Zuiderdam and the Med

[kdowneymd]

The review of our 12 day cruise is quite long but hopefully useful to those planning their own trips.

We recently returned from a 12 night round-trip cruise from Venice through the Eastern Med. My husband and I, mid 50’s travelled with my husband’s brother and his long-time partner. We did a similar cruise last summer on RCCL Legend of the Seas and so loved it that we wanted to do another this summer. I chose HAL this time because it offered an overnight in Venice, one of my favorite cities and one that our travelling companions (brother-in-law) hadn’t visited as well as an overnight in Istanbul which I was dying to see after visiting Ephesus last summer. Several of the ports were the same, Athens, Mykonos, Kusadasi but we didn’t at all mind because we felt there was still so much to be seen in these ports. Prior to this sailing, we have only sailed on RCCL (3 med cruises, 2 Caribbean). This was also our first time not travelling with any of our four children.

 

WE arrived in Venice on Sunday morning at Marco Polo. I had previously arranged on-line for a water taxi to pick the 4 of us up at the airport, and we were met just outside of customs and taken by van to the water taxi and had a magnificent ride into Venice, getting the driver to go down the Grand Canal to the hotel. Well worth the cost to the four of us. Taking the Alilaguna is very easy but does involve toting your own bags. Spent the night at the Westin Regina and Europa on Starwood points. Spent Sunday exploring, took a nap and went out for dinner wandering and ate a lovely meal at the Antica Bissetta. Monday morning we again walked for several hours returned to the hotel and made the drastic mistake of deciding to eat at the beautiful outdoor restaurant at the hotel so my brother-in-laws could experience a meal on the Grand Canal. The service lovely, the view priceless, the vastly overpriced meal (375 Euros for 4) set us on edge. The previous evening the hotel concierge asked us how we were getting to the ship and I told him we had it covered, thinking we would take the Alilaguna. With the transportation strike the next day, we all agreed that his suggestion of a water taxi would make our lives easier and indeed right after lunch our taxi was waiting and took us directly to the terminal. Check-in was quite easy, I decided to wheel on my suitcase while the three others left theirs (we each had one carry-on plus my husband and I had a wheel garment bag).

 

We each had a VC room on deck five, starboard side several doors from each other. The room is narrower than RCCL rooms but was quite adequate for two. Three or four would be a crowd to me, but there is a sofa bed. There was quite adequate storage with the under bed drawers and the closets are nicely organized. The bathroom was small but usable. We had no problems with our tub shower, good pressure and drainage but by brother-in laws cabin had poor tub drainage throughout the trip even after several maintenance calls. We did have difficulty with the flushing of the toilet (it wouldn’t) several different days. Their cabin had no difficulties

 

This problem with the toilets became a major problem THROUGHOUT the cruise. The public bathrooms on the ship, especially the pool and ladies spa changing room area, and caused many toilet overflows with raw sewage that was thoroughly disgusting as well as a public health hazard. One night in the Crow’s nest, I went to the Ladies room and the floor of the toilet room was covered with water and fecal material, I had not noticed before I quickly entered the stall. My shoes were soaked and I turned and left. I spoke to the bartender asking that he call maintenance so it could be cleaned up. He stated that he had already notified them 30 minutes prior but called again. After watching for about 20 minutes and no one appearing, I myself called the front desk where the receptionist stated this was the first she had heard about it and demanded to know what number the bartender had called to report it. I stated that was not my responsibility to know that but he situation needed to be taken care of immediately. We left, I threw out my shoes (favorite sandals) and the next day was told it was well over an hour before someone came.

 

The ship appears to have a design flaw because the smell of sewage coming through the ventilation system occurred on several times, most notably on the night of Day 5 when we were woken at 2 AM by an overwhelming odor of sewage in our cabin. My husband opened the bathroom door and the smell was not in there but was coming directly from the air conditioning duct in our room. My brother-in-laws had the exact experience and we heard others discussing it. In addition the starboard hallway leading from the dining room continually stank of urine throughout the trip.

