Morning! Just stepped off the Zuiderdam this past Saturday.

[Machforce1]

I'll be posting some of my thoughts shortly. Stay tuned. :)

[liv2cruise4ever]

I'll be posting some of my thoughts shortly. Stay tuned. :)

Morning and welcome back. Looking forward to hearing about the Z. We have not cruised HAL and really appreciate all the information we get from fellow cruisers. We have the Z booked for Dec. 3. How's your sea legs? LOL:D

[Machforce1]

Hahaha...still working on typing all of it out. I'm finding out I didn't have as much time as I thought I would. I'll be frank though...there were some things I loved about the cruise and a lot of things I didn't love, and that's being kind worded. I promise to post them soon though. :)

[Time2sail]

The latest report says the Volcano cake was a puddle of pudding, the room ordered breakfast was cold and items left off the tray and Muselix was mush--if your news is worse, I'm outta here:)

[jorjen9]

Sailing the Zuiderdam in June. I am very anxious to read your comments.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Hahaha...still working on typing all of it out. I'm finding out I didn't have as much time as I thought I would. I'll be frank though...there were some things I loved about the cruise and a lot of things I didn't love, and that's being kind worded. I promise to post them soon though. :)


Welcome home. Can't wait for your comments.
did they escort you out of the dining room on semi formal night and make you eat in the cafeteria?

Bill

[Machforce1]

Bill, LMAO! That's too funny! Actually, they were begging us to come to informal night and formal nights because apparently nobody was showing up! They changed one of the informal nights to casual night due to lack of participation. You know I was smiling ear to ear when that announcement was made. Yessir! Anyway, almost done with my mini trip report. I'll be posting it tomorrow a.m. :)

[Machforce1]

Alright...here are some of my thoughts. I won't sugar coat anything. I'm going to tell it like it is.



For me, cruises are way too structured. You don’t have the type of freedom you have on a traditional vacation, you know, if you were to fly somewhere and stay. You have to be here or there at a certain time. You have to get off the ship at a certain time. You must be back at a certain time. Port times are completely misleading for several reasons which I’ll get into later. You have to eat at a certain time. You eat at the same exact table, every single night around the same exact people - every friggin night. You have other choices, but they come at a cost. You can eat at the Pinnacle grill, but you’ll shell out $20 extra per person and it’s completely not worth it. Or you can eat at the Lido which is actually pretty good, but not a restaurant type environment or setting at all. Or you can elect to get room service and eat in your little tiny cramped up cabin, which for a five course dinner, wasn’t very pleasant at all. The Lido was the best alternative. There were lots of options there as well. You could get tacos and burgers from the poolside joint. The Lido itself had a stir fry, wok-type place, an Italian section, a deli section, an ice cream section, and a section that served stuff like chicken, fish and beef dishes with veggies, bread and fruit. In fact, one of the high points about the cruise was the food. It was darn good. I didn’t encounter anything that I didn’t like. Dinner in the dining room was always good, albeit at a very fast pace. It was hard to actually kick back and relax at dinner because everything was so frantic and hectic in there every night. Courses were served quickly and cleaned up very quickly as well. The food in the dining room was borderline excellent. You always had a choice between three or four appetizers, three or four soups, a salad with three dressing choices, your choice of around six delicious entrees and your choice of about five or six deserts. Portions were incredibly small, but when eating five courses, you got plenty to eat. Holland America did an excellent job at making sure nobody went hungry, that’s for sure. You could eat 24 hours per day if you chose to.



Continuing with the food part of the cruise…a little known fact is that you can order whatever the dining room is serving for room service each night. You have to order it at one of the seatings though; either early seating or late seating. Can’t order it anytime you want. Again, more structure. Also, when people tell you that you can get 24 hour room service, they fail to tell you that the items available for that 24 hour room service are limited. It’s not like a huge menu is available. It’s simple stuff like club sandwiches, cheese & crackers, pizza slices, slice of cake, chicken sandwiches…etc. You’re not going to find dining room type food on the 24 hour room service menu, just so you know. The Lido served food pretty much all day long. Breakfast was from around 7:00 to 11:00 and lunch was around 11:00 to 4:00ish, dinner was around 6:00 to 11:00ish p.m. In other words, you could eat from sun up to sun down if you wanted to. There was absolutely tons of stuff available to eat as well. I really enjoyed the Lido.



