department doesn't communicate

very well with the entertainment staff. There were two shows (the first and last days

of the cruise) for which there was only one seating at 9:30PM. We had late seating in

the Vista Dining Room (7:45PM). Since there was only one show those 2 nights, the

Vista Lounge filled up very early. To get a seat you really needed to be there at

8:30PM; 9:00PM at the latest. If you go to the late seating in the Vista Dining Room

you will miss the show. This is also true of the special shows in the Queens Lounge -

the newlywed game and the talent show. If you want to see these shows either schedule dinner earlier, go to open seating in the Vista Dining Room (see the manager), or eat those nights at the Lido Restaurant.

 

Lido Restaurant - This is the ship's "buffet". However, food was served more cafeteria

style than buffet. You stood on line, told a server what you wanted, and they prepared

the food for you. Breakfast was WONDERFUL. Make sure you stop at the eggs benedict

station (they offer about 6 or 7 variants), and at the waffle station (OMG!!!!). If

you can eat after breakfast (and there were days I couldn't), lunch is served from

about 11:30AM to 2PM only. After that is afternoon "snack". My wife was upset because we were always missing lunch. I, on the other hand, was very happy with "snack". Snack consisted of - a full pasta bar (you order and they make it), a pizza station, a full salad bar, a sandwich bar where they made custom-order paninis (grilled) and wraps, and a dessert and ice cream station, Make sure you try the waffle cones. Just outside of the Lido was my favorite snack station, which they call the Pinnacle Grill.

There is a full hamburger and hotdog venue, which also offers a sausage du jour. There

is also a full mexican bar (make your own) with tacos, chips, fajita wraps, beef,

chicken, chille, melted cheese, frijoles, spanish rice, and all the trimmings -

jalopenos, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, etc., etc. I didn't see anybody starve. The

dinner menu in the Lido is very similar to the dinner menu in the Vista. It was just

served cafeteria style and more casual. Note that eating dinner at the Lido lets you

mix and match - you can have multiple mains (or anything else), with sauces and the

like which you didn't know were available at the Vista Restaurant.

 

Canaletto - In the evening they take a corner of the Lido and turn it into an Italian

venue. There is no charge for this, but you have to book early as it books out. The

food is good Italian fare, but nothing outstanding. However, the lasagna is excellent.

Make sure you try the Limoncello Creme for dessert - it is to die for.

 

Terrace Grill - There is a $25 upcharge for the grill. We did not use it as there was

plenty of good food elsewhere.

 

Bar-b-que - In case you get hungry there is a bar-b-que offered a couple of times on

the cruise. Make sure you try the salmon - it is out of this world.

 

Late night - There are also other assorted eat things, including a high tea (too sweet

for my tastes) and late night snacks. I don't know how people do this.

 

Entertainment - the entertainment on cruise ships is getting less and less. The main

room (Vista lounge) had three nights of the revues, where a ships troupe dances and

sings to canned music. Not my speed. There were four entertainer nights - a steel

drum band (repeated twice - we were in the Caribbean), a juggler, a magician, and an

impersonator/singer. These were all pretty good. There was one intro night and one

farewell night. Both of these only had one showing and they got packed. There was

also a night where the dining room staff put on a very late night show.

Other than that, shipboard entertainment was fairly scarce. There was a 3-piece jazz

group, a string quartet, a guitarist, and a pianist. That was it. The boat went to

sleep pretty early.

 

During the at-seas days, HAL offered their standard fare - free computer lectures

sponsored by Microsoft, culinary exhibitions, and assorted other stuff. This was very

good.

 

Ports

-----

Other people have posted more detailed info on ports of call. Here is my synopsis:

 

Half Moon Cay - This is HAL's private caribbean island (in the Bahamas). Most of the

ones I've been too have been pretty cheesy, but this one was actually quite nice. I

didn't do any of the activities out of here (we live in Florida), but it was an

enjoyable place nonetheless. There is a full bar-b-que on the island.

 

Aruba - This is more or less a typical Caribbean port. You've seen one you

've seen them all.

 

Bonaire - I didn't expect much here as this island is known for it's diving and not

much else, but was quite pleasantly surprised. The island reminded me of a lower-key

Key West - lots of little crafty shops run by real locals; not too touristy. There

were quite a few imports from Holland here (this is part of the Dutch Antilles.) This

was one of the best places to pick up souvenirs.

