A Princess cruiser's Long Review of 8/13 Zuiderdam

[LAFFNVEGAS]

First, my apologies to Candy, because I know how much she loves the Z!

 

To MikeDMoss:

I'm so sorry your 1st experience on HAL was on the Z, because, quite frankly, if it had been my 1st, it DEFINATELY would have been my LAST!!

 

Our 1st was on the Rotterdam. After many cruises on many different lines, we thought we had finally found OUR cruiseline. Then along came the deal on the Z. We jumped on it...and found our new love affair going very south. It seems even a fine ship line can get it wrong: cheap cruises to stay in the game against big discounters and then cutting service, food dollars, the "genteel" feel we had aboard the Rotterdam was even gone. Night and day experience. Charge me more for the cruise (I certainly would have been willing to pay more, I'd found MY cruiseline!) but get it back to what I percieved HAL to be about.

 

We are booked on the Maasdam this Sept. This is the "litmus test". Which sailing experience was the REAL HAL?:confused: We shall see!

 

I think you will be extremely please. We were a bit dissappointed with our Westerdam cruise in the Westerdan Carib this past March with feeling some of the things were not what they should be but.... the Maasdam was a drastic change for the good. There could not have been a more opposite cruise. There was not one area that was bad. The Maasdam and her crew is truly a Gem for HAL. Of the three Vista Class we were the most impressed with the Oosterdam so we are looking forward to our October cruise and hoping we still feel the same. Especially since we are returning to her in February. After that we go back to the Ryndam and the Zaandam.

[JoyAnn]

I've been on 3 HAL ships, Maasdam, Veendam and Zuiderdam, had fabulous cruises on all 3. Waiting to see if we have the same wonderful time and HAL experience on the Statendem in September.

 

First, my apologies to Candy, because I know how much she loves the Z!

 

To MikeDMoss:

I'm so sorry your 1st experience on HAL was on the Z, because, quite frankly, if it had been my 1st, it DEFINATELY would have been my LAST!!

 

Our 1st was on the Rotterdam. After many cruises on many different lines, we thought we had finally found OUR cruiseline. Then along came the deal on the Z. We jumped on it...and found our new love affair going very south. It seems even a fine ship line can get it wrong: cheap cruises to stay in the game against big discounters and then cutting service, food dollars, the "genteel" feel we had aboard the Rotterdam was even gone. Night and day experience. Charge me more for the cruise (I certainly would have been willing to pay more, I'd found MY cruiseline!) but get it back to what I percieved HAL to be about.

 

We are booked on the Maasdam this Sept. This is the "litmus test". Which sailing experience was the REAL HAL?:confused: We shall see!

[jazncruiser]

We've been on 3 HAL cruises, Niew Amsterdam, Maasdam and 1 other, can't remember, which. All three have been wonderful!

[Candy]

Past experience, expectations, and attitude. ;)

 

Thanks to everyone for the lively debate. I'm looking forward to finding out for myself in about a week and a half.

Well said, bcc99... If you:

• don't expect a $10,000 cruise for $2,000
  
• realize that you're not going to be able to do absolutely everything
  
• understand that stuff happens
  
• smile at the staff and learn their names, and
  
• wear flats on deck 6
  

you'll have a great time on Zuiderdam (true for other ships, too).

 

Candy <-- thinks there are no big deals

[cruzingqueen]

I've sailed the Z 5 times and can't wait for number 6! I think all points have been covered but wanted to add my 2 cents:

 

1) There did use to be more self service on HAL ships (and other cruise lines I'm sure) but then with all the Norwalk scares, etc., cruise lines are trying to keep the passengers from handling utensils, etc. They try to keep glasses filled with ice, water, etc. for passengers to just pick up as opposed to having to do it yourself. Please forgive them for taking these "precautions" and slowing you down when you could serve yourself.

 

2) You cannot get to your room until 1:30 because they now ALLOW passengers to stay in their cabins until they are called to disembark. The cabins must be cleaned thoroughly and this does take the stewards a little bit of time. Please forgive the stewards for taking this "extra time" and making you wait until 1:30 just so they can thoroughly clean up after the previous passengers.

 

Will see the rest of you on the Z again shortly I hope! I can't wait!

[bcc99]

wear flats on deck 6

 

Then I'm already in good shape! No heels :D , and I probably won't find myself on Deck 6 unless I get really lost--I figure I'll mostly need Decks 2, 3, 5, 9, and 10.

[Sopwith]

HAL doesn't provide napkins on the outer decks because they invariably blow overboard. I think this is a valid reason.

[Dog Mommie]

Gosh, Candy!

 

I guess what I didn't expect to happen was to have ALL the HEAD HONCHOS in my cabin before 6:00A.M. on the 2nd or 3rd day of my cruise (been awhile, don't remember now which day exactly!) determining that yes, the air was unbreathable due to both deisel and sewage odors.

