Zuiderdam Review 1/13 - 1/20....warning - it's a long one!!

[cantravel1]

Hi All,

We just returned from the Zuiderdam on Saturday (January 13th to 20th) after a 20 year absence with Holland America. Since this forum was so helpful to me providing information about the ship and ports, I am hoping this review will be of some help to others.

Just a warning, this will be very long…..so, sit back, relax and enjoy the read! I have broken this down into several sections, so if you don’t want to read it all, just skip to the section(s) you want to read.

Background – there was just two of us traveling - my mom and I (I am in my mid-forties and my mom is in her early eighties). The last time we were on HAL was over 20 years ago. The first time we were on HAL was in 1982 on a 14 day Christmas/New Years cruise on the Volendam. What a cruise that was!! We’ve been on a few cruises over the past years since…mainly with Royal Caribbean and one with Princess (bad experience which turned us off Princess). My mom has also traveled with NCL. To be honest, we were a bit apprehensive before the cruise…I had read a lot of negative reviews lately, and really wasn’t sure what to expect. Maybe that was a blessing as everything definitely exceeded our expectations! So thanks to all for the negative reviews

Cruise Booking

We actually booked directly through HAL. I must say that their Customer Service Reps were great. My questions were always answered promptly and they were all very helpful. And the price ended up being about the same as other TA’s out there. When I booked, because we were Mariner’s, they told me over the phone that I would be entitled to a complimentary upgrade and they were true to their word. More on the cabin later. It’s funny…it was my mom’s birthday was last week while we were on the cruise and Holland America e-mailed her Birthday wishes! Never seen that before from any other cruise line!

Pre-cruise hotel

We booked the pre-cruise hotel through HAL. We booked the Renaissance Plantation. The only glitch of the trip is that HAL didn’t pick us up at the airport (which was included in the pre-cruise hotel price). No matter – we took a taxi to the hotel, and have sent in our refund for the cost of the taxi to HAL. The hotel was very nice, although not too much around it. There is a small market across the street, and more shopping a few more blocks away. For one night it was fine.

Embarkation

On Saturday, we were picked up from the hotel around 12:30 p.m. It’s about a 15 minute ride to the pier. Once we arrived at the pier, our luggage was taken off the bus and taken to the ship. I was surprised how fast the embarkation was. There were only a few people in front of us when we checked in. We were through in about 5 minutes…then it was through security and on to the ship! The nice part was that by the time we got on the ship we were able to go to our cabin right away as it was ready. It was nice to be able to freshen up before going up for lunch. Our cabin steward was waiting for us to introduce himself. The luggage also arrived early (around 3:00 p.m.) which was a pleasant surprise.

Cabin

As I mentioned before we were upgraded, although we didn’t find out our cabin number until 3 days before the cruise. I had originally booked a MM guarantee (which was the lowest category available). This is what we normally do as we never spend much time in the room anyway and we always have the attitude that we’ll be happy with whatever we get. We ended up with a large outside double (category HH) with an obstructed view – cabin 4061, so we were very happy with the cabin. Certainly spacious enough for the two of us (lots of wardrobe space!) and the bonus was that we got a bathtub! We did get a bit of a view as our cabin was between the lifeboats so that was good enough for us! And our cabin steward Udin was wonderful! He was always so polite and accommodating but never intrusive. And we loved the towel animals! Also, everyone is right about the beds…I couldn’t believe how comfortable the beds were…we slept soooooo good every night!

Dining Room

When I booked we request Main Upper (8:00 p.m.) with a table for 8. This is exactly what we received. Our table number was 35. First of all, the food was excellent! We never had a bad meal in the dining room. There was so many choices every night…our favorite was of course the Surf and Turf (the lobster was so good we had two!), crab legs, and the Mahi Mahi! One of the things I enjoyed the most though was the sugar free desserts. They always had 1 or 2 choices for sugar free ice cream and a sugar free dessert. And our waiter, Made was also wonderful. Nothing was every too much trouble, as he was always asking if we wanted something else, or more meat, vegetables, whatever we desired. Our Assistant Waiter was also great…the first night I asked for Ice Tea and at the end of the meal, Apple Cranberry tea…and every night my Ice Tea was waiting for me and at the end of the meal he automatically brought my Apple Cranberry tea. He always remembered everything! We were also lucky in that we had great tablemates and made some good friends over the 7 days. One of our tablemates was 92 years old, and she loved cruising!

Lido Restaurant

We went to the dining room for dinner, but always had breakfast and lunch at the Lido Restaurant. I was really impressed with the variety of food, was never bored with the selection. I know some people have complained about the lack of variety, and I’m not sure why. There was everything from grilled hamburgers, chicken, tacos, to Sushi, Italian, sandwiches...you name it they had it! What we used to do for lunch is create our own salad from the salad bar, then to the grill for a piece of grill chicken….voila our own Grilled Chicken Salad! They also always had sugar free desserts in the glass cases, which I really enjoyed. Breakfast was also good…so much variety and always tasty! One of our daily rituals was to go to the Lido around 4:00 p.m. and have fresh cookies…I just loved their peanut butter cookies! I know they are bad for you…but they were soooo good!

