Zuiderdam to the ABCs Dec. 10-20

[DeeniEncinitas]

11 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

Day 5 – At Sea with wind and rough seas.   Trying to use the cabana was problematic.  The wind was so strong it was hard to push the door open.  I ended up pushing a chair up against the wall and stuck it out for an hour.  Anyone booking one of these on ship should do a good review of the predicted wind speeds.    We had dinner in the Canaletto and it will be our last.  We have had fairly good luck in the room but it has fallen off the cliff such that it will be our last.   As usual the hard to mess up seafood soup was hot and loaded with fish, langostines and scallops.  My veal meatballs were very cold pass #1.  After I sent them back they were warm but had the texture and look more of tuna than veal.  SO’s strip loin was good he said.  My Osso Bucco were rather tough but the sauce was true Osso Bucco.   I don’t know why they don’t make an effort to reduce the noise and clatter at that end of the Lido.    We did a signature cocktail tasting earlier in the day in the Gallery Bar.   All three were very tasty and had distinct flavors.   Our bartenders were informative about the process of making craft cocktails.  

Just read your review and am amazed that still problems with noise in Canaletto next to Lido! I so remember how wonderful it was when they first opened the new dining experience! The waiters went around to all the tables with huge trays of so many delicious appetizers that they were generous in plating! The Oso Bucco was tender played well and was wonderful.

Now service is either so slow or too fast and food is so so!  Mind you our experiences have been on Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam at the beginning and with Maasdam and Oosterdam! 
I enjoyed your honest take on this cruise and Thankyou for the pictures!

Happy Holidays to you

Denise😊

[ottahand7]

Day 6 – Amber Cove Dominican Republic – We had rough seas sailing to Amber Cove and were an hour late docking.  All tours were moved back an hour as was departure time.   The day started very blustery but when we got to the pier the weather broke and the day was mostly sunny with some brief showers.  This side of the island is very beautiful and green.  Our pedi cab driver said that the rain was badly needed.  We had no tours but took the bike transport to the shopping area very near the pier as we are both dealing with foot and ankle problems.  A bright new shopping building with all kinds of liquor, jewelry, fragrance and food items was pretty popular.  I love Dominican rum so came back with some high end Brugal, another Anejo for my pet sitter, some fragrance and a bottle of Dominican Vanilla for a Christmas gift.  

Our afternoon was in the cabana for more reading and relaxation, I just go to the part in the book Indianapolis where it was struck by two torpedoes from the Japanese sub.   We decided to dine on the balcony tonight so ordered room service.  Since some of the room service dinners have been a little shaky I covered my bets and went to the Lido and got us a plate of charcuterie in case dinner was inadequate.  Tonight it was fairly good and our timing was perfect at 6:30 for the beautiful sunset and also for leaving port.  Our pilot boat had a difficult time getting the pilot due to the waves. In a short while we had changed direction and were dining on a calm balcony. 

Last fun of the day was the whisky tasting in the Pinnacle Bar.   We had two 12 year old single malts from Scotland, a Japanese barley whisky and Four Roses aged Bourbon.   Sadly my photo of the rocking tumblers of the whiskies did not turn out but the light on the dancing tumblers was quite beautiful.   Our whisky expert was passionate about whiskies and I tried single malts, something that is a world different from blended scotch whisky.   We were asked for our aroma and taste impressions as we worked through the pours. 

Excitement this evening in the Atrium as a large gingerbread village for Christmas was in place.  The ship is beginning to look and feel like Christmas!

 

[ottahand7]

More photos from Amber Cove

[doublebzz]

Thanks for the very informative review.  We will be sailing Zuiderdam in January.  Do you know if there is a craps table in the casino?

[Cruiser785]

Yes...craps table was lovely last night 

[doublebzz]

Thanks for the info.  Another question, were than any production shows?

[ottahand7]

Half Moon Cay – my only shore excursion was horseback riding.  We were worried that the rough seas would prevent us from tendering to the island but the day dawned to calm seas and sunshine.  We shared the island with the Volendam.    It wasn’t that crowded on the island and the ride was fun!   Our guides were very efficient and got the 2 waves of riders into the water phase in a timely manner and only one person fell off out of about 38 in our group.   The orderly head to tail walking on the land part of the excursion goes out the window when the horses get into the water with much crowding and bumping as they fight to get near the front.   A good thing they were quick in the turnaround of the rides because the skies were ominous when we boarded the tram to take us back to the pier.   By the time we boarded it was a hard downpour and we were happy to have a lower level seat on the way back to the ship.  It really didn’t matter as we had to queue off on the second level and everyone was drenched.  

We used the Club Orange line to dine in the MDR for the first dinner of the trip.   The food was uninspired but it was hot.   This ship is living up to its’ hype for bad food.  I thought with the dry dock a new kitchen crew may have joined the ship.  The preparation and quality was like night and day versus the food we had on the Rotterdam in February.   

 

[ottahand7]

On 12/20/2019 at 1:32 PM, doublebzz said:

Thanks for the info.  Another question, were than any production shows?

I don't recall seeing any production shows on offer.  Most were comedians and magicians and the dance troupe.  I may be mistaken but that it what it seemed to me.   

[ottahand7]

Playing catch up as were were action packed once we got back to shore on the 20th.  We disembarked in the last group around 9:45 and there wasn't much of a crush outside and it was really easy to find our bags and a porter.    

