Zuiderdam Review 11-9-12

[Syran]

Let me apologize in advance for the scattered review. I"m planning to do a formal one as well, but figured I'd post this one on the boards, as it would give me time to post a lengthy review.

 

This is my fourth time on the Zuiderdam. My first 3 were on consecutive years beginning in 2003, when she was still new.

 

For the quick review: Ship probably rates about a b-. She is ready a dry dock, but not in horrible shape.

 

The longer review (multiple posts):

 

We drove to the cruise, as we only live an 8 hour drive from Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at a Best Western Plus in Ft. Pierce, about 90 miles away, and drove in that morning. Picked up some drinks and such at the Target in Ft. Pierce on the way down.

 

Friday: We parked using Park n' Go for $8/day. They valet'd our car, and we took their shuttle to the port, arriving at the ship around noon. Embarkation was at Pier 4. There was a short wait of about 10 minutes outside to get in for security. Another 5 minute wait to get our cabin cards, and then we were walking to the ship. Got on quickly, and made our way to the Queen's Lounge to see if there were any interactive cooking experiences. Spoke with Shannon (the party planner), and she said there were new regulations from corporate about being able to eat food that the passengers had cooked, so they weren't sure if they would be able to have the cooking classes. We also went by the PG, and saw the sign for the Master Chef's dinner; which I signed up for before we went to our cabin; an SS Suite 8052.

 

Our cabin was ready... Except for the toilet. The toilet was unflushed, and someone had used it previously. We called the telephone concierge to get maintenance down to get it fixed. We went to the Mariners lunch in the MDR, and while we were gone, they fixed the toilet, my wife used it, and it wouldn't flush again. We called yet again, and also informed our room steward, who told us only to use TP (which is all she had used...). At this point, we left the room to go to our lifeboats for drill.

 

My DW booked a couples massage for the first day due to a special allowing an extra 20 minutes. Because of this, we would miss our first night's dining in the dining room as we had Early Fixed Seating (our preferred dining experience). We booked the Canaletto for the evening at 5:30pm and were the first people to dine in it that night. Dinner was good, and they now have a $10 fee added on to dine there. I had the Minestrone & Halibut and DW had the Lasagna (I can't remember the app she had). Both main's were great, but the Minestrone didn't have a whole lot of flavor, and was kind of lacking.

 

We had our massage and headed back to the room. Toilet was fixed, and worked for the rest of the cruise, however, sometimes you did have to hit the button more then once.

 

As for the Cabin, we had plenty of room, a great balcony, but could definitely hear chairs scraping and thumps above us on the Lido. Luckily, we both are sound sleepers, so it never woke us up, but did cause some issues falling asleep when we wanted to go to bed early (Mainly the nights before the PC and Costa Rica as we had early mornings). We had booked an SY Gaur, and got upgraded to the SS.

 

Saturday:

Half Moon Cay. My favorite private island (okay, only been there and RCI's). We had an early day/departure. As work had been crazy (worked 51 hours between mon-wed) I wasn't really ready to get up early, so we ended up skipping the Island. We purchased the Thermal Pass for the cruise ($199/1 $299/couple) and so we hung out there, then went to the Lido for lunch.

 

Mostly relaxed this day, we had pre-booked dinner at the PG. Service was excellent. DW had the shrimp cocktail, Caesar Salad, and a Boneless Ribeye; I had the Crab Cakes, Caesar Salad, and the Halibut on the Plank. Everything was wonderful except for the Crab Cakes (they were small, resembling scallops, and not very good, too much filling, not enough crab). The Halibut was a little on the small side, would have liked it to be just a bit larger. But it was perfectly cooked. Desert was Chocolate Volcano Cakes, good, but not as good as Carnival's Warm Melting Cake.

 

Checked out the Casino that night. Slots seemed a bit stiff, tables had a good crowd between 9pm and 11pm. Great Dealers, especially Wazda, Christopher, and Richard come to mind. Fun 21 was a rocking table most of the time. Hold'um poker was available with a Poker Pro table, we had a gentleman who kept complaining about using the table, wanted a real dealer and cards.

 

Sunday: Spent most of the day chillin' and reading, checked out the Crows Nest, Library, etc. Spent some time in the Thermal Spa.