 

Cleanliness on the ship was otherwise good with the exception of glassware in the Lido. For the first two days each glass I picked up was dirty although dripping with water. It appeared like my glasses do when I just put them through a pre-wash cycle in the dishwasher, not all of the finger prints, lip stains and lipstick get off until they actually go through the wash cycle. I finally on Day 3 saw the Sous-chef in the Lido who started to argue with me that they were washed but when he saw the glass I was carrying he stopped and said thank-you perhaps just that batch. I explained this had been several days and that as a physician, I thought that they could forget all about dispensing hand-washing disinfectant if they weren’t going to clean the glassware properly. It is a major public health issue. The next day, no improvement and I mentioned the issue again to a lovely young woman who worked in the Lido and the main dining room, she stated she would bring it up immediately in the staff meeting and the next day, Bravo, the problem resolved and never recurred. However between the two issues, I had a feeling of never quite feeling the ship was clean and it definitely lurked in the back of our minds.

 

We ate in the Pinnacle Grill four evenings. Two nights to celebrate birthdays, one last night on board and one night a food and wine pairing. The food and wine pairing was the least successful, the wines mediocre and the wine steward took great pains to exp-lain that he was not a sommelier but a wine steward and his job and that of his staff was to sell we passengers as much wine as possible and make money for HAL (seriously this is what he said) Had he said little but simply stated where the wine was from it would have been preferable. The service was also particularly poor that night with many staff standing seeming unsure of what to do next. On all but one night (the last) our meat was perfectly cooked. The service on these other nights was also quite good. As has been mentioned before there was a tendency to try and rush but when we asked for more time, it was not a problem.

 

The Dining Room experience was quite uneven in food quality and generally mediocre service. We always brought our own wine so we did not have to wait for wine service. The bar staff was always very helpful about putting white wine in a chiller for us if we stopped and had a drink before going to the dining room. We enjoyed the option of AWD and rarely waited more than 15 minutes to be seated. We ate off of the ship several evenings.

 

Finally the décor was fine to me, the pools enjoyable. There were MANY children on board this voyage and afternoons did get noisy at the family pool. On the other hand the adult pool had so many individuals smoking all day; I preferred the noise (and shade)

 

Finally, the ports were wonderful but this is a VERY intense cruise. While in Venice, we averaged 3-5 miles a day walking. We did all ports on our own. Split was enjoyable walking about. In Athens, last year was quite hot and smoggy but this time the air clear and the temperature in the 80’s and very pleasant. We merely walked around the Agora area choosing to not revisit the Acropolis. We ate at a great outdoor restaurant and returned to the ship early afternoon.

 

We loved sailing through the straights of Gallipoli and in to Istanbul. We were disappointed to arrive two hours late, but were off the boat by 6:30. Having read previous reviews and seen on the map where the ship docks, I thought it no problem to walk to the tram stop to go to Istkal Caddesi. What I didn’t realize is that we were at the VERY end of the port and were quite a bit farther from it than it appeared. The traffic police spoke no English but were very helpful when I showed my map and pointed to where I wanted to go and pointed us in the right direction. It was a good 35 minute walk but when we exited the tram onto the street, we were so happy we had made the effort. Saturday night in Istanbul is a wonderful sight with everyone walking, cafes and restaurants full. We eventually chose a small restaurant on a side street that looked good. The waiter spoke English and brought us out the large platter of mezes to order from. We told him to treat us as if we were Turks from wine to food and we had a great evening topped off by thick Turkish coffee and Raki. He steered us to a nearby cab stopped and I gave the driver what I thought was a reasonably good version of the “cruise ship terminal” When we suddenly going across the bridge to the Old Istanbul side, I realized I had overly flattered myself after crossing again pointed to my map and he made a U turn back across the bridge and delivered us to the ship. The next morning we were met by our guide from EKOL travel and had a phenomenal tour of Old Istanbul including Topkapi, with the Harems (just incredible) as well as the museum rooms with the jewels which I thought make the Crown Jewels of England look puny) Blue Mosque, Agia Sofia. We declined a carpet stop and returned to the ship exhausted.

 

The next day at Ephesus, we again used EKOL (had used them the previous year as well) had a remarkable guide. We went to the Terrace Houses which we had not seen last year. She was able to add different information about the site than we had heard the year before and it was a true high point.

 

Mykonos, I had wanted to see Delos but the water was so choppy, I decided to not venture. We walked all afternoon and evening eating great lunch and dinner and returned to the ship.

