A Celebrity lover cruises on Zuiderdam 01/05/08

[usha]

A Celebrity lover cruises on Zuiderdam 01/05/08

 

I usually cruise with my DH, but this cruise was with our 31 & 28-year-old daughters. It was my 22nd cruise, but only my second on HAL. I had originally booked us with an online agency in a C guarantee cabin, and was immediately assigned cabin #1121, a basic outside on deck 1, just under the entrance to the lower level of the dining room. Looked fine to me. About a week before our cruise, I checked our online info again, and our cabin assignment had changed to cabin #5091. Looking at the ship diagram, I saw that we now had a balcony three cabins forward of the midship elevators! ALLLLLLLLLRIGHTY, THEN! How nice was THAT gonna be?!!

 

Embarkation: Pretty painless. We got to the pier a little before 11:00, and boarding hadn't started yet, but once it did, we were on the ship within minutes. It took several hours before my daughters' luggage showed up, and mine didn't make it until just before dinner. WHEW!

 

Our cabin: as I said, it was an unexpected upgrade from an outside to a balcony; what was not to like about that? (We made plenty of use of that balcony, too!) I picked the fold out love seat/bed next to the balcony door, so I could crack the door & listen to the sea at night. My daughters slept in the beds, and LOVED them. They felt so guilty that "poor mom" was on the fold-out, and kept asking me if I was SURE I really wanted to sleep there, but actually, I was quite comfortable; no complaints at all. We had a sweet cabin steward named Chip, who took very good care of our cabin, and left us cute little towel animals (not very common on Celebrity). I read at some point that we were supposed to get fresh fruit in the cabin, but that never materialized. Oh, well, we sure didn't starve! I liked having a tub (only suites on Celebrity have those); the girls didn't care one way or the other. I thought there was plenty of space for all of us (even my two clothes horse daughters) to store our clothes in the closets & drawers, as well as room in the bathroom for all of our toiletries. The room was a little snug for 3, (we knew that going in) but the balcony really added some bonus space. We were quite happy & comfortable with our cabin, AND its location.

 

Fellow cruisers: I know, HAL is supposed to be known for its older demographic, but I really didn't see it. Maybe the longer cruises typically have older pax, but this 7 night had about what I'd expect to see on a 7 night Celebrity cruise. (Does this mean I'm getting old?????) Mostly, people seemed to be considerate of each other, and courteous in general. I did see a few pax speaking rudely to the staff, and it's always so embarrassing to see that. Most pax followed the dress codes, too. Didn't see shorts or baseball caps in the diningroom on formal night, or wifebeater tanks & daisy dukes on smart casual nights.

 

Food: The food in the main diningroom in general, was good-to-very good. I wasn't too impressed with the desserts, though, but I think I've become less enamoured of sweets since I don't eat a lot of sugar anymore. My daughters & I all agreed that the pastas were epic! Definitely pastas are better on HAL. We also agreed that the diningroom food on Celebrity was still basically more to our liking. The lido food was a different story. We all were blown away by the variety at the buffet on Zuiderdam, as well as the flavors of many of the dishes served. We all felt that Zuiderdam's lido food was a little better, and a lot more varied, than the lido on Celebrity.

 

Entertainment: We didn't see any of the production shows, and only saw one other show, the late night comedian, Russ something-or-other. He was okay, but not side-splittingly funny. The big let-down was the band that played by the pool. The woman lead singer did a weird rendition of "Sweet Caroline", and kept saying it was by Tom Jones. (Good thing Neil Diamond wasn't there; he'd be pretty honked-off about that). The endings of their songs sort of just fell apart, as opposed to ending. They clearly needed to practice a lot more. That band was the only truly dissapointed thing about the cruise.

 

Ports: To me, the ports don't make or break a cruise; the ship is more the destination. We all liked Grand Turk, and it was our first visit there. For three sun-worshippers, it was great to have a lovely beach, a gorgeous pool, & a Margaritaville right there at the pier! We were happy campers! We think San Juan is a better port to get on a ship than it is good port to visit, but we walked around a little, and had some drinks at Senor Frogs. There were 7 ships in port at St. Thomas, and we've all been there too many times to mess with that gridlock! We stayed on the ship, looking at the scenery from the aft pool that we pretty much had to ourselves. Who DOESN'T love Half Moon Cay??? It has the most magnificent sand on the planet, just like powdered sugar, and it was the perfect last day stop. (Wish they had nice chairs like that on the aft pool deck!) As you probably put together, this was not an adventure or culture enrichment cruise; we were doing some serious R&R, and we make no apologies for that.

