Zuiderdam Review
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We've been on about 5 cruises with HAL because we feel they offer good value for the price as well as good service, food and itineraries. This time we were very disappointed in our cabin which was supposed to be only partially obstructed but turned out to be fully obstructed by machinery and a tender boat. We were also very disappointed with the food quality which we would rate mediocre at best. To add insult, we saw a rat running on the Lido Deck where the food buffet is set up. Unfortunately we could not recommend the itinerary either as most of the ports in Canada were quite boring and the optional tours were pretty lame unless you are a fan of Anne of Green Gables or Alexander Graham Bell. With the exception of Quebec City, Boston and Bar Harbor, the rest of the itinerary is a snooze. The Zuiderdam, like many of HAL's ships, is beginning to show it's age. On a bright note, the service by staff onboard was very good and the nightly entertainment was also quite good. Sorry to say we will probably be looking at other cruise lines for our next adventure.
Cabin Review
Large Outside Stateroom (partial sea views)
We were unpleasantly surprised that our cabin, which was explained to us as a partial view, was almost entirely obstructed by a huge winch and tender that was deployed when needed. In between workers were banging on the winch doing repair work right outside our cabin. Seeing the obstruction upon arrival we asked customer service if we could be moved to another cabin, that we would even willing to pay an upgrade. Unfortunately the customer service person took us to see a smaller cabin one deck below ours which had a smaller window and they wanted us to pay an up charge for the switch.