Just back from Zuiderdam partial Canal

[3rdGenCunarder]

I was on Zuiderdam's recent cruise to the southern Caribbean and Panama Canal. It was a good trip overall. I have some observations--good, bad, and random. And if anyone has questions, I'll try to answer them. This is my second time for this itinerary on Zuiderdam and my fourth or fifth time on the ship overall. I do love the vista class!

 

The ship looks great. The current decor is so much nicer than the old color scheme. I'm glad to see the end of that bright colored ripple pattern carpet. Everything was clean and looked well cared for. My cabin stewards were good. They managed to get in and clean while I was at breakfast and do the evening turndown while I was at dinner. I had a corner aft, and I've heard some reports that the stewards aren't as good as the ones who have a whole row of Neptune Suites, but that didn't happen on this cruise. (On K'dam, yes, but never on Zuidy) The TV is enormous. For those who want to know about connections, no they aren't within reach. I would LOVE to  have hooked up my laptop to see my pictures on the big screen, but no go. The automatic nightlights were installed in a refit. There's one at the desk and also one in the dressing area. One night as I was trying to fall asleep, I stretched my foot out from under the covers and turned on the night light! 

 

One comment on my cabin. If you have a chance to pick an aft on other than deck 6, do so. I've now had a corner aft on 5, 6, 7, and 8. 6 is definitely much smaller than the others. And it has fewer closets. I recall that on 7, there were the closets in the dressing area and closets along the wall by the side of the bed. This one has only the dressing room closets. That was fine for me by myself, but two people having to get clothes out of the dressing area closets at the same time could find it difficult. 6 also has the least cover over the balcony, except maybe 4, which is largely open. I don't mean to sound whiny, it was still a NS and still had a good balcony. But there are better aft wraps if you can get them. 

 

Food is subjective, but I found the MDR food at dinner to be very good. I was at a 6 top, fixed dining, and a few times others found the beef to be tough, but my choices were fine. Prime rib was always a good choice. Beef wellington looked dry. We did make fun of the misnamed salads. A "pear and apple" salad was greens with tiny chunks of apple and pear. We had fun spearing the bits and guessing if they were pear or apple. When I read "apple salad," I'm thinking something like waldorf, not a green salad with a bit of apple garnish. Although all 6 of us were in Neptune suites, we were not given the while menu. After a few days I asked to see it, and the waiter managed to dig one up. It's the only way you can find out what the extra CO entree is. The concierges don't know. I was offered the CO menu only one other time, and nobody else at the table ever got one. I did have the CO item one night. Scallops and grits, very nice. I don't think the other people at my table were aware of CO, and the couple who were 3-star didn't know about the discount on the wine packages. 

 

I don't love the Lido, but I do like the Lido salad bar, although I undo my healthy start by adding stuff from the taco bar. We joked about it one night at dinner when we discovered that we were using the same technique for the chips--reach across the bowl and under the top layer to get "fresh chips" using the tongs, of course. I usually took my salad lunch back to my balcony to enjoy it in peace and quiet. 

 

The ship was not sailing full. The only time an elevator arrived with other passengers in it was going to dinner. Nothing ever felt crowded. The night before the Canal, the host of the Pinnacle was trolling the dining room trying to get people to book a Pinnacle lunch. He pointed out that our table had 3* and 4* Mariners and we get a discount. So I weakened and booked lunch. There were only two couples there plus me.  One of the couples must be super-frequent pinnacle guests because the chef came out to talk to them about the fish at sel de mer, then another chef came out to talk to them, and then a third. Nobody came to my table or to the other couple's table to suck up. But that was OK, I was busy with my lunch. Ohhhh, that Pinnacle burger! It's everything posters here have said it is. I swear, it's half a cow, but so so so good! Fortunately, there was a salad entree at dinner so I could do dietary penance. "Brazilian grilled shrimp salad" was a lot of greens and 3 (yes THREE) less than jumbo shrimp. (see comments on salads above 🙄)

 

Laundry was fast, and twice it came back with a little note thanking me for letting them "care for the clothes you wear." Never saw that before.

 

The paper flood still exists. You have to go to the front desk or Neptune Lounge to get a newspaper, but you can get one. The usual ads for future cruises, spa treatments, shopping ashore, shopping on the ship, etc arrive whether you want them or not. They waste all that paper, but they don't let the stewards give the towel animals eyes. Really? A  pair of 1-cm circles of paper will destroy the earth????? I got tired of sad blind towel animals, so I cut circles out of the blue strip along the side of a when and where, and I had lovely blue-eyed animals after that. The frog is my new favorite!

