DINING ROOM PLAN OF ZUIDERDAM

[mamaofami]

Does anyone have a recent plan of the dining room on Zuiderdam? Thanks.

[RuthC]

Have you tried HALFacts? I know at least some of the dining room plans are there.

[CruiserBruce]

Agree...HalFacts is commonly recommended here for that sort, and lots of other, info.

[mamaofami]

Can someone give me a link to Hal Facts. I can’t find I. Thanks.I 

[CruiserBruce]

A simple Google search gets it:

 

http://halfacts.com/

[mamaofami]

Thank you Bruce. I tried that aaand it didn’t work before. Really appreciate it.

[catl331]

Here's a direct link to the MDR plan:

http://halfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ZUDM.pdf

[KAKcruiser]

I wonder if new dining room plans will be made after Club Orange is introduced on all the ships.

[catl331]

On 8/10/2019 at 3:07 PM, KAKcruiser said:

I wonder if new dining room plans will be made after Club Orange is introduced on all the ships.

It could be, or the special area could be no more than a temporarily roped-off section.

[sansterre]

I am on the Zuiderdam.   Did you find what you were looking for?

This is off topic but I'm missing the flowers on the tables.

On deck three MDR, they have replaced the flower vases with small lamps.  This makes no sense to me.  Here around the arctic circle it is daylight for all dining so it doesn't add ambiance.  And I am not sure that they even light up!  I'm going to take a closer look at the lights tomorrow.

Meanwhile on MDR 2, there are no flowers, nor vases, nor lamps..  

Maybe flowers have been removed from all HAL ships now?

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by sansterre

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, sansterre said:

Maybe flowers have been removed from all HAL ships now?

On my last cruise flowers were gone from the dining room tables, Lido tables, and public rest rooms. There were still a few arrangements around the ship, but not as many, nor as spectacular, as they used to be.

[kazu]

2 hours ago, sansterre said:

Maybe flowers have been removed from all HAL ships now?

 

 

I sure hope not.  On our Prinsendam cruise in April and May there were a ton of flowers. The normal on tables, orchids in the Lido and tons of arrangements.

that has always been one of HAL’s good points for me.  

Sad to hear 😞   Especially since we are booked on that ship next year. 😞 

[erewhon]

3 hours ago, sansterre said:

 

Maybe flowers have been removed from all HAL ships now?

 

 

I will be very disappointed if that is happening, I always have fresh flowers in our home, for instance, today Daffodils on the dining table and Lillies elsewhere.

[sansterre]

I'm afraid the flowers on HAL are disappearing.

Today, I'm going to The Art of Flower Arranging after Trivia and ask where they are on this ship.

Apparently there was one arrangement on guest services front desk but it floated to some other location.  I asked about it this morning and they said the florist took it away this morning.  Otherwise I only see those "test tube" arrangements on the sticks of straw.

For me, they are not pleasing, but I understand it only requires replacing the water and a flower in each test tube once a week.

There are no flowers in either MDR.  There are no orchids in the Lido, nor in the public restrooms.  I really miss them and tonight I'm going to start a thread on "Where have all the flowers gone?"  with photos of the lamps that have replaced flowers on MDR3 on the Zuiderdam.

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, sansterre said:

There are no flowers in either MDR.  There are no orchids in the Lido, nor in the public restrooms.  I really miss them and tonight I'm going to start a thread on "Where have all the flowers gone?"  with photos of the lamps that have replaced flowers on MDR3 on the Zuiderdam.

We had both MDR table flowers AND the lamps on the Amsterdam this spring, but that was part of the World Cruise, so I'm not surprised. Besides, it was the transition period when flowers were disappearing and the lamps were arriving. Both on the table just seemed wrong.
The Maasdam this summer had neither.

I, too, miss the flowers around the ship, on the tables in the MDR and Lido, and the rest rooms. They were a lovely touch. Made the atmosphere elegant.

[teacherman]

As to the Zuiderdam dining room, we were on a 17 night sailing last month.  We had anytime dining, so we were seated in different areas of the dining room.  We found the "ambiance" to be quite different, depending on the table.  There is the main walkway area that goes around the dining room.  When seated anywhere along this area, the overhead lighting was extremely bright.  Not very conducive to OUR idea of leisurely dining.  In the center area of the dining room, the lights were much darker.  We preferred that area, although it is a matter of individual taste.  There was also an "overflow" area on the third level, which we found quite bright.  All of our servers were very good.

