Zuiderdam Reviews

[SmokinActuary]

I am shocked by the widely disparate reviews this ship has received on various boards.

 

FWIU the ship had some hiccups when it first set sail, but has improved when some renovations were made.

 

I am reserved for a trip on this ship rather soon and I am going to withold judgement, but is it just me or is this a "love it or hate it" ship?

[DixieCaribe]

The Zuiderdam garners love it/hate it reviews because in being the first Vista-class ship, she was a departure for Holland America. Personally, I view the new Vista-class ships as being the first time Carnival Corporation actually had more input in the design of the ship - they are larger, roomier, and carry more guests. Of course, this is comparing Zuiderdam's 1900 guests to Ryndam's 1250 - but you get the idea, bigger ship, more people, newer design. Whereas the Ryndam (my favorite ship on HAL, and why its my example) has a more classic design and a more reserved feeling interior, the Zuiderdam is an attempt to maintain the Holland America tradition yet cater to an increasingly younger demographic.

 

I liked the ship overall, the service was classic Holland America. The Crows Nest was my favorite place (other than the casino) to spend late afterhours time. The stateroom we had SA7058 was impressive, light and airy, yet the design overall for the ship seems to incorporate more vibrant colors and less wood-paneling.

 

The Zuiderdam has been in dry dock and had some outfitting completed and the ship is marvelous. I hope you have a good time and enjoy this different approach, yet so very Holland America ship.

Enjoy your cruise!

[King Neptune]

We were on the Zuiderdam last July and we had no complaints. Everything was just fine and the service was first rate. In fact we are going back out on her in November. As others have mentioned in other posts, your experience will be what you make of it. Have fun on your cruise.

[SmokinActuary]

Thanks Dixie.

 

This will be my first cruise and we chose HAL because we wanted something more elegant than Carnival. My wife and I are going with my 9 yr old daughter, my FIL, MIL, BIL and SIL.

 

To be honest I think if it we weren't going during a peak week (Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday) we would have chosen something else because of my daughter. But since it is a holiday week, my daughter will have 150kids within her age group to associate with.

[DixieCaribe]

My first cruise was on the Ryndam in February 1995, and let me tell you - Holland America will spoil you and cause most other lines to be non-options. The ports visited, accomodations, and overall feel of the ship (plus the outstanding service) will make this a hard cruise to beat!

[jtl513]

I prefer the newer Vista ships with lots more affordable verandah cabins, and my DW prefers the smaller, older ships because they feel a bit more "classic" ... and they require less walking! So I think a lot of the reviews you read start out with a kind of a hidden, unconscious bias, depending on which style of ship the writer prefers.

[Canuck-Ottawa]

I just got off the Zuiderdam on Saturday (Feb.24), and I can assure you, as another first time cruiser, you will be in awe. If there are better ships out there, that's wonderful, but my wife and I LOVED this ship. The service was immaculate; the shows were fantastic (one with Bob Mackie costumes).

Anything negative that you've heard, you can ignore. By the way, this is the opinion of some 200-300 other passengers that I spoke to.

Rick

[DixieCaribe]

One of my favorite features about the Zuiderdam, and something you need to experience at 2 AM after having one (or three) too many drinks is a full pass of the oceanview elevators!

[twinkletoes4445]

I just got off the Zuiderdam on Saturday (Feb.24), and I can assure you, as another first time cruiser, you will be in awe. If there are better ships out there, that's wonderful, but my wife and I LOVED this ship. The service was immaculate; the shows were fantastic (one with Bob Mackie costumes).

Anything negative that you've heard, you can ignore. By the way, this is the opinion of some 200-300 other passengers that I spoke to.

Rick

 

I agree completely.

 

We were on the Zuiderdam 2/3-2/10, and we hubby and I both think this was our best vacation to date (and we've done a lot of different things). We were in cabin 7063 which was just a few doors down from the Neptune Lounge. We found that we used the NL more than we thought we would, and Carlo and Gerald were just so helpful.

 

Aside from that...the entire experience was wonderful. Service was top-notch. The food was good, and some even outstanding. We only ate at the lido a couple of times, but we enjoyed that as well.

 

We thought the ship was in great condition, although I am one of those people who really didn't care for the decor of the ship.

 

I know things can and do go wrong, but we sure had nothing to complain about. We loved every minute of our time on the Zuiderdam.

[SmokinActuary]

I can understand how the decor on the Zuiderdam can turn some people off, but I am pretty easy going. I am discerning about food, but I also understand that they are making a lot of meals and to reach hights of culinary excellence even some of the time given that is a tough task.

 

I am sure I will have a great time.

[sparkly]

Hey there Actuary,

We are on the same cruise... have you looked on the Roll Call Boards?

We sailed the Zuiderdam last spring and lo and behold we are going again. Truly the best of 9 cruises, including Westerdam(OK it was the old stretch model) and the Veendam.

We can't wait to meet up with our bar staff and Hunky Dory if he is around!

