Zuiderdam Review

[StevenA]

Zuiderdam Review

Western Caribbean Cruise September 10 – 17, 2005

 

Pre-cruise arrangements: We booked via an Internet company both air and cruise package leaving from the Northwest. Very smooth transaction, Internet TA was always available via phone (same person) to answer our questions, she even arranged seat assignments for our flights. Unfortunately, flying in from the West Coast to the Florida requires a red eye flight unless you’re coming in a few days early.

 

Embarkation: A breeze! We arrived in FLL at 10:30 am, short transfer (part of air/cruise package) to pier, five minutes in initial line to provide paper work, then on to boarding area. It was a short ten-minute wait to board as they took groups of 25 at a time. Once our group number was called, it was a quick picture at the gangway then on-board. We were having lunch in the Lido by 11:25 am.

 

Room: We booked an SS suite (6058) mid-ship, having cruised with both Princess and RCCL balcony rooms, this room was larger in every way. Bathroom had a tub w/shower and a full shower as well. The two sinks and large mirror in bathroom were very functional. Note: the only electrical outlet in the bathroom did not take standard plugs so we had to use the bedroom dresser for hair dryers and such. Closet space was not a problem, we brought four suitcases full of clothes and had space left over. There were two full closets that could convert to additional shelves if needed. The room had numerous drawers and shelves to store items. The room had a mini fridge stocked with beverages for sale; we had our room attendant remove the items and used the fridge for our personal use. The fridge did a good job of keeping our pop, fruit, and water cold. The bed was very comfortable; the air conditioning worked well and at night was loud enough to keep you up if a light sleeper. The deck was oversized with two wicker chairs, two wicker ottoman’s, two chairs and a table; the view from our deck (Deck 6) was great at all times.

 

Room Attendant: “Hary” as he asked us to call him, was the best of four cruises. He is Indonesian and very polite; we rarely saw Hary, and yet every time we left the room and returned, it was picked up with fresh towels as well as ice always in the silver bucket. If we had a question to needed anything, Hary was always available to assist us. Hary truly made us feel special cared for.

 

Dining: Now for some critical commentary. The formal dining room was one of three areas that disappointed us. We were assigned table 165 (table of seven) for the 6:15 pm seating. Our waiter was pleasant enough, the problem was service; there was a span of two hours before the next dinner time (8:30 pm) where we were to be served and exit the dining room. Every night (total of five of seven nights) that we ate in the dining room, we were the last table served, sometimes waiting 40 minutes between our salad and main entrée. We were lucky if we had dessert served before tables around us were being broken down for the next dining time. It became embarrassing after the third night. Clearly our waiter did not have enough help, he had three tables with a total of 21 guests, yet other waiters serving tables next to us had their quests fed and out twenty to thirty minutes earlier than us. The food selection was ok; I’ve had better on RCCL.

 

Another drawback I found concerning food was the Lido buffet; the lunches had great choices as did breakfast. Dinner was another story, it was very limited and not a buffet were you had many choices. You had to stand in line and place an order for one of three entrees or settle for a limited Italian menu. Again, compared to RCCL, Holland needs to provide the same variety for dinner as they do for lunch.

 

Entertainment: Too loud! We do not have hearing aids, but if we did, it would have exploded. I observed lots of quests holding their ears due to the loudness of the shows.

 

Seating environment is seriously flawed; there are numerous pillars that block views that caused people to hold seats for friends, this created some heated arguments between passengers.

 

Headliners were good; the ships cast shows (2) were more like a high school production and falls well below shows of both Princess and RCCL.

 

Casino: Probably the best staff of any ship’s casino; always very helpful and friendly. The slots seemed to be loose for a cruise ship, someone was always hitting a jackpot and I noticed that the progressive slots were hit three times during the week. Another kudos for the casino was the two non-smoking days!

 

Wind Star Café: Super staff, good coffee and careful to not hooked on the coffee of the day and the “Dam Buns!

