Just Back From The Zuiderdam

[voyeurism26]

Were Back....

Embarkation: The embarkation was a breeze, we arrived at the port at 1:11pm and by 1:45pm we were in our cabins...HAL gets an A++ for the smoothest embarkation process that I have experience from HAL from the past and from other cruiselines.

Now, at this point I don't want to compare HAL with other cruiselines because every line and ship is different so please forgive me if I mention other cruise ships and cruise lines as I give my review, I will do my best not to compare.

Our cabin number was 5128 on the Veranda Deck...although last year we had a Cat. SS (suite 8047) this year due to price we decided to "slum" and take the regular veranda cabin. The cabin was smaller then other veranda's I had in the past...and I do admit that draw space is an issue. We packed lighter this year but found draw space was an issue...but we did figure out the space and found the solution to our problem. The cabin was clean and well planned out for the space of the cabin with the exception to the draw space. The beds were comfortable and the A/C worked great! Like in the past, the cabin steward always came to our cabin and introduced him or herself but this time it took serval day's for our cabin stewart to appear and say "Hello".

Since we were travelling in the heart of Hurricane season and this year happens to be the worse season for Hurricane activities our itenarary changed several times to avoid Tropical storm/Huricane Jeanne. This is a gamble all of us has to take when you travel during Huricane season, since the storm of Jeanne was present in the Eastern Carb. the Captain changed our trip. I can't blame HAL nor the Captain for the Weather. This just gave me more time onboard the ship.

Service: I think since the staff already knows they are getting there tips, they don't seem to work to try to increase there tip. I understand that if you tip extra an individual they can not keep that tip so this discourages them to give better service. The staff seem to be to mechanical, just going through the motions and seem to be over being on the ship. Not one of the staff memebers took the extra effort to give extra service. Most of the staff memebers seem to be tired and not happy and seem to be overworked and just do what they are told. It kind of sadden me when an officer was talking to a staff member and it seem the officer was talking down to the indo staff worker and the staff worker just bowed his head and said "yes, sir". It was a pitty how they are treated onboard the ship and this may have caused the lack in service or the decline in service in a combo of Officers talking down to them and tipping policy. It seems to me that the staff rather work for a salary and try to earn there tip and keep there own money.

Food: What the hell happen to the food on HAL? I found that the food in the dinning room and on the lido deck has gotten worse over the years. Steaks got smaller, soups have NO taste, the escargot was not as good, cookies to stale, no shrimp cocktail...the only shrimp cocktail was on the lido deck for dinner but the shrimp was more like bait. The only exception was the Odyssey/Pinacle grill, the service and the steaks were out of this world and the attention to detail was remarkable. The service in the dinning room was as slow as the slowest boat coming from China, and the dinning room was not even busy. I also found the four seating times was great until it came time for the Captains farewell dinner and the waitstaff has to dance around the dinning room with the baked alaska, the upstair dinning room opens and seats at 8:15pm and the downstair dinning room opens and seats at 8:30pm...when the upstairs dinning room is finished with dinner and we just get started with dinner, the lights go out and they start dancing in the dinning room with the backed alaska while I am trying to eat my lobster. This was very tacky and uncalled for and shame on HAL for this type of situation. This turned me off and made my dinning experience with my friends/table mates unsatisfying.

The Dessert Buffet: Is it me or the Buffet each year gets smaller and smaller. This year the buffet was the smallest I've seen with limited selection and the same items just spread out more. How many chocolate cover strawberries can they display and spread out? What happen to the good ol'days when the buffet was at midnight and they had a larger variety of desserts and took more pride in there creations?

Overall Food: lacked in some area's such as the dinning room, cuts of beef were not up to par, soups were not as tasty salads in the dinning room served at room tempature. In the Lido, the eggs were awful with the exception of the omlett station...not as thrilling as years past. Portions were cut down and quality control with food was an issue.

Spa: Years past a half body massage cost $65 for 40mins. I ask the price at the spa and I was told it was $65 for a half body massage. I did not think to ask how many minutes because of my past experience. Instead of 40mins its the same price put now its 20mins with a selling pitch to buy the spa products. What a rip off!!!!!

Entertainment: Comedian-Bad, Elton John impersonator-Bad, the shows-Good

The Cruise Director and his staff: Boring, since we had more time on the ship you would think they would be more energized and excite the crowd...NOPE! boring. Mind you I am not into the rock climbing nor the carnivor (carnival) type cruises...but this cruise director and its staff lacked in any type of entertainment.

Cabin Stewart: I don't even know his name...no proper introduction who the hell was this guy coming and going in & out of my cabin all week?

The Shore Excursion Desk: If anytime you needed to have the shore excursion desk to be open, this is the week they should have had it open. Let me see here, many excursions were cancelled many guest had questions. Shore excursion desk is only open 2 hours for the whole day...wow! that is great customer service...I didn't want to have the shore excursion folks work to hard..perhaps they were being entertained by the cruise director and his staff.