 

Curacao - I'm in love. I am Jewish and we pulled into port on a Shabbat. Curacao

boasts the oldest operating synagogue in the New World. Founded in the 1600's, the

"new" building was built in the early 1700's. We went to services there. They were

fairly strange - a polyglot of American reform with Sephardic and island traditions

built in. Afterwards we wandered about the downtown area. This has a much more

European feel to it, It was quite nice.

 

For those with a tendancy to get lost - it's about a 20 minute walk from the ship to

the synagogue. (Most of the shops are near the synagogue also - in the Punda

district.) When you get off the ship, bear right and walk along the waterfront. You

will get to a structure labelled "Rif Fort". Enter it (it's a little shopping plaza

with restaurants) and exit it on the other side. You should still be along the water,

with a bridge about a block in front of you. This is the pontoon bridge. Cross over

it and walk straight onto the main street. Most of the side-streets are pedestrian

only, and nothing is labelled. You want to walk to Columbusstraat (not labelled),

which is the third main walkway and hang a left. The synagogue is on the corner in a

large yellow building about 1 block down.

 

Panama Canal - My wife had this on her bucket list, so we had to go. It was

interesting, but not that interesting. We didn't take an excursion from here because I

had never been here before and didn't know what to expect. The port excursion people

did not give me a warm feeling either, because they said it was Panama - it is what it

is. The air conditioning on the buses may or may not work; you could get stuck in

traffic, this could happen; that could happen. We had mixed reviews from people who

came off the excursions. Some people had very good experiences; others said it was a

waste of money. The tours drop off at Gatlun lake and then pick up at Port Colon. You

do not want to go outside the port area - this is not a good neighborhood. The port

itself was sleasy enough for me.

 

Costa Rica - This is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen. It is lush

and tropical. We took a private tour up to the Veragua rain forest. The ride up was

terrible. It took about 1 1/2 hours and the last third was over unpaved roads.

However, once we got up there it was wonderful. There is about a 20 minute cable car

ride down into the rain forest, about a 20 minute walk thru the rain forest, and then

about a 20 minute cable car ride back up. We saw Tucans, monkeys, leaf-carrying ants,

and all sorts of other stuff. We had a wonderful guide thru the rain forest. When we

got back up they took us thru exhibits showing the native frogs, amphibians, snakes,

butterflies, and insects. It was quite a wonderful experience and SHOULD NOT BE

MISSED!!!!! For the more adventurous, there is zip-lining up there as well. Note that

admission to the park is $40 per person for groups of 10 or more, and $55 per person

for smaller groups. Admission was included in the price of the tour ($90 per person.)

On the way back down, our tour guide stopped at some places and brought out various

native herbs and plants for us to smell and look at. One of the more interesting

things was a plant which looked something like an orange coconut. He opened it up and

inside was a pod of very large seeds covered in an edible gook. They dry the gook off,

roast the beans, and grind them. And that's how you make chocolate. Afterwards they

took us for lunch to a restaurant in this really idyllic cove. You felt like you were

in paradise. The food was local fare and very interesting. Back in the port there

were vendors selling souvenirs. This was the best shopping of the entire trip. These

were all local people selling local crafts at very reasonable prices.

 

Pros and Cons

=============

1. The ship told everyone they had to attend the life boat drill right before the ship

left Florida. If you did not attend they threatened to make you disembark - Yeah!!!

 

2. They were very careful about the Norwalk Virus. Staff pestered you about using hand sanitizer at various places. All food at the buffet was served for the first 2 days of the cruise - Yeah!!!

 

3. There are no unlimited beverage cards anymore. It used to be you could buy a soda

card (for an exorbitant price) and you would have unlimited soda at certain venues on

the ship. They still sell a soda card, but it is only good for a certain number of

drinks. The same applies to coffee cards and the like. I never used these so I don't

care. However, I brought soda onboard the ship with me when I came.

