WJBonds
December 6th, 2004, 02:23 PM
Well gang, just came back from the 11/27 sailing of the Zuiderdam. Would like to make some comments, but 1st my background.
I'm a 56 year old New Yorker with 15 cuises under my belt. I've been on most of the "mass market" lines as well as some of the "ultra luxury" lines.
One of my hobbies is fine dining and I've been fortunate enough to have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world.
Now, despite the nit-picks to follow, I had a really pleasant time. Although this was (IMHO) a very average cruise, even an average cruise is a great way to spend a week.
On seeing the Zuiderdam for the ist time, I was very impressed. The exterior is very impressive and you immediately start to get in the "cruise mood".
Embarkation was great. We arrived at 11:0 to find a line with perhaps 100 people waiting. At 11:25 we were ushered into the Boarding area. As I had booked a suite, there was a special check-in line which was empty. Papers in hand, through security, and onto the ship. The whole process was completed in under 15 minutes. Vey good.
On boarding the ship, I immediately understood past cruise critic comments about the interior. The interior designer must have been on a bender while designing the Zuiderdam's interior. While most ships have a serene and calming atmosphere, this ship was loud and noisy. Loud colors and patterns all over. It didn't bother me a bit, but I feel it should be mentioned.
First stop was the Lido for a buffet lunch. Food is really not the Zuiderdam's strong suit. Roast beef was served for this first meal, but it was not the best quality. They divide the Lido into sections. Deli, French, Italian, Asian, salad and deseert. This works fine if you only want food from one station, but if you want to graze it means waiting on several different lines. Hot food quickly turns cold while waiting on these lines. Choices were limited and of poor quality. My wife could not even get a hot vegetable.
The help is poor. Although many bus boys are present, they do not help you with your trays, they do not help you find a table, and they don't clean your table. If you go to get dessert, your dirty dishes remain.
That said, they were friendly - they just didn't help much.
Shortly after lunch they announced that the room were ready. We were in 7084, an S suite. This room was the highlight of the cruise. Good location, very spacious, loads of closet space, a great bathroom with 2 sinks, a stall shower, and a jacuzzi tub.
Our balcony was spacious, covered, and had a table with 4 chairs as well as 2 longe chairs.
Being in a suite gave us access to the "private" Neptune lounge and use of it's concierge service. The lounge was a very nice and quiet place to go. There were always snacks and beverages as well as games, magazines, and a large screen TV.
Unfortunatly the staff in the Neptune was as useless as the staff in the Lido. Two lovely young ladies - very friendly - but very useless. In my week aboard the Zuiderdam I asked these girls to do 4 small things for me (such as making dinner reservations in the Pinnacle grill). Nothing was done correctly.
Time to go to the pool and find out that the chair hogs had already struck. Many chairs taken, but few people. Altough not a major problem, HAL does not address it at all. In 7 days I saw many drink sellers, but not one pool attendent to take a dirty towel off an unoccupied lounge chair. (Of course we did this ourselves, but is it the passenger's job to clean up the pool area?)
More to follow!
I'm a 56 year old New Yorker with 15 cuises under my belt. I've been on most of the "mass market" lines as well as some of the "ultra luxury" lines.
One of my hobbies is fine dining and I've been fortunate enough to have eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world.
Now, despite the nit-picks to follow, I had a really pleasant time. Although this was (IMHO) a very average cruise, even an average cruise is a great way to spend a week.
On seeing the Zuiderdam for the ist time, I was very impressed. The exterior is very impressive and you immediately start to get in the "cruise mood".
Embarkation was great. We arrived at 11:0 to find a line with perhaps 100 people waiting. At 11:25 we were ushered into the Boarding area. As I had booked a suite, there was a special check-in line which was empty. Papers in hand, through security, and onto the ship. The whole process was completed in under 15 minutes. Vey good.
On boarding the ship, I immediately understood past cruise critic comments about the interior. The interior designer must have been on a bender while designing the Zuiderdam's interior. While most ships have a serene and calming atmosphere, this ship was loud and noisy. Loud colors and patterns all over. It didn't bother me a bit, but I feel it should be mentioned.
First stop was the Lido for a buffet lunch. Food is really not the Zuiderdam's strong suit. Roast beef was served for this first meal, but it was not the best quality. They divide the Lido into sections. Deli, French, Italian, Asian, salad and deseert. This works fine if you only want food from one station, but if you want to graze it means waiting on several different lines. Hot food quickly turns cold while waiting on these lines. Choices were limited and of poor quality. My wife could not even get a hot vegetable.
The help is poor. Although many bus boys are present, they do not help you with your trays, they do not help you find a table, and they don't clean your table. If you go to get dessert, your dirty dishes remain.
That said, they were friendly - they just didn't help much.
Shortly after lunch they announced that the room were ready. We were in 7084, an S suite. This room was the highlight of the cruise. Good location, very spacious, loads of closet space, a great bathroom with 2 sinks, a stall shower, and a jacuzzi tub.
Our balcony was spacious, covered, and had a table with 4 chairs as well as 2 longe chairs.
Being in a suite gave us access to the "private" Neptune lounge and use of it's concierge service. The lounge was a very nice and quiet place to go. There were always snacks and beverages as well as games, magazines, and a large screen TV.
Unfortunatly the staff in the Neptune was as useless as the staff in the Lido. Two lovely young ladies - very friendly - but very useless. In my week aboard the Zuiderdam I asked these girls to do 4 small things for me (such as making dinner reservations in the Pinnacle grill). Nothing was done correctly.
Time to go to the pool and find out that the chair hogs had already struck. Many chairs taken, but few people. Altough not a major problem, HAL does not address it at all. In 7 days I saw many drink sellers, but not one pool attendent to take a dirty towel off an unoccupied lounge chair. (Of course we did this ourselves, but is it the passenger's job to clean up the pool area?)
More to follow!