Just back Zuiderdam 3/29 - 04/08

[NickCDN]

Below are some thoughts and notes from Zuiderdam Panama Canal cruise.

 

Group of 16 including 8 kids, with half of the group being Mariners.

 

The ship in general was in decent condition. They changed the curtains in all cabins during the last couple of cruises. Also carpets were replaced during the cruise prior to this one. I noticed most public seating has been re upholstered recently and in excellent condition.

 

Our cabin experienced no plumbing issues and the A/C worked fine. We were in VC 5009.

 

There was noticeable vibration starting around 11pm most nights when the ship increased speed. I believe they must have an small balance issue with a prop as the port side prop was obviously moving more water when looking out the aft portion of the boat. Average speed was about 19-21 knots and after 11pm it increased to 23-23.5 which resulted in vibration.

 

A sewer smell was noticed during embarkation and throughout cruise on deck 2 starboard side near mid ship elevators. All persons in our group noticed the smell. Not a pleasant smell as you are boarding the ship.

 

There are SERIOUS A/C issues in the Lido restaurant. It must have been 35 degrees C while in the Southern Caribbean in the Lido. My tip is to sit adjacent to the Desert stations if you want A/C while eating your meal.

 

The Lido restaurant was good except expect to fight with staff members (Officers, Casino Staff, Entertainers, Greenhouse Staff and all other non crew members) for seating. I couldn't believe the amount of times I could not find somewhere to sit while the staff enjoyed their free time (and it appears they have a lot of it). They also regularly butt into line at the Lido in front of paying passengers and this was noticed by all of our group members. It appears that the entertainment staff (including cruise directors staff) hang out and flirt with each other all day in the lido. This really pissed me off as they did not pay $30,000 for a family vacation. The staff monopolize the entire aft section of the lido restaurant for hours at a time. This includes the Captain!!!

 

While waiting patiently in line to disembark the boat in colon and curacao, numerous staff and crew members once again butt in line! Are they on vacation? They should wait until the rush dies down and then disembark!

 

Greenhouse Spa staff member (male massage therapist) was always smoking in the aft, port side lido pool bathroom. He would attempt to hide it when Someone would enter the bathroom. This is an unsafe practice and was reported. Nothing was done about this as it continued to occur.

 

Food was good in both dining room and lido (except for beef ribs in Lido). Service was good in dining room. Lines were long in Lido at dinner while waiting for the staff to get there meals. Pasta service chef had to tell staff numerous times that they could not butt in line to receive priority service! The deck BBQ in Curacao was 30-35 minute line once again with a lines full of staff members!

 

Cabin steward was excellent as usual. Cabin was small compared to my previous J class inside. Couch was getting a little tired and could be replaced. Previous complaints about salt on balcony is understandable as the crossing from Bahamas to Curacao was rough as usual (10-15 ft waves) and results in large amounts of spray. By bedtime in Curacao, the balcony had been wiped down and glass cleaned. A+ for cabin steward.

 

Kids enjoyed Club HAL. More kids than usual (about 50-60) so a couple more Club HAL staff members were brought on board for this cruise. Club HAL manager slow at getting schedule out. She sent it out for distribution late the night before and as such was delivered to our room after morning activities were scheduled to start. Previous cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam had schedule delivered before dinner on the previous day.

 

Casino was nice to Me and I made about $210. Service was good in casino except for short stocky fellow who needs to learn how to control a craps table! He allowed dice to be thrown while money was still on the table!

 

Embarkation was smooth and from door to ship was about 1 hour. 2 members of our groups key cards did not work once on board.

 

A few key items that are regularly discussed on cruise critic:

- Fresh squeezed orange juice is available every morning

- Desert Extravaganza is held on second last sea day

- Lido deck party buffet happens on first sea day

- Real maple syrup is not available

- News is no longer delivered to your room. Can be requested at front desk

- Day of the week floor mats are no more on Zuiderdam

- Brand new curtains in all cabins

- Brand new carpets around the ship

- A/C is a major issue in the Lido restaurant!

- Port side- mid shift glass elevator (1) is out of service indefinitely

 

Half Moon Cay was nice, but was slightly cool that day. My niece did horseback riding and had a great time. BBQ was good and water was nice and calm.

