Zuiderdam 5 Day Caribbean Review

[Reds4life]

Let me start off by thanking all of you that gave us valuable information during the planning process. You made our trip much more enjoyable because of your insight and suggestions. A little background, we are a family of 6: My wife and I in our 40s, kids 12,17, and 18 and my 82 yr old mother. This was our first HAL cruise after 5 others on RCCL and MSC. Our time frame when we were off from work and school allowed us just to cruise during the week or so after Christmas. We found the pricing on this cruise for a Signature Suite to be about the same as an interior or ocean view on other cruise lines for a 4 day cruise. So, we decided to try HAL. 

 

PROS:

- Signature Suite - The room was very well thought out and spacious. Balcony was very nice and became a focal point of our relaxation. Jetted tub and separate shower was very enjoyable. We were very impressed with all of the space and amenities. 

 

- Room Stewards, Guest Services, Wait Staff - All very cheerful and helpful. Best guest services we have ever experienced. We had great service in the rooms and the MDR. These folks work extremely hard to make things the best they can be.

 

- Jukebox Rogues - They had two shows and they were outstanding. Very talented. Did very well reaching all ages with a variety of songs.

 

- Steven Scott, Comedian - Very good and family friendly. It is hard to reach all ages with humor and Steven did it very well. 

 

- Room Service - This was a great option for us and we ate breakfast on our balcony daily. The selection was limited but we were glad to have the service. 

 

CONS

 

- Food, Food, and Food - I will start with a few positives...the MDR entrees and starters we had were excellent in taste. The burgers from Dive In and from the Island BBQ were great. They did have a complementary lobster night. Salad bar in Lido was adequate.  But...

  * The portions were very small in the MDR. We felt like this was intentional to save money.

  * Desserts were very bad. Not much taste and very artificial. Almost like premade cafeteria food at a hospital or school. Even though an occasional rude poster 

   makes fun of us from being from Appalachia, we are used to very rich and flavorful homemade style desserts in our region. These desserts often has fancy 

   names but we not very fancy at all. The selection was limited as well. The best dessert on the ship was the ice cream at the Lido.

   * Lines were very long at the Lido and the communication and attitude of the staff at the Lido was as good as it should be. We waited at every station for long 

   periods of time and anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes for a burger at the Dive In. This is unacceptable. We spent way too much time mainly at lunch trying to get

   a meal. The staff also was often out of items and was not very open to anything being made custom. 

  * Lunch options were not very good. They had the Asian/Indian/Chinese station open but the quality and taste of the food was terrible in our opinion. Lots of sauce and basically the same dishes every day. The main line choices were repetitive and many times did not go together as a meal. The fish tasted old and frozen and not fresh. On the breakfast and lunch menus, many items were no where to be found and none of the staff seemed to know anything about it. The pizza was some of the worst I have ever tried at any point including frozen pizza. 

* Dive In was always a long wait for a simple burger or hot dog. These are typical American lunch items that should be available at all times without a wait. I think HAL has a serious issue with the focus of the lunch buffet. Many people wanted a burger or hot dog, thus the long waits. No chicken tenders either - another usual lunch choice for many people. 

* The dining venues were closed at inconvenient times. No Lido from 10:30 to 11:30, limited from 2:00 to 4:00, closed again from 4:00 to 5:30 and closed from 8:00 to 10:30. MDR was not open until 7:30 on a port day when we were beginning tender at 8am. This was due to short staffing according to the Assistant Maitre D in the Lido. This seemed to be a corporate problem with the staff left to try and manage. Truly a shame.

 

Overall, the whole food experience seemed very cheap. Not quality ingredients, mass produced (even for cruise ship), lack of staff, misplaced resources, poor planning, etc. Looked like they were trying to save a buck wherever they could. 

 

- Daytime Entertainment on Sea Days - We were worried about the evening entertainment, but it actually turned out great except for the main headliner on the first night being the Origin Story (it was somewhat interesting but not a feature for evening entertainment). However, the theme of the cruise seemed to be a lack of staff and limited opportunities. This seemed to be the same with the scheduled entertainment. I know other posters said that HAL is more laid back and so on, but it seems like those planning events have taken advantage of this and just don't have to have as many staff. The selected activities were good. We attended the flower arranging, origami, trivia, scrabble word game, Caribbean talk, etc. and were pleased. But an evening show on the first day and matinee shows during sea days were missing. 

