HAL-July 19-ZUIDERDAM review by the wack001

Before I go into my review, I thought it helpful to disclose a little about myself so that readers can get a sense of what my opinion is based on. Also, please note that I read numerous negative reviews prior to sailing and did not let that persuade me as I love ANY cruising and judge for myself and went into this cruise with the same positive attitude that I usually do. Additionally, I am not really a complainer onboard the ship - everyone is human and life is not perfect.

This was my 10th cruise overall and my 2nd HAL cruise. Having been on many previous cruises, and traveled abroad significantly it is not easy to impress me, however I do enjoy cruising as a vacation method and have been able to find positives on every cruise sailed previously. I do expect to get full dollar value for what I pay and prior to any cruise, I extensively research the ship, read the boards, email others, and basically do my homework. On this cruise I was traveling with a group of 31, ages ranged from 16-58 years. I selected the Zuiderdam because it met my selection criteria; i.e. new ship, reliable line (having cruised HAL before on the Zaandam, I had experienced relatively high quality and service), medium passenger load (around the 2000+/-0 is about right) and reasonable cost. Read more