Spa and Salon

I used the Gym almost every day and the spa services once. I bought my mom one of the spa packages and I bought a day pass to the Hydrotherapy pool. I just loved this! For most of the day we were the only ones in the Hydrotherapy pool, so it was like our own piece of paradise! The pool was so relaxing and the jets were so strong…it was like getting massaged! I thought the gym was very well laid out. I used to go around 5:00 p.m. and there were only approx. 4-6 people there. I never found it busy and always could use the weight machines and treadmills right away without any problem. I didn’t sign up for the Yoga or Pilates classes as I didn’t like the times. Just a hint – if you go to the Sunset Stretch class at 5:00 p.m. (it’s free), it’s basically a mini-yoga class. Try it out! Also, we filled out an entry form for a raffle, which was a $500 gift certificate to the Greenhouse Spa. We didn’t win first prize but we won second prize (and personally, I think everyone won second price as everyone we talked to received the same notice!). It was for a 40% discount to any of their services, so it’s worth filling out the entry form.

Entertainment

Before we left, we heard so many bad things about the entertainment, we weren’t sure what to expect. Well, the entertainment was fabulous! There were 2 musicals put on by the HAL dancers (who were wonderful dancers and singers). Other entertainment included Shelly White (if you ever get a chance to see her, go! She is an amazing pianist and a wonderful singer to boot. She got a standing ovation at the end of her performances and I can see why…), James Cielen – an Illusionist who was also excellent and the Philipino staff cruise show. I though the entertainment was first class, and enjoyed all the shows immensely every night. Also, there was an Autoharp’s group on board, and they used to have jam session at 10:00 p.m. every night. We stopped by a few times to listen (as all passengers were welcome to sit in and listen)….absolutely beautiful music!

Mariner’s Party

We did attend the Mariner’s party. The only downfall of this party was that it was at 11:50 a.m. We were hoping it would be at night before dinner. However, it was a good party…they brought around mimosas, champagne and fruit punch. They also brought around hordeurves, and had the String Quartet playing on stage.

Bars

We tried out most of the bars on the ship, and was impressed by the number of different bars available, depending if you were looking for something quiet and intimate, or looking to watch the football game. There was something for everyone. They even had a tailgate party one day and showed the AFC championship on the screen in the Queens Lounge! Our favorite was the Ocean bar though. We used to stop for a drink every night before dinner. They always brought around hordeurves before dinner and peanuts were always available, which I thought was a nice touch.

Grand Turk

This was our first port…and I guess I was expecting more to the Island. There wasn’t too much to see on the Island, so we just looked at the shops at the pier and went to the beach for the morning. The beach was beautiful and sandy; however entering the water was a different story. It was pretty rocky so it was hard walking into the water. But we enjoyed just lying on the beach and soaking up the sun.

Tortola

We had a great time in Tortola. Our original plan was to just to walk into town. We were walking into town and we were approached by a guide to needed 2 more people for a tour (he had 4 people and wanted 6). He said the tour would be $15.00 per person, for a 3 hour tour. We thought it was a good deal, so we went for it. Well, what a tour! The guide was wonderful…he took us all over the island and explained everything to us…from the history, culture, flora and fauna. He pointed out all the highlights and the surrounding islands. It was definitely one of the highlights of the cruise. We just loved the island and would definitely like to visit again.

St. Thomas

Well, what can I say about St. Thomas. I guess because we have been there so many times, I’m not impressed with it anymore. Unless you enjoy shopping, and that gets tiring after a while. I did check the Virgin Island’s website and was glad to see that we were docking at Havensight. There were 4 ships in that day (only the Costa was at Crown Bay). The other two ships docking with us were Carnival and the Westerdam. My mom and I just walked into town and did a bit of window shopping, had lunch, then took a taxi back to the pier.

Half Moon Cay

We have never been here before, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I had rented a clamshell on-line a few months back…and also booked myself into the “Stingray Adventure” tour. We were lucky…we were the only ship at Half Moon Cay. We decided to go off around 9:00 a.m. which ended up being a great time, as we were able to get on the tender right away. The beach was gorgeous...and the swimming was wonderful as it was all sand walking into the water. And we are very glad we rented the clamshell. It was really hot that day and the clamshell was a lifesaver! We had heard on the forum that the clamshells can get very hot and stuffy…we didn’t find that at all. There was a bit of a breeze and the clamshell kept nice and cool the whole time. Otherwise I’m sure I would have been burnt to a crisp. And if you get the chance, do the Stingray tour! It was the most amazing experience!! There were only 3 of us on the tour (I booked the 11:00 a.m. excursion). We took a tram to the other side of the island. They have an enclosure with fish, coral reefs, and approx. 20 stingrays raging from 21 years old down to 2 years. You can’t stand in the enclosure….you have to snorkel around. There is diver with us at all times, and you they do give you instructions on what to do and what not to do. We got to snorkel around for approx. ½ hour with the stingrays. We also got to feed them out of our own hands and pet them. They are quite beautiful, and it’s seemed so surreal to be swimming around them. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.

