Prior to this cruise, I became somewhat concerned due to many of the comments addressing air conditioning and plumbing problems. I am happy to report that I experienced none of these issues. Now on to my review:

We were in Ft. Lauderdale for a family event prior to the cruise and had rented a car. Much to my surprise, I learned that the company with whom we rented offered a complimentary shuttle to Port Everglades. I must have been the only one who did not realize this as many of the passengers on the shuttle were heading to the Zuiderdam. We walked in the doors of the terminal at 12:20 p.m. and after a brief wait to get through security, we were on the ship at 1:10 p.m.

Our first stop was to customer service to confirm that our shipboard credits were accurate (we were receiving a nice amount from our TA and wanted to be sure everything was in order). I am happy to report that all of our credits and other "perks" were 100% accurate. We then headed to our cabin (SY 5001). We had booked a guaranteed SY and two days prior to sailing, finally received our cabin assignment. I was a bit surprised that we were given a handicapped stateroom as neither of us are handicapped. I called my TA to confirm that HAL was aware that we were not handicapped and she told us that if there is availability, HAL will assign these to guarantee passengers. She also told us that these staterooms are much larger. She was not kidding! It was a fantastic cabin and with the exception of not having a second sink and too much counter space in the bathroom, we loved this cabin! We especially liked having an additional window that faced forward! Read more