PerculaClown
March 6th, 2005, 11:04 AM
Summary -
If you are looking for relaxing cruise, this is it. Food and Service are unbelievable. Itinerary was just right.
Who we are -
Husband 34, wife 32, and boy 7
Our Cruise History -
Feb 2005 HAL Zuiderdam
Sep 2004 NCL Dawn
Feb 2004 Carnival Pride
Aug 2003 Grand Princess
The ship -
Zuiderdam is an elegant ship. Even though it is showing some wear and tear, it is still kept up nicely. The size of the ship was perfect. Normally this ship carries ~1800 passengers, but this trip had over 2000 (I guess the winter break with over 200 kids bumped it up). Even with over 2000 passengers the Z didn't feel crowded at all. (You only noticed it during the muster drill.)
The Service -
Perfect. Indonesian and Philippine crew were the best of all the cruises that we have been on.
The Entertainment -
Just OK. Can't compare to NCL Dawn or Carnival Pride but the Magic show was great, and the comedians were funny.
The food -
Best of the 4 cruises that we have experienced, (OK maybe tied with Dawn, but with the service it won my vote). The Lido buffet was the best of all 4 companies. Fresh squeezed OJ, real ice cream that had to be scooped, different stations, fresh orchids on every table. Don’t miss meeting Honky Dory and Hoky Doky at Lido.
The shore excursions -
We took the ship's excursion trip to The Baths. The ferry was fast but a bit old. They didn't tell us anything about the island, and how the boulders were formed; it felt just like riding on the Staten Island ferry. The crew was just there to get you to the location. But the Baths was great- nice beach and awesome snorkeling by the boulders in the water.
Half Moon Cay - Best private island of all the cruise lines. Simply the best. Fine white sand, crystal clear water, water slides for the kids, snorkeling. Simply a perfect beach day.
Here's detail view of our vacation:
Feb-19
We woke up 3:30 am (after a late night of packing until 1 am) to get to the airport to catch 5:45am flight to FLL. We arrived ~9 am (way early) and took a taxi to the port. (Watch out for bad taxi drivers- ours took us to the north port everglades instead of mid port 26 where HAL is at, and scammed us an extra $4)
Watching 2000 people get off the ship while you arrive is a scary sight but by 10:30 everyone is gone - except for people trying to get on the ship. Doors opened promptly at 11am. We were one of the first to get on ~11:30. We met InDai and Nick – elderly couple from Toronto, who have been on HAL for 7-8 cruises. They showed us the ropes. We headed straight for Lido for lunch and got a table close to the food. 20 minutes later when the rest of the guests showed up, open tables were hard to find.
Feb-20
Half Moon Cay - Weather was in the low 80s, simply perfect. The water was a bit cold, but bearable compared to 20s in NY. We stayed by the kids’ water slides to the left of the beach where the snorkeling was. The kids club built sand castles. BBQ was a trek to get to - simply too far - so we took the tram there and strolled back afterwards (to walk off the food). There are lots of activities and shore excursions you can do. We just enjoyed the beach. The half-shells are nice if you can reserve one.
Feb-21
At sea. We had breakfast and lunch at Lido. Played a little Ping Pong, and watched our kid playing in the pool along with 20 other kids. We just relaxed.
We went to Dutch tea in the afternoon. The little sandwiches and cream puffs were delicious.
Feb-22
St. Thomas, USVI. 83 degrees, partly cloudy. We were supposed to dock at Crown Bay, but changed to Havensight. This screwed up my car rental plans. Originally I have booked a local rental company call dependablecar.com. I had to call them to let them know what happened. They didn't want to pick us up as the traffic is a nightmare in the morning. So we switched to Plan B - Avis (I had also made reservations at Avis as a backup plan; I'm so glad I did.) After we got our car, we headed east. Our first stop was Sapphire beach. Wife and kid weren't impressed with the beach; waves too strong for our 7 year old to enjoy, so he just dug a hole on the beach instead. I snorkeled and at first didn't see much. But then saw lots of tangs to the left of the beach. The waves were getting strong, so we left soon afterwards. Our second stop was Coki beach. What a wonderful but small beach. We ordered lunch from the local joint and waited over 1/2 hour for hotdogs and fries. Boy, you need to be on their schedule, we laughed it off as the weather was wonderful. Snorkeling was excellent - best for beginners- and schools of fish were visible after 3 steps in the water. Coki was kind of crowded, but the waves were almost non-existent- perfect for the kids.