Bars and Lounges: The drinks went up in price but I do admit the pour of liqeur is much better. The service in the lounges were great...no problem! This staff had some personality...but what got me is when I asked our server to bring some nuts or pretzels to the table we were told its locked away and can't be served. Now, I thought I was a paying guest...wouldn't you think Nuts and/or pretzels should be offered...perhaps we will eat the nuts and/or pretzels and become more thirsty and order another round of drinks...but that would be too easy and makes too much sense...the company rather lock the nuts and pretzels away to save money and control the food costs. Can you imagine everyone on the ship eating nuts and pretzels and ordering more drinks? :)

I just found that HAL IMO has been cutting back. I kind of realized it last year but this year has really hit me in regards to cutting back and becoming more like a "commercial ship to the masses" compared to the HAL that gave great service and great food. Here I go and compare...last year we took celebrity and found the service and the food to be much better and it seem that celebrity is what HAL use to be. Oh! one last comment PRICE.

We booked 8 months ago for a Cat. BB Veranda cabin the price 8 months ago cost use approx. $1900 then the price went down and the HAL made the adjustment in price and we saved about $400 total. We wanted to upgrade because friends of ours that was sailing on the same ship with the same CAT. BB/veranda cabin got a call from HAL for an upgrade for only $100 per person and they happen to been upgraded to a Cat. S and they ended up in our old cabin 8047 which we had last year. I called up HAL and was told that there is no more cabins to upgrade, but once we get on the ship go to the front office and inquire about an upgrade. Once we got on the ship, I went to the front desk and I was told that some guest cancelled in the last few days and some Cat. S and Cat. SS has opened up and are available. We were told if we wanted to upgrade for the CAT.S cabin it will cost us an additional $980.00 for both...if we wanted to upgrade to the CAT. S it would cost us $1860 for the both of us. I could not believe that HAL already made the money on those cabins and they couldn't at least give us a break or anyone else a break on those cabins...it really didn't bother me until I met a couple and they were proud of the fact and bragging about the upgrade they got for $400 for the two to a CAT. S cabin and to boot they ended up paying less then us. I am tired of the price game HAL does..and yes comparing it to celebrity they don't play the price game.

Overall, the ship is clean. The toilets don't smell. The vibration is gone. The A/C works great...but don't expect the luxury that goes along with cruising. Will I travel on HAL again...YES! I am still loyal but I think its not about the "Vista Class" I think I am going back to basics and staying with the older ships that HAL has to offer (Maasdam, Veendam, Rotterdam, Zyndam etc.) that made HAL a great cruies company. We realize that the vista class ships are not for us, and if the older ships are not up to par then unfortunetly we will be going on other lines.

I hope to hear other reviews regarding the ship and finding out what others thought. On a further note, I will not answer anyone with "Sarcastic Remarks", "Nasty Replies" or Being "Bashed" I will not respond nor acknowledge your reply.

-V26

[michmike]

other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs Lincoln?? *S*

[Spot]

V26
What did you think about the Z's size and layout?

Glad you had a nice cruise nonetheless.

[voyeurism26]

Spot~

The layout and the size did not bother me. I think the ship is well planned out and the decor was too my liking but this can be subjective to anyone's taste.

The lido pool was great! The water was very refreshing...we did have some hot sunny days...the Captain took the ship far out into the atlantic away from any storm so the sun was shinning and we found the pool to be very refreshing and I met Lois and others from the board and talked to many guests, which was great!

-V26

[Roboat]

Voyeurism, thanks for taking the time to post such a thorough review. DW and I cruise on the Zuiderdam Oct 16, Western itinerary (amended I presume to substitute Costa Maya for Grand Cayman.) We cruised on her last year on the Eastern itinerary and enjoyed it very much. We don't have many cruises to compare it to, however, as we have only been on a couple of other cruises.

You mention many things I hadn't heard before, at least not in such detail. I am getting the sense that HAL is struggling - with its identity as well as with its bottom line.

I am interested in hearing responses to your complaints from other recent Zuiderdam cruisers.

Interesting board name, btw. I presume "voyeurism" is combined from "voyager", "european", and "tourism" ;)

[peaches from georgia]

Could you tell us, please, what changes were made to the itinerary because of the hurricane and what ports you ended up visiting?

[sail7seas]

Welcome Back. Thank you for all your comments. I appreciate your taking the time to make such an inclusive post.


We shall be on Zuiderdam in a few weeks and shall compare to our experiences we had on four ZUDM cruises last year.

[localady]

I am sorry to hear of your disappointment with the cruise and it's staff. We were prepared for the worst on our Ryndam cruise in July but where so pleasantly surprised with the cruise. Our stewards ( we did a B2B) introduced themselves and the staff in the dining room, though working extra tables, were very friendly and tried very very hard. I have not cruised on a Vista class ship yet, and I have to wonder if they are are a bit different than HAL's S class ships, with new staff and more people to keep happy.:cool:

[Mary Ellen]

I'd also like to know what your itinerary ended up being. Our neighbors were on the CP that followed you for 2 days and they are curious where you ended up - that they did not.

They docked in Montego Bay - but no shore excursions, due to the devastation and their only other port was Nassau - with six other ships, and very crowded. Princess didn't even refund their unused port taxes. They were also disappointed with the crew attitude on the CP.

