Agbacker
July 11th, 2004, 01:24 AM
Well, after reading some of the comments here about ship decor, vibrations, etc., I must say I was a little apprehensive about taking the family on the Zuiderdam. We just got home and it was fantastic in every way. The decor of the ship is great and we really liked it. We saw it to be very classy and not anything tacky about it. I guess some people just look for something to complain about. Fresh flowers in many spots. Interesting sculptures. Great spa and workout area.
We stayed on the Rotterdam Deck (7) in an S Class Deluxe Verandah Suite. It provided plenty of room for a family of four and we really enjoyed it. HAL has added the Neptune Lounge to its best suite floor and we were regulars there. Wilma was the lead concierge and she did a great job. They were constantly restocking the suite level snacks, little sandwiches, cookies, shrimp, fresh fruits, etc. Breakfast was really convenient. They give you an electronic card for entry to make sure that only the suite guests can get in. There is a great coffee and espresso machine in there that was VERY popular. The lounge closes at 8:30 nightly.
The differences in the S class room from our last cruise were a separate shower (very nice), great duvet, more storage space, nice bathroom amenities, CD player and DVD player in the room - take some good CD's to enjoy and they loan out recent DVD's from the Front Desk or the Neptune Lounge. The vacuum flusher was a constant joke with our kids, as it does make a funny sound.
The food on the ship was incredible. We had originally intended to go to the specialty restaurant one night, but the Vista Dining Room was so fabulous, that we had no reason to go elsewhere. We actually got a call from the Odyssey Staff one afternoon asking us to make a dinner reservation. Not too many people eating in there, although the ones we talked to who did eat there said it was fantastic too. No problem with vibration in the dining room at all on any night.
We remembered the home made soups to be very good on our last cruise and they were again this time. Great variety of choices. Next to the last night was lobster and filet mignon (yes, you can ask to have both of them, as our 14 year old did) and the lobster was some of the best we had ever had. We went to the Lido a couple of times, but decided that we enjoyed being waited on more than standing in lines. Also, the ice cream bar seemed to be constantly running out of frozen yogurt, etc. Kind of surprising and a disappointment to our kids a couple of times. Come on HAL, that is not a big deal to have enough soft serve for your guests!
We had one piece of lost luggage on this trip (It has been YEARS since that happened to us) and we saw HAL go into full court press status. They traced the bag and had it delivered to us by day 3 in Tortola - giving us constant updates along the way. They gave me a complimentary use of a tuxedo for the formal dinner in the mean time and a nice toiletry kit to get me through a couple of days without my own stuff. It actually was not too bad. I picked up a swimsuit, a pair of shorts, and a couple of t-shirts in the ships store and with two days spend on the beaches, I was really no worse for wear until my bag arrived.
The stops on this tour were incredible.
We stopped first at Half Moon Cay - HAL's private island. It was really a great way to start and from what others who have seen the private islands of other lines, this is far and away the BEST private island in the Caribbean. The beach is fantastic and the facilities are really nice. We booked a private cabana and it made the day for us. They have cabana boys who take care of your every need - drinks, getting your food for lunch from the BBQ, getting your snorkle equipment and floats, bringing by ice during the day, etc. The total cost was $214 and it was the best money we spent the whole week. You can book the cabana's in advance through HAL's 1-800 line. The ride back to the ship in the lauches is very hot - uncomfortable even in a swimsuite and t-shirt - and I recommend taking a small hand-held fan. I had read someone else's comments about that before our trip but forgot to take a fan with us.
Tortola was our second stop. It is a poor island with Pusser's restaurant and clothing store as the only real attraction on the main island. Their famous "Rum PainKillers" are very good and we got them and the souvenir mugs to take home. We mailed post cards from there for .35 each at the local post office and they do have banks with cash machines that give US dollars. To start the day, we took an excursion over to Virgin Gorda to the "Baths", a natural rocky lagoon area that was one of the most fantastic settings I have ever seen. Look it up on Google before you go and you can see why it is a must see.
