Another Zuiderdam review! (Jan 15-25, 2016)

Just settling in from a great cruise on the Zuiderdam. This was our "get-out-of-New-Jersey" cruise... unfortunately we came back a bit too soon. Had to drag suitcases through over a foot of unplowed snow in the driveway. Wish I were still on the "Dam" ship!!

Here's my long review:

EMBARKATION—We arrived on an early flight and were in Group 3 to enter the ship. No lines at check-in but had to wait until after 11:30 to board the ship. Our cabin was ready and we went up to Deck 9 Lido for an uncrowded lunch. Was very surprised that the “no touch” rules were not in effect. On our last HAL cruise (2014) the servers handed us everything for the first 2 days to help prevent the spread of germs. There were hand sanitizer machines outside the Lido but many folks by-passed them. Our luggage was in our room when we returned from lunch. We explored the ship a little bit to see where the lounges were and I wanted to check out the spa area. Unfortunately it was a wet and rainy sail-away so there was no need to go out on deck. The mandatory lifeboat drill was an easy check-in with your room card indoors near your station.

SHIP—Our last HAL cruise was on the Statendam (2014) so it took a few days to get used to a new ship. The inside of the Zuiderdam is quite lovely and one can tell that most rugs had been replaced in the dry dock last spring (in a few places the seaming could be better). Gone are the "days of the week"rugs in the elevators—I really missed them! The outside of the ship still needs a bit of “touch-up” and there was constant work being done (painting, sanding, welding). During the time we were there I never heard any complaints about elevators not working, air conditioning problems or toilets overflowing. On the last day 2 people mentioned that their toilets occasionally wouldn’t flush but then several hours later would spontaneously flush. And then it happened to ours the very last night… fine by morning. The lounge areas within the ship seem more closed than I remember other HAL ships (we’ve been on Statendam, Veendam, Ryndam and Rotterdam.) At first I didn’t care for the closed in aspect but later in the cruise enjoyed those quiet areas!!

CABIN—# 4123 Balcony catagory VA Deck 4 Aft (but almost mid-ship) We had booked a VE guarantee balcony and were given a VA balcony. It is the last room before the lifeboats so the balcony has a wrap-around railing on one side, only cabins to the right. We were pleasantly surprised that the view was quite nice and open. It was never windy and we never smelled smoke from any of the cabins to our right or above. The cabin itself was typically average—queen bed, 2 end tables with small drawers, small couch (that could sleep one but I can’t imagine 3 people in the room) small desk with cabinet with hair dryer attached (that didn’t work but an unattached one was included) another shelf with glasses and a mini-bar fridge. Three closet sections with adjustable shelves and a safe. There were drawers under the bed with extra pillows and bedding that could have been removed but the drawers were so awkward to reach and open we didn’t use them. There were also 2 cabinets above the couch that a TALL person could use (not me)—one of the hinges was broken on ours. I found the storage space a bit on the tight side (we felt we had more room before) Since we pack our clothes and other items in packing cubes we left them in the cubes to reduce clutter and help keep things organized.

I was really happy our room was on Deck 4. Although the ship never rocked to any extreme there were a few days that there was a lot of motion and I do much better on a lower deck. I frequently could feel a lot more motion in the Lido (Deck 9) or Crow’s Nest (Deck 10) and would leave those areas for lower decks— another reason for me never to book a guarantee and “leave it to chance”!!

FOOD— Food is always subjective so YMMV!! I love the choices available in the Lido for breakfast and lunch. There really is something for everyone. I wish there was more variety in fresh fruit—the strawberries disappear after day one, mangoes make a brief appearance, berries are only around the cheeses at lunch but there are melons—LOTS of melons!!! Eggs can be made to order, waffles are really good and there are plenty of baked goods. For lunch -so many choices-- sushi, asian, pizza, hot foods, ready-made sandwiches or how-you-want. I love the variety of ingredients for salads that you can make yourself. I wish all the cheese were pre-cut/sliced…might keep a few less fingers touching it. I avoided the desserts but they looked good as did the ice cream! Burgers and tacos were available by the pool as well. No excuse for hunger...

We had 5:30 seating at a table for 8. Not what we requested since tables for 8 are always the slowest to be served. The food in the MDR was good…not outstanding but good. I didn’t find any of the presentations overly “pretty” (I like to take pictures of food and none of it inspired me). The prime rib was tasty as well as the shrimp and fillet. Lobster tail was moist, Salmon tended to be dry. Soups were unusual in that they were served with the ingredients in the bowl and then the liquid poured over them. Cold soups were a bit over-sweet. Best dessert was the totally decadent chocolate cake!

