Wonderful Cruise On The Zuiderdam

[fann1sh]

I'm also glad to hear such great things about your Zuiderdam Panama experience. After being "cruise-less" for more than 6 months (cancelled our Westerdam cruise) we're now signed up for this itinerary in 7060 this November!

 

Our last cruise on the Zuiderdam in December 07 was a perfect 10, so the grumbling had me worried, too. Thanks for the thumbs up!

[DizzyDallasDi]

Greetings Bigjohn42,

 

Thanks for your great post about the Zuiderdam. We are sailing on her on May 16 Alaska for our first HAL cruise. I hope you won't mind a couple of questions. We have sailed Princess and NCL before - how formal are formal nights on HAL? Are they similar to Princess or "more" formal. Would a dark suit for my DH and a cocktail type pants suit for me be acceptable? Also, is there a covered pool. Given that it's Alaska in May I think it's safe to assume we won't be swimming in an open pool but wondered if there is a warm, covered area for swimming.

 

Thanks again for your post - it sounds like we'll have a wonderful time!

 

Regards,

YaYa

 

Hi YaYa - I'm on the Zuiderdam on May 23 so I'll be getting on when you're getting off. Have a wonderful cruise and please leave some vodka for my martinis! :D

 

Diane

[bigjohn42]

I'm also glad to hear such great things about your Zuiderdam Panama experience. After being "cruise-less" for more than 6 months (cancelled our Westerdam cruise) we're now signed up for this itinerary in 7060 this November!

 

Our last cruise on the Zuiderdam in December 07 was a perfect 10, so the grumbling had me worried, too. Thanks for the thumbs up!

 

fann1sh, I'm sure your going to have a great time, no need to grumble:)

I have a longer wait however, were going on the Eurodam 09-11 for the Canada/New England 10 day'r, this will be my folks 50th Anniversary gift from the kids.

[bigjohn42]

Greetings Bigjohn42,

 

Thanks for your great post about the Zuiderdam. We are sailing on her on May 16 Alaska for our first HAL cruise. I hope you won't mind a couple of questions. We have sailed Princess and NCL before - how formal are formal nights on HAL? Are they similar to Princess or "more" formal. Would a dark suit for my DH and a cocktail type pants suit for me be acceptable? Also, is there a covered pool. Given that it's Alaska in May I think it's safe to assume we won't be swimming in an open pool but wondered if there is a warm, covered area for swimming.

 

Thanks again for your post - it sounds like we'll have a wonderful time!

 

Regards,

YaYa

 

Yaya, not to worry, you both will look great. Yes the Lido Pool is covered, so not to worry there either, it does get pretty muggy on the Lido deck/pool area without the roof being somewhat cracked, hopefully you'll have a couple real nice days while in Alaska, have a great trip, John

[Addrian]

This is the review of our Panama Cruise on Holland America's Zuiderdam on 3-9-2009. This cruise consists of myself, my partner (we are celebrating our 20th anniversary), and our best friends, Samantha & Bob. The four of us are in our mid forties. We live about a mile apart from each other in Seattle. My folks and In-laws who love getting together, live close by to each other in San Francisco. Sunday, March 8th as we headed to the airport in Seattle, our folks made their way to the San Francisco airport, our flight left at 9:05 am and the folks left at 9:30 am and we landed about 5 minutes of each other in Dallas and all eight of us proceeded to get on the same flight to Ft. Lauderdale an hour later. After we landed we had reservations to stay at the Comfort Inn on Stirling Ave. We called for the free shuttle and they came to pick us up. The hotel was OK, nothing special, you do get a free breakfast which consisted of coffee, juice, muffins, cereal, fruit and waffles. The shuttle the next day was so over booked we could not even get on a shuttle until close to 1:30p.m. Checkout was 11:00 and was told we could wait in the lobby until then, we all decided to make other arrangements and called EZ Limo. They were more than happy to pick us up and take us to the cruise port, service was great and was worth every penny. They charged 10.00 a couple and handled all the bags and the gentlemen was very nice and personable, we were picked up at 10:45 and were at the cruise port by 11:00.