 

4. Internet access is either: 75 cents/minute, $55 for 100 minutes, or $100 for 250

minutes. There are bonus minutes given out if you sign up on the first day. Support

for the internet is up on Deck 10 near the Crow's Nest. It is very spotty. There is a

schedule posted with different times on different days, but it's fairly limited. We

had the internet down a whole day on the cruise and were unable to get anybody to fix

the problem. Apparently the front desk has no way to get in contact with the support

person. Boo---

 

5. Due to the unreliability of infrastructure in Panama, and this business of starting

tours on the lake but then ending them at the Port, I would recommend that if you do

take a tour in Panama, you only take it through the ship. On our cruise one of the

tours was about an hour late and the ship waited for them.

Any activity to be done at Half Moon Cay must also be scheduled through the ship.

 

6. Holland America takes good care of their guests. When coming back to the ship from

the ports, there was usually someone there with a cold, wet, hand cloth and cold water.

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JYGresham

JYGresham

Posted
Posted
I join in Alphen's, and everyone else's, thanks for this informative narrative.

 

And Alphen: Would you consider "paying it forward" by posting about your upcoming full transit? I'm doing that in October, and would love to hear about your experiences. Thanks! :D

Me too!

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  • 2 weeks later...
jrzebird

jrzebird

Posted
Posted
Also took this cruise.

(P.S. Loved It!!!)

Here are my notes:

Holland America Zuiderdam

Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Lauderdale

Panama Canal Cruise

3/19/2012-3/30/2012

 

The Ship

--------

The Zuiderdam is a larger Holland America ship. We had previously been on the Ryndam,

which was smaller and far more elegant; but this ship was very nice. We had an inside

cabin. It was one of the largest cabins I have ever had on a cruise ship. Apparently

all the inside cabins on the main deck (Deck 1) are very large; larger than the outside

cabins. The inside cabins on the other decks are much smaller.

 

The ship has a main pool area which can be enclosed due to weather considerations.

There is also a sizable aft pool. Both of these are on deck 9. Deck 9 also contains a

magnificent indoor "spa" pool, but you have to pay to use this one and the cost was

something like $175 per person for the cruise.

 

There are a number of eateries on the ship:

 

Vista Dining Room - The main dining room is a 2 story affair and is fairly large. Most

seating is typical ship with other guests. Food here was somewhat spotty - mostly it

was Very Very Very good, but there were some nights when it was a real clunker. Filet

(filet mignon?) was offered several times on the cruise, as well as prime rib. There

was a lobster night (yumm), which is something alot of cruise lines are stopping. But

there were three nights (out of 11) when I couldn't find a viable dish. Our tablemates

were Indian, and there was a very limited vegetarian selection offered. They were very

unhappy and ended up eating dinner in the Lido. Be aware that on an 11 night cruise

there were 3 formal nights. In general, desserts on the ship were mediocre, soups were

nothing special. Most of the times the mains and appetizers were delicious. Be aware

that you need to ask for American cocktail sauce if you want it on your shrimp - many

of the guests were not American. Also, they had a tendancy to drench their salads with dressing, so I started asking for it on the side. That solved the problem.

 

Timing on this ship is an issue. Apparently the food department doesn't communicate

very well with the entertainment staff. There were two shows (the first and last days

of the cruise) for which there was only one seating at 9:30PM. We had late seating in

the Vista Dining Room (7:45PM). Since there was only one show those 2 nights, the

Vista Lounge filled up very early. To get a seat you really needed to be there at

8:30PM; 9:00PM at the latest. If you go to the late seating in the Vista Dining Room

you will miss the show. This is also true of the special shows in the Queens Lounge -

the newlywed game and the talent show. If you want to see these shows either schedule dinner earlier, go to open seating in the Vista Dining Room (see the manager), or eat those nights at the Lido Restaurant.

 

Lido Restaurant - This is the ship's "buffet". However, food was served more cafeteria

style than buffet. You stood on line, told a server what you wanted, and they prepared

the food for you. Breakfast was WONDERFUL. Make sure you stop at the eggs benedict

station (they offer about 6 or 7 variants), and at the waffle station (OMG!!!!). If

you can eat after breakfast (and there were days I couldn't), lunch is served from

about 11:30AM to 2PM only. After that is afternoon "snack". My wife was upset because we were always missing lunch. I, on the other hand, was very happy with "snack". Snack consisted of - a full pasta bar (you order and they make it), a pizza station, a full salad bar, a sandwich bar where they made custom-order paninis (grilled) and wraps, and a dessert and ice cream station, Make sure you try the waffle cones. Just outside of the Lido was my favorite snack station, which they call the Pinnacle Grill.

