New to Holland America

[Cruisingbear]

We just booked a 7 day Holland America on Zuiderdam to the Eastern

Caribbean in October 2007. We have always cruised with Carnival

and have gotten board with their routine. We enjoy the older crowd

so we decided to try this line. We booked an aft balcony. Has anyone

been on this ship? Comments on this line's food, service, shows, etc.

We will be visiting St. Thomas, Tortorla, Half Moon Cay, and Turks & Cacios.

Any suggestions about anything would be great.

Happy Sailing......................

[TV Dad]

Definitely a more laid back crowd on HAL than on Carnival. I think you'll find the food and service superior. I also think you'll enjoy the shows more. . . IF you are 40+.

[4FRCruising]

We just booked a 7 day Holland America on Zuiderdam to the Eastern

Caribbean in October 2007. We have always cruised with Carnival

and have gotten board with their routine. We enjoy the older crowd

so we decided to try this line. We booked an aft balcony. Has anyone

been on this ship? Comments on this line's food, service, shows, etc.

We will be visiting St. Thomas, Tortorla, Half Moon Cay, and Turks & Cacios.

Any suggestions about anything would be great.

Happy Sailing......................

 

What date are you sailing? I'm booked on the Zuiderdam in October too.....Going Trick or Treating :D I'm on the 10/27 sailing. I hope you are sailing with me :)

 

Here's a link to my Roll Call (just in case you are sailing with me).

[noblepa]

We sailed on Carnival twice, on the Paradise and the Glory. Then we discovered HAL (Veendam). Since then, we've been on the Oosterdam and are sailing on the Zuiderdam on April 7.

 

One of my first impressions of HAL was that the passenger "density" was lower. By that, I mean that Carnival seemed to pack more passengers into the same size ship. In any event, both HAL ships we have been on have felt much less crowded than either CCL ship.

 

Even the Oosterdam, which is a sister of the Zuiderdam, in the Vista class, HAL's largest, did not feel as crowded. Some HAL regulars don't like the Vista's because they are large, by HAL standards, at about 2,000 passengers. After coming from CCL, it didn't seem crowded to us at all.

 

HAL is definitely a little more laid back. There are no non-stop hairy-chest and belly-flop contests and loud music at the pool. That's not to say that there's nothing to do; its just a little less raucous.

 

The food on HAL, is IMHO, great. CCL's food was very good, so I can't really knock them for that.

 

The Pinnacle Grille is HAL's extra-charge, reservations-only alternative dining room. On the O, I had a filet mignon that was absolutely fabulous. At $30 per head, some find the PG a little pricey, considering that the main dining room is very, very good. I'd give it a try, just to decide for yourself. We're going back when we sail on the Zuiderdam.

 

I'm really looking forward to Grand Turk. It is a small, as-yet relatively undeveloped island. From what I've read, it is one of the few places in the Caribbean, where you can see what life is really like. There is no Diamonds International there yet, but there is a Margaritaville, at the Cruise Center that Carnival built about a year ago. In a few years, it will probably turn into a mini-St. Thomas or Nassau, with lots of outside chain stores. The Dune Buggy adventure looks like a lot of fun, but it was sold out when I tried to book it a week ago.

 

Welcome to HAL.

[grannynurse]

You'll love your aft balcony, but it's along walk to the forward areas of the ship, at least for me. I think you'll also appreciate Half Moon Cay as it is the nicest private island among all other cruise line offerings. Try to rent a cabana for the day, it is well worth the price. I've been on the Zuiderdam's sister Westerdam and although the ship was sold out the amazing thing is it never felt crowded. We love Hal for many reasons but most of all for the service and the amazing crew on every HAL ship we've been on.

GN

[Atomica]

Haven't been to the Caribbean (yet!), but the Zuiderdam is a fantastic ship with an amazing crew. You'll have a great time.

[Lurker1]

We sailed on Carnival twice, on the Paradise and the Glory. Then we discovered HAL (Veendam). Since then, we've been on the Oosterdam and are sailing on the Zuiderdam on April 7.

 

Regarding density of passagers; we sailed a Vista Class HAL ship last year. A Carnival ship was in the dock at the same time. One of the ship's officers said the Carnival ship had the same hull, but many more cabins.

True for every class? Don't know, but the service on HAL is very good, and very consistent.

[seaisme]

We just booked a 7 day Holland America on Zuiderdam to the Eastern

Caribbean in October 2007. We have always cruised with Carnival

and have gotten board with their routine. We enjoy the older crowd

so we decided to try this line. We booked an aft balcony. Has anyone

been on this ship? Comments on this line's food, service, shows, etc.

We will be visiting St. Thomas, Tortorla, Half Moon Cay, and Turks & Cacios.

Any suggestions about anything would be great.

Happy Sailing......................

getting ready for our second time on the Zuiderdam...she's one beautiful ship. And we love aft cabins! particularly at sunset. As for the "long walk"...yes, it is...but I look at it this way...it helps keep the weight-gain down while eating all the good food! Lots to do, and as others have said, more room per passenger...so you never feel crowded. You made a great choice. As for Grand Turk, if you like the atmosphere of Margaritaville then all you ha ve to do is step off the ship! If you're looking for something a little less crowded and noisy and some quiet beach time, look into the few Inns on the island. They have "day packages" for cruisers. quiet beach, nice lunch/drinks, place to relax & change...for a nominal fee. Enjoy!

