What You Do Not Like About Zuiderdam

[lyndamr]

I read board of what people like about the Zuiderdam, how about the negatives/problems or things you wish they improve on or change, thanks.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Unfortunately they can not change what I dislike about the Vista class ships - we were on the Oosterdam.

There is only one way to go to the dining room and that is through the photo gallery area. And nearly every night the pictures were open for passengers to view. While people are trying to look at the pictures others are trying to pass through to get to the dining room.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Being as we only book suites, and it isn't a concern to us - BUT other people have complained that the Vista class do not have any public laundries - no place to wash and dry clothes - no place to iron something on a moments notice.

[staufj22]

I was on the Westerdam, and there're a few issues that seem to come from bad design..

1. In the Men's restroom near Crow's Nest, there's a hand dryer mounted on the wall right next to a urinal. Over 1/2 of the width of the urinal opening is taken up by the hand dryer. Its pretty awkward to try and squeeze in there to do your business... when when you're in there.. there's no way anyone else can use the hand dryer.

2. Lighting in the staterooms. I was in a Verandah room, and while there's enough closet space, the light there is terrible. If you have the closet door open, you pretty much cannot see anything, because the doors block all the light. It took me till like 8 days into my cruise to discover that there's a full length mirror on the inside door of the closet.

[Krazy Kruizers]

AHHH

As a woman it only takes me a few seconds to locate that full length mirror in any cabin. You mean your wife didn't check that out first?

[tommy]

Zuiderdam,Service in the dining room. TOM

[kryos]

Zuiderdam,Service in the dining room. TOM
And a related drawback ... the ship is so big, and carries so many passengers.

It seemed that everywhere you went, you had to navigate through a mass of people ... finding a table in the Lido, waiting for service in the dining room, shopping in the onboard boutiques. However, perhaps my experience was unique ... I traveled on the last week before school went back in session last September. The ship was filled to over-capacity. But then ... ahhhhhh, that next week ... when the Zuiderdam couldn't sail until Monday because of getting back into port late from the week before ... only about 650 passengers onboard a ship that holds around 3,000. There were actually more crew onboard than passengers that week. It was absolutely heavenly! Plenty of available deck chairs, an abundance of available tables in the LIDO, only one seating for dinner in the dining room.

Talk about five heavenly days! Now that's the way I like to sail!

Of course, I doubt HAL would feel the same way about it. :) They probably lost a bundle that week. :(

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Thoth]

I was on her sister the Oosterdam and the only improvement that I would make would be add some drawer space in the cabins. All things considered, I loved my one trip on the Vista class.

[thulewx]

There is only one way to go to the dining room and that is through the photo gallery area. And nearly every night the pictures were open for passengers to view. While people are trying to look at the pictures others are trying to pass through to get to the dining room.

That's on the vernadah deck. There's another deck below, without a photo gallery, that has access to the dining room.
The main thing I don't like about the Vista ships is the Queen's lounge - it's essentially non-user-friendly for movies.
And the main thing I don't like - they make you get off at the end of your cruise. :mad:

[michmike]

for us, it's the number of kids likely to be aboard. We purposely schedule around school breaks and such, but last week we docked next to the zuiderdam in Tortola (us on Volendam) and they had 100+ kids on board whereas we had 5. Works for us!!!

Also like the size and atmosphere on the S class ships. Given a choice of comparable itineraries we will continue to stick with S class (and the onboard laundries) rather than take a chance on the Vistas.

Then again, given the overall lackluster service we had on Volendam ( I think, in large measure due to a combination of the new tip policy and staffing cuts) we are probably just as likely to try X again for our next cruise.

[Lokalona]

Steer clear of Cabin 5050 and those few adjacent as the sewer odor is very noticeable, let alone raw sewage coming up through floor drain. You can see it hovering right near the opening too.

I thought she creaked and moaned more than any ship I'd ever been on.

Noise in lower level dining area from engine vibration, I mean the lowest level not the tier just above that.

I don't like the layout of the casino, it is too cramped.

service was not very good throughout for some reason.

[Tatka]

1) Slow service in DR and not very professional.
2) Takes long time to clean up stateroom. (we actually had to call 2 times because our room wasn't cleaned after 12:00 PM )
3) No fans(or A/C) in the middle pool area.