Our next few stops were just scenic drives. Mountain top, Crown Mountain road. Saw Charlotte Amalie from a distance- wonderful. Mountain top was a bit harder to find but it nice once we got there. Magens Bay from a distance is superb. Next trip we'll try to make it to St. Johns. It was quite an adventure to drive on those windy roads.
Feb-23
Road Town, Tortola, BVI. 83 degrees, partly cloudy. We took the ship's excursion to the Baths. 8:30 got on the ferry from the pier. The ride was 25 min. then another quick ride on a truck to get the Baths. You need to be physically fit for this excursion to enjoy it. The walk down to the Bath was long due to all the people going at the same time. The trek to Devil's Beach was challenging but fun - especially for younger folks. Snorkeling at Devil's Beach was awesome (Once you go further out and by the big boulders). We stayed there till 11:30 but wished we had another 2-3 hours there. Back to the Z ~12:30.
We washed up, ate at Lido and went back out to shop but didn't find anything interesting except for the chickens roaming around behind the booths. Rained when we left port at 5:00
Feb-24
At sea. We didn't do too much - just relaxed. I was feeling sick so I slept a lot. Our son cut his big toe from opening our cabin door too fast and his toe was in the way, so no pool for us for the rest of the trip. Enjoyed the Library – played Monopoly and Pictionary. The Z library was well stocked with a good variety of books and board games – even for kids.
Feb-25
Nassau, Bahamas. 90 degrees. HOT. We walked to the Queen's Stairs by the fort. Once you walk away from the shopping area in Nassau, the neighborhood changes quickly. More poor and badly run down buildings. We got there, took our pictures and went back to the pier’s straw market to shop. Things are not as cheap as you think and everybody’s selling the same goods. Quality is bad, so you get what you pay for. Back to the ship by 4pm. We bought a little turtle toy for my son- cute.
Feb-26
Fort Lauderdale. Sad day... Leaving the Z. It was hard to get a taxi as the QM2, Royal Caribbean, and Princess ships were all disembarking at the same time. Just too many people all trying to get to the airport. FLL was the worst, lines went out the door. Expect over 1.5 hours to check your bags and make it thru customs or wait till much later in the afternoon to head to the FLL. One good thing is the HAL is docked on pier 26? So that’s where the taxi stops first.
That's all folks. Until the next one.
If you are looking for relaxing cruise, this is it. Food and Service are unbelievable. Itinerary was just right.
Who we are -
Husband 34, wife 32, and boy 7
Our Cruise History -
Feb 2005 HAL Zuiderdam
Sep 2004 NCL Dawn
Feb 2004 Carnival Pride
Aug 2003 Grand Princess
The ship -
Zuiderdam is an elegant ship. Even though it is showing some wear and tear, it is still kept up nicely. The size of the ship was perfect. Normally this ship carries ~1800 passengers, but this trip had over 2000 (I guess the winter break with over 200 kids bumped it up). Even with over 2000 passengers the Z didn't feel crowded at all. (You only noticed it during the muster drill.)
The Service -
Perfect. Indonesian and Philippine crew were the best of all the cruises that we have been on.
The Entertainment -
Just OK. Can't compare to NCL Dawn or Carnival Pride but the Magic show was great, and the comedians were funny.
The food -
Best of the 4 cruises that we have experienced, (OK maybe tied with Dawn, but with the service it won my vote). The Lido buffet was the best of all 4 companies. Fresh squeezed OJ, real ice cream that had to be scooped, different stations, fresh orchids on every table. Don’t miss meeting Honky Dory and Hoky Doky at Lido.
The shore excursions -
We took the ship's excursion trip to The Baths. The ferry was fast but a bit old. They didn't tell us anything about the island, and how the boulders were formed; it felt just like riding on the Staten Island ferry. The crew was just there to get you to the location. But the Baths was great- nice beach and awesome snorkeling by the boulders in the water.
Half Moon Cay - Best private island of all the cruise lines. Simply the best. Fine white sand, crystal clear water, water slides for the kids, snorkeling. Simply a perfect beach day.
Here's detail view of our vacation:
Feb-19
We woke up 3:30 am (after a late night of packing until 1 am) to get to the airport to catch 5:45am flight to FLL. We arrived ~9 am (way early) and took a taxi to the port. (Watch out for bad taxi drivers- ours took us to the north port everglades instead of mid port 26 where HAL is at, and scammed us an extra $4)
Watching 2000 people get off the ship while you arrive is a scary sight but by 10:30 everyone is gone - except for people trying to get on the ship. Doors opened promptly at 11am. We were one of the first to get on ~11:30. We met InDai and Nick – elderly couple from Toronto, who have been on HAL for 7-8 cruises. They showed us the ropes. We headed straight for Lido for lunch and got a table close to the food. 20 minutes later when the rest of the guests showed up, open tables were hard to find.