 

OTHER THOUGHTS

 

- At Amber Cove we did the Ocean World excursion and I would highly recommend. The staff were very friendly and the shows were exciting. We also did the waterslides and inflatables. The bird interaction was fun and the buffet was good for lunch. We used Ishmael who is easy to find on tour sites for a city tour in the evening. He charged us a very reasonable rate for 6 to see the Chocolate Factory, Amber Museum, City of Puerto Plata, and the Fortress. Excellent all around.

 

- Half Moon Cay was very beautiful. The island was in very good shape. We ate at the buffet right at 11. The lines were very long after that. We also explored the nature trails and kayaked and did the water trike. Something for everyone here and very relaxing. 

 

- Casino has more options than many others. Smoke-free which was a huge plus. 

 

- My 12 year old tried the kids club and they did not go by the program. She went to play Wii Just Dance and they told her to color instead. Not structured and a wide range of ages. She only stayed for 2 hrs but was not impressed. 

 

- Not impressed with the Music Walk at all. These are the same bar singer set ups as the other ships we have been on. Should be an entertainment feature rather than billed as feature entertainment. 

 

- Dress code was not enforced. I played by the rules to begin with with khakis and polo in the MDR on the first night. But, after seeing many guys dressed very well in outfits with shorts, then I changed to shorts as well for the evenings. Some guys wore shorts even on formal night which we missed at the MDR because that was our long day in Puerto Plata and our dining time was 5pm.  But, no dirty looks or comments by anyone. Everyone seemed to be just focusing on their dining and company as they should. 

 

Overall, I felt like the HAL experience was lesser than what we expected from the cruise line itself. We knew the limitations with amenities, but did not expect the shortages of staff, lack of planning, cost cutting, and inferior products. We did enjoy our room, the room service, the excellent staff in some areas, the performances, and the ports. We all agreed that the cruise line puts the staff in awkward and uncomfortable spots where they have to try and accommodate with limited resources. For example, the head chef in the Lido said that they can't make the blueberry pancakes on the menu because the line does not supply them with fresh berries. This is completely on the cruise line to provide more resources to the staff to give the guests the experience they deserve. We felt like the cruise line takes advantage of the reputation of being "laid back and relaxed" to somehow justify a lack of planned activities and waiting for essentials such as food and get by with a shortage of staff. 

 

I am not sure we will cruise HAL again. We may consider it if it had a very good port itinerary without sea days at a very good price, but not if we have to spend sea days on the ship probably. Thanks again to all that gave us tips ahead of time. 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Reds4life

[jimbob22]

interesting review.  Normally I'd say perhaps try one of the pinnacle class ships--but you've basically done some of the same Caribbean itinerary that they do.  And the shows are the same (I think even the exact same).  I'm not sure if music walk is exactly the same.  Pinnacle ships have Rolling Stone room and BB King club.

 

Our rotterdam itinerary included San Juan and St. Thomas, which I think are good ports (historic cities, interesting to walk around)--but we did have a couple of sea days.   You 'broadened your horizons'.  I guess that some have advised newbies and/or people with kids to do the Pinnacle class ships, not drastically different than the ship you went on, but maybe less issues with staffing, possibly a bit more to do for daily activities.   I thought the lido on Rotterdam was pretty varied and fresh.

 

Our teen went to the teen club and similarly felt it was not organized enough.  The kids that go to it *want* a worker to take charge, run the activities as planned.  And when no worker does that, they get bored and leave after a few minutes.  

 

I'd like to see hal put more effort into the teen club (over school breaks, when there are many teens on board), and I'd like to see them do more 80s rock in the rolling stone room (Fixx, outfield, night ranger, flock of seagulls, etc).  

 

I guess on Rotterdam I didn't really notice the sea-day down time.  Between getting breakfast, hitting the gym for a little while,  going for walk on 3rd deck prominade, getting a bite for lunch, afternoon trivia once or twice, the seadays just seemed to fly by.  

 

We ate in mdr 3 times, the 3 dressy/gala nights.  I thought portions were mostly normal, some had small sides.  One night I did get two entrees b/c I like both tenderloin and lamb.  But those same meats were likely available on the lido that night too.  So there may be a trend of MDR meals getting smaller on Carnival's brands, but at least on Rotterdam, the dinner lido had plenty of good choices (as opposed to the 'carnival' brand, where there's a rather limited selection).

[whogo]

Excellent review, Reds4life, thank you for posting.

[Reds4life]

5 minutes ago, jimbob22 said:

interesting review.  Normally I'd say perhaps try one of the pinnacle class ships--but you've basically done some of the same Caribbean itinerary that they do.  And the shows are the same (I think even the exact same).  I'm not sure if music walk is exactly the same.  Pinnacle ships have Rolling Stone room and BB King club.

