Zuiderdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,028 reviews

Great time was had by all!

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Zuiderdam
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hlhop080149
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Feb 2018
Cabin: Large Interior Stateroom

Three couples chose this cruise because it went to the Panama Canal. I have never been on Holland and didn't know much about them, (found out later they are part of the Carnival/Princess lines of which I am NOT a fan but by then it was too late). This ship and the line were outstanding! We are retired, in our 60's and this was the perfect choice for us. No KIDS, you could get in the hot tubs, no belly flop or newlywed games but still perfect for all of us. Very classy entertainment of all types, every venue and show was outstanding. The ship is beautiful, very stately and in great shape. The food was just fair although the Lido does an excellent job in their serving and preparation. The dining rooms are nice because they don't hoard people at the same time, the anytime dining is very fluid and you can always get a table. The food in the dining rooms was usually lukewarm, it might have been our waiter. There are two speciality restaurants and our travel agent treated us to both. The Italian one was outstanding, our best meal. The steak house had cronic service issues. It was so bad they invited us back again as their guests but unfortunately the service was not much better - it took over 3 hours to eat and we left before desert so we could go to the show. The cabins are lovely - we booked early and chose inside cabins on deck 6 mid ship - 6081, 6071 and 6067 - each was perfect, larger than expected, great location and we loved them. I am not a sit on the veranda kind of cruiser, I like to get up and out and we would go directly upstairs to deck 9 and sat outside. There are two nice pools, one covered. My husband smokes cigars and there is a nice smoking section on deck 9 and it was a great social gathering spot. As I said, the entertainment was great. This was the longest cruise we ever took, might not do another this long but it takes a while to get to the Panama Canal and it was worth it! We took the tour through the other 3 locks and I highly recommend it. Don't sit on the ship that day, the port of Colon is just plain dangerous and you came all that way take the trip through the locks. It is a once in a lifetime experience. We went to the rainforest in Costa Rica, it was so - so there might be other better excursions and we did the hop on -hop off in Cartagena - not necessary the only thing to see their is the Wall city and that is great - don't miss it. Nothing else to see in that city. Half Moon Cay was great, and Aruba has really deteriorated over the years and Curacao is nice. The itinerary was almost perfect - some stops, some days at sea, just right. Our weather was perfect and that adds to the experience. Some of the other poor reviews were I am sure due to the weather. If ours had not been as nice for the entire 11 days it might have been a different experience.

Cabin Review

Large Interior Stateroom

Cabin I

Great location, large room, loved it. Also look at 6071 which has a slightly different configuration and is even nicer.

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