Live From The Zuiderdam!

[acura03]

Was anything good on your cruise? :confused:

 

I want to read different opinions but also I am very sceptical to the reviews that contain only negative points.

I'm glad you said it. We are going on Sept.4 and this will be our first with HAL. This letter

has got me so nervous. There was nothing good in that review. I hope they were just

having a "bad hair WEEK". Have you taken this cruise yet or planning to? I hope someone else can tell me some good things about it. Worried

[acura03]

I'm sorry your cruise was not what you hoped for Airam1. I'm surprised because I was on that same cruise and my experience was totally different! We loved the dining room and found both the service and the food to be excellent (especially the soups which were outstanding). We did order room service and all items arrived as ordered except for the substitution of oranges for bananas because they were out of bananas. We found plenty of adult activities (adult comedy show, adult karaoke, disco, casino, pool games etc.). The only place we thought there were "too many" kids was the Lido pool which was dominated by them. In light of this I think they should make the aft pool adults only all day instead of only 2 hours a day. This was the only time we even noticed the children on board. I can't speak for the spa since we were way too busy with all the activities and shore excursions to take advantage of it. Perhaps you had some "bad luck", but I hope that others reading this board won't think that your experience was typical of Holland America or the Zuiderdam.

Thanks for this letter. I read that review and almost wanted to cancel my cruise on sept.4. So glad to hear someone had a great time. This was the first time I have heard

all bad reports from this ship. Anyone else have some input before I sail on Sept.4

[spcl4cs_gal]

This just might be the medium to take advantage of...last week I had a conversation with the assistant hotel manager from the Zuiderdam while on HMC who said that he planned to take a look into CC because he has never heard of this site and was a bit intrigued by what it had to offer. I guess he, as well as anyone else on here, could pass on the various feedback from HAL customers to the "right" people and then who knows....

 

Klaus I hope you're out there somewhere..... ;)

[jmdrace]

this was our 1st ride with h/a.my comments are i did have a great time-but we always request early seating 615pm this was not the problem. it was the second day we recived a note tellinig us we are being moved to another table no one at the table requested to be moved.well one nite at the other table we were not happy with partners or the staff as you say not with it.so for the rest of the ride we ate at the lido deck now that i will give a a+ the satff up there were more more on the stick..the entertainment was an a+.all the lounges were a+ .the vista lounge or stage well its the old style has some bad seats so get there early, this is the way older ships were built this gets a "b".the lido mid ship pool also get there early "morning" when the kids arrive its like watchin rabbits out of control especially when the ice carving was goin on not eaven the staff could control them from throwing the ice.i said to the satff why do you post the rules when no one enforces them. i gave the staff a "d+".well seems also the a/c units are still bad and the ship is warm at times.the pool decks are lackin some shade and the cover on the mid pool i belived was going to be broken from its use .and schudling of a work party to chip and paint the cover when pool was in use was "stupid" pool closed at 10pm!!!!!!!.reason i say this is before skin cancer lotta sun was on the menu but now some shade is a help.teh apperaence of the ship was in good shape.most of the crew i talked to was thier first contract they were new.as for the extra day in mexico a thruster engine was down and needed repair.the power outage in half moon cay was due to ships grounding(hit bottom) i belive was due to another a/c failure.so i would say h/l has a ways to go if they want to become a fast food cruise .my grade for the ship itself "b". o i forgot the disco this was the first week this young fella worked alone. the question is will i do it again yep with h/l yep when next july!! and i love the twist contest...

[spcl4cs_gal]

Jmdrace.....you forgot to mention the fire on Deck 8!!! ;)

[tammar]

what fire? someone please tell me about the fire.

[spcl4cs_gal]

The Zuiderdam had a "fire" on Deck 8 the day we were docked at Grand Cayman...nothing major, just an electrical thing with an a/c unit in one of the cabins apparently. Lots of smoke and the ship's fire team was called in to investigate...safety doors closed down the forward section of the ship but everything was over in about 5 minutes. No big deal although when Dottie (cruise director) came on the public address system to give the details, she seemed to be flustered. Personally I think she could have handled it a bit better.

[jmdrace]

i am telling you this ship has big issues i also belive its out of warranty!!.our dinner partners were on the 4th floor foward .when they went to the room it was smoke damaged and no one from h/l ask if they had a smoke problem.what they were told was the a/c compressor failed . the a/c unit seems to be a problem on this ship.also the a/c is also part of the fresh air intake.and the reason the long stay in mexico was to repair the side thruster this way its docked , tied and air support.i just hope the new ship that is being built is ok.

[tammar]

We are going on the Z Aug 14th. This ship does seem to have a few problems. Now, let me think. When they tell you how to jump overboard with your life jacket on,mmmm lol

[jstducky]

tammar-

 

i dont think that you have anything to worry about with this ship. i was on the same sailing as jmdrace and alison and i loved my cruise (posted a long review on this page! search for it!)

 

i had a great time, i think alison did as well!

 

you'll have a lot of fun!