 

Santorini was a port we were all looking forward to but I was concerned about five ships being in port. After our experience we all agreed we would never return Santorini unless there was only one ship in port. We waited 45 minutes to get up the tram (no wait for a tender) then took about 20 minutes to get a cab to Oia. We walked around, shopped, and enjoyed the view at a lovely restaurant overlooking the caldera. When we arrived in Oia, I asked the taxi driver, if I could book him then to pick us up, he didn’t want to because he didn’t know where he would be on the island and told us not to worry there would be many cabs there. We had to be on the last tender at 4:30 and decided that if we left Oia at 2; 30 we would ample time. About 2, I decided to go and take a look and there were no cabs and would not be any cabs for the next 45 minutes. By then over 100 people were milling about expecting to take the 2:50 PM bus back to Thira. Everyone was queued waiting. When the bus arrived mass pandemonium broke out with people pushing and shoving, screaming to get back on the bus, a second unscheduled bus immediately pulled in behind it and still it was standing room only on both buses, with significant anxiety and people unable to get on the bus. We did arrive in time, took the donkeys down (preferable to the tram to me, quicker, less wait). Yes this is an example of why one may wish to use the ship tours, however with over 5 thousand people in port this was a foreseeable problem. Many of the people on the bus were tourists who were staying for the week. Hopefully, in the future HAL and or other lines will reconsider their schedules when many ships are in port it is really not a pleasant experience and the beauty of a magnificent island is diminished.

 

BY the time we were to arrive in Katakolon, we were all so tired we stayed on board got off for lunch at a waterside restaurant and swam for the afternoon.

 

Disembarkation was easy, baggage easy to claim. We stayed an extra night at the Stucky Hilton again on points. That day and night was the festival of the Redentore and the subject of another lengthy review which I haven't written).

 

While we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise the four of us felt that the ship experience did not match our RCCL experience and in all likelihood would not sail HAL again if other options were available.

[High C's]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Sounds like you had a great time with your family!

[tally10]

I enjoyed reading your review. We go to some of the places you visited on our October cruise on Carnival. Could you expound on Katakolon and the beach where you went to swim? We chose not to book a tour there and are curious about what there is to see there. We considered EKOL tours for Istanbul but were leary about prepaying them, chosing a ship's tour instead. I have read quite a few reviews of their tours, some great and some not so great, but you seemed happy with them. Any further comments would be appreciated. Sorry the Zuiderdam had so many issues. That really impacts your experience.

[kdowneymd]

In Katakolon, the ship docks literally in the center of the small town. It is a five minute walk to the main street with shops and waterfront cafes. We shopped a little (actually very good prices for olive oil and Santorini wines) chose a restaurant by walking along the quay. Our waiter spoke NO english, we decided those who speak English work in the shops but we all made ourselves understood. We wanted a chilled whhite wine and finally my husband walked into the actual restuarant and with sign language all was accomplished. A delicious fish, light white wine and great appetizers. Very relaxing. We then went back towards the ship and walked to the beach that is to the left of the ship when you dock. There are umbrellas and chairs to rent. The water was warm and pleasant we were there about 90 minutes and returned to the ship relaxed and relaxed near the pool. I had looked forward to visiting Olympia for some time. Ancient Greek history a favorite past time; but we were so tired from all of the "hot white rocks" touring we had done, I wanted nothing more than to relax and knew I would just have to plan another trip!

[Destin Mom]

Hi kdowneymd. We were on your same sailing and followed a very similar tour schedule as you with Ekol in Istanbul and Ephesus (also loved the harem and the terrace houses). We did not use a guide in Olympia either as we were ruined out. We opted not to swim there because of the sulphur smell which we found to be over powering. We had a great experience in Santorini but feared long waits because of the five other ships. We were off the ship and at the top of Fira in less than 15 minutes. I'm not really sure how that happened as we weren't up early or waiting at the door. I think we managed to get off just before the big RCI ship started to tender. In Santornini, we hiked to Oia and back which was one of the trip highlights for us- all 13 miles of it. It took up most of our port time but the views and hike were absolutely incredible. Mykonos and Split were fine but not especially interesting to us. We used a private driver to hit Athens and Corinth and had a great day. We had been to Venice several times before and were overwhelmed with the crowds. It was amazing how different the experience of Venice was when shared with a few thousand others in every piazza.