 

Curacao was a dud as it was a holiday and nothing (I mean nothing) except casino, fast food and a small straw market made of chinese made trinkets was open.

 

Aruba was beautiful with a tour with Sonny Binns. Dropped off at Eagle beach and went Jet Skiing. Very windy and as such, swimming was difficult with rip tide and being pelted with sand. Returned to ship early.

 

Panama was really hot. The narrative on board was interesting. I stayed on board, but a large portion of our group went on the Indian Tour. They had a good time. Colon was nothing but a small shopping plaza.

 

Costa Rica is where we went to Jaguar Rescue Centre through Your Lucky Tours. It was a decent tour and the kids loved interacting with the monkeys. We were able to spot wild monkeys along the road as well. Eduardo from Your Lucky Tours provided 'Wild Cat' as our driver and Max as our tour guide. Nice air conditioned vehicle and safe driver. Only hiccup was that Eduardo never gave Max any money so we paid for our entrance into Jaguar Rescue Centre and subtracted the cost from our final payment.

 

We all had expedited disembarkation and was off the ship at 730 and through customs at 810 and into a waiting bus to take us to West Palm Beach International for our noon flight back to Toronto. Only 3 officers working with two processing non us residents (about 500 on the cruise). They were finger printing most people but my group went through without being selected to the extra screening.

 

The whole 'reduction' in border screening agents is ridiculous. When flying to the US from Toronto, the Border services provided the pre clearing service in Toronto with 5 officers. We waited about 2 hours in the line at Toronto airport when flying into FLL. We then waited 40 minutes for 2 officers to clear about 20 people ahead of us in line. If this is how the US wants to treat visitors bringing in NEW money into the US economy, then I will take my money elsewhere. As such, I will no longer cruise or travel to the US until these waits are resolved. I will take my $20,000 elsewhere. Upon returning to Toronto, I had to clear Canadian Customs. When entering the room customs area there was no wait for non residents (10 officers) and 11 minute wait for Canadian residents (24 officers). When asked why no wait for non residents to enter Canada the response was "you don't want to make visitors wait at all". That is how it should be and I am glad that the Canadian Government did not cut back on border screening officers.

 

While I consider myself a fanboy of Holland America, I don't believe I will cruise on Holland America again. Compared to the Nieuw Amsterdam cruise I took two years ago, the Zuiderdam and HAL are no longer a 'Premium' cruise line. I will not pay a 'Premium' to cruise with them again. I had a good time, but I felt like this was just another Carnival or NCL cruise. If they are in fact heading mid market and the prices change to reflect this, I will then cruise with them again.

 

Tips:

 

While in Lido, go to Port side as service is 5 times as fast (as you will notice all the staff do the same) and sit in the middle if you dont want to sweat your entire meal.

 

The main Lido pool hot tubs have jets in the seats. They make an excellent Bidet!!! :)

 

Forgot to add that the Magician and Acrobatique Shows (Illya and Valerie) were excellent.

 

Only had Karaoke twice on a 10 day cruise!!! Total of 2 hours (1 hour on second night and 1 hour on last night). Never seen a cruise with so little Karaoke. I don't usually participate, but I find it entertaining.

 

No Comedian! Is this new at HAL?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Sorry to hear that so many of the staff seem to have a lot of free time. So far we have not seen anything like what you described on our cruises.

Hope whatever cruise line you choose in the future will not have those problems.

[Himself]

Thanks for taking time to give us your impressions and experience on the Zuiderdam.

[MrBill64]

I was on the same cruise and concur about the sewer smell on deck 2 near the middle elevators. There were a few other areas that we noticed the sewer smell as well. Also, although I did not see any staff cut in line, they were very noticeable in the Lido during lunch time. Many of the officers were also eating in the Pinnacle the same night as we did. My wife and I remarked that we seemed to see more off duty staff in the passenger areas on this cruise than any other cruises we have been on. I wonder if the crew only areas have been cut/eliminated.

 

As far as cabin steward, we have mixed feelings. First cruise that our cabin steward never introduced himself. In fact we did not meet him until the second to last day of our cruise. We never saw him! Now don't get me wrong, our cabin was cleaned and made up twice a day but we thought it funny that we never saw him. We very rarely saw any cabin stewards in the hall but the few times we did they were very friendly.

