Zuiderdam after drydock ...

[wines60]

Does anyone know what is planned for the "Z" during drydock, - major changes, or just regular upkeep?? We are booked for April 20 through the Panama Canal; seems to be the repo trip. Any opinions out there as to what we should expect? Hopefully we will be able to post a very positive review when we return. Looking forward to the cruise no matter what! :p

[Harry1954]

Does anyone know what is planned for the "Z" during drydock, - major changes, or just regular upkeep?? We are booked for April 20 through the Panama Canal; seems to be the repo trip. Any opinions out there as to what we should expect? Hopefully we will be able to post a very positive review when we return. Looking forward to the cruise no matter what! :p

We were onboard immediately after the last drydock for Zuiderdam .. there were a few random problems that we heard about or noticed; however, they were all dealt with pretty promptly. Granted each drydock is different, so yours may result in different outcome.

harry

[wines60]

Thanks Harry1954 for the reply. With all the postings regarding the Rotterdam just after her drydock it does cause me to wonder a bit. I wish someone from HAL would respond to this query, that is if anyone at HAL actually knows what is planned for the Zuiderdam during this upcoming drydock ! :confused: Anyone else able to jump in with info on this?? Thanks a bunch, Marion

[VermeulT]

The ship is in desperate need of sprucing up. Once I get home and settled I'll share some pictures with highlights of some over worn out items.

[Typhoon1]

Can't be too major as it was just refurbished in 2008.

[luxurysailer]

We were on the Zuiderdam on the first cruise after the 2008 drydock. It came out of drydock with a lot of things still needing to be fixed, but I would have thought they could have fixed those things without having to go into drydock again so quickly. Must have been a lot of things wrong that weren't apparent to the casual observer.

 

The worst problem was the crew. It seemed that most departments were shorthanded, particularly the cruise director's department. I felt sorry for the cruise director who seemed to be absolutely worked to death. Essentially nothing started on time.

 

The cruise, overall, was enjoyable; but it was the worst shipboard experience we've had on thirteen cruises.

 

What I learned from this cruise: never go on the first cruise after a ship comes out of drydock. In fact, I think that I'd wait at least three months.

[wines60]

Looking forward to the pics. Maybe we chose the wrong cruise, wrong ship, at the wrong time, but we are committed to this one as the rest of this year would not work out. We are celebrating our 50th,( the actual date is July 2), but this timing worked out best for us. Oh, well, even if the ship is not at its best, we'll have a good time just being together. I am determined to keep a positive attitude. Still, would love to hear from any others out there who want to jump in and make some comments. Especially interested to receive input from folks who've been aboard just recently. Again, thanks so much to all CC'ers who always step up to help with comments, reviews, etc.

[2tsquared]

Echoing VermeulT, we were on the same cruise and arrived back in FLL today. The ship is in desperate need of remodel. I'll also be posting a review within the next day or two -- but, we're talking lampshades hanging limply from the walls in the suite, rusty ice buckets, mold in the tub and heavy mold on the shower curtain (which we insisted be replaced); dirty furniture; a dead decorative plant in the window at the desk (had it removed); holes in the sheets and towels; door knobs missing on several doors throughout the ship; etc., etc.

 

To sum it up: loved the ports -- in this order: Panama Canal (and the Embera Indian Village Tour); Costa Rica; Aruba; Half Moon Cay; Curacao.

 

tt

[mamaofami]

When does she go into dry dock? I have friends sailing her and after all my raves about HAL, I hope they get everything up and running before their cruise.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I sailed on the Zuiderdam from Dec. 13-23, 2009. I enjoyed the cruise (great itinerary), but agree that the ship needs to be refurbished. In fact, I was surprised that HAL would let the ship get this shabby. I wrote on my comment card that the ship needs some work. However, the ship's appearance did not detract from the cruise. I had a wonderful time.

 

Chuck

[VermeulT]

... a dead decorative plant in the window at the desk

You too? Ours hadn't seen water in about a month.

 

Here are the other pix too - desk chair in our cabin, ottoman on our deck railing on our deck, and the plant.

 

I by no means want to be "Little Miss Bitter"... just pointing out what we saw. It by no means ruined our trip.

 

- one pix I missed was a sign for the Pinnacle Bar (the one with Braille underneath telling you where you were) - that was missing 1/2 the letters.

[Typhoon1]

We were on the Zuiderdam on the first cruise after the 2008 drydock. It came out of drydock with a lot of things still needing to be fixed, but I would have thought they could have fixed those things without having to go into drydock again so quickly.

 

We were on the cruise before it went into dry dock, you should have seen how bad it was prior to the dry dock.

 

If you think it was bad after, you should have seen it before.

[Tampa Girl]

We were on the Zuiderdam on the first cruise after the 2008 drydock. It came out of drydock with a lot of things still needing to be fixed, but I would have thought they could have fixed those things without having to go into drydock again so quickly. Must have been a lot of things wrong that weren't apparent to the casual observer.

 

 

Don't all of the ships go into drydock every two years? Somewhere I read that. Sorry to hear about the "Z". She was our first cruise, and we loved it.

[VermeulT]

oh yeah - let me not forget to mention....

 

2nd to last day at sea - one of the big glass & brass doors from the outside to the Crow's Nest took a huge gust of wind and literally was ripped off its hinges and nearly crushed a lady. (my friend helped get the door off her). The pins that held the door in place were twisted and sheared off. We later saw the maintenance crew inspecting all of those doors - others were removed also.

[ProfessorMom]

We will be on the Zuiderdam in June. Fortunately, that is plenty of time to finish up any details from the drydock. Like many of you, I am curious to hear what change are expected from the drydock other than a general sprucing up. The pictures I saw in this thread would demonstrate that a bit of maintainence is needed. Fortunately, it didn't look quite as bad as I had imagined from some of the threads.

[DutchByAssociation]

Does anyone know what is planned for the "Z" during drydock, - major changes, or just regular upkeep?? We are booked for April 20 through the Panama Canal; seems to be the repo trip. Any opinions out there as to what we should expect? Hopefully we will be able to post a very positive review when we return. Looking forward to the cruise no matter what! :p

 

Biggest addition will be that of Canaletto.

[SandyMc]

We were also on the Jan. 12-22 cruise and had a wonderful time! We did see some worn furniture and carpet - but I don't think I have ever been on a ship without some of that.

My one complaint about this ship is that it just has too many small bars/lounges! This is our very first cruise were we did not seem to find an "instant fit" and a place we could begin and end our days with crew members we would enjoy again and again. We did miss that!

We also took a starboard cabin which I DO NOT RECOMMEND for this itinerary. The ship consistently docked portside and we felt like we missed a lot since watching the ship dock and surveying the port from our verandah is an important part of every cruise for us.

The food was wonderful, the crew was great and the ports were everything we were looking for. You will love this cruise!