Zuiderdam Partial Transit

[packedandready]

Considering Zuiderdam partial transit panama canal. We did a partial on Celebrity Galaxy a few years ago. We've done that one on X and 6 on RCCL. ANY thoughts, ideas, suggestions or opinions GREATLY appreciated.
OK..don't laugh...but how do you pronounce Zuiderdam????

[TMWeddle]

It's like "Cider - dam" only with a Z instead of a C

[abb4k]

Sigh-dur-dam is about as close as I can get.

Enjoy. We were on board the Z'dam for this itinerary at the tail end of November, and enjoyed it immensely.

[Himself]

I did this cruise on the Zuiderdam in october and enjoyed it very much. I would highly recommend it.

[socalcruisers2]

Try booking an aft facing cabin for a fantastic view as you transit the canal. The lower you are the closer to the locks you are. You can watch the ships behind you enter the locks and go up an down from your balcony. We did this in January and it was amazing!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We also did this itinerary -- nice cruise.

[Love the beach]

We did this in Jan. 2009---loved it! We took the "canal experience" excursion where you go thru all the locks in a smaller boat--it really brings you "up close & personal" - you can actually reach out & touch the side of the canal.

[SandyMc]

This cruise is such a great itinerary! We loved it but do want to tell anyone booking it should be sure and get a port side cabin. We had starboard and saw only ocean from our verandah - the ship docked on the port side everywhere we went!

Of course, you can see the Panama Canal from either side but, to really appreciate the locks, you really want to be up on deck to see it all!

[PaulMCO]

Excellent cruise. Take the Embera Village tour and hopefully Dr. Richard will be a lecturer -- he was great.

[DaisyL]

We just cruised the partial Panama Canal itinerary and absolutely loved it. We chose this itinerary over the Princess partial canal because we thought the ports were better with HAL.

HAL's Private Island is fantastic and one of the best, we stopped at Aruba, Curacao, and Costa Rica in addition to the Canal. Every stop was great and we took a Hal excursion at each except we stayed on the ship for the canal transit. We really enjoyed the 4x4 trip in Aruba and the Veragua Rain Forest excursions.

This was our first cruise with HAL and would consider it on par with Celebrity. The onboard ambiance is more sedate than the other cruises we've been on but the passengers were some of the nicest people we've ever cruised with. No crowds, no pushing, no shoving, no lines, no rudeness, no chair hogs ... etc. Absolutely wonderful!

You will not be disappointed. If you have any questions, just ask.

[packedandready]

Thanks for the replies. We really enjoyed the Celebrity partial transit and this sounds as good. Looks like HAL and Princess are the only 2 that have the partial itinerary now. We like HAL's itinerary better than Princess and HAL's price (for now) is much better.

OT question.....I understand HAL's formal night attire may be a little more strict than we're used to with RCCL, in that it's suggested for all public spaces. So, if we decide to forgo formal nights and eat in the buffet, does that mean we need to skip the show for that night?

What other differences between RCCL and HAL???????

[Iowa-Cruiser]

We just did this cruise in Jan. Our day-by-day description: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1112708
It was wonderful. Although we did not have any other cruising experience to compare it to, we could not have asked for a better, more relaxing time. Even the few little upsets were dealt with acceptably. Our only real problem was the flight down to FLL - a slight delay starting out cost us about 6 hours sitting in an airport.

[Love the beach]

Thanks for the replies. We really enjoyed the Celebrity partial transit and this sounds as good. Looks like HAL and Princess are the only 2 that have the partial itinerary now. We like HAL's itinerary better than Princess and HAL's price (for now) is much better.

OT question.....I understand HAL's formal night attire may be a little more strict than we're used to with RCCL, in that it's suggested for all public spaces. So, if we decide to forgo formal nights and eat in the buffet, does that mean we need to skip the show for that night?

What other differences between RCCL and HAL???????

Absolutely no need to skip the show---not everyone dresses up and some even change after dinner to their more comfortable clothes! Enjoy:)

[packedandready]

Absolutely no need to skip the show---not everyone dresses up and some even change after dinner to their more comfortable clothes! Enjoy:)

Reading these boards lead me to believe the attire was more strictly adhered to. We tend to go by the "suggestions". But, after 7 cruises with RCCL I've noticed the dress is more lax than "suggested". We often changed after dinner to see the show, so your post was nice to read. Thanks

[DaisyL]

Reading these boards lead me to believe the attire was more strictly adhered to. We tend to go by the "suggestions". But, after 7 cruises with RCCL I've noticed the dress is more lax than "suggested". We often changed after dinner to see the show, so your post was nice to read. Thanks
Our group of 3 couples skipped the formal nights in the dining room and went to the buffet the first 2 and ordered room service the last one.

They do not serve the same meals in the buffet as the dining rooms. We didn't want to miss the surf-n-turf the last night so all 3 couples ordered room service.

The first formal night I wore dressy clothes but realized I didn't need to so after that I dressed more casually when we went to the buffet and the public rooms. There were many who changed after the formal dinner too.

We decided though, next time DH will pack a suit and we'll go to the MDR on Formal nights. We didn't really care for the buffet and the DR experience is not to be missed.

[joedi]

We just returned from the Zuiderdam partial transit, and were pleased with it (though the ship need the general spiffing-up it's supposed to get in March). A highlight was the excursion we booked with Danilo Hall in Costa Rica. We ziplined, toured a Del Monte banana plantation, got up close and personal with a sloth, saw rain forest and beach, and had a fine lunch with his man Alex. It was $65 pp (not including lunch) for about five hours. Mr. Hall is recommended elsewhere on these boards: adventure_caribbean@yahoo.com.

[nagsheadbeachbum]

We just returned from the partial Panama Canal transit on the Zuiderdam yesterday. Lots of folks do dress up for formal nights and stay dressed for the evening. Most of our group the guys wore suits or sports coats and ties but many returned to their room after dinner and were back in shorts for the show and casino. You will see both about equally, but no one seemed concerned if you didn't stay dressed up. Loved the ship, the itinerary, the staff and our fellow passengers.

[packedandready]

We just returned from the partial Panama Canal transit on the Zuiderdam yesterday. Lots of folks do dress up for formal nights and stay dressed for the evening. Most of our group the guys wore suits or sports coats and ties but many returned to their room after dinner and were back in shorts for the show and casino. You will see both about equally, but no one seemed concerned if you didn't stay dressed up. Loved the ship, the itinerary, the staff and our fellow passengers.

Thanks..it's nice to know the "suggested" vs the "actually".