We took our 3rd Holland America sailing on the Zuiderdam to the 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise leaving Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 28, 2006. We had a pre-cruise hotel night to avoid possible delays from the west coast and were met and had a hole Greyhound bus to ourselves for the transfer to the Marriott Renaissance Plantation. Lovely and good food. Embarkation was VERY speedy as we had done our info online and zipped through. Almost as good as the Queen Mary embarkation!

Our veranda cabin was spacious & great, a Holland America feature we like, with tub as well as shower. Nice verandah near the front where it was easy to watch flying fish as we cruised.

The ship was the biggest Holland America wed been on and newer than the Statendam, our last HAL ship, but we felt it was not a nice. It seemed like the dEcor had been skimped on in comparison to the Statendam. I also object to being funneled through the casino. From our nearest elevator, in the front, we had no choice but to go through the casino to get to the dining room, and back through if you went straight to the show after. They did have a non smoking afternoon one day, but after the first day we learned to walk down our deck to an aft elevator and go down that way. We LOVED the Crows nest on the top deck with a panoramic wrap around view and reclining lounge chairs facing the front. Great place to go in or come out of ports. Also a great place for afternoon/pre dinner drinks with bar snacks. Also, a great place to bring your laptop to check on business because there is wireless there and plug ins. Lots of computers in the internet lounge on deck 2 as well. Read more