taszmom
October 11th, 2004, 09:42 PM
Review of HAL Zuiderdam 10/2/2004 - 7 night Western Caribbean
Ports of call : Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya & Half Moon Cay
Cat BA Verandah # 5101
Part 1 -
CHECK-IN @ Port Everglades:
We live in West Palm Beach so we did the Park N Fly - $42 for the week as opposed to the $84 @ the parking garage. Only problem was after getting off the ship, we had to wait for 3 shuttle buses. Apparently there were a lot of other people on our ship parked here and they didn't have adequate number of buses to accommodate all getting of at the same time. Poor planning. Then they had the nerve to charge me $2 for getting back to the parking lot too late. They waived it after I angrily voiced my frustration about having to wait at the port for 1 hour on their shuttle bus.
Check in at pier went very smooth. Arrived around 11:30am. They had 2 lines, 1 for website online registration and another for those who have not completed the online registration. Both lines were about the same length, website line seemed to move quicker, only waited about 5-7 min anyway. There is also a separate check-in line for Deluxe Verandah Suites and higher. FYI...We were permitted to carry on 2 bottles of wine. They did ask to look at it.
STATEROOM:
Our verandah stateroom was located midship, lifeboats were 1 deck below us and though our horizon view was not obstructed, we could not see the water directly below us because of the lifeboat. We had a sofa bed for our 5 yr old daughter which was a nice size bed. However, when the sofa bed was open, it blocked the balcony door which made it hard for us to go out on the balcony in the evenings after she went to sleep. To avoid this, we put her to sleep in our bed and then moved her later. The sofa bed is very heavy making it hard to fold up and down. The bathroom has a nice tub which keeps the water contained when showering. Our king bed was quite large. I don't think they had replaced the mattresses on the ship yet (SOE), they were quite firm and the pillows needed some stuffing. There was plenty of storage space in the closet and above the sofa bed and we stored our 6 suitcases under the bed with no problem. The room had TV with a few stations, ESPN (Spanish), CNN, TNT, Boomerang and of course a several ship channels. Unlike the CCL Legend, they did not have the menu to pull up your onboard account from the TV. (Good thing otherwise we would have cut back on the mojitos!). We could sort of see the outside elevators from our room,however we had to lean over to see anyone in it and we couldn't see into any of the balconies when in it.
SERVICE:
This is where HAL shines. Best, friendliest service we've ever had. Room steward immediately introduced himself shortly after we first arrived to our stateroom and never saw him again. He magically made up the room in the morning and evening without being seen. Every staff member, and I mean every staff member especially the staff in the Lido, asked my daughter what her name was and by day 3, they all were saying "Hi Taryn!". Fantastic & attentive crew.
Dining room staff was friendly and nice. There was not much conversation with the guests, all business and obviously busy, but very polite. They were very fast about taking our order and the food came out promptly (almost too quick for us). Our biggest complaint was the wine service. We had pre-ordered the 6 bottle wine package. On the first night, we did not see our wine steward until just prior to getting our entree. Our wine was delivered almost after completing our entree. Each night it got a little better until finally on the 4th night she arrived promptly after our waiter took our order. It seems that on the first few nights she was running ragged so I don't fault her. It would appear that they need more staff in this area at least on the first 2 nights as things sort themselves out.
FOOD:
I have to say that I was a little disappointed about the food in the dining room. Yes my husband and I are probably the most critical in this area as I am a professionally trained chef and he works at a 5 star resort. The food was prepared well, however lacked imagination & flavor. If they want to appeal to a younger crowd, they need some, as Emeril would say, BAM! in the menu. For example, the surf & turf, which was cooked perfectly, was served with plain white rice. All accompaniments were as dull and vegetables were used sparingly. Presentation : a parsley leaf. The food needed some seasoning, more ingredients, and some attention to presentation. There was salt & pepper shaker on the table which confused me because at any fine restaurant, no proud chef would have it and I found myself needing to use it. Fresh ground pepper was self-service. The fish was bland - now mind you I live in Florida and we get some pretty good fresh fish so I might be a little spoiled. I could see how the simpicity of the menu and food would appeal to the older guests or people who are on restricted diets, but on this particular ship in order to satisfy the younger audience they are trying to attract, the dining room menu needs a major overhaul and quick.
