Are all these items really included in your room?

[PathfinderEss]

My DH has more problems with the Elemis products then I do, so I bring along our own shampoo and soap.

You are right OP, those things do come in your cabin.

[kcscrapper]

Regarding the first item, though: HAL's beds truly are the best afloat - no empty hype there. Better sheets than we have at home, too. I guess you either like the Elemis products or you don't. We like them, but gel in the shower is a hassle, prefer bar soap for that.

 

And ... we thought they were the worst. Teeny, narrow little cots. We've actually had a better bed on Carnival. Sheets were ... pretty poor quality and they weren't changed often enough. No nice comforter -- just a skimpy blanket.

We didn't care for the Elemis hair products - the shower gel was fine. I loved the lotion.

 

Everyone is different!:)

[dobiemom]

The body wash, called Sharp Shower Gel, can be a bit, um, tingly in certain more um, sensitive areas. Not painfully tingly, just more of a "what the heck is going on down there?" :eek:

ROFL!! :D :D Good thing I'm reading this at night or I may gave spit coffee all over the computer! :D

[solocanadian]

I agree. They usually do but they sure seemed tight with it on the N.A. in Nov. I met other folks thaat said that too. I'm taking my soap again on the Noordam just in case.

If you don't like the gooey mess just wrap it loosly in one of their stupid tiny kleenexes and throw it in the bathroom trash. They take the hint & bring a new one. :)

[solocanadian]

ROFL!! :D :D Good thing I'm reading this at night or I may gave spit coffee all over the computer! :D

Me too! :D:D:D

[utahtea]

:confused: Our cabin on the Zuiderdam had a "salon-quality" hairdryer in the cabinet by the desk. It was easy enough to plug in and use there. We never bother with the hair dryer in the bathroom.

 

 

When we were on the Zuiderdam in July 2010 and the hair dryer in our deluxe verandah hardly blew any air out let alone hot air. I had brought along my own hair dryer so I never asked for a replacement. I hear it's hit and miss with hair dryers.

 

Utahtea

[erewhon]

 

 

This is what the hand soap looked like on our last cruise (it was gooey within about 3 days:

 

 

 

Yes, it turns to a slimey mess.

Will take our own soap next cruise.

[cavecreekguy]

Yep - they are,

As for the fruit... when you get to your room, there is a fruit bowl on the table with a paper circle in it. You write you room number and check boxes next to your fruit preferences. After that - the stewards will make sure that you have those fruits every day.

 

Emphasis mine.

 

We did not get any refills on the fruit. Just the initial time.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we were on the Zuiderdam in July 2010 and the hair dryer in our deluxe verandah hardly blew any air out let alone hot air. I had brought along my own hair dryer so I never asked for a replacement. I hear it's hit and miss with hair dryers.

 

Utahtea

 

Exactly

We have been in the same cabin on the same ship a year apart. The hair dryer was great the first time we were in the cabin. Next time -- barely worked.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When we were on the Zuiderdam in July 2010 and the hair dryer in our deluxe verandah hardly blew any air out let alone hot air. I had brought along my own hair dryer so I never asked for a replacement. I hear it's hit and miss with hair dryers.

 

Utahtea

 

Exactly

 

We have been in the same cabin on the same ship a year apart. The hair dryer was great the first time we were in the cabin. Next time -- barely worked.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you don't like the gooey mess just wrap it loosly in one of their stupid tiny kleenexes and throw it in the bathroom trash. They take the hint & bring a new one. :)

 

Aren't those new kleenxes pitiful?

[cruz chic]

Emphasis mine.

 

We did not get any refills on the fruit. Just the initial time.

I've never had any problem getting refills.

[cruz chic]

<snip>

 

I could be wrong, it it seemed like the last veranda cabin I had the tub was a jetted tub.

They don't have them on the vista or signature ships in the veranda cabins.

[kyriecat]

I know OP is aksing about Zuiderdam but I wasn't sure what ship Douglas was asking about regarding bathtubs. My husband and I had a verandah cabin (BA category) on Maasdam and it had a whirlpool tub. However, definitely nothing to write home about! The tub was narrower than a standard bathtub and the jets barely put out any flow. The tub on Zuiderdam in our SC cabin was about the same with regard to size and jet flow. I have an oversized Jacuzzi tub at home so I'm spoiled. I didn't use the tub onboard unless I was shaving my legs.

