Random thoughts about the Zuiderdam

[Orcrone]

There were many kids on board, although not nearly as many as I experienced during spring break on Carnival two years ago. According to the CD there were 205 teenagers. However, I have to admit that for the most part they were very well behaved. One night I had to stick my head out the door to say something to the kids next year that were having an animated conversation at 1:00 AM, but they apologized and moved on.

 

As I said in the original post I ran into Dinscoe (Jeff and Dawn) before getting to the ship. They have a ten year old son. I have to apologize because I don't remember his name. From that one meeting he made a point to come over and say hi to me everytime he saw me on board. Good job Jeff and Dawn.:)

[Orcrone]

"Note to self: Stay away from Delta Airlines!"

 

Now Jim, Delta cannot control the weather. All of the airlines had problems that weekend. They are making lots of time changes and equipment changes (as are the other airlines) but I hope they stay in business to give competition to the other airlines. I love low ticket prices:)

That's true. However, I have a problem with not diseminating information. I checked my flight's status less than 2 hours prior to the flight and it was listed as 'on time'. At that time it had just barely left the ground in Charleston, SC on it's way to Fort Lauderdale. They then had to turn the plane around and get back to Norfolk (over two hours). It seems to me they could have posted something other than 'on time'.

 

Also, when I book a flight every airline I have ever flown asks me for a local contact number in case of changes. When my flight home was delayed and subsequently cancelled they never contacted us.

 

On the other hand, as part of their compensation we received over $1250 in vouchers, so I'll be flying them again.:D

[Time2sail]

Glad you got your vouchers:) We have had problems with Northwest, Southwest, American, United and US Air as well as Delta. We have checked at the airport and been told "on time" and after an hour or two we figured out that the jet was delayed somewhere. Especially worrisome when our loved ones are on board and they won't give information; I get rather upset when they smile and say "well, it will be here any minute now" as an explanation.

[Orcrone]

I already talked about HMC. We also stopped at St. Thomas, Tortola and Nassau.

 

St. Thomas - There were six ships in St. Thomas this day. Three were docked at Havensight, we were docked with the MSC Opera on Crown Bay, and there was another ship anchored in the harbor. On our last cruise we also visited St. Thomas. After hearing so much about St. Johns we decided we had to take the ferry there next time. So DW, one DD and I were going to do that. My other DD has been wanting to try scuba diving for a while so I signed her up for the ship's intro to scuba excursion at 12:30 PM. Two days ahead of time ship's excursion sends a note to the cabin informing us that anyone under 18 on a scuba expedition has to be accompanied by an adult (DD is 5 months shy of her 18th birthday). I went down to the shore excursion desk and got different info from 3 people. One told me I had to go along with her. Another told me I could sign a waiver of liability and send it with her. However, they didn't have any for the St. Thomas excursion and gave me one from the dive operator in Tortola. That didn't make me feel comfortable so I went down later and asked someone else. He said that I could sign a waiver of liability at the dock. I told him that I didn't plan on being around at 12:30 so he told me that I could move her to the 8:30 excursion. The only problem is that in St. Thomas you have to clear immigration and once you leave the ship you cannot reboard until the entire ship is cleared, sometime after 10. I didn't want to hang out on the dock until the rest of my group was ready. So we just cancelled DD's excursion. We then went to Coki Beach, where we had gone four months earlier. There they have snorkeling and scuba and DD got to try the intro course with a local operator. DW, my other DD and I got to relax on the beach and do some snorkeling. Since I dove there four months ago and was diving the next day in Tortola I decided to pass on the diving. Next time DW and I will go to St. Johns.:D The rest of our group went shopping in St. Thomas and everyone but my mother came back with new rings.

 

The next day we were in Tortola. There were only two ships there this day, and one of them was a small Windjammer ship. The island is a lot more sparsely populated and is a stark contrast to St. Thomas.

 

There is a famous shipwreck called the Rhone. It was used in the movie "The Deep" with Jacqueline Bisset a while ago. This was my one opportunity to dive on the cruise. It was a very good dive. It was easily the best wreck I've dove, but I haven't done very much wreck diving. Everyone else in my group with the exception of my mother and her husband took a cab to Cane Garden Beach and loved it. The other two took a private tour of the island that also stopped at Cane Garden Beach and everyone ran into each other there. When I got back from my dives I thought about taking a cab and trying to meet up with them. But by this time I was tired from the dives and just decided to hit the Lido and relax.