St. Thomas is very commercialized these days - and was not as great as we thought it would be. Our cab driver showed us some nice resorts, but it is just a city for the most part - not real impressive. Our tour book said it was easy to get a ferry to St. John, but we soon found out that the ferry from Charlotte Amalie is not near the ship. We had to get a cab ($8 per person each way - $64 total) to Red Hook on the other end of the island and wait in the sun for the ferry ($4 per person each way - $32 total) over to St. John. Then a cab for $4.50 per person each way ($36 total) to the beach. For the day, we spent $128 just in transportation. But not to complain too much - WOW! St. John is an incredible island. Our intent was to go to Trunk Beach, but our cabby on St. John advised us to go to Cinnamon Bay instead and we were SO glad we did. Very uncrowded and great snorkeling! We passed back by Trunk Bay on the way back to the ship and it was a ZOO! Great tip from the cabby. I will say that next time I would take the ship excursion. We saved only about $40 doing it on our own, but we did have the uncertainty factor of making the ferry back, getting to the boat before it left, etc. For first timers, I would suggest sticking with the planned excursions.
In Nassau, we only had from noon to 6:30 in port, so we took the excursion over to Blue Lagoon - to Snorkel with Stingrays. Our kids enjoyed that more than anything and it was a great way to end the trip. We wish there had been more time at the lagoon, but we had to run back to be on the boat by 6:30 PM.
The staff of the ship was great with super friendly attitudes. There was one Norwegian blonde who was very attractive, but had the only "attitude" I encountered on the ship. She didn't like me using paper coffee cups to get juice in the lounge and it started to tick me off, actually. The only negative I encountered, crew-wise.
The shows were pretty good, a great illusionist, funny comedian, and really enjoyable Elton John impersonator who put on a super show that our whole family enjoyed. We were coaxed into playing bingo a couple of times and we won about $150 dollars. Not being bingo players, it is a hoot to watch the serious ones play the games and use their crazy bingo lingo. We were mostly laughing at them, not with them, but it was pretty fun to participate.
Alas, it is hard to be back home. What a great week! We will go back again and with HAL we know it will be fantastic. We met a man who had cruised more than 900 days with HAL in his lifetime! He wore a nametag that said "Mr. Ryndam". While I will never make it that long, we will be back. Happy Cruising!
We stayed on the Rotterdam Deck (7) in an S Class Deluxe Verandah Suite. It provided plenty of room for a family of four and we really enjoyed it. HAL has added the Neptune Lounge to its best suite floor and we were regulars there. Wilma was the lead concierge and she did a great job. They were constantly restocking the suite level snacks, little sandwiches, cookies, shrimp, fresh fruits, etc. Breakfast was really convenient. They give you an electronic card for entry to make sure that only the suite guests can get in. There is a great coffee and espresso machine in there that was VERY popular. The lounge closes at 8:30 nightly.
The differences in the S class room from our last cruise were a separate shower (very nice), great duvet, more storage space, nice bathroom amenities, CD player and DVD player in the room - take some good CD's to enjoy and they loan out recent DVD's from the Front Desk or the Neptune Lounge. The vacuum flusher was a constant joke with our kids, as it does make a funny sound.
The food on the ship was incredible. We had originally intended to go to the specialty restaurant one night, but the Vista Dining Room was so fabulous, that we had no reason to go elsewhere. We actually got a call from the Odyssey Staff one afternoon asking us to make a dinner reservation. Not too many people eating in there, although the ones we talked to who did eat there said it was fantastic too. No problem with vibration in the dining room at all on any night.
We remembered the home made soups to be very good on our last cruise and they were again this time. Great variety of choices. Next to the last night was lobster and filet mignon (yes, you can ask to have both of them, as our 14 year old did) and the lobster was some of the best we had ever had. We went to the Lido a couple of times, but decided that we enjoyed being waited on more than standing in lines. Also, the ice cream bar seemed to be constantly running out of frozen yogurt, etc. Kind of surprising and a disappointment to our kids a couple of times. Come on HAL, that is not a big deal to have enough soft serve for your guests!
