Zuiderdam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This was our 5th HAL cruise in a row. The previous ones were on the Rotterdam and Ryndam, I was a bit hesitant about a Vista Class ship, it being a lot bigger. The Zuiderdam turned out to be a great ship, although a lot more pax on board than the on the Rotterdam and Ryndam , it was felt never crowded or busy.
Our cruise was the second one after the early april drydock, apart from some construction going on on deck 10, the ship was in a perfect condition. Freshly painted, lost of new carpets and all new chairs in the MDR. There were some issues on the first voyage after drydock but they seem to be fixed on our cruise, apart from some public toilets not working.
Embarkation in Venice and disembarkation in Civitavecchia went as smooth as ever. In Venice we took the Alilaguna Blue line boat to the pier. No problem whatsoever, the crew takes care of the luggage . Just make sure you have a ticket , they don't sell any on the boat. From San Marco to the pier is about 25 minutes. After disemabarkation we took a train from Civitavecchia to Rome, train station is a 20 minute walk. Luckily we had booked first class on the express train to Rome otherwise finding a spot and space for the luggage would not have been easy. There were 5 ships in port and the train station and platforms were packed.
Cabin Review
Large Ocean-View Stateroom
Our cabin was 1087 on Main deck, close to the midship elevators . In other reviews I read about this cabin and some nearby as being noisy, apart from some "scratching" sounds from below, usually after 8 AM and sometimes at night (10PM) , but never lasting more than 15 minutes, we didn't hear any other sounds. Cabin and beds were in very good condition and clean, clean, clean !
Port Reviews
Venice
We were in Venice for one day before sailing. Just walk around and enjoy ! Venice is all that you expect it to be. When picking a hotel, make sure it's close to the ferry or vaparetto.