[Dutchman]

Who was your CD and Captain on your cruise?

[Lauraally]

voyeurism26:

We leave next Sat. for the Eastern tour and we love the water, particularly snorkeling. Is the water clear enough to see anything? Or, should we save our money and do something else? I haven't booked anything becasue of all of the storms.

So the vibration is gone? That's great news. Our cabin is in the very back of the ship, on the Veranda deck. It's in the very back of the ship and I've been concerend from other posts that it might bother me as I have a tendancy to get motion sick.

[Lois R]

Hi V26:) it was nice to meet you!

Change of Itinerary for this cruise.....we went to Nassau....and St Martin....and had 5 sea days.......

The CD was Dane Butcher....Cannot recall the Captain's name...I don't have any paper work with me with his name on it, sorry.

[LSUNizz]

I was also a cruiser on the Sept. 11 "mystery cruise" :D . We were originally going to stop in Nassau, HMC, Tortola and St. Thomas. First, because of Frances HMC was cancelled and San Juan was added. Well due to the appearance of lovely Jeanne our itenerary was alterted again. We stopped first in Nassau, then a day at sean to Tortola. Our stay in Tortola was cut short and the captain took us to the south caribbean to avoid the oncoming storm. Due to the development of Jeanne the port of St. Thomas was closed so we subbed St. Martin. San Juan was also cancelled due to the fact that the ship needed extra time to sail around Jeanne. Kinda of a bummer, but I completely understood the decision. Back in 1995 I was stuck on a ship that got caught in the edge of a fastly developing tropical storm and it was no fun. Lots of sick people. HAL made the right decision in my opinion.

Now on to my review of the ship...

Layout. :confused: I thought the layout of the ship was confusing. There are alot of small rooms all around ship. If you are interested in finding a quiet nook to read a book this ship is for you. If you are like my wife and I and like large open layouts with larger public rooms the Z is not your ship. Sometimes it can be hard to find certain places because of the winding halls and closed spacing. The glass elevators are nice. It actually makes riding the elevator fun if there is such a thing. The elevators are also plentiful and fast. Good thing because there are a bunch of wheelchairs to transport. ;) We had a category BB room and found it to be pretty nice. The bed was very comfortable and the A/C worked good. Almost too good. It got pretty cold in there on a couple of nights.

Service. :mad: I agree with almost everything that voyeur said. The service on the ship overall was average at best. The dining room staff was by far the worst. The service was slow. Plates were left dirty in front of us for quite some time. Our waiter actually FORGOT to take my order on the last day. I had to call him back over after he took an order on another table. When he realized it he kind of laughed it off and non chalantly took my order. That wasn't an isolated incident as the waiter forgot to serve someone at my table baked alaska after going around the table. It took about 5 minutes to get him a serving. My wife's drinks were forgotton several times over the week although my drink service in the dining room was great. The overall morale of the staff seems rather poor. Everyone is just going through the motions. Our waiter never formally introduced himself nor ever had any conversation with the table. I was also never met our cabin steward. I never found out either of their names.

Food. The food on this ship was very average. Some meals were good while other were just alright. I enjoyed the omlett station in the morning. Most of the beef cuts were just ok. My wife found that the shrimp that she had on a couple of nights in the dining room were tough and rubbery.

Entertainment. Overall the entertainment was pretty good. We enjoyed the variety performance of Edge and the magic of James Cielan. The comedian, whose name I can't remember, was bad. His showtime performance was boring. Too many corny one liners, the kind that you guess the punchline before it comes. His adult show was so poor that we and several other couples walked out after about 10 minutes. The casino was nice although we didn't win anything. Again the staff in this area as with all other areas seemed to be going through the motions. I entered the blackjack tourney in the casino and of course didn't win. My tablemate and I figured out that since there were like 125 players each in for $20 and they prize was $500 total that HAL made around 2 grand on this tourney. That was sorta poor.

Shore excursions. We went on our own for all three ports. The HAL excursion to the Baths in Virgin Gorda is around $70 per person. If you take a cab ($5) or walk over to the Road Town ferry dock you can hop a ferry to virgin gorda for around $25 per person which includes ground transport to the baths on the other side. We used Speedy's Ferry which was great. The staff on the ferry were much friendlier than the cruise ship staff. They actually struck up a conversation with several of the passengers and seemed to be happy to talk. The baths entry fee is like $3 per person. In other words you can save around $40 per person if you do it yourself. The baths were great. I would definitely recommend this excursion.

Embark/Debark. Both the embark and debark process was great especially the organization and coordination of the debarkation process. We got stuck with a number 30 which as you can imagine is pretty far down the list. The debark started at 8:30 and we were in a cab on the way to the airport by 9:45. The best I've seen so far.

This was our first HAL trip and probably our last for a while. We are a couple in our 20's and found the mean age to be a little to high for us although we met some great younger people on the ship including our tablemates. We have been on Carnival and RCL and found HAL's service to be the worst. We took a cruise on a carnival rusty bucket called the Jubilee about 2 years ago and although the ship was older the energy and friendliness of the staff made for a lot more relaxed atmosphere. Overall we still had a great time since we were on a cruise and that is by far better than work. All of the ports that we visited were fun even though mother nature didn't cooperate. We met some really fun people that we will probably keep in touch with and I won second in the basketball contest. Overall a fun week, but with a little better morale by the staff the cruise had potential but fell short.

