Zuiderdam Review
Refined and Relaxing with a Great Itinerary
Rating by category
Additional details
My husband had vacation days left, and a cruise required less planning than other options. The itinerary included Panama (on our bucket list), Cartagena and other ports we had never been to, so we booked this only 6 weeks prior to sailing. We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before, used UBER ($8) to get to the Embassy Suites, which was an older hotel, but clean, and we enjoyed the free cocktail hour with snacks from 5-7 pm, and the free breakfast. Rather than use the hotel port transportation we took UBER ($4) to the port.
This was our first time on Holland and we were very pleased. The ship itself is on the smaller size but I think this helped with embarkation and debarkation, and generally with a less crowded feel overall. Just a short line on embarkation and rooms were already prepared and available when we boarded. We only bring carry on luggage so were able to put our bags in the room immediately. Passengers are typically older - mid 40's to 70's and up. We are mid 50's. There were a few electric carts, canes and walkers, but not an overwhelming amount. I only saw 5 children on the cruise.
We had late dining (8pm) at a table for 6. We had lots of fun with our table mates and with our waiter, Dewa, who took great care of us all cruise long. We had never done late dining before but it worked out well on this itinerary as some of the port calls go into the evening. Food was very good in the dining room. The soups were especially delicious. Surf and Turf with Lobster was tasty. On the way out of the dining room we could stop to be served butter mints! Yum. We often had breakfast in the main dining room as it was nice to be served instead of the using the buffet on LIDO deck. Food in the Buffet was very good as well. They serve you most of the items. Never ate dinner there, but lunch included asian options, pizza, various pasta (you choose pasta and sauce and add ons) , burgers, pre-made sandwiches, deli where you choose, regular hot main meals, and an awesome salad bar. Salad bar had big bowls where you choose from the lettuce you want and a plethora of nummy items and dressings. You could make a different kind of salad every day! There were always seats available in the Lido buffet, but you often had to share a table of 4 or 6 with other people. Free beverages included water, ice tea, and lemonade. Juice was free during breakfast. Ice cream was scooped, not soft serve, and available in cones or dishes. If you looked carefully, you could find a little brown bag filled with potato chips!
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
This was a very nice cabin. Balcony cabins on Deck 4 are an extra 18" deeper than those on higher floors. It is neither too close, nor too far, from the elevators. The main dining rooms are just a quick 1 or two flights down. (Early and late seating are on deck 3, pick your time dining is on deck 2). All of the inside main areas are on decks 2 & 3 so were easy to walk down and then along deck 2 or 3. For Lido buffet dining or pool, just a very quick elevator ride to deck 9. Room was quiet except for sounds of moving items overhead (part of dining room) 2 or 3 times during the trip for about 5 minutes each time. No bother at all. USB ports by the beds. Mirrored wall behind bed made the room feel larger. 2 wine glasses, 2 old fashion glasses and 2 water glasses in cabin along with an ice bucket that our stewards kept filled for us. Hairdryer and magnified mirror provided in cupboard. Fruit bowl was complimentary upon request. There were 3 closets with lots of hangers that you can remove from the rods. Robes were supplied. Bathroom was decent size for cruise ship, with one cabinet with 3 shelves, plus some counter space above and below sink. 3/4 Tub with shower, hand held shower, good pressure. 2 drawer night stands on either side of bed. Balcony door had a key to lock it, which seemed funny until the workers came by on the outside (opening the partitions between cabins, in order to clean the decks and windows. Balcony had two chairs each with an ottoman that could slide underneath the chair, and one small table. Nice flat screen TV. Lots of free movie choices and some live TV (that I didn't watch). Note: some of the movie titles disappeared during the week and new ones appeared. Nice weather channel, front of boat camera, and map of where the ship is sailing available. However, there is no way to check your account charges on the TV. There are a couple of kiosks by guest services where you can quickly swipe your card and get a printout of charges to-date at any time. Announcements are NOT piped into the stateroom, so we often opened the door to be able to hear what they were saying. There is room to store suitcases under the bed. Also 2 extra drawers under the bed. Of course there are the obligatory towel animals and chocolates at turn down. Room was serviced twice every day which was nice. You do have to walk around the end of the bed to get to the small couch area. But, the balcony has clear barrier so you could sit on couch and look out at the sea. Only negative point was when out at sea the balcony partitions between the cabins rattle a bit. You could only hear it on the balcony, but it wasn't as peaceful on the balcony during windier times or when traveling faster. This appears to happen on many of the balconies. You can usually fold up a piece of paper and find a place to jam it in the partition to stop the noise. There were pillows on the couch and bolster pillows on the bed which came in handy. Overall, I really liked this room and would choose it again.
Port Reviews
Half Moon Cay
Lovely beach. Tender from ship. Lots of chairs. Walk down toward the pirate ship. Some chairs here are in the shade and it is near the buffet. BBQ buffet was good. Water good for swimming. Nice beach day.
Curacao
Lovely port. Nice brick pathway to open air mall area with bars, shops, ice cream, cheese, food, etc. Also free WIFI. Walk through and out the the water and across the amazing floating bridge. Bridge is lit up at night and is fun to watch. We had a drink on far side of river at outdoor cafe - Vienna Biergarten, while watching bridge open and close for boars. Very enjoyable port.
Colon (Cristobal)
Really nothing to do here and doesn't seem safe. You can get off the boat and visit the shops in the terminal building but I would not venture out further than that.
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
Nice port. Nice shops. We had a bushwacker (ice cream drink) at Guy Harvey's and used their free password protected WIFI.