Back From Zuiderdam

[tommy]

Just back from a B2B on the Zuiderdam.Had a great time.Started with a great upgrade ended with painless disembarkment,We went to pier 10:30 were on the ship 11:30 the 2nd week we disembarked 10:15 went thru customs and we were back on 10:25 very easy.Muster drill last 30 minutes exactly both weeks.Food good,entertainment good.Joel Mason was good,Edge the juggler was fun,lots of audience particapation,Danny Storts the comedian was funny,The ships cast was ok.The dining room service for us anyway was lacking I think the cutbacks in Personel is the cause,iur waiter and assistent were NEVER around between courses they were helping with other tables or just not around at all.THE ship was Very clean,Very smooth sailing the 1st week,very rocky the 2nd,Half Moon beautiful.Wont do a long dragged out review,but any questions Iwill check back and answer,we still have all our papers out and everything is fresh on our minds,It was a GREAT cruise.One more thing if you get a chance to meet people from Cruise Critic do it we meet good people on both weeks. TOM&DEB

[doone]

Welcome home, glad you enjoyed the Zuiderdam.

[gizmo]

Welcome home. Good to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

[Lisa616]

Welcome back! What type of upgrade did you receive and did you pay for it at the pier, or was this complimentary?? Also, how rough was the second week on the ship..I getting nervous about rough waters! Was it manageable or were many people sick?? Thanks!

[Cruising Jake]

Welcome back to reality.

[tommy]

Lisa,We booked direct with Holland.We had a PCC with them he got us a comped upgrade from a Guarenteed CatA to a S suite the 1st week,and a SS the 2nd we paid x-tra to move to a S suite on the 2nd week.The rocking on the eastern route was preety bad there were people getting sick,but it didnt bother us at all. TOM

[tommy]

Just thought of a few more cabin stewert excellent,HMC the first week there were 2 ships on the island what a difference it made.We were on the 2nd tender to the island,The Zaandam was already there.There were no floats the beach was VERY crowded food lines long,the next week the Zuiderdam was there alone it was great.Pinnacle was ok go on the first night its half price,to us it wasnt worth 40 dollars a couple,Neptune Lounge never had to many people in it,it had some cookies,and candy,coffee,tea and juices,no alcohol.The girls working there were very friendly and helpful.Also make sure to meet Hunky Dory at the beginning of the buffet line he is a blast.All in all this was our 17th,and 18th cruise and maybe the best ones we have had. TOM

[Candy]

This is our 13th (3rd in a row on Zuidy) and it just gets better and better! We're in a smaller cabin this time, but it's on the wake, so the veranda is huge...

We're leaving in 5 days and haven't even packed one thing (but I have ordered the cabana, champagne and "stuff").

.. Also make sure to meet Hunky Dory at the beginning of the buffet line he is a blast. All in all this was our 17th,and 18th cruise and maybe the best ones we have had. TOM

[Chris-n-Cheryl]

Welcome home!

I'd love some information about the standard items available on the dinner and lunch room service menu.

Thanks!
Cheryl :)

[tommy]

Cheryl,What do you want to know we saved all the menus for 2 weeks,they actually did change a little from one week to the other. TOM

[tommy]

Candy,let us know if you think the service in the dining room is a little lacking.All in all it was a great cruise. TOM

[Giorgi-one]

We thought the food and service in the Vista Dining Room were very average. We would consider eating in the Pinnacle almost every night except lobster night. For an extra $110 per person, it would eliminate the biggest complaint the we had with the Z.

[Ziggy7]

Welcome home!!! Glad you enjoyed the Zuiderdam too! Thanks for sharing with us! :)

[crimmft]

We were on the Z during the week of 16 Oct. The service we had in the Vista Dining Room was absolutely outstanding, probably better than that we had in the Pinnacle (although that was good also). I think your service is very dependent on the waiter and bus boy. Ours were outstanding. Our wine guy in the dining room was also super. Always asking if we wanted anything within 3 or 4 minutes of us sitting down. The steaks in the Pinnacle were outstanding but probably not wirth an extra $40 more than once.

[Chris-n-Cheryl]

Hi Tom,

I'd like to know what items are on the room service menu but would never ask you to type the whole thing. I'd ideally like to see an actual copy of the room service menu on-line somewhere. Do you have, or know of, a link to a room service menu?