Let me talk about another really high point of the cruise – the service. Wow. If you complain about the service, then you’re one of those people who cannot be pleased no matter what. How in the world can you complain about a crew that waits on you hand and foot and will bend over backwards to do anything you want them to do? I find it inexplicable how anyone could complain about the service. I’ve been to plenty of posh resorts in the Caribbean, but none of them offer the level of service onboard this ship. Those people went out of their way to make sure you were happy no matter how much it inconvenienced them. Every single one of the crew was outstanding. Our room steward was outstanding. Our waiter and wine steward were simply marvelous. Room service was over the top. Everyone greeted you. Everyone talked to you like you had been friends for years. These people are on the ship for an entire year before getting off. They live on the ship. It’s not like they’re onboard for a few weeks and then off again. It’s not like they work 9-5 and then go home to their families. They’re away from their country, their families and friends for an entire year. They work around the clock and have very little time off. Several of them have children that they’ve NEVER seen. Yet, despite all that, they work very hard to please you all the time. What more can you ask for? I cannot believe that anyone would have the audacity to put down the effort of any of these people. They sacrifice so much just so you can have a good time. How would any of you feel if you were away from EVERYTHING that was dear to you for an entire year? How would you feel if you hadn’t seen your wife or children in months, hadn’t been home in months or even met the child you’ve created? And then having to deal with inconsiderate, lazy bastages barking orders at you all day and screaming at you about asinine crap like not having their pillow fluffed enough? Could you keep on smiling and being nice? You couldn’t and wouldn’t. Yet, they keep smiling and trying to please you. It burns me up the way people were treating them on the ship. I’m not implying any of you treat them like that or act like that, but trust me, I saw more than a few people doing it. I could offer tons of examples, but the one that nearly sent me over the edge happened in the Lido one afternoon of a sea day. We were eating our lunch when I looked up to find some old guy screaming at one of the Lido attendants about his tea. Apparently the ice in his tea was a little too melted for his liking. Poor baby, right? You know how they have one guy or girl at the drink station steadily making drinks so all you have to do is grab one and go? Well, the old guy went over to the drink station where he was offered a tea. He proceeded to smack the tea right out of the attendant’s hand barking, ‘I don’t want that one. I want to make the G-D tea myself for Christ’s sake!’ It took everything in my being not to snatch that old coot up by his throat. That’s simply childish and unacceptable behavior. You don’t treat people like dirt because your ice is melted. After seeing the way some of those cruisers act, I honestly believe they go on cruises just for the power trip. I suppose they believe they’re entitled to act like jacka**es and bark orders at a foreign crew because they’ve spent a little money. I find it ridiculous and unnerving. Again, I’m not saying any of you act like that at all. But I did see it quite often which leads me to believe it happens quite often.



The next thing I’d like to talk about is the ship itself. I can tell you right now that if you hear that you can’t feel the ship moving, whomever told you that is either really used to cruising, or they’re flat out lying. You can feel the ship moving pretty much all the time. Even on slight seas, the ship moves and she moves quite a bit. And yes, even in the middle of the ship, you can feel her moving all over the place. She rocks, sways and vibrates pretty much all the time. We had never been cruising before and thank goodness neither of us was affected by it. It takes a little while to get used to, that’s for sure. The line in the infirmary was always long. The line at the main desk to get those patches and chewable pills was constant. You can feel the ship moving pretty much every minute of every day she’s sailing so don’t believe the hype. Even in port she moves a bit while stationary. I went on the ship believing the people who said, ‘Ah jeez…she’s huge, you’ll never feel her move…blah..blah..blah…’ Trust me, that’s not the case. For the most part, the seas were calm most of our trip, but we did run through a nasty frontal boundary on the night before heading into Nassau. Seas were calm (2 feet) before hitting that front around 5:30 p.m. When we approached the front, winds were around 25 kts sustained and seas were moderate, around 7.5 feet. The Zuiderdam was rocking folks and I mean rocking hard. When we were in the middle of that weather, the winds were sustained at around 40 kts (near gale force) and seas were rough at 12 to 15 feet. And we did this for 8 straight hours. Folks, it felt like we were on a roller coaster. People were puking all over the place. But on 15 foot seas, that’s to be expected. Otherwise I, and tons of other first timers, were really surprised just how much the Zuiderdam rocked in calm seas. She rocks, sways and vibrates constantly when she’s moving. And on those ultra boring sea days, you will be jarred around for 36 hours or more straight. Keep that in mind. It really affects your equilibrium.



Also, they have yet to resolve the strong stench of sewage on deck 2. It didn’t bother me one bit because it’s only in a really small area, but it’s there. I know some people were curious to know if it was still there. It is. It’s also a little prevalent on deck 3 near the upper main dining area as well. Again, didn’t bother me one bit.



