Not one of Holland America's best

Zuiderdam Cruise Review to Caribbean

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Zuiderdam

10 Night Panama Canal Sunfarer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 19, 2008

Ship: Zuiderdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 15 years ago

Review summary

Not up to Holland America's usual standards. Open seating concept is terrible, can't make reservations, no one answers the reservation phones. had to eat in Lido first two nights, then switched to fixed seating. Movie theatre has 32 seats for a 1,900 passenger ship, this is rediculus. Thanksgiving dinner was terrible, Maybe early seating was better because not much was left for late seating. Only saving grace was the wonderful staff serving the people and cleaning the rooms. l

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
open seating is terrible, can't get reservations, no one answers the phone. No instructions printed anywhere on what the rules are for open seating and how and when to make reservations. Food was marginal at best, Steaks were about a 1/4 inch thick. They should spend less time on presentation and more time on quality.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Wait staff and room attendents were great!

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
see coments above

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Disapointed in not getting a better location for our cabin, it was forward and we had to walk the entire length of the ship to get our meals three times a day.

Ports of call

Willemstad, Curacao

3 out of 5
nothing memorable

Oranjestad, Aruba

3 out of 5
nothing memorable

Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

3 out of 5
Puerto Limon is not a place I would like to visit for safety reasons. the city is depressing. only thing to do there is to go on a tour otherwise there is no need to get off the ship
Don't Miss: The Rain Froest tour on the Tram was good except for the fact that it rained all day.

Cristobal, Panama

3 out of 5
Not a very nice place to see unless you are on a tour.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5
long lines to get food
Don't Miss: The beach

Pros: nothing memorable

Cons: open seating, theatre seating, managements response to problems.

Recommends Zuiderdam? No.

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