Thank you kindly,
Cheryl :)

[tommy]

Cheryl,It was a basic room service,except you could get a hamburger and the club was good. TOM

[Fit Heart]

Hey Tom & Deb,

Welcome home! I'm curious to know if you did the late stay in St. Thomas on Tuesday during the second week to the Eastern Caribbean? HAL was supposed to switch back to that schedule that week. Also did you dock at Crown Bay there?

Thanks,
Michael

[tommy]

Hi Joy&Fran,Hope you had a good time,I think the problem in the dining room was our waiter and assisitant.Our assistant waiter was working in the upper and lower dining room and never around.It sounds petty but we always had to wait for refills tea,In 2 weeks they still couldnt get special orders right.Deb cant eat garlic we ordered the night before every night no garlic.They got it right 2 times out of 13,and by the time they came around to check we didnt want wait.I think they were helping in other areas and we suffered for it.I agree with the Pinnacle good but not worth the extra 40 bucks. TOM&DEB

[cruise_nut480]

Tommy

Question

Since you mention that you felt the service in the dinning room was lacking, did you have your service charge/ Tip adjusted? This is the only way HAL will get the message that the service needs to be improved. I was on a Princess cruise where the service was poor in the dinning room. I wrote a letter to the pursur and explained why I was reducing my tip. I am sure they got the message. People need to stop paying for service that is not up to the proper standard. On a positive side I have in pass increased my tip for serviece that was outstanding.

Larry

[tommy]

No we didnt adjust the tip.We did however let them know how we felt on the comment cards. TOM

[super_grover]

I think that this is an interesting topic, the question of reducing the tip if the service is sub par. I totally agree that this is an important way to convey your point about the service if a particular individual has not provided the service he or she should. There is a differece though, I feel, between an indiviudal's lazyness or lack of motivation and a problem with the number of servers compared to the number of diners. It would be difficult to decern where the problem lies. A previous post (perhaps in another thread) mentioned a waiter who was working two decks at one sitting and simply did not have the time to attend to his customers in an exemplary manner. This is clearly a problem with the line or particular ship, and not the waiter himself. In this situation a strongly worded comment card as opposed to reducing the income of the worker may be more appropriate. just my opinion.

[tommy]

I think that this is an interesting topic, the question of reducing the tip if the service is sub par. I totally agree that this is an important way to convey your point about the service if a particular individual has not provided the service he or she should. There is a differece though, I feel, between an indiviudal's lazyness or lack of motivation and a problem with the number of servers compared to the number of diners. It would be difficult to decern where the problem lies. A previous post (perhaps in another thread) mentioned a waiter who was working two decks at one sitting and simply did not have the time to attend to his customers in an exemplary manner. This is clearly a problem with the line or particular ship, and not the waiter himself. In this situation a strongly worded comment card as opposed to reducing the income of the worker may be more appropriate. just my opinion.
Thats what I think was going on.But I also think if the tips were not prepaid the waiter would have made sure our tea was refilled ,plates were removed in a timely matter and order was correct,and other things I cant remember now.

[Giorgi-one]

Thats what I think was going on.But I also think if the tips were not prepaid the waiter would have made sure our tea was refilled ,plates were removed in a timely matter and order was correct,and other things I cant remember now.

If you believed that to be true, you should have mentioned the problem to the maitre D, explaining that you did not want to reduce the tip but would prefer that he speak to the waiter.

[babysuzy]

Hi Everyone.
Our family is going on Zuiderdam Turkey week. Can't wait. A little note regarding service in the dining room. I work where we see maritime patients (the staff of the ships). I had a young guy come in complaining of nearly passing out. I think he was just enhausted! They work non-stop for 6 months straight. Time off is considered a span of 5 hours without working. So, if they aren't moving fast enough, they probably can't. You just can't be at peak preformance all the time.
Just a thought.

[cruise_nut480]

Hi Everyone.
Our family is going on Zuiderdam Turkey week. Can't wait. A little note regarding service in the dining room. I work where we see maritime patients (the staff of the ships). I had a young guy come in complaining of nearly passing out. I think he was just enhausted! They work non-stop for 6 months straight. Time off is considered a span of 5 hours without working. So, if they aren't moving fast enough, they probably can't. You just can't be at peak preformance all the time.
Just a thought.
Babysuzy

Did you reprot this to anyone? If not then how do you expect the problem to be resolved? HAL will only fix issues if passengers complain about problems. If they don't have any feedback or reports like yours they think everything is great and will push the crew even more.

Larry

[MandyGirl]

Babysuzy

Did you reprot this to anyone? If not then how do you expect the problem to be resolved? HAL will only fix issues if passengers complain about problems. If they don't have any feedback or reports like yours they think everything is great and will push the crew even more.