 

Then, I guess I didn't expect to be moved from a balcony cabin to an oceanview on the very bottom of the ship.

 

Then, I guess I didn't expect that my husband and I had to move all our things Ourselves.

 

Then, I guess I didn't expect to get not only any reimbursement for their lovely downgrade, BUT NO "DAM" RESPONSE even!

 

Now that I've relived this in my head:

I guess I should be asking myself why I EVER booked another HAL cruise.

 

But, I guess I just have a happy outlook on life and HOPE the Maasdam is much more like our cruise on the Rotterdam than on the Z!:p

[Cruisin Kay D]

Everything on this thread has been read & digested -- now I'm WORRIED!!! We've booked our 1st & 2nd HAL cruise as a B2B on Westerdam in Nov. (Been on 10 Prin & 2 RC) We have loved ALL of our past cruises!!!! We are sure hoping we can leave HAL with favorable thoughts!!!

 

We have an SS cabin -- hopefully the extra space in cabin & balcony will make the 2 wks quite enjoyable!!

 

RE: Mini-bar -- Your recommendation is that we should ask Room Service to remove the mini-bar items. Then can we use the refrig for our water, beer, diet pepsi, wine etc.?? When & why do they lock refrig?? We will be receiving a number of bottles of wine from our TA as part of "our deal".

 

RE: Dinner -- We are scheduled for 8 PM upper -- Need advice on what section of DR to request for our table -- I think I said table of 6 or 8....but need to check on this.

 

RE: Arrival at Port -- Do you think we'd be better to arrive about 1 PM and maybe by time we get through the line & security, photos, etc., it might be right time to go straight to cabin? What time does Lido quit serving lunch that day?

 

(Last Dec. on our family Radiance of Seas cruise, our adult son had medical problem the day of embarkation & his trip to ER delayed our boarding to 2:30 PM -- we walked quite quickly through the check-in, security, group photo, id photo but Windjammer closed at 3 or 3:30 and none of us got lunch!!)

[JoyAnn]

Could it have been due to some port restriction (locking the fridge)?

 

Everything on this thread has been read & digested -- now I'm WORRIED!!! We've booked our 1st & 2nd HAL cruise as a B2B on Westerdam in Nov. (Been on 10 Prin & 2 RC) We have loved ALL of our past cruises!!!! We are sure hoping we can leave HAL with favorable thoughts!!!

 

We have an SS cabin -- hopefully the extra space in cabin & balcony will make the 2 wks quite enjoyable!!

 

RE: Mini-bar -- Your recommendation is that we should ask Room Service to remove the mini-bar items. Then can we use the refrig for our water, beer, diet pepsi, wine etc.?? When & why do they lock refrig?? We will be receiving a number of bottles of wine from our TA as part of "our deal".

 

RE: Dinner -- We are scheduled for 8 PM upper -- Need advice on what section of DR to request for our table -- I think I said table of 6 or 8....but need to check on this.

 

RE: Arrival at Port -- Do you think we'd be better to arrive about 1 PM and maybe by time we get through the line & security, photos, etc., it might be right time to go straight to cabin? What time does Lido quit serving lunch that day?

 

(Last Dec. on our family Radiance of Seas cruise, our adult son had medical problem the day of embarkation & his trip to ER delayed our boarding to 2:30 PM -- we walked quite quickly through the check-in, security, group photo, id photo but Windjammer closed at 3 or 3:30 and none of us got lunch!!)

[doone]

I have to say I thought I would never be a fan of the Vista Style ships nor did I ever think I would ever sail on one. My friends and I decided to take a "Girls Cruise" and everyone decided on the Zuiderdam. I was a bit skeptical, scared even, to take my friends on this ship after reading all the negatives about her. I have to say, all my worries were totally unfounded when we boarded, we had a great time. Was everything perfect, NO, I haven't found much in life to be perfect, but we loved the Zuiderdam.

 

We had a GREAT suite and Va cabin side by side. We had 5187 and 5185, both suite and cabin were GREAT. Our room steward was attentive without being obtrusive. Our dining room steward was excellent, even though we found him, and others in the dining room, to be over-worked, clearly not his fault, but he did an outstanding job anyways. The wine steward was, again, over worked, we did have to wait for our drinks, but so be it, we weren't going anywhere, or we would bring a drink from a lounge we frequented before dinner.

 

As far as to when to get to the pier, we wanted to be onboard early, we arrived at the pier around 11:30 a.m. Had a bit of a wait, but we didn't care, we were onboard about a 1/2 hour later, everything went well. We did, however, have a problem with the girls in the suite and their boarding cards working, they didn't, had them change them twice before they worked, but that's ok, they finally did work.

 

The only thing we didn't care for on the Zuiderdam is they made us get off after 7 days, can you imagine the nerve of them!!!

 

Enjoy your cruise, which I am sure you will.