 

The thermal suite was wonderful, as always. It definitely wasn't sold out. I guess it speaks to HAL's demographic, but there were quite a few of us walking in the water to soothe excursion-tired knees and hips! And for those who want to know, the price for the 11-day cruise, if you buy on board was about $250 for a single and $400 for a couple. A one-day pass was offered for $40 for the day. 

 

Entertainment was, on average, I guess I'd say average. Some good, some not. Lincoln Center were wonderful and full every performance. BBKing were good musicians but too loud for me. I listened from a hallway a bit, but that's all I could do. I didn't go to Billboard. Mainstage is thin. A lecture on the history of HAL is not my idea of evening entertainment. That's a daytime talk. Illusionist was meh, standard stuff and too much "ta da!"  50s group "Runaround Kids" (I think that was there name) were a bit too loud and tried a bit too hard and came off as frantic. DH and I used to joke about a line from Law & Order when Jack says "It was the 60s, you had to be there." And maybe that's why I didn't care for them. They were trying so hard to be 50s cool, but I just didn't buy it. Piano player was excellent. He did boogie-woogie, classic 50s rock and roll (nailed it without appearing to try too hard), movie music, jazz, even Bohemian Rhapsody. He had his own back-up group who were given solos to show off. All seriously good musicians. I didn't go to the comedian and didn't hear anything about him. And the dance group, but I'd already seen them, so I didn't go. 

 

Internet was fast when I could get on. I travel with a laptop and HAL's system hates Microsoft. Pretty funny considering their classes are all microsoft. It just would not let me log in. So if you travel with a device running Windows, go to the computers at the atrium and talk to the computer guy and hope you get someone like the guy on Zuidy. He admitted he sometimes had problems with HAL's public computers, which run windows 10. He poked at my laptop, found an alternative to "login" and when he got to a stable page, bookmarked it for me. Worked great after that. So forget HAL's instructions, go right to the guy who can help you.

 

There was one cooking demo, part of the port-to-table program. I didn't get to that. No word on hands-on. 

 

That's the good and random. Ports and rants to follow...

 

[rkacruiser]

9 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

The current decor is so much nicer than the old color scheme. I'm glad to see the end of that bright colored ripple pattern carpet.

 

The Zuiderdam's original "bordello red" is gone?  Thank goodness!

 

I am enjoying reading your review.  I sailed on the Eurodam in January on a partial Panama Canal cruise.  

[woodworker&knitter]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review. Great reading.

The missing eyes on the animals has nothing to do with saving paper, but the fact that the paper goes into the washers and then clogs the filters

 

[colonialinnkeeper]

Thanks for the review.  Will watch for ports and rants.  Agree with general review of entertainment--a real weak spot (except for Lincoln Stage which is the star offering) IMHO.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Ports

 

HMC. We got lucky with the weather. The night sailing out of FLL, it was rough and I was afraid we would miss HMC, but the day turned out to be beautiful. I did a bucket list and did the horseback ride. Fourteen of us, all experienced riders, so we didn't have anyone doing the "wait! stop" every 10 feet. I was impressed with how well the horses were cared for and how serious the guides were about safety. Hardhats worn on the train. Closed shoes. Long pants recommended, but not required. It was only at a walk, but that was fine. My horse was Maasdam! He was a bit lazy, and needed to be "encouraged" once in a while. The guides made a big point of telling us that there are no abandoned horses on the island. Horses that get too old to work are retired. They stand around in a field, eating grass and hay. Sometimes they're allowed to wander around the beach. But they are not strays. They're properly cared for. Riding in the water is a lot more work than I expected. When the horse gets moving through the water, the water pushes your legs back, reducing contact with the horse's side. I could hear my riding teacher yelling "leg leg leg!" I don't know that I'd do it again, but I'm glad I did it. And I'm glad I had the spa to go to to soak my muscles!

 

Aruba. I've been here before, so I just wandered around town. The trolley wasn't running. I don't know what happened to it. I refuse to go to all those chain designer and jewelry stores. I don't want that stuff. I go "local." So I wandered back a block. I found good gelato. And I found a grocery store, just to look and see what's available and what prices are like. I also came across an adorable bakery. I bought beautifully decorated cookies shaped like Mardi Gras masks. Delicious! What I didn't like was how many empty stores there were compared to my last visit. That's always sad to see.