Disembarkation

I was surprised how easy this was. We’ve been on other ships and it seemed that the disembarkation was an absolute zoo. We went through customs around 7:30 a.m. (since we are Canadian the lineup was extremely small), then up to breakfast on the Lido. After breakfast, we just went down to our cabin and waited for our color and number to be called (Red 2). We took our time disembarking (I did purchase transfers…however, our flight wasn’t till 7:30 p.m. so we were in no hurry). By the time we got to our luggage, there was only about 6 pieces of Red 2 luggage left, 3 of which were ours. So, it was easy to spot. We just grabbed our luggage and on to the bus to the airport. Once we got to the airport we ended up storing our luggage for the day and catching a taxi to Sawgrass mills.

The ship

Again there have been a lot of comments lately about the wear and tear on the ship. Quite honestly, we didn’t see any. I thought the ship was lovely…the staff were constantly cleaning and polishing to keep everything spotless. And the number of hand sanitizer machines! There were machines all over the ship, and also has you embarked and disembarked at all the ports. I brought my own along, but didn’t have to use it at all, as there were always hand sanitizers where ever you went. The layout is a little confusing….however once you get used it, its fine. As Jay, our cruise director explained it “fun in the front and food in the back”!! It doesn’t have the big Atrium like RCCL, but we didn’t miss it at all. I loved all the little nooks and cranny’s on the ship…I thought it really added to the ambience. We did hit the casino almost every night…didn’t do that great, but the last day we won $30, so we were happy. We saw a few people win jackpots of $200 to $500, but unfortunately, we weren’t one of those people! The nightclub was also hopping. I think it was busy every night that we stopped by. They had different themes every night (disco, country, different decades, etc.) so there was something for everyone.

Overall thoughts

We really did have a wonderful cruise. We met a lot of very nice people, and had a chance to chat with a lot of the staff. The staff was absolutely lovely and really enjoyed hearing about the Philippines and Indonesia and learning a bit about their culture. The cruise staff was also great (especially the cruise director, Jay Gosselin....this was his last cruise before going on vacation), and we enjoyed everything about the ship. The ship was a bit rocky at times, but we never experienced any sea sickness and didn’t think it was that bad. However, some people said that they felt nauseous for days. A lot of people were complaining about sea sickness. Anyway, last thoughts…I can’t see us going back to RCCL now as I think it would be disappointing. Not sure when our next cruise will be (we prefer to do land tours now as opposed to cruising), but it will definitely be back on HAL.

And for everyone who was on the roll call board, we did go to the sail away party, but we couldn’t find anyone from the CC Forum. We only ran into one member (deerinsnow, I believe!), so we are sorry we missed you all, but I hope you had a great time, and hopefully we will meet on future cruises…

I hope you enjoyed the review. We are by no means experts now on HAL, but hopefully this review gave you some information on the Zuiderdam.

And if you have any questions, I would be more that happy to answer…

Colleen

[letsgoaway]

Thanks for the great review. It sounds like you had a great trip.

[tinaparrotthead]

Your reveiw was refreshing! Thanks for taking the time and making me less nervous about the ship and its condition. I had not read any reviews that gave the details about the entertainment that you did and its much appreciated!

:)

[hammybee]

I think many of the reviews are too critical of the experience and in some way serve to manage our expectations often with great results, like you experienced. I am delighted you and your mother enjoyed your cruise as much as I enjoyed reading your review. Thank you for making the time to do so.

[KalenaD]

We sailed on the Zuiderdam in December and basically had the same experience you did.

It was a great ship and wonderful cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your wonderful report. Glad to hear that you had a wonderul cruise.

[gizmo]

Thanks for taking the time to write a great review. Great style ! You covered everything. I really enjoyed reading it. :)

[pcs15]

Thanks for the great review - we'll be on the "Z" on Feb. 3rd - one week to go. A quick question for you on dress code. Did you have an "Informal" night? Or just Formal and Casual? I need to make my final packing decisions.

 

Thanks,

Pat

[starysacz]

Thank you so much for the wonderful report. Glad you enjoyed the cruise. The both of you were very active. That is great.:)

[cantravel1]

Thanks for the great review - we'll be on the "Z" on Feb. 3rd - one week to go. A quick question for you on dress code. Did you have an "Informal" night? Or just Formal and Casual? I need to make my final packing decisions.

 

Thanks,

Pat

 

Hi Pat,

 

Thanks for the kind words. We had 2 formal nights (the 2nd and 6th nights) and 1 informal night (I believe this was the 5th night). The rest were casual nights (the night in Tortola was a tropical/casual night, so if you have any tropical wear bring it along!!). For the formal nights, there was everything from ball gowns to dress pants. My mom doesn't like dressing up too much so she wore a skirt and cardigan set both formal nights....I on the other hand wore 2 floor length dresses. Both of us didn't feel out of place, as there was such a range of dress. For the informal night, we both wore a nice skirt and top...nothing too fancy.

 

I hope this helps...and I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

Colleen

[PAHORNER]

Hey Coleen, We missed you at the sailaway CC get togather. I think there was approx 15 of us. Sounds like you and your mom had as wonderful a time as DH and I had. Enjoyed your review.