Zuiderdam Review

Zuiderdam 4/12 sailing - nearly perfect

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Zuiderdam
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chrisv348
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Apr 2011
Cabin: Large Interior Stateroom

Background:We are a middle aged couple that traveled with our children, ages 9 and 15. We have been on about ten cruises and are not loyal to any one particular cruise line. We generally find it necessary schedule our trips around school vacation weeks and choices can be limited, which is why we pursue different cruise lines. I chose this sailing due to timing, itinerary and pricing. The weather on this trip was sunny or partly sunny every day and the seas were calm, which made for a very enjoyable cruise.Cabin:We booked a large inside quad cabin on deck 6 about six months prior to sailing. This was by far one of the largest inside cabins that we have stayed in as a family. It was roomy with plenty of storage and the shower size adequate. There was no fluctuation in water temperature or pressure, as experienced on some of our other sailings. Our cabin attendants did a wonderful job. We rarely saw them but everything was cleaned and restocked as necessary several times a day. We are not overly needy and did not ask much of our cabin attendants during the 10 day sailing other than the need for a few more pillows. We did request that the contents of the refrigerator be removed so we could keep our own beverages cold. Our housekeeping duo of Widodo and Sugi seemed to know exactly when we exited the room and when it was appropriate to move in and clean. Never once were we bothered by knocks on the cabin door announcing that housekeeping was ready to make up the room. I was not thrilled with the Elemis products supplied. While the Elemis name is typically associated with toiletries and products of higher quality, the products offered here are a lower grade "time to spa" line produced for cruise ship use.We used the "ship flix" movie service and movies were promptly delivered to the stateroom but we never could figure out how to work the TV/DVD combo so movies were returned unviewed. One of my recommendations would be to include instructions on how to operate the DVD player. I'm fairly computer/electronic saavy and couldn't figure it out. Common Areas:There has been discussion regarding the physical condition of the ship. Honestly, I was prepared for the worse and even went as far as contacting HAL prior to the cruise to discuss the comments I had been reading about the "worn" condition of the ship. I nearly cancelled the booking because of a series of somewhat negative reviews. I'm glad I didn't. While I did notice a few rust spots, a couple worn chairs and a restrooms or two out of order I in no way felt that the condition of the ship was unacceptable or below standard for a ship of its age. In fact, I thought it was a very nice ship and I would not hesitate to sail on it again. All of the crew members I encountered were polite, helpful and cordial. My only comment regarding the majority of the crew was that they were almost "mechanical". Meaning that they were trained to do and say certain things or to act in a certain way to keep the passengers happy. I found the crew on other cruise ships to be more friendly and open but I felt that the crew on the Zuiderdam did a superior job handling the passenger's needs. All departments appeared to be very efficiently run.I spent most of my sea days relaxing at the aft pool and found lounge chairs to be readily available. Drink attendants were always nearby but not bothersome. My gripe with the lounge chairs in the aft area is that they are so crammed together than you can barely navigate though the chairs. We frequented the pool areas, Vista Lounge, Casino and Crows Nest almost daily but never really used any of the other lounges or bars so I can't comment on service or entertainment in those areas. Seats for the show did fill up quickly but if you wanted to squeeze in there was always an open seat available. I won't go into detail about each and every act but the entertainment was fine - nothing outstanding but nothing bad either.Both of my children utilized the services of Club HAL. Club HAL offers daily programs for younger children and for teens. The hours of operation vary on sea days and ports days. A schedule of events is always left in the stateroom the night prior so you can plan your day. There were only about 30 children on this sailing and the few that did participate in the program became close and friendly by the end of the trip. My children have always enjoyed the kids club programs on all of our trips. I find them all to be very similar in offerings. The staff on the Zuidy was wonderful with the kids. Dining:Let me first note that we did not use any of the specialty restaurants. We had an early 5:45 assigned dining time. We discovered that the food offerings in the Vista Dining room and the Lido were just fine and saw no reason to seek out other venues for dining. The service was very good and we did not encounter any significant delays waiting to be served. I enjoyed all of the Lido stations - the Bistro, Salad bar, Pasta, Asian and Deli. I did not, however, like the set up of the Lido. The different segregated stations made it hard to put together your meal. For instance, pasta was served in one area of the lido, while the salad bar was at the other end of the lido and beverages in another area. You often had to stand in two or three different lines to get your meal. To complicate things the ship was placed on "code red" status because of an intestinal virus that had been going around. This meant that passengers had to be served everything by members of the crew. Typically, this is only done the first two days of the sailing but we were on "code red" nearly the entire sailing. This certainly slowed the assembly process down but I do realize that it was initiated for the protection and concern of the passengers.Ports:As mentioned the weather was nearly perfect which provided excellent options for days in port. We took private excursions in all of the ports except for Panama. After reading through all of the shore excursion offerings months before sailing, I elected to book the Embera Indian Village excursion. It was quite expensive ($350+) for a family of four but this tour received rave reviews from previous tourists and sounded interesting so I felt it was worth the investment. We were taken by bus from the pier and dropped off at the edge of a lake. There we boarded handmade canoes powered by gas motors. These canoes were very safe and did not tip easily. From this point we motored off through the water for a 25 minute canoe ride until we reached the banks of the Embera Indian Village. What we expected was an "authentic" indian village. What we discovered was a staged area with only a handful of thatched roof huts. We were led to believe that this was a real working village. There was no one working on anything. There was no evidence of anyone living in the huts. In fact, there was only young adults and small children present. We were told the older tribe members were off in their huts and did not participate. We listened to a presentation on the craftsmanship of the tribe but we saw no evidence, not a single person, weaving or carving anything. We took the liberty of hiking to the hut furthest from our destination to seek something "authentic". There we found solar panels, running water, electricity and Walmart food. The tribes main goal was to peddle their so-called handcrafted wares. I believe these wares were purchased elsewhere at minimal cost and then sold to the unknowing tourists for triple their worth. Food consisting of fried plantains, tilapia and fruit was served and it was good but I fully believe that HAL or their affiliates had their hand in on providing the food. We discovered a fully functional roadway/parking area a short distance from the village. There we saw buses and service vehicles parked. Why is it that we were forced to ride via motorboat for 30 minutes when there clearly was access to the village only a short distance away??? The motorboat ride was fun and we viewed some wildlife but I was terribly disappointed in this excursion. I felt we were clearly scammed. I work hard for my money and was sick at the thought spending over $350 for this charade. As such, I will be extremely hesitant to book another tour through HAL. In closing, I would like to say that overall this was a wonderful cruise and I would not hesitate to sail with HAL or on the Zuiderdam again. I felt that HAL's food quality, crew and cabins were top notch. Although we were part of the "younger" crowd on the ship I found my fellow passengers to be friendly, considerate and well-manner. There was never any chair "hogging" displayed, negative talk. I enjoyed talking with each and every person I met regardless of age or race. I never once felt that those in need of walkers, wheelchairs or scooters held us up or got in the way. Late night entertainment was basically non-existent but truthfully we were exhausted and in bed willingly by 11:00 or before. Anyone requesting more information can contact me at chrisv348@aol.com. There is simply not room here to cover every single point.

Cabin Review

Large Interior Stateroom

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