Cruise: GREAT...Zuiderdam: not so much

We just returned from Zuiderdam Southern Caribbean/Panama Canal and had a great cruise. I'm always one to believe that "it is what it is" and you can make the best of every situation, but I have to say that I didn't see anything that would make me ever want to return to Zuiderdam.

I always take reviews/comments with a grain of salt, but basically most negative things that I read about happened to my family. I will take more time very soon to comment further, but I wanted to get this out there...and I'll preface this by saying that I'm not exaggerating anything or offering additional opinions (because I have no gain or loss by doing so)...just stating simple facts and telling the truth.

Where were there issues?

1 - Ship temperature/stateroom temperatures

2 - Spa

3 - Pinnacle Grill

4 - MDR Service

Additionally there are some opinions that I'd like to offer. I can't continue now, but will be back very soon.

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Oh no! I'm back on her in April. My only concerns with the Zuiderdam have been a/c and plumbing, both of which were a nightmare for us last year. But I thought they were fixed. I'll look forward to your full report.

PS - regarding the Pinnacle Grill, we weren't impressed about the dinner service, but enjoyed breakfast and lunch there the last cruise.

Hi

Please report as I am saling on her on November 8

thanks

Mary

I will echo startwin's comment... Oh no! (We're on the same Zuiderdam cruise in April).

Please share your disappointments, along with (hopefully) the good things. Also, please let us know your stateroom number if there was a temperature problem. Thanks.

I am sure the OP's comments are valid . However there was probably 1500+ passengers on the cruise who had a great time with no complaints . I sailed the Z last Jan with the same itinerary and thought everything was just fine .

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I look forward to reading about your experience. We were on the Zuiderdam just one month ago and overall had a very good impression of the ship and service. We had no AC issues; however, we were not in warm weather.

Oh Douglas, I am sorry to hear this. Sounds like the cruise was not everything it could have been. Please do come back and give us a full review.

And .... welcome home.

Welcome Home

I am anxious to read about all the problems you encountered.

Looking forward to hearing about the cruise as well as the ship. We are sailing November 29th.

On the same cruise in January I would be interested in your comments on the Pinnacle Grill. My wife and I use the specialty resturants more so than the MDR and have booked accordingly.

bob

As are the others, we are anxious for your review. Thanks for taking the time to let us know.

We will be on her in 30 days so am very interested in reading your review and findings. I respect you and know that what you say you found, how can I say this...., disconcerting will definitely be taken seriously!!

Can I ask please that you give as good a guess as you can as to the make up of nationalities on board during your cruise? I found on our Sept 2011 cruise on her that it made a big difference so would like to hear that also.

Joanie

As we have a group on her in Feb, I am also curious as to your experiences. We don't use the spa, so no worries there and the Pinnacle we may or may not eat in.

The MDR has been a thorn in my side on most cruises I've been on though and if the temperature in the cabins is warm, I will not enjoy myself.

So many love everything about the MS Zuiderdam. I am respectively interested in your review to come. I've never sailed on her but have been thinking about it.

We were on the Zuiderdam the last week of August and didn't encounter any problems.

We will be on her again November 18 th. I will definitely be bothered if there is an AC issue.

Very curious about IRLJoanie's comment about the affect of the nationality of passengers . What do you hope it is???

We, too, were on the cruise. We were in Cabin 4178. We had very intermittent air conditioning in the cabin. Reported it 3 times to front desk. When I went the 3rd time, said they didn't record the first 2 times. Hot water....hot water and more hot water. NO cold water. Showers were hot or hotter. Teeith brushing hot water. They finally addressed the issue on night 7. It worked for one night and went right back to the original problems. Front desk rude. However, they sent a bottle of wine on the last night apologizing for all the problems. Too little, too late.

I know we were not the only ones with problems. That's all you heard on the ship. In fact, Deck 6 had multiple air conditioning problems. We sailed with relatives. They came back one evening and toliet wouldn't flush. They had to use the public restroom all night in jammies. Smell disgusting. Took 24 hours to resolve. They, too, received a bottle of wine on last night. Does HAL really think that makes up for the issues?

Pinnacle Grill a total disappointment. Spent $50 for nothing more than the main dining room. Steak tough as nails. Desserts not much better than main dining room.

This was our 39th cruise and our 5th cruise with HAL. After this cruise, will not be sailing HAL anytime soon.

I, too, will do a complete review.

Oh no, I am on deck 6 for the next cruise:( I was on her to Alaska in September, and thought everything had been fixed - but I was in a Neptune suite on 7. On my last Panama cruise on the Zuiderdam our toilet seldom worked in 22 days. I have lots of time to change cabins if mine is mentioned as having problems, so I am waiting for full reports.

I was also on this cruise to the Panama Canal and we were in a suite cabin and used the Neptune Lounge often. We also had intermittent a/c issues on deck 7 and had a toilet that did not flush for one day. Our room was huge, but the balcony was horrible. It was a pop out balcony and had wind issues, never could enjoy it. The balcony was filthy, never cleaned. Food was okay. This was the worst embarkation I have ever experienced by a cruise line. We waited over an hour with priority check in and only two people working our line. Two people passed out (older people) with the long wait. I have been on many cruises and many different lines, but this is my last with Holland America.

We were on the Zuiderdam the last week of August and didn't encounter any problems.

We will be on her again November 18 th. I will definitely be bothered if there is an AC issue.

Very curious about IRLJoanie's comment about the affect of the nationality of passengers . What do you hope it is???

My question about the Nationalities is because we discovered on our cruise(s) the last 2 Cruise weeks out of Vancouver Inside Passage 2011, that the majority of passengers were more Australian and United Kingdom passengers.

