ijsprinses

We were in 8005 on the Zuiderdam and no problem with motion at all, sea was very calm on our trip. It was also a quiet location. the only negative thing was that we had no light at the verandah due to navigation purposes.

we had cabin 8005 on the zuiderdam a month ago. although it's under the lido deck, it's very quiet (actually, we were below the spa). but this is one of the cabins where you've no light on the verandah due to navigation purposes (the bridge is very near). But besides the light, we really liked the cabin.

last month, on the zuiderdam and it was great!

For us the intenary is the most imortant thing, but also how long the ship stays in port! We had long port days with HAL, once till midnight plus one overnight, which is really nice to explore the ports in the evening!

We had a VF verendah on deck 8, but very close to the bridge. For us, it was a great location: very quiet (below the spa) and only one stair for reaching the Lido deck. It's a longer walk to the MDR, but that was no problem. The only disadvantage is that you don't have a light on your verandah due to navigation purposes if you're close to the bridge (the light is siwtched off).

We were in cabin 8005 on the Zuiderdam, close to the bridge and indeed, the light on the verandah was switched off for navigation purposes. when we stayed late in port, we could use the light on the verandah. I was a bit dissapointed that I couldn't read a book on my verandah after dinner, but luckily it didn't ruin my cruise... :-)

We were in Venice two weeks ago and took the people mover. Price is 1,5 euro single way. There were no queues at all. we paid with coins.

Belgian too and I agree with your review (we were on the zuiderdam two weeks ago). I ordered the shrimp cocktail once and I didn't like it, we also found the choices for the gala night not very good, but all the other evenings we loved the food! Some members here describe the Lido foo as cafetarian food, I don't know what those people eat at home, because we were really impressed. Entertainment was mediocre.

We were on the Zuiderdam last week for our cruise 'adriatic Dream'. We really liked the Zuiderdam. Some people say it's ugly, but I like bright colours and we had no issues with the cabin. The food was very good, even in the Lido. Our favourite ports were Valetta (cathedral), Korcula (charming and nice for swimming) and Dubrovnik (especially at night!). Our least favourite ports were Messina and Split. In Messina, there isn't much to see, so it's better to take a tour (to Toarmina for example). And Split was so hot and crowded...

We had very nice dinners in the MDR, but our least favourite menu was the last night (and strangely enough also the first formal night).

I was on the Zuiderdam for a 11-day cruise last week, I've checked my on location and the MDR was open four times for lunch (including first and last day). we had only one sea day.

We only sailed one time on an MSC schip before this cruise, so maybe we have lower expectations than the more experienced cruisers here! :-) There were so many nice things, like the comfy bed, the library, the Dive Inn, the food (we had fixed seating at 8 pm by the way), that little 'problems' (like a beach towel that wasn't replaced, or an unfriendly bartender once) didn't bother us.

I do admit we were surprised by an early 'last called' in one of the bars once, but most evenings we would go to bed between 11 pm and midnight and was it no problem to get a drink.

Terri, have a nice second part of the cruise! I'm sorry we've missed you the first day. We really slept late and even missed breakfast... :( The trip to civitavecchia was not easy (poblems with the trains) and we were exhausted!

We just got off the zuiderdam today (same cruise as Terri and German Giant) and we had a great time. It was our first HAl cruise and we were really impressed. I think the Zuiderdam actually looks really nice, the food is very good (in the Lido, MDR and Pinnacle Grill) and our cabin was fine. Most of the crew is friendly. Things we didn't like so much: service in the MDR is really fast, we like to enjoy our food, have some wine and talk, but in less than an hour our 3 courses were served, so at 9 pm we already left the restaurant. For me it was rather chilly in the public spaces. I don't like the big difference in temperature outside-inside. And more entertainment on deck would be nice. One night the band played a couple of hours on deck in the evening and that was great. And it's true that we had to wait a few times for a drink, but that didn't bother me. as I said, it was a nice ship and we would consider sailing on the Zuiderdam again!

thanks! we're very excited! two days at work to go...

We just bought a nice jacket, shirt and tie for my husband. We'll cruise on the Zuiderdam in two weeks. He never wears a suit, so buying one would be a total waste of money and in a rented tuxedo he would be very uncomfartable. I'll be wearing a cocktail dress and maybe even a longer gown on the second formal night, so maybe that's not 'matching' with his rather 'casual' formal attire, but i don't mind.

we're cruising this summer with hal and we will not leave the EU. Our TA said that HAL requires a passport, also for European itenaries. we don't want any problems at the pier, so we have got our passports now. I don't think we'll be using them much, as we do not leave Europe when we travel.

So funny and recognizable! (we're also looking forward to our first hal cruise in july and I'm spending hours on this forum). Don't forget to bring an extra suitcase for your tablecloth (breakfast on the verandah), magnets, rum runners, adapters, night lamps and alarm clock...:)

we are in our mid-30's, dutch speaking and we'll be sailing with HAL for the first time. we're doing the 'Adriatic Dream' in july, mostly because of the itinerary, I didn't know much about HAL. I've chosen late dining at 20pm and after dinner I hope to see a show or listen to some live music, so we won't be in our cabin at 10pm I guess. But the cruise is port intensive, so I won't be dancing until dawn either! :) I don't mind kids, but I do not like it when the ship is crowded with families, so you don't find a seat near the pool. (this was the case when we sailed with MSC ten years ago). but on our roll call some people said there is a 'adult only pool', that would be nice.

We've spent a weekend in Rotterdam (not on a cruise) and did a harbour boattour, the Euromast and the 'Kubuswoningen' (cubes as houses). it's a nice town for wandering around and there are also many shops.

We've booked a Hal cruise in july 2015 (it's the only time of the year my husband can take off from work, if i could choose I would choose september, november is rather late if you want to be sure of sunny/warm weather). I think it's a very nice itenary: rome - messina-malta-argostoli- corfu - Kotor - Croatia (dubrovnik, split and Korcula) -venice.

ten years ago, we've also done a Med Cruise, but on the MSC Armonia. The itenary was also very interesting, but it was a big ship and it felt sometimes crowded. The staff wasn't very friendly and there were language difficulties. With Hal, we are staying late in Dubrovnik and 1 night in Venice, so we can visit those cities in the evening too.

We've booked our first Hal cruise and I hope there are some things to do after 9pm, because we've late seating and after dinner I hope to be able to see a nice show or to have a couple of drinks with some music. It's a mediterranean cruise with only 1 sea day, so i won't be dancing until 2pm but I don't want to go to bed right after dinnner...:)

we will be sailing on the Zuiderdam in july. we've booked the cruise because of the itinerary, so i hope we're HAL material! :-) we're 35 en 36 and not experienced cruisers, we've done just one cruise for our honeymoon. that was with MSC. The boat was OK, but the crew not very friendly (or competent), embarkation was difficult and the boat was very crowded.

I've spend serveral hours on this forum, and it seems that most people think the crew of HAL is very good, that's one thing that matters for us. And the entertainement, we'll have to see... we're not real party animals and there is just one sea day in our cruise, so we won't be spending a lot of time on the ship during the day, but I do hope there are some nice things to do/see in the evening. and otherwise I guess we'll be spending quite some time in the piano bar ...:)

We will be sailing on the Zuiderdam in july (our first HAL cruise!) for our 10th aniversary and I've been thinking about renewing our vows then. But we're just the two of us...

Zuiderdam - 11-Jul-15 - 11 day Adriatic Dream

10th anniversary- first HAL cruise