We are a married couple in our mid-forties traveling without children. This was our second cruise; our first being a Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Glory in 2005. We chose Holland America for our Alaskan cruise because we wanted to do the Inside Passage, roundtrip from Vancouver. Living only an hour and a half flight away from Vancouver, we flew out the same morning we set sail and did not need a hotel. It was a $30 (CDN) cab ride to beautiful Canada Place Pier. From the moment we stepped off of our plane, got our luggage, waited for a cab, drove to the pier, got into a line, and stepped onto the ship, well, the whole process took us about an hour and a half. We couldnt believe it! We were already extremely impressed with the people at the Port of Vancouver and Holland America. Much better than our first cruise.
As we left our credit card info and had our pictures taken, we were told we had been moved to a different room than the VA - Deluxe verandah stateroom that we had booked. We walked on the ship to be greeted with, We have been waiting for you! and VIPs coming through! We were escorted to the Vista Dining Lounge for lunch. Rooms were not ready yet, so we ate slowly and began to explore the ship. The Zuiderdam is decorated in a Venetian theme, with a beautiful Waterford Crystal sea horse hanging from the three-story atrium. Artwork is all over the ship. I had read reviews about the bad condition of some of the public areas, but they were not too bad and certainly no danger to the passengers. The flooring that was in question did not detract from our vacation.
Once allowed to go to our room, we discovered we had been upgraded to a Deluxe Verandah Suite! A complimentary bottle of champagne from the captain and the hotel manager was waiting for us. The room was huge. We also had complimentary binoculars, robes, fresh flowers, fresh fruit every day, corsages for the first formal night, and a tray of goodies one evening, as well as all of the special events for suite guests! There was a lot of storage, a separate dressing area with lighted mirror, and a huge bathroom with double sinks, jetted tub , and separate shower. We will be booking a suite from now on!