The Lido Buffet was excellent. Of course they had everything as usual for breakfast & lunch : omelette station, ice cream bar (11:30a-1a), pizza & pasta bar (11:30a-1a), taco bar, grill station (lido pool), deli & salad bar (11:30a-5p), Wok station (Stir-fry, sushi(/mushi) rolls), bistro lunch & dinner theme of the day. Midnight buffet @ Lido (11:15p-12:30a). I found the variety and quality of the Lido Buffet to be very satisfying. I still think Carnival has the best pizza @ sea.
Pinnacle Grill @ Odyssey Restaurant - Hours : 6pm-9:30pm - Unfortunately we did not make it here. Club HAL did not have activites between 5p-8p making it difficult for us to find a reservation time. NOT family friendly!
ENTERTAINMENT:
All I can say is WOW! This made the cruise. There was a great female comedienne Julie Barr....hysterical. She had a regular show and an Adult-only show in the Queen's Lounge and it was standing room only. Joel Mason : a FANTASTIC Elton John Impersonator. Looked and sounded just like him and could play the heck out of the piano and even had the famous Elton feather costume on. He received a standing ovation. Edge - juggler, comedian- very good, very different, very entertaining. James Cielen - Amazing magician. We didn't see the broadway shows - not our thing. They had Karoake which we usually don't do either, but on the last night they had a Superstar Final and so we happen to be in the Queen's Lounge and saw it...WOW! We had some very talented passengers on this sailing - great singers. Two sisters that had to be professional singers. If they weren't, they should be.
BINGO:
Ok I never play Bingo, but I decided to give it a whirl while my daughter napped and my husband smoked his cigar out on the verandah. The 2nd game was the B and O columns and son of a gun I got it! So I stood up and said "I got B O"! and won $275.00 to which I immediately went down to the front desk and applied towards my hefty onboard account. We order a lot of doubles.
POOLS:
There are 2 pools on the Zuiderdam, aft and mid-ship. The mid-ship has the retractable dome. It can be quite humid and warm when it's closed which they do when it rains or the winds are strong. The pools are freshwater, not sea water and were quite chilly. No kids allowed in aft pool between 3pm-5pm.
CLUB HAL:
Due to the time of year, there were not alot of children on this sailing. My daughter was eager to go each and every day and that's where she was when not in port or in the pool. At any given time there were about a dozen kids in the Kids Zone - Waverunner. They did have some activites during port days, but not the whole time. On this sailing they had separated the kids by age groups 5-12 & 13-17. On sea days, the program operated from 9am-12n, 2p-5p, 8p-10p. Paid baby sitting services were available after 10pm. There are soda packages available on the ship. Sort of along this topic, there are disinfection stations everywhere on the ship, including the bathrooms, the Lido Grill and in the Kidz Zone. Push the button and out squirts hand sanitizer. All kids are required to sanitize upon entering the Kids Zone. No sickness that I know of on this ship. Good job HAL!
OCEAN SPA & FITNESS CENTER:
Didn't spend as much time here as I should have, but I did get there a few times. We didn't do any of the spa services this time. The fitness center is adequate. They had fee based classes like yoga, pilates, cycling, etc. We had trouble finding the fitness center as it is not indicated on any of the maps and they make you walk through the spa to get to it.
KEY WEST:
For those who have not been to Key West lately, they have re-done the whole pier area which is very nice. Everything is within walking distance, including the famous Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and Sloppy Joe's. Ate some great conch fritters at a little stand in Mallory Square. This is also where the Aquarium & Glass Bottom Boat Ride is located. There are a few restaurants in the pier area with outside dining.