 

Our rotterdam itinerary included San Juan and St. Thomas, which I think are good ports (historic cities, interesting to walk around)--but we did have a couple of sea days.   You 'broadened your horizons'.  I guess that some have advised newbies and/or people with kids to do the Pinnacle class ships, not drastically different than the ship you went on, but maybe less issues with staffing, possibly a bit more to do for daily activities.   I thought the lido on Rotterdam was pretty varied and fresh.

 

Our teen went to the teen club and similarly felt it was not organized enough.  The kids that go to it *want* a worker to take charge, run the activities as planned.  And when no worker does that, they get bored and leave after a few minutes.  

 

I'd like to see hal put more effort into the teen club (over school breaks, when there are many teens on board), and I'd like to see them do more 80s rock in the rolling stone room (Fixx, outfield, night ranger, flock of seagulls, etc).  

 

I guess on Rotterdam I didn't really notice the sea-day down time.  Between getting breakfast, hitting the gym for a little while,  going for walk on 3rd deck prominade, getting a bite for lunch, afternoon trivia once or twice, the seadays just seemed to fly by.  

 

We ate in mdr 3 times, the 3 dressy/gala nights.  I thought portions were mostly normal, some had small sides.  One night I did get two entrees b/c I like both tenderloin and lamb.  But those same meats were likely available on the lido that night too.  So there may be a trend of MDR meals getting smaller on Carnival's brands, but at least on Rotterdam, the dinner lido had plenty of good choices (as opposed to the 'carnival' brand, where there's a rather limited selection).

I definitely agree with you on the desire for teens to have an adult take charge in the kids club. I don't think we will rule out HAL for future cruises but know what to expect. This was our first experience in the Carnival family of brands as well. We have been to San Juan and St Thomas also and enjoyed them very much. I can't really complain myself about the sea days because my wife and I tended to just relax on the balcony but my mom and the kids struggled. We all struggled with lunch. We take for granted and even complain about eating burgers and chicken tenders all the time until there are none available I guess lol. 

[Wakepatrol]

I was on this cruise as well. I don’t know if you went to the Lido at the busiest time

but I won’t wait on a line for FREE Super Bowl tickets  sitting on the teams sideline. We went to the Lido for breakfast every morning. I waited 10 minutes for omelette’s for my wife and I while she found us a seat and grabbed other items and coffee. Once seated we always had a lido worker filling our coffee cups and asking us if we wanted anything, juice water etc.

We went to the dining room for lunch 

and I had an absolutely delicious burger, it was relaxing and very chill.

The dive bar Meh, I don’t know why they don’t make a giant batch of grab and go burgers and franks. No custom , just grab and go. Me personally I don’t go on a cruise to eat hot dogs and chicken tenders.

We only ate in the dining room three nights. I never saw a single pair of shorts the three nights we were there. We ate at Canaletto the first night which was fantastic and we ate in the Pinnacle on Sunday night which was also delicious. I wanted to go to Canaletto again but they were all booked up. 

 

I enjoyed the grab and go salad bar.

Did you go to the New Years Eve party at the pool?

[REOVA]

Glad you posted your review and equally glad you tried HAL for comparison. Just wish you could have sailed pre Covid on HAL, but then again it may have been a worse review with the cutbacks and changes. 

 

I doubt a Pinnacle class ship would solve any of the cons in your review. There will be more passengers and short staffed crew to handle them. There might be more restaurant options (to pay for), but sadly the shows and activity would not be different. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

I was on this cruise as well. I don’t know if you went to the Lido at the busiest time

but I won’t wait on a line for FREE Super Bowl tickets  sitting on the teams sideline. We went to the Lido for breakfast every morning. I waited 10 minutes for omelette’s for my wife and I while she found us a seat and grabbed other items and coffee. Once seated we always had a lido worker filling our coffee cups and asking us if we wanted anything, juice water etc.

We went to the dining room for lunch 

and I had an absolutely delicious burger, it was relaxing and very chill.

The dive bar Meh, I don’t know why they don’t make a giant batch of grab and go burgers and franks. No custom , just grab and go. Me personally I don’t go on a cruise to eat hot dogs and chicken tenders.

We only ate in the dining room three nights. I never saw a single pair of shorts the three nights we were there. We ate at Canaletto the first night which was fantastic and we ate in the Pinnacle on Sunday night which was also delicious. I wanted to go to Canaletto again but they were all booked up. 

 

I enjoyed the grab and go salad bar.

Did you go to the New Years Eve party at the pool?

 

I don't like standing on a line either, but for free super bowl tickets, I might go as long as 30 min!

