Zuiderdam update from Athens Greece

[Harry1954]

The Ziddy is alive and well, having survived the seventeen day dry-docking ordeal in Palermo. We arrived at the Venice port check-in, traversed the security line and in a matter of a very few minutes, made it onboard. The pre-check-in forms continue to speed up the boarding processing as they have proven to have done so in the past.

 

The ship looks pristine with all new adornments such as carpeting and the outside of the ship shines. The first two evenings we ate in Pinnacle. The Pinnacle bar is now across the hall from the restaurant, leaving it more cozy and the bar crowd separated from the dining folks. The second evening, we waited in the bar for our table to be ready, experiencing this remote quiet bar away from the maddening crowd. Dinner was excellent both evenings and the maitre d’, Elvira from Romania, proved to be a charming and attentive hostess to all her guests. One reminder of dry-dock was that during dinner I noticed a long elegant picture on the wall had some strange protrusions. My dear wife explained that these were clamps used to hold the picture in place. I asked Elvira about them and she laughed, explaining that the picture fell down once they left Palermo and was reglued, but needed two days to set. I just thought it amusing as in this day and time, someone ignorant of art (such as I) would not know the difference. I suppose that is another reason for dear wife to be at my side. In summary, Pinnacle here was a great treat.

 

Main Dining is another story. We have early fixed seating (5:45pm) which is ok for most occasions; however, our first two excursions were seven and one half hours and eight and one half hours, causing us to arrive back at the ship forty minutes before time for dinner each time. The first night this happened we rushed and made dinner at the last minute before the time expires – not sure what they do if you are past 6:00, maybe shoot you; but we just made it, a bit harried. The second excursion (today’s) we did not have enough time to shower after trekking through the Corinth ruins all day in the dust. I asked in the Neptune if we could eat in the Open Seating but we were denied by the Maitre d’ – they said it was fully booked. So – we get punished for having a late arriving excursion and eat prime rib in our room. That is ok, as we tend to go with the flow; however, it points out the attitude we have experienced so far on the Zuiderdam – a crew that seems very standoffish and unfriendly when compared to other HAL ships we have experienced. We hope this will change as time passes since we are on for another twenty days or so. We have yet to even meet our Head Waiter for instance. Fortunately, our waiter is very personable, attentive, and willing to please.

 

Neptune Lounge is great as always. The two young ladies are friendly and try to accomplish everyone’s needs. The room is a bit bigger than the S-class ones, but two items that are constant: coffee machine (yummy) and the chocolates.

 

Well, we are getting ready for dinner, so I will sign off for now, more to follow later as usual.

 

Harry

[hammybee]

Thanks for checking in from onboard. I am sure plenty of others will soon be along with a boatload of questions.

 

I am looking forward to hearing more, if time and $ permit you to continue posting.

 

Thank you again.

[Rebecca33]

Thank you for the update. There are a lot of us who have been waiting to hear the details of the dry dock.

 

I appreciate your time and enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

:)

[crabcruiser]

Thank you for posting.

We are also anxiously awaiting updates on her refurbishing. We sail on August 12. and can't wait to hear all about her!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Harry, thanks so very much for checking in. Glad to hear that the Zuiderdam is looking great:)

Please say Hello to Elvira from Tom and Lisa in Las Vegas and to say Hello to her husband Stephan. They are such wonderful people and I love them both.

Continue to have a wonderful time:)

[Softball20]

Thanks so much for the update. We are on the Zuiderdam on May 20 out of Barcelona, and I can't wait! I do hope that the crew lightens up before we get on.

 

I was also curious about the dining, since we, too, have a late excursion. We always do late seating, so it shouldn't be a problem for us, but I'm sure that there will be others in the early seating, and I do know that the main is full.

 

Looking forward to hearing more.

[NHBob]

The Ziddy is alive and well, having survived the seventeen day dry-docking ordeal in Palermo...

 

The ship looks pristine with all new adornments such as carpeting and the outside of the ship shines. Harry

 

 

Good to hear, but did they fix the "pot holes" in the public area carpeting? And, hopefully, the broken bar stool in the Piano Bar? Piano player Randall told me in March that it had been broken for a long time and that temporary solution had been to move the broken stool from the center of the bar to the right side!

 

Bob

[californiacruiseluvrs]

Harry - Thanks for the post!

 

Did they change the decor at all or just refreshen it?

[off2ctheworld]

Thanks for your updating us on the Zuiderdam! Sounds like she is aglow-hope the crew will settle in again too!

[Harry1954]

Passing thru the Dardenelles as I am writing - can see the land from window in my cabin while I type.

Will say hi to Elvira for you Lisa/Tom.

Yes, the carpeting is ALL NEW .. and the furniture looks all new as well - it is very nicely decorated at the moment - pristine.

 

below are results of two excursions for those interested:

28 April 2008 – Split Croatia – Sibenik and Krka Waterfalls

We left the ship via tenders, arrived at pier and boarded our bus. The tour guide was named Harris and proved to be very friendly, informative, and attentive. Our first stop was in the city of Sibenik. In an area that resembled a neighborhood town square was the St Jacob’s Cathedral. On the top of one side was St Michael with his sword, majestically standing guard over the square. At the doors from the square which was a side entrance to the church were statues of Adam and Eve. We could not see the front entrance to the church as it was being restored and had scaffolding and sheets covering the whole of the face. Upon entering the church we discovered a somewhat cold and plain interior. For a cathedral, it was very small in size and unimpressive.