 

For us, the Zuiderdam itinerary was great, and we were fortunate not to have similar problems on board the ship. We did not notice any sanitation, sewage or 'smell' issues and walked around the ship quite a bit. It is amazing that we could have been on the same ship/ same sailing and had such different experiences. We did notice that glasses in the Lido were wet on occasion but did not see any marks or streaks. And we are the type who would notice fingerprints much less lip stick. PG was okay, not tremendous, but not bad either. The main dining room food was fantastic in our book as was the service. We also did AYWD (i.e. HAL's open seating).

 

I guess we are fortunate to have so many options for cruises. On our last RCI cruise, I considered swimming home mid cruise. For us, it was a floating Shoney's with the decor of Circus Circus in Las Vegas. The specialty restaurant was the only saving grace for us. For years, we swore we would never cruise again and then decided to roll the dice with HAL on the Zuiderdam. We were glad we did. If we'd had your experience, I think we might have considered swimming home again. Many happy future travels.

[tally10]

In Katakolon, the ship docks literally in the center of the small town. It is a five minute walk to the main street with shops and waterfront cafes. We shopped a little (actually very good prices for olive oil and Santorini wines) chose a restaurant by walking along the quay. Our waiter spoke NO english, we decided those who speak English work in the shops but we all made ourselves understood. We wanted a chilled whhite wine and finally my husband walked into the actual restuarant and with sign language all was accomplished. A delicious fish, light white wine and great appetizers. Very relaxing. We then went back towards the ship and walked to the beach that is to the left of the ship when you dock. There are umbrellas and chairs to rent. The water was warm and pleasant we were there about 90 minutes and returned to the ship relaxed and relaxed near the pool. I had looked forward to visiting Olympia for some time. Ancient Greek history a favorite past time; but we were so tired from all of the "hot white rocks" touring we had done, I wanted nothing more than to relax and knew I would just have to plan another trip!

 

Your day in Katakolon sounds like the perfect day to me-total destressing. The Eastern Mediterranean itinerary is not our first choice, but my husband's sister is coming along and it was hers. Since we have not been to these places, it should be fascinating. My husband calls it the "ruins and rocks" cruise. I think that even for those not into history like him, it will be fascinating. Like the other poster, we have been somewhat disappointed with RCCL lately, especially the food and some other issues. Celebrity is our favorite line. You may want to try them next, especially the new Solstice class. We will definitely check out the little shops and also hoping to bring back some great olive oil and wines from Katakolon and the other places we visit. The little restaurant sounded perfect, too. Hope our day there is similar to yours, although it may be too cool for the beach (Nov. 2).

[seapenarth]

The review of our 12 day cruise is quite long but hopefully useful to those planning their own trips.

We recently returned from a 12 night round-trip cruise from Venice through the Eastern Med. My husband and I, mid 50’s travelled with my husband’s brother and his long-time partner. We did a similar cruise last summer on RCCL Legend of the Seas and so loved it that we wanted to do another this summer. I chose HAL this time because it offered an overnight in Venice, one of my favorite cities and one that our travelling companions (brother-in-law) hadn’t visited as well as an overnight in Istanbul which I was dying to see after visiting Ephesus last summer. Several of the ports were the same, Athens, Mykonos, Kusadasi but we didn’t at all mind because we felt there was still so much to be seen in these ports. Prior to this sailing, we have only sailed on RCCL (3 med cruises, 2 Caribbean). This was also our first time not travelling with any of our four children.

 

WE arrived in Venice on Sunday morning at Marco Polo. I had previously arranged on-line for a water taxi to pick the 4 of us up at the airport, and we were met just outside of customs and taken by van to the water taxi and had a magnificent ride into Venice, getting the driver to go down the Grand Canal to the hotel. Well worth the cost to the four of us. Taking the Alilaguna is very easy but does involve toting your own bags. Spent the night at the Westin Regina and Europa on Starwood points. Spent Sunday exploring, took a nap and went out for dinner wandering and ate a lovely meal at the Antica Bissetta. Monday morning we again walked for several hours returned to the hotel and made the drastic mistake of deciding to eat at the beautiful outdoor restaurant at the hotel so my brother-in-laws could experience a meal on the Grand Canal. The service lovely, the view priceless, the vastly overpriced meal (375 Euros for 4) set us on edge. The previous evening the hotel concierge asked us how we were getting to the ship and I told him we had it covered, thinking we would take the Alilaguna. With the transportation strike the next day, we all agreed that his suggestion of a water taxi would make our lives easier and indeed right after lunch our taxi was waiting and took us directly to the terminal. Check-in was quite easy, I decided to wheel on my suitcase while the three others left theirs (we each had one carry-on plus my husband and I had a wheel garment bag).