[csg99]

Everything on this thread has been read & digested -- now I'm WORRIED!!! We've booked our 1st & 2nd HAL cruise as a B2B on Westerdam in Nov. (Been on 10 Prin & 2 RC) We have loved ALL of our past cruises!!!! We are sure hoping we can leave HAL with favorable thoughts!!!

 

We have an SS cabin -- hopefully the extra space in cabin & balcony will make the 2 wks quite enjoyable!!

 

RE: Mini-bar -- Your recommendation is that we should ask Room Service to remove the mini-bar items. Then can we use the refrig for our water, beer, diet pepsi, wine etc.?? When & why do they lock refrig?? We will be receiving a number of bottles of wine from our TA as part of "our deal".

 

They do inventory and lock the mini fridge the day before the cruise ends so that there aren't any additional charges floating around--they leave you a card beforehand telling you when they're doing it and to notify them if you need it left unlocked an additional day.

 

Don't be worried! While we prefer the smaller ships, we sailed on the Zui in May and had a wonderful time! Some people we were sailing with picked a lot of things apart, so I guess it's just what you bring to the experience! We're booked with you on the Westerdam in November, so that's an indication that we had a really great time!:D

[kelmac]

My wife and I spent three weeks in south Florida this summer; it included time in SoBe. the Keys, and two cruises. The first was the Caribbean Princess and the second was the Zuiderdam. We were scheduled to sail the Coral Princess this Xmas, but we cancelled. Here is the note I left our roll call group on the Coral Princess cruise coming up:

 

 

"Hi everyone!

 

Lauren and I are back, and we had a wonderful time in south Florida and the Caribbean. The Caribbean Princess is beautiful and the Captain did an excellent job of keeping us away from Arlene. The Zuiderdam was excellent and we really caught some perfect weather.

Sad news however, -- Lauren and I were a little disappointed in the food on board the CP. Lots of food, but low quality stuff.:( Even Sabatini's and Sterling's was very good, but not great. I guess after 20 cruises we are just a little "cruised out" and we are getting "picky" about stuff?? :rolleyes: The Zuiderdam's food was so much better. Smaller amounts of high quality food. Anyway, we just decided to stick to Celebrity and Holland America (for the time being). We cancelled our Coral Princess and Costa Mediterranea cruises and got a great deal on Celebrity's Galaxy out of Galveston for 12 days to the Panama Canal. (Dec 17th, 05)

Sorry to bail on such a great group of people, but at these high prices..., well anyway, have a great cruise and we hope to run into you somewhere!:D

 

Enjoy!

Kel"

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we were on the Zuiderdam, we were in an S suite. Someone mentioned a few posts ago that the PS and S suites have teak floors for the verandah. The verandah floor is not a teak wood like we have had on the "R" and "S" class ships. It looks like some kind of a sheet of linoleum. We have been on the Oosterdam and Westerdam as well and the verandah floors were the same composition.

 

[cruzingqueen]

Past experience, expectations, and attitude. ;)

 

Thanks to everyone for the lively debate. I'm looking forward to finding out for myself in about a week and a half.

 

If you're feeling uncertain about taking this horrible, horrible cruise....I'll gladly try to go in your place and pretend to be you. I'm having Zuiderdam withdrawals! Lisa

[bcc99]

If you're feeling uncertain about taking this horrible, horrible cruise....I'll gladly try to go in your place and pretend to be you. I'm having Zuiderdam withdrawals! Lisa

 

Apprehensive? Moi? Nah...I stopped being apprehensive last May when I realized that the opinions of others, although interesting and occasionally thought-provoking, are just opinions. Sorry, Lisa, but I'm planning to go and "suffer" everything that Zuidy has to offer (making my own fun if necessary!). :D

[AreWeThereYet?]

We will be going on our 4th Holland America Cruise. We are a little younger then the average passanger(early 40's)But,we are slowly catching up!! We have tried other cruise lines 1.Carnival- 2. Princess(Grand) We did not enjoy the ship or the service.We had a suite with a butler.Every night we had to ask for glassesfor our wine.We only ate Bananas from our fruit tray.He would refill with other fruit..We are very laid back and never requested anything accept the above and dry cleaning. The casino staff complained the whole time how they hated their jobs. Always long lines for the bars and not enough seats for the shows. 3.Holland America. We love the service and enjoy getting dressed up in the evening.I think it great how the staff remembers your name.We have had different employees paint the ports of call on dinner napkins with the ships name and their names to take home with us. We look forward to our vacations and we feel Holland America treats us right. I think on any cruise line you might get a below average meal one time or someone might forget to give you a napkin.But,they serve alot of people!

[MikeDMess]

Some say the fact they serve the hot food at the buffet is due to safety reasons. I truly do not believe it is worth the "slow down". Whats the point if we are serving oursleves salad, desert, drinks (only sometimes did they have pre filled glasses), side dishes, taco bar.