[sansterre]

Yes, elegant!  I agree Ruth C.

Thankfully the flowers are still on the tables in the Pinnacle restaurant.

So The Art of Flower Arranging was interesting.  Erica, the assistant CD introduced the flower arranger, Ronald AKA Mac.  Then she left and in the next hour he made a boutonniere and large arrangement.  I enjoyed the presentation and learned a few things:  *how to get a carnation to open (squeeze lightly the green area under the flower and spin til it opens)

*how to get a rose to open (blow on it)

*the best flowers come from Europe and Australia/New Zealand.  In U.S. the roses are good (no doubt from Ecuador) but other flowers are not as fresh or unique.

And I asked Ronald lots of questions.  What happened to the Dining Room flowers?

A:  I think it is a cost thing.

What about the orchids in the Lido;  they are long lasting?

A:  I believe it is about cost too.

Then later Ronald mentioned that they normally don't use carnations on the ship.  Someone asked why not.  

A:  Carnations are cheap.

I suggested if they are cheap, why not use carnations in the dining room?

A:  They aren't as cheap as mums.

I haven't seen your large floral arrangements on the ship yet.  Where are they?

A:  Front office (the one that seems to travel) and near the screening room.  I found it today and took a pictures of it;  it's lovely!  I'll upload these in a few minutes.  

Edited August 15, 2019 by sansterre

[sansterre]

Flower arranger Ronald makes the red carnation and berries boutonniere.  I've forgotten the name of the berries.  Can anyone help with that?

Edited August 15, 2019 by sansterre

[sansterre]

And then......... the large floral arrangement which will be at Guest Services for a short time.  It is a bit too tippy for staying there while sailing but for the embarkation day in Rotterdam it will be fine.

I think it is a beautiful arrangement in a very large martini glass.

It was a fun and entertaining hour watching Ronald make these.

[kazu]

6 hours ago, sansterre said:

I'm afraid the flowers on HAL are disappearing.

Today, I'm going to The Art of Flower Arranging after Trivia and ask where they are on this ship.

Apparently there was one arrangement on guest services front desk but it floated to some other location.  I asked about it this morning and they said the florist took it away this morning.  Otherwise I only see those "test tube" arrangements on the sticks of straw.

For me, they are not pleasing, but I understand it only requires replacing the water and a flower in each test tube once a week.

There are no flowers in either MDR.  There are no orchids in the Lido, nor in the public restrooms.  I really miss them and tonight I'm going to start a thread on "Where have all the flowers gone?"  with photos of the lamps that have replaced flowers on MDR3 on the Zuiderdam.

 

I find this really troubling.  One of the joys of HAL has been the beautiful bouquets out and about the ship (the floral displays outside the PG on the Prinsendam were incredible), the orchids in the Lido and the small arrangements in the MDR.

 

I guess I better bring on my own flowers for sure on the next cruise if I want to enjoy them 😞 

[mcrcruiser]

Rather not have flowers than cut backs in food  quality & selections .  

 

 We all need to remember that this is a profit  type business & answerable to the share holders 

[T8NCruise]

3 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Rather not have flowers than cut backs in food  quality & selections .  

 

 We all need to remember that this is a profit  type business & answerable to the share holders 

 

Sadly, the cutbacks in food quality and selections has already happened, and was especially noticeable on my recent cruise, and especially compared year to year.

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, T8NCruise said:

 

Sadly, the cutbacks in food quality and selections has already happened, and was especially noticeable on my recent cruise, and especially compared year to year.

We did not see that on our Koningsdam cruise in March nor our Rotterdam cruise in April  .although food is subjective ,we find cruise food  on average very good 

[sansterre]

Here is one of the large floral arrangements on the ship.  I sought it out after hearing about it.

This lovely arrangement is taller than me including the base and vase.  It is on Deck 3 between the shops and the Main Theatre.  We tend to be on Deck 2 most the time - from MD2 to Trivia in the Gallery Bar, Pianos in Billboard, and Theatre  - all on Deck 2.

I was happy to finally see this beauty!  

Can't believe I've been on the ship for 16 days and never crossed paths with it until today.

 

[sansterre]

And then there are the vial or "test tube" arrangements.  They aren't my favorite, but they sometimes so include some pretty flowers.

This one is in Main Dining Room, Deck 3.

 

This one is outside the Pinnacle Grill on Deck 2.

 

Edited August 15, 2019 by sansterre