There is a full hamburger and hotdog venue, which also offers a sausage du jour. There

is also a full mexican bar (make your own) with tacos, chips, fajita wraps, beef,

chicken, chille, melted cheese, frijoles, spanish rice, and all the trimmings -

jalopenos, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, etc., etc. I didn't see anybody starve. The

dinner menu in the Lido is very similar to the dinner menu in the Vista. It was just

served cafeteria style and more casual. Note that eating dinner at the Lido lets you

mix and match - you can have multiple mains (or anything else), with sauces and the

like which you didn't know were available at the Vista Restaurant.

 

Canaletto - In the evening they take a corner of the Lido and turn it into an Italian

venue. There is no charge for this, but you have to book early as it books out. The

food is good Italian fare, but nothing outstanding. However, the lasagna is excellent.

Make sure you try the Limoncello Creme for dessert - it is to die for.

 

Terrace Grill - There is a $25 upcharge for the grill. We did not use it as there was

plenty of good food elsewhere.

 

Bar-b-que - In case you get hungry there is a bar-b-que offered a couple of times on

the cruise. Make sure you try the salmon - it is out of this world.

 

Late night - There are also other assorted eat things, including a high tea (too sweet

for my tastes) and late night snacks. I don't know how people do this.

 

Entertainment - the entertainment on cruise ships is getting less and less. The main

room (Vista lounge) had three nights of the revues, where a ships troupe dances and

sings to canned music. Not my speed. There were four entertainer nights - a steel

drum band (repeated twice - we were in the Caribbean), a juggler, a magician, and an

impersonator/singer. These were all pretty good. There was one intro night and one

farewell night. Both of these only had one showing and they got packed. There was

also a night where the dining room staff put on a very late night show.

Other than that, shipboard entertainment was fairly scarce. There was a 3-piece jazz

group, a string quartet, a guitarist, and a pianist. That was it. The boat went to

sleep pretty early.

 

During the at-seas days, HAL offered their standard fare - free computer lectures

sponsored by Microsoft, culinary exhibitions, and assorted other stuff. This was very

good.

 

Ports

-----

Other people have posted more detailed info on ports of call. Here is my synopsis:

 

Half Moon Cay - This is HAL's private caribbean island (in the Bahamas). Most of the

ones I've been too have been pretty cheesy, but this one was actually quite nice. I

didn't do any of the activities out of here (we live in Florida), but it was an

enjoyable place nonetheless. There is a full bar-b-que on the island.

 

Aruba - This is more or less a typical Caribbean port. You've seen one you

've seen them all.

 

Bonaire - I didn't expect much here as this island is known for it's diving and not

much else, but was quite pleasantly surprised. The island reminded me of a lower-key

Key West - lots of little crafty shops run by real locals; not too touristy. There

were quite a few imports from Holland here (this is part of the Dutch Antilles.) This

was one of the best places to pick up souvenirs.

 

Curacao - I'm in love. I am Jewish and we pulled into port on a Shabbat. Curacao

boasts the oldest operating synagogue in the New World. Founded in the 1600's, the

"new" building was built in the early 1700's. We went to services there. They were

fairly strange - a polyglot of American reform with Sephardic and island traditions

built in. Afterwards we wandered about the downtown area. This has a much more

European feel to it, It was quite nice.

 

For those with a tendancy to get lost - it's about a 20 minute walk from the ship to

the synagogue. (Most of the shops are near the synagogue also - in the Punda

district.) When you get off the ship, bear right and walk along the waterfront. You

will get to a structure labelled "Rif Fort". Enter it (it's a little shopping plaza

with restaurants) and exit it on the other side. You should still be along the water,

with a bridge about a block in front of you. This is the pontoon bridge. Cross over

it and walk straight onto the main street. Most of the side-streets are pedestrian

only, and nothing is labelled. You want to walk to Columbusstraat (not labelled),

which is the third main walkway and hang a left. The synagogue is on the corner in a

large yellow building about 1 block down.

