skepticalcruiser
January 24th, 2010, 04:06 PM
We just got back from the 10 day Panama Canal Sunfarer cruise on the Zuiderdam (1/12-1/22). A bit about us before I start the review. I am 37 and husband 43. We do a lot of traveling and generally do an "independent" thing, on land and not with tour groups. My only experience on a ship was in the Galapagos, on a ship with 100 people. So, we started this current adventure with a degree of skepticism about whether we would like a more standard cruise tour.
We picked HAL and the Zuiderdam cruise because of the itinerary, and a desire to have an "easy" vacation this time, taking a break from all of the up-front planning/organization. I had done research and a lot of reading on CC in particular, so had a good idea of what we were "in for" and what the age range was likely to be on the Zuiderdam.
Also, we originally booked an SZ guarantee but took advantage of a paid upgrade offer so were in an SA Deluxe Verandah Suite.
Ok on to the review and breakdown of our trip.
We arrived in FLL from a red-eye flight 1 day before our cruise date. We stayed at the nearby Embassy Suites and found it very acceptable. I used Hilton Honors points so stayed for free and can't comment on value of the hotel. It was 1 block from Total Wine and a Publix, so we were able to pick up last-minute supplies and Wine/Champagne and could walk to our hotel.
If you plan to drink wine on the ship I HIGHLY recommend buying wine in FLL and carrying it on board. We were much happier with our wine selections than what was recommended on board, and paid WAY less even when we were charged a corkage in the dining room. (Note, we did have one wine steward who didn't charge the corkage, and that was a bonus).
We took the hotel shuttle ($7pp) to the port and arrived around noon. There was a huge line to get in the building. We thought we should be able to go right in because of the SA booking, but got a bit of run-around about that. If you book a Deluxe Suite, my advice is to make sure you ask for any amenities you think you are entitled to (and have paid for). Because sometimes they are not automatically forthcoming about this. After asking around, we got an "S" tag and walked right in the port building. Check in and embarkation was a breeze after that.
The Zuiderdam is a bit worn looking in places, but in general we found it to be very clean, including our stateroom. I think the cleanliness of the rooms may depend on your stewards; ours were excellent and the room was always clean and tidy. I wasn't a fan of the decor of the ship, I think it looked more mid-eighties instead of 2002 when it first set sail; that came to my mind more even than the wear and tear we saw in places.
I won't go in to a day-by-day breakdown of our trip, but rather tell you the things we liked (sometimes a lot) and things we found to be disappointing.
The good:
The food, overall. Some nights I wasn't blown away by the selections, but the quality was very good, presentation excellent and service in the MDR was always solid. Even the choices in the Lido were good.
The crew, in general. Always VERY friendly, and accommodating. Sometimes you did have to ask for what you needed, versus it being offered proactively, but they were always very responsive. The WINE STEWARDS were great. And Rod, the Cellar Master, was very informative and nice. We did the Premium Wine Tasting which at $35 is probably not worth the price, but we had a good time and drank a lot of wine nonetheless.
Our cabin. As I mentioned and others did, some wear and tear in the room, particularly for us (in 7077), the chairs and sofa. But the bed was very comfortable, many and different types of pillows, and plush duvets. The room was very spacious, and we spent a lot more time in our room in part because it was large and we had the verandah with chairs. Probably would have been happy in a Superior Verandah Suite as well, though.
Concierge Service/Neptune Lounge/Additional Suite perks. The lounge itself is just ok, but it is a great perk to have more elite service available, and have a place to get away from the crowds and get personal attention. The concierges helped us book shore excursions and were very helpful with dinner reservations & related (we had open seating). They also put balloons and a sign in our stateroom on DH's birthday. Complimentary laundry was great and we really used it to the fullest. We came back with 1 suitcase of clean laundry, less to do when we got home!
Other perks that made the upgrade worth it: Breakfast in the Pinnacle, very relaxing. Captain's welcome party in the Neptune Lounge (nibbles and wine); Indonesian lunch in the Pinnacle on last full day (with complimentary wine); free DVDs, although we only watched 1.