 

Last port - Nassau. We were in Nassau from about 11:30 until 7:00 PM. I don't quite understand the mechanism, but when you come into Nassau the entire ship is pivoted 180 degrees and the ship is backed into the pier. When we arrived we were one of six ships. We were berthed next to the Regal Empress. Wow, she's a small ship. We took a walk around the shops near the ship, going to their straw market. When you exited the ship you were constantly barraged by people wanting to give you cab rides everywhere. There were horse drawn carriages lined up. DW would have liked to have done that, but by the time we got back from shopping she just wanted to head back to the ship. That was fine with me, so we pretty much treated Nassau as a sea day.

[doone]

I feel like I am re-living my wonderful cruise on the Zuiderdam. Thanks for much for sharing your experience, enjoyed reading it.

[Orcrone]

How many different types of chairs does one ship need? Near the aft pool they had white plastic lounge chairs. Around the Lido pool they had metal chairs with straps, covered with cushions. At other places, including the Promenade deck and the observation deck they had the teak chairs with cushions.

 

I like being around a crowd, so I enjoyed the aft deck when a chair could be found. That usually wasn't a problem, but sometimes it got crowded. DW and DB prefer quiet. They usually went up to deck 10, right outside the Crow's nest. It was a nice quiet area and had those teak chairs. By the way, you can buy them for $400 each. They look like they hold up very well.

 

The comment card contains one question about dining room service, but three questions regarding the new soaps, shampoos, etc.:rolleyes:

 

For disembarkation half our group were brown 5 and the other half were purple 5. In going to pick up the luggage we were told, "Brown 5, your luggage will be at the blue or red area. Purple 5, your luggage is either at purple or black." Clear as mud.

[iluvcruzin]

Welcome Back Marc! Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your review with us. Sounds like that dive was fabulous. I hope you took pictures!

[Adk~Cruiser]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us! I have a -probably - stupid question. If a ships capacity is 1854 or so.. then how can there be 2000 or so on board? I read that all the time and it always befuddles me. I would think it would be the other way around... that some rooms for three would actually only have two, etc., so that the number on board would typically be at or less than capacity.. but nope, it's always the other way around. :confused:

[RuthC]

I have a -probably - stupid question. If a ships capacity is 1854 or so.. then how can there be 2000 or so on board?:confused:

Ship capacity is figured at 2 people per cabin---without regard to third and fourth berths. When enough of those berths are used it can bring the passenger load to over-capacity.

Only stupid question is the one you don't ask. ;)

[Orcrone]

On the Maasdam they had all sorts of juices in the Lido for breakfast. I fell in love with the Guava juice and was looking forward to it for this cruise. The Zuiderdam had the fresh squeezed OJ. However, the only other choices were tomato and V8 juice. That was pretty disappointing.:(

[dinscoe68]

Hi Orcrone!!

 

 

Sorry to hear about your trip home. Our flight was only delayed on Saturday so we did actually make it home. Thanks for the kind words about our son, Bobby. I didn't even know that he did that. We all had a wonderful time. Imagine my surprise again when I ended up sitting next to your Mom at the pool and in conversation figured out that you were her son.

 

We really enjoyed ourselves and agree with much of what you have written. Your observations were right on!

 

We would love to plan another cruise for next year.

 

Good luck with the new business!!

 

Dinscoe68 (Dawn)

[stormyc]

Thank you, Orcrone, for taking the time to post a great, detailed review! I enjoyed it so much! Best of luck with the new business venture!:)

[KatWag]

Thank you so much for letting us sail with you. :)

 

I've really enjoyed every word. I hope to sail HAL one day soon. Sounds like this ship is a definite winner.

 

Kathy

[bas7]

Hi Orcrone,

 

This is my second cruise, both on HAL. First on the Volendam, 10 Day Christmas Wayfarer Cruise, 2005, and the April 9th, 2005 cruise on the Zuiderdam. I know this ship is bigger, and I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks much for your review. Guess I'll be spending sea time at the aft pool after reading your review. Sorry about your flight too.

 

Best,

 

As always,

 

Bruce

[stormyc]

Hi Orcrone,

 

This is my second cruise, both on HAL. ...and the April 9th, 2005 cruise on the Zuiderdam. I know this ship is bigger, and I'm really looking forward to it. ...

 

bas7:

 

Have a great time on your cruise!!!

