Zuiderdam vs. Westerdam

[niborHS]

I am trying to decide between these 2 ships for next Jan or Feb. Are there any differences?

For those who might criticize that I asked this question on its own thread when I already asked it on another thread, there is one thing that I have noticed on this HAL board that I have not seen on any of the others on cruisecritic, people spend alot more time criticizing other peoples' threads here. I hope this is not an indication of what our fellow cruisers will be like.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have sailed on both ships - Westerdam (Jan 2005) and Zuiderdam (May 2005). We loved the Westerdam - Zuiderdam okay. There is nothing different as they are sister ships - colors.

 

The thing you should be looking at is the itineraries. Which one appeals to you more? Do you have favorite ports?

[sunvalley cruisers]

We are part of a group of 8 people who chose the Westerdam for Feb 18, 2007. For us it was a matter of a Sunday departure vs. a Saturday departure. Some in our group have sailed with HA before and loved it. This will be our 1st on HA so I'm looking forward to it. Have fun choosing!

[twinkletoes4445]

We chose the Zuiderdam (2/3), although we have never cruised HAL before. We picked the Zuiderdam because we wanted to leave on a Saturday. I believe the itinerary was the same on the Westerdam...maybe reversed.

 

But I do want to direct you to this website (below). This website will show you which HAL ships are slated for group cruises. I don't know if these groups charter the entire ship or not. I wish I'd found this prior to us picking a cruise. There's a poster who booked the week before us, and then was bumped (look in the Roll Call section) because it's a charter. As soon as I booked our cruise, I booked our airfare (I found a wonderful deal). I'm not sure what would have happened to the airfare had we been moved to another week.

 

http://www.geocities.com/cruise_trubey/

[niborHS]

Thank you Twinkletoes, and now here is the funniest (if you want to call it that), thing about this list. One of the weeks we were thinking about was 1/27/07 on the Zuiderdam. That week is listed as Olivia. I went into their website to figure out who they were. So, not only is it a group for lesbian women travel, the founder is a cousin of mine. I recognized her right away from the picture, but, because her name is not Olivia, I navigated the site and found that it was indeed her company. I knew that she did this, but what a coincidence. Now what to do. maybe the next week, or that will mean the Westerdam, although not sure if that's the itinerary I wanted. That ship alternates.

[twinkletoes4445]

Thank you Twinkletoes, and now here is the funniest (if you want to call it that), thing about this list. One of the weeks we were thinking about was 1/27/07 on the Zuiderdam. That week is listed as Olivia. I went into their website to figure out who they were. So, not only is it a group for lesbian women travel, the founder is a cousin of mine. I recognized her right away from the picture, but, because her name is not Olivia, I navigated the site and found that it was indeed her company. I knew that she did this, but what a coincidence. Now what to do. maybe the next week, or that will mean the Westerdam, although not sure if that's the itinerary I wanted. That ship alternates.

 

Boy, it is a small world! Someone on this board posted that site a few weeks ago.

 

I was curious about the nude cruise....they must charter the ship...I would think. Talk about a big surprise if you booked that one! :)

 

I thought it was an interesting site. My only concern is getting on a ship where the vast majority of people are there with a group. It would be like attending a family reunion, but you're at the wrong reunion. :)

 

Have a great cruise!

[trixiee]

Boy, it is a small world! Someone on this board posted that site a few weeks ago.

 

I was curious about the nude cruise....they must charter the ship...I would think. Talk about a big surprise if you booked that one! :)

 

I thought it was an interesting site. My only concern is getting on a ship where the vast majority of people are there with a group. It would be like attending a family reunion, but you're at the wrong reunion. :)

 

Have a great cruise!

 

I sure would agree with that statement! Last year on RCI, we were on the ship with hundred's of salepeople who won their trip. Now, I have nothing again salepeople (I'm in sales myself), but it sure changed the atmosphere of the cruise...

[shonuf]

Thank you Twinkletoes, and now here is the funniest (if you want to call it that), thing about this list. One of the weeks we were thinking about was 1/27/07 on the Zuiderdam. That week is listed as Olivia. I went into their website to figure out who they were. So, not only is it a group for lesbian women travel, the founder is a cousin of mine. I recognized her right away from the picture, but, because her name is not Olivia, I navigated the site and found that it was indeed her company. I knew that she did this, but what a coincidence. Now what to do. maybe the next week, or that will mean the Westerdam, although not sure if that's the itinerary I wanted. That ship alternates.

 

Robinsilver,

 

I'm the poster twinkletoes referred to who had originally booked the 1/27/07 and found out it was chartered by Olivia. I had a devil of a time convincing my TA that HAL had made a mistake. He argued me up and down; called me back the next day and admitted I was right! Then we tried for the 2/3 sailing (the one twinkletoes is on) but that's Superbowl weekend (game's in Miami) and not only did the airfare double but hotels were at a premium. Our friend had already booked our hotel using her points and that was no longer a possibility. So we tried to back up a week and that wasn't available either so that's how we ended up at the Jan 13 sailing. Whew!!

 

Hope you have better luck than we did. Wish you could join us.

[Moogy]

But I do want to direct you to this website (below). This website will show you which HAL ships are slated for group cruises.

http://www.geocities.com/cruise_trubey/

 

THANK YOU for posting this link. I had it bookmarked, but my hard drive died :( and I had not been able to find this site after I replaced the computer. In the meantime, I already booked a cruise, so now I have to go make sure I didn't book a nude cruise. My 89 year old dad might not want to be nude in ALASKA....:eek:

 

Moogy

[twinkletoes4445]

I sure would agree with that statement! Last year on RCI, we were on the ship with hundred's of salepeople who won their trip. Now, I have nothing again salepeople (I'm in sales myself), but it sure changed the atmosphere of the cruise...

