Zuiderdam Oct 8-15

A much anticipated cruise turned out great. Here goes.... EMBARKATION-- Doors opened at 11:30 am. We then informed my mom that we had upgraded her to a Suite and the fun began. She was quite excited. Only one person in line in front of us. We were escorted to the Neptune Lounge where we made reservations for the Pinnacle, evening hot hors d'oeuvres and waited for our rooms to be ready. S SUITE ROOM---Just as we remembered it. The smile on mom's face made the extra we spent well worth it. The beds are as comfortable as ever. Our room steward was always there to take care of any special request with a smile. We enjoyed the extra large balcony at sail away with champagne and each evening we would meet in each others room for our hors d'oeuvres and wine. If it fits in the budget, everyone should try this suite at least once. DINING----We noticed a significant change in the menu's in the main dining room. Quite a variety and IMO the food was the best we have ever had on a Holland ship. Presentation was beautiful. Great job Holland!! Lido was fine. Enjoyed the bread pudding with vanilla sauce too, too many days but oh so good. Sushi was available and the rest was your typical Lido food. Burgers are very good and a taco bar was by the pool. PINNACLE GRILL----Only disappointment we had with service. The food was great; however, the wine steward very rude and service lacked that personal touch. I found myself wishing I were in the main dining room. I have always been a big fan of the Pinnacle but with this experience it may be awhile before I go back. We also ate there one morning for breakfast. Again, nothing special. ENTERTAINMENT-----How lucky we were to have Joel Mason on our cruise again. Great show, what an entertainer. We didn't attend any other shows since I noticed the productions seemed to be the same as our last cruise on Zuiderdam. PORTS OF CALL----A big disappointment that our Half Moon Cay day was stormy. We did not go ashore. I was looking forward to sinking my feet in that soft floury sand but will have to wait until the next time. Costa Maya is not much to see. Key West was your party town but we enjoyed walking around for awhile and then went back and enjoyed the empty ship. Overall, weather was great except the first day. The captain kept us on smooth seas and in good weather on our sea days. TO BE CONTINUED-----------

DISEMBARKATION----Not good. Everyone gathered by the gangway even though an announcement was made to only go to the lounges to wait for your color to be called. They let everyone disembark and did not go by colors. A real mess. Other than a couple of things, this cruise was great. A time to unwind and spend with family. The ship was in good shape and the crew was always cleaning and shining. Some things need fixing and are scheduled for maintenance in drydock. Again, I cannot say enough good things about the crew. They are friendly, smiling and always there to help. How do they do it week after week. Thanks to Holland for providing such a great product. Hope each of you find your next cruise to be as great as the one I just got off of. Any questions, I will be happy to answer. Happy Sailing!!

Sandy Beach,

Good review. Glad to see that you had a good cruise. We were on Zuiderdam for the eastern Carribean cruise the week before you. We had a great time also with most of our experience being the same as yours. We had a great evening in the Pinnacle Grill the first night, but had a similar experience as you the second night. I also thought that the wine steward was rude and the waiter we had the second time left something to be desired. Anyway, we didn't let any of that ruin our cruise. Welcome home,

Richard & Judie

We generally had a good time too. We heard so much about HAL food, and were really anticipating great stuff. The Lido variety was great, plenty of choices, but no matter what I had was overloaded with sodium. The pasta meat sauce was too salty to eat. As was any soup I had all week. The deli had some nice wraps, the Asian bar was rich in salt too. somebody told me the pizza was the best on the high seas-the winner and still champ is Princess on that one. (What do I know? I live in New York where there is world class pizza on every corner). I'd give the food a 2 on 1-5. Both Princess and Royal Carib have HAL beat for eats.

"Elton" Joel was a blast! He was a lot of fun. So was the gymnast.

The ship is kind of blah for being so new. The atrium is ho-hum-sort of a Motel 6 version of opulence.

I'd give the whole cruise a 3.0 on a 5 scale, I didn't have a bad time, just compared to many other cruises it lacked "WOW" in the food dept,which I was really looking for. I did enjoy the relative peacefulness on deck compared to most other boat rides. But hey, as we say in NY, "sau zeech his own!"

Nice review Sandy. Those S Suites are such a nice way to cruise. Sorry you missed HMC, it wasnt as bad as it seemed. We thought Costa Maya was cool, but we did venture out a bit from the port.

As for Theo Cay's comment about the atrium, I tend to agree, it is little and perhaps a bit cheesy. But, hey, why do we even need an atrium? I kind of like HAL's concept of a smaller atrium and larger cabins.

I should have some time to compose my review of this same cruise tomorrow.

Tim

Theo Cay, Possibly being from New York you were looking for more excitement. We sailed for relaxation and that is just what we got. I agree the ship is not the most elegant but the service from the crew makes up for any lack of beauty. As far as the food, maybe the selections I made were different from yours and suited my taste better. Food is so subjective. I just wanted to make a point that it was definitely several steps above what we experienced in the past in the dining room. I believe they are moving in the right direction. Glad you enjoyed it even though it didn't have the glitz. Happy Sailing!!

Hi Sandy B.,

My NY reference was intended only as a pizza critic. The relaxed atmosphere on Zuidy gets strait 10's from me. I go to relax too, and other lines drive me crazy with "forced" fun-just leave me alone! If I want to hear music, I have a walkman. The whole cruise was great, just food was a dissapointment for me.. You're right about food being a subjective thing,but did I mention I am a retired Air Force chef-so, objectively, I am a bit more critical, since I've served over 50,000 meals-! (and I'm still hungry!) Hey, I've had troops tell me our food stunk sometimes too, and maybe it did. Cooking is an art, I don't know how to describe it, but I know it when I see it!:)

Sandy Beach

Glad you had a good trip. Isn't it great how some people just don't think that the rules apply to them (disembarkment).

Nice review. Short, sweet, and to the point////

Jim & Ruth

Sandy Beach,

Do you recall if the ship changed times at any of the ports (i.e., did the ship's time and the island time not match?) We're trying to plan independent tours and don't want to miss the boat! :)

Sandy Beach,

Do you recall if the ship changed times at any of the ports (i.e., did the ship's time and the island time not match?) We're trying to plan independent tours and don't want to miss the boat! :)

Yes, the ship did change their time to match the local time.

Tim

I was on the Zuiderdam from the 8th to the 15th, and had a fantastic time - which to be honest, was what I expected! :)

I'd been on the Zuiderdam before, I've got a very good sense of direction and so knew my way around the ship extremely well. So for the first few days, I think that was rather obvious because people were forever coming up to me and asking if I knew where such-and-such a room was and how to get there! Or maybe it's my English accent :rolleyes:

Something that did annoy me that week was the day at Key West. Some folks didn't bother going to immigration when they were called, which delayed the start of the day ashore. To me, this was no more than a minor annoyance - but to others it was more serious. That evening, I found out from others on our table that this meant one excursion had to be cut short!

I really wish I'd remembered the cabin number of the people who didn't turn up to immigration......

Vampire Parrot, I, too, remember the announcement for the passenger that didnot show up at immigration. I would just die if they called my name over and over but then again no one really knows who I am. I don't know how they can make things any clearer. Since we weren't in any hurry, we just chuckled over it. Too bad for those on excursions.

As mentioned above, yes, island time was observed.