Just Back-Zuiderdam, 5/29,,,???

[Tatka]

Thank you BobandAnne for your great review...

 

I was kind of disappointed when I read so many bad reviews and was having some doubts about trying HAL...now I am ready to go!!!

 

------------------------------

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>Zuiderdam 8/21/04 FLL - Key West - Cozumel - Grand Caymans - Half Moon Cay - FLL

<LI>Splendour of the Seas 05/15/04 Barcelona - Marseilles - Villefranche - Livorno - Chivitavecchia - Naples - Barcelona

<LI>Century 07/12/03 Eastern Caribbean FFL-San Juan - St. Thomas - St.Maarten- Nassau -FFL

<LI>Komarno(Volga)07/91 Moscow - Astrahan' - Moscow (honeymoon)

<LI>Komarno(Volga)07/90 Moscow - Astrahan'- Moscow

<LI>Admiral Nachimov(or Nakhimov) (Black Sea)04/1986 Odessa - Batum

 

GO BRUINS!!!!

[FL-Cruiser]

Just back from the 6/5 Eastern Caribbean sailing:

 

Fisrt cruise with HAL and was a little concerned with some of the posts. Let me say most were not a problem. We had the later seating upstairs by a window and it was nice, although it seemed the staff was short handed or something. I have never seen a head waiter work so hard (but he did make up for some of the lacking service at the tables and tried to do anything to make things better).

 

One day we sat at the back window during high tea and definately noticed the glassware shaking on the tables. (so i guess the vibration is still there). It's almost like the ship is sitting too high in the water and the propellers are cavitating too much.

 

The food was outstanding, and next time I will book the Pinicale Grill the first night for $10 (what a bargain!!) and the service and food was second to none there.

 

The room service we had was simply outstanding!! Bambang, as several other posters reported, was our room steward and I think there is none better. If I could, I would just book a room on the ship where ever he is assigned!!!

 

The ships decor was elegant and spacious. You could hardly believe there were 2020 people on board, and age was completely across the board.

 

My wife is a TA, and she loved the trip (since she books a lot of clients on HAL) and would have no problem recommending it to anyone.

 

Hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions.

 

Zuiderdam 2004

Sensation 2002

Sun Viking 1986 (a long time ago!!!)

[dst]

FL-Cruiser:

Thanks for the review we are on the Zuiderdam July 24th sailing. Glad to hear the ship was nice and the service was good. We have read some posts and were a little concerned but its certainly nice to hear from someone fresh off the ship

 

Can you tell me is there a nice quiet bar where we could go and have a martini or champagne? On RCCL they have a champagne bar and I spent most evening before dinner having some

 

Also how where the pool area, which one did oyu prefer. I am a hug sun hog so on ship days I just lay by the pool for 10 hours.....thats what happens when you live in Seattle and are sun deprived

 

Thanks for any info, we really appreciate it

[Guest]

You need the aft deck... sun all day... plenty of lounge chairs.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Also how where the pool area, which one did oyu prefer. I am a hug sun hog so on ship days I just lay by the pool for 10 hours.....thats what happens when you live in Seattle and are sun deprived <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Candy's Internet Cruise Planner

Zuidy East Carib Vista Menus

Zuidy Cat S Wake Hcp Photos

 

<MARQUEE> Zuiderdam Western 10/4/03 ... Zuiderdam Eastern 5/22/04 ... Zuiderdam Eastern again 11/6/04 (took me 4 minutes to book it)... </MARQUEE>

[FL-Cruiser]

DST,

 

Yes there are a couple of nice quiet places to have drinks. I forget the names, but I did enjoy night caps at the Crow's Nest, listening to some music (not very crowded up there) and enjoy looking off into the night.

 

The center pool was nice with the retracable roof,(it rained a little the first day, so they closed it) but get there early to grab some lounge chairs. The back pool was busy too, but either will get you lots of sun (put on lots of sun screen!!) More kids using the center pool.

 

Have a great time!!

[dst]

Thanks, I am usually at the pool at 7:00 am and my sweetie sleeps in I lay there the entire day, I think I'll hcek both of them out and see what works best........

 

I'll find a private place, Crows nest looks pretty neat!

 

Thanks for the info

[BobandAnne]

DST:

There are a couple of nice places on the ship to have a martini. The Crow's Nest is very nice. Big and spacious with beautiful views, especially at sunset. The Ocean Bar is also nice...more intimate. But the best is the Atrium Bar, near the Front Office. The bartender there, Pablo, makes great martinis. During our cruise, there was a class in bartending given at the Atrium Bar and it was all about making martinis. Needless to say, I was a very good student and drank everything I was told to. LOL. But

[dst]

how did I miss that class!!! Hopefully there will be one on our cruise, I'll be first in line. Thanks if we see Pablo we'll let him know how much you enjoyed his class...thanks for the recommendation

[Gregg20]

It was exactly a month yesterday that we boarded the Z on the western Caribbean run. Man I miss it! Yes, the Crow's Nest and Oak Room were great to lounge around in after dinner. I thought the outside showers on the Observation deck were a nice touch. When the 4 of us decided to get away from the Aft pool crowd for a while we decided to go up there. It was quite hot and then I noticed the showers which cooled us off quite nicely. Also "happy hour" in the disco was a lot of fun one night. It's a great ship.