So getting back to the ports of call. The times will say something like Nassau 1:00 to 8:00. Which, when you purchase the cruise you’re thinking to yourself, ‘not bad.’ Well, folks, it ain’t like that. The ship may or may not arrive by 1:00. It may be a tad early, or it may be a tad late. The times may say 1:00 to 8:00, but you do not have seven hours in Nassau. First of all you have to wait for the local authorities to clear the ship. Times differ depending on where you are. In one of our ports, this process took an hour and in another only about 20 minutes. Secondly, you have to be on the boat at least half an hour before the posted time. So in the case of Nassau, the time was 8:00, but you had to be back on the ship by 7:30 at the latest. Taking into account the time it takes for the ship to clear and the time you have to be back on the boat, that shaves off an hour of your port time right there, minimum. I was under the impression when reading the ship’s itinerary that 8:00 meant that you had to be back on the boat by 8:00. Nope. Ship leaves at 8:00 whether you’re on it or not. Secondly, when you get off in port, most of the time you’ll need to take a cab to your destination. So follow me through our day in Tortola, B.V.I. to get an idea of what I’m talking about here:



We arrived in Tortola at 8:00 a.m. and were scheduled to leave at 4:00 p.m. Eight hours in port, not bad right? Surely that’s plenty of time to explore and see the beaches, right? Wrong. By the time the ship was cleared it was around 8:45 or so. We got off the ship minutes after it was cleared. Taxis were everywhere, but they wouldn’t take you anywhere until their cabs were full or nearly full. We wanted to go to Brewer’s Bay. So we hopped into the cab and waited until at least four other people wanted to do the same thing. Finally at 9:10 a.m. the cab driver decides to leave. I don’t blame them for wanting to maximize their profits; I totally understand that. We finally get to Brewer’s Bay around 9:30 or so. Keep in mind the times listed on the itinerary are 8:00 to 4:00, so that means you have to be back on the ship at 3:30 at the latest. Brewer’s Bay is in the middle of nowhere. I mean, seriously, it is far away from everything. It’s isolated and quite devoid of anything. Which is exactly what we wanted. Well, laying on Brewer’s Beach, heck, you have no clue if there will be a taxi available exactly at 3:00 p.m. to get you back to port by 3:30. Is that a nice feeling to have? Certainly not. In fact, it invokes panic attacks in reality. You have no idea what the cab drivers will be doing in the afternoon and you can’t risk sitting there until the last minute. So what does that mean? It means you have to structure your day differently. It means that if you see a cab sitting at Brewer’s Bay at 2:30, you should probably take it because you don’t know if there will be another one there half an hour later. And I honestly think 2:30 is pushing your luck. Better take one around 2:00 just to be safe. So your 8:00 to 4:00, eight hour port times, translates into about four and a half hours of port time in reality. Now if you’re a risk taker, you may get lucky and have more time in port, but we met two people on B.V.I. who had been left on B.V.I. in the past. No joke. I personally don’t find it relaxing having to worry about stuff like that all morning and afternoon. It’s just not fun at all. Again, too much structure and stress. Had I been vacationing in B.V.I. or anywhere else on solid land, I wouldn’t have had to worry about getting back to a certain point at a certain time. It’s far more relaxing not having that kind of burden on you all day on your vacation. I’d much rather wake up, do my thing and not have to worry about scurrying back to a boat by a certain time. It’s annoying and not very relaxing at all.



Another annoyance is that port times are not set in stone. We were supposed to be in port on St. Thomas until 11:00 p.m., but guess what? They magically changed that for no apparent reason. They changed it to 9:00 p.m., another two hours shaved off our port time. That was disappointing. L



I’d like to also mention the constant nickel and diming aboard the Zuiderdam. I do not agree with the automatic 15% service charge on virtually everything you buy on the ship. I went to the bar, asked for a Coke, bartender hands me a Coke, I crack it open and drink it. But I owe him 15% for handing me the Coke. No sir. That’s not fair at all. Fifteen percent for handing me a Coke. Seriously, c’mon. That’s ridiculous. I could see 15% percent being justified for room service, but for just a can of Coke? Ridiculous. Tipping should be at the discretion of the tipper, not the ship. That’s the bottom line.



Another annoyance is all the forms you must fill out from port to port. This isn’t HAL’s fault at all. We left Half Moon Cay and since it’s not an American port, you must fill out some forms in order to get off the boat in St. Thomas. Guess what? When you go to the B.V.I. the very next day, you have to fill out yet more forms to get off the boat. It’s ridiculous. Again, not HAL’s fault, but annoying nonetheless.



