ZUIDERDAM Upper/Lower Dining Room Question

[aqualojoy]

I understand that there is an upper and lower dining room on the Zuiderdam. Other than the differences in dining times, are there other distinctions in the dining rooms? Do the rooms “feel” the same? How about service? Food? Any comments would be appreciated.

[DFD1]

They are really just two levels of the same dining room. Entrances are on different decks, but the levels area connected inside by a beautiful "grand" set of stairs. Food and service are identical.

Many prefer lower level, especially near the large windows. Others, us included, prefer the upper level either with a table for two along the railing overlooking the lower level or near the large windows.

For my taste, I find the HAL dining rooms some of the prettiest rooms afloat. Hope you have a great time on the Zuiderdam.

[geegee1]

the rooms are nice, but the food isn't the greatest. if you can, definitley book at least one night for the pinnacle grill

[FoxyTerrier]

the rooms are nice, but the food isn't the greatest. if you can, definitley book at least one night for the pinnacle grill

GeeGee I saw you mention the food wasn't good in another post. Can you please go in to some details about what was wrong with the food? We are leaving on our 5th HAL cruise - first on the Zuiderdam in one week. On all the other ships the food was really outstanding and no Pinnacle on those ships either.

I have never been a huge fan of the Lido, and love doing b'fast out on the balcony or in the main dining room. Also prefer the lunches in the main dining room, and have never eaten dinner any where but the main dining room.

Joni

[QuitMyDayJob]

We were on the Zuiderdam a year ago and thought the food was quite good. Was it "outstanding" like a 5 star restaurant? No, but just short of it. We thoroughly enjoyed it and had very good service--not as good as we had on the Maasdam, but it wasn't substandard in any way.

[cruzingqueen]

I understand that there is an upper and lower dining room on the Zuiderdam. Other than the differences in dining times, are there other distinctions in the dining rooms? Do the rooms “feel” the same? How about service? Food? Any comments would be appreciated.

I've sailed the Z 4 times in the last year and have nothing bad to say about the food. The service would be the same and these guys are rotated every 1 or 2 months so someone who was great upstairs one month may be working a different section or level the next month.

[MsJ]

we were on the Zuiderdam in February and enjoyed the food very much..service was wonderful....and we had a table for two inthe upper level at the railing...loved the location....In the Lido I think I had pizza just about every day...and garlic bread....and cookies....YUM!!

[geegee1]

here is from the review which i've posted on many sites

THE FOOD AND DRINK
We went to the bar on the lido deck and asked what kind of bottled beers they had, the bartender gave me a list of beers. I asked for a Budweiser Select and he said that he was all sold out. SOLD OUT! How can you be sold out of a beer and you haven’t even left port yet, but we persevered. (I did find it later on in the cruise at one of the other bars, but still)
BREAKFAST
The first day we decided to order breakfast in, it was horrible and tasteless. The English muffins, Orange slice and bacon were all either mushy or dried out. To say the least that was the last day we had breakfast.
LUNCH
Well if you did not make it to lunch by 2p you were basically regulated to hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. Otherwise the selections were OK at best, the taco bar was a little better than OK, but not much.
DINNER
First night at dinner I ordered the NY Strip steak which was more like a tasteless shell steak, we chalked that up to first meal blues. But besides the crab legs, lobster tail, and beef tenderloin the rest of the food was quite a disappointment. By the time we found out that the Pinnacle Grill was a zillion times better than the dining room, it was too late. Mind you, my wife and I went on this cruise expecting some good food, when we go away our bill before tip and we don’t order bottles of wine, are at least $150/night. To say that we were disappointed would be an understatement. For this reason alone we will not cruise with HAL again unless there’s nothing else available.
ROOM SERVICE
As I already stated the breakfast was horrible, we ordered lunch one day since we missed the 2p cutoff and didn’t want bad pizza. They have something called an ALL AMERICAN BURGER on the menu, that only comes with SWISS or CHEDDAR cheese. How can you have an ALL AMERICAN BURGER and not offer amercian cheese? My wife ordered the shrimp cocktail, which were a bunch of small shrimps that you would normally get from a Chinese take out place. The only salvation were the chocolate chip cookies.
THE MIDNIGHT BUFFET
oh yeah, there isn’t any. If you wanted a late night meal you better get a slice of pizza or order in some room service.

[cruznon]

A few weeks ago, someone had the dining room diagrams for the Zuiderdam(both levels) with the table numbers and locations. Does anyone know who it was or did anyone save the link? Thanks.

[cruzingqueen]

here is from the review which i've posted on many sites

THE MIDNIGHT BUFFET
oh yeah, there isn’t any. If you wanted a late night meal you better get a slice of pizza or order in some room service.

I don't know what ship you were on, but when I sailed the Zuiderdam a few weeks ago, I had the midnight buffet MANY nights....it is every night 11:15-12:30 AM. The first night was Italian, followed by South-western, 3rd night -french, 4th night -oriental, 5th night -californian, 6th night - American (but I don't recall any American cheese here either) and the last night - Dutch.

It's held in the Lido....maybe you went after 12:30 AM...but otherwise I don't know how you could miss it.

[sail7seas]

Every HAL ship has a late night buffet and the 'theme' varies every night. It might be Italian, Tex-Mex etc.....


Food is so subjective. What pleases one person, another doesn't care for. We have enjoyed five cruises on Zuiderdam and very much enjoyed our dinners. We thought Lido wonderful with all the stations and such a huge selection. It is very hard IMO to be hungry on an HAL ship.

Just my opinion, of course.

[DJErikD]

A few weeks ago, someone had the dining room diagrams for the Zuiderdam(both levels) with the table numbers and locations. Does anyone know who it was or did anyone save the link? Thanks.


You'll find a couple of links in this thread:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=86071&page=2&pp=25

- Erik

[CHRIS3169]

Okay, here is another dining room question. I looked and even printed off the dining room charts, however they are very difficult to read. If you were to sit on the lower level which tables would be good. Are there window seatings? What is the best way to request one of those tables? Do you call HAL ahead of time or wait until sailing day?

Thank you,
Christy

[peaches from georgia]

Chris, your TA can request a Dining Room layout of both levels, which will include the # of each and every table. You can discuss various specific tables and have her request a specific table or, better yet, have her request several choices of tables for you by Table #'s.

DON'T wait until sailing day. All tables will be assigned at that point and no way is the Maitre d' going to force someone else to move who has already been assigned your preferred table(s).

Call your TA about this now. :)

[CHRIS3169]

Thanks!;)

[CamilleandNick]

I never saw anything about an old-fashioned late-night buffet type dining. Food was available in the Lido during later hours...however, no grand spectacle of a buffet like in the old days on ships. It was adequate fare for that hour. We had the late dinner. On one occasion, we ate very little at dinner...and were a little hungry. wE ventured there and had a little pasta. Must have been Italian night. Iwas too tired to notice. Again, it was not like in the old days were the dining room was rearranged and given glorious decor just for the midnight buffet or chocoholic buffet. These days it is in the Lido..cafeteria style. A sign of the times.