Back from the Zuiderdam!

[judie43]

Just returned home last night from our first HAL cruise. We primarily cruise on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. I won't even try to compare because each line has different things to offer.
Much of the time on the ship I was thinking how I was going to write a review for the boards.....Now I am home and I am trying to single out some thoughts. (not having much luck !)
Overall our experience on the Zuiderdam was positive. We had booked a gaurantee MM inside and were assigned to a J on the 7th deck. To say it was tiny is an understatement. We had to ask our cabin steward,Oakie, to remove the table.Otherwise we would have spent the week stubbing our toes. We did adjust and get used to walking sideways past each other. I must say,the storage for a small cabin,was amazing.We acturally had room left over.
The decor of the ship was something else. Some of the public rooms had the prettiest,most understated decor and then you would turn a corner and see what I considered to be the most garish decor I have ever seen. Never did figure out what that "couch" thing was at the aft pool. Lions heads on arms of chairs is not my idea of good taste. The silver chairs in the Pinnacle were beyond description. But in the scheme of things,if decor spoils a cruise then you have other issues. I realy don't care what I am sitting on.as long as I am cruise. I just wanted to give my overall impression of the ships decor

We did eat in the Pinnacle and I have to say we enjoyed it immensly. I think it was well worth the surcharge and our travelling companions agreed.

I can't comment on any shore excursions as we really kind of go off on our own. Sometimes just hire a van to take us around the island or other times we just shop and/or drink.

The food was wonderful. Very small portions in the dining room. I actually think that is a good idea...you don't walk away so stuffed you can't move. We all thought there was a nice enough selection,very few complaints,nothing that could not be overlooked.

The service was amazing. The friendliness of the staff is unequaled. You never pass a staff member,from ships officers to the cleaning staff that you were not given a greeting and a wish to have a great day.

Here are a few of the "negative" observations,none being really big issues. There are very few public restrooms and many of those were out of order. Very hard to locate a house phone. It would be nice if inside the elevators there was a listing of what public room was on each floor. Easier for us folks who can't remember things from one day to the next!

Overall,in spite of the lousy weather,that even HAL has no control over,we had a good cruise experience. Would we sail on HAL again,probably.Is it our favorite cruiseline,not yet,but one never knows.

Any questions..ask away!

Judie

[dww]

We also were onboard with you. As you mentioned about what to say, I haven't posted my thought completely yet. I agree with what you said. Our ONLY bad experience was the Vista Dining Room. We had horrible service and felt the food was not up to the standards we had heard. Oh, and the weather! Was that the most rocking you have ever experienced on a cruise? We had an aft corner suite, so we spent alot of time there when the weather was so bad.

I really liked the decor. I felt that as you said, you never knew what to expect when you rounded a corner. Someone posted on CC that at night you understand better why the colors, etc. and I believe that is true. P.S. Did you hear about the two tour buses wrecking in the Turks?

[InTheWASide]

The small portions in the dining room work in 3 ways...

1) It's a 5 course meal, and if anything was HUGE, you'd need chairs with wheels and everyone would roll out of the dining rom. :p

2) You can order as much food as you want... if the special is parmesan crusted chicken and you get one piece and you want 6... just say so and it's yours. Or if 2-3 things sound good, this will work perfect as you can get both and still not be too full!

3) Your loved one wants a bite of your food? The hell with that! They can have their own! :D

The category J on Rotterdam deck is a little smaller than on main deck, but when you think about it, you didn't mention how noisy neighbors were or kids... You know why? Everyone on that deck is a VA or SA room exceot for the other J category, but those are all double occupancy and typically couples! So there's a plus!

Although inside the elevators doesn't tell what's where, there are the diagrams that give all that information in the elevator lobbies. You may have to pass up the first that becomes available and wait for the next, but you can see all the main areas on that diagram! (And with 14 elevators on the ship, that's almost no waiting at all! :cool:

Glad you enjoyed!

[judie43]

dww...boy,you are right about the rocking. I don't ever remember seeing so many people "hurrying" out of the dining room the first night. We have cruised numerous times in March and never ran into weather like we just had. Luckily,neither myself or my husband are bothered by it. My sister in law was on the Millenium 2 weeks ago and she said the same thing...the ship neve stopped moving. Unusual for March.
What happened with the tour buses...we hadn't heard anything.

