Zuiderdam problem may have a problem

[TWELVEOHONE]

When the Zuiderdam started sailing there was problem in the back part of the dining room. When the ship was sailing at full power their is a considerable amount of vibration and noice.

On all Holland American ships the restuarants are located above the propellers which may have been the cause of the problem. This was not a problem on previous ships because the resturants are three decks higher than on the Vista class of ship.

[sail7seas]

They have fixed the problem. We never hear complaints about the excessive vibration anymore and two more sister ships to Zuiderdam are now sailing with no complaints re: excessive noise or vibration. Obviously they did not relocate the dining rooms.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

We were on the Oosterdam for 2 weeks and didn't feel any kind of vibration in the dining room. And we didn't hear anyone talk about a vibration.

:)

[sail7seas]

We were on Zuiderdam for four cruises and never had any problem from vibration or noises. We just booked another cruise on that great ship.

[mhshapiro]

That kind of vibration usually occurs because the engine shafts are running at slightly different speeds, or because the shafts have not been quite precisely balanced.

It may take a few months after a new ship is put into service for the engineering crew to solve those problems.

[Isis]

We were on the Zuiderdam in June. We had lower level dining towards the back and the vibration was terrible. Luckily we only heard it the first night. It was very annoying but it did stop part way thru dinner and we never heard it again.

[lknick]

We were on the Zuiderdam in June. We had lower level dining towards the back and the vibration was terrible. Luckily we only heard it the first night. It was very annoying but it did stop part way thru dinner and we never heard it again.That was the Florida tax collector lightening the ship by removing the sales tax receipts.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) lknick

LOVE IT!

:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) lknick

LOVE IT.

Your response was so appropriate for Florida!

:D

[superstein61]

having just gotten off the Z today - I will give you the real, objective opinion and say that this problem does still exist in the lower dining room, ON OCCASSION. It was not usually noticeable - but a few days it was. My daughter noticed it a whole lot more than I did.

[sail7seas]

Welcome back, Superstein. We missed you. :)


Hope you had a great cruise. :)

[superstein61]

Welcome back, Superstein. We missed you. :)


Hope you had a great cruise. :)
I am sure you did ;)

And thanks - we did.

[Cruising since '81]

We just disembarked the Zuiderdam yesterday also. We had table 52 in the upper dinint room for main seating, 8:00p.m. We never noticed any movement when we ate at our table. Also, we ate at the Pinnacle on Saturday and Wednesday nights, on deck 2, and we did not notice any movement when eating. Maybe only the lower dining area feels the movement?:) ;) :) ;)

[RevNeal]

I will give you the real, objective opinion and say that this problem does still exist in the lower dining room, ON OCCASSION. It was not usually noticeable - but a few days it was. My daughter noticed it a whole lot more than I did.

Sounds subjective to me. :D
If one person feels it, the other does but not so much, and another doesn't notice it at all, that sounds like the "problem" is a subjective one ... not "objective."

[Isis]

I will tell you that we had 11 people at our table and all 11 of us felt and heard it to the point we were ready to leave. The problem is definitely there. It is not subjective. It just depends where you are seated and as I said it was only horrible one night.

[RevNeal]

I will tell you that we had 11 people at our table and all 11 of us felt and heard it to the point we were ready to leave. The problem is definitely there. It is not subjective. It just depends where you are seated and as I said it was only horrible one night.

I have no doubt that the vibration is real and that it can be a problem. That, in and of itself, is not subjective. But it's strength and annoying character appears to depend upon where one sits, how fast the ship is going, etc. It also appears to depend upon how sensitive people are to vibrations, seeing as how people seated at the same table have reported the vibration being noticed with varying degrees of annoyance (from hardly to extreme). It's that sensitivity which is subjective. For one person a given vibration may be hardly noticeable, while for a different person it is totally unacceptable.

The Volendam can, sometimes, have a slight yet annoying vibration that becomes even more noticeable on the lower level of the Rotterdam Dining Room when the ship is experiencing high seas and a pronounced pitch. I never noticed such a vibration on the Statendam, but the Volendam has it. Mom hates it, Dad doesn't notice it at all (he spent too much time in a B29 and B36 for his sense of vibration to be that easily annoyed), and while I notice it I can easily ignore it.

[ekerr19]

I have no doubt that the vibration is real and that it can be a problem. That, in and of itself, is not subjective. But it's strength and annoying character appears to depend upon where one sits, how fast the ship is going, etc. It also appears to depend upon how sensitive people are to vibrations, seeing as how people seated at the same table have reported the vibration being noticed with varying degrees of annoyance (from hardly to extreme). It's that sensitivity which is subjective. For one person a given vibration may be hardly noticeable, while for a different person it is totally unacceptable.

The Volendam can, sometimes, have a slight yet annoying vibration that becomes even more noticeable on the lower level of the Rotterdam Dining Room when the ship is experiencing high seas and a pronounced pitch. I never noticed such a vibration on the Statendam, but the Volendam has it. Mom hates it, Dad doesn't notice it at all (he spent too much time in a B29 and B36 for his sense of vibration to be that easily annoyed), and while I notice it I can easily ignore it.

revneal-

We noticed a bit of vibration on the upper level, rear dining room on the Zui, but it didn't really bother us - have you been on the upper level of the Volendam? Or did you just experience it on the lower? It doesn't matter to me or DH, but our 11-yr. old gets a bit queasy when there is pronounced vibration.