Loved everything else about Zui.:)

[peaches from georgia]

Haven't been on the Zuiderdam, but did spend 2 weeks on the Oosterdam and they are sisters. Dislike:

1. General layout of the ship. Passageways in the public areas are winding and narrow. Understand why, but don't like it. Large ships like Vistas have enough area to be 'open'. It is almost claustrophobic walking to some places on the public decks.
2. Photo Gallery being at entrance to upper dining room! You might as well wait in the Ocean Bar for 15 minutes after the chimes ring because of the backup of people leaving the dr and looking at their photos and the pushing and shoving of people trying to get into the dr.
3. Queen's Lounge. Tries to be multi-purpose, but ends up being unsatisfactory for all its purposes.
4. Dining Room service. Stewards have way too many pax to serve and are overworked. Not only are pax unhappy with the service, but stewards are also.
5. Ocean Bar being split into 2 sections. Though I am no longer a smoker I was when I was on the Oo and didn't like the Ocean Bar being on both sides of the Atrium. The smokers really are discriminated against with the music being on the non-smoking side. What is the problem with having the OB like it is on the other ships?

[ekerr19]

The WHOLE list, or just the top 10?

Just Kidding! Layout was the biggie for us.

[lyndamr]

what exactly about the layout do you not like? Sewage smell anybody else encountered this discuting problem? I was debating the new Carnival Valor but chose the Zuiderdam, same size and less people. Keep them coming as we truely appreciate hearing your dislikes about the Zui. Thank you.

[FlorenceItaly]

this thread is very encouraging for future Zuiderdam cruisers, LOL..NOT! :)

I am so hoping HAL management sees this thread.

Marie

[Marie-Claude]

Every ship has little quirks and I haven't found one to be perfect yet, but what I missed the most on the Zuiderdam was spaciousness. There is no real atrium, and even though there are a lot of public rooms, all well appointed with great design and furniture, it does feel a bit cramped. It feels like you're always in a hallway.
But again, a trip is what you make it. Enjoy.

[sail7seas]

I also greatly dislike having to push through the photo gallery in order to go to the dining room.


Seeing as we have our pre-dinner cocktails in Ocean Bar and are seated on the upper level of the dining room, it would be ridiculous for us to have to go down a deck, enter the dining room on the lower level and walk the center staircase back up to our table. That's a bit too much of an inconvenience IMO

[peaches from georgia]

The WHOLE list, or just the top 10?

Just Kidding! Layout was the biggie for us.
LOL! Another poster was asking about 'layout' here and on another thread. Hopefully you can explain your problems with the Vista ship layout also.

What I didn't like were the corridors on the public decks. No matter where you were going you were walking in a dark narrow winding passageway on one side of the ship, unable to see anything very far ahead. I assume that was to make the length of the ship less daunting.

Nothing seemed 'open' and airy. So much more could have been done with an atrium on a ship this size. The public rooms were mostly small with an enclosed feeling. I don't think I'm explaining it well.

And speaking of mazes- I totally forgot to list the rat's maze of shops on my previous post. I understand 2 pax went in there to buy T-shirts a month or so ago and haven't found their way out yet! :D

[ekerr19]

Peaches-

Your assessment sums it up for us - it did seem like a maze... we also noticed the winding passage ways. I think alot of people like it - but it felt really strange to me.

The shops are a horror - trying to get through when a "sale" is going on is a lesson in extreme patience.

Also, as Sail mentioned - the photo area... we like to go to the OB before dinner too, with most pax lingering over photos on their way out of the D/R, it was way too crowded - forget trying to carry your drink in to dinner - it would be all over you!

I also did not care for the layout of the Ocean Bar in the least - also, the seats at the bar and at some of the tables seemed very uncomfortable. We got the feeling they weren't encouraging us to linger over cocktails...

LOL at the pax still looking for their way out of the shops! One of them is VERY confusing, I can't remember which one it was, but you turn the corner and you were IN the corner amongst a bunch of hanging scarves!

[Stevesan]

As in all things, there are both good and bad. Unfortunately, for me, the bad on Zudierdam outweigh the good. My take on the physical aspects:

Zuiderdam was built and designed for year round Caribbean cruising and the interior motifs reflect this concept. Some areas offer a challenge to navigate; especially the central lounges adjoining the casino on deck two. There are nooks, crannies and small corridors to deal with, somewhat similar to what is occasionally found in the lounge areas of some land resort hotels. Maybe this is what the designers had in mind? The central atrium is smaller than on the S Class ships. This provides more space for the lounges and other public areas, but I miss the larger atrium which I often use as a reference point for navigation.

The ship is impeccably clean and shows little signs of wear, a credit to the maintenance crew, her Hotel Manager Nick Burger, and Captain Johannes van Biljouw. Zuiderdam’s condition and appearance is extraordinary considering that 1800 people tramp through her every week.

Unlike the S Class ships, Zuiderdam does not have a passenger use laundry. Twice we used the $12 per ‘full bag’ laundry service. Both times delivery was next day.



The Lounges:

The Best:

Crow’s Nest. Great viewing lounge with huge wraparound window located forward on deck ten. Cocktail piano, also theme night music such as 50s & 60s tunes by CD. Explorer’s Lounge. Classical music by The Rosario Strings. This is also the venue for afternoon tea. Excellent snacks and a good selection of teas (save room for the scones!).



