Zuiderdam June 30 - July 7

[thecook]

DH and I traveled to Vancouver a few days ahead of our cruise to enjoy Vancouver. I would advise anyone having a few extra days to do so..it is a beautiful city. A cheerful HAL greeter met us at the airport even though we were 5 hours late. She put us in a prepaid cab to the Pan Pacific which we had booked at the same time as our cruise. We had a Deluxe King room with a partial city and partial water view. The room was large and very comfortable.

On the morning of the cruise I met the HAL representative in the lobby as instructed. She asked us to check out of our room by 9:30 and meet her in the lobby at 9:45 to be escorted to the ship. Since boarding didn’t begin until 11:30, DH and I decided to do our own thing and stay in our room a little longer. For us it was a good decision. We checked out around 11:00 and headed strait down to the ship. Since our cabin was a SB we were allowed to walk right on through (after all of the check points) and we were on board by 11:35!! Fantastic.

Cabin SB7088

We were able to proceed right to our cabin and leave our hand luggage. We met our lead room steward Roni. He informed us that the toilet wasn’t working but maintenance had been called. Sure enough it was fixed within the hour never to break down again. Because the room is on the bump out of the ship room it is configured differently than other deluxe suites. The only problem I had with that is when you open the door, you see right into the room where the bed is. This causes a little lack of privacy. The balcony is odd shaped and narrower than others..No problem there. But it does catch the wind which in Alaska is not ideal. I wouldn’t choose this room again just because we love sitting out to watch the scenery…the wind prevented us from doing so on many occasions. The carpet had some stains and the bathroom counter had a large chunk broken off, the furniture was worn. Honestly these were minor things that didn’t bother me. I would never let a well loved ship ruin a good time.

Ports

Juneau We went whale watching with Orca Enterprises. It was wonderful!! We saw lots of humpbacks. We even saw them come out of the water mouth wide open feeding. Capt. Larry seems to know where to take you to find great viewing. On our Alaskan cruise in 2008 we did the ships tour…I can tell you that there was no comparison..hands down Orca wins.

Skagway . We rode the railroad on the 3 ½ hour tour. Beautiful scenery and well worth the $

Ketchikan. We went on the Deadliest Catch crab tour. Loved it. They threw fish out to feed the Eagles. They were swarmed the boat like something out of the movie “The Birds” That was a big thrill. They also showed pulling crab pots and the catch including King Crab. Snow Crab. Box Crab and a big ugly octopus! The guys that run the tour are a hoot so it is a fun tour as well.

Glacier Bay. I love Glacier bay…we were lucky enough to see a whole wall of ice calve off Margerie Glacier. I would go back to Alaska every year just to cruise Glacier Bay. It was the highlight of both of my cruises.

Pros and Just a few Cons

Pros: The staff. They are in a word wonderful. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Always wanting to please you and make your cruise special. Roni our room steward took care of our every need and always with a smile on his face. The girls in the Neptune couldn’t have been more sweet and helpful. The staff is what makes HAL an exceptional cruise line IMHO.

The food. We ate in the Vista Dining room and the Lido. I can honestly say I didn’t have a bad meal. The food was fantastic in both venues. We were so pleased we didn’t go to the Pinnacle Grill this time.

The staff provided a very nice 4th of July picnic lunch on the Lido deck, and a nice salmon and clam bake lunch on the last sea day also on the pool deck .

Cons: The main dining room management could do a better job.We had Anytime Dining. Although we requested a window table through the concierge in the Neptune, we only got one 2 out of 7 nights. My last HAL cruise I was able to reserve the same table @ 5:15 every night. We got to know the waiters and they got to know us. Not allowed on this ship.The dining room took a dinner reservation but with no table guarantees. After dinner on the first night as we left the dining room we found the hall filled with angry guests waiting for a table. There were many many empty in the dining room. I’m not sure why they were so overwhelmed at the podium. Service is a little slow..dinner will take about 2 hours. It didn’t bother us because we were with friends and enjoyed our time together, but I heard some grumbles from fellow passengers. This is in no way a reflection on the staff who I believe are overburdened because of cutbacks. We had one waiter and one wine server. The waiters really have to hustle.

The Lido is a madhouse when it is busy. Because of the numerous food stations there are no lines and people tend to just walk in front of you to get their food. I’d like them to somehow devise a better system to avoid the necessary polite confrontations.

Service in the bars was slow and at time nonexistent. On two occasions we had to get up and to get a server to take our after dinner drink orders. It didn’t seem that they were that busy, just a little lackadaisical.

For some reason this ship didn’t get the luck of the draw for port position. We were the furthest from town in both Juneau and Ketchikan. There were shuttles running, but it is not as convenient as being able to hop on and off the ship in town. There was a Celebrity ship tendered in Juneau so I guess it could have been worse.

To sum up, I would give this cruise a high mark. The few cons that I have expressed in no way ruined my vacation. DH and I had a wonder time being treated like royalty aboard this lovely ship. It is a problem that the food and service isn’t “to go” and reality hits you in the rear as you walk in your front door!! Back to cooking and cleaning ugh!!!!!

[vbmom87]

Thanks for a well-balanced review. Happy to hear you enjoyed your cruise. Did you get into Tracy Arm on this cruise?