[BaltimoreCruise]

I was going to do a new thread, but thought I would ask here first. Did you happen to take note of the teen club hours?

Thank you.
BaltimoreCruise

[halloweengirl]

Hubby, his family and I were also on this sailing...had a rough travel day yesterday, so I'm still zonked, but here are my brief notes....longer review to come in a week or so (back to work tomorrow, SIGH). This was our first cruise.

1) Inside cabin (MM Guar bumped to L)was surprisingly spacious--hubby and I had no problems, and also had "room left over" for storage. We are not small people, but didn't feel cramped at all.

2) The Zuidy is lovely, but I do concur with previous posts that some areas look a bit "worn". She just needs a little sprucing up here and there.

3) People in the Lido were such "Lemonade Piggies" that the staff either ran out or had to "ration" it....after Day 1, hubby and I only saw it at one "Late Night Snack" after that. We were disappointed, as we love lemonade, but are polite enough not to drink the machine dry, LOL.

4) Rough seas/bad weather were a big problem (not HAL's fault, of course). I was sick probably 5 out of 7 days....Bonine helped a bit, but it was still difficult. Body is still trying to rock when I walk :) That was very unpleasant, but we didn't let it ruin the cruise. In-Laws (this was HAL trip #13 for them) said it was the worst seas they'd ever been in.

5) Food in the dining room was perfectly portioned and always delicious. I'm a somewhat picky somewhat vegetarian but polite diner, and was always happy, accommodated, and FULL :) Chilled fruit soups were a particular favorite. Food in the Lido was excellent as well, although that place could be a real zoo if you didn't time it just right. People can be so rude at buffets, no?

6) Ports: Grand Turk was OK, but needs a bit more "zazz" than just the new Cruise Center. Tortola was amazing...love everything about it. St. Thomas sucked--nasty shops with nasty staff (I was followed by several frowning women, maybe b/c I carry a large purse and they thought I was going to steal?)--we didn't get to see Magens Bay though, so I'd try it one more time, but we returned to the ship after 2 hours. Shops were also very overpriced. Half Moon Cay, of course, was stunning, and lots of fun. Wish I could stay there forever, as the bar suggests :)

7) Can't say enough about the lovely staff.....always smiling, pleasant, and ever so helpful. Hubby and I gave thank you cards and "extra" modest cash tips to our cabin steward and our two dining stewards. They were amazing!

8) Saw some good movies...HAL has a pretty decent current selection.

That's all for now, I have GOT to wind down for the night :) Back to work tomorrow :(


Thanks,

-Jen

[M2D]

sorry to hear about the bad weather I actually got off the cruise the week before yours and the weather was great, the only time the boat really rocked was the first night (overnight) I woke up to the drawers banging and the wind whistling through our balcony door... and on the last ngiht as well we went through a WILD thunder storm but the capt. was going really slow so it didnt rock to much... I was out on the balcony watching sheets of rain go by... kind of neat.

Also I noticed the poster above me didnt like st. thomas... on the contrary I love St. Thomas.... I actually try to book cruises that have it in the itinerary. Did you go to the shops reccomended by HAL? We usualy go there and shop for a few hours then go to one of the bars in the middle part between the shops. I bought a gold watch there for 600$ this year, then I checked it out on the watch's website and saw it for sale for 1300$. I couldnt believe what a deal it turned out to be.

[halloweengirl]

Hi MTD,

Yeah, I know a lot of people like St. Thomas (DROVES came flying off ship after we passed customs, LOL), and there are deals to be had, esp. on jewelry and booze, but Hubby and I were just looking for fun gifts for friends & family, and found most of that stuff to be vastly overpriced. I did buy some pirate stuff for my little nephew, and "pearl" earrings for myself and my sister, but I swear, every shop we went into (Mr. Tablecloth, Drakes, etc.) was dingy, hot/stuffy, and staffed with cranky people. (Pretty sure the pearl earrings are fake since they were only $5) Like I said, I'd give it another shot--half the problem was the crowds since there were 6 ships in port (including a Disney, god help us), and hubby and I aren't "crowd" people. I would like to see Magens Bay once....

I don't mean to be obnoxious, we just didn't get the allure on our first visit. But I always like to try something twice :)

Rough seas were really difficult. Spent about 75% of the trip sick :( But it didn't ruin the entire trip :)

And hello, we traded captains halfway through. LOL, Mr. Von Bilieuw must have retired mid-trip. Strange :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home.