 

Finally had dinner, and finally met our table mates. We were assigned to table 230 on the 3rd floor dining room with the early set dining. It was the first formal night. We had great companions; 3 ladies who were lifelong (50+ years) friends cruising together for one of their's birthday + a husband. And another couple from California. We all definitely got along well, and shared email addresses and such for communication after the cruise. Alas, here comes my second major complaint. Dining room service was the worst I've ever had for a fixed service. It began early enough when we asked for Iced Tea in a Large Glass (since we knew they always liked to bring them in those tiny glasses from the Lido). We got our apps, which were wrong, and still no drinks. Had to order them twice more, each time specifying a larger glass. We finally got our tea AFTER the mains had arrived, in a small glass. I know it sounds very superficial of a complaint, but it basically set the tone of how every meal from that point went in the MDR. The food that night was very good.

 

(TBC)

[erewhon]

Thanks for this report of your cruise.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to post a shorten review of your cruise. Appreciate you taking the time to do it. Sounds like you had a good time but we'll be looking forward to thee rest of your review and the more formal one later on.

[innlady1]

Thank you for your review...looking forward to more!

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am enjoying your review and looking forward to more.

Will be curious to see what happens with the cooking classes.

[Syran]

I am enjoying your review and looking forward to more.

Will be curious to see what happens with the cooking classes.

 

They had one participation cooking class, I found out about it via the daily planner, alas, it had filled up with only 6? (iirc) slots instead of the normal 12. They did do the normal demos during the cruise. Will post part 2 tonight.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[alwaysfrantic]

Did you purchase the thermal pass before the cruise, or once you got onboard? Also, for the extra length on the massage, was that offered at embarkation, or ahead of time?

[cruiseapril]

Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[Syran]

Did you purchase the thermal pass before the cruise, or once you got onboard? Also, for the extra length on the massage, was that offered at embarkation, or ahead of time?

 

We purchased the Thermal Pass onboard the first day.

 

The extra length of the massage was for any spa treatment that were done on the embarkation day. They also had a special that if you booked 3 spa treatments, they would give you a 10-20-30% off discount. We ended up getting 2 Couples Massages, and the DW got a Facial.

[Syran]

Continuation...

 

Monday: Aruba. We were getting into this port late, so did our usual Breakfast in the cabin. (Ham, Cheese, and Tomato Omelets) With some bread, juice, coffee, etc. One thing I did notice about it was if you asked for Hot Chocolate, you got a whole carafe of water for each packet.) Went to the Thermal Spa and relaxed a bit. This was our first time to all the ports except for half moon cay. My DW is still recovering from a hospital stay earlier in the year, so we decided to take it easy, and only booked 2 shore excursions; neither were in Aruba. We did get off the ship in Aruba, and checked out the shops. There were quite a few at the port we were at; which we shared with the Statendam. Seemed like the typical faire; there was a Hard Rock Cafe shop (but not the actual Cafe) at the port as well as quite a few restaurants. Did a bit of minor shopping, checked out the jewelry stores and found a neat watch I didn't buy. Wandered into the Casino down near he bridge, found it to be full of a lot of the Indonesian/Filipino crew playing cards. Aruba was the first time I've been in a Casino near the port. Had dinner with most of our table that night. Asked for tea, and motioned to the wait staff about the larger glasses for the tea, and actually got them in a reasonable manner. They forgot one of my apps for dinner that night; but this was probably the best night in the dining room for us. Gambled away the night.

 

Tue: Curacao. We got up early, as we had the 8:30am Willemstad Trolley Train excursion off the ship. They packed us into a few taxi's and went across the Queen Juliana Suspension Bridge to get to the other side of entrance to the port. There we boarded the trolley in the front of the second car. Small mistake, gives you a decent unobstructed view, but at least in the morning, it really gets the sun glaring down on you. We started to get a bit overheated in the seats, and jumped into the back row when coming out of the Pietermaai Cathedral. Second minor mistake, as now the sun beat on you from the back on the way back to the start. It wasn't a bad little shore excursion, but kind of expensive for the short duration. You could probably get the same thing out of a taxi for much less. I really liked Curacao. It's very pretty, and people don't feel as pushy around the stores as some of the other ports you get in the Caribbean. My DW went back to the ship while I stayed to shop. After a little shopping, I headed across the walking pontoon bridge back to the ship. It's quite the experience, I highly recommend it. Doesn't take very long to cross the either.

