We had little fear in taking the Zuiderdam, having been on her sister, the Oosterdam, in October. We arrived at Port Everglades at about 11 a.m. and, less than half and hour later, we were at the Lido buffet enjoying a feast while we waited for our room to be ready. After eating, we toured the ship and found it exactly like the Oosterdam. I did not find any of the colors as "radical" as some have tried to suggest.
We were in our room a little before 1 p.m. and, while it was not the balcony room we had had on the last voyage (we signed up late, and this was all that was available), the room was large and we could tell light from darkness (even though our view was of the lifeboats!). The only complaint we had about the room was the very hard mattress--evidently, HAL's vaunted changes had not reached this level of the Zuiderdam--but the staff laid down a double foam padding that did the job.
The voyage was all that we expected in food, service, and entertainment. We were seated at a table for eight, and our tablemates were most convivial. Our servers, Herman and Eko, were very attentive, as was Sunu, the associate maitre d'. Our room steward was rarely seen, but he rendered good service in making up the room and changing the towels, etc. The entertainment was good. Our only question was the comedian, Julie Barr, who was excellent for they most part, but did give indicators of what would come if we attended an "adults only" comedy show later that week (we didn't--we can do without "potty mouth" jokes!).