I’m not a cruiser, so I was very disappointed in the stateroom sizes. Wow, the bathrooms are like tiny little closets. Trying to maneuver around the storage cabinets was a treat and the beds were quite hard. I suppose it’s all in what you’re used to. I realize that cabin sizes on any boat are small and I knew that going into the trip, but holy crap that thing was a shoebox.



Sea days…ick. The pool sizes on the Zuiderdam are ridiculously small. Think about it…there’s not much to do on sea days except attend cheesy functions all day, play bingo, drink yourself silly, eat yourself into a coma, or lay around by the pool. Well, on this particular cruise, the cheesy daily activities weren’t attracting that many people. Big surprise. Bingo consumed a few, but not many. Of course, there was never a shortage of people gorging themselves to death in the Lido all day long and a few became constant bar stools throughout the trip. That left a TON of people who wanted to lay by the pools on sea days. Think about this for a second…1,900 people onboard…and about 1,000 of them wanted to be on deck by the pools. Guess how big those pools are? About 10x10, if that. Unbelievable. Nobody could believe it or even fathom the logic behind it. Why in the world would you build a ship large enough to hold nearly 2,000 people and plop two 10x10 pools on it? Simply unbelievable. Deck space is VERY hard to come by on boring sea days, so be prepared.



Here’s something that had me laughing for a few days. It probably won’t be as funny to you all simply because you weren’t there first hand, but try to picture it. We wanted to grab a bite while lounging at the pool on one of our sea days. So we walked through the sliding glass doors, into the Lido and sat at one of those corner tables in the rear where they have the couches and lamps. A few minutes later, an elderly couple sat across the table from us. We chatted a little about the ship and the ports and yada..yada..yada. A really lovely couple. Anyway, out of the blue some 40 something pompous jacka** walks by the table, stops, looks at the elderly couple and said, ‘Holy sh*t! Are you two eating yet AGAIN?’ And without missing a beat the elderly man turns around, looks the goon over and says, ‘Oh! How are you? Jeez…I didn’t even recognize you away from the bar and without a drink in your face.’ LMFAO! Needless to say, the pompous a**hole left at that point. I mean, seriously, why would you say something like that to people who weren’t bothering a soul? Felt like decking that loudmouthed moron too, but I didn’t. It just amazed me how rude people were to the crew and to one another on that ship. But anyway… most people were totally nice to one another, so don’t avoid the ship thinking that everyone is an a-hole. They’re not. The asinine behavior just occurred a whole lot more than I had anticipated.



Well, that’s about enough rambling for now. I’ll add to it if I think of anything else relevant. Cruising just isn’t for me. I enjoy flying to an island, staying in one stationary room and lounging on the beach without worrying about anything at all. It’s all about what you like. I tried cruising and just didn’t like it. That’s not to say any of your first timers won’t like it at all. You may love it. You’ll never know until you try it. But don’t deny yourself the experience at all. It’s something everyone should try at least once, for sure.



If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away. J

[drk]

Enjoyed your entertaining review. While we love it...cruising is not for everyone. In many ways the ship is the destination. You did a good job of pointing out some of the myths of cruising (short port times; small pools) without bashing the experience. Hope you enjoy your future travels.

[jp8088]

Jeeez..Getting ready to sail on the Volendam and WAS looking forward to my first cruise this Saturday but after reading this I'm nervous. I hope my ship isn't anywhere near as crowded because the pools are one of the things that attracted me. Was the rocking that bad (not including the stormy day..to be expected) and did the medication help w/ sea sickness? I thought I read somewhere here that the Volendam has "stabilizers" to help w/ the rocking issue! Did your ship have any such thing? Glad to hear that the food was great (the other thing that atracted me to this particular cruise line). I hate hearing about people treating the help (employees) like crap when its obviously not called for...especially over something like a luke warm beverage. It wouldn't be above me and my big mouth (ask the d.w.) to come to the rescue of some poor sole trying to make a living and embarrasing the schmuck who slapped the cup out of his/her hand! From everything I've read on these boards (several weeks worth) most people seem to be very pleasant and appreciative of the employees on the ship!!

[sail7seas]

I absolutely LOVE your review. Thank you soooo much for posting it. It is entertaining, informative, one person's honest viewpoint. It was wonderful reading.


Guess we won't plan on meeting up with you in the future aboard a 'dam' ship.

Thanks again for posting your review.

[Machforce1]

No, not bashing it at all. It's just not for us. And you're totally right, the ship really is the destination. I was always under the impression that the ship was just another means of travel to several destinations, but with the short port times and structure, yes, the ship really is the destination.

