Zuiderdam info please

[jwcook]

Am booked on a HAL ship, Zuiderdam for a Panama Canal partial transit and visits to Puerto Limon and Curacao in January 2009. Have aft cabin 7138 VA class. Have never sailed on HAL before. Am 62 and wife 60. Would like any info on this ship and any shore excursions that anyone knows about in either of the above two ports of call. I have had people tell me that the aft cabins are prone to have trash land on the veranda's because of people throwing various stuff off the 9th deck aft pool area? Any info would be greatly appreciated. This looks like a beautiful ship.

[cccole]

I cannot respond to your itinerary, but aft cabins are my very favorite. And...we have not experienced our balconies being trashed. I just love sitting on the aft balcony at night, with the wake of the ship, the stars, and the moon... absolutely fantastic. Have a great cruise. Cherie

[EastCoast]

I agree with CCCOLE-those aft accomodations were fantastic-but I am sure they are not for everyone. I never experienced anything negative but there are other posts that state some different experiences.

Enjoy your cruise in whichever accomodation you decide on-:)

[cccole]

JWC - I forgot to tell you that the Zuiderdam was our first HAL cruise also. It was wonderful, and you will be able to enjoy the new and improved Zuiderdam. Have fun....Cherie

[Skyepup]

Have sailed 2 times, first time great, 2nd time horrible but the ship has been in dry doc and should have thins corrected. Have never had a problem with things being thrown off balcony's. Sometimes aft vcabin can feel ship vibrations from engine. Booked tour in Puerto Lin with Okey Dokey tours and it was excellent.

[fann1sh]

For Curacao, you might want to look into tours with Curacao Actief:

http://www.curacao-actief.com/

Or, if that's too busy for you, how about just touring the Punda (old city) aboard the trolley, offered by Atlantis?

http://www.atlantisadventures.com/curacao.cfm

I've done the Atlantis submarine in both St. Thomas and Barbados - never in Curacao. St. Thomas was much better, and worth the $$$, because they "lured" fish with dog food mounted in an open container attached to the hull! I'd ask if they do so in Curacao before booking that particular excursion.

[crabcruiser]

I'm sorry to hear your second time on Zuiderdam was horrible!!! What went wrong? How can HAL make it better?

Have sailed 2 times, first time great, 2nd time horrible but the ship has been in dry doc and should have thins corrected. Have never had a problem with things being thrown off balcony's. Sometimes aft vcabin can feel ship vibrations from engine. Booked tour in Puerto Lin with Okey Dokey tours and it was excellent.

[jtl513]

I have had people tell me that the aft cabins are prone to have trash land on the veranda's because of people throwing various stuff off the 9th deck aft pool area?Since the April re-fit, which added 30 cabins on the aft and drastically reduced the balcony exposure (except on deck 4), this is much less likely to happen than before.