Looking for Zuiderdam good reviews!

We are going on a Baltic cruise in July, and certainly this is a port heavy cruise! So really I was looking at ports and cruise price vs. the ship itself. The Zuiderdam veranda price was about 1/2 that of a comparable Celebrity or Princess (as 3rd and 4th passengers were free on HA). Notwithstanding all the above, I really seem to be reading a lot of negative reviews on this ship.

And not the mid range three or four star when you are bothered by some small things on the cruise, but these seem to be one star and "I'm never doing that again" language.

I've been on Holland a number of times, and we did feel like our 2017 cruise on the NA was appreciably different than a similar Holland cruise five years prior BUT these reviews are in a whole other category.

I guess I wonder if there are really all these problems, then what is going on? Is it purely a budget issue which has trickled down to all aspects of cruising? Are some ships in the HA line run differently than others?

We did the Baltic on the Zuiderdam over a year ago and there were dreadful reviews prior to our trip too - rusting bucket of bolts that needed to be scrapped was one of them. Indeed when we boarded her, she was looking pretty shabby on the outside.

Turns out either weather or port regulations kept her from getting her hull painted before our arrival but in each port they were out painting her bit by bit until the cruise ended and she sparkled yet again like a true HAL princess. Other than that, a year ago, and despite all those terrible reviews she was just fine. And has some of our most favorite cabins - the SY suites - one down from a Neptune and one up from a verandah.

We are going on a Baltic cruise in July, and certainly this is a port heavy cruise! So really I was looking at ports and cruise price vs. the ship itself. The Zuiderdam veranda price was about 1/2 that of a comparable Celebrity or Princess (as 3rd and 4th passengers were free on HA). Notwithstanding all the above, I really seem to be reading a lot of negative reviews on this ship.

And not the mid range three or four star when you are bothered by some small things on the cruise, but these seem to be one star and "I'm never doing that again" language.

 

I've been on Holland a number of times, and we did feel like our 2017 cruise on the NA was appreciably different than a similar Holland cruise five years prior BUT these reviews are in a whole other category.

 

I guess I wonder if there are really all these problems, then what is going on? Is it purely a budget issue which has trickled down to all aspects of cruising? Are some ships in the HA line run differently than others?

We were on the Zuiderdam this past Thanksgiving for an 11 day partial transit of the Panama Canal. To be honest, I think this is my favorite ship. If I recall, ours was the second cruise after drydock. What do I love? First is the decor of the ship. It is very old world European with beautiful artwork and statues around the ship. We also find that it is a perfect size. You can get from one end to the other fairly quickly. The service was wonderful but we find that service on all of the HAL ships is great. We got a little lazy on this cruise and ate dinner in the Lido more than we normally do. You can get almost everything that they serve in the MDR up in the Lido - including lobster. But...no escargot in the Lido.

We cruised for one week over Christmas on the Koningsdam and that was a totally different experience. We had a great time and the ship was beautiful but I felt it missed the warmth of the Zuiderdam.

I think you'll have a great time on the ship but, then again, I am happy on any DAM ship!! And, by the way, the Baltics cruise is FABULOUS!!

Helen

We were on a ten day Zuiderdam cruise which left on 1/7/18.

Great ship, great onboard experience, and would sail her again with no qualms.

I liked Zuide so much at Thanksgiving I booked to go on her again this June for the Summer Solistice sailing. Thinking about booking the Thanksgiving saiing for Nov 2018 again too. They have to pay me to stay away!

We sailed Zuiderdam Quebec to New York in October. Excellent service, good food, moderate entertainment, no problems with cabin or any facilities.

Not up to superior standard of the past, but certainly on a par (at least) with other mass market lines.

We are sailing on the Zuiderdam on Baltic & Northern Isles cruise on 27th June, 2018. This will be the 3rd cruise on the Zuiderdam for us. We chose the cruise for the itinerary but were really happy to be on the Z.

We will be in a Signature Suite and are really looking forward to the latest update to the ship.

We loved our 10 day Panama Canal cruise last Jan on Zuiderdamon Zuiderdam so much, we booked again right away. We returned this past Saturday and after dry dock, it's better than ever. We were in a Neptune Suite and it was beautiful. Love the flat screen with on demand tv, live tv, movies, menus. We don't really watch tv, but nice to turn it on while trying to sleep. The staff was wonderful as I expect from HAL and as always, we enjoyed BB King. Love Zuiderdam.

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I was on the Zuiderdam from Dec. 27 - Jan. 7 for a partial Canal Transit cruise. I had been on her in October 2016.