JP, PLEASE continue to look forward to your cruise! Don't worry about a thing. Like I said, cruising just isn't for me. You may, on the other hand, absolutely love it. I have no idea how big the pools are on that ship you mentioned, but they were itty bitty on the Zuiderdam. Seriously though, don't get any weird feelings about your upcoming vacation. I've read reviews in the past after I've booked vacations that were negative and turns out, I loved the place. Heck, just before the cruise I stayed at a place called the Beachcomber Resort in Fort Lauderdale and thought it was absolutely fabulous! While the reviews are outstanding on the resort, there were several people who didn't like it. Doesn't mean either one of us wouldn't like it, but you can't please everyone all the time. You may have the time of your life on your cruise, so don't sweat my experience too much.

As far as the Zuiderdam and her rocking, on calm seas, no, it didn't rock that much. Certainly not enough to make you sick. Nevertheless, it's there. You will know you're moving. If the seas are 4.5 feet or less, you shouldn't have a problem with it whatsoever, although you will feel her moving. If the seas get to around 5-7 feet, you will certainly feel her vibrating, banging and rocking quite a bit. Anything over that, you might need that patch. Thankfully, we thought it was fun. I know, that sounds really weird, but it was like being on a roller coaster I suppose. You could feel the Zuiderdam at the crest of the wave, as she fell down to the trough, your stomach went with her. I thought it was pretty fun. I was actually out on the deck during the gale force winds with the camcorder. LOL! My wife thought I had lost my mind. Absolutely nobody was out that evening, except for me. Of course, I had about five beers before mustering the courage to go out there. Hahaha... but if you tend to get sea sick, then it might bother you a bit. Hopefully you won't run into anything but calm, blue seas. :)

[Adk~Cruiser]

A refreshing reminder that cruising isn't for everyone. I chuckled quite a few times during your review as we came back from our first cruise wanting a second cruise- so an entirely different experience.

I will comment on the part about the ship moving. EVERYONE says the ship doesn't move.. that you can't feel it... blah, blah. Well - it IS a ship and it DOES move. :) That being said, I guess a more proper explanation would be - the ship moves but "most" people adjust to it quickly and unless you hit really rough water, it's not that bad.

For the previous poster - we took our first 7-day cruise a couple years ago - going on our second next month. Both my DH and my son are prone to motion sickness - my husband very much so. They both wore Relief Bands - our cabin was as far forward as you could go, right next to the bridge and therefore, supposedly more rocky, and was on the highest floor of staterooms -again, supposed to be more rocky. Did we feel the ship move? Yes! Did we get used to it? Yes- very quickly...within 24 hours. Did it make any of us sick? My husband, in one section of the ship, while we were trying to outrun a front and the waves were rocking so hard you staggered when you walked - felt understandbly queasy. We left the lounge, found a quiet place to sit and look at the horizon - and he felt better within the hour.

[Adk~Cruiser]

Machforce - Are you sure they handed out patches? They are prescription... and are something you are supposed to apply 24 - 36 hours prior to sailing. They will not work if you are already ill. The ships typically dispense bonine pills - but I don't believe they give out prescription Scopaline patches from the front desk. I only question this incase it is misleading information for other newbie cruisers like you and me.

[Machforce1]

Yes, this much I'm certain about. They even came over the PA system before we ran into that awful cold front reminding people that they could get the behind the ear patches or chewable pills if they were needed. Our neighbors in the cabin nextdoor who were up all night upchucking their dinners went down and got patches. Additionally, there is a physician on board so getting prescriptions, if it was necessary, wouldn't be a problem.

Oh, another incidence that had me laughing was the night of the rocky seas. We elected to have room service that night. So the room service guy walks in and I said, 'So what do you think about this awful weather? Do you guys run into this kind of thing often?' He looks at me and then out the window and says, "When first I come on ship, I <pats stomach> go 'blah! <makes puking gesture>' But then I learn secret. Pills!" I thought I was gonna die laughing when he did that.

[dakrewser]

Excellent review - objective but opinionated. We need more like this!

[Ziggy7]

Jeeez..Getting ready to sail on the Volendam and WAS looking forward to my first cruise this Saturday but after reading this I'm nervous. I hope my ship isn't anywhere near as crowded because the pools are one of the things that attracted me. Was the rocking that bad (not including the stormy day..to be expected) and did the medication help w/ sea sickness? I thought I read somewhere here that the Volendam has "stabilizers" to help w/ the rocking issue! Did your ship have any such thing? Glad to hear that the food was great (the other thing that atracted me to this particular cruise line). I hate hearing about people treating the help (employees) like crap when its obviously not called for...especially over something like a luke warm beverage. It wouldn't be above me and my big mouth (ask the d.w.) to come to the rescue of some poor sole trying to make a living and embarrasing the schmuck who slapped the cup out of his/her hand! From everything I've read on these boards (several weeks worth) most people seem to be very pleasant and appreciative of the employees on the ship!!I say everyone has different expectations so what one cruiser likes or dislikes is different than others. Go see for yourself, then decide :)

[Cap'nWoody]

I really enjoyed your rreview of the ship. Let me add some of my own.

