Zuiderdam - Panama Canal 9/29 - 10/20 - Part 1

[judgejaclyn]

This is a review of our recent 21 day cruise on the ms Zuiderdam. It is very long and is written in our subjective opinions. This is part 1. I will be posting Part 2 immediately in a new thread.

 

 

 

ZUIDERDAM - PANAMA CANAL 9/29 - 10/20

 

 

It is important to note a bit of background on our cruising experience and what we look for in a vacation. A good vacation is one that meets our expectations. A great vacation is one that surpasses our expectations. This was a great vacation!

 

We are a semi-retired professional couple in our late 40’s/early 50’s and have the good fortune of sailing 50+ cruises as passengers. Additionally, following our first retirements, we found a second career in combining our love of travel and people - we worked as onboard cruise staff for 4+ years with Carnival and Princess Cruises. Accordingly, we have experienced cruising from both sides. For this holiday, we treated ourselves to a deluxe verandah suite (Cat SA stateroom 7047) and every single hard-earned penny was well spent!

 

Pre-Cruise

We arrived a day early into Vancouver, B.C. from Longboat Key, FL, USA. The Delta flight included one change of planes in Atlanta and was uneventful. A prearranged rental car from Alamo onsite at the airport was inexpensive and convenient since we were able to return it onsite at Canada Place before boarding the ship. The Park Plaza Hotel on Broadway was clean and comfortable and recently refurbished in an art deco motif that was aesthetically pleasing. It’s location on Broadway offered many options for dining and shopping.

 

Embarkation

After a good nights sleep, we arrived at the terminal at 11:10 am, returned our rental vehicle and went through the entire process of embarkation and were onboard before 12 noon. The actual process of embarkation took less than 20 minutes and all staff was personable and professional. Our key cards in hand, we posed for our first of many photographs, were videoed as we traversed the gangway, and heard those heart warming words as we took our first step onboard…”Welcome Home”. The familiar HAL Mariner motto of “Once onboard, never forgotten” is replayed not only in words but in the actions of all crew members. We had a suite on deck 7, near the Neptune Lounge. Accordingly, we elected to stop by to introduce ourselves to the concierges Carlo & Faye, pour the first of many (many, many) delectable cappuccinos and to drop off our carry on bags. We had a light lunch at the Lido buffet, complete with scrumptious velvety bread pudding, before hearing the announcement that all staterooms were ready. (Approximately 1:20pm)

 

Stateroom/Suite Amenities

Ahhhhh, the sweet life of the suite life. Although we had cruised 50+ days with HAL, this was the first deluxe verandah suite (Cat SA) we had ever booked with the line. As many others have stated in their reviews, once you have experienced the bonuses that accompany the HAL superior deluxe suite, you will never want to cruise any other way. My husband and I agree that it was the fact that we were in a suite that made this vacation one we will never forget and one that stands apart from all others we have taken as passengers. The stateroom size is astounding. It measures at 510 sq. feet (although a standard verandah cabin measures half that size at 249 sq. feet) and is pure heaven. The color pallet is warm, understated elegance in crème, mauve and burgundy. So much has been written about the extra living space, storage space, oversized balcony, the fresh flowers, the premium duvet, oversize bath towels, and unlimited complimentary laundry and pressing that I will not elaborate. Our cabin steward Rahmat immediately appeared and welcomed us with a warm and genuine smile. Within one hour our 4 checked bags were delivered – plenty of storage room for both my and my husband’s 21 day outfits and 21 evening outfits. Our 4 large bags easily fit under the king size bed and were out of view for the cruise. Ample hangers were provided for all clothing requiring them. I separated out clothing to be pressed for the next 2 days and presented them to our steward for the laundry department. Throughout the entire cruise all clothing sent to be washed or dry cleaned was returned the next day and that to be pressed was returned that same evening as it was sent. A bit of an aside, for those with long hair, I brought my own hair dryer and am quite happy I did since the one provided in the suite was not sufficient. Also, I did not bring my own shampoo/conditioner and elected to purchase some when the opportunity arose. (I guess I am in the minority on the Elemis products?) We were off at 4:30pm to the lifeboat drill where the rain could not dampen our spirits. Speaking of spirits, after the drill my husband poured us a glass of champagne (thank you Captain von Donselaar and HM Mark Pells) and we toasted each other to the start of a great holiday.