 

We each had a VC room on deck five, starboard side several doors from each other. The room is narrower than RCCL rooms but was quite adequate for two. Three or four would be a crowd to me, but there is a sofa bed. There was quite adequate storage with the under bed drawers and the closets are nicely organized. The bathroom was small but usable. We had no problems with our tub shower, good pressure and drainage but by brother-in laws cabin had poor tub drainage throughout the trip even after several maintenance calls. We did have difficulty with the flushing of the toilet (it wouldn’t) several different days. Their cabin had no difficulties

 

This problem with the toilets became a major problem THROUGHOUT the cruise. The public bathrooms on the ship, especially the pool and ladies spa changing room area, and caused many toilet overflows with raw sewage that was thoroughly disgusting as well as a public health hazard. One night in the Crow’s nest, I went to the Ladies room and the floor of the toilet room was covered with water and fecal material, I had not noticed before I quickly entered the stall. My shoes were soaked and I turned and left. I spoke to the bartender asking that he call maintenance so it could be cleaned up. He stated that he had already notified them 30 minutes prior but called again. After watching for about 20 minutes and no one appearing, I myself called the front desk where the receptionist stated this was the first she had heard about it and demanded to know what number the bartender had called to report it. I stated that was not my responsibility to know that but he situation needed to be taken care of immediately. We left, I threw out my shoes (favorite sandals) and the next day was told it was well over an hour before someone came.

 

The ship appears to have a design flaw because the smell of sewage coming through the ventilation system occurred on several times, most notably on the night of Day 5 when we were woken at 2 AM by an overwhelming odor of sewage in our cabin. My husband opened the bathroom door and the smell was not in there but was coming directly from the air conditioning duct in our room. My brother-in-laws had the exact experience and we heard others discussing it. In addition the starboard hallway leading from the dining room continually stank of urine throughout the trip.

 

Cleanliness on the ship was otherwise good with the exception of glassware in the Lido. For the first two days each glass I picked up was dirty although dripping with water. It appeared like my glasses do when I just put them through a pre-wash cycle in the dishwasher, not all of the finger prints, lip stains and lipstick get off until they actually go through the wash cycle. I finally on Day 3 saw the Sous-chef in the Lido who started to argue with me that they were washed but when he saw the glass I was carrying he stopped and said thank-you perhaps just that batch. I explained this had been several days and that as a physician, I thought that they could forget all about dispensing hand-washing disinfectant if they weren’t going to clean the glassware properly. It is a major public health issue. The next day, no improvement and I mentioned the issue again to a lovely young woman who worked in the Lido and the main dining room, she stated she would bring it up immediately in the staff meeting and the next day, Bravo, the problem resolved and never recurred. However between the two issues, I had a feeling of never quite feeling the ship was clean and it definitely lurked in the back of our minds.

 

We ate in the Pinnacle Grill four evenings. Two nights to celebrate birthdays, one last night on board and one night a food and wine pairing. The food and wine pairing was the least successful, the wines mediocre and the wine steward took great pains to exp-lain that he was not a sommelier but a wine steward and his job and that of his staff was to sell we passengers as much wine as possible and make money for HAL (seriously this is what he said) Had he said little but simply stated where the wine was from it would have been preferable. The service was also particularly poor that night with many staff standing seeming unsure of what to do next. On all but one night (the last) our meat was perfectly cooked. The service on these other nights was also quite good. As has been mentioned before there was a tendency to try and rush but when we asked for more time, it was not a problem.

 

The Dining Room experience was quite uneven in food quality and generally mediocre service. We always brought our own wine so we did not have to wait for wine service. The bar staff was always very helpful about putting white wine in a chiller for us if we stopped and had a drink before going to the dining room. We enjoyed the option of AWD and rarely waited more than 15 minutes to be seated. We ate off of the ship several evenings.