 

I've seen the grab and go salad options on the menus Kazu has been posting. Do the servers at the salad bar still make a salad to order?

[Wakepatrol]

14 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I don't like standing on a line either, but for free super bowl tickets, I might go as long as 30 min!

 

I've seen the grab and go salad options on the menus Kazu has been posting. Do the servers at the salad bar still make a salad to order?

Yes absolutely- They will make any salad you want😊

[3rdGenCunarder]

Thanks! That's my token healthy eating. Of course, on ships with a taco station, I used to go off the rails a bit with some chips and guac...

[Wakepatrol]

8 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Thanks! That's my token healthy eating. Of course, on ships with a taco station, I used to go off the rails a bit with some chips and guac...

Pinnacle Schminnacle- Just give me bread pudding😂

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 minute ago, Wakepatrol said:

Pinnacle Schminnacle- Just give me bread pudding😂

 

I didn't say I don't have dessert. The salad is nutritional penance in advance. 

[Reds4life]

13 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

I was on this cruise as well. I don’t know if you went to the Lido at the busiest time

but I won’t wait on a line for FREE Super Bowl tickets  sitting on the teams sideline. We went to the Lido for breakfast every morning. I waited 10 minutes for omelette’s for my wife and I while she found us a seat and grabbed other items and coffee. Once seated we always had a lido worker filling our coffee cups and asking us if we wanted anything, juice water etc.

We went to the dining room for lunch 

and I had an absolutely delicious burger, it was relaxing and very chill.

The dive bar Meh, I don’t know why they don’t make a giant batch of grab and go burgers and franks. No custom , just grab and go. Me personally I don’t go on a cruise to eat hot dogs and chicken tenders.

We only ate in the dining room three nights. I never saw a single pair of shorts the three nights we were there. We ate at Canaletto the first night which was fantastic and we ate in the Pinnacle on Sunday night which was also delicious. I wanted to go to Canaletto again but they were all booked up. 

 

I enjoyed the grab and go salad bar.

Did you go to the New Years Eve party at the pool?

We ate breakfast on our balcony from room service most days. It was very good. We tried the Lido for breakfast on the first port day with the thinking that it would be just something quick to grab. It was a bad decision and, since the staff has to serve you, it is very difficult.

 

Looking back, we probably absolutely should have tried to dining room for lunch instead of fighting through the Lido and the long wait at the Dive In. I don't really prefer to eat hot dogs or chicken tenders on a cruise either, but my kids like hot dogs and I would definitely choose very good chicken tenders (Raising Canes, Zaxbys, PDQ, etc) over the random combinations at the main station on the Lido or the bad Asian/Indian food. We also like really good pizza, but that was no where to be found. MSC has spoiled us with pizza and both MSC and RCCL always had all of the above mentioned plus a lot more variety. The salad bar was very good but where was all of the fresh fruit? We enjoyed the fruit tremendously on the island BBQ but it was lacking on the ship. My youngest loves grapes, strawberries and blueberries and they were missing. We also missed having actual sweet tea, non-sour lemonade, and something other water as complementary. On other lines, they have complementary vitamin water (Nestle Vitality) or a juice cocktail available 24/7. Again, this seemed to be due to cost cutting. 

 

I was at table 30 at 5pm and had on shorts on two of the three nights. Watched a guy walk right in at about 8pm on New Years Eve as well. And, no we did not go to the NYE party because the College Football Playoffs were on and we are from Ohio lol. Didn't turn out as well as we would have liked but we wouldn't miss it.  

[Reds4life]

12 hours ago, REOVA said:

Glad you posted your review and equally glad you tried HAL for comparison. Just wish you could have sailed pre Covid on HAL, but then again it may have been a worse review with the cutbacks and changes. 

 

I doubt a Pinnacle class ship would solve any of the cons in your review. There will be more passengers and short staffed crew to handle them. There might be more restaurant options (to pay for), but sadly the shows and activity would not be different. 

We did have a good time. The ports were nice and the rooms were excellent. And, I am not totally ruling out another cruise at the right price. But, we know what to expect now which unfortunately is a lot less. We will weigh the price vs. product in the future and make an informed decision. Thanks for your help during the planning process. 

[trixiee]

The lemonade, iced tea and water have only ever been the free options.  Along with a variety of tea and coffee.  
 