The Worst: Queen’s Lounge. So poorly designed that it’s useless for any function. That’s too bad because The HAL Cats, a truly good band fronted by a first-rate vocal quartet, plays danceable music here most nights.

Ocean Bar - Once again, poor design. This lounge is totally open to the atrium losing any identity as a lounge, and the dance floor is too small. For some incomprehensible reason, a divider is installed across the center of the seating area, disconnecting the rear of the lounge from the front. Music is by Meir & Rae Ann on drums and a piano. How eclectic is that? Music is mostly traditional dance: fox trot, waltz, tango, etc.



No Opinion: Northern Lights – Late night activity usually starting at 10PM, mostly disco and light rock. A DJ spinning CDs supplies music. Booth seating surrounds a largish dance floor. Design by Gateway.



There’s also a Sports Bar. Since the signal is international, the TV schedules are mainly soccer. A WNBA game was showing on NFL Sunday afternoon! To be fair, they do pick up Sunday and Monday night NFL games.



The Vista Lounge, The main showroom is forward on decks one and two. This is an attractive room of good design with comfortable seating. Just don’t sit behind one of the many pillars or in the rear of the upper section. Unfortunately, the quality of the shows does not match the setting. The production shows are LOUD. Who decided that loud is good? To paraphrase Shakespeare, let’s kill all the soundmen, too! Following cruise ship tradition there are two production shows. The first was decent, but the second, a review of movie musicals, was near unbearable. Almost every number, including the romantic ballads, was programmed in a hyper, upbeat tempo, making all the tunes sound alike. The show was completely out of sync and boring. The music for the production shows is prerecorded. Did I mention that it is LOUD? The cast was excellent with talented dancers and singers, all completely wasted. We didn’t repeat any shows during week two.



The Vista Dining Room: An attractive and well-constructed design. There are two levels located aft on decks two and three. Seating is well organized with comfortable chairs and some banquet tables. Best of all, each dining area has its own galley located immediately adjacent to the dining rooms. Instead of waiting for dumb waiters from a galley below, dishes are more directly served. This means hot dishes arrive hot and cold are offered cold. You do want to avoid seating the far aft section of the lower dining room. When cranked up the Azipod propulsion system delivers a significant vibration. The shaking is primarily felt on the back end of the lower deck. However, it’s only a problem when the engines are pressed. The captain tries to maintain lower revs during dining hours, but there are times they must be turned up. When this happens the place settings won’t dance off the tables, but it’s definitely uncomfortable.



Our cabin:

Since we were on for two weeks I upgraded us from our usual standard outside to a “superior verandah suite” located amidships on deck six. The SS cabin is @ 288sft, and the balcony 100sft. The room is well designed with two queen size beds, which we had put together, a restful full sized fold out sofa, three chairs (one too many), a glass top coffee table, a writing desk and the standard desk. There are plenty of drawers, shelves and closets. The bathroom is large, with a full size Jacuzzi tub, a separate shower stall, double sinks, two medicine chests and a long shelf running under the sinks. The standard outside cabins, as well as the inside (if you don’t mind the dark), are more than adequate in size and design. DVD rentals are available from the front desk. There’s a $25 deposit for each disk.

[Lokalona]

Interesting review Stevesan. The hotel manager is now Peter Fealey and I might add he never appeared when I complained about the smell my cabin attained after the A/C fire incident, nor the raw sewage bubbling up through the floor drain. The fact I had to ask to see him twice and was told he was not available but a guest representitive was, made me wonder if he was actually on ship...Oh well water under the bridge so to speak...

I also felt like I was on the "Long and Winding Road" (once again adding musical score to my thoughts :) as I traveled the pathways to my destination about the ship. Not the best design in the industry.

I felt the loungers in many of the bars were way too low and went back way too far..felt like I was in the dentist chair! Getting out of that in a dress was rather awkward ;)

I might add I felt the cruise director Dane Butcher was not very motivated in adding things to the days we had no sun and pool ceiling was closed. Seems everyone was just walking around looking for something to do..

Still all in all it is the experience you have and a story to tell. We did have a few really good belly laughs over the week. I met some nice people and it was better than being here in the 40 degree rain (soon to be snow)

[Stevesan]

Interesting review Stevesan. The hotel manager is now Peter Fealey
Yeah, I should have noted that my posting was an extract from last year's review.

Only once have I had a problem that required escalating to the hotel manager's level. I wrote him a memo and got a written apology in reply. That was all I required, so I dropped it there. On S class ships I've walked past the HM's office with the door nearly always open. Probably could have knocked and gotten an instant "audience".