 

One issue we had with our toilet was the second night it wouldn't flush. We called and maintenance was sent right up to correct the problem. The toilet was plugged with garbage that we had put in the waste basket in the bathroom. The reason we know this is the maintenance man showed us the garbage he took out of the toilet and told us not to throw stuff in the toilet. Well we know we didn't throw the garbage down the toilet, so I am 99.99% sure our cabin steward must have did it. For the rest of the cruise we were scared to throw any garbage in the receptacle in the bathroom.

 

Bill

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write and post a review of your recent cruise.

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[VallyD]

As someone considering the Zuiderdam for next year, thank you for this.

[EagleRocker]

Thanks to NickCDN and MrBill64 for the information about their recent Zuiderdam cruise. There will be a group of 7 of us on the Zuiderdam in early May, so much appreciated to hear about your experiences. I now will be paranoid about putting trash in the bathroom trashcan!

[startwin]

Thanks for the review. It was interesting to read about the issues with staff in the Lido. That wasn't happening when were on the Zuiderdam last year, but what did continually happen was one side of the buffet was frequently closed for staff and crew only, so passengers were all crowded on the other side. That made it difficult to find seating.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review. I have seen staff in other Lido's but not to the point you describe. It would be frustrating particularly if combined with poor cooling. Hope you find another line that better suits your needs.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[foodsvcmgr]

The issue of employees dining in the Lido with paying guests is one of the few things I find continually irksome about HAL.

 

Has anyone ever inquired and gotten a response from HAL management onboard or ashore as to the reason for this practice?

[DeepWaterMariner]

Sorry to hear that so many of the staff seem to have a lot of free time. So far we have not seen anything like what you described on our cruises.[/font]

 

We haven't seen it either and we were on the Zuiderdam the cruise before the OP's. No more crew in the Lido than we ever see on an HAL cruise and no cutting in line for sure.

 

We noticed the warm temperature in the aft section of the Lido but it seemed to be caused by the constantly opening doors to the aft pool area so we sat further forward.

[kazu]

Thanks so much for taking the time for this review.

 

I hear you on entering US. it is ludicruous. You're making me nervous for my upcoming cruise - we only have 2 and 1/2 hours to make our connection.

 

Last time it only took an hour (November). And it's always such a pleasure to see these officers:rolleyes:

 

I don't think the disembarkation problems are new in all honestly. When we got off the Nieuw Amsterdam it was a mess in 2010. Everything was backed up as there were only two customs agents and the HAL people weren't happy.

 

Too bad you didn't enjoy the Zuiderdam more - we did when we were on - so I guess we are lucky we were on her when we were.

 

Thanks again and Welcome Home:D

[IRL_Joanie]

The issue of employees dining in the Lido with paying guests is one of the few things I find continually irksome about HAL.

 

Has anyone ever inquired and gotten a response from HAL management onboard or ashore as to the reason for this practice?

Our last cruise on Zuiderdam I heard an irate male lambasting one of the Front Desk Senior Staff, because of a few things he felt were just plain wrong and he wanted some answers, and he wanted them "NOW!" His words and by that time, the word now was yelled in the Officer's face!!

 

One complaint was the staff, medical personnel, shops and entertainment staff eating in the Lido with the paying passengers and why was this allowed.... He also complained that the Captain of the ship was not making himself very visible nor accessible to he and others.

 

The Officer very nicely asked him, "Is there really a problem with the Staff and others interacting and being available to chat with?" You want the Captain and not the others?" I'll pass your comments on to the Hotel Manager and Guest Services and if you'd be so kind as to put those concerns in your end of cruise survey, it will also be noted."

 

As the man started to walk away, still unhappy, I rather a bit louder than my normal voice, just enough that the man complaining could hear, told the Officer that it was really nice to be able to meet the Captain and others in the Lido at various times of our cruise!! And that not all of us were kevetchers:) I then looked at the man directly and said "You know, if you were in a Suite you'd be meeting the Captain at parties and such:) Have a nice day sir:)"

 

My point is this; you want to see the Officers and other staff, but you want to treat them as your servants??? Not me, I want to treat them as my equals because to me they are just as human as my hubby and I. They work for a living, just as my husband does. Just because they work on a cruise ship does not make them less than me, no matter what their job is, be it a Laundry worker or the Captain.