 

Embarkation: About as smooth as can be, Hal has this down to a science. We arrived at the port to awaiting porters who took all our bags and pointed us in the right direction. We all checked in and headed for the room upstairs to wait until 11:30 to board, we went thru security and had our pictures taken and were up the gangway in no time. What a great feeling it is crossing over and stepping foot on the Zuiderdam, it felt so good. This was our first time on the Zuiderdam and what a beauty she is, having been on the Oosterdam i knew where everything was but the decor was different. I really liked it, was very subdued, nothing to much over the top, except for those hideous benches next to the elevator's, other than that, I love this ship.

 

 

 

We were directed up to the Lido for lunch but we knew better and headed to the dining room instead. Lunch was very good, we were all sitting there with big smiles on our faces and I was thinking, wow, had we taken the 1:30 shuttle we would still be sitting in the hotel lobby. It was only 12:00 now and we were already on board and having lunch. Thank you again EZ Limo. Public Rooms: All the Public areas are very nice and clean, i did not notice much wear and tear as others have posted. After all this is a floating hotel that is being used 24-7-365 days, there is bound to be some wear and tear but I did not notice anything that stood out. We were given the green light for our rooms around 1:15 and proceeded to make our way to 6099 which is an SY suite, WOW, what a great space, we usually get a Veranda but we were all able to upgrade to the SY prior to the final payment for cheaper than what we paid for the Veranda, too good to pass up. All our rooms were were together. There was more than enough space for everything, we got our luggage about 2:00 and was totally unpacked by 3:00. We never even used most of the drawers as their was plenty of space in the closets and shelves. We met both of our room stewards, Lou & Augusto, these guys were top notch, the best we have ever had. Whatever we needed they took care of with smiles on. They learned our names by that first day, HAL should be very proud of these two. The rooms were all spotless, thankfully Lou & Augusto were responsible for all four cabins, everyone agreed they were the best.

 

 

 

After we did the Muster Drill (Boring but important) we headed up to the seaview pool for a sail away drink and enjoyed the music, then we all headed back up to the rooms to dress for early traditional seating at 5:45. A little early for us but with the four folks from 66-76, you get the picture. We met our dining stewards Gede and his partner in crime Punia, both were fantastic, we got great stories and great service from both. We had brought on board a case of wine and our wine steward was Lyn, she was wonderful and very funny. We lucked out this cruise with great cabin and dining stewards. We normally ate most meals of breakfast and dinner in the main dining room as its less crowded and the food is very good. We did eat most lunches in the lido and was never disappointed, saw and spoke to Hunky Dory, great guy. The Pasta Bar was my favorite, really good pasta and sauces. Terrace grill is also very good as well, had a good bratwurst one day and a good cheeseburger the next. Made reservations in the Spa for a mani and pedi compliments of our friends Samantha & Bob. Kris & I both really enjoyed them, having only done this once before, we also made reservations for massages later in the cruise, they turned out to be wonderful.

 

I had made arrangements with Becky from the HAL Seattle office to set up a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet the third day out, a sea day. Hal did a great job setting up the refreshments of coffee/tea & water as well as cookies and brownies, was a small crowd but met some really really nice folks, Sheila & Chris from Toronto, Linda & Santi from Yalaha, Florida and Brad & Debbie. Folks went to a few shows, however us youngsters would either go to the spa hydro pool/thermal chairs or to the casino, I did well enough to cover the on board account at the end of the cruise. We had rented the Private Oasis on Half Moon Cay and had a total blast, service and food and drink were plentiful, weather was perfect, a good time was had by all. The sea's were calm for the most part through out the cruise, Aruba was Wonderful as was Curacao. Panama was incredible, a fascinating experience. Loved Costa Rica, was very warm that day about 94 and very humid, enjoyed the next two sea days just relaxing, hitting the spa and then the inevitable packing. Disembarkation was also a breeze, we all headed for the airport as we all had the same flight back to Dallas and we then separated to our respective cites, with some tears from the moms. This was a Fantastic cruise, we all had a great time, yes there were small things that happened but you know you cant sweat the small stuff and there was no way i was going to let the small stuff hamper my vacation in any way. I will continue to sail with HAL. They have never let us down. looking forward to sailing on her other ships as well, sorry this is so long but you get alot done in 10 days of cruising if anyone has any questions, please, just ask.......until next time, Bigjohn42

 

 

I'm trying to set up a meet and greet for our cruise, I've attended them before on Holland but never set it up myself. Can you give me any tips of who to contact?

[pamssanity]

Hi John

have been reading your posts-we are doing the panama 10 day on the Zeiderdam( sorry about the spelling???) what tours would you recommend?? thanks

Pam