Zuiderdam Review
Pampered on the 10-Day Zuiderdam Sunfarer Cruise.
Rating by category
Additional details
This cruise was the 10-day Sunfarer itinerary, which is a partial transit of the Panama canal with additional calls at: Half Moon Cay; Orenjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
I cruised with my sister; we are in our late 50s to mid 60s. Throughout this review, I will be comparing aspects of the cruise with Carnival, as this is the first HAL cruise for a habitual Carnival cruiser.
We flew in separately to Fort Lauderdale. I found HAL's pre and post cruise packages for airfare and hotel to be about twice as expensive as I could arrange myself. Pre and post-cruise, we stayed at the Rodeway Inn. (We stayed an extra day in the Fort Lauderdale area to visit with family.) The Rodeway is a nice, clean, no-frills hotel, which aims to accommodate the cruise passenger. Their check in procedure moves inexplicably slowly, for some reason, in spite of having 3 check in counters, but their rates are reasonable and they give an AARP discount. They are also the only hotel that provides a free shuttle to both the FLL airport and the cruise terminal. Their restaurant and bar and very good and somewhat of a local hangout. Think Lone Star, with a bar. Prices were decent. We caught the 10:30 shuttle to the pier the next morning. and arrived at 11:00. The embarkation at Fort Lauderdale was quick and flawless. The initial line moved very quickly, there were plenty of HAL employees checking passengers in, and there was plenty of seating for those checked in and waiting to board. HAL also served lemonade and cookies, a nice touch.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
Large balcony, cabin itself is slightly smaller than Carnival's similar cabins, but still plenty big enough for 2 persons and all their luggage. HAL provides free fruit on request at this level cabin, which was nice. The balcony furniture was comfortable and we found the cabin itself to be clean and all furniture in fine condition. The flat screen tv was rather small but was comfortably viewable from the couch as well as the beds. The bathroom had a tub with 3 safety handles for stepping in and out.
Port Reviews
Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)
The embarkation and disembarkation procedures were the smoothest and effortless I've ever experienced on any cruise line.
Half Moon Cay
We love this cruise-line-owned island! It is arguably among the most beautiful in the world, with it's calm, blue topaz-colored water and sand like white sugar. HAL has waiters roaming the beach, should you desire a libation, but they do not pressure you. The cookout was great. We just lay on the beach and relaxed. The water was a little chilly and the end of February for me, but my sister and lots of other people went in, especially as the morning progressed and the air warmed up. A near-perfect day!
A funny story, though, that illustrates how there's always somebody who will complain about anything. We were lying out on our recliners, when this couple arrives from the ship. We overhear the guy complaining about "all this sand." We couldn't help but laugh every time we remembered this!
Curacao
We didn't find any excursions that particularly appealed to us here. We did get off and walk around. The stores at the port were varied and offered merchandise at a very good price. Not all take credit cards and, unfortunately, I did not bring enough cash with me to get everything I wanted. I wished later I had gotten more gifts for family at this port.