[Lauraally]

We leave next Sat. for the Eastern tour and we love the water, particularly snorkeling. Is the water clear enough to see anything? Or, should we save our money and do something else? I haven't booked anything becasue of all of the storms.

[LSUNizz]

We didn't snorkel in Nassau or St. Martin. We did snorkel in Virgin Gorda and the water was perfect. Nice and clear as Caribbean water should be. The snorkeling at the baths and the adjacent devil's cove was excellent. The water in Nassau looking fine as well although there was some notice that a storm had passed. By the time you cruise the water should be just fine unless another 'cane comes through :eek: . All in all you'll have a wonderful time as all cruisers do. Have fun. Any other questions feel free to ask...

[Ziggy7]

Wow as someone who cruised at the beginning of this hurricane run, we got chased by Charlie, as I'm reading this to me it sounds like the whole ship is exhausted from these huricanes too. I'm not making excuses but keep in mind that the crew and staff have been working their behinds off more than normal for the last month, so maybe they are just worn out. When we sailed everything was alot different, first week was hurricane Charley, second week it was the next one, and so on. Also the shore excursion office was not open much on our cruise, we were told because they were all on the phone trying to get us excursions at the new ports, but everytime we called on the phone someone answered and answered our concerns. Again I'm not making excuses for them either, I just thought maybe that was why they weren't open is all :)
Now if these darn hurricanes would just go away, we would all breath easier.

[kryos]

I'm not making excuses but keep in mind that the crew and staff have been working their behinds off more than normal for the last month, so maybe they are just worn out.
I'm glad you said that, Ziggy ... because I'm thinking the same thing. Some of the things in the two reviews posted above ... it's hard to believe that I was actually on the same ship!

I was on the Z from 8-28 through 9-11 and had almost an entirely different experience. Since I never did a formal review, I'll post some random thoughts here.

Food -- Yes, some of the meals served in the dining room left a bit to be desired (prime rib was more fat than anything else), soup wasn't as hot as I would like it, etc. However, I have to remember that they are serving a large number of people and this is not a high-scale dining experience. I think the food was adequate and I particularly liked the breakfasts in the Lido.

Food Service -- This is where I had an entirely different experience. Our dining staff promptly introduced themselves the first night. They always held our chairs out and seated us.

I was traveling the first leg of the trip with two friends from Chicago. We were seated at a table for six, along with another threesome who were traveling together. Except for one night, they never bothered to show again. Guess maybe they didn't like us? :) The staff got to know our names, and my traveling companions always liked a drink before dinner. After the first night, their favorite drinks were always presented to them without them having to bother repeating the order.

Special requests, like extra desserts were cheerfully honored and the service was reasonably brisk. With the exception of 9-5 ... the last night of the first (extended) cruise, we were always out of the dining room with plenty of time to relax in one of the lounges before taking in the late show. On 9-5 it seemed service was slow, and for a while it appeared that we weren't going to get dessert. Apparently they had some sort of "technical" problem in the kitchen. A power failure maybe? Also, we did run out of a few things ... like lettuce ... towards the end of the first cruise. So they had to improvise with some sort of a bean salad during the last night's dinner. But, that is certainly understandable since lettuce only keeps so long, and I think I would prefer to have no salad than one with moldy lettuce.

The second week (5-day cruise) was a bit different. My companions had departed the ship and I was seated at a different table. Apparently, they seated all solo travelers at this table and the only problem was that everyone was ancient! :) I have nothing against older people ... hell, my dad who lives with me is 90 ... but these people I had nothing in common with. Two were hard of hearing and one was blind. It was sometimes difficult to keep a conversation going. But, this was really no problem as I only dined in the main dining room twice during this second leg of the cruise. I ate with friends (thanks Obobber!) two nights in the Odessey Restaurant and on another night I got back to the ship after dinner from Cozumel.

On one of the two nights I dined in the main dining room, I was treated to an unusual dining experience. The matre de put the hotel manager and the onboard comediene (Judy Barr) at our table for one night. The conversation flowed wonderfully that night and dinner was a truly memorable experience. Julie Barr is hysterical ... especially her late night show.

As for the Odessey Restaurant ... I'm in full agreement with the opinions of just about everyone else on this subject. The food and the service is to die for. When I first heard about the specialty restaurants on HAL's ships, I always thought ... why in hell would anyone pay a cover charge to eat when they could eat for nothing anywhere else? Now, I understand. The food is clearly exceptional and on both of my visits there, it was prepared exactly to my liking. I had prime rib both times and can't honestly say that I've had anything better in the local restaurants (Outback, McCormick & Schmicks, etc.) here in Philly. I've heard their desserts are the best too, but I can't comment on them. Sadly, I was way to full to even think about the dessert selection.