 

Staff:

Captain – Joreon van Donselaar

Hotel Manager – Mark Pells

Suite Concierges: Carlo & Faye

Cruise Director – Jason Venner

Asst. CDs – DJ Drew, Michael, Chris, Aga

Staff Entertainment – Jenny & The Hall Cats, Randall Powell on Piano (in Crow’s Nest), Dan Brady on piano (the Piano Bar), Porto Fino (Ocean Bar band), City Quartet (Explorers Lounge plus special occasions string quartet)

 

Ports

Although this was considered a repositioning cruise, it was extremely port intensive. In the 21 day cruise from Vancouver – FLL, we visited 13 ports of call (including embarkation & disembarkation). We had the good fortune of varied ports from the pacific northwest region of our port of embarkation, Vancouver, to rainy Seattle, to the cosmopolitan port of Los Angeles, to the 6 ports of Mexico (Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Huatulco, Puerto Chiapas), the rain forest area of Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, the maritime/fortressed port of Cartagena, Columbia and the flavor of the western Caribbean islands, Key West, FL. We pre-booked our shore excursions using the HAL online booking and accordingly not only insured receipt of all of the tours we requested but also had them paid for before we sailed. Of particular mention were our personal favorites of the Mini 4 x 4 Expedition in the muddy hills of Puerto Vallarta and the Mountain Bike Tour in Huatulco. Our out of town tours in Cabo San Lucas (Todos Santo) and Manzanillo (Nogueras) were both interesting and insightful of the Mexican culture. While in Seattle, what is not to love about a tour of a winery (complete with wine tasting) at 10:30 am on a rainy day? And a highlight tour of L.A. including Rodeo Drive shopping came in handy for that … “oops, I forgot to bring my favorite black pants (wink-wink)” which resulted in the purchase of not one but two new pair of pants plus other necessities! As a special treat, the Hotel Manager, Mark Pells, arranged for no less than 8 folkloric shows to perform for the passengers when in port. These special and unexpected cultural shows were well received by many passengers and a further insight into the colorful entertainment side of the Mexican and Columbian cultures.

 

Panama Canal

Spectacular does not say enough about the engineering feat that is the Panama Canal. When you remember that the Panama Canal shortens by many thousand of miles a voyage that would otherwise involve going around the tip of South America, and couple it with experiencing it first hand through the transit of 3 locks, it is definitely a cruise not to be missed. Many people take cruises wherein the ship is their destination. Others seek out particular ports (i.e. St. Petersburg or perhaps Aruba) that they dreamed of visiting. On this cruise, the transit itself is a destination! We had the renowned guest lecturer Dr. Jay Wolff onboard. Dr. Jay shared his knowledge and passion with us as we sailed the full 21 days. His riveting story-telling combined with his personally compiled slides made his talks a standing room only activity. Dr. Jay prepared us for our journey with talks first on San Francisco and its Pioneers, to Cortez and Spain’s greed lead to conquest Mexico, to the Digging of the Canal by Uncle Sam, to the Caribbean where Molasses to Rum To Slaves and Pirates were our topics. If you missed or could not get a seat at one of Dr. Jay’s talks, it was broadcasted on the in-room television the next day.

[earl_m]

Thanks for the review, Sounds like a great cruise and a long one.

[ekerr19]

Thanks for posting! I hope we get to cruise again with Mark Pells again soon - we've missed him!!!!

 

Looking forward to hearing more... :)

[cp556]

Ah, Jaclyn ... I am reliving our wonderful cruise through your words. Thanks for a great review. Wish the Neptune was open right now for a Cappuccino .....

xxooo

Carol and TJ

[rebeljohn]

Judgejaclyn..........Enjoying your review. You mentioned Randall Powell(piano player) was aboard the ship. I hope he is still there when we sail on the Zuiderdam next month.....He is a lot of fun...........