I noticed some things that were overlooked in the massive redesign of Deck 2 in the dry-dock -- carpets are worn in places and some angels need replacing/repainting, but those cosmetic things did not affect the cruise in the least.

The ship was FULL! while I was on it. That was the biggest issue. We had a party of 6 and it was hard to find table for all of us in the Lido, or places for all of us to sit together in the bars. With the FULL ship and rude passengers, it was impossible for my husband to find a lounge chair most days. And there was a ping-pong tournament that was going from before 8am until after 10pm every day and the placement of the ping pong tables was bad. The players were not cognizant of people waking behind them taking the only path from the forward elevators to the Lido, so there were several collisions and several missed shots because of people passing by.

But the ship itself is great. My issues were either minor cosmetic things or to do with the number and behavior of passengers. You'll have a great time!

I was on the Zuiderdam from Dec. 27 - Jan. 7 for a partial Canal Transit cruise. I had been on her in October 2016.

 

I noticed some things that were overlooked in the massive redesign of Deck 2 in the dry-dock -- carpets are worn in places and some angels need replacing/repainting, but those cosmetic things did not affect the cruise in the least.

 

The ship was FULL! while I was on it. That was the biggest issue. We had a party of 6 and it was hard to find table for all of us in the Lido, or places for all of us to sit together in the bars. With the FULL ship and rude passengers, it was impossible for my husband to find a lounge chair most days. And there was a ping-pong tournament that was going from before 8am until after 10pm every day and the placement of the ping pong tables was bad. The players were not cognizant of people waking behind them taking the only path from the forward elevators to the Lido, so there were several collisions and several missed shots because of people passing by.

 

But the ship itself is great. My issues were either minor cosmetic things or to do with the number and behavior of passengers. You'll have a great time!

We have found all holiday cruises are very impacted - very different vibe than the typical HAL cruise.

We have found all holiday cruises are very impacted - very different vibe than the typical HAL cruise.

I agree about Holiday cruises. We have done 3 if not 4 spring break cruises and I never need to do that again. Ever. When my boys were younger we would do cruises the first week of December which was heavenly.

We were on the Zuiderdam this past April/May for a 40 day TA, Baltics, Norway, British Isles. A fabulous itinerary, great ship, no complaints about food, but what impressed us most was how well the ship was run - the best captain and crew. It was our 3rd time on the Z and we would be first in line to cruise on the ship again.

We were on the 12/27 sailing of the Zuiderdam. Like many mentioned this was a busy holiday cruise. We didn’t find it to be any busier than the 4 other holiday cruises we’ve done on NCL or HA. We had excellent service throughout the ship. Husband and wife bartender team, Gary and Richele, provided excellent service at happy hour in the Ocean Bar. Our room steward Tre, was personable and greeted us by name..... all 6 of us, throughout the day. We had no complaints about the condition of our room or any of the common areas of the ship. The staff of the Neptune Lounge easily and happily handled any requests we made. Our service in the main dining room was top notch. Arte remembered our drink orders after the first night. He remembered that my mom and I preferred smaller portions at dinner and brought us a 1/2 sized portion each night.

Our only complaints were really the fault of HAL. We found the immigration lines at Fort Lauderdale to be understaffed.

We would gladly sail the Zuiderdam again.

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We were on the 12/27 sailing of the Zuiderdam. Like many mentioned this was a busy holiday cruise. We didn’t find it to be any busier than the 4 other holiday cruises we’ve done on NCL or HA. We had excellent service throughout the ship. Husband and wife bartender team, Gary and Richele, provided excellent service at happy hour in the Ocean Bar. Our room steward Tre, was personable and greeted us by name..... all 6 of us, throughout the day. We had no complaints about the condition of our room or any of the common areas of the ship. The staff of the Neptune Lounge easily and happily handled any requests we made. Our service in the main dining room was top notch. Arte remembered our drink orders after the first night. He remembered that my mom and I preferred smaller portions at dinner and brought us a 1/2 sized portion each night.

 

Our only complaints were really the fault of HAL. We found the immigration lines at Fort Lauderdale to be understaffed.

 

We would gladly sail the Zuiderdam again.

 

 

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I was on the 12/27 sailing. They actually halted disembarkation about 9:00 to let the lines go down, so if you were off before that it took over an hour to get through Immigration, but after that we breezed through with no problems in about 15 minutes

Zuiderdam had a multi million dollar drydock in October where all the flooring other than the dining rooms as replaced. Lots of new furniture and interactive flat screen TVs. She looked great in November. Only thing lacking was lounge pads need replacement. She is lovely.

We got off from her in early December 2017 after a 10 day sailing. It was a great experience. I would give it two thumbs up!! :D

We just did the partial transit of the Panama Canal on the Zuiderdam, January 17th to the 27th.