Ports of call : Key West, Cozumel, Costa Maya & Half Moon Cay
Cat BA Verandah # 5101
Part 1 -
CHECK-IN @ Port Everglades:
We live in West Palm Beach so we did the Park N Fly - $42 for the week as opposed to the $84 @ the parking garage. Only problem was after getting off the ship, we had to wait for 3 shuttle buses. Apparently there were a lot of other people on our ship parked here and they didn't have adequate number of buses to accommodate all getting of at the same time. Poor planning. Then they had the nerve to charge me $2 for getting back to the parking lot too late. They waived it after I angrily voiced my frustration about having to wait at the port for 1 hour on their shuttle bus.
Check in at pier went very smooth. Arrived around 11:30am. They had 2 lines, 1 for website online registration and another for those who have not completed the online registration. Both lines were about the same length, website line seemed to move quicker, only waited about 5-7 min anyway. There is also a separate check-in line for Deluxe Verandah Suites and higher. FYI...We were permitted to carry on 2 bottles of wine. They did ask to look at it.
STATEROOM:
Our verandah stateroom was located midship, lifeboats were 1 deck below us and though our horizon view was not obstructed, we could not see the water directly below us because of the lifeboat. We had a sofa bed for our 5 yr old daughter which was a nice size bed. However, when the sofa bed was open, it blocked the balcony door which made it hard for us to go out on the balcony in the evenings after she went to sleep. To avoid this, we put her to sleep in our bed and then moved her later. The sofa bed is very heavy making it hard to fold up and down. The bathroom has a nice tub which keeps the water contained when showering. Our king bed was quite large. I don't think they had replaced the mattresses on the ship yet (SOE), they were quite firm and the pillows needed some stuffing. There was plenty of storage space in the closet and above the sofa bed and we stored our 6 suitcases under the bed with no problem. The room had TV with a few stations, ESPN (Spanish), CNN, TNT, Boomerang and of course a several ship channels. Unlike the CCL Legend, they did not have the menu to pull up your onboard account from the TV. (Good thing otherwise we would have cut back on the mojitos!). We could sort of see the outside elevators from our room,however we had to lean over to see anyone in it and we couldn't see into any of the balconies when in it.
SERVICE:
This is where HAL shines. Best, friendliest service we've ever had. Room steward immediately introduced himself shortly after we first arrived to our stateroom and never saw him again. He magically made up the room in the morning and evening without being seen. Every staff member, and I mean every staff member especially the staff in the Lido, asked my daughter what her name was and by day 3, they all were saying "Hi Taryn!". Fantastic & attentive crew.
Dining room staff was friendly and nice. There was not much conversation with the guests, all business and obviously busy, but very polite. They were very fast about taking our order and the food came out promptly (almost too quick for us). Our biggest complaint was the wine service. We had pre-ordered the 6 bottle wine package. On the first night, we did not see our wine steward until just prior to getting our entree. Our wine was delivered almost after completing our entree. Each night it got a little better until finally on the 4th night she arrived promptly after our waiter took our order. It seems that on the first few nights she was running ragged so I don't fault her. It would appear that they need more staff in this area at least on the first 2 nights as things sort themselves out.
FOOD:
I have to say that I was a little disappointed about the food in the dining room. Yes my husband and I are probably the most critical in this area as I am a professionally trained chef and he works at a 5 star resort. The food was prepared well, however lacked imagination & flavor. If they want to appeal to a younger crowd, they need some, as Emeril would say, BAM! in the menu. For example, the surf & turf, which was cooked perfectly, was served with plain white rice. All accompaniments were as dull and vegetables were used sparingly. Presentation : a parsley leaf. The food needed some seasoning, more ingredients, and some attention to presentation. There was salt & pepper shaker on the table which confused me because at any fine restaurant, no proud chef would have it and I found myself needing to use it. Fresh ground pepper was self-service. The fish was bland - now mind you I live in Florida and we get some pretty good fresh fish so I might be a little spoiled. I could see how the simpicity of the menu and food would appeal to the older guests or people who are on restricted diets, but on this particular ship in order to satisfy the younger audience they are trying to attract, the dining room menu needs a major overhaul and quick.