 

Finally the décor was fine to me, the pools enjoyable. There were MANY children on board this voyage and afternoons did get noisy at the family pool. On the other hand the adult pool had so many individuals smoking all day; I preferred the noise (and shade)

 

Finally, the ports were wonderful but this is a VERY intense cruise. While in Venice, we averaged 3-5 miles a day walking. We did all ports on our own. Split was enjoyable walking about. In Athens, last year was quite hot and smoggy but this time the air clear and the temperature in the 80’s and very pleasant. We merely walked around the Agora area choosing to not revisit the Acropolis. We ate at a great outdoor restaurant and returned to the ship early afternoon.

 

We loved sailing through the straights of Gallipoli and in to Istanbul. We were disappointed to arrive two hours late, but were off the boat by 6:30. Having read previous reviews and seen on the map where the ship docks, I thought it no problem to walk to the tram stop to go to Istkal Caddesi. What I didn’t realize is that we were at the VERY end of the port and were quite a bit farther from it than it appeared. The traffic police spoke no English but were very helpful when I showed my map and pointed to where I wanted to go and pointed us in the right direction. It was a good 35 minute walk but when we exited the tram onto the street, we were so happy we had made the effort. Saturday night in Istanbul is a wonderful sight with everyone walking, cafes and restaurants full. We eventually chose a small restaurant on a side street that looked good. The waiter spoke English and brought us out the large platter of mezes to order from. We told him to treat us as if we were Turks from wine to food and we had a great evening topped off by thick Turkish coffee and Raki. He steered us to a nearby cab stopped and I gave the driver what I thought was a reasonably good version of the “cruise ship terminal” When we suddenly going across the bridge to the Old Istanbul side, I realized I had overly flattered myself after crossing again pointed to my map and he made a U turn back across the bridge and delivered us to the ship. The next morning we were met by our guide from EKOL travel and had a phenomenal tour of Old Istanbul including Topkapi, with the Harems (just incredible) as well as the museum rooms with the jewels which I thought make the Crown Jewels of England look puny) Blue Mosque, Agia Sofia. We declined a carpet stop and returned to the ship exhausted.

 

The next day at Ephesus, we again used EKOL (had used them the previous year as well) had a remarkable guide. We went to the Terrace Houses which we had not seen last year. She was able to add different information about the site than we had heard the year before and it was a true high point.

 

Mykonos, I had wanted to see Delos but the water was so choppy, I decided to not venture. We walked all afternoon and evening eating great lunch and dinner and returned to the ship.

 

Santorini was a port we were all looking forward to but I was concerned about five ships being in port. After our experience we all agreed we would never return Santorini unless there was only one ship in port. We waited 45 minutes to get up the tram (no wait for a tender) then took about 20 minutes to get a cab to Oia. We walked around, shopped, and enjoyed the view at a lovely restaurant overlooking the caldera. When we arrived in Oia, I asked the taxi driver, if I could book him then to pick us up, he didn’t want to because he didn’t know where he would be on the island and told us not to worry there would be many cabs there. We had to be on the last tender at 4:30 and decided that if we left Oia at 2; 30 we would ample time. About 2, I decided to go and take a look and there were no cabs and would not be any cabs for the next 45 minutes. By then over 100 people were milling about expecting to take the 2:50 PM bus back to Thira. Everyone was queued waiting. When the bus arrived mass pandemonium broke out with people pushing and shoving, screaming to get back on the bus, a second unscheduled bus immediately pulled in behind it and still it was standing room only on both buses, with significant anxiety and people unable to get on the bus. We did arrive in time, took the donkeys down (preferable to the tram to me, quicker, less wait). Yes this is an example of why one may wish to use the ship tours, however with over 5 thousand people in port this was a foreseeable problem. Many of the people on the bus were tourists who were staying for the week. Hopefully, in the future HAL and or other lines will reconsider their schedules when many ships are in port it is really not a pleasant experience and the beauty of a magnificent island is diminished.

 

BY the time we were to arrive in Katakolon, we were all so tired we stayed on board got off for lunch at a waterside restaurant and swam for the afternoon.

 

Disembarkation was easy, baggage easy to claim. We stayed an extra night at the Stucky Hilton again on points. That day and night was the festival of the Redentore and the subject of another lengthy review which I haven't written).

 

While we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise the four of us felt that the ship experience did not match our RCCL experience and in all likelihood would not sail HAL again if other options were available.