I just got off the Z last Saturday also. Some of my experiences were similar and some weren't.
It didn't really matter how small the pool was nobody was in it. The water was pretty cool all week. My 2 grandkids were the only people I saw actually in the pool. There are 3 hot tubs at the mid pool and 2 I believe at the aft pool. There was always room in them. I never saw them completely full. Lounge chairs around the pool...........absolutely maxed out. However there was plenty of chairs available on Deck 10 both fore and aft and even up on Deck 11(SkyDeck) forward. Since no one was using the pool it shouldn't matter where their chair was except if you were at the pool you were about 100 ft closer to the chow.
Food - Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had early seating (upper) at 5:45. Didn't have to vacate until 7:30. We had plenty of time. Some of the courses might have been a little rushed but remember these guys are feeding a lot of people at each seating. Dessert and coffee were always the time when we had plenty of time to commiserate about our day.
Service - This was my ninth cruise and I have never experienced service like this on any ship. My name was immediately learned and it was used throughout the week. My little 78 year old mother-in-law became "Madame Wilma" for the week. The Table Captain Pit Pit and waiter Eka took time to play with my grandchildren every night. They taught each other magic tricks and folded napkin animals every night. Never did I feel rushed. The same service was experienced in the Lido, the Neptune Lounge........anywhere and everywhere we went.

Americans......What can I say. I was born and raised in this country and I am appalled and disgusted with the way some of us act. There were just enough of these jerks on board to really give you the feeling you needed to apologize for them to the crew and then throw them overboard!!

Ship - It's a ship......it moves. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I could feel the stabilizers doing their job the night before Nassau and I was just glad I wasn't on a Navy Cruiser going through these seas. I slept like a baby. The vibrations and the pops and an occasional creak meant I was on my way to another port.

Entertainment - The costuming was unbelievable and the stage sets were great. The company of singers and dancers were overall really good. The male and female leads were great dancers but should leave the singing to someone else. This is funny from me since I have a vocal range of about 2 notes.

Port times - Always too short. Never enough time to do it all. So I don't even try any more. Didn't even get off the boat in Tortola. Went to Sapphire Beach in St. Thomas on our own. Almost froze to death by the way. I've been in the Caribbean during winter many times and I have never felt so much cool weather and cool water. Didn't get off the boat in Nassau either. It's a little known secret that if you stay on board on a Port Day the entire ship is yours!!!!!!!

[swannie]

jp8088...to give another perspective on the Volendam, I was on her for my very first cruise last year, and it was absolutely blissful in my opinion. I totally envy you your upcoming cruise! If you do a search on this thread for Cruise Diary Volendam 8/11 you'll see my journal of the trip. Not a review, just a journal I kept on the trip, and it was to Alaska, not the Caribbean, so I wasn't writing about pools and deck chairs and water temperatures. So not a perfect comparison. But I was writing about meteor showers, silver seas, misty mountains, whales, blue glaciers, and seabirds. And how peaceful and relaxing it was, how elegant the ship, how wonderful the crew and how incredible the service. And how truly difficult and sad it was to leave it. And, like Machforce1 said, service in land-based restaurants is not the same. When we spent a day or two in Vancouver following the cruise, the service we received was disinterested, bored, careless by comparison.
Machforce1, I had to smile a bit when I read your review, it's really more a review of cruising itself than a particular cruise or ship. I hate to sound flip, but I can't help asking, if you knew you didn't want structure, and schedules, and limited times at your destinations, why on earth did you go? I kind of felt like you were writing a review about water, complaining that it was wet. (I say this with all affection, and a big smile :-)
On the other hand, I so appreciated your reminder of what the crew sacrifices for this job, and I am so shocked and horrified at some of the behavior you reported by some of the passengers. We were fortunate enough not to witness behavior like that on our cruise, I was glad, because after reading some posts on the HAL board by people who, how should I say this, might be a little too used to pampering for their own good, I was afraid that I'd be surrounded by demanding, condescending rudeness. I work in the service industry myself, not 1/10th as hard as someone on a cruise ship, and it takes an incredible amount of energy and emotional strength and self control to maintain a positive, friendly, personable attitude all day long, especially when people take you and your efforts for granted. (though fortunately, this doesn't happen too often.) I think people on cruise ships who work the hours they do for the money they do, and the sacrifices in their personal lives and still manage not to look bored, act grouchy, or frankly, take out a machine gun and go postal on those who treat them with derision and abuse, is beyond my comprehension.
But, I agree, your review was very refreshing...some of the reviews by veteran cruisers get a little dry in their "been there, done that" attitude (how many times does the volcano cake at the Pinnacle really need to be evaluated?)
Thank you for taking the time.