[thecook]

We were in Tracy Arm to drop,off passengers for an excision. I think we were there a total of 30 minutes.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the honest and thoughtfull review of your cruise. Glad you had a good time.

[Sea42]

Thanks for for your review!

While I doubt much could ruin a vacation for me, I think I would be quite disappointed to pay for a Deluxe Suite and have worn furniture, stained carpet and a large chunk missing from the bathroom vanity. For that amount of money I would expect top notch accommodations. Like I said, it wouldn't ruin my cruise but I would feel I hadn't gotten what I paid for.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your great review.

 

As you were in a Deluxe Suite, may I ask if HAL "gave" you a night at the Vancouver Hotel?

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[kazu]

Thanks so much for your review. Very balanced and interesting.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us. Welcome Home:)

[spacepotatoes]

Thanks for the full review! Glad you enjoyed :)

 

According to the itinerary on HAL's site, the Zuiderdam is only in Tracy Arm from around 10 - 10:30 and it's labelled as a "service call" so it sounds like they don't really intend to cruise the fjord anymore, just have people doing their excursion. We're booked on that excursion so it works out as long as the conditions are good, but I'm still not a fan of this change. It was one of the biggest selling points of this itinerary and now you only get it if you're willing to pay extra.

[thecook]

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Erewhon...HAL did not provide our room at the Pan Pacific. We paid for that through HAL. To be honest if I had to do it again, I would first check the online prices for the Pan and for the Fairmont Waterfront which is right across the street. Both are lovely hotels. A cab ride from the airport at about $35. and was included, so that would have to be figured into the total cost. I think we could have done better price wise on our own according to those in the know on the Canada boards.

SpacePotatoes..You're correct we only stopped in the Fjord to allow passengers to disembark for their excursion.To be perfectly honest I liked our 1st Alaskan cruise itinerary much more than the Zuiderdams. We went north from Vancouver to Seward. The cruise was much more scenic and I believe we had longer stops in each port. That said, the round trip from Vancouver is more economical, so it is give and take.

Sea 42..Yes, the cabin was a little worn, but I expected that having read about the state of the ship here on CC. I personally wasn't offended by the cabin's condition and reported on it only to inform others of what to expect. The ship is due to go into dry dock and her condition warrants the facelift. Everyone has their own expectations when vacationing. I understand that some would find the wear and tear unacceptable, but at least they will have been warned.

[erewhon]

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Erewhon...HAL did not provide our room at the Pan Pacific. We paid for that through HAL. To be honest if I had to do it again, I would first check the online prices for the Pan and for the Fairmont Waterfront which is right across the street. Both are lovely hotels. A cab ride from the airport at about $35. and was included, so that would have to be figured into the total cost. I think we could have done better price wise on our own according to those in the know on the Canada boards.

 

Thank you for your reply.

During the 2010 Alaska season HAL were giving a night at the Pan Pacific or the Fairmont Waterfront to cruisers in Verandah or above cabins.

Was curious if this occurs each year.

[vbmom87]

We were in Tracy Arm to drop,off passengers for an excision. I think we were there a total of 30 minutes.

 

I just learned on another thread that this itinerary no longer includes the ship making transit into Tracy Arm. :( I for one, am very disappointed. In previous years this itinerary included the transit. I used to call this the Jackpot itinerary...no longer...

[thecook]

Wow,a free room would have been a nice perk...our stay was rather expensive.

[am2]

We were on the same cruise and very much enjoyed it. I'm planning to write a trip report, but wanted to chime in that I agree with your assessment. We had fixed dining and the food was great, but the service was a bit slow (compared to other cruises). And I agree that we got the short end of the stick when it came to port locations- we were always farthest from town. Didn't hamper our trip, but was interesting to note. Glad you had a good time, as did we!

[thecook]

am2... Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise. We did luck out with the weather didn't we? The travel expert that was onboard, Kelly, told us that we had the best weather of the season.

[lindaship]

Oh, sounds wonderful, i wish i can do this cruise someday as well. Will avoid getting a windy balcony though.

[Zyzygy]

Thank you for the informative and timely review.

 

Clearly the ship needs to bring on more dining room staff. One server, without an assistant or busboy, cannot handle the tables typically allocated.

[spacepotatoes]

I'm just catching up on posts now that we're back from this cruise and I found your review. We also had a beautiful day in Glacier Bay, it really is incredible! We saw some calving on Margerie, but not a lot. We saw Lamplugh Glacier calve, which apparently doesn't happen often so that was neat.

 

I just wanted to comment on the dining situation, since we also had Anytime Dining. When we first got on board, they directed us to a person who was taking reservations and they said it was highly recommended to do this every night. We didn't really like this since the whole point of Anytime Dining is not to have to worry about a set time! We did make a reservation the first night and it worked out fine. After that first dinner, we tried to make reservations for the next night but there were no tables for two available at any of the times we wanted. We were told that they only allow 50% of the tables to be reserved so we should just show up at the time we want and we'd most likely be able to get in, as long as it's not the peak time (6:30 - 7:30). After that, we didn't bother with reservations and never had a problem getting a table for two. There were some long lineups at the door but they moved quickly.

 

We also never had an issue with service, at least not during lunch or dinner. We were in and out in about an hour. Maybe they took some of the feedback from your sailing to heart! Breakfast was usually quick too, but the quality/accuracy of the service seemed to depend on which side of the dining room we were on.