 

As you sow so shall you reap. Glad I do`nt have to put up with such cruise lines :(

[crabcruiser]

Thank you for your excellent reviews of the Zuiderdam. We are sailing on her next week and still can't make up our minds what to pack.

Were there many gentelman in Tuxes on formal nights? Did they have a semi formal night? If so do men need to wear jackets?

I am under the impression that the dress code is more relaxed on this cruise. Is this correct?

We are getting very excited!!! We leave on Monday.

[s73645]

We joined the Zuiderdam cruise the weekend of the redentore. My daughter's cabin 4th floor, stern had issues with sewage odors the whole cruise. Our's, just two cabins away, was fine. I did notice that the odor was persistent in the public restrooms.

I didn't notice the glasses in the lido, I thought the food was too blah to eat there more than once.

One weird thing happened. We filled out our surveys the night before disembarkation and left them in our cabin to go to the gym. When we get back, we pass the room steward with surveys in his hand, he had just left our room. Our surveys were missing. I asked my husband to request them from the steward. He said that he had already turned them in.

Is this usual? I didn't think that the staff was supposed to handle the guest surveys once completed. Our comments about our stewards service were not excellent, I am wondering if he intercepted them to prevent a semi negative report.

Over all we did have a great time, I just do not think that HAL will be my primary cruise line.

[Culater]

I thank all of those who have posted their honest opinions of the Zuiderdam and the med cruise. It just goes to show you how two people on the same cruise can have such a different experience. I feel the same thing happens to me on Trip Advisor when I read all the bad hotel reviews for a place that I thought was great with no problems.

We were on the Zuiderdam from Venice to Venice on July 7. This was only our second cruise (technically our third but our first was a 3 day Mexico cruise on Royal Caribbean about 15 years ago and I don't remember alot of the little things) and both have been on HAL in the med (last year and this year). So I'm sorry to those reading, I cannot compare HAL to other cruise lines. I can tell you that on both cruises (first was on Prinsendam) we had a most enjoyable and relaxing vacation and the service was great. I must say that our experience with the service on the Prinsendam was a notch better than that on the Zuiderdam. Our cabin steward did a great job, the room was in great shape cleaned twice a day and our steward always addressed us by name and greeted us whenever he saw us.

As for the odor, we were on the first floor, cabin with ocean view only. No odors, no plumbing problems. I didn't even hear of the odor problem, as I would have thought that talk about it might be buzzing around the ship. Anyway, I would really address this to HAL urgently as this is an exceptional health hazard. They should be highly concerned.

As for the drinking glasses, we did notice they were wet. But I didn't think they were dirty or saw lipstick stains or other smudges. If we saw that I would have complained too and believe me my wife is a fanatic when it comes to germs.

To S73645, I am curious as to exactly why your cabin steward was not so great. And anyone else who has had a bad experience. These guys work really hard with every day of the week like 11 hours a day and they still manage to be friendly at least ours. But everyone is different.

Don't get me wrong, the ship and HAL are not PERFECT, not anything is, but I certainly would give it high marks in most areas. I guess I need to cruise on other lines to make a fair comparison.

[Cruzin Terri]

To kdowneymd,

I'm just curious. Why have you not posted this review on the Holland America board on this site? It is a known fact that HAL takes these boards seriously and reads comments. It would do more good there where there are others who may have shared your experience and also alert HAL to a problem on the Zuiderdam. I am doing the 24 day Magic of the Mediterranean on her beginning Sept. 5. I am concerned about the issues you have raised and I am sure there are others as well who will be on this cruise who are interested.

Terri

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

[s73645]

to culater: Our cabin steward did not replentish the shower gel in our cabin but once during the cruise (my husband and I both workout in the gym daily), we had to ask for laundry bags from our steward daily, our mini bar was not restocked, there was a sock under the bed from the previous occupant that was never removed. All of this even after all was pointed out to the steward, we made a point to tell him that we would need shower gel and a laundry bag daily and remind him that we needed the mini bar restocked on several occasions. General poor service.

[Culater]

Sorry to hear about your experience. If you are concerned if HAL received your survey, maybe you want to ask. It is computerized it seems so someone should be able to find out that info for you. I was told by our Dining steward that one time someone had written a complaint on the survey and they were all made aware of it and advised on how to improve their service. So things are looked at.