[dst]

only 27 days for us before we are on the ship. I hope the trip goes by slowly......Thanks for the suggestions, I will have to check out the happy hour!

 

By the way I grew up in No. Andover and my in-laws are all in Bedford......Leominster is a great little town.

[Gregg20]

dst...small world! I don't think I've ever been to N. Andover but I'm sure it's a cool town. Bedford is nice. Yeah, I've grown fond of Leominster...been there since '91. My wife grew up in Leominser and I'm originally from Hawaii. Have fun on your cruise!

PS It goes by fairly slow until you hit Wednesday.

[Guest]

It only goes slowly for the first coupla days. Then Wednesday comes, and it's half over. Then it IS over! When I got back to work, it took me 4 minutes to book it again. Our 2 Zuidy cruises were by far the most relaxing and enjoyable of all!

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> only 27 days for us before we are on the ship. I hope the trip goes by slowly...... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Candy's Internet Cruise Planner

Zuidy East Carib Vista Menus

Zuidy Cat S Wake Hcp Photos

 

<MARQUEE> Zuiderdam Western 10/4/03 ... Zuiderdam Eastern 5/22/04 ... Zuiderdam Eastern again 11/6/04 (took me 4 minutes to book it)... </MARQUEE>

[dst]

From Hawaii to Leominster.....big change! I myself would have taken Hawaii

 

So if it goes by slowly until Weds the majority of our drinking we should do from Thurs on......as to not notice anything! One of these times we are going to have to try a bcb.......or a cruise around the world!

[Tatka]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gregg20:

dst...small world! I don't think I've ever been to N. Andover but I'm sure it's a cool town. Bedford is nice. Yeah, I've grown fond of Leominster...been there since '91. My wife grew up in Leominser and I'm originally from Hawaii. Have fun on your cruise!

PS It goes by fairly slow until you hit Wednesday.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

North Andover must be nice...As far as I know many major Bruins players bought houses there.

 

------------------------------

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>

<LI>Zuiderdam 8/21/04 FLL - Key West - Cozumel - Grand Caymans - Half Moon Cay - FLL

<LI>Splendour of the Seas 05/15/04 Barcelona - Marseilles - Villefranche - Livorno - Chivitavecchia - Naples - Barcelona

<LI>Century 07/12/03 Eastern Caribbean FFL-San Juan - St. Thomas - St.Maarten- Nassau -FFL

<LI>Komarno(Volga)07/91 Moscow - Astrahan' - Moscow (honeymoon)

<LI>Komarno(Volga)07/90 Moscow - Astrahan'- Moscow

<LI>Admiral Nachimov(or Nakhimov) (Black Sea)04/1986 Odessa - Batum

 

GO BRUINS!!!!

[dst]

Go Bruins (Boston that is) Although I must admit I am a huge Red Sox fan......and a Yankee hater (some thing you can never take out of an East Coaster) No Andover is very nice, as is most of Mass. I am lucky to live on the West Coast and still have all of my family on the East so I can visit 2-3 times per year......

 

Days are always longer when at sea...

[Nancy717]

Candy,
Loved your pix..we are booked March 2005..where were you located? It looked like a great spot
Nancy

[Guest]

Cabin 6167 (Cat S), Upper Verandah Deck, directly over the wake. Best cabin we ever had. The next one will be one deck down, one cabin over... not as big, but whatta view!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Candy, Loved your pix..we are booked March 2005..where were you located? It looked like a great spot
Nancy <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[url="http://CandyBrock.com"]Candy's Internet Cruise Planner[/url]
[url="http://home.g-net.net/~cbrock/ZuiderdamMenuEastCarib.html"]Zuidy East Carib Vista Menus[/url]
[url="http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANW7Jq0as2TCtA"]Zuidy Cat S Wake Hcp Photos[/url]

<MARQUEE> Zuiderdam Western 10/4/03 ... Zuiderdam Eastern 5/22/04 ... Zuiderdam Eastern again 11/6/04 (took me 4 minutes to book it)... </MARQUEE>

[Nonniroc]

Ever since we had a Veranda on the Veendam in 2002, we have been hooked."ONCE IN A VERANDA, YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK"We are doing a b2b on the Zuiderdam 10/30 & 11/6/ 04 and had booked B4052. After reading this site and finding out that this balcony is not all that private I became quite upset. When I read your article on the large Veranda in B4164 I call my TA immediately, and asked him to switch us . Both dates were available ,and thanks to your info we are now booked in B4164. Thanks to ALL of You for all time and wonderful information.You should know that we switched bookings from CRUISES ONLY to Cruise Value Center. They are absolutely wonderful, specifically Neil, who is always kind and caring in dealing with all my insanity.:D