 

Ports of calls: First lets discuss the tenders, Holland needs to find an alternative to using their tenders for transporting quests to and from locations, The Holland tenders do not have proper ventilation and become sweat boxes. By the time you get to port, you need a shower or change of clothes from the hot ride.

 

Half Moon Cay: It has to be the best of the best as a port of call. The beaches are beautiful, clean, and inviting. We rented a clamshell and never used it other to store our backpacks. We spent the entire day in the water or having lunch.

 

Grand Cayman: The highlight was our Stingray City tour; we used Moby Dick tours (online reservation) that bused us over to their dock where we boarded a boat for the short 20-minute ride to the Cayman Reef, there we anchored on a sandbar called Stingray City. We had over 30 Rays playing with us as we fed them. After swimming with the Rays, we were taken to the reef for snorkeling. Overall it was the best $30 we ever spent on a tour.

 

Costa Maya: The first thing we did was deliver school supplies to the local school in the village. It was very uplifting to send time with the children as they thanked us for the gifts. After spending time in the school, we found a nice shady spot on the beach to eat and drink cold beer as we suntanned and swam in the tropical waters. This was a great day.

 

Key West: We went into town for one reason, Key Lime pie at the Blond Giraffe, it was worth the walk. We then spent the day on the beach at Fort Taylor State Park. If going to the beach, make sure to have water shoes as the beach is more broken shells then sand; the beach does have restrooms and a snack bar.

 

Disembarkation: Again the best organized of any cruise ship. We were off the ship and in the airport within 25 minutes.

 

Overall: We had a great cruise mostly due to the ports of call, our room, and room attendant. The ship was in good shape, the staff was very friendly and helpful. Due to the areas that I covered as problem areas, we will be returning to RCCL. We have decided that we want a younger in year’s diversity on board and a dining experience worth the dollars paid for a cruise.

[TedC]

Thanks for the review and the comparison with RCI.

 

We sailed on Brilliance of the Seas in 2002 and were not happy with the food or limited choices. Of course opinions on food are very subjective: what one person likes another may not.

 

Do you recall who was executive chef on the Zuiderdam?

[BLStokes23]

Thanks for posting - we will be cruising the Zuiderdam (W. Caribbean itinerary) in less than a week. You made me remember how much I enjoyed going to the Windstar Cafe for the coffee of the day. Sounds like you had a great cruise.

[helenp2]

I have to agree with you. We tried RCCL and found the food to be inferior to both HAL and Celebrity. All of the food tasted like it was flash frozen and then boiled in a bag. Also, RCCL's beds were just not very comfortable. So, overall we feel HAL offers a much better experience for the money spent.

[paradisegal]

Good review...............we are sailing in

Oct and actually sailed the same ship, same ports in May............hey, my parents booked us again...........forcing myself to go! LOL! Key Lime pie at the Blonde Giraffe is out of this world............best pie ever!!!!!!!! Cnt wait to go again, hearing your review makes me ready!!!!!

[travelingman]

Could someone tell me what kind of outlet is in the bathroom if it is not a "standard" outlet?

Is it a European outlet?

 

Thanks,

[dmeyer]

Steven. I agree about the slow service. We were also at the 6:15 sitting and at table 177. We thought we were the last table.:) No other problems with the cruise. Well....yes, one problem, but it was probably my fault. We got on board late and had a terrible flight, trying to make connections. We were exhausted when we arrived and did nothing that first day. On Sunday, I got up and tried to find the cooking class the Chef was giving. I looked and looked, and finally saw a guy in a white coat in one of the lounges. I think it was the Queen lounge. I went to the very front seat. Everyone was very quiet. The cook was just standing there with his head down. I was surprised. I heard he was suppose to give a comic performance. He finally looked up and raised both hands and said, "Let us pray." I then realised I was at a religious service! First time since I left the church about 50 years ago. (I'm not bragging about this, but explaining my situation...I left for personal reasons). Anyway, I waited for the prayer to end and turned around and left. As I walked out, I said to a couple in the last row, "I thought this was a cooking class." Nobody said anything and the room remained very silent. My point is that you have to be prepared before you attend the lectures, etc. Read what time they will be and where they will be.