In fact, the portions were so generous that I could in no way even hope to finish them. Since they didn't offer a variety of cut sizes on the prime rib, I specifically asked my waiter to make sure I got a petite cut so that I wouldn't waste good food. I just don't have that big an apetite and always take a doggie bag here at home. Of course, I can't do that on a ship, so I wanted to make sure the cut was something I could eat. While they probably brought me what they considered a small cut, it was still way too big for me to finish. Dessert would have been an impossibility. I'll definitely be going back to the Odessey on my next cruise on the Z or any other HAL ships.

Entertainment -- I really can't comment on the review presented for this area. Apparently, Julie Barr must have left the ship because this male commediene was not there on my sailing. We had Joel Mason (Elton John Impersonator), Bob Brizendine (a magician and commediene), Edge (juggling and manipulation act) and Julie Barr (a commediene) on our sailing. Bob Brizendine left the ship on 9-6, at the end of the first sailing. Julie Barr's shows ... both regular at late night adults only were absolutely hysterical. I'm known for liking "off-color" jokes and I swear, I almost wet myself during her late night appearances over both weeks. Bob Brizendine was excellent, though I'm not much for magicians. His sense of humor, though, made his shows good for me. Edge ... again, I'm not into juggling and that sort of thing, so it was probably his shows that I least liked. Joel Mason ... need I say anything? His reputation on this board is well-deserved. His shows were excellent and he's a really nice person to boot.

The thing that impressed me most about all of these entertainers was how they pitched in to keep the passengers happy when our cruise was extended for two extra days, and we would up with four sea days in a row. They all gave extra shows ... doing coffee chats, "up close" type shows and afternoon performances in order to keep the days moving along and the passengers happy. I would imagine much of the material in those extra shows was created on the fly, and I doubt their contracts required them to do extra performances. Yet they did them willingly, and I think that says a lot about their professionalism.

I've heard criticism on these boards of the cruise director, Dane Butcher ... and maybe some of it is deserved. I'll be honest ... I don't have enough experience with cruising to know what makes a good cruise director from a bad one. But, I will say this ... he obviously had to scurry to come up with a lot of extra activities to fill so many unexpected sea days, and I think he did his job very well. It's easy to do a job like that when everything goes according to plan. You have the luxury of leisurely planning out each day ... and since you have a basic format for the planned sea days, they are not hard to fill. But in this case, we had a boatload of passengers who were probably not happy having four sea days in a row ... missing a port they were counting on visiting (Nassau) and then having their cruise extended two days beyond when it should have been over. The cruise director and his staff had to have been stretched to the limit ... by their boss in Seattle, as well as by the Captain and his officers ... to keep these passengers engaged and happy! I think Dane Butcher rose to the occasion and showed creativity in accomplishing this. He scheduled some almost never-before-tried things ... such as the "behind the scenes" tour of the crew areas, the coffee chat with Julie Barr, Up Close Magic with Bob Brizendine, Matinee Performance with Joel Mason at the Piano ... and the list goes on. I was more than satisfied with the entertainment and activities during this 14-day cruise.

Cabin -- I was perfectly happy with my cabin and felt I got more than I paid for. I had an inside cabin on the Veranda deck ... 5022. Almost immediately upon going there on the first day, my cabin steward ... Eku ... introduced himself. I immediately noticed there was no ashtray in the cabin and requested one. Within less than a minute or so, I had one. The mini bar was also unlocked within five minutes after my arriving in the stateroom.

I am the type of person who does not like to be bothered when I am in my room. Eku seemed to know that without my having to articulate it. I rarely saw him ... unless I called for him. Yet each morning when I returned to the cabin after my coffee and cigarette up on the Lido deck, my bed was made up and the cabin was tidy. After the first night ... when he knocked before I had left for dinner ... Eku learned that I went to second seating in the dining room and never bothered me again. Yet the cabin was always neat again ... with the bed usually having to be made again from my late afternoon nap ... when I returned around midnight.

I was impressed with Eku's service and tipped him extra accordingly at the end of each of these b2b cruises. By the way, I don't think they have to turn in any extra cash you give them ... as long as you don't take the auto tip off of your bill.

(Continued) ...

[kryos]

I'm not making excuses but keep in mind that the crew and staff have been working their behinds off more than normal for the last month, so maybe they are just worn out.
(Continued ... )

Lounges: My experience is entirely different that that recounted in the review at the top of this thread. I never had any problems getting "munchies" in the lounges. In fact, during the second week of my cruise, I began visiting the Explorer's lounge on a pretty regular basis with two "smoke buddies" I had met up with during the cruise. The waiter always brought over munchies, and on some occasions (like before the dinner hour) even a plate of hot orderves (sp?). I'm surprised that the poster was told that the munchies were "locked up?" What kind of crap is that?

Captain and Ship's Officers: The Captain on our sailing was Hans van Biljouw and I can honestly say that despite the hurricane threat throughout this cruise, I never felt in the slightest bit of danger, nor the slightest bit uncomfortable. The captain and his staff obviously were keeping us far out of harm's way. We rarely even had choppy seas ... in fact, I was somewhat disappointed in that. I like a bit of motion to rock me to sleep at night, and I rarely got it. We were in seas that calm.