STAFF—Enough can’t be said about the hard-working staff around the ship. The cabins were always cleaned well, we were always greeted pleasantly and everyone was always busy!! One thing they did differently on this sailing was to make the time change (when we “lost” an hour) occur doing the day but when we “gained” an hour it occurred at night. That way passengers and staff didn’t lose any sleep. It was disconcerting though to go to lunch at 11:45 and at noon it suddenly became 1 o’clock!

ENTERTAINMENT— Stage shows— We did not feel that the Zuiderdam singers and dancers were topnotch. They work hard, had great costumes but their voices did not match their efforts. The comedian Jim McCue was good, Bob Brizendine, Magician was very good (I missed it but others told me he was very good!) and Sephira, dueling violins were EXCELLENT!! Around the ship our favorites were Tom Casey at the Piano Bar and Adagio—violin and piano duo. Jeremy Hales, our cruise director did a great job!

The Q&A session with Captain van Donselaar was excellent and not to be missed!

Among other activities we enjoyed were the Steel Pan Lessons with Kevin (and listening to him play by the Aft pool) Windows 10 Instruction (DH was addicted to them but you needed to go early to get a seat at only a dozen computers) Learning to make Panama Rolls in the Culinary Arts Center! Walking on the Promenade Deck, Reading anywhere you could find a quiet spot, or finding a bit of sun on the Observation Deck!! Lots to do, never enough time.

EXCURSIONS—Half Moon Cay— the morning looked pretty gray and overcast so folks didn’t seem to be rushing to the tenders and onto the island. I went over about 9:30 to claim our clamshell and there were plenty available as it looked like there were be no sun. Stuck my feet in the water and it didn’t seem inviting so I took a long walk on the beach. Came back and read awhile in my chair. DH came over in time to head over to the bar-b-que (the chicken is always so tasty and the brownies, yummy!) And the SUN came out. Back to the clamshell and into the water which by then had calmed down, no waves and seemed to warm up. It was delightful! Didn’t want to leave. Wish HAL would make it a longer island stay!

Aruba—We booked a private tour with “SonnyTours” that gave us an excellent 3 and a half hour tour all around the very dry and desert-like island! When we got back we decided to go to the Bar-b-Que on Deck instead of eating in the Main dining room. Poor choice—long lines, few tables available outside and I didn’t think the food was that good. But we had planned to meet friends who have a time share in Aruba at “Iguana Joe’s” at 7:30.

Panama— We took the “Walking tour of Old and New Panama City” which SHOULD have been a great tour. It’s a HAL sponsored tour (the only way you are allowed to take a tour at Panama) and the tour guides are just not as well-trained or as invested as private tour businesses. It’s a long bus ride to Panama City and back again to Colon and we were provided with lots of information. But the logistics of the tour were poorly handled. (I will leave a review on HAL website).

Port Limon, Costa Rica— Again we booked a private tour with Eduardo at YourLuckyTour and enjoyed learning about the fruits of Costa Rica, visiting a Banana Plantation, a walk thru the rainforest where we found poisonous frogs and riding on a small boat in the Tortuguero Canal looking for birds, iguana, cayman and other animals. As we were leaving the canal it started to rain so we skipped go to the beaches and returned to the ship.

Grand Cayman— Unfortunately rough weather conditions made tender landing impossible on the island.

DISEMBARKATION— We had an 11:45 flight back to Philadelphia and snow (ugh!) Disembarkation time was 8:30-8:45 — we weren’t called until almost 9:30 (by then we were waiting upstairs near the Queen’s Lounge. Apparently there had been “some problem” and things were delayed. One story we got was that there were not enough agents (we saw 4 when we went through) . Another story was that someone had gotten sick and they had to clean it up before more people could go down the stairway. Anyway we were called at 9:30 and off the ship by 9:45 because and ONLY because we have GOES cards (Global Entry) and we zipped right thru the customs line while several hundred (at least) were winding their way around. We were in a taxi and on our way to the airport in minutes. Back to cold, snowy reality!

Great detailed review. Enjoyed reading it-thanks for sharing. We quite like the Zuiderdam, but then, I found I like all the Dam ships! :)

One thing we learned is that we do not like a table larger than with 6 people. We have never done the set dining though and are willing to stand in line to get a table with 6 or less.

Welcome back to the snow-hope all is well at your house. Quite a change in climate for you!

Glad you had a great cruise. Thanks for your review.

Enjoyed your very thorough and detailed review.

Keith

Thanks for review!

Thank you for taking the time to write your detailed review.