We had one piece of lost luggage on this trip (It has been YEARS since that happened to us) and we saw HAL go into full court press status. They traced the bag and had it delivered to us by day 3 in Tortola - giving us constant updates along the way. They gave me a complimentary use of a tuxedo for the formal dinner in the mean time and a nice toiletry kit to get me through a couple of days without my own stuff. It actually was not too bad. I picked up a swimsuit, a pair of shorts, and a couple of t-shirts in the ships store and with two days spend on the beaches, I was really no worse for wear until my bag arrived.
The stops on this tour were incredible.
We stopped first at Half Moon Cay - HAL's private island. It was really a great way to start and from what others who have seen the private islands of other lines, this is far and away the BEST private island in the Caribbean. The beach is fantastic and the facilities are really nice. We booked a private cabana and it made the day for us. They have cabana boys who take care of your every need - drinks, getting your food for lunch from the BBQ, getting your snorkle equipment and floats, bringing by ice during the day, etc. The total cost was $214 and it was the best money we spent the whole week. You can book the cabana's in advance through HAL's 1-800 line. The ride back to the ship in the lauches is very hot - uncomfortable even in a swimsuite and t-shirt - and I recommend taking a small hand-held fan. I had read someone else's comments about that before our trip but forgot to take a fan with us.
Tortola was our second stop. It is a poor island with Pusser's restaurant and clothing store as the only real attraction on the main island. Their famous "Rum PainKillers" are very good and we got them and the souvenir mugs to take home. We mailed post cards from there for .35 each at the local post office and they do have banks with cash machines that give US dollars. To start the day, we took an excursion over to Virgin Gorda to the "Baths", a natural rocky lagoon area that was one of the most fantastic settings I have ever seen. Look it up on Google before you go and you can see why it is a must see.
St. Thomas is very commercialized these days - and was not as great as we thought it would be. Our cab driver showed us some nice resorts, but it is just a city for the most part - not real impressive. Our tour book said it was easy to get a ferry to St. John, but we soon found out that the ferry from Charlotte Amalie is not near the ship. We had to get a cab ($8 per person each way - $64 total) to Red Hook on the other end of the island and wait in the sun for the ferry ($4 per person each way - $32 total) over to St. John. Then a cab for $4.50 per person each way ($36 total) to the beach. For the day, we spent $128 just in transportation. But not to complain too much - WOW! St. John is an incredible island. Our intent was to go to Trunk Beach, but our cabby on St. John advised us to go to Cinnamon Bay instead and we were SO glad we did. Very uncrowded and great snorkeling! We passed back by Trunk Bay on the way back to the ship and it was a ZOO! Great tip from the cabby. I will say that next time I would take the ship excursion. We saved only about $40 doing it on our own, but we did have the uncertainty factor of making the ferry back, getting to the boat before it left, etc. For first timers, I would suggest sticking with the planned excursions.
In Nassau, we only had from noon to 6:30 in port, so we took the excursion over to Blue Lagoon - to Snorkel with Stingrays. Our kids enjoyed that more than anything and it was a great way to end the trip. We wish there had been more time at the lagoon, but we had to run back to be on the boat by 6:30 PM.
The staff of the ship was great with super friendly attitudes. There was one Norwegian blonde who was very attractive, but had the only "attitude" I encountered on the ship. She didn't like me using paper coffee cups to get juice in the lounge and it started to tick me off, actually. The only negative I encountered, crew-wise.
The shows were pretty good, a great illusionist, funny comedian, and really enjoyable Elton John impersonator who put on a super show that our whole family enjoyed. We were coaxed into playing bingo a couple of times and we won about $150 dollars. Not being bingo players, it is a hoot to watch the serious ones play the games and use their crazy bingo lingo. We were mostly laughing at them, not with them, but it was pretty fun to participate.
Alas, it is hard to be back home. What a great week! We will go back again and with HAL we know it will be fantastic. We met a man who had cruised more than 900 days with HAL in his lifetime! He wore a nametag that said "Mr. Ryndam". While I will never make it that long, we will be back. Happy Cruising!