Zuiderdam Panama Canal Review - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[savannahgirl1]

"After we returned to the ship we checked out the craft market at the port."

 

 

Where is the market located? We got back to the ship just a few minutes before we sailed. This time we aren't planning any tours and I would love to know where the market is located at the port in Costa Rica. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hey Krazy, I've always enjoyed your posts and have gotten much useful information from them, thanks. The shows were at 8 and 10PM. The early show was always standing room only and I think we only got in once. There was usually some room at the 10PM show but you still had to get there early if you wanted a good seat. Eating at 6PM or slightly later made it difficult or impossible to get into the 8PM show. This was an early eating, early to bed crowd.

 

Bob

 

Thanks for the information.

We had the same show times on the Noordam. We eat at 5:45 and were able to get good seats at the 8 PM shows. Loved that!!

[Eileen G]

savannagirl1, The craft market is across the parking lot from the ship. You walk off the dock and follow the crosswalk lines to the gate and it's right there. I didn't notice it when we came back from our tour but my DH did. Since we got back early we dicided to check it out and I'm glad we did.

[cruiseapril]

Very interesting review with a fun format. Enjoyed your humor.

[savannahgirl1]

savannagirl1, The craft market is across the parking lot from the ship. You walk off the dock and follow the crosswalk lines to the gate and it's right there. I didn't notice it when we came back from our tour but my DH did. Since we got back early we dicided to check it out and I'm glad we did.

 

Thanks Eileen. We got back to the dock so late we didn't have a chance to explore around the dock any. We aren't doing an excursion this time so we'll be able to do a little shopping. :D

[janmaile]

Thanks for the review! We'll be on the April 8 cruise (4 weeks from today!!!)

 

I was sorry to hear about the lack of an ipod art tour. We've done it on several other ships and were planning on doing it on the Z. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

It sounds like people are pretty equally divided between the Embera Indian tour and the ferry ride (Panama Canal Experience). We're booked for the ferry, but I can't help wondering if I'd like the Indian village as much or more. :confused: Did your group do both?

 

A few more questions -- did you dine at the Pinnacle this cruise, what did you do in Costa Rica, and DID THE LIDO HAVE TRAYS? :p:D

 

Thanks!

 

Hi Cruising-along,

We were on the Zuiderdam (2/27/09) and went once to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner. The service is 1st rate! It was my brother's birthday and we were treated to primo seats and they brought a beautifully decorated birthday cake complete with a candle. We are carnivores and they had a lovely selection of red meat, too bad they didn't know how to cook it to order. My brother and I received over done tenderloins. His 2nd tenderloin was done to his liking. I sent my tenderloin back 2 times and gave up when it came back the way it had originally come from the kitchen: over done. I did get a yummy little sample of their lobster mac & cheese. We felt the variety of options in the Vista Dining room plentiful and would not recommend spending the extra $20/person for the Pinnacle.

[janmaile]

I feel we must add, this was our first cruise, ever and we thought it was FANTASTIC! There was a lot to do and it was up to each individual to participate or not. We met so many wonderful people, especially the fellow cc'ers. We had open seating for meals and when we were unable to get a reservation for four for dinner, we were more than willing to share a table of 6-10. It presented another opportunity to meet and visit with even more interesting people. Our cabin steward, Cepi, was fantastic. We enjoyed all the creatures waiting for us at night, along with the chocolate coins. We were in the most forward cabin and enjoyed not having a bulkhead on the forward side of our veranda which gave us an unobstructed view. This was especially advantageous while docking or leaving ports and going through the Panama Canal. We did go on the Canal Experience which was very special and VERY informative (Miguel was a fountain of knowledge). I agree with Eileen, though, staying on the ship would give you a good look at the locks coming and going.

We hope you have as much fun as we did.

