Zuiderdam Refurbish

[SabreSailor]

The Zuiderdam was recently refurbished and had several cabins added - can someone please tell me the date this happened?

 

Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just this year -- March 31 - April 13, 2015.

[SabreSailor]

Great - thanks - does anyone know if it was completed on schedule or if the work continued into the first cruise after?

[muenchner]

Great - thanks - does anyone know if it was completed on schedule or if the work continued into the first cruise after?

 

There are several thread's like this one......

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2227951

 

It seems to be hard to get pics or info's.

Other lines use facebook for drydock infos, not HAL.

[StartrainDD]

We were on the THIRD 11-day cruise after the drydock. Everything was finished and we had a wonderful cruise.

 

We heard that the first cruise after the drydock had a number of issues, and the second cruise had some challenges early on. As the added rooms are on the same deck (but behind) the crow's nest - apparently the crow's nest was closed quite a bit.

 

Actually, if you are a big fan of the crow's nest area - those new rooms wouldn't be a bad place to book!

 

The general rule I have picked up from CC over the years is 'Don't book the first cruise after a dry-dock.'

 

Good cruising!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Same here -- we won't book the first couple of cruises after a ship has been in dry dock.

[Stratheden]

We were on the first cruise after dry dock and it had no negative impact on us at all. We don't spend much time in the Crows Nest, we use our own balcony a lot. I know some people had some problems but I can only speak for us.

 

There was no Noro and there were no coughs - all new carpet and upholstery on a lot of chairs. I am sure that helped.

 

We were compensated for the disruption to the Crows Nest so can't complain.

[muenchner]

We were on the first cruise after dry dock and it had no negative impact on us at all. We don't spend much time in the Crows Nest, we use our own balcony a lot. I know some people had some problems but I can only speak for us.

 

There was no Noro and there were no coughs - all new carpet and upholstery on a lot of chairs. I am sure that helped.

 

We were compensated for the disruption to the Crows Nest so can't complain.

 

How did you like the diningroom, they added new chairs ?

[Lottie A]

Just got off the Zuiderdam on Saturday. The dining room chairs were comfortable and much less gaudy than the pics I have seen of the previous ones. The refurbed areas in general stand out like a sore thumb, as they are much more tasteful and less brightly coloured than the old decor. However, the whole ship needs a decor refurb as it is stuck in a timewarp from the early 2000's and does look very dated now.

We still had a great cruise though! :)

[sammiedawg]

Zuiderdam was butt ugly, it had repulsive decor when new. I'm surprised that any of the original decor remains.

Edited July 13, 2015 by sammiedawg

[Typhoon1]

Zuiderdam was butt ugly, it had repulsive decor when new. I'm surprised that any of the original decor remains.

 

That was one of the ugliest color schemes ever to be used by HAL. It's probably a safe bet it will be replaced in the not too distant future.

[muenchner]

Thank you.... we will see how it goes on.... sometimes they complete things when the ship is sailing.

Edited July 14, 2015 by muenchner

[muenchner]

So many bad reports about this ship.... still.....

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were on the Zuiderdam before she went into dry dock and didn't have any problems.

[rajkr74]

We were on the Zuiderdam right after it came out of drydock on 4-14-15. The added cabins behind the Crows nest were not available until the 5-6-15 cruise. The Crows Nest was not available until 7-8 days into the cruise since some of the Italian contractors went on a 3-4 day strike while in dry dock so those improvements were not completed on time. All passengers were compensated with on board credits. Even though there were some problems with some cabins (not ours) the cruise was still very good all due to the excellent staff and crew. Over all we were not inconvenienced very much after dry dock and worked around some of the problems.

[muenchner]

Did anyone make any pictures? I really like to see what is new.....

[iancal]

Like others, we never book after a dry dock nor would be book an inaugural voyage. Why pay second fiddle to a bunch of cruise line execs and freeloading travel industry folk?

 

But we also avoid booking on ships where cabins have been added or at the very least in areas remotely near where cabins have been added during drydock.

 

In most instances these cabins are added to existing HVAC and plumbing systems that were not designed for the additional capacity. And most especially on older ships where the efficiency of HVAC systems can decline over time.

Edited August 3, 2015 by iancal