[Gala62]

Great narrative stories...funny AND informative! Good to know its not ok to rinse feet off in the fountains, although I hope the temptation would never come over me! :p

 

September can't come soon enough! Until then, I guess I'll have to haunt CC and soak up all the reviews, stories, etc.

 

Thanks again for the great posts!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Marc, I just finally got a chance to read over your review. Great Job!!! It is amazing to hear all the little difference between ships. For instance you mentioned the juices, just a few weeks ago on the Westerdam I was amazed at how many juices they offered in the Lido. There was OJ, tomato, V8, grapefruit, grape juice, cranberry juice and apple juice. I think that was the most I had ever seen offered.

 

Sounds like over all you and your family had a great time, that is great.

[Orcrone]

Glad you all enjoyed my review. One last word: HAL did a great job with the weather. It was sunny and low to mid 80s the whole week. Occassionally we got some cloudy weather on a sea day, but pretty soon sailed past it. I was a little apprehensive about taking this cruise. Although I would like to try other lines I would have no trouble sailing the Zuiderdam again.:)

[bas7]

stormyc,

 

Thanks for your good wishes stormyc.

 

Best,

 

Bruce

[mayesd]

We left Fort Lauderdale almost an hour late on Saturday due to a late arriving plane (they must have also been flying Delta:rolleyes: ). I believe we arrived slightly late at HMC on Sunday, but not terribly late. DW and I are early risers, but most of the rest of our group are not. It was about 10 AM before everyone was ready to head ashore. Shortly before this the CD made an announcement that people should head ashore soon, as the tenders will soon be getting crowded and causing backups. So you can guess what happens next. Everyone heads down to the Queens Lounge to get a tender, causing the huge backup. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophesy.

 

We waited about a half hour to 45 minutes to get a tender. Once on the island I noticed a number of differences from November. When I went in November it was only a couple of months after the hurricanes came through and the damage was obvious. A lot has grown back since, plus it appeared that HAL had done some landscaping. The water in late March is a bit cooler than the water in early November. The new attractions were up and running. The kids area was to the extreme left side of the beach, not far from where the tenders enter. Several from our group tried to do the horseback riding, but it had been sold out. They weren't too disappointed as they weren't sure whether they wanted to be outside in long pants on a hot day. DW and two DDs took the banana boat ride and had a great time. My mom and her husband even went ashore at HMC for a couple of hours and thought it was a beautiful beach. Yours truly hid underneath a clamshell, unsucessfully trying to avoid becoming toast on the first day. DW and I were going to go snorkeling, but didn't think it would be that good (even though we didn't check), so we just carried the snorkel equipment to and from the island.

 

Last time on HMC I was sailing the Maasdam and we were sharing the island with the Oosterdam. Big difference on this island when there is only one ship present. Chairs were easy to get, barbecue was not too crowded.

 

Around 2:30 I decided I had enough and headed to the tender. By now there was a long line waiting to return to the ship. Witnessed some very classy behavior. While waiting for the tenders more than a few people decided to use the fountain at the entrance to HMC to wash their feet.

 

 

I noticed signs in the rest room telling you not to wash your feet in the sink. I don't think I could get my let up that high anyway :) but I guess some people will do anything.

[meff]

Yeah, I saw the "don't wash your feet in the sinks" sign too. My comment: "They need a sign for that?"

[MizzouMary]

Great review!

[MizzouMary]

Hi Orcrone. I just read your review of the Zuiderdam. Thanks for the info.!

 

I noticed you mentioned earlier that you have cabin 6067 booked for your children. However, in your review, you stated your daughters stayed in a different cabin.

 

My DH and I have cabin 6067 booked for our Dec. cruise and I am curious if HAL moved your daughters because there was only two booked in a cabin designed for four?

 

Thanks!

[Orcrone]

Hi Orcrone. I just read your review of the Zuiderdam. Thanks for the info.!

 

I noticed you mentioned earlier that you have cabin 6067 booked for your children. However, in your review, you stated your daughters stayed in a different cabin.

 

My DH and I have cabin 6067 booked for our Dec. cruise and I am curious if HAL moved your daughters because there was only two booked in a cabin designed for four?

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but I haven't been on the boards for a while. We originally had our daughters booked in a small inside cabin because this category was sold out. However, when a cabin opened we rebooked them in this cabin. They were never moved by the cruise line.

 

As I stated earlier this cabin is over 200 square feet, larger than our category A balcony cabins.