 

EDITED TO ADD: I am so looking forward to being back aboard my Favorite HAL ship, ms Zuiderdam in 30 days!!!!

 

Joanie

[NickCDN]

Our last cruise on Zuiderdam I heard an irate male lambasting one of the Front Desk Senior Staff, because of a few things he felt were just plain wrong and he wanted some answers, and he wanted them "NOW!" His words and by that time, the word now was yelled in the Officer's face!!

 

One complaint was the staff, medical personnel, shops and entertainment staff eating in the Lido with the paying passengers and why was this allowed.... He also complained that the Captain of the ship was not making himself very visible nor accessible to he and others.

 

The Officer very nicely asked him, "Is there really a problem with the Staff and others interacting and being available to chat with?" You want the Captain and not the others?" I'll pass your comments on to the Hotel Manager and Guest Services and if you'd be so kind as to put those concerns in your end of cruise survey, it will also be noted."

 

As the man started to walk away, still unhappy, I rather a bit louder than my normal voice, just enough that the man complaining could hear, told the Officer that it was really nice to be able to meet the Captain and others in the Lido at various times of our cruise!! And that not all of us were kevetchers:) I then looked at the man directly and said "You know, if you were in a Suite you'd be meeting the Captain at parties and such:) Have a nice day sir:)"

 

My point is this; you want to see the Officers and other staff, but you want to treat them as your servants??? Not me, I want to treat them as my equals because to me they are just as human as my hubby and I. They work for a living, just as my husband does. Just because they work on a cruise ship does not make them less than me, no matter what their job is, be it a Laundry worker or the Captain.

 

EDITED TO ADD: I am so looking forward to being back aboard my Favorite HAL ship, ms Zuiderdam in 30 days!!!!

 

Joanie

 

They were not interacting with passengers. They were having a gay old time taking up tables while paying passengers were standing around looking for a table. I hope when you go the lido pool that the HAL singers and dancers are not taking up 7 front row loungers while you move on back to your room as all seats are taken.

 

Nick

[NickCDN]

They were not interacting with passengers. They were having a gay old time taking up tables while paying passengers were standing around looking for a table. I hope when you go the lido pool that the HAL singers and dancers are not taking up 7 front row loungers while you move on back to your room as all seats are taken.

 

Nick

 

Also, don't speak about equality as only "white" staff members are in the lido. The crew (waiters, cooks, room stewards) who really make your vacation enjoyable are stuck working 13-15 hour days and eat in the crew mess hall. They don't have time to hang out by the pool and lido nor are they allowed (as per the crew I spoke with)

[MrBill64]

As far as staff eating with other passengers in the Lido it is not a question of treating them as equal as much as them taking table/chair space away from "paying" customers. I am not looking at treating them as servants but I do get a bit annoyed at having to wait in line while the staff take their turn getting food. Mind you not any staff I saw was cutting in line, but just the fact that they were in line ahead of the customer is a bit bothersome.

 

How would you like to be at a regular restaurant and while waiting for a table you notice a few waiters or kitchen staff having a meal at a few tables that you could be sitting at. This is the best analogy I can think of.

 

One way to avoid this is to only allow personal access to the Lido during off peak times. A customer should never be inconvenienced by personnel vying for the same table/chair space. This was not the case on this cruise as I observed personnel in the Lido around noon on more than a few occasions.

 

I also want to make sure that everyone knows we really did enjoy our cruise and the minor complaints I have voiced here in this thread by no means ruined our vacation.

 

Bill

[Wastegirl]

On my recent Oosterdam cruise we noticed staff out and about, also eating in the Lido and other places. It did not concern us as they did not seem to take up required space and there was never enough of a line up for them to 'jump in', so I can't comment on them being intrusive.

 

However one thing I did notice was when it was busy one day, the staff were sitting at one of the tables with spare chairs available, as a group of pax went by looking for a table they were invited to share the staff table as there was room. Also staff tended to sit in the central area, not the areas by the windows, in fact there were a few tables that by the end of the cruise you knew the staff frequented and it was nice to see them all enjoying their break.