Some people were annoyed at having to miss ports ... and people were certainly greatly inconvenienced with having to juggle their travel plans due to the extended voyage that first week ... but my feeling is that when you sail during hurricane season, those are some of the things that you have to realize can happen. I wasn't happy either ... my shore excursions in both Tortola and St. Thomas were cancelled, and we missed the Nassau port altogether. But, I resolved to enjoy the hell out of my vacation anyway ... and to find other things to do.

I felt very comfortable and safe throughout that cruise, and think most of the other passengers did too. A large part of the credit for that goes to Captain Biljouw and his staff.

Guest Relations/Front Office Staff: This is HAL's weak link, in my opinion. While I was happy that we were kept reasonably informed about the hurricane's progress via periodic announcements over the pa by the captain and the navigator, as well as a large wall display at the front office area depicting the hurricane's progress, there were plenty of other things that could have been done to add to the passengers' comfort and well-being. Some free phone and internet time would have been a great place to start. Passengers were spending a fortune calling their families and trying to make alternate air arrangements. The internet center was often standing room only as people frantically tried to go onto their airlines' web sites to see if their flights were cancelled and to make alternate arrangements. Unless you were booked for your air through HAL, they were offering no assistance whatsoever. Passengers were basically on their own in this regard and I think that showed a lack of customer relations skills.

Also, another thing that I could not for the life of me understand ... and frankly was shocked about ... was the front desk staff's absolute refusal to "negotiate" with passengers regarding staying on for the shortened five-day cruise that began on 9-6. When I found out how few people were actually onboard that second week, I was absolutely floored with this attitude. The Guest Relations Desk seemed to take the stance that these are the prices ... no "wiggle" room allowed. As a result, I know of several instances where passengers chose to debark the ship on 9/6 when they would have gladly stayed on if they could have gotten a more beneficial deal. For example, the two friends I traveled with were staying in a balcony stateroom. When HAL first offered the deal to stay on, based on a sailing date of Sunday, they were thinking about it. When the sail date was moved to Monday, they said it was no longer worth it. However, if HAL would let them keep their stateroom for the second five-day sailing, at a two-for-one rate, they would definitely do it. The woman at Guest Relations almost laughed in their faces when they proposed it.

My two "smoke buddies" were in a deluxe veranda suite the first sailing and were going to keep it and stay on for the second sailing when HAL offered the discounted rate. However, when the sail date was pushed back to Monday night from Sunday, they did the math and found that they would actually be paying more per day for the suite than they paid for it originally. They spoke to the front desk about it ... asking if the rate was going to be further discounted now that the number of nights was one less. They were flatly told no ... that the original rate would stand. They ended up moving into a regular balcony cabin for the second sailing. This kind of soured them on HAL ... unnecessarily.

With so few passengers onboard, I'm surprised it was even worth it for HAL to sail for that second week. Surely, it would have made better financial sense to reduce prices, offer upgrades, two-for-one deals, etc. ... just to have more passengers onboard spending money in the bars, the shops and the casino? And then that notice placed at the front desk ... saying that no free upgrades would be offered that second week in the interest of fairness to all passengers ... that really insulted some people ... and really wasn't necessary.

But, other than HAL's handling of the delays caused by Hurricane Frances, and their guest relations skills as a result of it, I think they did a good job of keeping passengers happy despite all the additional days at sea. Hopefully, HAL will learn something from this 8-28 cruise and make some policy changes as a result of it. Surely, they lost a bundle on that shortened 9-4 cruise where they actually had more staff onboard than passengers. Surely they knew they were getting cancellations up the wazoo for that cruise, and enticing more passengers from the 8-28 cruise to stay onboard would have helped their bottom line considerably.

Sorry for the length of this ... I guess the above reviews just got me thinking ...

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

Who was your CD and Captain on your cruise?
Captain -- Hans van Biljouw

Cruise Director -- Dane Butcher

Blue skies ...

--rita

[MandyGirl]

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and experiences! :) I appreciate the time you spent to communicate them here.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks everyone for posting your reviews of this past week's Zuiderdam (5 day) cruise.

Enjoyed reading them all and comparing notes.

[spcl4cs_gal]

Wow as someone who cruised at the beginning of this hurricane run, we got chased by Charlie, as I'm reading this to me it sounds like the whole ship is exhausted from these huricanes too. I'm not making excuses but keep in mind that the crew and staff have been working their behinds off more than normal for the last month, so maybe they are just worn out.


There is also a major crew rotation scheduled for the end of this month in both the dining and bar staff. I think everyone is tired out and ready to get home for a much deserved break.

[Lois R]

KK..Voyerism was on a 7 day....hi Voyer! We were on the same sailing.

Nice to have met you:)

[drk]

It's interesting that the shortened cruise had so few passengers. You would think that the crew had a break that week and should have been fresh for the 9/11 sailing that has received complaints about service. To me the waitstaff and cabin stewards work their butts off everyday regardless of whether the ship is affected by itinerary changes, etc. I hope the attitude improves by our 12/11 sailing.

