My husband and I sailed on the Holland America Zuiderdam on July 30 through August 6, 2005. This was our first cruise with Holland America. It was also our first cruise without a large entourage of teens. I missed my family on this cruise, but they did not want to come. They are teens after all and have better things to do...?

The Zuiderdam is large and very clean. The staff was the friendliest of any ship I can recall. Every worker you passed said "hello" or "good morning." As for the dEcor of the Zuiderdam, well it was quite tacky and reminded me of ...oh my can I say it: Old Carnival.

But let me back up and start at the beginning... This was a last minute vacation for us (2 days prior to sail date). I got a great price on Guaranteed Veranda (Balcony) category S from an online agency. We flew out of Boston (Logan) to Ft Lauderdale on the morning of the cruise. Arrived in plenty of time and took a taxi to the port. Because we booked so late, we did not have any boarding passes. So after filling out the required paperwork we got in line. The line was fast moving. We were delayed only because they did not have our cabin number yet. We got a receipt of sorts from the desk and went aboard, it was very smooth. Once aboard we went to the front desk to get our room cards. The front desk is on deck one in the middle of the ship. This is what other lines would call the Grand Atrium. It was very small with a bar and if you look directly up you see a large silver seahorse. It was non-climactic. The Atriums are usually the heart and hustle and bustle, the central meeting place, where you can lookdown from other decks, etc. This was our first inclination that this ship was different from those we have sailed in the past. Read more