Open Seating. We never had to wait for a table for more than 3 minutes. Contrast that to the lines queued up upstairs in the MDR for the fixed seatings. We liked the flexibility and the service.
Embarkation/Disembarkations. Always smooth, short waits; if you have your stateroom card ready, it is a quick process.
Certain entertainment = good: The comedian the first nite (Frank King) was funny, and the guitarist in the Crow's Nest at night was good. I liked the steel drum band, but DH doesn't like it so we didn't listen to much. See "The bad" below regarding other entertainment.
Ok, onto....The Bad:
Code Red. We went red 3 days into the sailing. I can speculate as to why this happens, but I think it is a complex problem. Not all of the people who are sick really have Norovirus, we talked to one couple, one of them had been sick, but they never did diagnose them with Noro, it was possibly just sour stomach for 24 hours, or food poisoning. Not good to be sick of course, I think at this point HAL is very sensitive about it and if they see a bunch of people getting GI sickness of any sort they go red. Overall it didn't affect us severely, just inconvenience. But, I think it puts an extreme strain on the staff and they end up working a lot extra just to provide decent service. Less likely for them to be "exceptional".
Most entertainment. We didn't like the stage shows. The music arrangements/selections and content were just tired. I think the performers try hard and do a good job, but the content they are given is just worn out, like the Decor of the ship. After checking out a couple shows and leaving one early (after sitting in the back to not be rude!), we just hung out elsewhere after dinners.
Smoking on the Lido and on Verandahs. I don't like getting smoke wafting from other verandahs. The bigger issue however was on the Lido. We are not a fan of sitting in cigar smoke; I think they should designate areas for that rather than allowing it anywhere on the back pool deck. I know this is a sensitive subject, just as non-smokers this is our opinion.
Custom/complex orders. If you have a lot of diet restrictions or want to order "off the song sheet", expect to spend a lot of time clarifying and sending back your food orders. We observed this with several customers, and also experienced it when we wanted to order something different. Just be prepared so you are not frustrated!
and FINALLY, the ports/excursions:
Half Moon Cay: Pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed very much. We went on the Snorkel by Boat and had a great time, saw lots of fish and coral. Plenty of time for lunch on the island and relaxing as well.
Aruba: Originally planned no excursion, but then booked on the ship. We wanted to do Catamaran Snorkel but that was sold out so we went to De Palm Island. The waters were very sandy/turbid that day, so snorkeling was not great. Which left us a bunch of time just laying around the island and drinking the included alcoholic drinks. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't do it again. It is across from the water processing plant on the mainland, not very picturesque for sure. Also, the shore time in Aruba is disappointing. We were there from 1pm-11pm, and all the shops close at 6. So, unless you want to go to dinner or independently explore the island after 6, there is not much point of staying on the island after that, which is sort of a waste to me.
Curacao: We did our own thing on Curacao. We went to the Maritime Museum, which was worth the $6; We wandered around town, had a nice lunch, took a lot of pictures and bought some Curacao Liqueur. Try the pistachio liqueur samples near the dock...it was yummy!
Panama: We went on the Embera Village. The tour guide (Harry) we had was great. The bus ride is LONG. The canoe ride, also long (30+). We sat in front and got VERY wet. I don't recommend riding at the front, but SOMEONE has to sit in front and as we were pretty much the youngsters, it didn't seem right to make someone else do it. We wore our ponchos and I also had a rain jacket. Bring a rain jacket to wear if you do this excursion.
The excursion was fun, a bit contrived I think but on the whole was worth it. We had time afterwards at the port shopping village.
Costa Rica: We went on the Veragua Aerial Tram & Forest Center. The bus ride here was LONG (75 min each way) and longer than advertised. Road is very unimproved getting up to Veragua...it should be less than a 45 min trip if they would gravel the road more. Our tour guide Alfonso "Fonzi", was excellent and made the bus ride bearable. We saw a sloth on the way and an interesting snake in the road. Veragua is a very nice facility and the aerial tram and waterfall walk were enjoyable. I wish there had been more to see/do here though. We had NO time at the port shopping flea market because of the long bus ride, which was a bummer so no shopping for us in CR.