Larry
Babysuzy has yet to go on the cruise, Larry. "Turkey week" Zuiderdam cruise departs November 20. :) A long 18 days away... (I'm on the same sailing) I guess there's always customer feedback online though :confused: but surely there are some lurkers on these boards from various cruiselines (management) so they would see the posts as well. Maybe something good to add to her comment card at the end of her cruise in late November?

[Lisa616]

Tom-thanks so much for answering questions so quickly! We'd like to eat at Pinnacle a couple of times, can you offer suggestions as to when good evenings would be. I also read on another ship, I think..that there is a wine dinner on friday nights at Pinnacle. Do you know if Zuiderdam also has this? I also heard that dutch night is very average in the dining room,do you agree? Finally...since we are in port late in St. Thomas, did you find many people took cabs to an area restaurant, or do most stay on the ship? We are taking a daysail with Winifred which is costly..so also renting a car isn't in our plans. Thanks again!!

[tommy]

Lisa, Saturday the first night is good its half price,you will have to call Holland to make the reservation or have ta do it if you are using a ta.Personally I wasnt that impressed with the Pinnacle,not for 40 bucks anyway.We were only in St Thomas to 6pm.Cabs are easy to get not a problem and reasonable price wise. TOM

[since1982]

If I may ask, what did you (or anyone else) paid for an upgrade? Please specify from and to (SS to S).

Did you run into any other B2B cruisers on the ship?

[MandyGirl]

Lisa, Saturday the first night is good its half price,you will have to call Holland to make the reservation or have ta do it if you are using a ta.Personally I wasnt that impressed with the Pinnacle,not for 40 bucks anyway.We were only in St Thomas to 6pm.Cabs are easy to get not a problem and reasonable price wise. TOM
Tom - Thanks for sharing your experiences! :)
I have a couple of questions:
Was your ship scheduled to be in St Thomas until 6:00 or 11:00 PM? Or had it been changed recently? (If so, when did you find out about the change?) Also, were you in St Thomas Tuesday followed by Tortola Wednesday?

We're there on the 11/20 Zui sailing and booked a dinghy for St John 8A-5P assuming the 11P schedule and the email HAL had sent back to me when I double-checked the departure time. I had been told by HAL via email that starting with the 10/23 departures the port time would remain until 11:00 PM as scheduled unlike those that were switched this summer. If we are indeed knocking 5 hours off our port of call, I may be cancelling the dinghy :(

[gizmo]

Tommy,

Thanks for taking the time to let us know how your cruise went.

I also had slow service on a Hal ship back in April. From what I observed it was not the waiter, but the number of tables they had to service. Like you reported ,they didn't seem to be around much between courses. This cut back in personal is hurting Hal's reputation for "service". Many people have come back reporting the same thing.

[tommy]

If I may ask, what did you (or anyone else) paid for an upgrade? Please specify from and to (SS to S).

Did you run into any other B2B cruisers on the ship?
We were comped by Holland the 1st week and paid thru Holland 300pp to stay in thr suite the 2nd week.There were 30 people doing B2B on our sailings. TOM

[tommy]

Mandy,Call Holland to check.Holland e=mailed us about 2 weeks prior to sailing. TOM

[since1982]

Thanks Tom, we will be Z in August doing B2B. But no roll call on this sailing yet, Still early.

[MandyGirl]

Thanks Tom. I just did the online question (contact us) but will also call later. The HAL website is still showing 11PM for St Thomas for our sailing but I realize itineraries can change for no reason and without notice...

[tommy]

Thanks Tom, we will be Z in August doing B2B. But no roll call on this sailing yet, Still early.
What area of Chicago are you from?We are in the south suburbs. TOM

[MandyGirl]

I received a reply from HAL just now regarding Nov 20 sailing of Zui - St Thomas port:

Your sailing is scheduled to be in St. Thomas from 8:00am to 9:00 pm on November 23, 2004. Holland America does reserve the right to change itineraries and/or times if it is deemed necessary.
And of course we all know itineraries can be changed at any time for any reason. Very odd the HAL website still shows (as of today) this specific sailing in port until 11:00 PM on that day....:confused: 9:00 is still better than 6:00 but we'll see what happens in reality that day since my last email said 11:00 and the website says 11:00.

[since1982]

Tom, we are from Des Plaines at least for the last +28 years. Prior to that we both came from the Northwest side of Chicago ( Logan Square).