We have just paid our deposit for 3/20/05 and I'm curious to hear everything about the Vol... I think we're going to like her!

[jhannah]

In the upper level dining room on the Zuiderdam, you generally feel no vibration ... or very, very little. On the lower level, it's more pronounced. We had dinner upstairs, but several times had breakfast or lunch downstairs. Some days it was much more pronounced than others. Depended on sea conditions and screw speed. In our experience, there was no motion involved. Just the thumping vibration feel and sound.

As it was explained to me, the problem is caused by "cavitation." The Zuiderdam's azipods pull the ship through the water as opposed to the usual pushing by the screws. Because of the placement of the azipods, this throws water up against the hull of the ship farther forward than on shaft-and-screw driven ships. It is said to be a design problem. No real way to fix it .... just minimize it by not running full speed ahead.

[dougnewmanatsea]

This issue was definitely present when the ship was brand new (my cruise was April '03). It was mainly the noise that was the problem.

HAL and Fincantieri claim that this problem has now been fixed. They became aware of it and started on a solution shortly after ZUIDERDAM entered service. Fincantieri designed an air-injection system which would form a cushion of air bubbles between the propellors and the ship's hull, reducing noise. The system was fitted to OOSTERDAM shortly before trials were to begin, and reportedly worked quite well. It was also fitted as new to WESTERDAM, and has been refitted to ZUIDERDAM.

[Keith B.]

We sailed on the Zuiderdam in March and found absolutely no problem with noise or vibration in the dining room.

[superstein61]

I have no doubt that the vibration is real and that it can be a problem. That, in and of itself, is not subjective. But it's strength and annoying character appears to depend upon where one sits, how fast the ship is going, etc. It also appears to depend upon how sensitive people are to vibrations, seeing as how people seated at the same table have reported the vibration being noticed with varying degrees of annoyance (from hardly to extreme). It's that sensitivity which is subjective. For one person a given vibration may be hardly noticeable, while for a different person it is totally unacceptable.


Rev - I agree with you. As I said, it was their at times, I noted it only occassionally - but my daughter, who was in the chair right next to me was much more sensitive to the vibrations than I was. Their were a couple times she complained about the vibrations and I just looked at her and said what vibrations ???

So IMO it is indeed very subjective depending on each person's sensitivities

BTW - we were in the lower dining room near the back

[dexter]

I have sailed on two new ships, the Pride and the Glory. We were on the maiden voyage of each of these and the worse vibration was in the rear dining room of the Pride. Experienced cruisers know that the period after launch is known as the shakedown cruise and after the initial trips, the problems will disappear. Sort of like breaking in a new car. The vibration was never really a nuisance to me. The dishes rattled a bit and one had to talk a bit louder, but No problem mon.

[Phil_W]

Just got back from 7/31 Zui as well. We noticed the vibrations on the upper level but they did not cause us any discomfort.

(Table 29, upper level half way back, 8:00)

[pennilane]

Also 7/31 Z passenger, we had 1st floor table 222 (6:15) right near the back windows & since we read about the vibrations on this site, my brother & I were looking for it & I am happy to report nothing!!

[RevNeal]

... have you been on the upper level of the Volendam? Or did you just experience it on the lower? It doesn't matter to me or DH, but our 11-yr. old gets a bit queasy when there is pronounced vibration.

We have just paid our deposit for 3/20/05 and I'm curious to hear everything about the Vol... I think we're going to like her!

The Volendam is a lovely and quite stable ship. But ... she IS a ship ... and, as with any large moving vehicle there will sometimes be vibrations. In the case of the Volendam's "tremor," it was felt on the lower level of the main dining room at our table in the center section, just forward of the captain's table, underneath the band loft. In even my mother's opinion it wasn't "bad," but she didn't like it nevertheless. At most, periodically the sliver would rattle, classes of water would get little waves in them, and we'd get a laugh out of it. It never lasted for long, but it would periodically repeat.

I hope you'll love the Volendam. In my opinion, she's a wonderful, lovely ship and with a fantastic deck-layout and a very good crew.

[RevNeal]

Their were a couple times she complained about the vibrations and I just looked at her and said what vibrations ???

LOL ... that's like my parents. The Volendam would tremble or shudder and mom would grab her arm rests and go "woo."

Dad would look at her and say "what?"

"Didn't you feel that?"

"No."

"It didn't feel too good."

And Dad will laugh, turn to me, and say: "And that comes from a woman who finds high seas fun!"

True. Mom doesn't mind the ship slamming and major yaw and pitch motions, but give her a shimmer or a tremble or a vibration at the table and she freaks. :D Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she lived for a while in California, and went through a couple of strong quakes :D

[ekerr19]

The Volendam is a lovely and quite stable ship. But ... she IS a ship ... and, as with any large moving vehicle there will sometimes be vibrations. In the case of the Volendam's "tremor," it was felt on the lower level of the main dining room at our table in the center section, just forward of the captain's table, underneath the band loft. In even my mother's opinion it wasn't "bad," but she didn't like it nevertheless. At most, periodically the sliver would rattle, classes of water would get little waves in them, and we'd get a laugh out of it. It never lasted for long, but it would periodically repeat.

I hope you'll love the Volendam. In my opinion, she's a wonderful, lovely ship and with a fantastic deck-layout and a very good crew.

Thanks revneal. Our daughter didn't like the dining room vibes on the Zui, but I think we are going to change our booking to a lower table for the Volendam and it doesn't sound like it was too bad. I want the "1st late" seating, which I believe is on the lower level.