[kdowneymd]

I agree wholeheartedly that the sewage odors are a health hazard and I did include it on my survey. Our cabin steward was alright, we never knew his name, he never introduced himself nor addressed us by name, yet our cabin was always clean, ice refilled, toiletries restocked so it was fine, not overwhelming not enough to complain about. I truly think that the automatic tipping has probably changed the passenger staff interactions.

[stan1]

Thanks for an outstanding and complete review of the ship and the cruise. My wife and I were on Legend of the Seas last year also: Rome>Venice>Barcelona>Caribbean, and thoroughly enjoyed the vessel and its extremely responsive staff, outstanding buffet food.

Thanks to your review we just abandoned our plans to take the Zuiderdam from Venice to Ft.Lauderdale this fall.

Stan

[kdowneymd]

Stan1; I am sure others will tell you the Zuiderdam is a lovely ship and I hate to feel responsible for changing your plans but I did write my review so that others could make choices based upon the information. I had heard such wonderful things about HAL and it's reputation for service that it was disappointing. We have sailed on Brilliance, Legend and Splendour all on Med itineraries and just the overall experience was a tad better for us (all four of us unanimously agreed on this point). The sanitary issues ending up probably being the reason I would have a hard time seeing myself on one of their ships aain. With confirmation now from others about the same problem, who wants to take a chance.

[2cruisecats]

I read your review with great interest. Like you, Venice is a must and we plan to walk & walk.

 

My questions -- 1) how did you get from the airport to your hotel (we're also using Starwood points for our 2 night stay at the Westin). Getting to (and from) the hotel is something I've yet to figure out! I was told that the water taxis are expensive but it sounds like the way to go.

2) You mentioned smoking around the adult pool. On our previous HAL trip, this area was a no smoking zone as were several other public areas? Have they changed their policy?

 

This is our 2nd HAL trip. We sailed on Amsterdam down to the Antarctic a few years ago and loved it. I hope we'll not be disappointed in Zuiderdam and also the open dining option.

 

Thanks for the informative review.

[XFed2001]

I would like to know whom you contacted to arrange for someone to meet you outside customs and then transport you via van to the water taxi departure pier. As several in my party will have difficulty wheeling their luggage to the water taxi, your approach would really facilitate the entire process of getting to the Westin. I gather that you arranged the water taxi pickup to take you to the cruise terminal through the concierge. Do you recall the costs associated with your water taxi to and from the hotel? BTW, did you take advantage of the breakfast plan utilizing Starpoints?

One more question: Did you get an upgraded room based on your Starwood level? Thanks for any insight you can profer.

[kdowneymd]

I arranged our water taxi through the web by typing in water taxi resrevations venice the website is reservations@airports-shuttle.com. It was I believe approximately 105 euros for the 4 of us with luggage. We were originally booked through the same company for transfer to the ship for 90 euros, which we cancelled and eventually paid 100 euros. They were very effecient and easy to correspond with. Have a great trip

[XFed2001]

I arranged our water taxi through the web by typing in water taxi resrevations venice the website is reservations@airports-shuttle.com. It was I believe approximately 105 euros for the 4 of us with luggage. We were originally booked through the same company for transfer to the ship for 90 euros, which we cancelled and eventually paid 100 euros. They were very effecient and easy to correspond with. Have a great trip

 

Thanks so much for you help.

[Sunshinecrew]

We each had a VC room on deck five, starboard side several doors from each other. .

 

We're in a Veranda cabin on deck five sailing from Barcelona Sept 4. All I can say is, "Yikes, I hope we aren't going to experience the same."

[kdowneymd]

XFED2001; The pick-up outside of customs and travel via van to the watertaxi was part of the total pick-up plan they provide, not that we individually asked for. The water taxi from the airport to the hotel was not through the hotle but through the company I booked on-line. I had originally also booked them to transport us to the ship from the hotel and cancelled them thinking I could do better price wise. With the transportation stirke that day, ended up paying slightly more but just as convenient. If you can afford it,private water taxis make the experience much easier. However, we have also taken vaporettos and it isn't the end of the worls if one doesn't have alot of luggage and has a good frame of mind. We did have anicer room than my brother-in-law who also used Star points, not sure why. We did not use the breakfast option, too exorbitant with good espresso and pastries