[Spot]

Thank you for your reviews, in being somewhat different, it proves that everyone's cruise experience is a different one even from the same cruise.
I appreciate the diversity of the reviews and makes me more comfortable in experiencing the Z for myself this upcoming weekend.

Thank you again on your well thought out reviews.

[LSUNizz]

Let me clarify some of my earlier comments. I don't want anyone to think that I didn't have a good time. Exactly the opposite. I had a GREAT time. If you can't have a great time on a cruise something is wrong with you. I just thought that with a little more spunk and effort that the cruise could have been sooo much better.

As for the status of the staff, I don't buy the hurricane excuse one bit. If I drop a couple grand on a trip I expect the staff to be friendly and attentive no matter what the circumstance. When I was in college I worked in food service and some nights I just didn't feel like being there. However, in that situation you put on a smile and do the best job you possibly can. I just did not see this effort being made by a majority of the crew. I agree with the summation that the staff does not seem to work as hard because their tip is guaranteed. I believe this gratuity policy creates a culture of mediocrity. I have never under-tipped a service worker on a cruise, but the staff members ability to earn a couple more bucks from me is always a motivator and in my case it usually pays off.

Since this is my first HAL cruise I can't speak for the whole line, but if all of the ships have this quality of service I would rate HAL at the bottom of my cruising list.

[voyeurism26]

Hi Lois it was nice meeting you and I understand you did well in trivia.

Please don't get me wrong regarding the Zuiderdam...I did enjoy myself and we still had a wonderful time and we will continue to go on HAL and give HAL another chance.

We just found that some things had changed compared to the HAL we remembered from years past. We are not like others that will take these changes and have it ruin our vacation nor have the attitude of "not going on HAL again" we are going to give HAL a few more chances for our future cruises and if we find that the service and food is not up to par to what we want, then I have no problems going to Celebrity which we find to be excellant when it comes to food and service and the overall cruise experience.

We normally take two cruises per month...one on Celebrity and one on HAL so we will continue with both lines until we find one better then the other.

-V26

[Lois R]

LSU...sorry we didn't get to meet.....we had a nice group from our ROLL CALL:)


V26....2 cruises per month? You go on 24 per year? OH MY GOODNESS...May I stowaway in some of your luggage:D ;)

Yes, I love trivia...!!! Its fun:)

[voyeurism26]

I have to agree with the post regarding no matter what the attitude is that if "I" drop a few thousand dollars on a vacation, I want to recieve great service. I too was in the service industry and there have been many times that I did not want to serve the public but I always made the best of the situation and never let the customer know my "true attitude".

Furthermore, I think the new tipping policy makes the staff less attentive, less motivated. The new tipping policy stated in the ship service book located in each cabin states clearly that a $10 per person per day fee will be added to your onboard account. The fee is condsidered the tip for the staff and the tips are all pool and divided amoungest the staff and the kitchen staff that cooks dinner...so not only are the waiters, bartenders, cocktail servers, busboys, cabin stewarts get a share of the tips but so does the cooks and the staff behind the scenes. It also states that if you tip an individaul staff member for good service, they are NOT allowed to keep the extra tip and they MUST hand the tip in as part as the tipping pool and thus divided amoungest the staff.

What I object is why do they have to hand in there tip? Also why do we have to pay for the help behind the scenes? Although I realize that the cooks, chefs and the bakers and such work very hard...but shouldn't they get paid extra from the company? Why should we, the guest, get charged $10 per day per person and the majority of that money goes to individuals that didn't even service me. I think that this new tipping policy really hurts the service...even last year the service was much better prior to the new tipping policy...I also tipped better and gave extra money to individuals that went the extra mile...but this year I did not see that extra service.

Furthermore, I also see the cutting back of foods, cuts of meats, chicken, soups, desserts. The spa became a selling market for creams and lotions and other spa treatments...all they wanted to do is push there creams and lotions and such to buy, buy and buy...It was a turn off to go to the spa.

Did anyone have the same experience in the spa?

-V26

[voyeurism26]

we go on 2 cruises per year....not per month...<LOL>.

-V26

[Bigby]

It's interesting that the shortened cruise had so few passengers. You would think that the crew had a break that week and should have been fresh for the 9/11 sailing that has received complaints about service. Actually, two gentlemen that we met at the FOD party, who were on the ship the week prior, said that there were only 600+ passengers and the staff was bored. I don't think it is a matter of them being overworked, I think it is the new "status quo" for service.

I was a member of Voyerism26's group and I had the same observations having travelled on the Zuiderdam before. One addtional comment I have is about the Dessert Extravaganza or "Dessert Shell Game" as it should be called. Not only is it getting smaller in "surface area" but it is exponentially less when it comes to selection. Each tray has five different items, four of which appear on the other trays, only the order is shuffled around to make it appear different. There are approximately six distinctive desserts in total.

--Bigby

[sail7seas]

Thanks everyone for your reviews and comments. I greatly appreciate your taking the time and effort to share with us.


Welcome Back to all of you.

[sail7seas]

I have been told that Captain von Biljoiuw is leaving as is the Maitre d'. Captain John Smith supposedly is taking over.