The Lido Buffet was excellent. Of course they had everything as usual for breakfast & lunch : omelette station, ice cream bar (11:30a-1a), pizza & pasta bar (11:30a-1a), taco bar, grill station (lido pool), deli & salad bar (11:30a-5p), Wok station (Stir-fry, sushi(/mushi) rolls), bistro lunch & dinner theme of the day. Midnight buffet @ Lido (11:15p-12:30a). I found the variety and quality of the Lido Buffet to be very satisfying. I still think Carnival has the best pizza @ sea.
Pinnacle Grill @ Odyssey Restaurant - Hours : 6pm-9:30pm - Unfortunately we did not make it here. Club HAL did not have activites between 5p-8p making it difficult for us to find a reservation time. NOT family friendly!
ENTERTAINMENT:
All I can say is WOW! This made the cruise. There was a great female comedienne Julie Barr....hysterical. She had a regular show and an Adult-only show in the Queen's Lounge and it was standing room only. Joel Mason : a FANTASTIC Elton John Impersonator. Looked and sounded just like him and could play the heck out of the piano and even had the famous Elton feather costume on. He received a standing ovation. Edge - juggler, comedian- very good, very different, very entertaining. James Cielen - Amazing magician. We didn't see the broadway shows - not our thing. They had Karoake which we usually don't do either, but on the last night they had a Superstar Final and so we happen to be in the Queen's Lounge and saw it...WOW! We had some very talented passengers on this sailing - great singers. Two sisters that had to be professional singers. If they weren't, they should be.
BINGO:
Ok I never play Bingo, but I decided to give it a whirl while my daughter napped and my husband smoked his cigar out on the verandah. The 2nd game was the B and O columns and son of a gun I got it! So I stood up and said "I got B O"! and won $275.00 to which I immediately went down to the front desk and applied towards my hefty onboard account. We order a lot of doubles.
POOLS:
There are 2 pools on the Zuiderdam, aft and mid-ship. The mid-ship has the retractable dome. It can be quite humid and warm when it's closed which they do when it rains or the winds are strong. The pools are freshwater, not sea water and were quite chilly. No kids allowed in aft pool between 3pm-5pm.
CLUB HAL:
Due to the time of year, there were not alot of children on this sailing. My daughter was eager to go each and every day and that's where she was when not in port or in the pool. At any given time there were about a dozen kids in the Kids Zone - Waverunner. They did have some activites during port days, but not the whole time. On this sailing they had separated the kids by age groups 5-12 & 13-17. On sea days, the program operated from 9am-12n, 2p-5p, 8p-10p. Paid baby sitting services were available after 10pm. There are soda packages available on the ship. Sort of along this topic, there are disinfection stations everywhere on the ship, including the bathrooms, the Lido Grill and in the Kidz Zone. Push the button and out squirts hand sanitizer. All kids are required to sanitize upon entering the Kids Zone. No sickness that I know of on this ship. Good job HAL!
OCEAN SPA & FITNESS CENTER:
Didn't spend as much time here as I should have, but I did get there a few times. We didn't do any of the spa services this time. The fitness center is adequate. They had fee based classes like yoga, pilates, cycling, etc. We had trouble finding the fitness center as it is not indicated on any of the maps and they make you walk through the spa to get to it.
KEY WEST:
For those who have not been to Key West lately, they have re-done the whole pier area which is very nice. Everything is within walking distance, including the famous Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and Sloppy Joe's. Ate some great conch fritters at a little stand in Mallory Square. This is also where the Aquarium & Glass Bottom Boat Ride is located. There are a few restaurants in the pier area with outside dining.