You will have a grand time!

[Jen&Joe]

We were on the Zuiderdam in October when it went through the Panama Canal. We loved the ship and had a fabulous time.

[msmeltz]

We were a group of 12 on the Feb 3.-Feb. 9 Zuiderdam cruise. The only complaint we had was the service in the dining room...breafast, lunch and dinner. We prefer to eat our meals in the dining room, and were complaining at most meals. Somehow the the meals didn't come out together(always someone sitting and waiting while the rest ate), the food was not hot, the waiters were over worked, the assistant waiters(no busboys)did nothing but wait on the kitchen lines to bring out the food for the waiters to serve , nobody came around with water or coffee etc. Whoever is in charge of the dining roon needs to have better organization

 

The food was good, the shows were great..no other complaints.

[Dande1]

I just got off the Zuiderdam on Saturday (Feb.24), and I can assure you, as another first time cruiser, you will be in awe. If there are better ships out there, that's wonderful, but my wife and I LOVED this ship. The service was immaculate; the shows were fantastic (one with Bob Mackie costumes).

Anything negative that you've heard, you can ignore. By the way, this is the opinion of some 200-300 other passengers that I spoke to.

Rick

Rick: Good to see you got out to Ottawa ok - we just made it back today!

We agree totally! Even our tiny wee balcony cabin up at the pointy end turned out to be fine and dandy! Certainly the dining room service and food was truly five star for us so i guess it is all in the eyes (or tummys) of the beholder!

DandE

[twinkletoes4445]

We were a group of 12 on the Feb 3.-Feb. 9 Zuiderdam cruise. The only complaint we had was the service in the dining room...breafast, lunch and dinner. We prefer to eat our meals in the dining room, and were complaining at most meals. Somehow the the meals didn't come out together(always someone sitting and waiting while the rest ate), the food was not hot, the waiters were over worked, the assistant waiters(no busboys)did nothing but wait on the kitchen lines to bring out the food for the waiters to serve , nobody came around with water or coffee etc. Whoever is in charge of the dining roon needs to have better organization

 

The food was good, the shows were great..no other complaints.

 

We were on the same cruise! We sure had a good time.

 

We only ate our dinner meals in the dining room, but we never lacked for service. Our waiter, asst. waiter, wine steward, and the asst. Maitre d' were all hovering around our table. We even had the wine steward (Joise) come up and visit us (we started on the lower level and moved upstairs to the earlier dining room-Josie was our steward on the lower level). There wasn't a single time that we wanted for a thing. The service was really amazing for us. We're planning on another HAL cruise in the next year or so. It's going to be interesting to see how that upcomping cruise compares to this past one. We had no complaints at all. It's going to be tough to have that experience again, but I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

We had a similar experience as you did (on our first cruise). We ended up eating dinner only a couple of nights in the dining room because of all the problems.

[Atomica]

We found the Zuiderdam to be fantastic in every way - definately up to the high standards I've found on the Oosterdam & Veendam.

 

I think the Zuiderdam gets knocked sometimes because of its so-called 'loud' decor (which isn't really all that loud at all). It's a ship that looks incredibly beautiful during the night - the colors were certainly designed to work together in the evening. It looks great in the day too, but at night you sort of go 'ahh! Now I see why that carpeting is blue...'

 

Don't worry about it. You'll have a great time.

[Aunty Pat]

This coming New Years my family and I will be returning for our 4th cruise on the Zuiderdam. The Vista Class ships are perfect when traveling with very active teenagers and young adults. When it’s just us older adults the Prinsendam and it’s exotic itineraries are our first choice.

[Beachgirl1251]

I've been on the Zuiderdam twice with tween daughter and love it. We're back on board on March 31 and can't wait!

[margretha]

Hey Twinkletoes,

We had 7063 for the 2/17 voyage so thanks for keeping it so tidy. We've

had that room twice now and hope for it for our next Feb. cruise too. We've been on a couple of HAL ships and have never understood the complaints about the Zuiderdam. We love it. From the string quartet in the one bar to the comfy sofa/chairs in the Crow's Nest we have only encountered wonderful food (well, 2/17 trip there some odd variation of osso bucco....), great service, a great spa, a casino that is only OK in my opinion because one night during our trip someone won $20,000 (!!!!!) and it wasn't me - the colors are bright, everything is clean and shining - I just don't get the complaints. On our cruise there were a couple of periods where toilets were - well, not operating as evenly as most of us would prefer. However, someone down the hallway had decided to ignore all signs and dispose of something that specifically shouldn't be disposed of in these types of toilets so over 100 people had to ....well, sit around and wait for the engineers to make the waters flow again. We love the Zuiderdam. margretha:cool:

[TheOrginalMrsSmith]

We were on the November 11 - 18, 2006 and loved it. The suite, service, food was fantastic. The decor is ugly but certainly something anyone can live with. Fantastic vacation!!!!