Zuiderdam...2/9/08

[papae]

I had the pleasure of hosting a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on board the

Ms Zuiderdam February 10th......At first I thought it might end up just being my wife & I......Boy was I wrong .....We had more that 20 Cruise Critic members & friends. I think we all had a good time & met some fun people.....I know I did!

 

:) Thank you all

 

papae:D

[Candy]

I had the pleasure of hosting a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on board the

Ms Zuiderdam February 10th......At first I thought it might end up just being my wife & I......Boy was I wrong .....We had more that 20 Cruise Critic members & friends. I think we all had a good time & met some fun people.....I know I did!

:) Thank you all

papae:D

I'm not surprised you had fun aboard my favorite ship... we're boarding on 3/8 and have only 6 pax on our CC Roll Call. Where did you have your gathering? We'll need a reeeeeeally small place!

Who was the Cruise Director? I hear Parker is leaving and haven't heard of a replacement yet.

 

Now that you have the header, how about posting a review?

[papae]

Hi Candy, The review is coming, Work has reared it's ugly head so it will be a day or two. As for where we had our meet & greet, My cabin.

Took your advice & booked Cabin sc6158 a wake cabin worked just fine.

Great big deck to bad they won't be around much longer!

Mr.Parker is gone & right now the new guy's name escapes me.:confused:

someone will come up with it.

 

papae:D

[mash1]

Papea,

 

:cool:Yes, the cruise was great and so were all the people. You and your wife did a great meet & greet. It was so nice to put a face with a name. Thanks agian for everything. Just 114 days till we are on the "Z" again. Happy sailing to all.

[jbhcw]

Another 02-09-08 cruiser chiming in here:) Possibly the best cruise we've ever had, I'm a HAL fan now!! The Zuiderdam is a fantastic ship, and the crew, including the purser's desk were great.

 

Hopefully a review will follow shortly, what a shame I have to work:mad: I am now even more excited about our fall cruise on the Oosterdam!!

 

Papae, again thanks so much for a wonderful Meet and Greet, met lots of great folks and got to experience that wonderful aft balcony. I'll be emailing you shortly:)

[ljnunley]

Papae - Thanks again for hosting, Lee & I had a great time and we really enjoyed meeting you and the other CC'ers.

 

We had a fantastic cruise, were in an aft SC (6169 opposite corner from Papae and the Mrs.) and I thought the room was excellent. The bed was very comfortable, better than any hotel bed I've had for sure. The verandah was phenomenal, more than enough room to stretch out and I'm very disappointed to hear the corner verandahs will be going away with the spring drydock. I thoroughly enjoyed room service breakfast and and a late nightcap outside in the warm Caribbean breeze. I came away from the cruise with the opinion that more sea days would be better, I'm not much for shopping or the beach...just loved being relaxed on vacation. The food in the dining room was very good, not extravagant but solid. I have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of the lido, the selection is great but just not as tasty as I like. Now the Pinnacle on the other hand was phenomenal, I'll eat there at least half the time on my next cruise...the service & quality were well worth the extra charge. Our room steward was good, I don't think we asked too much but anything we needed was provided quickly. We didn't use the Neptune much, borrowed a couple of CD's and grabbed the occasional snack. The people there were very friendly.

 

A few of the activities we participated in:

 

The martini mixology "classes", we attended both and it was alot of fun. The party planner, master mixologist and bartenders were all very personable and threw a great party.

 

The entertainment was good as well, James Cielen (illusionist) was great and so was Joel (Elton John Tribute) he did alot more than Elton impressions, he's a funny guy and very energetic. If you don't believe me just ask Jen, Jen'll tell ya.

 

My wife went to the cooking demonstration with mom, they had a great time and ended up eating the food they prepared in the Pinnacle. Keep in mind that this class goes on for more than a couple hours and could potentially interfere with other plans you may have previously made (yes there is an inside joke there, love you mom).