[albingirl]

Thanks for your review. The thing that I noticed most is your commentary about the food being sub par. I agree that there is different taste concerning pizza but there are so many options onboard for dining. I like good food, but it's not as important as the itinerary. It's great you did find some positive moments, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Horizon chaser 1957]

1 hour ago, Reds4life said:

We did have a good time. The ports were nice and the rooms were excellent. And, I am not totally ruling out another cruise at the right price. But, we know what to expect now which unfortunately is a lot less. We will weigh the price vs. product in the future and make an informed decision. Thanks for your help during the planning process. 

We were on this cruise as well, and it was NOT the usual HAL standard. I totally agree about the food.

I noticed that per HALs website, Zuiderdam’s passenger capacity is 1963. According to the captains talk, the passenger count on this cruise was around 2200. Add in that it was a Christmas vacation cruise, and we all eat more a) on vacation and b) at Christmas.

The Lido buffet is simply not designed for an over capacity crowd coming back multiple times, and the stress showed in the quality and quantity of food, and on the staff behind the counters. They looked exhausted and shell shocked. The Dive Inn was dealing with multiple times the orders it normally handles, due to both the number of passengers and the change in demographics. 
None of the food services are designed to handle the workload they were hit with that week. HAL sold the cruise above the capacity their services are designed for. Our food experience in every venue was just plain bad.
I really wish you and your family could have experienced the Zuiderdam on January 4. Passenger total was under 1500. It was like walking into a completely different Lido. The improvement in everything was dramatic. 

I loved having lots of children on board that week - that’s what makes Christmas feel like Christmas. However, head office sold the ship over listed capacity, and the result was chaos.

I'm so sorry that was your first experience on a HAL cruise. I hope it’s not your last, but can’t blame you if it is.

Edited January 6, 2023 by Horizon chaser 1957

[FlorenceItaly]

Thank you for sharing!  It is greatly appreciated.  Do the Signature Suite's have the larger TV's or the small ones on the counter?  

[Colorado Klutch]

I have read multiple reviews of Christmas cruises which had the same complaints; too many passengers caused long lines, poor service and food shortages. Apparently, it's not just HAL that overbooks their ships for Christmas. 

[AFNavigator]

1 hour ago, Colorado Klutch said:

I have read multiple reviews of Christmas cruises which had the same complaints; too many passengers caused long lines, poor service and food shortages. Apparently, it's not just HAL that overbooks their ships for Christmas. 

We were on the Carnival Breeze over Christmas 2018.  It was more than 130 percent capacity (100 percent: 3967, actual: 4800+).  That definitely made for lots of long lines.

 

[Reds4life]

5 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Thank you for sharing!  It is greatly appreciated.  Do the Signature Suite's have the larger TV's or the small ones on the counter?  

The TVs were very large. I am guessing at least 60 inch

[Reds4life]

6 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

We were on this cruise as well, and it was NOT the usual HAL standard. I totally agree about the food.

I noticed that per HALs website, Zuiderdam’s passenger capacity is 1963. According to the captains talk, the passenger count on this cruise was around 2200. Add in that it was a Christmas vacation cruise, and we all eat more a) on vacation and b) at Christmas.

The Lido buffet is simply not designed for an over capacity crowd coming back multiple times, and the stress showed in the quality and quantity of food, and on the staff behind the counters. They looked exhausted and shell shocked. The Dive Inn was dealing with multiple times the orders it normally handles, due to both the number of passengers and the change in demographics. 
None of the food services are designed to handle the workload they were hit with that week. HAL sold the cruise above the capacity their services are designed for. Our food experience in every venue was just plain bad.
I really wish you and your family could have experienced the Zuiderdam on January 4. Passenger total was under 1500. It was like walking into a completely different Lido. The improvement in everything was dramatic. 

I loved having lots of children on board that week - that’s what makes Christmas feel like Christmas. However, head office sold the ship over listed capacity, and the result was chaos.

I'm so sorry that was your first experience on a HAL cruise. I hope it’s not your last, but can’t blame you if it is.

Oh gosh, I had no idea about the overbooking. That makes a ton of sense though because you're absolutely right about all of the staff looking completely shocked.

[Wakepatrol]

Oh I almost forgot, the small kids took over every hot tub on the ship. 

[wdw1972]

8 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Thank you for sharing!  It is greatly appreciated.  Do the Signature Suite's have the larger TV's or the small ones on the counter?  

On the Eurodam this past December our signature suite had the large tv.  A friend sailing in a regular verandah stateroom had the small tv.  Not sure about Zuiderdam.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[trixiee]

4 hours ago, wdw1972 said:

On the Eurodam this past December our signature suite had the large tv.  A friend sailing in a regular verandah stateroom had the small tv.  Not sure about Zuiderdam.

 

Sue/WDW1972

I was in a balcony and had a big TV.