dexter
September 7th, 2004, 04:45 PM
We are finally home after what we thought would be a quite little 7 day cruise on the Zuiderdam. We ran from Frances for 6 of those 7 days and we finally caught her today (tues) in Atlanta. Here is a brief review of our cruise.
DAY BEFORE: We flew into Miami on Friday 8/27. No one told us that President Bush was going to be in Miami making speeches. We circled in the Gulf of Mexico about a half hour before finally landing. Our limo driver didn't meet us (must have gotten a better offer from the President's party). We hired a shuttle to take us to Marriott Marina at Port Everglades and we arrived around 8pm. We had a room on the 9th floor overlooking the ship terminal. My wife and really loved the hotel. Got up early Saturday morning and watched the arrival of Caribbean Princess, Zuiderdam and some other smaller ships. It was like watching moving hotels all lit up and gleaming in the dark. We had breakfast on our room and then took a dip in the pool before getting a taxi to the pier around 11am.
EMBARKATION: This was not smooth at all. It's like nobody is in charge and no one knows what's going on. The porters are all running around gathering up luggage but they don't seem to go anywhere. We finally began the boarding process around 12noon. We went directly to the suites desk and that process was rather slow also. The lady took our pictures and gave us a little star to stick on our shirts that would get us into the Neptune lounge to wait for our suite to be cleaned. We finally got into the cabin around 1:15pm.
THE CABIN: We had a category S suite and man what a beautiful way to spend a cruise. King size bed, whirlpool bath ( fullsize), huge leather sofa, 3 chairs, a coffee table, a media center with TV, CD player, DVD player and writing station. Our cabin was directly across the hall from the Neptune lounge. We stepped out of our room and right into the Neptune. The balcony had four wicker type chairs, a table, and two other chairs with ottomans. It was all the balcony we needed to watch the waves and the sunsets and sunrises.
THE FOOD: I must be honest. The food in the main dining room was not comparable to other ships I've cruised. It was not bad, but it was nothing to rave about. I had read here about the waiters refusing second servings, but I didn't experience that. However, the food in the Lido restaurant was outstanding and so was the service there. BTW Hunky Dory was exactly as I had heard. I told him everyone on Cruisecritic said hello. He always remembered my wife's name, but he never remembered mine.
THE ENTERTAINMENT: We went to the Vista lounge every night except one and we saw some really funny guys. EDGE the juggler was outstanding and so was Bob Berenski (sp), but Julie Barr was the hit of the cruise. I wasn't impressed with the Indonesian staff show nor the ship's singers and dancers. There was no flashy Las Vegas style show. In general this was a mostly relaxing laid back cruise since we had four days at sea running from Hurricane Frances.
THE PORTS: Half Moon Cay was absolutely gorgeous. We got on the beach very early and were back on the ship about noon. We don't like to burn our skin. Next day was a sea day and then we arrived in Tortola on Tuesday. We caught the outer fringes of the hurricane and it rained all day. The Virgin Gorda excursion was cancelled so we tool a taxi over to Pusser's landing. No one informed us that all the shops were boarded up in preparation for the hurricane...so the taxi driver made a healthy stipend from us. I was not at all impressed with Road Town. It was littered and it looked like the people there took very little pride in their home. Wednesday we were in St. Thomas and thankfully the hurricane had moved on. We took the ferry over to St John and spent the day at Cinnamon Beach. Nodody informed us again that the park was closed and the beach was deserted. The high tide had the water all the way up into the jungle. So...we came back to the ship and enjoyed the aft pool. That night the announcement was made by the captain that we wouldn't be going to Nassau because of the hurricane. That was the beginning of several delay announcements by the captain. We never saw land again after leaving St. Thomas on Wednesday until we arrived back in Port Everglades on Monday morning. Needless to say, there were quite a few disgruntled passengers who wondered why we couldn't visit some other port not affected by the Hurricane...like Cayman, Jamaica, Key west, or scored of others. We just circled Cuba ad nauseum along with many other ships who were doing the same thing we were.
DISEMBARKATION: This was much smoother than embarkation probably because suite guests get early disembarkation priveledges. We left the ship around 8:45. We were supplied complimentary shuttle service back the Miami international. However, that is where our nightmare bagan. When we pulled into the airport it was obvious everyone who had been on vacation that week was trying to leave Miami at the same time. The airport had been closed the day before and many, many flights were cancelled including ours. We stood in line for about two hours and then were told there were flights available to Atlanta until Tuesday at 8am. We then called the Hilton at the airport and reserved a room. Got up at 5am this morning and rushed to the airport and feel very lucky to have gotten our of that place alive. Our flight back home was a bit bumpy and when we arrived in Atlanta tropical storm Frances was blowing and raining. I think it's kinda ironic that we ran from the Hurricane all week long in a cruise ship and caught it in a jet airliner.
All in all we loved the ship. It is beautiful. None of the complaints I read here were true exept one. The ship does have an air conditioning problem. It is cold in one area and then you go to another deck and it's hot. We felt no vibration in the dining room and we only had one occasion in which we smelled bad odors (just in one hallway on a lower deck). We both loved the experience, but we sure got homesick for our pets and they missed us too.
We met many folks who owned property around the Ft Lauderdale area and we should all say a prayer that their homes survived. It was really sad watching them clammoring for information about the storm and and the safety of their homes. One gentleman said his 84 year old mother was at his home alone and he couldn't contact her.