 

Curacao. One of my favorite islands. I booked an independent tour to snorkel with sea turtles. I'm so glad I did. All the big bus tours from the ship take the same route in the same order. This guy does a different order. So we went to a beach for 45 minutes before going to the turtle site. And as we were going to the minibus after the beach, we saw three huge buses dropping off the cruise passengers. Our guide said, See? "They just left where we're going next." So I was happy that we were on a different schedule.  I'm a little conflicted about the turtles. Fishermen clean the fish and throw the guts to the turtles, which keeps them coming around. It means we got to see them, but I think there's a little too much feeding here. But we certainly got up close. I had trouble taking pictures because they were so close they more than filled the frame! There's a guy who stands on the dock and calls out to the turtles by name. He claims they come because he calls them (and expects tips). After lunch, I just wandered around the town. I found some good handcraft shops and art galleries mixed in with the souvenir shops. And good ice cream at Iguana. 

 

Cartegena. last time I did a city tour, so this time I took the tour to the National Aviary. I wasn't too sure about it. No reviews on HAL's site, and not a lot on Tripadvisor. Their own website didn't have a lot. I am so glad I went! Colombia has such diverse habitats and an amazing bird population. You walk a trail that goes through some larger enclosures and past some of the smaller ones. Geese, ducks, peacocks run free. Peacocks are LOUD. Even louder are the flamingoes. It's the dry season, so it wasn't buggy. There are large flat areas along the paths that are usually flooded, but now are dry. And macaws! Right where you come in, there's a large roost. The macaws and parrots aren't captive. They're fed, so they hang around, but they're free to go. I'm less conflicted about feeding birds because I know that they do not become dependent. They go find natural food as well as taking the handouts. There's a pair of condors, the national bird. A female harpie eagle. They put a male in with her and she killed him! (My uber-feminist friend says he probably did something to deserve it!) Lots of signs say not to touch or feed the birds, and they don't have someone offering to let you hold a bird or have it sit on your arm. They are opposed to people taking "animal selfies."

 

The canal. I've done two full transits and this is my second partial. I think I could do this a dozen times and still be amazed. For those thinking about this itinerary, if you've never done it, get up at 5 AM with the rest of the crazy people and watch the entry into the canal! And be sure to watch the two documentaries they show on the TV. I don't know how anyone can learn about the workings of the canal and not be impressed. I stayed on for the return to the Atlantic and had a lazy afternoon.

 

Puerto Limon. Lots of tours offered here. DO NOT take anything that goes to the Veragua Rainforest. The description said the ride was less than an hour, which was a major factor in my decision. HAL lies! It was more than an hour and a half, more than half of that on rough roads that forced the bus to go no more than 5-6 mph. A five and a half hour tour ran 8 hours. Just not a good choice. 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

21 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The Zuiderdam's original "bordello red" is gone?  Thank goodness!

 

I am enjoying reading your review.  I sailed on the Eurodam in January on a partial Panama Canal cruise.  

 

What a perfect description! I always thought that pattern was designed to make spills (and other accidents) invisible!

[canadianbear]

Enjoying reading your review.  

 

I’ve done the full transit and also the partial on the Zuiderdam with our daughter.  Loved both.  I’m partial to the Zuiderdam-can’t put my finger on it but love the ship.  
 

That’s funny about sticking your leg out & the lights came on-I did exactly the same thing on the Koningsdam!  
 

We love Curacao too and I’m sure we went snorkeling at the place you mention (and before the big buses arrived).   We had our son and dil with us and they loved seeing the turtles.  Like you said, so many it was hard to get photos but we all had a camera so managed to get a few shots. Attached one of my favourite photos. 

 

Glad you had a good time.  I’m hoping to do this next year with a friend.  

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

45 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

The canal. I've done two full transits and this is my second partial. I think I could do this a dozen times and still be amazed. For those thinking about this itinerary, if you've never done it, get up at 5 AM with the rest of the crazy people and watch the entry into the canal! And be sure to watch the two documentaries they show on the TV. I don't know how anyone can learn about the workings of the canal and not be impressed. I stayed on for the return to the Atlantic and had a lazy afternoon.

 

 

My Eurodam cruise was my first partial and I have been fortunate to sail 3 full transits.  Every time I sail a Panama Canal cruise, I learn more than I did before or even on the internet.  Our narrator offered different commentary in both directions as we sailed through the Gatun Locks.  And, all of it was very interesting.  I was so very pleased to be able to see a couple of ships sailing through the "new" Canal.  Being able to see the new Canal was one of two reasons why I booked this cruise. 