Thanks for the review. We were on the Zuiderdam for the cruise just prior to yours. At the first performance by the onboard singers and dancers, the cruise director announced that that night was their first show together. Hopefully, the level of their performance will improve as they work together.

I'm glad embarkation went okay. We were able to get off the ship before the rain got heavy. With the weather we experience after leaving the ship, I was wondering whether passengers would have problems with the muster drill. Glad to hear it went alright for you.

Thx for taking time to do the review.

Thank you for your review.

ENTERTAINMENT— Stage shows— We did not feel that the Zuiderdam singers and dancers were topnotch. They work hard, had great costumes but their voices did not match their efforts. The comedian Jim McCue was good, Bob Brizendine, Magician was very good (I missed it but others told me he was very good!) and Sephira, dueling violins were EXCELLENT!! Around the ship our favorites were Tom Casey at the Piano Bar and Adagio—violin and piano duo. Jeremy Hales, our cruise director did a great job!

Thank you for mentioning the entertainment. Especially thank you for mentioning the entertainers by name.

Welcome back to winter. ;)

Thank you for mentioning the entertainment. Especially thank you for mentioning the entertainers by name.

 

Welcome back to winter. ;)

You're welcome... Just wish I had the Adagio couple's name!!

Someone asked (in real-life) which cruise I liked better--the complete transit or this partial transit and I do have to say that the complete transit is really the way to go if you are able. It just seemed that we got a much better lock lecture and more information. The transit through more locks throughout the day gave us the ability to see the ship go through more locks and we walked around the ship seeing them from different views. Also the ports were more varied.

Of course the Panama Buns tasted just as good the second time around!!!

Someone asked (in real-life) which cruise I liked better--the complete transit or this partial transit and I do have to say that the complete transit is really the way to go if you are able. It just seemed that we got a much better lock lecture and more information. The transit through more locks throughout the day gave us the ability to see the ship go through more locks and we walked around the ship seeing them from different views. Also the ports were more varied.

 

Of course the Panama Buns tasted just as good the second time around!!!

I agree that the complete has the advantage. We have done both twice. One nice thing about the partial is you get off and for take the train thru Panama (or any of the other tours). But IMHO even that doesn't compare to going completely thru the canal!

we didn't have much fruit selection on Thanks. cruise. Then again, even the grocery store didn't. Weather in growing areas has been different this year.

I guess I should pray for rain embarkation day so we can skip standing outside for an hour!

Half Moon Cay...glad you enjoyed. Many ccers seem to be tired of going there.

we didn't have much fruit selection on Thanks. cruise. Then again, even the grocery store didn't. Weather in growing areas has been different this year.

 

I guess I should pray for rain embarkation day so we can skip standing outside for an hour!

 

Half Moon Cay...glad you enjoyed. Many ccers seem to be tired of going there.

I like Half Moon Cay when I can get in that beautiful green/blue water -- Living in the Northeast it never gets old for me to be able to swim in the ocean in January!!

Great review - thanks! :) We've done this cruise a couple of times and love those Panama Rolls, too!

Thanks so much for the review. We love Iguana Joe's too. We go for a week to Aruba every year and love Smokey Bones too that is in the high rise section. It is a sister restaurant of Iguana Joe's.

That is really weird that they change the time in the middle of the day. SO glad you mentioned that.

Sherry

 

EMBARKATION—We arrived on an early flight and were in Group 3 to enter the ship. No lines at check-in but had to wait until after 11:30 to board the ship.

I was curious what time you got to the port? We got there about 11:20, I think, and were boarding group 12. It seems you're going to wait an hour, whether it's getting there early enough to be in 1-3, or later.

Thanks for the write-up, agree with most everything you wrote!

 

That is really weird that they change the time in the middle of the day. SO glad you mentioned that.

Sherry

They joke about shortening your day, but doing the other change at night to give you an extra hour of sleep. I'd agree, though, it was weird to finish lunch at 12:30, now 1:30, then have to be at dinner at 5:30.

I agree that the complete has the advantage. We have done both twice. One nice thing about the partial is you get off and for take the train thru Panama (or any of the other tours). But IMHO even that doesn't compare to going completely thru the canal!

Food on this excursion was poor, but they did give us plenty of cold water and soda. It was hot, but again, very interesting to see from the smaller boat. Bus ride to and from was good, except for the jerks who hadn't read the excursion description and whined about the bus ride (and the tour director's spanish accent). There is a reason they call us ugly-Americans. :mad:

Thanks for a great review.

I agree with you on the entertainment. The dancers were ok but the singers were awful,

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