Not for Just the 50 Plus Crowd
Zuiderdam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Deck Hand
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 9
Sail date: August 01, 2006
Ship: Zuiderdam
Cabin type: Oceanview
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 14 years ago
Review summary
My husband and I sailed the Inside Passage to Alaska on the ms. Zuiderdam from August 19 to 26. Holland Americas efforts to appeal to a younger crowd were evident from the Welcome Aboard party with live music and themed cocktails to the smorgasbord of party hearty activities laid on throughout the week. After sunset, the Crows Nest observation lounge morphed into a nightclub with live bands and DJs. In addition to the standard yoga, Pilates and aquafit classes, the on board Fitness Centre offers Cardio Ki-Bo Circuit Training which combines aerobics and kickboxing. We frequently saw people in their mid-twenties to early thirties, alone or with young children, playing volleyball, watching satellite TV in the sports bar, or grazing at the Taco Bar beside the Lido Pool. But you dont have to be a hipster to find a comfortable niche on the Zuiderdam. In the cutting-edge Culinary Arts Centre, I learned fifty ways to cook salmon then indulged in a pampering deep tissue muscle massage in the Greenhouse Salon, a luxuriously appointed spa with a decadent Roman-style hydro pool and convenient juice bar. Value-added talks (both live and pre-recorded) by local experts greatly enhanced our appreciation of Alaskas scenic cruising. As we navigated shores that were covered in ice just 200 years ago, a witty park ranger spoke about bear activity in Glacier Bay and a Hoonah interpreter gave a insightful talk on culture and customs of the Tinglit tribe, Glacier Bays historic inhabitants. Our state room was elegant and surprisingly roomy. Without a verandah however, the air quality tended to be stuffy. A series of whimsical animals fashioned out of bath towels appeared on our king size bed each night. (Elephant, Snake, Lobster and Manta Ray.) There are data ports in every stateroom for Internet and email access. This feature would have been invaluable for my creative writing practice had I stayed in my stateroom for any length of time. Between listening to live Mozart piano sonatas in the cozy Piano Bar, reading Jack London in the elegantly appointed Erasmus Library, enjoying the Las-Vegas illusionist in the Vista Show Lounge, and hot- tubbing as glistening icebergs and jade green water drifted by, my travel journal never saw the light of day.Pros: Naturalist Interpretive Talks
Cons: Stuffy air in our stateroom
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