rajkr74

We just got off our Med cruise on the Zuiderdam and had our Exploer4 Pinnacle dinner notice in our cabin on our desk when we boarded. But... it was for the first night and that did not work for us. We went to the manager of the Pinnacle Grill and changed it immediately. Had no problems finding another date that worked better for us. Make it the first thing you check when you get on board.

We just got off the Zuiderdam and had the Explore 4 package. We thought there was a separate card besides your stateroom card. There is not. Your stateroom card acts as the Explore 4 for drinks and you will not see anything on your stateroom bill. You get a receipt when you order a drink but it will not show up on the bill. It worked real nice. Our Pinnacle Grill dinner had pre-reserved date that did not work for us. We just checked with the manager and changed it with no problems.

We just got off the Zuiderdam this morning 5-6-15 and the earliest anyone was allowed to disembark was 7:30am even thought we got in there around 6:00am. There were 5 ships in and we did not get the all clear to go ashore until 7:30. We were scheduled for a 7:30am time but our color and numbered were not called until closer to 8:00am. Authorities were a little slow in clearing the ship.

This would be specifically for the Vista-class ships on the Upper Promenade deck (deck 4). I know that views from some fully obstructed cabins can be better than others, and hopefully partially obstructed would even be a bit better than those.

 

So if anyone could recommend specific cabins to either book or stay away from, I'd greatly appreciate it! :D

Hi Elyce how are you?

We have had quite a few obstructed view cabins on the Upper Promanade deck on the Westerdan, Zuiderdam and the Noordam. We have determined that those cabins in the front looking out, over or around life boats rather than tenders are better. They are smaller than the tenders in the back. The life boats are all in the front tenders are in the back. The best view, limited at best, are G cabins as shown below. The HH and H cabins you will look right into the side of the life boats. Photos also below.

Westerdam G-4079

Westerdam H-4068

Zuiderdam HH-4061

If you book one of these type of cabins you need to be aware that you need to check outside before you open the drapes and be dressed or you might be surprised when a crew member looks in on you...:eek:

Rick

It's pretty darn good. The ship is not full so the service is great. There is a minor irritant or two but overall very nice. Food has been very good so far. Loving my cabana. Cabana stewards are awesome. Pulled a stupid one this morning. Got off the ship without money or Id. I don't think I've ever done that. I realized pretty quick and luckily before they were asking for Id.

Right up there with your checked bags not showing up for a cruise and no change of clothes in your petite carryone! :eek: :p :D

Rick & Joyce

We have been thru the canal twice, once in 2009 and again in 2011. We could not see any of the new locks during construction from the ship but a lot of activity from excavation.

Here is the link to the canal web cams for both the old locks and the expansion project. Looks like the gates are in place.

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

Check the tab on the top of the home page "Expansion Program". It gives percentages of completion and other information.

The first week I turned 62 I went to our local US Forest Service office and bought my pass. It is one of the great benefits of being a "senior". Especially out here in the west were we have a ton of Nat'l parks and other US Federal Recreational Lands.

We did an RV trip to Utah, Arizona and southern Calif. this last fall and used the card multiple times. :):p

As stated by others,this is a great 14 day cruise!!! You will love it. We have done it twice, both times on the Amsterdam. Layers is the way to go. We had rain and warm sun. So rain gear for those raining days and shorts for the warm days. Here is a link to our Microsoft OneDrive site with some pictures we took in June/July 2014. Just click the albums for the thumbnails.

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%218477&sc=photos

Looking forward to reading your writeup on your cruise. Also your pictures! :) Have a great cruise. We booked this cruise for April but changed it to the Med. cruise that we are taking in April..

Rick & joyce

Oh, forgot to also note that it looks like they are adding cabanas to the sports deck.

Can any of you folk tell me what is planned for the dry dock refit planned this year? Will it get a tamarind restaurant added to the top of it, will it get slice ( pizza bar) ? I know that it is likely to get the coat of paint and some new carpets to freshen it up but if anyone has any more info would be grateful

Thanks

 

 

I love cruisin!

There will cabins added on the observation deck just aft of the Crows Nest. These cabins will not be available until the May 6th cruise even though the first cruise after the dry dock will be April 14, 2015. We are on that cruise so we are not sure what to expect. I do not think there will be a Tamarind restaurant added. You can go to the HAL web site and see two configurations for the Zuiderdam. One dated May the 9th with the old setup and one dated May the 10th with the new configuration. Which to me means that the cabins will be "under construction" while we are on our April 14th cruise....:(.

I would also guess the normal cleaning of the hull, carpet replacement and general maintenance will occur.

We are sailing on the Zuiderdam on 4-14-15 just after she comes out of dry dock for 2 weeks .....:rolleyes: Not sure what to expect? They will be adding additional cabins on the Observation deck aft of the Crows Nest. The same setup that was added to the Noordam. It appears these cabins will not be available until the 5-6-15 sailing which may mean they will be "under construction" while we sail on her for our 22 day cruise????

Our cruise is very port intensive so we will be out touring so do not expect much disruption since we will not be onboard much. Hope all of the deferred maintenance items are taken care of in this dry-dock. :)

We are also on this cruise on the Zuiderdam after dry dock and would LOVE to hear from anyone who was on the Noordam after it's dry dock where they added these cabins on the Observation deck like they will be doing for the Zuiderdam. Were there any problems encountered on the Noordam immediately after that dry dock? Thanks.