 

Service: Although the service on Zuiderdam didn't seem as professional or polished as on Celebrity, I have to say the staff on Zuiderdam were SOOOOOO warm & friendly! What genuinely sweet people! Everybody greeted us by name from the very first day, just like on Celebrity, and treated us so well for the entire week, without exception. We were all very impressed by the staff on Zuiderdam.

 

The ship itself: Zuiderdam is a lovely ship; I like the navy hull a lot, and I think it makes the ship look very stately. Some of the interior color combinations are kind of much, like the colors in the lido buffet, yikes! Some of the artwork I thought was ghastly, but art is so subjective, isn't it? I felt that the ship had a sensible layout & good "flow". I loved the space ratio onboard; the ship was booked to the gills, and yet we never felt crowded (except for the first feeding frenzy when we boarded in Ft. Lauderdale). We all enjoyed the aft pool, and spent many, many hours out there lolling in the sun. I didn't like the plastic/mesh deck chairs; they were uncomfortable and cheap-looking. They seemed so out-of-place on that lovely teak decking. My daughters loved the Northern Lights lounge (maybe TOO much), and closed it most evenings.

 

The big picture: We loved our cruise on Zuiderdam! Do we love it as much as Celebrity? Not quite; we still love Celebrity a little more. Would we try HAL again? You bet your poop deck!

[caviargal]

usha, so pleased that you enjoyed the ZUI! She was my first HAL cruise after a 20 year HAL hiatus and my DH's first HAL cruise ever. We really were impressed! Within a year and a half of that cruise, we sailed on RCI's Jewel and X's Century and since then have concluded that HAL overall is a much better choice for us.

 

Did you discover the homemade chocolate truffles?:)

 

Thanks for posting!

[Roz]

Usha,

 

Very nice review. It's always good to hear that someone enjoyed their cruise, and the things they didn't like so much were very minor.

 

I agree with you about the desserts. Not one of HAL's strong points, IMO. On my last 2 HAL cruises I thought they had slipped in that area.

 

I'm anxious to try Celebrity myself. Thanks again for taking the time to put down your thoughts.

 

Roz

[hammybee]

This was a hoot to read -absolutely delightful presentation.

 

It's becoming increasingly impossible to generalize about or even predict passenger dynamics on any 7 day sail, as it seems to vary from sailing to sailing, during the school year. It's the "box of chocolates" thing. You just never know.

 

Now I am going to show my age and ask what the heck are daisy dukes?

[usha]

Caviargal, I did see the truffles, but didn't eat one (just about the ONLY thing I didn't eat!):o

Hammybee, daisy dukes are VERY short cut off blue jeans, usually showing some of a girl's buttocks. They're not too ladylike, and NOT appropriate for any diningroom.

Roz, I think HAL & Celebrity are pretty comparable, more similarities than differences, IMO.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

Wondering 'bout that myself. My first thought was "Daisy Mae' of Lil Abner fame. Not to far off.

 

Daisy Dukes are extremely short, form-fitting, denim cut-off jeans shorts, usually portrayed as being worn by young women and girls in the American South. They were named after the character Daisy Duke, portrayed by actress Catherine Bach, in the American television series, The Dukes of Hazzard. Since then, they have become a pop culture icon of the South.

 

Bon Voyage, Good Health & No 'Daisy Dukes' in the DR please! (okay by the Lido, however)

Bob:)

[hammybee]

 

Hammybee, daisy dukes are VERY short cut off blue jeans, usually showing some of a girl's buttocks. They're not too ladylike, and NOT appropriate for any diningroom.

 

Oh my stars. :eek:

[Roz]

Hammybee,

 

Did you ever watch The Dukes of Hazzard? Daisy Duke was the sweet young thing running around in the high cut denim cut-offs. This is not a recent phenomena. :D

 

Roz

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

 

[hammybee]

Hammybee,

 

Did you ever watch The Dukes of Hazzard? Daisy Duke was the sweet young thing running around in the high cut denim cut-offs. This is not a recent phenomena. :D Roz

 

Other than HBO, I rarely watch TV. It would cut into the time I spend on CC. :rolleyes:

[hammybee]

Ahoy!