 

Next was lunch in a small town called Skradin. The restaurant was a three star hotel with a reasonably appointed dining facility. The staff were very accommodating and lunch, including white wine, was very nicely done. Afterwards, we headed to the Krka Waterfalls National Park. The scenery along the highway is reminiscent of Smoky Mountains National Park roads in North Carolina. Once at the waterfalls, there were a number of scenic viewpoints to take pictures. While it was very pretty, it did not rival Niagara Falls for majestic or Norwegian Fjord falls for beauty, it was worth the trip. We reboarded the bus and returned to the ship.

 

30 April 2008 -- Piraeus Greece – Ancient Corinth and Mycenae

our morning began early with a 6 a.m. breakfast. Once we shook sleep, had our coffee, packed up and were ready to go we met our bus at the pier. Our tour guide was a native of the Athens area. We left the cruise ship pier area and passed all of the commercial shipping along the coastline west of the city. About 45 minutes driving distance but is at the Corinth canal. It was a narrow, man-made canal about 170 feet in height which allows boats to pass from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean sea. We left the bus and walked out onto a very narrow steel bridge. This allowed us to have a top view of the canal by looking straight down and a front view of the Ionian Sea entrance. This also allowed everyone to make a bathroom stop. We reported the bus for another 45 minute drive to the ancient city of Corinth. The original structures were built in the sixth century B.C., destroyed by the Romans and rebuilt in 44 B.C. in the style of the city of Rome. The general layout parallels the city of Ephesus but on a much reduced scale. Reboarding the bus, our next stop was Mycenae. The remains of a kingdom which for 400 years was the most powerful in Greece was at this site. At the foothills of the site was the beehive tomb known to some as the tomb of Agamemnon, the Greek commander in chief during the Trojan war. Following a quick peek into the interior which resembled a beehive, hence the name, we walked to the citadel of Mycenae. There was nothing particularly exciting about this site other than the fact that the entrance called the Lions gate contain the oldest sculpture of its kind in the European continent.

 

It was now 5 1/2 hours into the trip and time for lunch. We stopped at a very nice restaurant where they served us several Greek dishes including American pot roast and wine. Overall this excursion was quite interesting; however, it is back at the ship late and cause us to miss dinner.

 

 

Harry

[bloofer]

Thanks for the updates on the Zuiderdam. I'm sailing on this ship out of Barcelona on May 20. I will likely encounter the same problem re long excursions and early dinner, so thanks for the heads-up.

[pisces223]

Harry, someone mentioned Randall in the Piano Bar. Could you check and let me know if he's still there. He was the pianist when I was on the Veendam a couple of years ago and we loved him! Thanks!

[MamaTene]

Thanks so much for the day to day live report!

[rich_cathybrock]

So glad to hear about your adventures! We will be in Mycenea as well, and it is so nice to read your descriptions.

 

Thanks much for the warning abt dining. Calling my TA now - we have "unconfirmed late" seating even though we booked last year in April, and I want to be sure we are not going to have to chase down a hot meal after a day's forced march (as DH affectionately refers to them) through Europe.

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip and the wondeful new ship! Happy sailing!

[NHBob]

Harry, someone mentioned Randall in the Piano Bar. Could you check and let me know if he's still there. He was the pianist when I was on the Veendam a couple of years ago and we loved him! Thanks!

 

Randall left the ship in Rome after the March TA in order to pursue what he says is his first love, musical theater. First, he will be doing a limited run as Max in The Producers in NY and then moving on to several other productions in regional theaters. Can't recall which shows, other than Chicago where he will play the part of Cellophane Man.

 

This is HAL's loss, but I know it is where Randall wants to head in his career. He's been on the ships for a lot of years and no doubt is ready for a change.

 

This was my third cruise with him, the other two being on Maasdam and Noordam and I was one of his die hard fans who closed the Piano Bar most nights.

 

Bob

[pisces223]

Randall left the ship in Rome after the March TA in order to pursue what he says is his first love, musical theater. First, he will be doing a limited run as Max in The Producers in NY and then moving on to several other productions in regional theaters. Can't recall which shows, other than Chicago where he will play the part of Cellophane Man.

 

This is HAL's loss, but I know it is where Randall wants to head in his career. He's been on the ships for a lot of years and no doubt is ready for a change.

 

This was my third cruise with him, the other two being on Maasdam and Noordam and I was one of his die hard fans who closed the Piano Bar most nights.

 

Bob

Thank you Bob! As I mentioned, Randall was on my first cruise on HAL, the Veendam and we absolutely loved him. We had a bit in common, I'd have to say! Anyway, when I read on this forum that he was on the Zuiderdam, I thought I'd hit the lottery! We're sailing on her in July. I would have loved to see him again. But, alas, this was not meant to be. However, I am somewhat comforted to know that he'll be in NYC. That's because we're only an hour away here in CT. We will just have to take the train. no problem. Someone on another forum said he was going to be playing Edna in Hairspray. Did you hear that or something to the contrary? George Wendt is playing the part now. Well, Randall's website didn't say where he was going. If you find out, please let me know. Thanks!

[hulamoon]

We are thrilled to hear more how the dry dock went and the current scoop from the ship! glad to hear from other cruisers on 5/20 too!

 

This will be our first HAL cruise, we can't wait to explore the ship.

[DedeM]

It's so good to hear how good the ship looks! We're getting on the Zuiderdam this coming Wednesday and can't wait! :D

 

How are the hair dryers? Do they provide new ones like most people own or are they still the little tiny ones plugged into a drawer? I really need a good hair dryer and would rather not bring mine - it's so heavy!