Zuiderdam Review
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We chose to cruise with Holland America because their advertising would have you believe their standards are superior.
We were able to board fairly early - around noon, I believe, and probably could have boarded sooner, had we been able to arrive earlier.
The saving grace of the cruise was the service - from housekeeping to dining to laundry - those probably benefitting the least, financially, are the redeeming quality.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
We had an aft stateroom - the balcony was quite large; however, the condition of the glass on the balcony, the painted surfaces, the view of the condition of the balconies below, and the garbage that flowed by on our balcony each morning made for a very unappealing cruise. We alerted our cruise consultant and provided pictures. While we did not receive a response from her, we were visited and contacted several times by housekeeping managers who were very apologetic. So, she must have forwarded our e-mail to someone. The managers sent flowers and invited us to lunch at Pinnacle Grill. Their gestures were very much appreciated. They also did their very best to remedy. It's important that I be clear here - I'm not 100% certain of a cruise line's hierarchy, but this does not seem to be a housekeeping issue. Our steward and his immediate superiors could not have been more kind. This seems to be more of a maintenance and investment issue. Once we realized our steward was being given more work as a result of our complaints, we started to make sure everyone understood how hard he was working, and that our complaints were not related to his efforts. The cruise line should not hind behind sub-par conditions and make housekeeping accountable.
The remainder of the stateroom was mostly as expected, with the exception of the restroom. The tub and sink had structural cracks, and the faucet and drain were significantly pitted.