I've been remiss in not getting this review up sooner: circumstances intervened.

In mid-January, my elderly mother (who lives near FLL) and I went on an Eastern Carib cruise on the Zuiderdam; since Mom has mobility problems, we booked an H-class handicapped cabin. Two years before, when we departed Fort Lauderdale on the Westerdam, there had been a long delay getting her a wheelchair at embarkation. This time, I'd made triply sure to prearrange a chair with HAL, to no avail. It seemed to take forever for a chair to come, and when one finally did, it was snatched by a woman who'd been standing in the queue. When a steward finally got Mom a chair, the rest of the embarkation process went fairly smoothly though rather slowly; it seemed there was a shortage of staff to deal with the number of disabled pax who were checking in. (My mother was overjoyed, though, when, thanks to CC tip, we ate our first lunch in the open - and near-empty - main dining room rather than the crowded Lido.)

The cabin was, as other CCers had warned me, short on furnishings and storage space. The usual sofa was missing, and aside from the closet, most of the storage was in the under-bed drawers that are nearly impossible for many disabled people to use. Cabin was neat, clean, and pleasant, though, and the "totally obstructed" view wasn't, allowing a nice glimpse of sea and sky. And the bathroom, designed for disabled access, was good and roomy. No attacks by the shower curtain! Read more