We arrived in Ft Lauderdale the day prior to embarkation so we would not have to deal with airline delays, etc. We had a very pleasant stay at the Holiday Inn Express that is practically adjacent to the port. The best find of the day was having lunch at the nearby culinary school. We arranged for transportation to the dock with ACE Tours. They also picked us up at disembarkation and took us to the airport. We arrived at the terminal at 11:30am, which put us at the front of the line. Processing took about 15 minutes, which included filling out a health questionnaire that I fill is totally useless. You wonder if individuals are really going to answer the questions truthfully. We were on board by Noon, having a very nice lunch in the Lido. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. Rooms were ready at 1:30pm and luggage was delivered by 3pm. I found the veranda suites to be more than adequate and the balcony very spacious. Our stateroom steward was outstanding. We told him that the room would be available for service every morning at 9am, and when we came back to the room after breakfast, that room was always cleaned. Same thing with evening turn down. We chose the 8pm Seating for dinner and when we returned to the room it was ready and always with fresh towels. The dining room service was outstanding. There food was plentiful, hot and well prepared. The dining room staff made every effort to accomodate us, especially when my partner informed them that he had a strawberry allergy. Many times we received extra portions. I have never witnessed a harder working group. Our first port was Half Moon Cay. I found the beach to be pristine and very pleasant. The lunch was very pleasant. The second port was Aruba, where we decided to tour on our own. We walked around town a bit,did some shopping then spent the rest of the time enjoying the ship. The third port was Willemsted, Curacao. We really enjoyed this town. We even attended a local church service. Next was the Panama Canal. We were up at 5am on the forward deck ready to enjoy the experience of locks. I enjoyed this experience immensely. We did not book an excursion so as to experience the reverse trip. I'm am so glad I did. I was great going through the locks side by side with large container ships. When we reached the shopping pier, we did get off to do a little shopping. To experience the canal on a ship the size of the Zuiderdam was absolutely amazing. Our fifth port of call of call was supposed to be Puerto Limon, Costa Rico, but we were greeted by striking dock workers, who would not tie the ship to the dock. This was disappointing to us because it was the one port where I had planned an excursion. After trying to negotiate with the locals to allow us to dock, the captain pulled in the gangway was and we were treated to an extra day at sea. Personally, I did not mind it. I took this cruise to relax and that's what I did. We arrived back in Ft Lauderdale early Saturday morning. We were scheduled to disembark at 8:30am. Because of some slowdown with customs, we were slightly delayed, causing some crowding at the exit. Part of the problem is that folks did not have their customs declarations filled out prior to reaching the officers. Once we got through customs, we found our transportation waiting and were at the airport by 9:30am for our 11:40am flight back home. Overall, my experience on Zuiderdam was very positive and I will definitely be a repeat customer