We sailed on the Holland America "Zuiderdam" on November 3, 2010. I should first say that we are a married couple, I am in my 50's and hubby in his 60's. It was our second HAL cruise and for the most part, we really enjoyed it.

Embarkation: After an overnight flight from Seattle to Miami we shuttled up to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and arrived port side at about 10:30am. Exhausted, we were near the front of the line for boarding that day. It's apparent that HAL has the embarkation process down to a science. We were taken in large groups, first through security, then to two additional large areas and were finally allowed to board about 11:30 am. Unfortunately, we were dragging our carry on luggage with us. I'd heard (through this message board) that we could check the luggage somewhere near the Lido pool, but we didn't even attempt it. We made our way to the Lido where lunch awaited. I was also aware of the "Mariner" luncheon that apparently happened on the day we boarded, but I guess we were just not up for that, feeling pretty droopy after that overnight flight. Lunch was great, but do keep in mind that it's now HAL's policy to serve everyone, even in the Lido, for the first 48 hours of your trip. They say that this is a proven way to keep down the incidence of viruses spreading throughout the ship. At first, this policy was a bit annoying because it really slowed the process down, and the lines were fairly long. Yet in the long run, looking back at it with hindsight, it must have been a good idea. I didn't hear about anyone having any serious gastrointestinal problems, and certainly there were no outbreaks of anything. We were allowed to go our cabin at approximately 2pm or thereabouts. It would be SO nice to have the opportunity to go directly to your cabin upon embarking -- but we do understand the amount of work the cabin stewards have to do between passengers.

Our state room was on the 5th floor, Verandah Deck, class VE. We were "warned" that we may not like having our balcony overlook the lifeboats, but honestly it didn't matter one bit. We were thrilled with our room. I was pleasantly surprised at how large the bed ended up being. I was prepared for a Queen size, as it says in the brochure, but it definitely felt more like a King... and was super comfortable, too. There is a small fridge in the room, but it can't be counted on to keep things really cool. However twice each day our cabin steward made sure we had ice for any drinks that we wanted really cool. There was plenty of storage for everything we brought. The only thing that may have been lacking was hangers. We didn't hang up ALL our shirts/tops, just the stuff for the formal nights, my dresses, his jacket and good shirts & slacks, etc. If you want to hang up everything then you will definitely need to bring some hangers from home. The bathroom was always kept spotlessly clean. It's not huge, but certainly big enough for one to accomplish all one needs to do when inside. The verandah was not large, just big enough for two chairs and a table between. If we had been sailing with friends, it would have been difficult to have four people out there, unless we were all standing. We did note however that some folks next to us were able to "open" the doorway between the verandahs and double their space. These were people that had booked adjoining rooms. Read more