Zuiderdam, Hawaiian Cruise Inquiry

[gkthorn]

I am completely clueless regarding Holland America.  

 

This 17 day cruise to Hawaii caught my eye, thought my wife would enjoys this, especially with the 10 sea days.  She loves her sea days and so do I.

 

Our history:

We've been cruising for more than a decade now and have experienced Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean.  Currently we are Elite with Princess.  

 

We've taken the Hawaiian trip through Princess a couple of times, but thought it may be nice to experience it from another cruise line and since San Diego, California is only a couple of hours away, it seems like a good fit.

 

For those of you who have taken this cruise and or experience it on the Zuiderdam, any information on what we can expect activity wise and ambiance wise would be greatly appreciated.

 

My wife is retiring at the end of 2022, so I thought this might be a nice celebration cruise.

 

Thank you in advance for your input,

 

Glenn ♠️

[CruiserBruce]

Don't believe Zuiderdam has done this route before, but if you look around the board you will find many threads for people who have done this cruise on other HAL ships. It is a very popular cruise.

[muffin]

What a wonderful idea to celebrate the start of a new kind of life for you both. We have done this trip and enjoyed it very much. You do have to like sea days!  They did a lot of extra activities on the way back as it got a little cooler and people were looking for ideas to get them out and about.  We have about the same number of days on both HAL and Princess and like them both. Small differences, but perhaps Covid restrictions will change some of the minor variables. Especially in the buffet area which looks like it will be a thing of the past anyway. 
 

Id like to,piggyback onto your message if I may. We are considering the 35 day trip Feb 27 to Hawaii then on to the South Oacific Islands and back to San Diego . Have heard it is wonderful too.  For anyone who can answer,  Does the BB king lounge do anything different for the 35days?  Their music is not my favourite, and for a week or 10 days we can rotate them with the other music venues, but for 35?  I know, a very first world problem,  but enjoying a drink in the evening is a must! 
 

Hope we will both get some helpful info .........at least it may be closer to a reality than it has been largely.  Vaccines will determine it I think. And variants. 
 

As our BC public Health guru always signs everything... Be Kind, Be Calm . Be Safe. 

[Crew News]

Here is a link to a typical HAL sea day When & Where:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NS-KW-Day-06-At-Sea.pdf

[lazey1]

I am booked for the Nov. of 21 Hawaii cruise on the Zuiderdam so come back after the middle of Dec. and I will hopefully be able to answer your questions.

I have done Hawaii r/t on both the Veendam and the Westerdam and the 30 day to the So. Pacific on the Rotterdam but the 30 day So. Pacific was before the days of the B.B.King Lounge.

[cruzn single]

I have done the r/t San Diego/Hawaii cruise but it was over 10 years ago.  My DH and I thought we preferred sea days, but on that particular.cruise, not so much.  It was in early November and it was quite rough for 3 days from San Diego and then another 3 days back into SD.  Of course, very calm around islands, and 2 days as we were near Hawaii.

 

I have been on Zuiderdam for 2 cruises and liked the ship very much.  I like Music Walk, and the food has always been tasty.  I have two special memories on Zuiderdam in the Crows Nest.  Being in the Panama Canal, and sailing into New York harbor before dawn.  In fact I have another Zuiderdam cruise scheduled for next January (full PC transit).

[Heartgrove]

Our Circle Hawaii cruise was also a retirement celebration cruise for my wife! We have done the 18-day San Diego Circle Hawaii on the Eurodam in 2018, and the 12-Day Jewels of the Baltic on the Zuiderdam in 2017. Both of these cruises were fantastic for their own reasons. The Circle Hawaii is a relaxing itinerary with the 10+ sea days. The Zuiderdam, under Captain van Hoogdalem, was the best run ship we have been on . Both criteria are highly rated. But if it were me, I would do the 18-day cruise for two reasons.

 

The first reason is the 17-day cruise will have you in Nawiliwili, Kauai on the US's Thanksgiving Day. Most everything will be closed. On our Hawaii cruise we visited Lahainna on Thanksgiving Day 2018. There is a large mall in Kahului that we took a local bus to. Every store but Starbucks was closed. Only the local tourist stores and restaurants by the pier were open. I would expect Nawiliwili to be similar.

 

The second reason is that the 18-day does an overnight in Honolulu. We rented a car for one day to circle the island and paid our respects at Pearl Harbor on the other.  A number of our cruises have had what I call a hotel night that seems to slow the pace down. Plus there aren't any holidays during that time with that cruise itinerary. Ideally though the 17-day and 18-day in February 2022 has the Konigsdam for sampling the additional restaurants on the sea days.

 

Any cruise you cannot go wrong, and happy retirement!!!

 

 

 

[Sososailer]

We hoping the 18-Day Circle Hawaii cruise on April 10 next year occurs. Ah 10 sea days of relaxation. Then I'll retire 50 days after we return. 

[Heartgrove]

25 minutes ago, Sososailer said:

We hoping the 18-Day Circle Hawaii cruise on April 10 next year occurs. Ah 10 sea days of relaxation. Then I'll retire 50 days after we return. 

 

Ah, your old operational waters! On our Circle we had a retired Command Chief of the USCG aboard. I can't remember his name though.

 

John

[Sososailer]

On 2/22/2021 at 1:11 PM, Heartgrove said:

 

Ah, your old operational waters! On our Circle we had a retired Command Chief of the USCG aboard. I can't remember his name though.

 

John

Back in 75-76 the Rush was homeported at Alameda CA. Not nearly as exotic a port as Honolulu. Plus I was a dumb boot FA back in those days so I'm not sure I would have really appreciated it. I've only met one other coastie on any of our HAL cruises. 

 

Kris

[Norseh2o]

Yes to cruising to celebrate retirement! We cruised to Hawaii on the Eurodam, spring of 2019 - fabulous!  While on that adventure, DH decided to retire and 3 months later, he did!  Fall of 2019 we celebrated his retirement with travel to Europe, transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Miami, and after a day in Miami, off to the  Amazon (on a different cruise line 😗).  Looking back on 2020, we are so thankful that we spent those days traveling.  Hopeful that our next cruise happens, July 2021....

 

Oops, I forgot to mention that we are booked for the Zuiderdam Hawaii-Tahiti, February, 2022 cruise!

Edited February 23, 2021 by Norseh2o
na

[highscar]

Have done circle Hawaii in 98,99,20. Once from Vancouver the last two from San Diego. On the eurodam. Would do it again in a heart beat. Lots of to do’s going with Hawaiian activities. . 

[PamKB]

We cruised on March 1, 2020 on the Eurodam from San Diego to Hawaii.  Loved the cruise - it was a test to see how I'd do on open water,  I am happy to say that while we had rough seas to start (20-40' swells) my Bonine kept me seasick-free.  We loved everything about the cruise but of course the COVID outbreak elsewhere was concerning.  No cases on our ship, thank goodness.  

[highscar]

Correction.  Circle Hawaii 2018, 2019 & 2020.