zuiderdam 03/03 - comments on ship and ports please

[nojibberish]

Good morning! :) This is my first post in this forum. I've been on 3 past cruises but none with HAL. We are set to sail on the Zuiderdam on Mar 3/07 to Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Thomas and HMC. I've been reading all I can on this site and boards and the information is very useful. I'm hoping someone has been on this cruise recently and can provide me with their thoughts and advice on the ship and ports...and maybe you have a link to your cruise pictures?:D My parents are taking me, my husband, sister and our 20 month old son. We have two balcony rooms (5035 and 5037 I think) beside each other but not adjoining and my sister is in an inside cabin accross from us. We are pretty easy going people and so far just love cruising. I've been doing my homework on all the ports and excursions. Anyone have comments on the Gibbs Cay excursion? Thanks for any advice you can provide and happy cruising!! :cool:

[Candy]

Hi, nojibberish... welcome to the CC HAL board! You'll find some really nice, helpful, experienced members here, so ask away!

 

Out of our 19 cruises, the Zuiderdam is our favorite ship. I don't know which other ships you have sailed, but will caution you to try not to compare them too severely. Zuidy is the first of the 4 Vista Class ships, and features an eclectic design and exciting colors that have annoyed some veteran HAL cruisers. This series of ships was designed to attract families, so is a bit more energetic than HAL's other ships. You'll find the same wonderful food, good to very good entertainment, and, most important to us, the epitome of excellence in service.

 

Your cabins may not be adjoining, but you can ask your cabin steward to open the door between the balconies. I cannot help you with ports, as we choose to stay on the ship most of the time. I will say, though, that the brief glimpse I got of Margaritaville in Tortola convinced me to spend the entire day there next time.

 

You'll find links to my reviews and photos in my sig below. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me.

 

Candy the ZuiderPrincess <-- just booked Zuidy #8

[Katbird93]

I just returned 2/10 from Zuiderdam and did a review on the 16th. If you scroll down to page 3 or 4 you can probably find it. If you have any questions, please ask. It was a great cruise!:)

[Atomica]

The Zuiderdam is a fantastic ship - so much so that we're booked on it again this coming September :) The ship is beautiful and the crew are amazing - you'll have a great time.

[twopaw]

My husband and I were on the Z in Jan. We fell in love with the ship - we really appreciated the artistic feel...make sure you look at the ceiling in the library and just soak up all of the incredible (IMO) touches.

 

I would highly recommend Governors Beach on Grand Turk over Margaritaville - two completely different experiences tho' so depends on what you like. We took a taxi into town and walked around on our own - glad we did, it gave us a glimpse into life on Grand Turk. Met a 100 year old man sitting on his porch, neat! Took taxi from town to Governor's Beach where there were 10 people!!! I counted. To have this unbeliveably beautiful beach practically to ourselves was one of the highlights of our trip. While the masses were at Margaritaville we were in heaven (for us). There were restrooms available and pop machines that also had bottled water. There were chairs but they were chained, think at times there may be more action on the beach. We had even forgotten our beach towels but just got sandy in powder fine sand, can't beat it! We walked back to the ship, abou 15-20 min, also fun, got to see more of real life on the island. Stopped at Margaritaville for a drink (silly expensive but you're on vacation) and sat looking at the ship then time to board. I'm looking at a picture on my bulletin board of G. Beach as I'm writing, just stunning!

 

We took the HAL tour to the Baths while at Tortola and loved it - WOW! Wanted to do the Baths on our own but it just didn't seem like enough time and I was not wanting to miss the ship. Am sure more experienced cruisers would have gone for it. The HAL tour was excellent, ride over fast and fun and the Baths are not to be missed (IMO). Highly recommend walking/crawling/climbing thru the boulders to get to Devil's Beach - another highlight of our trip! I didn't find it to be as difficult as I'd expected from reading about it. I hope you have the opportunity to go to the Baths!

 

On St Thomas we took a private tour with Sunny Liston for $25 pp. We had 3 hours of shopping, then a tour of the island and a couple of hours at Sapphire Beach. It was great!

 

Half Moon Cay we had a cabana as a treat for our 20th anniversary. It was wonderful! Also did the horseback riding. I loved it, DH tolerated it for my sake. Have a horse at home so it was a much needed "fix" to be with them after nearly a week. The guides were a blast- so friendly, helpful and fun! Powering thru the surf on a horse was incredible.

 

Have a wonderful adventure on the Zuiderdam. I am feeling homesick for her and the islands!! Happy cruising....

 

Alison

[minitor]

Margaritaville is at Grand Turk and looks great, pool is nice and the chairs and such are free to use. The only problem is the drink prices. I agree about going to another beach or something there. Don't just take a cab to the 'downtown area' (nothing there).

Tortola is a hilly island best seen from a locally rented taxi (about $25). Don't get one of the cabs right at the port. You once were able to walk along the bay to the downtown area, now it is fenced off but you can still get to downtown by walking straight from the ship and cutting left once out of the parking area. There you will find a local who will be very pleased to provide a tour. You'll get a real feel for the place from the cab. Pussers Outpost is a fun bar/restaurant for lunch. Captains Table is another local restaurant at the port, but we walked out after a look at the bathrooms.

HMC is a great stop and you'll have a good time there. Tender is now on a larger boat that is much less of a hassle than before on the life boat/tender. Rent some shade!

The Z'dam is a great Vista class ship and as said before, ask you steward to open the balcony between your cabins.

[nojibberish]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their advice and experience...I really do appreciate it. I'm really looking forward to sailing on Zuidy in less than 2 weeks now! I think we've decided to do the Gibb's Cay excursion in Grand Turk, either the North Shore and Pusser's Landing in Tortola or the Tortola highlights and in St. Thomas, taking the skyride and spending some time in town shopping (my fav thing do to). We are beach people so HMC looks fantastic...with some rented shade :cool: Not sure how many meals we'll see in the dining room given we are travelling with a toddler, but thems the breaks...haven't been disappointed with the food on a cruise yet! Thanks again for all your helpful tips.