holland America
zuiderdam review
march 26-april 2, 2005
Background: 40 year old swf. 14th Cruise in the last 18 years. Other lines include the now bankrupt Regency, Commodore, and Dolphin. Other more familiar lines include: Carnival, NCL, and Celebrity. Traveled with my sister-in-law for the March 26th sailing on the Zuiderdam. This was an Easter Week Cruise. Ship was full. I would expect some of the areas I've mentioned with room for improvement would be different on a less busy sailing.
Embarkation: Arrived at Port Everglades at 10:30 a.m. About 20th in line. Waited until 11:00 a.m. for the doors to open. We were on the ship by 11:30, visited the Lido for lunch. Grabbed a nice table outside enjoying the intercostals view. Rooms were ready by 1:30. Our luggage was waiting for us. Embarkation doesn’t get easier than that. Room for Improvement:: Difficult to find a place to wait for your room as the public areas around the lido got very crowded. Positive: Very organized and early embarkation.
General Ship Appearance: Yes, it’s true: The Zuiderdam is certainly not the most beautiful ship on the seas. The color scheme is bold at best, ridiculous at worst. Various shades or purples, fuchsia, blues, and oranges are interspersed throughout many of the public areas. We got used to it, but I must admit, the décor was initially shocking. On the plus side, some of the artwork on the Zuiderdam was absolutely fabulous. Positive: Artwork, sculptures, hallways (which weren’t straight and narrow, rather curved which added an excellent dimension to public walkways). Room for Improvement: Color scheme extremely poor.
Ship Layout: The Zuiderdam is extremely easy to navigate. The ships layout limits over-crowding in any one main area (with the exception of the lido and main pool area). One problem in the layout was that the spa backed up to the gym. This created a bit of an oxymoron as quite often, a noisy fitness class took place right next to the spa’s relaxation room. In addition, the spa’s hydro pool overlooked the extremely crowded main pool. For future ship builders reference, swapping the gym and spa location in the ships design would have eliminated this problem. Room for Improvement: Spa in the wrong place. A ships spa should be secluded Positive: Excellent elevator system and sweeping hallways made for little crowding. .
Cabin Design: We were in aft balcony 6165. The closet layout was poor. It was difficult, if not impossible, to walk from the bathroom to the main area with the closet doors open. This area of the cabin was extremely narrow. Rumor has it that this is because the aft cabins are a few feet narrower than side cabins to account for the huge verandah. All in all, a minor inconvenience given the size of the aft balconies, but it would have been nice if the closet area wasn’t quite so cramped.
In addition, our toilet did not flush properly. This was a common problem with all cabins in our area of the ship, and according to Adrian, our room Steward, it was a problem on several floors near the aft. Many times our toilet would not flush at all. Other times it flushed randomly in the middle of the night. It appears as though this is an engineering design flaw in construction of the Zuiderdam. Very sad for a new ship. Negative: Cabin narrow. Toilet did not flush regularly. Positive: Nice to have a tub in the room instead of just a shower.
Cabin Amenities: Amenities in cabin were very nice quality; same product used in the spa (Elivla?). Shampoo, two soaps (one a very nice citrus soap), lotion, and hair conditioner were provided. In addition, a reasonably powerful blow drier was located under the desk. Please note, there are two additional drawers under the couch! We didn’t find these until the end of our cruise.
We had a problem with our refrigerator. Upon embarkation we asked our cabin steward to remove all the items and noticed that it was hot inside the fridge. He suggested we wait a bit and see if it cooled down (shrug). It didn’t. Our fridge was removed on Sunday and was returned on Thursday. Same fridge was returned. It still did NOT work. This was a shame for two reasons. First: the next people in our cabin were certainly going to log the same complaint. Second: due to no refrigerator, we had to keep asking our room steward to fill up ice buckets. He eventually started filling them up in the morning, but we had to keep asking him every afternoon and evening (since the ice melts fast and we had wine). Our cabin steward never did get the hang of keeping the ice buckets full. Room for improvement: Fridge did not work Positives: Good quality bedding and amenities. Ample storage. .