[Machforce1]

Cap'n Woody...Pippit was absolutely outstanding, wasn't he? We actually talked with him one night for around half an hour. Found out that he's only got 17 more days on the ship (as of that night) before returning home. That's how I found out so much about how the ship works and how the crew works. He said that he missed his wife and his children badly and couldn't wait to go home. He also said that he doubted his wife was going to let him come back to Holland America because his family missed him so much.

I tell ya, that guy was just top notch. Heck, they all were. The very first night he had learned our names and everything about us. Amazing. And you're right, the service on the Zuiderdam is absolutely unbeatable. I've never experienced service like that in my life. That's why I was appalled at some of the passengers behavior. It really made my blood boil. Who in the world could be upset with that crew? I just can't even fathom it.

We had the late seating and it was really hectic in there. Loved the dinners and the food though. I don't think you could do much better than the cuisine on that ship.

[Machforce1]

"Machforce1, I had to smile a bit when I read your review, it's really more a review of cruising itself than a particular cruise or ship. I hate to sound flip, but I can't help asking, if you knew you didn't want structure, and schedules, and limited times at your destinations, why on earth did you go? I kind of felt like you were writing a review about water, complaining that it was wet. (I say this with all affection, and a big smile"

No, that's not it at all. I had no idea the amount of structure involved. The main reason I wanted to cruise was to see more than one destination in one vacation. I had absolutely no idea that you barely got any time at all in port. You have to admit that most cruisers are biased simply because they love to cruise. And that's totally cool, but I was getting answers that weren't exactly accurate. I would ask people about things and they would make it sound sweeter than it really was simply because they really did believe it. It's sort of like how I tell everyone how wonderul Aruba is because I love it, but not everyone agrees with me. See what I'm saying?

I found this board only a very short time before setting sail, so I didn't really have the opportunity to ask you guys very much. I have found, however, that you all are much more knowledgable about everything than on other cruising boards. Wish I would have came here first. <sigh> But I love the board, so I'll continue to read all the wonderful and knowledgable posts. :)

[swannie]

I stand corrected. Yes, this board is incredibly informative. I had months to wait for my first cruise and love to waste time on line, so I did spend a lot of time on this board before going. Guess I didn't think about what it would be like going on a cruise not having any idea what to expect.

[Time2sail]

Since you didn't complain about the food, I guess I won't cancel my first cruise on HAL.

Would you consider a cruise to a destination other than the islands? My sister and her husband recommended that we cruise to Alaska on the Amsterdam because they say it will change my somewhat negative opinion of cruising. They are going on their 36th cruise (Prisendam to the Amazon in November I believe) and say I must do this one to Alaska before I say "no more cruises." She has my next cruise planned, too, because she is so convinced I will be ready to go. I am very optimistic and excited after reading these boards and being prepared for this cruise. I also had the opportunity to board the Volendam for a few hours as a preview of the Amsterdam...she is beautiful and we were overwhelmed with the efficiency and cheerfulness of the staff. So, here we go!

Your review is interesting and informative. Thank you very much for reminding us that rudeness has no place anywhere and especially on a ship where we are guests.:)

[watchdiva]

Thanks for the informative review. I am on the 4/16 Zui sailing and looking forward to it. As far as structured time is concerned, for me, I'd rather be on a somewhat structured time schedule on a cruise ship than on a structured time schedule at work....I agree that cruising is not for everyone but at least you had your one (and maybe only:) ) experience on a HAL ship.

I am also in agreement with previous posters comments regarding rude behavior on the part of some cruisers - buying your ticket does NOT (IMHO) buy you the right to be rude or disrespectful to people who work on the ship, or to your fellow cruisers. On other cruise lines when DH and I have witnessed such rude, crude behavior, we have tried to make it a point to later speak quietly to the crewmember and remind them that most of us truly appreciate the work they do, all of which is done just to enhance a cruise experience.

OK - I've jumped down off of my soapbox now.....

[dakrewser]

My sister and her husband recommended that we cruise to Alaska on the Amsterdam because they say it will change my somewhat negative opinion of cruising. They are going on their 36th cruise (Prisendam to the Amazon in November I believe) and say I must do this one to Alaska before I say "no more cruises."