[crimmft]

Hi Joy&Fran,Hope you had a good time,I think the problem in the dining room was our waiter and assisitant.Our assistant waiter was working in the upper and lower dining room and never around.It sounds petty but we always had to wait for refills tea,In 2 weeks they still couldnt get special orders right.Deb cant eat garlic we ordered the night before every night no garlic.They got it right 2 times out of 13,and by the time they came around to check we didnt want wait.I think they were helping in other areas and we suffered for it.I agree with the Pinnacle good but not worth the extra 40 bucks. TOM&DEB

Thanks Tom & Deb. We had a great time. Best weather we have ever had on a cruise. Someones comment on some staff being worked very hard rung a bell. Our waiter had extended his contract for three months. That meant he was working for 13 months before going home. The lady bartender in the Crow's Nest (Girlie) had also extended to 13 months. She is a single mom and really missed her baby. I think the difficulty HAL (and probably other lines) getting staffing for their many new ships as well as immigration issues have contributed to this. By the way, our Ass't Maitre'd was the best we have ever had. He was around continually and was constantly helping all his tables. All this service for a billed tip. Amazing. Guess we were lucky. We were at the 815 sitting, upstairs.

Fran & Joy

[crimmft]

By the way, we have found real cheap water shoes and snorkel gear at Wal-Mart. If one is near, you might want to check it out.

Fran & Joy

[since1982]

What is there to do in St. Thomas if you are there after 6PM?

Anything nice to see or fun to do when the ship does not leave until 11PM?

[tommy]

Lots to do in St Thomas,you will dock right at Havensight Mall,plenty of shopping.Cabs are easy to take and reasonable,several good beaches.The ship offers some nice excursions,catamarans,Kon Tiki,and others.And then theres St Johns beautiful Island and easy to do on your own and again the ship offers a couple of excursions there.And downtown is a 5 minute cab ride 3 bucks a person more shopping. TOM

[Fit Heart]

Actually it looks like from here on out for a while that the Zuiderdam will be docking at Crown Bay, where a cab is necessary to get to Havensight or wherever you want. This is not the best option, but it's better than have to anchor and tender in. At least the ********** website shows the Z at Crown Bay in November.

Michael

[tommy]

We have been to St Thomas many times never docked there,doesnt sound good.Havensight is a excellent spot.To bad. TOM

[BillandKateC]

We were with Tom and Deb on the first week and We did not have any problems at our table. Our waiter and bus boy were fantastic and the service was perfect. We also went to the Pinicle 2 times including the first night and would go again for sure. The best 2 nights to do the Pinnicle wouls be the first night ( Half price) and Dutch Night . I did not see anything I would eat on the Dutch night menu.
Bill

[tommy]

Hi Bill&Kate,It already seems like a long time ago.Debs already looking for our next cruise.We had some problems in the dining room,agree the best nights for Pinnackle the 1st night or dutch night.Maybe we will meet again on a future cruise. TOM&DEB

[MandyGirl]

Tom - one more question please...

Did you clear immigration in St Thomas since coming from HMC in the Bahamas? If so, when did that start and when were you able to disembark in St Thomas? And, did you have to wait for everyone to clear immigration first before anyone could disembark or could you disembark after clearing?

Many thanks!! :)

[gizmo]

Mandy Girl,

If the ship was coming from HMC, yes, everyone must clear immigration since HMC is a foreign port. This started right after 911.

It is up to immigration if they want to clear the entire ship first or allow pax to leave once they have been cleared. I believe most of the time they allow pax to leave once they have been cleared but there is no guarantee.

[Dutchman]

I'm glad to Hunkey dory is still at his station! He should get an award and a cash bonus for being the friendliest crew member on board! does he still remember everybodies name? He was having a bit of trouble remembering my wifes name, Sandy, when we were aboard the Zin April. He started seeing me and then saying to himseld beach, Sandy beach, Hi Sandy! One morning he saw I was alone at breakfast and in full voice "Where is your Beach!" boy that got a lot of laughs....!!

[MandyGirl]

Thanks gizmo! I had figured that would be the case judging from our last several cruises. I just recall the Maasdam last year getting to wait for over two extra hours in Key West for a few cabins to finally make it to immigration (before ANYONE could disembark). When we cleared immigration in 2003 on our wedding day, we got to go on to the wedding beach and not have to wait on everyone else to clear. Made our 9:00 wedding just fine. :) I hadn't read of any negative comments regarding clearing immigration on the Zui so it must have been going smoothly recently! (Knock on wood!!)

