As one of Holland America’s Legendary Cruises (and also as one of the most expensive), the Voyage of the Vikings on the Zuiderdam, which sailed July 22-August 26, 2023, should have been nothing short of epic. It fell short of that goal, but was still very good and certainly worthwhile.
This review will cover the good things we experienced, as well as the not-so-good things.
THE GOOD ...
When researching possible summer cruises, this 45 day itinerary (3 back to back segments) seemed very interesting. We had sailed the Nieuw Statendam on two previous cruises (21 and 14 days) in 2018 and 2019 and had enjoyed the ship.
Overall, we have sailed Holland's Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam for 115 days total and are considered "4 star" guests (Holland's rating system).
We had not ...
Tuesday, August 2 – fly to Boston
We left the house a little after 4:00 AM to meet our friends at their house a half-hour away (but on the way to the airport). We parked our car, transferred our luggage, and off to the airport we raced! We arrived at 5:20 and our friend dropped us off (with all the luggage) at the terminal and he went to park the car. A very helpful American employee helped get ...
Choose the cruise for the Itinerary. That was great. Ship was overall good to great. The dining room and Lido service was super as was the Tamarind Bar and Restaurant. Some of the shore tours were good, most were so so or worse!!! But the absolute worst was the "Premium 24/7" internet!!!!!!!!! Out for days, if not hours. When it was working, slow to non-existent. But again, the real issue is the ...
We recently completed a 17 day cruise across the North Atlantic aboard the Zuiderdam, billed as “Voyage of the Vikings” from Boston to Rotterdam. This is actually first part of a longer 35 day cruise that returns to Boston, visiting different ports coming and going. We were among the minority of guests who departed halfway through. Many guests don’t enjoying flying and dealing with jet lag and ...
We booked this cruise as we always wanted to visit Iceland, Greenland and Ireland. We didn't have the greatest weather...however as my husband always reminds me...you pay your money and take your chances!
The scenery and people are so wonderful. We heard so many great reviews from friends that had taken this voyage.
Our cabin on the Zuiderdam was a balcony #8121. This is located Aft - ...
My husband and Itook this trip as cruise of a lifetime. Although this Ship is the oldest in the NCL fleet, we were attracted by the itinerary. We were not disappointed. After being on previous cruises on much newer and larger ships, we enjoyed the quaintness of the Spirit. It was a change from having to deal with much larger crowds. Although the room decor was a little dated, all in all the cabin ...
We took the 15-night Transatlantic cruise from Boston to Copenhagen on the beautiful Serenade of the Seas. We had a junior suite on Deck 10, #1548. It was a great location and a beautiful cabin well kept by Nenko.
We flew into Boston the day before we sailed and stayed at the Hyatt Boston Harbor. We took a water taxi to the ship the next morning – fun and amazing views of Boston and the ...
Getting on board in Boston was a nightmare. Not enough staff. We had to wait ONE HOUR in line to get checked in after Security. We've embarked in other ports (FL, NJ, CA), and never had to wait nearly as long.
Also I think going thru a metal detector after every port visit is silly, and Security personnel could be more pleasant.
I don't know why bridge games were limited to 13 tables. ...
This was the sixth eastbound transatlantic cruise for me and my wife, and our 19th holiday in Europe, so we are not neophyte European travelers or cruisers.
One aspect of this cruise which has not been commented on was the weather. It was appalling. Only one or two days without rain, and gale force winds. One morning our TV screen was telling us that the apparent wind was 108 Kilometers per ...