A lot would depend on why you don't like to cruise. My wife and I no longer will cruise the Caribbean, but we're getting ready to take our third trip to Alaska in 6 years, so I do think there's a difference between the two itineraries! :)

[Machforce1]

Time2Sail, that's an interesting question. Honestly, I don't know the answer to that. I can tell you that if I ever did cruise again, it would definitely be with Holland America even though Carnival has turned them onto a nickle and dime type mind frame. I can't tell you guys just how impressed I was with the service. Although I didn't particularly love the cruise itself, I really did like the people. I got to know quite a few of them and thought of them more as my friends than service attendants by the end of the cruise.

I realize just how difficult it must be to run a cruise ship. As far as improvements that I'd like to see, they would be larger cabins, less structure and more port time. I know that's never going to happen because larger cabins would reduce revenue; less structure would be nearly impossible to manage; and more port time in the Caribbean would be very difficult given the distances sailed. I think if I would have been in one of those luxurious 400+ sq ft suites and had the ability to dine in an actual restaurant with a leisurely pace at ANY time, I would have enjoyed it more. A larger balcony with a bit more privacy perhaps? But again, I don't expect cruise ships to sacrifice millions in revenue to satisfy just a few people. That wouldn't make sense.

Nevertheless, Holland America is a class act and I will never forget all the kind people I met who worked for them. I hope they read this and realize just how much some of us appreciate their hard work and sacrifices. :)

[dakrewser]

A larger balcony with a bit more privacy perhaps? But again, I don't expect cruise ships to sacrifice millions in revenue to satisfy just a few people. That wouldn't make sense.


No, it wouldn't. What would, though, would be to charge much higher prics. And there are cruise lines that do that. Look into Windstar, for example. It's owned by HAL but has more of what you're looking for. And charges accordingly.

[CruiseWacker23]

Jeeez..Getting ready to sail on the Volendam and WAS looking forward to my first cruise this Saturday but after reading this I'm nervous. I hope my ship isn't anywhere near as crowded because the pools are one of the things that attracted me. Was the rocking that bad (not including the stormy day..to be expected) and did the medication help w/ sea sickness? I thought I read somewhere here that the Volendam has "stabilizers" to help w/ the rocking issue! Did your ship have any such thing? Glad to hear that the food was great (the other thing that atracted me to this particular cruise line). I hate hearing about people treating the help (employees) like crap when its obviously not called for...especially over something like a luke warm beverage. It wouldn't be above me and my big mouth (ask the d.w.) to come to the rescue of some poor sole trying to make a living and embarrasing the schmuck who slapped the cup out of his/her hand! From everything I've read on these boards (several weeks worth) most people seem to be very pleasant and appreciative of the employees on the ship!!jp8088...Please don't let this thread scare you, my DW and I were on the Z twice last year and we had a wonderful time on each. As Mach1force pointed out, the time in port is somewhat limited but I guess thats the nature of the beast if you want to see four or five ports in a seven day cruise...lets face it...there's some travel time involved! Movement..yeah, just like any moving object, if its moving, naturally you will be able to detect it. I thought it was most obvious in the evenings during dinner, especially if you were by a window. I'm sure 15 to 20 ft seas will make even the most experienced cruiser uneasy but all in all, I feel the other movement is minimal..more like an elevator..not a roller coaster. The food is good and yes, I do think there is a difference worth the extra expense in the Pinnacle. As far as the pools and pool sizes, I think 10 x 10 is an exaggeration. Even on a ship 11 stories high and 3 football fields long, you just can't have an olympic size swimming pool! The trick to getting a good spot on the Lido deck for sunning is to get there early. It does fill up and get crowded, but so do most hotels and resorts. I would echo what most everyone else says about the service and the staff. They work very hard and bend over backwards to serve you. Thats why its so upsetting to hear or see the jerks who like to bully them and act like big shots. They are disgusting and are a disgrace to the human population let alone the United States. Be prepared for it though, every ship has some! We love cruising and can hardly wait until our next one which happens to be on the Volendam :) We'll be looking forwards to hearing about her and your first cruise!

[jp8088]

Cruisewhacker23 and everyone else thanks for all the supportive feedback about my impending cruise (Sun. 03/20) aboard Ms. Volendam. Have no fear, I WILL BE ON HER to escape from this MISERABLE winter here in Mass.:D 10 days on a crowded ship in the caribbean will be a big improvement over my cube @ work!!!;) BRING ON THE BUCKET-O- BEERS AND SUNSHINE!!