[twinkletoes4445]

We just booked a 7 day Holland America on Zuiderdam to the Eastern

Caribbean in October 2007. We have always cruised with Carnival

and have gotten board with their routine. We enjoy the older crowd

so we decided to try this line. We booked an aft balcony. Has anyone

been on this ship? Comments on this line's food, service, shows, etc.

We will be visiting St. Thomas, Tortorla, Half Moon Cay, and Turks & Cacios.

Any suggestions about anything would be great.

Happy Sailing......................

 

We did that same cruise last month, and we had a wonderful time. It was our first cruise with HAL. I've been working on my review...so I'll try and get it posted in the next week or so.

 

We've only cruised one other time, and it was on the Carnival Triumph. Hands down, the HAL cruise was superior in every aspect.

 

I recently posted the current menu. If you can't find it, let me know, and I'll find it or repost it.

 

Hubby isn't a big snorkeling fan...so this time we just did the sightseeing trips that HAL offered.

 

In St. Thomas we booked an air-conditioned van excursion. It was really a bust. The driver kept turning the air up and we all baked. He also didn't let us out at a couple of stops (we only we able to look out the van windows). So I not do that again.

 

In Tortola we booked the open-air excursion, and we had Santa as our driver. It was fun and he told us everything about the island.

 

In Grand Turk, we did the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus. It was okay, but there's not much to see on GT. Next time, we'd probably hang out at Margaritvaille next to the pool.

 

In HMC we rented a cabana and had a butler for the day. We had a grand time. If you want a cabana, you have to snag one early. I rented ours in May for our Feb. sailing.

[MSammy]

Have done both Carnival and Hal. After Carnival I said, never again. Booked HAL to Alaska and said, yes...now I know why people like cruising. Here are the big differences in my book:

 

Far less public announcements on HAL.

 

Far less sales pitches. Felt I was constantly being sold stuff on Carnival. Yes, HAL still charges for Bingo, drinks, etc. but in a far less intrusive and obvious way.

 

Better food on HAL. Just a step above what Carnival offers but makes a difference to me.

 

HAL definitely more laid back. As earlier posted stated, no belly flop contests, hairy chests contests, etc. This is a plus in my book--others may call it a minus. JMOP.

 

Smaller cabins on Carnival.

 

In short, I will never, ever do Carnival again. But HAL? Any day!

[Funny Daddy]

We just booked a 7 day Holland America on Zuiderdam to the Eastern

Caribbean in October 2007. We have always cruised with Carnival

and have gotten board with their routine. We enjoy the older crowd

so we decided to try this line. We booked an aft balcony. Has anyone

been on this ship? Comments on this line's food, service, shows, etc.

We will be visiting St. Thomas, Tortorla, Half Moon Cay, and Turks & Cacios.

Any suggestions about anything would be great.

Happy Sailing......................

 

I hope you're ready to switch from Carnivore to 1st Class!! Rgds PD

[noblepa]

Regarding density of passagers; we sailed a Vista Class HAL ship last year. A Carnival ship was in the dock at the same time. One of the ship's officers said the Carnival ship had the same hull, but many more cabins.

 

True for every class? Don't know, but the service on HAL is very good, and very consistent.

 

Carnival is getting a lot of mileage out of the Vista/Spirit class ships. The Vista's are definitely based on the same hull design as the Spirit class. Even Cunard is getting the new Queen Victoria, which is a further evolution of the same basic design. I think that Costa has one or two ships that share that hull, as well. I'm not sure which one was first.

 

Reportedly, the new Eurodam, known as the Signature class, is a slightly stretched and revamped Vista/Spirit class ship.

 

It makes a lot of economic sense to do this. Designing and testing a hull for safety, low drag, stability and general seaworthiness is a long, expensive process. Re-using the same design probably saves a significant amount of time and money.

 

The interior layout, and decor are much easier to change. That is what the passengers remember and what gives the ship its character and family resemblence to other ships in the line, more so than the silhouette or the underwater shape.

 

The ships are not identical, however, even the hulls.

 

Carnival Spirit: 960', 88.500grt, 2,124 pax

Noordam: 935', 82,500grt, 1,918 pax (the last Vista)

Zuiderdam: 951', 82,000grt, 1,848 pax (the first Vista)

 

These stats are taken from HAL's and Carnival's websites.

[Cruisingbear]

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments and suggestions

about HAL. We are really looking forward to a great cruise with some

less crowded ports.

Happy Sailing !!!!!!...........

[mpduquaine]

You will love Holland. We have sailed with Carnival, (which was not for us), Princess(Problems I wish not to share and then Holland(which we feel in love with) We have been on all 3 of the 4 sister ships. The Zuiderdam, Westerdam and soon to be Noordam. we love the smaller amounts of people, the incredible service, the more mature crowd(we are in our very early 40's), and the very professional crew. We have mostly found it to be a plus in a lot of things, but have found Princess to have better shows. Although that doesn't make it or brake it with me. I would prefer, better service, staff, dinging and elegance over shows. Just my preference. You will guarenteed love Holland. It truly is a whole different life onboard, and once you try it, you will be a very devoted cruiser.

Have a great trip!