Well that's about it. If you have any questions...fire away.
DAY BEFORE: We flew into Miami on Friday 8/27. No one told us that President Bush was going to be in Miami making speeches. We circled in the Gulf of Mexico about a half hour before finally landing. Our limo driver didn't meet us (must have gotten a better offer from the President's party). We hired a shuttle to take us to Marriott Marina at Port Everglades and we arrived around 8pm. We had a room on the 9th floor overlooking the ship terminal. My wife and really loved the hotel. Got up early Saturday morning and watched the arrival of Caribbean Princess, Zuiderdam and some other smaller ships. It was like watching moving hotels all lit up and gleaming in the dark. We had breakfast on our room and then took a dip in the pool before getting a taxi to the pier around 11am.
EMBARKATION: This was not smooth at all. It's like nobody is in charge and no one knows what's going on. The porters are all running around gathering up luggage but they don't seem to go anywhere. We finally began the boarding process around 12noon. We went directly to the suites desk and that process was rather slow also. The lady took our pictures and gave us a little star to stick on our shirts that would get us into the Neptune lounge to wait for our suite to be cleaned. We finally got into the cabin around 1:15pm.
THE CABIN: We had a category S suite and man what a beautiful way to spend a cruise. King size bed, whirlpool bath ( fullsize), huge leather sofa, 3 chairs, a coffee table, a media center with TV, CD player, DVD player and writing station. Our cabin was directly across the hall from the Neptune lounge. We stepped out of our room and right into the Neptune. The balcony had four wicker type chairs, a table, and two other chairs with ottomans. It was all the balcony we needed to watch the waves and the sunsets and sunrises.
THE FOOD: I must be honest. The food in the main dining room was not comparable to other ships I've cruised. It was not bad, but it was nothing to rave about. I had read here about the waiters refusing second servings, but I didn't experience that. However, the food in the Lido restaurant was outstanding and so was the service there. BTW Hunky Dory was exactly as I had heard. I told him everyone on Cruisecritic said hello. He always remembered my wife's name, but he never remembered mine.
THE ENTERTAINMENT: We went to the Vista lounge every night except one and we saw some really funny guys. EDGE the juggler was outstanding and so was Bob Berenski (sp), but Julie Barr was the hit of the cruise. I wasn't impressed with the Indonesian staff show nor the ship's singers and dancers. There was no flashy Las Vegas style show. In general this was a mostly relaxing laid back cruise since we had four days at sea running from Hurricane Frances.
THE PORTS: Half Moon Cay was absolutely gorgeous. We got on the beach very early and were back on the ship about noon. We don't like to burn our skin. Next day was a sea day and then we arrived in Tortola on Tuesday. We caught the outer fringes of the hurricane and it rained all day. The Virgin Gorda excursion was cancelled so we tool a taxi over to Pusser's landing. No one informed us that all the shops were boarded up in preparation for the hurricane...so the taxi driver made a healthy stipend from us. I was not at all impressed with Road Town. It was littered and it looked like the people there took very little pride in their home. Wednesday we were in St. Thomas and thankfully the hurricane had moved on. We took the ferry over to St John and spent the day at Cinnamon Beach. Nodody informed us again that the park was closed and the beach was deserted. The high tide had the water all the way up into the jungle. So...we came back to the ship and enjoyed the aft pool. That night the announcement was made by the captain that we wouldn't be going to Nassau because of the hurricane. That was the beginning of several delay announcements by the captain. We never saw land again after leaving St. Thomas on Wednesday until we arrived back in Port Everglades on Monday morning. Needless to say, there were quite a few disgruntled passengers who wondered why we couldn't visit some other port not affected by the Hurricane...like Cayman, Jamaica, Key west, or scored of others. We just circled Cuba ad nauseum along with many other ships who were doing the same thing we were.
DISEMBARKATION: This was much smoother than embarkation probably because suite guests get early disembarkation priveledges. We left the ship around 8:45. We were supplied complimentary shuttle service back the Miami international. However, that is where our nightmare bagan. When we pulled into the airport it was obvious everyone who had been on vacation that week was trying to leave Miami at the same time. The airport had been closed the day before and many, many flights were cancelled including ours. We stood in line for about two hours and then were told there were flights available to Atlanta until Tuesday at 8am. We then called the Hilton at the airport and reserved a room. Got up at 5am this morning and rushed to the airport and feel very lucky to have gotten our of that place alive. Our flight back home was a bit bumpy and when we arrived in Atlanta tropical storm Frances was blowing and raining. I think it's kinda ironic that we ran from the Hurricane all week long in a cruise ship and caught it in a jet airliner.
All in all we loved the ship. It is beautiful. None of the complaints I read here were true exept one. The ship does have an air conditioning problem. It is cold in one area and then you go to another deck and it's hot. We felt no vibration in the dining room and we only had one occasion in which we smelled bad odors (just in one hallway on a lower deck). We both loved the experience, but we sure got homesick for our pets and they missed us too.
We met many folks who owned property around the Ft Lauderdale area and we should all say a prayer that their homes survived. It was really sad watching them clammoring for information about the storm and and the safety of their homes. One gentleman said his 84 year old mother was at his home alone and he couldn't contact her.
Well that's about it. If you have any questions...fire away.