 

Panama Canal - My wife had this on her bucket list, so we had to go. It was

interesting, but not that interesting. We didn't take an excursion from here because I

had never been here before and didn't know what to expect. The port excursion people

did not give me a warm feeling either, because they said it was Panama - it is what it

is. The air conditioning on the buses may or may not work; you could get stuck in

traffic, this could happen; that could happen. We had mixed reviews from people who

came off the excursions. Some people had very good experiences; others said it was a

waste of money. The tours drop off at Gatlun lake and then pick up at Port Colon. You

do not want to go outside the port area - this is not a good neighborhood. The port

itself was sleasy enough for me.

 

Costa Rica - This is one of the most beautiful countries I've ever seen. It is lush

and tropical. We took a private tour up to the Veragua rain forest. The ride up was

terrible. It took about 1 1/2 hours and the last third was over unpaved roads.

However, once we got up there it was wonderful. There is about a 20 minute cable car

ride down into the rain forest, about a 20 minute walk thru the rain forest, and then

about a 20 minute cable car ride back up. We saw Tucans, monkeys, leaf-carrying ants,

and all sorts of other stuff. We had a wonderful guide thru the rain forest. When we

got back up they took us thru exhibits showing the native frogs, amphibians, snakes,

butterflies, and insects. It was quite a wonderful experience and SHOULD NOT BE

MISSED!!!!! For the more adventurous, there is zip-lining up there as well. Note that

admission to the park is $40 per person for groups of 10 or more, and $55 per person

for smaller groups. Admission was included in the price of the tour ($90 per person.)

On the way back down, our tour guide stopped at some places and brought out various

native herbs and plants for us to smell and look at. One of the more interesting

things was a plant which looked something like an orange coconut. He opened it up and

inside was a pod of very large seeds covered in an edible gook. They dry the gook off,

roast the beans, and grind them. And that's how you make chocolate. Afterwards they

took us for lunch to a restaurant in this really idyllic cove. You felt like you were

in paradise. The food was local fare and very interesting. Back in the port there

were vendors selling souvenirs. This was the best shopping of the entire trip. These

were all local people selling local crafts at very reasonable prices.

 

Pros and Cons

=============

1. The ship told everyone they had to attend the life boat drill right before the ship

left Florida. If you did not attend they threatened to make you disembark - Yeah!!!

 

2. They were very careful about the Norwalk Virus. Staff pestered you about using hand sanitizer at various places. All food at the buffet was served for the first 2 days of the cruise - Yeah!!!

 

3. There are no unlimited beverage cards anymore. It used to be you could buy a soda

card (for an exorbitant price) and you would have unlimited soda at certain venues on

the ship. They still sell a soda card, but it is only good for a certain number of

drinks. The same applies to coffee cards and the like. I never used these so I don't

care. However, I brought soda onboard the ship with me when I came.

 

4. Internet access is either: 75 cents/minute, $55 for 100 minutes, or $100 for 250

minutes. There are bonus minutes given out if you sign up on the first day. Support

for the internet is up on Deck 10 near the Crow's Nest. It is very spotty. There is a

schedule posted with different times on different days, but it's fairly limited. We

had the internet down a whole day on the cruise and were unable to get anybody to fix

the problem. Apparently the front desk has no way to get in contact with the support

person. Boo---

 

5. Due to the unreliability of infrastructure in Panama, and this business of starting

tours on the lake but then ending them at the Port, I would recommend that if you do

take a tour in Panama, you only take it through the ship. On our cruise one of the

tours was about an hour late and the ship waited for them.

Any activity to be done at Half Moon Cay must also be scheduled through the ship.

 

6. Holland America takes good care of their guests. When coming back to the ship from

the ports, there was usually someone there with a cold, wet, hand cloth and cold water.

 

 

 

Froggy, you and I had some different experiences in several areas, but since this isn't our thread, I'll just limit this to a few things. First, you have no choice but take a HAL tour in Panama. They made that very clear on my cruise last week. Second, there were many vegetarian choices at dinner and lunch and anyone who is vegetarian can also make arrangements with the head waiter the day before for a special meal. In fact, they will sit with you and plan your menu if you wish. You can also mix and match your main courses, etc. in the main dining room. Just ask. As for unlimited soda or coffee cards, I don't think that ever existed. I've always paid XX dollars for XX number of drinks (soda/coffee) and when it was gone, it was gone.

 

 

Anyway, these are just my experiences from my cruise, which ended 2 days ago.

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