Jan & Thomas

[ncmomof2]

I was also on this sailing. I agree with Bob's assessment, except we were able to embark faster and I can't comment on the entertainment, because DH and I never made it to any of the shows (kids went to one and liked it, but I don't know how much weight to give the entertainment critiques by a 9.5yo and a 4.5yo...:rolleyes:).

 

As for what we did in the ports and pix, I've uploaded a journal-type account of the cruise from our perspective here.

[ncmomof2]

Ah, I just remembered and had to add to the crew/staff kudos...

 

Even though -- or maybe because -- there were only 8 children between 3-12 on the ship, they were treated like royalty by the crew. By the end of 10 days, most crew (at least in the Lido and such where I spent my time) knew my name, but they all knew my children's names (even crew that I was sure we'd never talked to!!). In the Lido, especially, my DS made some special friends -- Buddy, who he always had to find to give a high-5 and referred to DS as his son on our last morning, and Armin (I think, spelling may be off...) who started mid-cruise hid a bowl of berries in a back fridge somewhere for DS to have for a "special dessert." And Tammie in Club Hal was great, too!

[DaisyL]

Thanks Bob for your review. And everyone else who added to it. We can't wait till next year, to see the Panama Canal and experience our first cruise with HAL.

[drdaddy]

Bob, nice upbeat review. Zuiderdam is always great but I am disappointd to hear that some prefer Noordam. We have this trip scheduled for October. I am so happy to hear that Hunky is back and hope he is still there 6 months from now. I think he was the first crew member we encountered on our first HAL trip and the impression he makes is so great.

 

I am curious about the speaker for the Canal part. Do you have to be on deck to hear him or is it piped throughout the ship. If you stayed on your balcony and had te door open and the TV loud enough, would you hear the commentary? We did that in Alaska an dit worked out great.

 

I have another question about our excursions. We are less than 6 months out and the website is only showing excursions for the Canal and only 2 for Costa Rica. Is this everyone else's experience? I don't care about Aruba and Curacao because I do independents for snorkeling there, but I think for the Canal and Costa Rica, we may prefer to stick with HAL. Just seems to be a bit weird. But I have noticed this in the past.

 

Thanks.

 

And to the Canadian fellow who sounds like sour grapes, you have our permission to stick to Canadian trips!:cool:

[CTBob]

Bob, nice upbeat review. Zuiderdam is always great but I am disappointd to hear that some prefer Noordam. We have this trip scheduled for October. I am so happy to hear that Hunky is back and hope he is still there 6 months from now. I think he was the first crew member we encountered on our first HAL trip and the impression he makes is so great.

 

Sorry to tell you but Hunky Dory was ending his stay on the Zuiderdam, taking some time off and returning to the Oosterdam, at least that's what I think he said.

 

I am curious about the speaker for the Canal part. Do you have to be on deck to hear him or is it piped throughout the ship. If you stayed on your balcony and had te door open and the TV loud enough, would you hear the commentary? We did that in Alaska an dit worked out great.

As I was on the bow for the entire time I'm afraid I can't help you on this one. Maybe someone else will comment on this.

 

I have another question about our excursions. We are less than 6 months out and the website is only showing excursions for the Canal and only 2 for Costa Rica. Is this everyone else's experience? I don't care about Aruba and Curacao because I do independents for snorkeling there, but I think for the Canal and Costa Rica, we may prefer to stick with HAL. Just seems to be a bit weird. But I have noticed this in the past.

There were plenty of choices and hopefully they'll show up on the website soon. If not, you should get an excursions booklet with your cruise documents. Just be sure to sign up as early as possible for any excursion you really want.

 

 

And to the Canadian fellow who sounds like sour grapes, you have our permission to stick to Canadian trips!:cool:

To be fair I know that people have different experiences on the same cruise. I think that the location of our cabin led to our almost daily meeting Captain Timmers whom we found to be extremely personable. And I do agree that the Noordam is a bit newer and decorated more tastefully, but that's subjective. For us our fellow CCers always influence our view of the cruise and we had a great group. Check out my website and see us having fun.

 

Bob