[Gala62]

Hi Steve,

 

Hope you don't mind me piggy-backing onto your review of the Zui! I thought this made more sense than starting another thread.

 

First, Mike and I enjoyed meeting you at the CC meeting and later onboard. The Zui was a good "first ship" to get our feet wet - so to speak!

 

So many thoughts to share, hopefully some will be of use to upcoming cruisers on the Zui.

 

Embarkation: Easy, easy, easy. We arrived at 12:00 or so and just breezed through. No lines or waits to speak of at all. Stowed our carry on at the Piano Bar and headed up to the Lido where it was extremely crowded, the only downside of arriving a little later. In our cabins by 1:45pm and unpacking in our spacious verandah suite #6100 (SS category).

 

Cabin: Plenty of storage and room to move about. Love the verandah, totally spoiled by having one. Bed was very hard but our steward put on a foam to help soften it. We had a jacuzzi tub in our bath, definitely a happy camper here!

 

Suyanto was our cabin steward and anyone who gets him, consider yourselves lucky! He couldn't do enough for us and was so very pleasant and cheerful, a real asset to HAL.

 

Food: Of course this is very subjective from one person to another. We would give the overall quality a solid B+. The only real disappointment was the king crab legs Mike had one evening. The lobster was very good as was the pork loin I had. We definitely recommend trying the Pinnacle Grill, we both had the filet mignon and loved it - and we know good steak! After hearing so much about the chocolate volcano cake I have to say I was disappointed...more like a pudding cake very poorly presented. The creme brulee was yummy. Service impeccable as it should be. Do try the Thai chicken soup- a little spicy and oh so good!

 

Our regular dining servers were good but not fantastic. They never introduced themselves or asked our names. But they did provide good, prompt service and were friendly enough.

 

Entertainment: This was the one area we felt the Zui fell short. Bobby Broughton (sp?) was a great cruise director, but there just didn't seem to be enough to do during the day besides the goofy "Carnival" type games and bingo. We would've loved to have seen lectures or presentations on the countries or cultures we were visiting. Upon suggesting this at the CC meeting, we were told the scheduling got too crazy and hectic to fit so much stuff in. ??????? But they can fit in endless games of bingo?? There were rooms always empty down by the internet lounge that would have been ideal. The few seminar-type events were geared toward selling more at the spa, art gallery, etc. Obviously we were on the wrong ship for this kind of experience.

 

The shows were fun but the female lead singer is average at best (and I'm being rather generous here!). The second production ("Stage and Screen") was much better in our opinions. We do agree with Steve that the sound was way too loud. Our later seating was never full so we had no problem finding good seats.

 

We booked 2 excursions independently (through advice found here on CC) and were very pleased with both. David and Ivan in Costa Maya to see Chaccoben and Captain Bryan's Catamaran to Stingray City and the coral reef. Both highly recommended, as is the Blond Giraffe in Key West for their pie!

 

We also recommend getting the $15 day pass to use the thalassotherapy pool in the spa. Great for sore muscles or just to relax. Vinhi was also wonderful for my Exotic Relax package for $75. One hint for the spa - don't book at the full prices, wait until they start offering bargains and deals throughout your cruise.

 

Overall we liked the Zui and would have no problem recommend it to people perhaps over 35 or so or those who aren't looking for a party, party atmosphere. The food is quite good and the service is outstanding. We just wish they would increase their selection of activities beyond the usual stuff.

 

For that reason, we will be very careful about the next ship we choose to cruise on, most likely it will be HAL but we're open to Celebrity or others.

 

Thanks!

Gail

 

PS...I'd be happy to answer specific questions if anyone has any.

[Denbo]

Could someone tell me what kind of outlet is in the bathroom if it is not a "standard" outlet?

Is it a European outlet?

 

Thanks,

 

Ditto, is this bathroom plug somthing unique? I would like to bring an adaptor for my wife.

[MrTallPaul]

The outlet is a two-prong outlet with a switch in the middle of the prongs to choose 115 or 220.

 

Just be aware that there is no grounding plug.