[RocketMan275]

Great review.  We're taking this cruise in December.  We've got an aft wrap Neptune on deck five.  Starboard side, IIRC.

 

How was breakfast in the Pinnacle and how was the Neptune Lounge?

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

We had similar notes from the laundry while we were on the Maasdam a few weeks ago.

[MARLEY225]

Thank you 3rdGenCunarder for you intensive review of your cruse.  My question is - was there any issues concerning with getting on the cruise as far as health questions giving the ongoing Corona-virus situation?  Or any other health scares while on board?  I have an upcoming cruise on March 22nd and I am debating whether to go or not?  Thanks.

[rkacruiser]

32 minutes ago, erewhon said:

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

We had similar notes from the laundry while we were on the Maasdam a few weeks ago.

 

I did too when I was on the Eurodam in January, but none on the Volendam December/January cruise.

 

Laundry is always done so well.  My clothes get spoiled.  

[fatcat04]

2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 They waste all that paper, but they don't let the stewards give the towel animals eyes. Really? A  pair of 1-cm circles of paper will destroy the earth????? I got tired of sad blind towel animals, so I cut circles out of the blue strip along the side of a when and where, and I had lovely blue-eyed animals after that. The frog is my new favorite!

 

Excellent!!! I love it. I'm stealing this. I too will be restoring sight to my poor blind towel animals next cruise. 🤩

[canadianbear]

59 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

Excellent!!! I love it. I'm stealing this. I too will be restoring sight to my poor blind towel animals next cruise. 🤩

Oh, I did that on our December cruise-cut our paper from all the junk we get and used a pen to make eyes.  Critters looked happier, lol!  I had forgotten about that. 

[panoramaofthepast]

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

 

Puerto Limon. Lots of tours offered here. DO NOT take anything that goes to the Veragua Rainforest. The description said the ride was less than an hour, which was a major factor in my decision. HAL lies! It was more than an hour and a half, more than half of that on rough roads that forced the bus to go no more than 5-6 mph. A five and a half hour tour ran 8 hours. Just not a good choice. 

 

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

We will be on this cruise starting next Sunday. Your comments on your excursion made me do some additional research and we have canceled our original excursion. Right now I am somewhat mobility limited [full knee replacement 5 days after the cruise!!] so the prospect of bumpy  roads made the decision easy, but I don't want to just stay on board. Are there shops or other buildings of interest near the pier in Puerto Limon? I can walk, just not very quickly! 

 

 

[Iris5383]

4 hours ago, MARLEY225 said:

Thank you 3rdGenCunarder for you intensive review of your cruse.  My question is - was there any issues concerning with getting on the cruise as far as health questions giving the ongoing Corona-virus situation?  Or any other health scares while on board?  I have an upcoming cruise on March 22nd and I am debating whether to go or not?  Thanks.

Same question from me. We're there any issues with corona virus? Was it talked about onboard? I also have a cruise booked (Volendam-Caribbean) March 22 and considering cancellation.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.

Very interesting and informative.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

We have done your itinerary on the Zuiderdam a few times -- loved it.  We had breakfast in the Pinnacle as we went through the locks -- Panama Buns that day.

[kazu]

Thanks very much for your review and report on the ship, service and decor.

 

We are scheduled to be on the Zuiderdam next month (waiting to see if that happens) & appreciate all your great information.

[projecthandbag]

Thank you from me too for your review!  We are taking this same cruise in a few weeks and I have a couple of questions:  1.  Were there any enrichment lectures about the canal or only the movies on tv?  2.  Where was the piano player playing?  Thanks!

[grest]

Thank you....very much looking forward to the Zuiderdam and this itinerary later this year.

 

[*Miss G*]

I was wondering where you were!  I enjoyed your review.  Thank you.  Did you get much use of your balcony?

[VMax1700]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

The Zuiderdam's original "bordello red" is gone?  Thank goodness!

I really liked the original colour schemes and furnishings.

Quirky and different (just like me!) 😉

[bluebeachbum]

Thanks for your review.  We are leaving Sunday for same cruise.  What's the earliest you can arrive at terminal?  Is there ever a line waiting outside in the sun?  We  are in a Neptune suite mid-ship on 7.  You mentioned these didn't have much balcony cover, is there any?  What is a CO menu you mentioned?  Thanks for the internet info as I need to work while on the ship.  I will come back & post a review after returning on March 18th.