Sorry about your bad weather.

[doone]

Judie, welcome home. Glad you had a great cruise. A friend of mine from work was on your sailing, I can hardly wait to talk to him.

[mamaofami]

Wondering what port you guys left from. Sorry about your rough seas. We left from NY this winter and we were so concerned that we'd have a rough ride going and coming in February, but it turned out to b ok. I'm thinking you must have left from Fla since we had some of the same ports, but on a 10 day cruise. Just goes to show that the seas can be rough anywhere and at any time.

[arckac]

[quote=judie43;9551145]Just returned home last night from our first HAL cruise.

Was there a late night adult only comedy show? In the past it has been on the Wednesday night departure from ST. Thomas.

Any comment on any of the other entertainers?

Thanks

[judie43]

BaltimoreCruiser...I'm sorry...I don't know the hours of the teen disco.

Arckac....there was a late night show with the comedian. It wasnt really adult humor it was more toilet jokes. There was a 10 year old sitting in the audience (the comedian asked him his age) and there was really nothing offesive to that age. In fact he probably enjoyed it more,you know how kids laugh at p**p and fa*t jokes.

[BaltimoreCruise]

Judie43,
Thank you.
Another question... did you use the laundry service?

BaltimoreCruise

[jerseymax]

We were on March 10 voyage. First night was rough. Never been sick before but made up for it that night. Halloweengirl - sorry I missed the date you sailed 10 or 17? What did you say about Cpt. Von Bilieuw?
BaltimoreCruise I can not confirm hours but can tell you my 14 year old was interested in going around 11:00 each night. I think they were just playing cards in "The Loft" until that time and then it got more interesting.

I am curious about one thing, did anyone notice the armed coast guard escorts on both sides as we entered San Juan? Is that a normal occurrence? Just curious.

[BaltimoreCruise]

Thank you Jerseymax. I appreciate the information.

[dww]

Someone had asked earlier about the Captain retiring, yes, Captain Hans van Biljouw's last voyage was last week. He departed in St. Thomas and flew home. There Captain Jeroen van Donselaar took-over.

Our Asst. Butler at HMC cabana spoke VERY highly of Biljouw. He stated that the entire ship personnel just "loved him." I guess that was pretty neat to be on the ship for his last voyage. I think it is just a little parculiar to do a hand-off halfway through.

Also, to answer another question about our wreck in the Turks. We were headed back to the ship and stopped a sign when another tour bus plowed into the back corner where my wife was sitting. We all pulled-over for about ten minutes while another bus came for the one that hit us ( it was damaged so bad ). The people got off and boarded it and we all headed back to the pier. NOTHING else was said about it. No police report, nothing. I guess things work a little different in the Turks.

[arckac]

BaltimoreCruiser...I'm sorry...I don't know the hours of the teen disco.

Arckac....there was a late night show with the comedian. It wasnt really adult humor it was more toilet jokes. There was a 10 year old sitting in the audience (the comedian asked him his age) and there was really nothing offesive to that age. In fact he probably enjoyed it more,you know how kids laugh at p**p and fa*t jokes.

I was afraid of that. I have sailed the Zuiderdam 2x's and once on the Oosterdam. On th Z cruises, we had Julie Barr on board. She puts on a wonderful adult show. The first year she gave people the opportunity to go up and tell their favorite jokes.

My wife loves the game show mania that they have had in the past. Do you remember if that was on your sailing?

[Rglad]

I also was on the March 17th Z cruise. I thought it was a bit rough at times, but I fortunately didn't have a problem and neither did anyone at our large table, so it wasn't that bad...just not the bathtub I'd been accustomed to on my previous trips. We found that Turks was a big disappointment not being the Margaritaville types...took a bus tour on our own to see the burnt out island...not much there but dogs, donkeys, horses and a lighthouse. Half Moon Cay as everyone says is the best stop, too bad they don't let you stay longer. We had only half a day of good weather which was a shame...cloudy and raining in the morning.

Loved the pizza on board and the raspberry sorbet in the afternoon. Thought the Z cast shows were very good, Comedian good, Juggler, good...comedian/singer should have stuck to singing.

[judie43]

arckac...we didn't use the laundry service...I guess that is why we drag 4 suitcases with us...making sure we have enough. I really wish some other lines would follow Carnival and Princess and have a self service laundry on board. I would,and have previously,pressed packing wrinkles out of our clothes. I know...loss of revenue etc......

