A group of 9 went on the Inside Passage sailing on the Zuiderdam mid September, 2011. From the moment we walked onto the ship things weren't quite right. There was no one to greet us as we embarked. Other passengers got us going the right direction. As we walked down the hallway to our balcony cabin, I was a bit surprised by how dingy it appeared. I told myself that these were just utilitarian hallways and not to fret. We opened the door to our cabin and some degree of fretting set in despite my attempts at a Pollyanna attitude. The cabin looked tired and in need of a total overhaul. Again, I told myself I didn't plan to spend much time here and not to fret. Should you have to be having this conversation with yourself when you've paid $3000 for a cabin for 7 days?

We quickly got organized and went to explore the ship. Everywhere we went, we were left with the same question. "How old did you say this ship is"? Carpets are worn and threadbare. Furniture is stained and falling apart. But the scary part is that this ship has some serious leaking problems. You have to ask yourself if you want to be out in the ocean on a ship that has leaking problems. I can't tell you how many times I walked across a carpet then hit shiny tile and nearly ate it because the bottoms of my shoes were dripping with water.

The sofa bed in our cabin would not go back into it's box. We had to have maintenance come and work on it. They banged on it with hammers and finally got it back in. That was great until we opened it up again. Despite the room stewards seeing that it wouldn't go back into the box, we were never contacted to see if the problem was resolved. And it never was. We spent the entire cruise with our sofa sitting about 12 inches higher than it should. Read more