Zuiderdam Review
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My DH and I had a wonderful trip to Alaska on the Zuiderdam! We agreed it was the most relaxing vacation we've had to date.
I'll begin by reviewing the ship itself. A lot of people have commented in the negative about the decor aboard the Zuiderdam, but we both agreed it was beautiful! Yes, the carpets were very brightly colored, but I prefer that to more subdued, or to my mind, drab colors. I guess because our first cruise was aboard a Carnival ship, we enjoyed the "sparkle" all the color on Zuiderdam seemed to add. There were beautiful works of art everywhere on the ship and many lovely arrangements of fresh flowers, including in our stateroom when we arrived. I very much liked the red carpeting in many of the elevator areas with pretty benches to sit on and lighting that made it look so cozy. I wanted to be overwhelmed, not underwhelmed as it seems some people desire.
The Vista Dining Room was very pretty, and I especially loved the ceiling fixtures. Loved the sparkle! I think the only thing decor-wise that I didn't appreciate was the chairs in the dining room. The colors on the backs detracted from the rest of the color scheme, IMO. And I have to say that the only reason I noticed was because of all the negative feedback on Cruise Critic about the decor. The Vista Lounge was gorgeous in brilliant red. Loved it! The Explorations Cafe/library/internet area was very cozy and welcoming, and both DH and I borrowed books and used the internet there (which, as others have mentioned, is quite slow). The Crow's Nest was lovely. The Lido/Canneletto was colorful and revealed a variety of stations of excellent food, and we took advantage of both on several occasions. Enjoyed the fresh flowers everywhere. We never made use of the Queen's Lounge, although it appeared to be quite pretty. We also never took in a movie in the screening room, but I did try the chairs, which were very comfortable. The shops were pretty standard, IMO, as was the photo gallery. We enjoyed the Sport's Bar, Ocean Bar and had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill, which was stunning (decor wise). The food was good, but I'm not sure about whether it should receive higher accolades than the dining room.