There was another issue I forgot to mention. There was no TV listing anywhere so you had no idea when a movie was starting. Not that you spend too much time watching TV but for those that my have been confined to their cabin due to sea sickness,it would have been nice. I also did not understand why the CNN feed was from Europe. I have sailed numerous times and the fee was from the US

[jmwsavedbygrace]

MY HUSBAND AND I ARE SAILING ON APRIL 7TH FIRST TIME ON HAL. WE ARE IN AN OUTSIDE CABIN ON THE VERY FRONT OF THE SHIP, CAN ANYONE GIVE ME ANY ADVICE ON HOW MUCH WE ARE GOING TO FEEL THE MOTION? :confused: HOW ABOUT ANY ADVICE ON EXCURSION? :) WE ARE FROM MICHIGAN, ARE THERE ANY OTHER MICHIGANDERS SAILING WITH US? WE ARE SOOOO EXCITED CAN'T WAIT TO GET ON BOARD!! ANY ADVICE YOU HAVE FOR US WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!
SEE YOU ON BOARD!:)

[schag001]

Hello,

my wife and I also just returned from the Zuiderdam. We did a back2back cruise on it. Cabin was an inside on deck 4 (smallest on the ship, I believe MM).
We did sail on HAL before (red pin mariner) and found that the staff was highly overworked. Especially in the LIDO we noticed that the smiles from the staff behind the counters were more forced than anything else. It is not their fault and I do not support HAL building the new EURODAM in 2008 with even more passengers.
We did enjoy our 14 days on the ship and hey...how can you beat that we had the whole ship to ourself for about 2 hours during the time in Fort Lauderdale when we were allowed to leave the ship and return right away after customs cleared the vessel.
I felt bad for the people that did only 7 days and had such bad weather.
Tortola was defenitly my highlight.

If you have any questions, regarding our tip & experience during a back2back cruise, just post it here.

schag001

[twopaw]

to: jmwsavedbygrace

My husband & I were on the Zuiderdam in Jan, our 1st HAL cruise and absolutely loved it!! Our opinion on the decor was that it was truly artistic, not tacky, and most unusual. I would recommend looking for the really interesting touches, think you'll be surprised.

Ok, wanted to put my 2 cents in about Grand Turk. We were not at all interested in Margaritaville - to us it was just an American outpost with nothing of the real island to offer. IMO, you could have been anywhere in the U.S. on a beach. So, we took a taxi into town, learning all about the history and culture from the charming driver. We explored around town. Yes, there are dogs roaming around and we saw horses walking near the road, frankly I was happy to see them as I missed my dogs and horse at home!! There was a beautiful church with it's doors open right on the main road - a woman was playing the organ so we went inside and again had a taste of the true Grand Turk. It was a lovely experience. We then took a taxi to Governor's Beach which we found to be stunningly beautiful. There were 10 (!!!) people on the beach - everyone else was at Margaritaville? We could see the ship which was neat but the peace we experienced there was incredible. We then walked back to the ship (about 15-20 min), again experiencing more of Grand Turk as we walked thru a business section etc. Ok, it may seem like I am on my soap box and I apologize but it seems to me that many folks dislike GT possbily beacuse it isn't like many of the other islands - that's what is so great about it IMO.

Tortola - we took the ship's excursion to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. WOW!! Highly recommend this although we are sorry we didn't get to explore Tortola.

St Thomas - we took a private tour with Sunny Liston. 3 hours of shopping then a great tour of St Thomas and beautiful scenery then 2 hours at Sapphire Beach. All for $25 pp.

Half Moon Cay - had a cabana to celebrate our 20th anniv. A terrific treat.

Well, wishing you a very happy sailing. You can also check out the ports of call boards for great info on what to do. We miss the Zuiderdam - hope you love her too!

[CherylsCaribbeanTravel]

Welcome home to all who have recently returned from the Z :)

Last time we sailed HAL; Joel Mason (Elton John impersonator) was on board. I read his web page recently, and it says he's on HAL, but doesn't say which ship. Is he onboard the Z?

Also, Kory the Paino Man ran the piano bar and was great fun. He's currently on the O, but I was wondering if you happened to notice who is on the the Z in the piano?

Finally, any particular entertainer/show stand out as a 'must see'???