[tommy]

Mandy it was a easy process,they started at 7 we were off the ship around 8. TOM

[tommy]

Dutchman,Hunky Dory is still at his station.It was nice to get a good morning Tom&Deb every day.Not just in the morning but everytime you pass him.He also was the waiter at the table next to us. TOM

[MandyGirl]

Mandy it was a easy process,they started at 7 we were off the ship around 8. TOMThanks Tom!! We're aiming to be on the 9:00 Red Hook - Cruz Bay ferry and are picking up a wedding cake upon arrival to St John from the same chef who made our original wedding cake. :) We are looking so forward to returning to our wedding beach. :D So we'll definitely be in line bright and early for immigration. Would love to make an 8:00 ferry but if not the 9:00 is fine. (Port time is stated as 8:00 but we have been able to disembark early at some ports previously).

[tommy]

Best of luck to you.Which sailing are you on? TOM

[MandyGirl]

Tom - We're on the Nov 20 Thanksgiving sailing. :) We are looking so forward to it! One of our favorite memories from Maasdam last Thanksgiving was having afternoon tea and getting the opportunity to meet sooo many neat and wonderful people each day!

[tommy]

Mandy,Your going to have a great time we did.Miss it already.Make sure to look up Hunky Dory and say hi.Aloso if I havent mentioned it yet catch the shows,Joel Mason,and Edge.The comedian is from Chicago so Iam bias toward him Danny Storts. TOM

[Nautical Wheeler]

We were on the Z during the week of 16 Oct. The service we had in the Vista Dining Room was absolutely outstanding, probably better than that we had in the Pinnacle (although that was good also). I think your service is very dependent on the waiter and bus boy. Ours were outstanding. Our wine guy in the dining room was also super. Always asking if we wanted anything within 3 or 4 minutes of us sitting down. The steaks in the Pinnacle were outstanding but probably not wirth an extra $40 more than once.
We just returned from the Oosterdam today and had a wonderful cruise with the exception of our dining room service and wine service. We had preordered wine for each meal and when we arrived there was a bottle of red on the table and a bucket of white at the side. Unfortunately it took an average of 25-30 minutes for us to have a wine steward open one of them. This was after many requests of our waiter and whoever else we could flag down. We usually were finishing up our wine with or after desert as our food service was very impersonal and rushed. :( Also, there were 4 of us and if someone was a little slow in say eating their soup or appetizer the other people at the table were being served the next course before that person was finished. We had the 8:30 seating and on some evenings were out the door by 9:15. Since the entertainment didn't start until 10:30 it left a long time to hang around waiting for the show. When we couldn't take it any more and finally spoke to the chief steward our service improved but almost to the point of being patronizing. I eventually asked our waiter his name as he never bothered to introduce himself. We ate in the Pinnacle twice and the service was much better. Still had the same problem with the wine steward though.:( Interesting enough we also had a problem with room service. On the first morning we ordered a full breakfast and my eggs came with no ham. The food was hot and the eggs done perfectly. I shared my hubby's bacon. The rest of the week we just ordered juice and coffee.......one carafe of decaf and one of regular. The first day they didn't bother to tell us which was which and it was unmarked so we had to call. Twice they just didn't bring the decaf so we had to call and one day when they brought the decaf they brought two carafes... and two cartons of milk. Each day was a new adventure. It was almost comical.
The quality, taste and presentation of the food in all the restaurants was wonderful it's a shame it had to be ruined by the poor service. On several occasions in the Lido we had to remove our own dirty dishes before we could go for another serving and on other days the guys were right there. Not consistent. We left with the impression that they did not have enough help. Our waiter in the dining room had 22 passengers to serve.
We loved our cruise and had a wonderful time with the exception of the food service and would certainly cruise HAL again. Making plans now. :) Your good experience gives us hope!

[tommy]

Nautical,We had pretty much the same expierience on the Zuiderdam. TOM

[DB469]

Hi Tommy and Nautical Wheeler, Sorry you experienced the problem with the wine....I had that experience on another cruise line, what I did was cancelled my wine package and gave an explanation, that very same evening during dinner the Wine (Forgot what they call him) Manager came over and apologized and gave us a free bottle of wine and asked if we wanted our wine package back. Maybe the best thing to do is not to pre-order wine and order each evening? Just my opinion......so glad to hear you liked and enjoyed the food, I booked up my 30th cruise first time on HAL. :)

[tommy]

Ours wasnt really with wine stewert,but service in general.Waiter and as. waiter out of sight for what seemed like 15 to 20 minutes.And not getting our dinner right and not checking on it until everyone else had finished,and other things also. TOM