californiacruisefreak
August 22nd, 2004, 08:44 AM
I just returned from my 2nd cruise on the Zuiderdam (originally on maiden voyage) and thought I'd give everyone an overview of the highlights both good and bad.
We arrived at the pier around 1230pm as we wanted to avoid the rush of people who arrive early and just sit around in the crowd waiting for embarkation. At 1230 embarkation was well underway.
We had a Deluxe Verandah Suite on Rotterdam deck and were directed to the suite check-in desk. I was very disappointed with the check-in as they were understaffed in the suite section. We had three parties ahead of us, and it still took over an hour of waiting in line. The other line for non-suite passengers moved very swiftly.
Once onboard a crew member escorted us to our stateroom. I am generally underwhelmed with HAL's suites. Unlike Celebrity, there is no use of fine materials such as marble, nice fabrics etc. Nonetheless, the layout was great and the balcony was wonderful.
Upon arriving in our suite we noticed it was filthy. In fact, we realized the bed sheets had stains that I won't discuss. The mirrors and glass coffee table were covered with fingerprints. The bathroom did not have all the lotions, soaps, shampoos etc. that were supposed to be there. Also, we did not have laundry bags and the complimentary umbrellas we were supposed to have. The bathroom was adorned with hairs (not ours) and make-up stuck to the counters. I called the Neptune Lounge (concierge) to complain. The room steward appeared and said that he did not have much time to clean our cabin because the previous guests departed late. Our steward did not apologize and had no command of the English language. Over the next few days things got worse...the cabin was not made up until late afternoon, and our steward was nowhere to be found. Additionally, we did not order room service beyond the second day as they were never on-time (more than one hour late) and could not get orders right. Beware of room service...(i.e. if you order coffee make sure you also request sugar and cream if you need it...there is no insight on behalf of room service. If you order coffee that is all you will get...remind them to bring a cup). Eventually, the chief housekeeper showed up several days into the cruise. He assured us things would get better. They did. With credit to HAL housekeeping sent us a very nice bottle of Cabernet and the Neptune staff sent us chocoloate covered strawberries for our inconvenience.
The Neptune Lounge is supposed to be a full service concierge service for suite guests. The lounge is lovely and there are always beautiful food displays....they taste great too! There is a fantastic cappuccino machine and fresh juice is always available. However, the staff in this lounge rotates from the front desk on a monthly basis. There are always two representatives who share the month. Apparently, according to the staff, this is their least favorite assignment as they don't like working with "needy American passengers". I was shocked when one of the concierge's told me this. Our staff, Avon and Irene, had no command of English and were very passive aggressive and were basically useless. For example, I would ask a question like when is my laundry going to be returned? The answer might be, "oh you have laundry to be picked up?". Conversations with these ladies always went in circles and many other passengers experienced the same.
Now...the positives. The food was outstanding!!! Not only was the food varied in selection as there was truly something for everyone, but the wait staff was excellent!!! Our waiter did his job quietly, but every so efficiently. Food was always served hot. Our busboy quickly learned our coffee, tea preferences etc. Also the somelier in the dining room was wonderful and always available. The Pinnacle grill was so great that we dined there twice. Interestingly, there are only Eastern European wait staff in the Pinnacle and the main dining room has only Indonesian staff. Our Pinnacle waiter was a former Celebrity employee who came to HAL for the opportunity to work in the specialty restaurant. Apparently, Celebrity chooses only a handful of wait staff to work their specialty restaurants and opportunities are rare. The deck buffets were the best I've experienced on 34 cruises. Variety was wonderful and quality was high. I think the food on the buffets was better than Celebrity and dining room food was comprable.
The ship is gorgeous and better than ever. The only design comment is that there appears to be a "bottle neck" effect at places on the ship. For example, around the photo gallery.
The production shows were great! The other entertainment was poor to fair. The cruise director worked hard to keep all happy and was very likeable.
We did the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Half Moon Cay is the best! We had the tan cabana and it saved us from the rain. I highly suggest booking a cabana for this port. Also, if you go to baths on Virgin Gorda, don't leave your things in the lockers. Take your belongings with you on the hike through the baths and you will end up a beach on the other side. There is a trail here that leads up to the transportation back to the ferry.
Overall, HAL remains one of my favorite "bangs for the buck" along with Celebrity. All other major commercial lines (i.e. Princess, RCCL, NCL, Carnival) are a huge step below both HAL and Celbrity. We will absolutley cruise on HAL again, despite our poor initial impression that was really the result of one person. Hats off to HAL!
