Zuiderdam Review

Zuiderdam - Eastern Caribbean

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Zuiderdam
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jmwsavedbygrace
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Apr 2007

I would like to start my review by saying that I started reading the reviews at Cruise Critic about a month before my husband and I cruised with HAL. I did so with no prior knowledge of HAL. As I read through the reviews I read some good reviews and some not so good reviews and as I "future" cruiser I really focused in on the not so good reviews, not keeping in mind that we all come from different areas in life all have different expectations for our vacations. There is always going to be someone that can ONLY see the negative. Whether you are new or seasoned to Cruise Critic, please keep an open mind when reading over these reviews. Go into your vacation week, with GREAT EXPECTATIONS!! Remember sometimes it is all about your attitude that effects how your vacation will be. This was our first cruise together and our first cruise with HAL. Our vacation was AMAZING from start to finish! HAl met our and far exceeded our expectations in every area! We got to the port early and we were among the first 10 go through the embarkation process. It went very smoothly, our ship card did not work properly when scanned the first time, but we went to the front office and it was taken care of quickly. (to HAL defense we think that we demagnetized our ship cards when we put them in our wallets next to other cards.) We went straight to the Lido and had a wonderful lunch. There are hand sanitizing machines everywhere to help keep you and those around you clean. We were greeted by the wonderful HAL staff and were asked our names by many of the ones we had contact with. They remembered our names everyday and had a personal greeting for us each time we saw them. Very impressive when you think about the number of people on the cruise. The food was very good everyday. The 10 pounds we lost before the cruise was gained back by Wednesday! :) The ship was somewhat rocky on Monday but we had been forewarned by the captain that this may be a problem for the first night. (the sea conditions are something that HAL has no control over, so obviously this did not affect our rating of the cruise!) After that first night of rocking, the rest of the week was very smooth. Our room steward was wonderful! Our cabin was very nice size and it was kept wonderfully cleaned 100% of the time. coffee. It was a deck open to anyone, but was very private because not everyone knew it was there. Our cabin was on deck 6 on the very front of the ship, we had a small viewing deck right outside our cabin, we spent early mornings out there with our "white robes" on having our coffee. You really get spoiled while on the ship!! All the ports were great, our favorite was Half Moon Cay. It was the most beautiful place that I can ever imagine seeing. Our second favorite was Grand Turk, new, beautiful and clean. We snorkeled on Grand Turk it was amazing!! Our excursions met our expectations. We did the 5 Star snorkeling on St. Thomas,(keep in mind that you are not on a "sailboat" for this excursion, the advertisement was somewhat misleading.)We also did the Glass Bottom Kayak and snorkeling on Grand Turk. We would highly recommend both of these excursions. We were told that the clam shells were sold out at Half Moon Cay, but decided to check when we got on the island, we were able to get one after waiting less than 5 minutes! We would recommend a clam shell at Half Moon Cay. There is a beautiful swimming pool on Grand Turk with lots of tables with umbrellas. If you plan to be on the beach there you may want to get a clam shell.

If you want to you can keep busy every minute of the day while you are at sea. My husband and I tried to compete in all the Sporting Events to earn the "DAM" dollars. (You earn the dollars and turn them in on the last day at sea for HAL merchandise.) We had a blast participating in these events! The cruise staff is soooo much fun!! We especially enjoyed our time spent with "Clark"! We met him the first day of the cruise during the ship tour. Kudo's to all the cruise activities staff. We loved "Goose" in the ship productions in the Vista Lounge. The other entertainment was full of laughs with the comedian and watching the juggler always kept us on the edge of our seats. I would like to make comment to a "review" of the comedians "Adult" night. It was written that in years past they had the Adult night in the Queen's Lounge. HAL did not allow anyone under 18 to enter. The complaint was that it was held in the Vista Lounge this cruise and that there were a lot of "kids" there. KEEPING THE KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 OUT OF THE ADULT NIGHT, SHOULD NOT BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE HAL STAFF, THAT is what being a Parent is about. The parents who bring their children are the ones responsible for them. I agree that they should not have been there, but I do not fault HAL for that. I think that we got to listen to many of the bands that played in different areas of the ship. The ones we heard were amazing, there was a great variety of types of music to enjoy. The week went by far too quickly. We did not have to fly home to Michigan until Sunday, so we were among the last few to go through disembarkation. Again it was seamless. If and when we do take a cruise again, we will be sailing with HAL. For those of you that will be sailing with them for the first time, be prepared to be treated like royalty!! You will not want to get off the ship!! You will not be disappointed! Our vacation was perfect in everyway!!!

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