This year the Zuiderdam was a disappointment. Last year my husband and I sailed on the Zuiderdam along with our 2 granddaughters and were very satisfied. My only complaint last year was about fellow passengers not tipping the crew. When HAL decided to add the tips automatically, I felt that was a good step. I have changed my mind. The smiling, helpful, eager-to-please crew has been replaced by contract employees who leave much to be desired. The dining room stewards and assistants are inexperienced and not the same smiling bunch we have experienced on our other 7 cruises with Holland America. We hardly recognized a face from last year.

The first day was so bad that I felt compelled to put my comments in writing to the front office. The bedding in our cabin was not clean. After complaining, fresh pillows and blankets arrived and the veranda was mopped. Our cabin steward, Ardi, was friendly and did try - he just seemed to have too many cabins to handle.

The food in the dining room was delicious - the beef in the dining room being nearly as wonderful as that in the specialty restaurant. I don't think our dining stewards knew our names nor that of our table mates who were a likeable bunch. Read more