 

While we were gone, they did maintenance on the AC. Prior to that, I heard a lot of complaints about people being cold in their cabins, and public areas (I personally am generally a hot person, so I like it cooler, but my DW didn't find it too cold, and she's the one who always complains about it). The AC fix didn't seem to do anything to our cabin, it was fine all cruise, but now we had this really muggy/warm feeling around the midship elevators on deck 8 from that night on out.

 

That evening was Master Chef Rudi's Tasting Menu Dinner. It isn't cheap, an $89 upgrade, which includes wine; and you can't get the package without it. We decided since this was our Honeymoon, we were splurging and I wanted to do it. The only other time I had ever done a tasting menu was at the Woodfire Grill in Atlanta under Kevin Gillispe of Top Chef Las Vegas fame.

 

It started with an appetizer and champagne cocktail in the Pinnacle Bar before we moved into the PG for Dinner, which was, in a word, Fantastic! There were 10 of us in a side room of the PG, and the meal consisted of (not including everything): a Lobster Bisque w/ Morrell Mushrooms, Veal Chops w/ Sweetbreads, Foie Gras, a potato wrapped white fish (I can't remember the fish), among others. I don't drink wine, so passed most of it to my DW, but I plan to do this dinner every time I cruise on HAL. I was simply that impressed. My DW and I did make a promise we would try everything, and while the Foie Gras was a nice first for me, the Sweetbreads took the cake. Desert was a pistacio ice cream, a sugar decoration, and a funky tower of melon, chocolate covered melon, and some form of cake. I highly recommend it.

 

Wed: Sea Day. Not much happened during the day. We had breakfast in the room, went to the thermal spa, and played cards/read up in the crows nest. Gambled a bit. This was the first day of Blackjack Tournament qualifiers, so DW and I played, and both of us were on the board at the end of the day's qualifying (finals would be friday after more qualification time). It was our 2nd formal night. Prior to dinner, we were invited to the cabin of one of our table mates for a little Birthday Celebration for their 80th birthday. Everyone from the table was there. We had a really good time before heading to dinner. Dining companions at dinner were good. Had trouble getting Iced Tea again, and when we did, it was in the small glasses. I really hate those glasses, I'm a huge tea drinker, and it seems like a sip, and they are gone. I would also sit with my water glass empty for larger amounts of time then I am used to. The wait staff seems not as attentive as before (probably cutbacks) but even when taking orders, they just didn't seem as with it as normal.

 

As usual, ended up in the Casino for a bit before retiring for bed. We were planning to be up early for the PC in the morning...

 

(TBC)

[madera1]

I am enjoying reading your review. Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.

[Syran]

That evening was Master Chef Rudi's Tasting Menu Dinner. It isn't cheap, an $89 upgrade, which includes wine; and you can't get the package without it. We decided since this was our Honeymoon, we were splurging and I wanted to do it. The only other time I had ever done a tasting menu was at the Woodfire Grill in Atlanta under Kevin Gillispe of Top Chef Las Vegas fame.

 

It started with an appetizer and champagne cocktail in the Pinnacle Bar before we moved into the PG for Dinner, which was, in a word, Fantastic! There were 10 of us in a side room of the PG, and the meal consisted of (not including everything): a Lobster Bisque w/ Morrell Mushrooms, Veal Chops w/ Sweetbreads, Foie Gras, a potato wrapped white fish (I can't remember the fish), among others. I don't drink wine, so passed most of it to my DW, but I plan to do this dinner every time I cruise on HAL. I was simply that impressed. My DW and I did make a promise we would try everything, and while the Foie Gras was a nice first for me, the Sweetbreads took the cake. Desert was a pistacio ice cream, a sugar decoration, and a funky tower of melon, chocolate covered melon, and some form of cake. I highly recommend it.

 

I do want to make a comment here, the wine flowed all through the dinner, pretty much as you could drink it, so if you like your wines, definitely drink up, quite a few tipsy people left the dinner.

[alwaysfrantic]

This tasting menu dinner....is it available on each cruise? I did not see it as an option to book in advance but I am certainly interested.

[Syran]

This tasting menu dinner....is it available on each cruise? I did not see it as an option to book in advance but I am certainly interested.

 

It was new on the Zuiderdam, but i don't know when they started it. You had to book it via the PG once on-board. Since it's limited to 10 diners, probably fills up fairly quickly. I think they are putting it in PGs fleet wide, but rolling it out gradually.