 

It certainly would change the atomsphere of the cruise...any large group...no matter they are, will do that. And I'd really rather know this in advance.

[twinkletoes4445]

Robinsilver,

 

I'm the poster twinkletoes referred to who had originally booked the 1/27/07 and found out it was chartered by Olivia. I had a devil of a time convincing my TA that HAL had made a mistake. He argued me up and down; called me back the next day and admitted I was right! Then we tried for the 2/3 sailing (the one twinkletoes is on) but that's Superbowl weekend (game's in Miami) and not only did the airfare double but hotels were at a premium. Our friend had already booked our hotel using her points and that was no longer a possibility. So we tried to back up a week and that wasn't available either so that's how we ended up at the Jan 13 sailing. Whew!!

 

Hope you have better luck than we did. Wish you could join us.

 

I was so excited that you were going to be joining us! But I do understand. We were able to get great airfare ($198) non-stop on Midwest Airlines. Finding a room was a different matter. I have something booked in Plantation, but I am going to cancel that. We're using HAL's hotel program. I saw our TA the other day, and she said that she'd just received notification that we're going to be at the Marriott in Hollywood. I'm just glad we were able to get a room. When I planned this cruise, I didn't even think about Super Bowl.

 

I did mention your situation to our TA, and she said it's happened to her (before). I guess if someone comes along and books the ship, they can bump you or, even if HAL knows this is going to be a charter, they still don't tell the TA's. To me that seems odd.

[bepsf]

...so now I have to go make sure I didn't book a nude cruise. My 89 year old dad might not want to be nude in ALASKA....:eek:

 

Moogy

 

He might have a great time - looks kinda fun to me...

;)

[twinkletoes4445]

THANK YOU for posting this link. I had it bookmarked, but my hard drive died :( and I had not been able to find this site after I replaced the computer. In the meantime, I already booked a cruise, so now I have to go make sure I didn't book a nude cruise. My 89 year old dad might not want to be nude in ALASKA....:eek:

 

Moogy

 

LOL...Let me tell you...nobody wants me on a nude cruise...trust me. lol I'm still trying to figure that one out. Do these people really walk around the ship in the nude? What to wear must not be an issue. What do you suppose they do on formal night???? So much for the "jeans" debate. lol

 

It is a cool site. It certainly will be helpful when planning our next cruise.

[twinkletoes4445]

He might have a great time - looks kinda fun to me...

;)

 

Oh, that looks like fun! Wow, too bad they aren't in the blue waters of the Caribbean! ;)

[bepsf]

Oh, that looks like fun! Wow, too bad they aren't in the blue waters of the Caribbean! ;)

 

Oh, there's definately something blue there - may not be just the water tho...

:D

[niborHS]

Have to decide what to do now. DH does not want to be gone superbowl weekend anyway, and I am sure there will be an issue with flights/hotels. Will look at the list again and think about whether 1/20 will work, or else will try 2/10, but that ends on President's weekend, which could be crazy coming back to in NY.

[twinkletoes4445]

Oh, there's definately something blue there - may not be just the water tho...

:D

 

LOL... :)

[twinkletoes4445]

Have to decide what to do now. DH does not want to be gone superbowl weekend anyway, and I am sure there will be an issue with flights/hotels. Will look at the list again and think about whether 1/20 will work, or else will try 2/10, but that ends on President's weekend, which could be crazy coming back to in NY.

 

Well, good luck and let us know what you end up doing. If I had realized it was Super Bowl weekend, I would have chosen another week. But everything seems to be in order, so we'll just go and enjoy. I don't watch football...but my hubby does. I'm sure the game will be on somewhere on the ship...at least I hope it is.

[bepsf]

Well, good luck and let us know what you end up doing. If I had realized it was Super Bowl weekend, I would have chosen another week. But everything seems to be in order, so we'll just go and enjoy. I don't watch football...but my hubby does. I'm sure the game will be on somewhere on the ship...at least I hope it is.

 

From what we read here, HAL paid tens of thousands of dollars for special satellite uplinks links to Super Bowl coverage last year for the entire fleet all over the planet...

 

...but hardly anyone watched!

:eek:

[shonuf]

LOL...Let me tell you...nobody wants me on a nude cruise...trust me. lol I'm still trying to figure that one out. Do these people really walk around the ship in the nude? What to wear must not be an issue. What do you suppose they do on formal night???? So much for the "jeans" debate. lol

 

It is a cool site. It certainly will be helpful when planning our next cruise.

 

In conversation with Mr. Deering recently, this subject came up. He said in his experience that the passengers dress for dinner as on any other cruise.

[twinkletoes4445]

In conversation with Mr. Deering recently, this subject came up. He said in his experience that the passengers dress for dinner as on any other cruise.

 

I was just trying to be funny since the jeans issue seems to be such a hot topic. :)

 

I suspected that they dressed for dinners...but I was just wondering what a "nude" cruise would be like...not that I'd ever do one.

[twinkletoes4445]

From what we read here, HAL paid tens of thousands of dollars for special satellite uplinks links to Super Bowl coverage last year for the entire fleet all over the planet...

 

...but hardly anyone watched!

:eek:

 

Now that is interesting. Last night, I asked hubby if he'd watch the game, if it were available, and he said he wouldn't. I never watch football...so I don't care one way or the other if they carry the game. :)