 

Some other photos from the trip.  Birthday cake at PG.   My SO liked to ask the PG chef to take a shrimp cocktail and cook it in butter and then he put it on top of his dry aged NY Strip.   Potatoes at the PG - very tasty.    

[ottahand7]

[ottahand7]

We spent a couple days in Fort Lauderdale and walked around the area around our hotel on 17th Street.   We had used Total Beverage to buy the wine for the cruise but as we were walking around we found an independent wine and liquor store near the Winn Dixie.   Crown Fine Wine & Spirits at 1645 Cordova Road FL was very well stocked and much easier to navigate than Total.  At Total we had asked for Orin Swift wines and they couldn't point us to any.  They were easy to find at Crown and we will use them when we sail out of FL.   On the way back to the hotel we found a great place for dinner Kelly's Landing.  They had my Holy Grail of seafood which is fried Ipswich clams.  They weren't quite Maine clam shack good but they hit the spot.     I had them with a chaser of stone crab claws.   The crush to get into the place shows that they consistently put good food on the table.  We also had lunch at BugerFi which was pretty good but SO was spoiled by the Dive In burgers so he thought the burgers were meh.   

[RocketMan275]

We walked past the Crown Spirits on our last cruise.  Wondered how that would work.  Thanks of the information.

BTW, we love Kelley's too but  you're right the wait can be quite long.  Did you know you can order and take it back to your room?  Saved us and hour the last time we were there.

[ottahand7]

Our last day in FL we went to Gulfstream Park to watch the horse races.  The weather was mild and windy.  I can't believe how that place has changed since I was last there in 1999.   

Fate favored us for our flight home.  American Airlines wouldn't offer a return flight for my frequent flier tickets so we had to go to Miami.  We grumbled about the 6 AM flight on Monday and that we had to go to Miami.   It was actually good luck as Fort Lauderdale Airport had about 5" of rain overnight and many flights were delayed and cancelled due to flooding near the approaches to the terminals.   We made it home easily - no delays at a busy time of the year.    

[ottahand7]

Final thoughts on the cruise - almost  all a positive experience.  We dodged rain almost the entire trip which made time on shore very pleasant.   The ports were very enjoyable and it was nice going to the Dominican Republic on a cruise.   Our only complaint was the food.  After getting a NS upgrade on the Rotterdam last February and enjoying our dinners on the balcony we booked a NS for this trip.  We had hoped to recreate the wonderful meals we had on our balcony ordered from the MDR menu.   The food lacked sauces, flavor and very little vegetables with the main courses.   Chicken was always boring breast meat with a bit of wing attached.  The best chicken we had came from the room service menu and actually had dark meat and bones.   Piles of mashed potatoes with corn just don't pass for vegetables.    Food at the Lido was good especially the sandwiches, bread, hot meats and the salad bar.  Our dinners in the PG were always flavorful and the beef was good quality for what we had ordered.  They worked to make our dinners special.    I have never had such boring an uninspired food as came from the MDR as we had on the Zuiderdam.  

 

The passengers on this ship were uniformly fun and great to talk to.   Everyone struck up conversations and seemed to all be having a grand time.   Many thanks again to Sid for setting up our Meet & Greet on day 1 at sea.   Merry Christmas to all! 

[canadianbear]

Thanks for your review and photos.  We’ve enjoyed the Zuiderdam and especially the itinerary you just did.  

 

Love the horse photos in HMC.  Our daughter in law did that-lots of fun.

 

Lucky you missed the airport flooding in Ft Lauderdale.  

 

Welcome back and Merry Christmas!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your final thoughts.

 

DH and I would get sick of mashed potatoes and corn.

 

Glad you dodged the rain on your cruise.

[ottahand7]

22 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

We walked past the Crown Spirits on our last cruise.  Wondered how that would work.  Thanks of the information.

BTW, we love Kelley's too but  you're right the wait can be quite long.  Did you know you can order and take it back to your room?  Saved us and hour the last time we were there.

Thanks RocketMan I didn't know that.    We came up with a plan if we are going to bring a lot of wine on the ship and don't have a fancy carry on bag.  Near Crown there is a luggage store and they had luggage lined up out front.  They had a small upright rolling bag for $20.  Perfect way to get extra wine on without breaking one's back.   

 

[RocketMan275]

6 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

Thanks RocketMan I didn't know that.    We came up with a plan if we are going to bring a lot of wine on the ship and don't have a fancy carry on bag.  Near Crown there is a luggage store and they had luggage lined up out front.  They had a small upright rolling bag for $20.  Perfect way to get extra wine on without breaking one's back.   

 

I use this bag.  Holds six bottles.  It makes a very good carryon bag that fits easily in the overhead or under the seat.  I add the wine once I get to the hotel. 

 

https://www.wineenthusiast.com/6-bottle-waxed-canvas-weekend-wine-bag

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

Thanks RocketMan I didn't know that.    We came up with a plan if we are going to bring a lot of wine on the ship and don't have a fancy carry on bag.  Near Crown there is a luggage store and they had luggage lined up out front.  They had a small upright rolling bag for $20.  Perfect way to get extra wine on without breaking one's back.   

 

I didn't know that either.  The wait wasn't bad the first time we went to Kelley's, maybe 15 minutes.   It was an hour the second time.  I asked if we could do a to-go order and was told to go to the bar.  Worked very easily.  IIRC, we had to pay when we ordered.

[Himself]

Thank you for the report.