Home from the Zuiderdam with good news!!!!

[thecook]

DH and I arrived home late last night, so I will save my detailed review for later in the week. For those who are worried about the ship's condition, I have good news. She is a little tired and does need a face lift...however, I found the ship to be well maintained by the crew, and was in acceptable condition by my stands. I can overlook a few stains and scratches. Her staff was wonderful. The food fantastic!!! When we got to our cabin our room steward annouced the toilet wasn't working...my first thought was OH NO :eek: but the toilet was fixed within an hour and never broke again. Our friends experienced a few problems with broken toilets and delayed flushes, but the staff was quick to fix the situation. DH and I agree that we had a great cruise with only a few little snags...I would give the week 9 out of 10 stars :D More details later in the week.

[sail7seas]

Good to hear you did not have any major problems. :)

Looking forward to your reivew.

Welcome back.

[PrincessMom58]

Thanks!! Looking forward to hearing your review!!

We are sailing this cruise next week July 14 - 21.

One question? How early did you get to the pier to board the ship. I have seen some video's of long lines and want to avoid that if possible. To either be one of the first in line or come to the pier after 2:00 pm to avoid most of the line up?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :)

[erewhon]

Welcome home.

Thanks for your report.

Look forward to your review.

[spacepotatoes]

Thanks for taking the time to let us know how it went! DH and I are boaring next weekend so every little bit of news helps :)

 

I'm somewhat concerned to hear that there are still toilet issues but it sounds like they're not persistent, which is good. One quick question for you - did the ship make it into Tracy Arm? Or at least the small boat excursion? There's been very little posted about that so far this season.

[PathfinderEss]

Can't wait for your full review. Glad everything went well, with few problems. Welcome home!

[thecook]

PrincessMom58..I was at the Pan Pacific and left my room about 11AM to go down to the ship. I had no problem getting through the security check and customs and finally to a HAL attendant for the health questionare. Since I was in a SB cabin I was able to proceed onboard. I would estimate the whole process took about 35 minutes. I did notice that there was a lot of folks seated waiting to board (I believe they had been through all of the check points) I can't say how long it took them. I didn't hear any grumbles or rumbles from fellow passengers regarding boarding though.

SpacePotatoes..Yes we stopped in Tracy Arm long enough for a transfer of passengers to a small boat for their excusion. I can't speak to the excursion itself. I didn't cross paths with any fellow passengers who had taken it.

[SwissMyst]

We thought the Zuiderdam had the best MDR food of any HAL ship too and that was a few years ago. What do they do so right and so consistently! Thanks for the report and context for your experience with "non-working" toilets Zuiderdam style.

[kazu]

thanks so much. My cruise on the Zuiderdam still goes by on my screensaver when my pc goes to sleep:):) We loved the ship and so gald you had a good one and escaped the toilet issue that has plagued others:):)

[cruz chic]

SpacePotatoes..Yes we stopped in Tracy Arm long enough for a transfer of passengers to a small boat for their excusion. I can't speak to the excursion itself. I didn't cross paths with any fellow passengers who had taken it.

I took that excursion from a Princess ship and it was amazing! I'm a pretty hard marker.

[Northshorecruisers]

Really looking forward to your review.....we board on the 28th!!

[Alaska_2012]

We are also just home from the Zuiderdam. What an amazing trip! We loved the ship, crew, Alaska...everything! All of our worrying about the condition of the ship was needless. She was beautiful and I hope to sail on her again very soon. :)

[PrincessMom58]

PrincessMom58..I was at the Pan Pacific and left my room about 11AM to go down to the ship. I had no problem getting through the security check and customs and finally to a HAL attendant for the health questionare. Since I was in a SB cabin I was able to proceed onboard. I would estimate the whole process took about 35 minutes. I did notice that there was a lot of folks seated waiting to board (I believe they had been through all of the check points) I can't say how long it took them. I didn't hear any grumbles or rumbles from fellow passengers regarding boarding though.

SpacePotatoes..Yes we stopped in Tracy Arm long enough for a transfer of passengers to a small boat for their excusion. I can't speak to the excursion itself. I didn't cross paths with any fellow passengers who had taken it.

 

Thanks for your answer! It helps!!:D

[vivavegas]

Glad to hear you didn't have any big problems. :) Looking forward to your reivew. Welcome back.

[GeriatricNurse]

DH and I arrived home late last night, so I will save my detailed review for later in the week. For those who are worried about the ship's condition, I have good news. She is a little tired and does need a face lift...however, I found the ship to be well maintained by the crew, and was in acceptable condition by my stands. I can overlook a few stains and scratches. Her staff was wonderful. The food fantastic!!! When we got to our cabin our room steward annouced the toilet wasn't working...my first thought was OH NO :eek: but the toilet was fixed within an hour and never broke again. Our friends experienced a few problems with broken toilets and delayed flushes, but the staff was quick to fix the situation. DH and I agree that we had a great cruise with only a few little snags...I would give the week 9 out of 10 stars :D More details later in the week.

 

I have often seen this expression indicated here on CC! Exactly how does a ship look "a little tired" (like a human)? :confused:

[spacepotatoes]

SpacePotatoes..Yes we stopped in Tracy Arm long enough for a transfer of passengers to a small boat for their excusion. I can't speak to the excursion itself. I didn't cross paths with any fellow passengers who had taken it.