In Juneau was the photo excursion ship or private? If private with whom? Jean L lvng 1 Jun 2015.

The photo excursion was booked thru HAL.

I'm a little late to the party here but I wanted to thank you for such a detailed review. I am celebrating a 20th wedding anniversary in 2016 and your review convinced me that this is the itinerary for us. Thanks again.

You are welcome. :)

We have done this 14 day cruise twice and will think about it again in the future.

I am looking at booking this corner aft (port) on an Eastern Carb. cruise. Can anyone give me details on how it compares to other deluxe suites (Familiar with S suites and SAs on Oosterdam and Zuiderdam.

 

I saw a comment on how the balcony is not that large - any info on this?

 

DaveOKC

HALFACTS has some good pictures of this cabin. Here is the link to the Eurodam page for this cabin.

http://halfacts.com/5186-eurodam/

I was aware that Zuiderdam will be going into dry dock this coming Spring, but are we totally sure that this ship will have the extra spa type verandah and inside staterooms fitted on the Observation Deck, as on Noordam?

 

I pose the question above as I have been looking at availability on Zuiderdam during summer 2015 and both the deck plans and prices don't include any new staterooms on the Observation Deck. My assumption would be that they would have been selling such new staterooms on all sailings scheduled after dry dock a good while back?

 

I note from one of the comments above that on HAL's site it seems to mention that these staterooms will not be available until April. Does this just mean bookable from April, or bookable now for sailings from that date?

 

Yours a little confused:D

I have not found any information on whether the cabins will be constructed like those on the Noordam, but I would expect that to be the case.

The date of availability was noted on the HAL Deck Plan page for the Observation Deck. Here is a link to that HAL page: http://www.hollandamerica.com/main/DeckPlansFull.action?ship=zu_2&deck=o&deep=0

So based on this notation I started looking for available cabins on cruises starting on April 14, 2015 on both the HAL booking site and outside web based TA sites. Nothing was found for sail dates of April 14, 2015 or April 25, 2015. I finally found these cabins available for the 11 day, May 6, 2015 cruise from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Barcelona Spain. I did not check any other sail dates for these cabins. I just wanted to find out when was first date they showed up on booking sites.

On HAL's site, there is a notation that those cabins are not available until April 14.

So maybe or maybe not they will be ready.

Thanks, I did not see that notation. But, when I did "dummy" bookings on the HAL site I did not see any of those cabins available nor did they show up on a web TA's site. So like you are saying they probable are not available yet.

It will be added during the drydock prior to your cruise.

I was kind of wondering if that was the case. I checked for bookings on the 2nd half of our 22 day cruise when the ship is in Venice (4-25-15) when other cruisers will get on board and found no reference to any of those VT or K cabins on the Observation deck after I searched the HAL booking web site and a web based TA.

So does that mean the cabins will be in a "Construction Zone" during our cruise? Did you have any experience with the Noordam addition? If so, does it take multiple weeks to get the cabins ready for occupancy for later cruises?

This will be our first cruise on a ship that has come directly out of dry dock :eek:.....it should be interesting since I have read on CC both positives and negatives on cruises for other ships that come out of dry dock.

We will be on the Zuiderdam on 4-14-15 for a 22 day Med. cruise. I understand that the ship will be coming out of a 14 day dry dock in Palermo Italy (3-31-15 thru 4-13-15). The HAL deck plan website shows Verandah cabins (VB10001--VB10026) and inside cabins (K10012--K10024) located just stern of the Crows Nest on the Observation deck. This is the same configuration that the Noordam has and was an add-on from the original construction of that ship.

Does anyone know if this add-on has already been completed for the Zuiderdam or will it be added on during the 3-31-15 dry-dock? I do not see any reference to these cabins for booking on the HAL website for our cruise of 4-14-15. Nor do I see any pictures of these cabins on the http://halfacts.com/vista-class/ web site.

I did, however, manage to make it home with a cap.

 

I really enjoyed your review and fun comments. I am glad your wife overcame her seasickness after a few days. As a son of a WWII combat veteran I wanted to thank you for your service after seeing all your hats from the ships you served on.

Am I missing something? After reading all the descriptions of the amenities for all of the cabin categories I see no listings for refrigs in any of the cabins. Or are they described differently and I don't recognize them? Do you think they have left out refrigs in the cabins?

This video was played at my church this past weekend (get your tissues ready):

BTW: this is a great website. Moments.org

 

I am the son of a WWII combat veteran. Thanks for the emotional video. Especially, thanks to those Vietnam veterans who were not treated with the respect that they should have been given. Thanks to all veterans!!!!

How can one sterilize instruments on a ship where guests are not permitted to have heating elements?

 

I would use soap and hot water to clean the instruments.

Just take along a small pair of sharp scissors and tweezers. Sterilize the scissors and tweezers then snip the stitch and gently pull them out. After removing the stiches spread some antibiotic cream on the incision and cover with a band aid. I have done this couple of times when I could not get to a Dr. It does not hurt and is pretty easy to do. Most Dr. offices bring a non-nurse to remove stiches. I normally never see the Dr. for removal.