Well, apologies for the length of this entry. Hopefully it provides some good information. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and had a very relaxing time. I don't think we will be doing any cruises again anytime soon however, as I think we have concluded that we prefer our independent mode of travel, at least until we need to have more structured environment and need more assistance with our travel.
Thanks and happy cruising to everyone!
We picked HAL and the Zuiderdam cruise because of the itinerary, and a desire to have an "easy" vacation this time, taking a break from all of the up-front planning/organization. I had done research and a lot of reading on CC in particular, so had a good idea of what we were "in for" and what the age range was likely to be on the Zuiderdam.
Also, we originally booked an SZ guarantee but took advantage of a paid upgrade offer so were in an SA Deluxe Verandah Suite.
Ok on to the review and breakdown of our trip.
We arrived in FLL from a red-eye flight 1 day before our cruise date. We stayed at the nearby Embassy Suites and found it very acceptable. I used Hilton Honors points so stayed for free and can't comment on value of the hotel. It was 1 block from Total Wine and a Publix, so we were able to pick up last-minute supplies and Wine/Champagne and could walk to our hotel.
If you plan to drink wine on the ship I HIGHLY recommend buying wine in FLL and carrying it on board. We were much happier with our wine selections than what was recommended on board, and paid WAY less even when we were charged a corkage in the dining room. (Note, we did have one wine steward who didn't charge the corkage, and that was a bonus).
We took the hotel shuttle ($7pp) to the port and arrived around noon. There was a huge line to get in the building. We thought we should be able to go right in because of the SA booking, but got a bit of run-around about that. If you book a Deluxe Suite, my advice is to make sure you ask for any amenities you think you are entitled to (and have paid for). Because sometimes they are not automatically forthcoming about this. After asking around, we got an "S" tag and walked right in the port building. Check in and embarkation was a breeze after that.
The Zuiderdam is a bit worn looking in places, but in general we found it to be very clean, including our stateroom. I think the cleanliness of the rooms may depend on your stewards; ours were excellent and the room was always clean and tidy. I wasn't a fan of the decor of the ship, I think it looked more mid-eighties instead of 2002 when it first set sail; that came to my mind more even than the wear and tear we saw in places.
I won't go in to a day-by-day breakdown of our trip, but rather tell you the things we liked (sometimes a lot) and things we found to be disappointing.
The good:
The food, overall. Some nights I wasn't blown away by the selections, but the quality was very good, presentation excellent and service in the MDR was always solid. Even the choices in the Lido were good.
The crew, in general. Always VERY friendly, and accommodating. Sometimes you did have to ask for what you needed, versus it being offered proactively, but they were always very responsive. The WINE STEWARDS were great. And Rod, the Cellar Master, was very informative and nice. We did the Premium Wine Tasting which at $35 is probably not worth the price, but we had a good time and drank a lot of wine nonetheless.
Our cabin. As I mentioned and others did, some wear and tear in the room, particularly for us (in 7077), the chairs and sofa. But the bed was very comfortable, many and different types of pillows, and plush duvets. The room was very spacious, and we spent a lot more time in our room in part because it was large and we had the verandah with chairs. Probably would have been happy in a Superior Verandah Suite as well, though.
Concierge Service/Neptune Lounge/Additional Suite perks. The lounge itself is just ok, but it is a great perk to have more elite service available, and have a place to get away from the crowds and get personal attention. The concierges helped us book shore excursions and were very helpful with dinner reservations & related (we had open seating). They also put balloons and a sign in our stateroom on DH's birthday. Complimentary laundry was great and we really used it to the fullest. We came back with 1 suitcase of clean laundry, less to do when we got home!
Other perks that made the upgrade worth it: Breakfast in the Pinnacle, very relaxing. Captain's welcome party in the Neptune Lounge (nibbles and wine); Indonesian lunch in the Pinnacle on last full day (with complimentary wine); free DVDs, although we only watched 1.
Open Seating. We never had to wait for a table for more than 3 minutes. Contrast that to the lines queued up upstairs in the MDR for the fixed seatings. We liked the flexibility and the service.
Embarkation/Disembarkations. Always smooth, short waits; if you have your stateroom card ready, it is a quick process.