 

I'm not a fan of the Elemis hair products or shower gel. The shampoo is okay but the conditioner doesn't do anything. I have dry hair so I need a rich conditioner, especially if I have been in the sun or swimming. The Elemis conditioner is probably fine for oily or normal hair. I can't get past the smell of the gel so I haven't tried it on any sensitive areas to see if there is a tingly sensation. (TMI, cyntil8ing, TMI! :p) The gel smells like eucalyptus to me, which I can't stand! The lotion is fine and I don't mind the hand soap. I don't really remember if the soap got "gooey". I know my husband didn't like the bar soap for showering (he won't use the gel either - not "manly" :rolleyes:), but I bring a bar of Irish Spring for him.

 

Our stewards have been good about filling the ice buckets and fruit bowls. I love to munch on grapes in the afternoon. I also love to have ice - use it for drinks and drink the water. Our steward on Zuiderdam (A'an) noticed that our ice bucket was always empty and started leaving two.

[sapper1]

Exactly

 

We have been in the same cabin on the same ship a year apart. The hair dryer was great the first time we were in the cabin. Next time -- barely worked.

 

Just ask and they will bring a new one. Ours didn't work when we had the deluxe suite on the Zuiderdam to Alaska and as I stood there with my hair dripping wet the cabin steward said he would get a new one later in the day. I insisted on one right away so I could appear in public without looking like Godzilla. He had one for me in less than five minutes.

[sapper1]

They don't have them on the vista or signature ships in the veranda cabins.

 

I have never been able to figure out how to turn the darn things on. Probably some simple thing that I am missing.

[estebofarr]

Does anyone have a photo of the desk/outlet area? we are down to the wire packing and anything I don't need, isn't making the cut. thanks. (Volendam) if it matters.

[Randyk47]

Does anyone have a photo of the desk/outlet area? we are down to the wire packing and anything I don't need, isn't making the cut. thanks. (Volendam) if it matters.

 

Which cabin category? They're not all the same however, you can pretty well plan on only having one outlet. If you'd going to plug in a number of things, say battery chargers, then you're going to need some kind of power splitter.

[Skipper's Mom]

The ice bucket is tiny -- barely holds enough to make to decent drinks.

And the ice lasts only about 4 -5 hours.

 

Lucky if it lasts that long! This is one of my biggest gripes -- get a decent insulated bucket and the staff won't be bothered constantly to refill.:rolleyes:

Of course, then we'd have folks taking them home as souvenirs!:p

[SailorMom37]

On the Zaandam, I know they (all the veranda cabins) were whirlpool. Never used ours, though.

As for the shampoo - I think it really stripped my hair. I brought my own conditioner, but it wasn't enough for two weeks, so did use some of theirs. I have fine, oily hair - and still it was way too wimpy. Nothing word ending, lol, but I was hoping for better.

Beds - meh. Ours was kinda odd in that the two smaller beds seemed to either be in different states of age/abuse, or different softness. My side kinda sank and made the lip between the two beds worse. Other than that, they were fine. The bedding seemed about normal to me - on par with what we get at, say, a Holiday Inn. All of it was MUCH better than Carnival - although all in all we really enjoyed our Carnival trip as well.

We had a hair dryer that could plug in to the European outlet on the desk and it worked just fine. There was also a really odd looking hair dryer in the bathroom..... what is that thing???

[NMLady]

Emphasis mine.

 

We did not get any refills on the fruit. Just the initial time.

 

We listed apples and bananas and those were put in the basket daily.

Maybe your steward needed a reminder?

[Chris Holland]

The Elemis products are of a good quality. At home I buy good shampoos and conditioners from my hairdresser, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was good.

[SailorMom37]

I have never been able to figure out how to turn the darn things on. Probably some simple thing that I am missing.

 

There are two silver button looking things on the back right corner. One is to control the speed of the jets, the other is just a button you push down once to turn them on. However, they are persnickety things and the tub has to be filled to the right level, and sometimes they stick. We didn't use the ones on the ship, but the ones on our Jacuzzi at home are the same.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Lucky if it lasts that long! This is one of my biggest gripes -- get a decent insulated bucket and the staff won't be bothered constantly to refill.:rolleyes:

Of course' date=' then we'd have folks taking them home as souvenirs!:p[/quote']

 

When the new ice buckets arrived a few years ago -- I wrote comments on the forms at the end of the cruise.

We still have those stupid, tiny, worthless buckets.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Does anyone have a photo of the desk/outlet area? we are down to the wire packing and anything I don't need, isn't making the cut. thanks. (Volendam) if it matters.

 

Check out Joanie's sticky here:

 

http://abqreunion2008.com/Volendam/index.html