Verandah: We had an aft balcony cabin #6165 in VA category. Absolutely fabulous verandah! I highly recommend the aft balconies because they are so much larger than starboard or port side cabins. We had two chaise loungers, two chairs, one ottoman, and a small table. It should be noted that aft cabins on deck 4 do not have chaise loungers (with the exception of the corner suites). It didn’t look like that aft cabins on deck 8 had chaise loungers on the balcony either, but I couldn’t really tell. Positive: Huge balcony!
One problem with aft cabins may be lack of privacy. Those who choose to stand over the aft pool railing could see onto our balcony. This didn’t matter in the slightest to us, but if you value absolute privacy, an aft isn’t for you. If I were to return, I’d attempt to get an aft balcony on deck 5: Here you’ll get the chaise lounger, but it’s the most difficult to see from the lido level pool; therefore providing the most privacy. Positive: Large verandah with chaise lounge. Negative: Lack of Privacy from decks above.
Cabin Steward: Our cabin steward Adrian was absolutely charming. A real gem to chat with. Was our room spotlessly clean? No! There were areas of the sink and bathroom that stayed dirty all week. Our ice bucket was rarely full. Our verandah never got washed once (there were cracker wrappers in outside corner when we arrived, I picked them up upon debarkation). All in all, his personality made up for the lack of cleaning in the nooks and crannies of the room. Every night our bed was turned down and a chocolate was left on the pillow. If it wasn’t for Adrian’s personality, I’d have rated my cabin steward as below average (based on cleanliness). Room for improvement: Not exactly 'white glove' clean cabin Positive: Wonderfully personably young man. .
Lido Restaurant: I thought the food selection in the lido was absolutely fantastic! The various themed sections gave guests endless choices and typically fast moving lines. My personal favorite for lunch was the deli where you could get grilled sandwiches. One day I had a grilled corn beef on rye and made my own Reuben (sauerkraut and thousand island available on another section of the buffet.) The deli also served BLT’s and a wonderful Caribbean chicken wrap. There was an oriental section, a traditional lunch cruise buffet (with various carved meats), a small salad bar, and an Italian section. The pizza in the Italian restaurant was available until the wee hours of the night and was actually quite good. We ate many of our meals on the exterior Mexican station which had the world’s best guacamole and nearly everything you’d want to create your own Mexican snack. The outdoor grill served hamburgers, dogs, vegetarian burgers, grilled chicken, and fries. The hours of operation were very good. The quality was fair, not fabulous, but I certainly didn’t loose weight on this cruise. Room for improvement: Long waits in some lines(I waited 45 minutes in the deli line one day L) Probably due to Easter week. Positives: Excellent Variety and Selection.
Room Service: We ordered room service every morning and once for lunch. In ALL instances, the order was absolutely correct and came in a timely fashion. For breakfast, we ordered everything from eggs over easy, bacon, and toast to simple bagel and cream cheese. The 24 hour menu was certainly adequate for a cruise ship. In fact, I think that the room service menu on the Zuiderdam was one of the best I’ve seen at sea. Everything from Burgers, Club Sandwiches, Salads, Steaks, and desserts can be had 24 hours a day. . Room for improvement:: Twice our eggs came somewhat cold (no biggie). Positive: Extensive menu delivered efficiently
Main Dining Room Food: We ate in the main dining room 5 out of 7 nights. Opting for the Pinnacle one night and the deck party another. Realizing that food is very subjective, I was pleasantly surprised with the food on HAL since it isn’t known for having the ‘best’ food in the industry. I’m here to tell you that the food on the Zuiderdam was absolutely comparable, if not better, than the food on Celebrity (which is known for fine dining). The lobster on the last formal night was a disappointment, as it was overcooked, but heck; I enjoyed every other meal! Room for improvement: Lobster was over-cooked Positive: Surprisingly good quality and taste!