We arrived at the pier around 1230pm as we wanted to avoid the rush of people who arrive early and just sit around in the crowd waiting for embarkation. At 1230 embarkation was well underway.
We had a Deluxe Verandah Suite on Rotterdam deck and were directed to the suite check-in desk. I was very disappointed with the check-in as they were understaffed in the suite section. We had three parties ahead of us, and it still took over an hour of waiting in line. The other line for non-suite passengers moved very swiftly.
Once onboard a crew member escorted us to our stateroom. I am generally underwhelmed with HAL's suites. Unlike Celebrity, there is no use of fine materials such as marble, nice fabrics etc. Nonetheless, the layout was great and the balcony was wonderful.
Upon arriving in our suite we noticed it was filthy. In fact, we realized the bed sheets had stains that I won't discuss. The mirrors and glass coffee table were covered with fingerprints. The bathroom did not have all the lotions, soaps, shampoos etc. that were supposed to be there. Also, we did not have laundry bags and the complimentary umbrellas we were supposed to have. The bathroom was adorned with hairs (not ours) and make-up stuck to the counters. I called the Neptune Lounge (concierge) to complain. The room steward appeared and said that he did not have much time to clean our cabin because the previous guests departed late. Our steward did not apologize and had no command of the English language. Over the next few days things got worse...the cabin was not made up until late afternoon, and our steward was nowhere to be found. Additionally, we did not order room service beyond the second day as they were never on-time (more than one hour late) and could not get orders right. Beware of room service...(i.e. if you order coffee make sure you also request sugar and cream if you need it...there is no insight on behalf of room service. If you order coffee that is all you will get...remind them to bring a cup). Eventually, the chief housekeeper showed up several days into the cruise. He assured us things would get better. They did. With credit to HAL housekeeping sent us a very nice bottle of Cabernet and the Neptune staff sent us chocoloate covered strawberries for our inconvenience.
The Neptune Lounge is supposed to be a full service concierge service for suite guests. The lounge is lovely and there are always beautiful food displays....they taste great too! There is a fantastic cappuccino machine and fresh juice is always available. However, the staff in this lounge rotates from the front desk on a monthly basis. There are always two representatives who share the month. Apparently, according to the staff, this is their least favorite assignment as they don't like working with "needy American passengers". I was shocked when one of the concierge's told me this. Our staff, Avon and Irene, had no command of English and were very passive aggressive and were basically useless. For example, I would ask a question like when is my laundry going to be returned? The answer might be, "oh you have laundry to be picked up?". Conversations with these ladies always went in circles and many other passengers experienced the same.
Now...the positives. The food was outstanding!!! Not only was the food varied in selection as there was truly something for everyone, but the wait staff was excellent!!! Our waiter did his job quietly, but every so efficiently. Food was always served hot. Our busboy quickly learned our coffee, tea preferences etc. Also the somelier in the dining room was wonderful and always available. The Pinnacle grill was so great that we dined there twice. Interestingly, there are only Eastern European wait staff in the Pinnacle and the main dining room has only Indonesian staff. Our Pinnacle waiter was a former Celebrity employee who came to HAL for the opportunity to work in the specialty restaurant. Apparently, Celebrity chooses only a handful of wait staff to work their specialty restaurants and opportunities are rare. The deck buffets were the best I've experienced on 34 cruises. Variety was wonderful and quality was high. I think the food on the buffets was better than Celebrity and dining room food was comprable.
The ship is gorgeous and better than ever. The only design comment is that there appears to be a "bottle neck" effect at places on the ship. For example, around the photo gallery.
The production shows were great! The other entertainment was poor to fair. The cruise director worked hard to keep all happy and was very likeable.
We did the Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Half Moon Cay is the best! We had the tan cabana and it saved us from the rain. I highly suggest booking a cabana for this port. Also, if you go to baths on Virgin Gorda, don't leave your things in the lockers. Take your belongings with you on the hike through the baths and you will end up a beach on the other side. There is a trail here that leads up to the transportation back to the ferry.
Overall, HAL remains one of my favorite "bangs for the buck" along with Celebrity. All other major commercial lines (i.e. Princess, RCCL, NCL, Carnival) are a huge step below both HAL and Celbrity. We will absolutley cruise on HAL again, despite our poor initial impression that was really the result of one person. Hats off to HAL!