No complaints at all!

As always, the crew is friendly, professional, patient, etc. etc. etc!

I was on the 12/27 sailing. They actually halted disembarkation about 9:00 to let the lines go down, so if you were off before that it took over an hour to get through Immigration, but after that we breezed through with no problems in about 15 minutes

We were off pretty quickly as we had used luggage direct and walked off early. Glad to know it improved.

We were off pretty quickly as we had used luggage direct and walked off early. Glad to know it improved.

Wish we could do that for our drive home! We do the expedited carry off, but it would be nice to walk off without dragging all the stuff!

I was on last July in the Baltics. It was my first HAL cruise. I liked it enough to book 24 days on the oosterdam this summer (and it was the first time I bought a FCC)

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just off the feb 7th to 18th partial transit on the zuiderdam...loved the ship...the old world elegance...the spotless condition of all public spaces...the food was fine...we are not foodies....the service was superb with the exception of the pinnacle grill which seemed woefully understaffed. the cabin seemed small at first...a b-level veranda...(we were just on seabourn last nov which has huge cabins and beautiful bathrooms)...but it provided us with a loveseat and table for room service and a large interactive tv. the shows were typical cruise shows...singers and dancers and a comedian and a magician. but the zuiderdam made up for that with a fabulous steel band and an exceptional classical quintet..imho. the lincoln center stage was the gem that set this ship and cruise apart for us. this ship has aged well...i would book a cruise on the zuiderdam in a heartbeat...and probably will.

We are going on a Baltic cruise in July, and certainly this is a port heavy cruise! So really I was looking at ports and cruise price vs. the ship itself. The Zuiderdam veranda price was about 1/2 that of a comparable Celebrity or Princess (as 3rd and 4th passengers were free on HA). Notwithstanding all the above, I really seem to be reading a lot of negative reviews on this ship.

And not the mid range three or four star when you are bothered by some small things on the cruise, but these seem to be one star and "I'm never doing that again" language.

 

I've been on Holland a number of times, and we did feel like our 2017 cruise on the NA was appreciably different than a similar Holland cruise five years prior BUT these reviews are in a whole other category.

 

I guess I wonder if there are really all these problems, then what is going on? Is it purely a budget issue which has trickled down to all aspects of cruising? Are some ships in the HA line run differently than others?

we are going on this cruise in july also.....I'm sure everything will be fine .....we also got a good price

just off the feb 7th to 18th partial transit on the zuiderdam...loved the ship...the old world elegance...the spotless condition of all public spaces...the food was fine...we are not foodies....the service was superb with the exception of the pinnacle grill which seemed woefully understaffed. the cabin seemed small at first...a b-level veranda...(we were just on seabourn last nov which has huge cabins and beautiful bathrooms)...but it provided us with a loveseat and table for room service and a large interactive tv. the shows were typical cruise shows...singers and dancers and a comedian and a magician. but the zuiderdam made up for that with a fabulous steel band and an exceptional classical quintet..imho. the lincoln center stage was the gem that set this ship and cruise apart for us. this ship has aged well...i would book a cruise on the zuiderdam in a heartbeat...and probably will.

I was on the cruise right before yours and I totally agree that I would sail on the Zuiderdam again. Ship is spotless and beautiful. Service and food were also very good. Lunch in Pinnacle grill was great but dinner was disappointing. We were in a Signature suite and had plenty of room and storage. Six of us traveled together and no complaints the 11 days on the Zuiderdam................I am sure you will enjoy your cruise as much as we all did.

I was on the cruise right before yours and I totally agree that I would sail on the Zuiderdam again. Ship is spotless and beautiful. Service and food were also very good. Lunch in Pinnacle grill was great but dinner was disappointing. We were in a Signature suite and had plenty of room and storage. Six of us traveled together and no complaints the 11 days on the Zuiderdam................I am sure you will enjoy your cruise as much as we all did.

Great to hear!

We’ll be on our first HAL cruise on the Zuiderdam next month!

Looking more forward to it every day!

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I was on the Zuiderdam August 2017 Baltic/transatlantic cruise-the ship was comfortable, but showing it's age. Apparently, the ship was in dry dock late last year so I am sure it has improved greatly. I was on Zuiderdam's sister ship,Westerdam, last month(Panama Canal) and it also had been in dry dock recently and was very nice, updated decor, interactive flatscreen tvs.

I would recommend HAL for the Baltic cruise that you are considering and would further suggest looking into SPB tours, especially for excursions in St Petersburg.

Happy Sailing and enjoy your cruise.