We got zapped by the Zuiderdam 12/11 sailing

[gagirl789]

Well HAL might be a great line but we had a horrible time on the Zuiderdam. My attitude is to always try ot make the best of the situation as it always could be worse. Our AC did not work after the first 24 hours. The unit would get cold but it would not blow any air. It was so hot that we had to keep our drapes closed to try to keep the temp down in the cabin. It was so hot that we frequently had to miss dinner in the main dinning room because we could not dress correctly for dinner. Finally on Thursday around 11 they fixed the air by jamming(their words not mine) the dampener open so that the air was on full force for the rest of the cruise. At least then we could turn off the electric fan.

When we arrived our verandah was covered in cigarrett butts, ashes and used washcloths. We were a little disappointed but we just thought that the cabin steward was rushed trying to clean after the last folks. We politely asked him to clean the verandah. He did take the ashtray but DH and I ended up cleaning it ourselves. It must have been something about our verandah because the railing was revarnished while we were in port one day. When we came back the verandah was littered with shavings and they forgot to take their tools. Also a chair on the verandah was broken when we returned. It was never fixed.

We signed up for the unlimited laundry service. It was 45 but seemed great. It was nice to have clean clothes. They did spill bleach on a brand new 80.00 shirt but we tried to just be grateful that it was only one shirt. I was a little irritated that they did not say something about it. They just returned it with several large bleached areas on it.

We did complain to the hotel manager. He said that based on what we paid we would recive a percentage off. We got a whopping 150.00. That is not a tenth of what we paid. It is not worth fighting about. We just will try another line.

The highlight of the trip was the spa. I did enjoy a great massage and facial by Melissa. Tortola was wonderful. We did a catamaran sail with the ship. The snorkeling was great.

[Orcrone]

gagirl,

 

I'm sorry for all the problems you experienced. We have several verandah cabins booked on the Zuiderdam in March. Could you please tell us what cabin you had?

 

Thanks,

Orcrone

[DoctorFeelgood]

... sorry to hear about the problems you had. It sounds like one bad thing after another, and they just kept piling up.

 

The worst to me would have been the lack of AC. I love the tropics, and usually leave my balcony door open, but it is nice to have it a bit cooler when you sleep or are wearing formal clothes.

 

The cigarette butts are gross. I would guess it was either ship's crew working on other balconies or some inconsiderate passengers. I had a problem with the occasional lit cigarette but landing on my stern balcony on Infinity. Seems like a dangerous habit.

[gagirl789]

We were in cabin 4041 Deck 4 Upper Verandah. The cabin was large and the balcony was huge! We met several people(12 total) from another HAl ship in Nassau. 6 of them said they had sailed the Zuiderdam and it was terrible but they loved loved loved the ship they were on.(The Prisendam I think.) I forgot to mention that I did like the fact that the crew could eat in the Lido.

[Tatka]

We were in cabin 4041 Deck 4 Upper Verandah. The cabin was large and the balcony was huge! We met several people(12 total) from another HAl ship in Nassau. 6 of them said they had sailed the Zuiderdam and it was terrible but they loved loved loved the ship they were on.(The Prisendam I think.) I forgot to mention that I did like the fact that the crew could eat in the Lido.

I think Upper Verandah cabins started with #6 ... we were in #6067 in August.

 

Maybe Upper Promenade?:confused:

[Krazy Kruizers]

4041 is on Upper Promenade Deck.

[Oceanwench]

We are thinking of taking the Zui next spring ... we sailed on her in 2003 and had a great time.

But with all the things I've been reading, I'm not so sure!

If the AC were to go out in our cabin, DH would be outraged! He has a medical condition that is exacerbated by heat -- the man needs AC!

[KSCnCA]

We sailed Dec 11 Zui cruise in aft bal cabin 5181. The A/C was fine. The balcony was clean. The only problem we had was the toilet not always working. (twice, once before we left for St. Thomas and the other before we left for Nassau.) Besides that, the cabin, food, dining room were fine. The biggest disappointment was that we missed HMC due to rough seas. We didn't find the bad press on this ship to be a problem for us. Had a good time on the Zui.

[Debzee53]

We were also on the Zuiderdam on 12/11/04 and did not experience any problems with the air conditioning in our cabin. It was too cold if anything. Our cabin numbers were 5124 and 5122, verandah deck. We sailed her in October 2003 and I also wondered about all the negative comments I have been reading lately. I have to say there was some wear and tear since our last cruise, but overall, the service and food was very good and we had a wonderful time. Other than missing out on Half Moon Cay and one very rocky day at sea, we have no complaints and would certainly sail her again. On our previous cruise, there were some problems with vibrations and some odors, but they seem to have been resolved. We chose to sail her again since we got a very good rate, but we usually like to try different ships when we book a cruise. Sorry about the problems you noted above. Happy sailing to all!

[szdiver]

Hello Karen: We will be in 5181 on Jan. 29th sailing. (Weekend basically)

 

Glad to hear you left everything nice for us. Hope the next few guests are as nice as you are. This will be our 6th cruise on HA, but only our first small cruise. We are looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for the info

[gagirl789]

I too had read a few negative things before we went but thought I am not that picky. I genuinely thought that I could not have a bad vacation. I think maybe we just had a series of unfortunate events. Perhaps that could happen on any ship at any time. I would be a lot happier if they would offer some sort of future cruise discount, but I am not counting on it.

[mattR]

We were on the same cruise and we actually were using the heater in our cabin instead of the A/C and were from Canada LOL. We were in a inside cabin so a more controled enviroment I guess. We had a GREAT time tied for our best cruise:) Will post a personal review hopefully later tonight.

[drk]

We too were on the 12/11 sailing and had an excellent time. Cabin 4178 aft was fine with all systems in order. Crew was excellent. Only complaint we had was with the "sameness" of the live bands on board. All played basically the same music with no vocals. Even the Lido had light elevator jazz played by the live band. The music was OK just not any variety and little even remotely contemporary. Anyway we were pleased with our first HAL cruise after 6 on CCL and Celebrity over the past 2 years. The Rotterdam in October on the mediterranean is next up!!

[HeatherInFlorida]

GaGirl, were your stars crossed or something? You had the worst bad luck I can imagine! Frankly, it sounds to me like you are being more than fair about an utter disaster.

 

I am really surprised when I read stuff like this. When I think of the little things that some folks get upset about and then I read this, it makes me feel guilty for complaining about silly little things.

 

What a shame this has soured you on HAL because it is a really good cruiseline overall and you just ran into really bad luck. But I sure don't blame you for the way you feel. I would write a letter (not email) to someone at HAL ... get the name of a VP or something. I'd love to hear what sort of response you get from them.

 

We went on the catamaran out of Tortola when we were on the Oosterdam in early November. Wasn't that the best tour ever? We loved it. So glad you at least got to enjoy that:)

[covey]

You were in cabin 4041; I was in 4049 and had none of the problems you experienced. Too bad you didn't have the room steward I had--he was great. Everything was always in order and we hardly ever saw him. It appeared to me that the cabins further forward from around 4043 or 4041 had solid steel plates from the deck up to the balcony rail--that would put a damper on a balcony cabin real fast. Sorry you had problems.

[Bucky3]

Does anyone know - are the balconies on Upper Promenade (Deck 4) larger than those on Verandah (Deck 5)?