The first week of the cruise our stateroom was never at a consistent temperature. Called the Concierge, maintenance came and yes the room was warmer than it should have been. No there was nothing he could do short of going stateroom to stateroom to make sure all the verandah doors were closed.

The 3rd morning of the cruise, about 3 am, I was out on my verandah and realized that I could hear my next door neighbors snoring quite loudly:eek: Looked towards the separator and the deck and realized they had their door propped wide open with a deck chair.......

I was leery about saying anything to the older Australian couple as I did not wish to cause a scene. HOWEVER, the 2nd week of the cruise, the very first evening as we were enjoying the Sail Away, I noticed and heard the new next door neighbors talking about using the small deck table to prop the door open. I decided one week was enough and introduced myself to them, asking where they were from, being generally friendly. I then asked them why they were propping the door open with the small table and the lady told me they could not get the room cool enough so they were going to leave the verandah door open.

I told them the effect it had on others and they were nice enough to be understanding and the gentleman, and yes he definitely was a true gentleman said that what I told them made perfect sense.

He said that the majority of the cruisers at that time of the year were Australians doing something called The Rocky Mountains Land and Sea Tours, 7 days bus across Canada and 7 days on a cruise (He and his wife were part of just one group of 900). He also stated that they were never told the Ship AC was interlaced but that it did make sense since leaving the door open would literally suck the outside air in and force the inside air out. He said if we compared it to a vacuum cleaner that it made total sense.

That week was quite comfortable I think because this lovely couple passed on the word about the verandah doors and the AC.

So, my comment to Douglas was an inquiry as to whether there was a large group of Australians and or British aboard, then that might explain the AC problems......

I've been on the Zuiderdam many times and absolutely love her. I will be back on her at the end of November and am praying that it was an isolated problem with doors being propped open:) Either way, I'll be on my favorite ship with very dear friends enjoying my aft wrap and the views, even if only the sea:)

Joanie

I've sat with many people in the MDR and I can't tell you how many people say they prop their door open. All of them have been from the USA

So only Australians and Brits leave the balcony door open. Good to know.

Shocking. And here I was under the impression that Brits and Ozzies were the cause of all the HVAC and plumbing problems on HAL ships.

Interesting that the 'spin' starts even before the problems is enunciated.

Where were there issues?

1 - Ship temperature/stateroom temperatures

FACT: While we were very fortunate to not have any problems with the temperature in our suite (5190), members of our family were in an Oceanview on Deck 1 and were not so fortunate. They were originally in 1008 (chosen so that they would be near the elevator bank closest to our suite so they didn't have far to go to come to enjoy our suite/balcony with us). They realized that the temperature was above normal before sailing and just thought that it would come down once we got underway (which we've often noticed in our staterooms before). Overnight the temperature of the room did not go down, but rather got warmer and warmer. Additionally, there was a water leak in the room caused by the malfunctioning air conditioning unit. When they called the front office someone was sent to their room and took the temperature which was listed as between 27 and 28 celsius (which is 80-82 degrees). They were provided with a fan. In the morning they were given the option to move to a different stateroom, so given the situation they moved to 1055. The room seemed to have a better temperature, but by the time that they went back in the evening to go to bed the temperature was once again 27-28 (80-82) in this stateroom (and they took their fan with them, but if the air is warm it is just moving warm air around). They attempted to sleep in this room that night. Overnight they were told that someone would be at their room by 9:00AM to correct the problem. No one had showed up by 9:00, so I went to the front office on their behalf (we were on the same booking) and was told that a supervisor would be down to the stateroom very soon. Actually, when I got back to their room I was met at the door by a very nice supervisor named Michelle from the front office. Immediately when she entered the room her comment was "whew, this is warm." She told them that she had another stateroom (1029) that she just checked that was cooler and they could move again if they wanted. She also told them that there would be some sort of compensation for them, but she didn't know what it would be. They decided to move to the THIRD stateroom. Luckily for them, they kept their fan and this stateroom worked for them for the remainder of the cruise. In the end, they were given a $200 OBC for their trouble.

OPINION/HEARSAY: IMHO, there was a marked difference in temperature even when we walked into the hallway where their last two staterooms were located (Deck one, forward, starboard hall). We continued to hear people talking about temperature problems...and this was from staterooms on the first deck, the fifth deck, the eighth deck...basically all over the ship. I thought that they were very fortunate that there were these additional staterooms available for them to move to, however I feel that they should have been offered some help with their moving. Both times they had completely unpacked and not so much as a cart was offered...they had to do it all themselves.

Regarding the water leak in their stateroom, this was not the only place to have this issue. As we sat in the Ocean Bar my Mother was "hit" by dripping water/condensation from the ceiling. As we sat in the Lido, I was the "victim" of the dripping water.

I know that we were in a very hot part of the world, but there were many times that the public areas were rather stuffy and warm. It was such that as you walked around, certain areas felt cool because you were just in such a stuffy area.

Oh dear. It sounds like the a/c issues have continued and not been fixed at all. And the dripping from the Lido ceiling was happening in April, 2012. Since that time I have sailed on the Zuiderdam to Alaska, but of course a/c would not be an issue in that climate.

Can I ask please that you give as good a guess as you can as to the make up of nationalities on board during your cruise? I found on our Sept 2011 cruise on her that it made a big difference so would like to hear that also.

 

Joanie

I'm really not sure of the passenger complement, but if I were a guessing man, based on some of the groups that I saw onboard and the lines at customs upon return to Ft Lauderdale, I would have to say that it was largely American (with a good mix of Canadian and European).

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