Main Dining Room Service: We had upper level late seating (8:00) table 91. There were only 4 people at our table of 8. We had very nice tablemates, but given that our waiters section was quite empty most nights, I’m not sure why our service didn’t shine. It’s not that there was anything inadequate about our service, but it wasn’t anything to write home about either. Our waiter was pleasant, but not personable. Our meals were delivered efficiently, but not elegantly. For example, no one came buy to scrape the bread crumbs away between courses. Does this matter to me? NOPE! I could care a less, but it certainly isn’t the type of service I’m accustom to on a cruise ship. Our waiter/busboy never got our coffee and iced tea order straight. Caffeine coffee (instead of decaf) was served to the wrong person, twice. Again, there is nothing that would cause me to state that our service was exactly poor or lacking in any fashion, but it certainly wasn’t stellar either. Room for improvement: Not personal in nature. Positive: Efficiently average.
Pinnicle Grill: We had an absolutely delicious meal here. Crab cakes were phenomenal, as was the filet. Service was fantastic too! The type of service I received in the pinnicle is the type of service that I’ve grown accustom to on a cruise ship. I was slightly disappointed with the volcano cake (which was really like cake batter). Room for improvement: You pay extra to get the type of service that should be standard. Positives: Excellent quality food and service.
Evening Entertainment: I found the entertainment surprisingly good for a cruise ship. Typically I’m not one for enjoying the shows in particular, but Joel Mason (who did an Elton John impersonation) was, without a doubt, the best show I’ve seen on the seas. Kory in the Piano Bar was also quite good. The singers and dancers were typical quality of a cruise ship, and the vista lounge is really very well set up in terms of acoustics and viewing. There was a week long ship elimination version of “American Idol”. This drew a huge crowd every night; I personally didn’t see the draw. The sports bar’s big screen TV was so fuzzy it made viewing nearly impossible. Room for improvement: Sports Bar (fuzzy screen). Ship organized events (like American Idol). Positives: Joel Mason and Kory the Piano Man.
Daily Entertainment: The daily entertainment was lacking. And although Dane the CD has a loyal following, I personally didn’t notice anything that I would consider unique or high energy. The daily entertainers (people who organize pool parties, volleyball games, ect) were lacking energy and enthusiasm. In return, the organized activities were lame. I’d also like to comment that these same people proceeded to get somewhat sloppy drunk at the St. Thomas Sail-away party. They drank more of the free Jell-o shots than the guests. All in all, this particular crew needs a few pointers in motivation. Never before have I seen so many activities flop. I actually felt somewhat sorry for them at one point. Room for improvement: Staff in this area of the ship lacks motivation and personality. Positive: Many different activities were available.
Music: Here’s where the ship is really in need of some improvement. I realize that HAL caters to a ‘lower key’ crowd, but the lack of appropriate music on deck was absurd. A Caribbean type of band played a few short hour long sets, and other than that, the musical choice was a CD piped into the speakers. Now, I could have dealt with this, had the music been appropriately Caribbean in flavor, but one day at lunch the following track played: Hotel California (Eagles); Brand New Day (Sting), and Beautiful Day (U2). Decent music, but not for the Caribbean, and it’s probably not the choice for a ‘lower key’ atmosphere. Heck, there wasn’t even decent Caribbean Music on embarkation! This REALLY gave the ship a totally different mood during the day. I was very disappointed. Room for Improvement: EXTREME lack of Caribbean flavored music to set the tone for cruising. Positive: Live bands in the evening were very entertaining
Spa: What can I say, I loved this spa! The thermo suite and hydro pool combo were absolutely fantastic! We purchased this combo for both sea days. Price was $30.00 a day total ($15 for the thermo suite and $11 for the hydro pool). I can’t stress enough how wonderful these passes were. Our sailing was full, and it was extremely difficult to find a lounge chair or area to sit at the main pool. In addition, the main pool was quite crowded and VERY noisy with people. We spent nearly 10 hours in the therma/hydro pool combo on the first sea day. HEAVEN! When we left for lunch and walked out into the main pool area, it felt as if we were hit in the head with reality! The difference in atmospheres between the two places is distinct! I highly recommend these passes. Passes for the entire week can be purchased for $120.00; but we didn’t want to buy passes for days we were going to be on the island. $30.00 per day was a very wise investment