Certain entertainment = good: The comedian the first nite (Frank King) was funny, and the guitarist in the Crow's Nest at night was good. I liked the steel drum band, but DH doesn't like it so we didn't listen to much. See "The bad" below regarding other entertainment.
Ok, onto....The Bad:
Code Red. We went red 3 days into the sailing. I can speculate as to why this happens, but I think it is a complex problem. Not all of the people who are sick really have Norovirus, we talked to one couple, one of them had been sick, but they never did diagnose them with Noro, it was possibly just sour stomach for 24 hours, or food poisoning. Not good to be sick of course, I think at this point HAL is very sensitive about it and if they see a bunch of people getting GI sickness of any sort they go red. Overall it didn't affect us severely, just inconvenience. But, I think it puts an extreme strain on the staff and they end up working a lot extra just to provide decent service. Less likely for them to be "exceptional".
Most entertainment. We didn't like the stage shows. The music arrangements/selections and content were just tired. I think the performers try hard and do a good job, but the content they are given is just worn out, like the Decor of the ship. After checking out a couple shows and leaving one early (after sitting in the back to not be rude!), we just hung out elsewhere after dinners.
Smoking on the Lido and on Verandahs. I don't like getting smoke wafting from other verandahs. The bigger issue however was on the Lido. We are not a fan of sitting in cigar smoke; I think they should designate areas for that rather than allowing it anywhere on the back pool deck. I know this is a sensitive subject, just as non-smokers this is our opinion.
Custom/complex orders. If you have a lot of diet restrictions or want to order "off the song sheet", expect to spend a lot of time clarifying and sending back your food orders. We observed this with several customers, and also experienced it when we wanted to order something different. Just be prepared so you are not frustrated!
and FINALLY, the ports/excursions:
Half Moon Cay: Pleasantly surprised. We enjoyed very much. We went on the Snorkel by Boat and had a great time, saw lots of fish and coral. Plenty of time for lunch on the island and relaxing as well.
Aruba: Originally planned no excursion, but then booked on the ship. We wanted to do Catamaran Snorkel but that was sold out so we went to De Palm Island. The waters were very sandy/turbid that day, so snorkeling was not great. Which left us a bunch of time just laying around the island and drinking the included alcoholic drinks. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't do it again. It is across from the water processing plant on the mainland, not very picturesque for sure. Also, the shore time in Aruba is disappointing. We were there from 1pm-11pm, and all the shops close at 6. So, unless you want to go to dinner or independently explore the island after 6, there is not much point of staying on the island after that, which is sort of a waste to me.
Curacao: We did our own thing on Curacao. We went to the Maritime Museum, which was worth the $6; We wandered around town, had a nice lunch, took a lot of pictures and bought some Curacao Liqueur. Try the pistachio liqueur samples near the dock...it was yummy!
Panama: We went on the Embera Village. The tour guide (Harry) we had was great. The bus ride is LONG. The canoe ride, also long (30+). We sat in front and got VERY wet. I don't recommend riding at the front, but SOMEONE has to sit in front and as we were pretty much the youngsters, it didn't seem right to make someone else do it. We wore our ponchos and I also had a rain jacket. Bring a rain jacket to wear if you do this excursion.
The excursion was fun, a bit contrived I think but on the whole was worth it. We had time afterwards at the port shopping village.
Costa Rica: We went on the Veragua Aerial Tram & Forest Center. The bus ride here was LONG (75 min each way) and longer than advertised. Road is very unimproved getting up to Veragua...it should be less than a 45 min trip if they would gravel the road more. Our tour guide Alfonso "Fonzi", was excellent and made the bus ride bearable. We saw a sloth on the way and an interesting snake in the road. Veragua is a very nice facility and the aerial tram and waterfall walk were enjoyable. I wish there had been more to see/do here though. We had NO time at the port shopping flea market because of the long bus ride, which was a bummer so no shopping for us in CR.
Well, apologies for the length of this entry. Hopefully it provides some good information. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and had a very relaxing time. I don't think we will be doing any cruises again anytime soon however, as I think we have concluded that we prefer our independent mode of travel, at least until we need to have more structured environment and need more assistance with our travel.
Thanks and happy cruising to everyone!