Zuiderdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,028 reviews

Not Family Friendly or for Younger People

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Zuiderdam
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Eqhntr78
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Feb 2016
Cabin: Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
Traveled with children

We took a family cruise on 2/05/16 which consisted of my parents (mid-60's), my sister's family (early 30's with a three year old) and myself and husband (37 & 45). Even my parents said they felt extremely young on this cruise considering it seemed the average age was 85+. We have cruised Carnival, Norwegian and now Holland America, and I will never do another Holland America cruise. The main reason we booked this cruise line was their smoking policy (5 out of 6 adults smoke) and they still allow smoking on your private balconies.

We will start with the pros: The Lido Buffet (breakfast, lunch and dinner) was fantastic! The staff was EXTREMELY friendly and helpful and the food was great. They had a good variety each night, and their standard pizza and pasta area was terrific. We ate here the majority of the cruise, one because you could stay dressed casual and two because what was on the menu in the main dining room was not appealing. We stayed in room 6048 which was nice. The rooms seem smaller on this ship, but the bathrooms are much more spacious then others. The balconies are good size, you can easily sit three people out there. One thing we really liked was the panels in between balconies can be opened, so since we had three staterooms together, we had them open those so we had one large balcony.

Bingo was fun, although no one won the big jackpot at all since you had to get bingo in 46 #'s or less (virtually impossible). The casino paid out pretty well throughout the entire trip, both slots and tables. The Exploration Café had good coffee; I am a Starbucks frappacinno fan and they tried their best to get it as close as they could, and again, the staff was very friendly. We spent most of our time at the Sea View Bar poolside at the back of the ship (you can smoke here) and the bartenders and staff were great. Specifically Jimmy, Glenn and Roy were fantastic! They made great drinks, were very personable and would chit chat and dance.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom

Cabin VF

The cabin was smaller than the same category cabin I have had on Carnival or Norwegian, but the bathroom was much roomier (even includes a bathtub) and the balcony was larger than I have had before. The panels between balconies even open if you know your neighbor and would like to join balconies. The rooms were very clean and made up each day. Always had fun little towel animals on the bed each evening with chocolates. The mini bar was never restocked, even after complaining to the front desk. The only way to get more bottled water was to call room service and have them bring some up. Shower was nice, but wish it had better water pressure, definitely has good HOT water! Almost too hot!

Port Reviews

Half Moon Cay

Cabana C was great! Had a five person hot tub (and it was hot!) had an A/C unit and fresh fruit and snacks. Right on the beach! Would highly recommend!

Aruba

We had so much fun! Jay was our driver and he was great! Giovani was the main tour guide and he was great too! Got to see a lot of beautiful scenery while having a good time!

Curacao

This was nice. Don't do it if you are clausterphobic, but if you can handle the 20 mins of being under water at the bottom of the boat with 32 other people, it is worth it! We saw lots of fish, turtles and coral. The guide was really good as well.

Colon (Cristobal)

The train ride was a lot of fun, the Miraflores Museum was not much to look at, you only need about an hour there.

Grand Cayman (Georgetown)

Love Grand Caymen, we couldn't go to Costa Rica, and got detoured to Grand Caymen. Did some shopping and just plopped at Margaritaville for some drinks! Love Margaritaville, the banana margarita is fantastic!

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