Thanks in advance,

Cheryl :)

[seaisme]

to: jmwsavedbygrace

My husband & I were on the Zuiderdam in Jan, our 1st HAL cruise and absolutely loved it!! Our opinion on the decor was that it was truly artistic, not tacky, and most unusual. I would recommend looking for the really interesting touches, think you'll be surprised.

Ok, wanted to put my 2 cents in about Grand Turk. We were not at all interested in Margaritaville - to us it was just an American outpost with nothing of the real island to offer. IMO, you could have been anywhere in the U.S. on a beach. So, we took a taxi into town, learning all about the history and culture from the charming driver. We explored around town. Yes, there are dogs roaming around and we saw horses walking near the road, frankly I was happy to see them as I missed my dogs and horse at home!! There was a beautiful church with it's doors open right on the main road - a woman was playing the organ so we went inside and again had a taste of the true Grand Turk. It was a lovely experience. We then took a taxi to Governor's Beach which we found to be stunningly beautiful. There were 10 (!!!) people on the beach - everyone else was at Margaritaville? We could see the ship which was neat but the peace we experienced there was incredible. We then walked back to the ship (about 15-20 min), again experiencing more of Grand Turk as we walked thru a business section etc. Ok, it may seem like I am on my soap box and I apologize but it seems to me that many folks dislike GT possbily beacuse it isn't like many of the other islands - that's what is so great about it IMO.

Tortola - we took the ship's excursion to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. WOW!! Highly recommend this although we are sorry we didn't get to explore Tortola.

St Thomas - we took a private tour with Sunny Liston. 3 hours of shopping then a great tour of St Thomas and beautiful scenery then 2 hours at Sapphire Beach. All for $25 pp.

Half Moon Cay - had a cabana to celebrate our 20th anniv. A terrific treat.

Well, wishing you a very happy sailing. You can also check out the ports of call boards for great info on what to do. We miss the Zuiderdam - hope you love her too!
twopaw...we have booked Sonny for our cruise as well (family of 6). Could you provide me with any specifics? and what is the going tip? were you able to eat lunch somewhere? or did you need to order something from room service and pack it in a cooler? just need to know. Thanks for any info.
Cass

[gizmo]

Thanks for all the reviews/posts. I enjoyed reading them. :)

[catl331]

I guess one shouldn't make too much of a judgement about a port unless you have stayed there on land for a few days. Cruise ships passengers really don't get to see, dine or tour much in one day. St. Thomas seems to be overbooked with cruiseships (as well as Grand Cayman) and if I lived there I might get nasty to the tourists also. They sure drive me nuts in Orlando on the roads! I do love St. Thomas tho and Dominica where I hope y'all stay away from.:D

[twopaw]

Hi,

We ate lunch in Charlotte Amalie at Glady's Cafe in the Royal Dane Mall, beautiful area off the main street. It was a fun little place, probably give yourself close to an hour or so to eat lunch. We went around 11am and Sonny picked us up at noon so we knew we didn't want to rush thru lunch. It was however, hard for me to stop shopping for an hour, ha!, but good to sit after two hours of non-stop shopping! There are lots of places for lunch in Charlotte Amalie, most seem to be in the off street mall areas.

I can't remember what we tipped Sunny, sorry. Have a banana daquiri at Mountaintop, even the non-alcoholic one is delicious.

Hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise. We are booked on the Emerald Princess in Nov so have a long time to dream.

Happy sailing....

[seaisme]

Hi,

We ate lunch in Charlotte Amalie at Glady's Cafe in the Royal Dane Mall, beautiful area off the main street. It was a fun little place, probably give yourself close to an hour or so to eat lunch. We went around 11am and Sonny picked us up at noon so we knew we didn't want to rush thru lunch. It was however, hard for me to stop shopping for an hour, ha!, but good to sit after two hours of non-stop shopping! There are lots of places for lunch in Charlotte Amalie, most seem to be in the off street mall areas.

I can't remember what we tipped Sunny, sorry. Have a banana daquiri at Mountaintop, even the non-alcoholic one is delicious.

Hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise. We are booked on the Emerald Princess in Nov so have a long time to dream.