Feb-20
Half Moon Cay - Weather was in the low 80s, simply perfect. The water was a bit cold, but bearable compared to 20s in NY. We stayed by the kids’ water slides to the left of the beach where the snorkeling was. The kids club built sand castles. BBQ was a trek to get to - simply too far - so we took the tram there and strolled back afterwards (to walk off the food). There are lots of activities and shore excursions you can do. We just enjoyed the beach. The half-shells are nice if you can reserve one.
Feb-21
At sea. We had breakfast and lunch at Lido. Played a little Ping Pong, and watched our kid playing in the pool along with 20 other kids. We just relaxed.
We went to Dutch tea in the afternoon. The little sandwiches and cream puffs were delicious.
Feb-22
St. Thomas, USVI. 83 degrees, partly cloudy. We were supposed to dock at Crown Bay, but changed to Havensight. This screwed up my car rental plans. Originally I have booked a local rental company call dependablecar.com. I had to call them to let them know what happened. They didn't want to pick us up as the traffic is a nightmare in the morning. So we switched to Plan B - Avis (I had also made reservations at Avis as a backup plan; I'm so glad I did.) After we got our car, we headed east. Our first stop was Sapphire beach. Wife and kid weren't impressed with the beach; waves too strong for our 7 year old to enjoy, so he just dug a hole on the beach instead. I snorkeled and at first didn't see much. But then saw lots of tangs to the left of the beach. The waves were getting strong, so we left soon afterwards. Our second stop was Coki beach. What a wonderful but small beach. We ordered lunch from the local joint and waited over 1/2 hour for hotdogs and fries. Boy, you need to be on their schedule, we laughed it off as the weather was wonderful. Snorkeling was excellent - best for beginners- and schools of fish were visible after 3 steps in the water. Coki was kind of crowded, but the waves were almost non-existent- perfect for the kids.
Our next few stops were just scenic drives. Mountain top, Crown Mountain road. Saw Charlotte Amalie from a distance- wonderful. Mountain top was a bit harder to find but it nice once we got there. Magens Bay from a distance is superb. Next trip we'll try to make it to St. Johns. It was quite an adventure to drive on those windy roads.
Feb-23
Road Town, Tortola, BVI. 83 degrees, partly cloudy. We took the ship's excursion to the Baths. 8:30 got on the ferry from the pier. The ride was 25 min. then another quick ride on a truck to get the Baths. You need to be physically fit for this excursion to enjoy it. The walk down to the Bath was long due to all the people going at the same time. The trek to Devil's Beach was challenging but fun - especially for younger folks. Snorkeling at Devil's Beach was awesome (Once you go further out and by the big boulders). We stayed there till 11:30 but wished we had another 2-3 hours there. Back to the Z ~12:30.
We washed up, ate at Lido and went back out to shop but didn't find anything interesting except for the chickens roaming around behind the booths. Rained when we left port at 5:00
Feb-24
At sea. We didn't do too much - just relaxed. I was feeling sick so I slept a lot. Our son cut his big toe from opening our cabin door too fast and his toe was in the way, so no pool for us for the rest of the trip. Enjoyed the Library – played Monopoly and Pictionary. The Z library was well stocked with a good variety of books and board games – even for kids.
Feb-25
Nassau, Bahamas. 90 degrees. HOT. We walked to the Queen's Stairs by the fort. Once you walk away from the shopping area in Nassau, the neighborhood changes quickly. More poor and badly run down buildings. We got there, took our pictures and went back to the pier’s straw market to shop. Things are not as cheap as you think and everybody’s selling the same goods. Quality is bad, so you get what you pay for. Back to the ship by 4pm. We bought a little turtle toy for my son- cute.
Feb-26
Fort Lauderdale. Sad day... Leaving the Z. It was hard to get a taxi as the QM2, Royal Caribbean, and Princess ships were all disembarking at the same time. Just too many people all trying to get to the airport. FLL was the worst, lines went out the door. Expect over 1.5 hours to check your bags and make it thru customs or wait till much later in the afternoon to head to the FLL. One good thing is the HAL is docked on pier 26? So that’s where the taxi stops first.
That's all folks. Until the next one.