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Mother/Daughter review Zuiderdam cruise March 19-29, 2017

canadianbear

By canadianbear,
in Holland America Line

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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A little background:

I usually cruise with my husband but my daughter, who is an elementary school teacher, mentioned she wasn't going away for spring break this year (I took that as a hint!) and asked her if she would like to do a cruise with me. She has been on HAL before and said yes right away. I started looking at warm climates and decided on a 10 day instead of a 7. Since we fly from Vancouver it's a long way and she was allowed to take a LOA for 3 days. I didn't start looking until a month before the cruise so am glad it all worked out and hubby said he didn't want to go so it was just us girls.

 

We flew Westjet and used some of our Westjet dollars which helped with the airfare because, being spring break, it was very high.

 

We stayed at the GalleryOne for 2 nights prior to the cruise and loved the location-thank you for those that helped me decide for all your help. We arrived around 8pm at the hotel and were exhausted and hungry. The front desk handed us both a warm cookie and a bottle of water and were very efficient. We were in our room on the 9th floor in no time-it was huge! Has full kitchen, separate bedroom, 2 TV's-all you could want.

 

Since we were starving we decided to walk across the draw bridge right by the hotel and stumbled upon a great Italian restaurant called Franco & Vinny's. Delicious food-we shared a large pizza and my daughter brought leftovers back for her breakfast in the morning! (We also went there our 2nd night for pasta and tiramisu had another delicious meal).

 

Our one full day in Ft Lauderdale we decided to do the water taxi-the stop is right at our hotel so that was great. We both enjoyed the day and got off several places, one being Los Olas. Walked the main street and came across the Cheesecake Factory-I think I scared my daughter because I gasped and she asked what was wrong-I pointed to it! Yes, I'm a Canadian and we don't have these here so it's my favorite place to go in the USA. We chose to sit outside where we could enjoy the warm air and people and dog watch. We had a wonderful lunch sharing the Cobb salad and stuffed mushrooms-both delicious.

 

We also got off the water taxi close to the Bahia Mar and checked it out (I had reservations there for our cruise later in the year but since getting home cancelled it & re-booked at GalleryOne again) and also checked out the beach.

 

Cruise morning:

We chose to pay the hotel shuttle to take us and we left around noon. When we got there we were surprised as there was no line-up and everything was quick and we were on the ship in no time.

 

Our cabin was a Signature suite #6066 and was perfect. (had declined upsell to Neptune). So much room for us to store our stuff and very comfortable. Our cabin stewards were excellent the whole cruise. Since my daughter likes to sleep later than me there was no set pattern for the stewards to know when we were coming, going, or when we would dine other than we put the sign on the door. We chatted to them many times & they knew we didn't care if they even went in the room other than needing towels once in awhile.

 

Food:

We ate most meals in the Lido which is a change for me. My daughter enjoyed doing a "fly by" and seeing what they had. She loved the pasta station, the pizza, and of course the ice cream bar. We had lunch once at the Dive and each had the Cannonball burger-very yummy. No complaints at all with any of the meals. We ate in the MDR I think 3X and again, no complaints.

 

Entertainment:

We tried to go to the shows every night and usually the 10pm show as it was not as busy. (my daughter loved the late night Lido "snacks" after). We found the HAL singers/dancers put on great performances. We also really loved the BB Kings. I found Hilby, "the skinny German juggle boy" to be very funy and entertaining.

 

Ports:

Half Moon Cay: wow, just wow. I have never seen such beautiful, clear water ever. We did some snorkeling, had the BBQ lunch and relaxed on the lounge chairs.

 

Aruba:

This is the only port we did an excursion and used HAL. My daughter is a certified scuba diver so she did the 2 tank dive while I did the catamaran sail, snorkel, beach. We both really enjoyed our excursions.

 

The rest of the ports we would walk around exploring. It was unfortunate HAL didn't offer another diving excursion in Curacao because my daughter would have signed up. She was going to do a private dive but couldn't manage to tee it up.

 

Panama:

Even though my daughter likes to sleep in she was up at 5am to make sure she was on the bow for this event! She stayed out there hours and hours watching the whole procedure. Priceless. I have previously done a full transit so watched from the 6th floor front deck & could see her at the bow.

 

Most of our sea days were spent by the aft pool either in the pool or in the shade playing crib. The staff there are friendly, efficient and one in particular, Ronald, would always stop by and some times do card tricks with us.

 

As msmayor said in her review from the same cruise there was an urgent medical issue 2 days before we were to arrive in Ft Lauderdale. The ship diverted to Grand Cayman for the passenger to get medical attention (we were updated the person was doing well). The Captain had hoped it would not cause us to be late arriving back in Ft Lauderdale and kept us informed. We were told the next day we would be late and many passengers worried (including us) if we would make our flight. I know some had 10am flights and I don't know if they made it and luckily we did make our flight. We had previously signed up for the expedited departure and it was a zoo when we arrived but it went quickly.

 

We loved the ship, loved the ports, and loved the whole cruise and holiday! I can see planning another mother/daughter cruise in the future on HAL. Hubby and I have two planned for this year but nothing next year...yet.

 

I am also now a 4* mariner after this cruise! So excited about the free laundry especially for our 21 day cruise later in the year, yahoo!

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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What a lovely review, on many levels. Thank you:)

 

Thank you so much. It has been many years since my daughter and I traveled together so this was a big test. So happy there was no drama, no arguments, all went so smoothly!

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styles27 "Live from...." Rare

styles27

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I enjoyed your review...thanks so much for sharing it! I hope someday to be able to take my daughter on a cruise too! (Right now she's busy with our 3 yr old grandson.)

 

The water looks gorgeous in those photos! WOW!!

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msmayor

msmayor

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Great review Canadianbear! It really was a wonderful 10 days on board; my husband and I think it was our best cruise ever!

 

We became two-star on this cruise and I was pleasantly surprised to find our lapel pins in our mail towards the end of the cruise. When I logged in at home to see just how many cruise days we were up to, it was nice seeing that we are only 23 away from three star.

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Crusin' from Fl

Crusin' from Fl

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I leave on Sunday for this exact trip and I loved your review, thank you. I'm too excited and glad to hear some of the details from your trip. I travel with my mom and I must say, these are the best trips! We've been on HAL a few times now and I really enjoy the ships, service and spa.

 

Congrats on ****...and thank you!

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Turtles06 Great Review Rare

Turtles06

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OP: thanks for taking the time to post your excellent review; I'm glad you and your daughter had such a wonderful cruise. My wife and I are booked on the Zuiderdam next year (Viking Passage); it will be our first HAL cruise, and I love reading this great feedback on the ship. We are also booked in a Signature Suite on Deck 6. If you have any tips for HAL/Zuiderdam newbies not mentioned in your review, I would welcome them.

 

Thanks again.

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