Happy sailing....
thanks so much for your reply! it really helps. I only booked two hours for shopping...so I'll contact Sonny and expand it to three hours so we have an hour for lunch. with teens 16 & 17 (our Nephews)...food is a critical element in classifying the day as a "SUCCESS"!!!
Cass

[M2D]

Hi MTD,

Yeah, I know a lot of people like St. Thomas (DROVES came flying off ship after we passed customs, LOL), and there are deals to be had, esp. on jewelry and booze, but Hubby and I were just looking for fun gifts for friends & family, and found most of that stuff to be vastly overpriced. I did buy some pirate stuff for my little nephew, and "pearl" earrings for myself and my sister, but I swear, every shop we went into (Mr. Tablecloth, Drakes, etc.) was dingy, hot/stuffy, and staffed with cranky people. (Pretty sure the pearl earrings are fake since they were only $5) Like I said, I'd give it another shot--half the problem was the crowds since there were 6 ships in port (including a Disney, god help us), and hubby and I aren't "crowd" people. I would like to see Magens Bay once....

I don't mean to be obnoxious, we just didn't get the allure on our first visit. But I always like to try something twice :)

Rough seas were really difficult. Spent about 75% of the trip sick :( But it didn't ruin the entire trip :)

And hello, we traded captains halfway through. LOL, Mr. Von Bilieuw must have retired mid-trip. Strange :)


I'll look around and see if I can find the name of this one shop that had tons of gifts for pretty decent prices.

I heard the weather has been pretty bad this year... I guess we just got lucky, although the sea doesnt really seem to bother me.. I've been around water for most of my life so I guess im used to it... on the first day at sea alot of people were sick... I was in the dining room killin like 3 deserts at once.. it was good haha.

[olechka]

I also sailed March 24-31 on Zuiderdam and some of people's responses just show me to each it's own.

Whoever said adult comedy night was awful, we loved it, we thought he was hillarious. Can't say the same for the rest of the entertainment, the cast of the Zuiderdam was awful, singing voices were equivalent of a high school musicals, we walked out of both shows. Didn't see any other ones.

Someone complained about Vista dining room service - where we on the same ship? Service was amazing, our waiters were absolutely delightful, we loved them. Food was great too.

Someone complained about size of the inside rooms, our grandmother stayed in an inside room and it was HUGE compared to all other cruise lines we've been one, I thought there was so much space in it. I don't remember her category number, it was on the 1st floor.

Whoever asked about the nightclub, I was there twice, after midnight and they kept announcing that after 12 is 18 and over but there was a bunch of teenagers that were obviously under 18 but probably over 15 and nobody kicked them out. They weren't drinking and didn't bother anyone and kept the dance floor rocking.

Whoever said there was no TV listing anywhere, we had a TV listing and listing of all movies playing for the next 7 days, not sure why it was missing from your room.

Just my 2 cents about the cruise. I posted a full review yesterday.

[M&MCruisin]

What a fantastic thread! Thanks everyone. I just booked the Zuiderdam for March 1, 2008 (roll call started, come join me). Im sure the colors or decor on the Zuiderdam wont shock me as I just got off the NCL Pearl with the new Bliss Lounge that has bright colored velvet everywhere and beds all throughout the place. It is also a bowling alley here. I thought I wouldnt like it, but once you are there, you love it! It became my favorite place on the ship!

I am also glad to read several things posted here on the Zuiderdam that answer several of my questions regarding age. Everyone keeps saying that HAL is for older people...70-80's. First of all, I havent seen any evidence of that. I read the average age for most of the year is 50 years old...and I dont think 50 is old! During the summer, I read that the average age is 42, which is definitely not old! I also heard that the ship is dead after 10pm, which reading the post about the night club and the teans and the adults dancing after midnight, this too, shows that rumors can kill someones perspective about a cruise line. Truely, as long as there is good food, a nice place to sleep, some decent entertainment and a good itinerary...how can any cruise be bad, regarless of the age of those on board? Has this been debated alot on these threads? I havent done much searching the threads on HAL yet, but plan too. I have however, read several reviews. Cant wait to set sail...10 months, 28 days, and some hours to go! HAL-lelujah! Meredith

[RuthC]

Someone complained about size of the inside rooms, our grandmother stayed in an inside room and it was HUGE compared to all other cruise lines we've been one, I thought there was so much space in it. I don't remember her category number, it was on the 1st floor.
Sounds like that might have been a J-category on Main Deck. In that case it was a quad. No wonder it seemed huge! Once you put three more people in there, though, it becomes quite "cozy".
Oh, let's be honest. It becomes downright cramped.

The other insides are much smaller.