sweetsand

We were on the Zuiderdam in July, on the 20 day Viking crossing. We purchased the whole cruise pass on the very first day and were a bit disappointed at the end. We love thermal suits in general, I specifically love sauna/s. It was ok on Zuiderdam overall for us but I guess it really depends on what you like. Thermal suite is broken down into 2 areas: one with heated loungers, 5-6 of them, 1 sauna, 1 steam room + few showers (regular and fancy, like tropical) and the other area - hydra pool area, which has no natural light and for me it was a bit of a waste as I found that area too dark for my liking. As I mentioned earlier - I love saunas. Zuiderdam has a free one which I didn’t see mentioned in the reviews or maybe I didn’t notice. It’s right next to the indoor/outdoor pool and I did much prefer it to the one in the thermal suite. Reason was that TS sauna was either too hot or too cold with no option to regulate the heat, no stones to pour water over. View from the TS sauna was amazing but that’s about it. Showers in the 1st area of TS flooded the floor constantly, staff had to put towels all the time on it to keep water under control, I think there is a problem with floor level. And there is 0 music in the TS, zero. For me TS experience always has a nice relaxing music on the background. I asked at reception about it and apparently wiring went wrong at the last dry dock so no music. At the end of the day, the amenities Zuiderdam has for you for free are really great - free fab sauna, both pools, hot tubs, changing areas outside of the gym that both TS users and gym goers can use, and there is a lovely relaxation area just outside of the gym that not a lot of people seem to know about. Depending on your itinerary you might have a different experience. I loved the aft outdoor pool a lot, no matter the weather 🙂