 

 

 

Well maybe in the hay, it does. :eek:

[hammybee]

My apologies to the OP for hijacking her wonderfully written review for the daisy duke sidebar.

[usha]

Don't worry Hammybee; all of us girls are wishing we could look like Catherine Bach in those skimpy bottoms!:o That's the REAL problem!

[burlingtoncruiser]

We just came off the Maasdam and although there wasn't a fruitbowl, there was a card stating you could check off what fruits you would like in your cabin. I didn't feel the need for more to eat!

 

Loved your review!

 

Helen

[Krazy Kruizers]

Earlier today I had to move the review over to word processor -- just had a chance to change it over to a color that I could read -- some of us have some eye problems as we get older -- and that color for a review -- just couldn't handle.

 

So thank you for for writing your review.

 

But - please - next time -- blue or black would be appreciated.

[Cruising-along]

Thank you usha for the good, balanced review :)

 

I think I wouldn't have been able to help myself when the lead singer referred to "Sweet Caroline" as a Tom Jones song :eek: Being the Neil Diamond nut that I am (have seen him in concert 15 times over the years), I'm sure I would have had to set her straight :rolleyes:

[our turn]

Great, balanced review. So glad you enjoyed your cruise. Of course, someone with your attitude almost always does. It always amazes me that some can turn small things like a sub par band into a ruined vacation. :D

[Sky Sweet]

Thank you usha for the good, balanced review :)

 

I think I wouldn't have been able to help myself when the lead singer referred to "Sweet Caroline" as a Tom Jones song :eek: Being the Neil Diamond nut that I am (have seen him in concert 15 times over the years), I'm sure I would have had to set her straight :rolleyes:

 

As a Neil Diamond lover, did you read about the funny thing that happened to him a few years ago.

 

When Neil Diamond went to see Shrek, he was so delighted that his "I'm a Believer" was used in that movie, that he came out of the theater singing that song. While he did, he overheard two young kids behind him saying that they were amazed that the old man knew the words to the song...LOL :)

[Sky Sweet]

Hi Usha :)

 

I really enjoyed your review. My husband and I are Elite members of Celebrity's Captain Club, who recently took our first Holland America Cruise on Westerdam.

 

We were also pleasantly surprised that the demographics were much younger than we expected and will definitely consider sailing on HAL again.

[usha]

Krazy Kruisers, sorry for the pink :o ; it's just "my" color, and I didn't even think about how it would impact the reading of an entire cruise critique.

our turn, I hafta tell ya, my daughters were WAY turned off by that band. Our whole family are musicians, and one thing that really bugs us all is to see/hear a band that obviously doesn't practice, that's just getting by. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful cruise.:)

Cruise-along, why WEREN'T you there to set them straight about Neil Diamond???;)

Burlingtoncruiser, we didn't see anything to fill out about our fruit preferences for the cabin, but LORD KNOWS we got plenty to eat. (I gained 4 lbs!!!:o )

[usha]

As a Neil Diamond lover, did you read about the funny thing that happened to him a few years ago.

 

When Neil Diamond went to see Shrek, he was so delighted that his "I'm a Believer" was used in that movie, that he came out of the theater singing that song. While he did, he overheard two young kids behind him saying that they were amazed that the old man knew the words to the song...LOL :)

Oops, double post

[usha]

As a Neil Diamond lover, did you read about the funny thing that happened to him a few years ago.

 

When Neil Diamond went to see Shrek, he was so delighted that his "I'm a Believer" was used in that movie, that he came out of the theater singing that song. While he did, he overheard two young kids behind him saying that they were amazed that the old man knew the words to the song...LOL :)

I LOVE it!!!!:D

[Cruising-along]

As a Neil Diamond lover, did you read about the funny thing that happened to him a few years ago.

 

When Neil Diamond went to see Shrek, he was so delighted that his "I'm a Believer" was used in that movie, that he came out of the theater singing that song. While he did, he overheard two young kids behind him saying that they were amazed that the old man knew the words to the song...LOL :)

 

I love that story, thanks! :D

[Cruising-along]

 

Cruise-along, why WEREN'T you there to set them straight about Neil Diamond???;)

 

 

 

 

Now that's a good excuse to take a cruise, LOL! Sure wish I'd been there :D

[kelmac]

usha,

 

Dead solid perfect! We must have like minds, because it sounds like I wrote that review. We mostly cruise Celebrity, but HAL is a very close second.

 

Well done and thanks again!

Kel