[kryos]

We normally take two cruises per month...one on Celebrity and one on HAL so we will continue with both lines until we find one better then the other.

Oh, man ... I am sooooooooo jealous. :)

Blue skies!

--rita

[kryos]

we go on 2 cruises per year....not per month...<LOL>.

Ohhhhhhh ... that's not quite as good.

But we can always dream, right? :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[kryos]

Did anyone have the same experience in the spa?

Sure did. I made the mistake of scheduling an appointment to get my hair cut on the second day of the cruise. While Leo did a good job, he began his sales spiel almost as soon as he had me settled in the chair. I finally was able to get through to him that I wasn't buying anything, so he could save his breath (in a nice way, of course). At that point, he dropped the sales talk and simply performed the service for which I had come.

Then ... I get my bill at the end of the first leg of the cruise. I was charged twice ... on two separate dates ... for the same amount. I go to the front desk, and they tell me to see the manager of the spa. I go up there, but no one is working. Finally, later on in the day ... when the new passengers embarked ... I was able to talk to a manager. He researches the charge and tells me they are different charges. One was for a haircut and one was for a "gym pass?" I never so much as set foot in the gym! Finally he agreed to have the "ISO" take the charge off my bill because he claimed he couldn't do it because it spanned a different week than the current cruise. I left thinking it was taken care of.

End of second cruise. I get my preliminary statement. Double $70 charge is still on there! Now, I'm not dealing with the spa ... I'm dealing with the front desk directly. She assured me it would be removed and to check my statement later on that day for verification.

I ask for a final bill the morning of debarkation. A $60 charge was removed ... $10 was still on the bill. I asked for an explanation and got some runaround. At this point I was tired and the $10 didn't seem worth it to me.

Next cruise I will make sure I never set foot in the spa. I don't like how they do business there.

The front desk told me that the "gym pass" charge was signed for by an entirely different person ... entirely different handwriting ... but charged to my cabin. Obviously a mistake in cabin numbers. But ... what? They don't ask to see the room card before making a charge?

Blue skies ...

--rita

[ekerr19]

However, I have to remember that they are serving a large number of people and this is not a high-scale dining experience.

rita-

I guess I'm just a bit different. I still believe dining on a cruise ship should be a "high-scale" experience... I expect it to be. :)

Thanks for taking the time to share your observations of your Zuidredam cruise(s). It sounds like you had a great time. :)

[Jacqueline]

BTW I loved the layout of the Vista class ships. My dad, who could get lost inside a paper bag, found it easy and logical to negotiate !
Personally, I love the smaller lounges and spaces and the sense of intimacy that they engender- but it does not lend to a high energy experince. I would go to RCL for that as well as a younger more active demographic. THey have lovely ships if that is your *thing*.

[DFD1]

I enjoyed reading the reviews. Here is an observation that some may think "off the wall", but I wonder if the ordinary, uninspired service and fewer staff in the dining room are related to the new automatic tipping policy. More tip money distributed to fewer staff equals a pay raise....and with the automatic tips it's a sure thing.

[voyeurism26]

"I enjoyed reading the reviews. Here is an observation that some may think "off the wall", but I wonder if the ordinary, uninspired service and fewer staff in the dining room are related to the new automatic tipping policy. More tip money distributed to fewer staff equals a pay raise....and with the automatic tips it's a sure thing."


DFD1~I can understand the rational of your comment. I have travelled on HAL many times over the past years and I find that when the tip was "NOT" included, the service seems to be better overall. The staff works harder and seems to be more attentive, when you hand them a tip they get to keep that tip. I for one happen to tip well because I believe in giving a great tip when recieving great service. However, since HAL changed this policy they don't have the incentive to be motivated to work harder and be as attentive as they use to be, why? Because now if you tip the person that gives you great service, they have to hand it in. Thus, most guest don't want to give the extra money because you realize that they don't get to keep the tip and they will have to split the tip with there co-workers.

Furthermore, since HAL adds the tip automatically to your onboard charge the tip not only gets split amoungst the staff but the kitchen help gets a piece of the pie as well. Shouldn't the kitchen staff get paid a higher wage from the company? oppose to getting there extra money from the "tipping pool". If I was a staff member and I had to split my tips and if a guest hands me a $50 dollar bill for great service and I couldn't keep the money, I would not be very happy and I would not give the level of service that I would give knowing that I had to pool the tips and share it with over 400 of my co-workers.

Your comment is not that "off the wall".......

-V26

[Little Feet]

Wow! We were on the same cruise....and were so happy with everything....service, food, and avoiding the hurricanes. We were grateful to be safe and this was our 3rd cruise on the Zuiderdam.....just a bit unexpected this time. It was our alternative to a shelter....and we were treated like royalty by the crew. Perhaps a sense of "gratitude" fosters a higher level of satisfaction?

[Jacqueline]

I did have an unusual experience on the spa on the Westerdam... My treatment person - who wil go unnamed- was very entrupenurial. I did buy a few expensive products after my facial... Got discounts on all my treatments. I am sure they made plenty on me one way or another...