 

These comments are not to detract from the OP's comments but to highlight the difference, maybe it is their Manager on the Zuiderdam who should be more forceful about staff being aware of guests. Sort of like at a shopping centre where staff are allowed to park but their parking spot is not in the prime positions near the shops, that is left for the paying shoppers.

 

One thing I did notice on the Oosterdam was that the staff, including the Captain, were all very friendly and approachable. I thought at the time the Captain ran a tight but happy ship.

[Laminator]

As far as staff eating with other passengers in the Lido it is not a question of treating them as equal as much as them taking table/chair space away from "paying" customers. I am not looking at treating them as servants but I do get a bit annoyed at having to wait in line while the staff take their turn getting food. Mind you not any staff I saw was cutting in line, but just the fact that they were in line ahead of the customer is a bit bothersome.

 

Unfortunately the "crew" is basically forced to eat at the same time the pax do. This is the time they are not busy as the majority of the pax are eating. If they ate at 2pm then the pax would be complaining that there are no activities after lunch.

 

Usually you see a large contingent of crew members eating outside at the tables near the SeaView Bar. On this cruise all of the tables outside were taken during the lunch hour.

[Laminator]

We all had expedited disembarkation and was off the ship at 730 and through customs at 810 and into a waiting bus to take us to West Palm Beach International for our noon flight back to Toronto. Only 3 officers working with two processing non us residents (about 500 on the cruise). They were finger printing most people but my group went through without being selected to the extra screening.

 

Getting off the ship was quick if you had expedited disembarkation. If you did not it took quite some time. They were still calling luggage tag colors past 10:30am. We were in line well over an hour possibly closer to an hour and a half. By that time our friends from the Netherlands had cleared customs and were at the airport in Miami while we were still waiting in the US line.

[Laminator]

Hi All:

'

Just a few additional thoughts. Some subjective, some not. These thoughts are a correlation of a group of 6 friends that the 2 of us travel with.

 

We thought the food in the Lido was average at best. Bland was the consensus. Pinnacle Grill was very good.

 

The internet must have been upgraded during dry dock. It was by far the best and fastest internet connection we have ever had in an aft suite. Much better than both the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Overall the crew was wonderful as usual. The Captain, one of HAL's youngest at age 40, was very approachable and friendly. In my opinion a rising star in HAL's fleet.

 

All things considered a very good voyage that I will take again when the new canal is open.

[NickCDN]

Unfortunately the "crew" is basically forced to eat at the same time the pax do. This is the time they are not busy as the majority of the pax are eating. If they ate at 2pm then the pax would be complaining that there are no activities after lunch.

 

Usually you see a large contingent of crew members eating outside at the tables near the SeaView Bar. On this cruise all of the tables outside were taken during the lunch hour.

 

How about eating in the crew mess?

[Laminator]

How about eating in the crew mess?

 

The shop workers, spa workers and other crew actually pay room and board so they have a right to eat in the Lido. This is why you see them and not room stewards in the Lido.

[496and706]

There were numerous officers and spa/shop/entertainers that were eating in the Lido every day. They didn't butt into lines ever. Some of the lines are actually 2 lines that look like one. (Sandwich station line ends where the hot food service line begins.)

 

There is also an entire section of the Lido that says "Officers area" and if that area is full, (I usually saw passengers sitting there) then, yes, other humans that have just as much right to food in their stomach as you or I are going to have to plant themselves somewhere, don't you agree?

 

The more a person sails with HAL, the more they come to realize that it's nice to see officers, navigators and shop workers having a bit of time off between doing what they do.

 

As for seeing the Captain, would you recognize the Captain of the ship if you fell over him? I was waiting for the elevator one day and a very nice gentleman said hello as he walked by me. If I didn't know it was the Captain, I would have just thought it was another officer. All those stripes kind of gave it away. (Hint, it looks like the cover picture on "Driving the Hotel".) Because my dh and I were on the same deck as the bridge, I happened to see the Captain a lot because he spends most of his time on the bridge in between Mariner lunches and Welcome Aboard toasts and posing for pictures at the entrance to the Main Dining Room.