 

I took that excursion from a Princess ship and it was amazing! I'm a pretty hard marker.

 

Thank you both :) We're looking forward to it!

 

I have often seen this expression indicated here on CC! Exactly how does a ship look "a little tired" (like a human)? :confused:

 

It's not an unusual expression. I tend to use it to describe non-human objects myself. To me, it just means there's a little bit of normal wear and tear.

[CRUZBUDS]

Happy to hear there were no mechanical issues. We were on the April 20th and unfortunately that was the one where there were a lot of problems.

 

We agree, we thought the MDR food on the Zuiderdam was up with the best we've had. (even compared the "good old days of cruising" ) The staff was also top notch.

 

We've been trading some pictures back and forth with some of our roll call friends and it just makes us miss the great time we had even more. We would love to sail the Zuiderdam again.... especially if it could be with the same people and the same itinerary. :)

[solocanadian]

Thank you for posting. Sorry to hear they are still having toilet issues. Hope they get that all cleared up when they go into dry dock later this year. Happy to read about the good food in the MDR. Now I am really looking forward to my cruise on her next spring.:)

[allanv]

Glad to hear she's in Ok condition, she's a beautiful ship despite her age.

 

The problems with the toilets happened to me and my wife as well. The crew was quick to help us out, and i think it is something that happens now and then, so it's routine for them.

[flseagal]

Thanks for the review, I feel better now. We are going on a 14 day land and sea cruise to Alaska, Aug. 4th with HAL, the cruise part being on the Z. We are seasoned cruisers, but we are taking virgins with us!!! I have been a little worried about some of the issues I have read on this board. I really want them to enjoy this cruise. We have had toilet issues on other ships and that is noooo fun!!! This will be our first HAL cruise so we are really looking forward to it. We love Princess, so it will be fun to compare the two. Thanks again.

Paula

Orlando Florida

[EagleRocker]

Chiming in with my thanks as well for the mini Z'dam review. We are booked on a May 2013 Zuiderdam cruise and, like flseagal, will be taking several cruise virgins with us. I have been cringing at the possibility that the memories of their first cruise experience will be dominated by non-working toilets. Glad to hear that any toilet issues encountered were resolved quickly.

[IRL_Joanie]

Chiming in with my thanks as well for the mini Z'dam review. We are booked on a May 2013 Zuiderdam cruise and, like flseagal, will be taking several cruise virgins with us. I have been cringing at the possibility that the memories of their first cruise experience will be dominated by non-working toilets. Glad to hear that any toilet issues encountered were resolved quickly.

 

EagleRocker, First off, I really like your Handle:) Kewl Beans!!

 

2nd is that I've not been worried one bit about our ship:) I am even willing to bet ya that come this coming Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years cruising season we hear more horror stories if not from our Zuiderdam, then from another one of the many loved HAL ships. I think it is a natural (or should I say unnatural) phenomenon that during the Holiday season there are more 1st time cruisers aboard the ships who do not know what they cannot place in a ships toilet:(

 

Also wanted to let you know that we have a fairly active roll call going for our cruise: Roll Call Alaska Zuiderdam 5-11-2013 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1531638 we'd love to have you join us:)

 

Joanie

[Umbarger]

I also just got home from the Zuiderdam to Alaska. Wonderful cruise. Yes, the Zuiderdam is looking a little tired. I think it is the carpets, mostly. They are very stained and worn. New carpets are a must. Crew was out cleaning and polishing galore. Our toilet backed up. It took two hours to get fixed. Our DVD player in our cabin didn't work. Just a few little glitches but still a great cruise.

 

Just a little TLC and she will be even better. She has a great crew. I will also write a full review in the next few days.

[startwin]

EagleRocker, First off, I really like your Handle:) Kewl Beans!!

 

2nd is that I've not been worried one bit about our ship:) I am even willing to bet ya that come this coming Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years cruising season we hear more horror stories if not from our Zuiderdam, then from another one of the many loved HAL ships. I think it is a natural (or should I say unnatural) phenomenon that during the Holiday season there are more 1st time cruisers aboard the ships who do not know what they cannot place in a ships toilet:(

 

Also wanted to let you know that we have a fairly active roll call going for our cruise: Roll Call Alaska Zuiderdam 5-11-2013 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1531638 we'd love to have you join us:)

 

Joanie

 

Baloney, Joanie!! Nothing to do with new pax, and you know darn well I tell it like it is!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

DH and I arrived home late last night, so I will save my detailed review for later in the week. For those who are worried about the ship's condition, I have good news. She is a little tired and does need a face lift...however, I found the ship to be well maintained by the crew, and was in acceptable condition by my stands. I can overlook a few stains and scratches. Her staff was wonderful. The food fantastic!!! When we got to our cabin our room steward annouced the toilet wasn't working...my first thought was OH NO :eek: but the toilet was fixed within an hour and never broke again. Our friends experienced a few problems with broken toilets and delayed flushes, but the staff was quick to fix the situation. DH and I agree that we had a great cruise with only a few little snags...I would give the week 9 out of 10 stars :D More details later in the week.

 

Glad you had only a few clitches.