Zuiderdam Review
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We have been on 15 previous cruises and this one was far and away the worst. We stayed at the 17th Street Embassy Suites in Ft. Lauderdale the night before embarkation and taxied to Port Everglades for a very smooth process of boarding our ship, Holland America's Zuiderdam. Cabin 8063 was clean, comfortable and spacious. The veranda was large with comfortable seating. Our luggage was delivered within the first hour. Cabin attendants were excellent throughout the 10 day voyage. We 3 had excellent meals in the Pinnacle and in Canaletto. That was the good stuff.
Now for the not so good. The ceiling of our veranda was covered with rust, primer and peeling paint. This proved to be indicative of the dilapidated condition of entire ship. We participated in On Deck for a Cure and had to negotiate a path around three sets of scaffolding where workers were sandblasting (or some other noisy method of removing rust). Thankfully we couldn't hear the noise from our cabin. Perhaps the ship should go into dry dock for renovations instead of inconveniencing passengers.
Within an hour of embarkation, our friend slipped on food in the Lido Cafeteria and broke her knee. She was not assisted by staff and after 10 minutes on the floor she was helped to a chair by two other guests. It took almost an hour for staff to bring a wheelchair and take her to the infirmary where a nurse diagnosed a sprained knee. The nurse insisted she attend life boat drill using just a cane. This was extremely painful and proved to damage her knee further. The doctor finally saw her that evening and confirmed a fractured knee cap. He put a brace on, said not to bend it, and gave her a wheelchair that held her knee straight out. That evening, the front desk staff tried to take the wheelchair away while we were in the Pinnacle Grill, trading it for a rental chair that did not support her leg. She was unable to go to any of her planned excursions, needed special arrangements to get to the airport and transfer luggage. The ship did well after the first three days, providing this needed transportation , flowers, an apology and another meal at the Pinnacle Grill.