 

We all enjoyed hanging out at the piano bar in the evenings, the music and service were both great.

 

Dad & I tried the offshore fishing at Grand Turk. In the first 15 minutes we saw the first fish of the day, about a 30 pound wahoo. Things went cold after that with only a small barracuda landed in the next 90 minutes or so. They took us out to deeper water looking for tuna but that just wasn't happening. We went back to the shallows to what must be a barracuda hatchery because we landed about 6 more barracuda in the next 45 minutes or so. It ended up being alot of fun. Dress a little warmer than you might think, the seas were a little rough and you may get wet. After fishing we had the obligatory cheeseburger in paradise at Margaritaville, I'm a Buffett fan and Margaritaville is a fun place.

 

San Juan - Dad & I don't shop...the Mrs. & Mom went to the Coach and Dooney & Bourke outlets and made a day of it. Dad & I hit the local casino for a couple hours and went back to the ship for the dam dollar events; ping pong, putt putt & frisbee. That night we went to the Latin Traditions excursion, it's a latin music & dance show. The entertainment was good, the facility was a little below HAL standards. I think the show would be very good if it was in the lounge on board.

 

St. Thomas - A beautiful Island, we decided to go to Sapphire Beach. The bay is phenomenal and everything you need is right there. Unfortunately it was very windy and not too warm, the water was rough and it just wasn't a beach friendly day but I'm glad I got a chance to see it. The downside - Sapphire is on the other side of the island from the pier and you need to take a taxi. It's about a 25 minute ride and if you get drivers like we did (both directions) it is harrowing to say the least. Sharp corners, steep hills, narrow roads and drivers that like to speed & blow stop signs is not how I choose to vacation. Live and learn.

 

Half Moon Cay - Unbelievable place, this island was reason enough for the entire cruise. We had the yellow cabana and butler service. Our butler was Johnny on the spot without being overbearing and the food was ridiculously more than enough...I'd never had filet on the beach before, I highly recommend it. The sand is like powdered sugar, the weather was perfect and since we were the only ship on the island that day we pretty much had the run of the place.

 

Embarkation & debarkation were a breeze, I was very impressed by HAL's organization. It was fast, simple and most important to me - no stress. We were in the dining room eathing lunch before we knew it. We did the land and sea excursion waiting for our flight after debarkation, it was good to see Fort Lauderdale...my first time there.

 

Bottom line - HAL provided everything we were looking for; service, quality & relaxation. I've been home 3 days and I already find myself looking for the next cruise. Thanks again Papae for getting us all together!

[jtl513]

Where did you have your gathering? We'll need a reeeeeeally small place!

I heard someone suggest for a very small M&G that you just meet for lunch in the dining room on the 1st sea day. No one has to "host" it, and no pre-arrangements have to be made except asking for one or two large tables near each other when you arrive!

[Shebaa]

I'm not surprised you had fun aboard my favorite ship... we're boarding on 3/8 and have only 6 pax on our CC Roll Call. Where did you have your gathering? We'll need a reeeeeeally small place!

Who was the Cruise Director? I hear Parker is leaving and haven't heard of a replacement yet.

 

Now that you have the header, how about posting a review?

 

We will also be on March 8 Zuiderdam. Just joined CC. yesterday. How do we find out about any CC gatherings?

[Shebaa]

We will also be on March 8 sailing of Zuiderdam. How do we find out about and CC gatherings> Just joined yesterday.

[ljnunley]

You should look under the roll calls page, here's a link to your cruise...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=668075

[01Snake]

The wife and I will be on the 3/8 cruise as well. Be our first cruise. :D

[Susie51]

In Nov. 2007, DH and I were on Zuiderdam. Our roll call wasn't very active. We met in the dining room for breakfast the first sea day. I held a sign with CC written on it. Only one another couple showed up for breakfast. We saw then several times while on the ship. They said they only ran into one other couple from our roll call.