Ship Refurb: Staterooms Great; Crows Next A Huge Blunder

Item: Zuiderdam
Rating: 4.2
Author: Boschman

Zuiderdam Cruise Review to Caribbean

Boschman

Contributor Level: Second Mate

158 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 23

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

11 Night Panama Canal Sunfarer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 07, 2018

Ship: Zuiderdam

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 8090

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Nice, relaxing cruise. Super suite refurb. Partially offset by the now defunct Crows Neat area.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Processed fast and on board quickly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The Dining Room continues to serve excellent breakfasts; The Lido Market as good as a buffet area can be; The Pinnacle and Canaletto still serve great food.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Americas Test Kitchen well attended. Enjoyed musical trivia by the Sea View pool.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Excellent comedian/magician. Really enjoyed him.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

HAL staff continue to be the best in the industry.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Unfortunately, the Zuiderdam is getting old. Many pipe leaks during the cruise. Pool deck clock not fixed until last day of cruise. Ship needs a complete top to bottom refurb.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Loved the cabib refurb with new colors, carpeting and finally a large screen interactive TV system. Just needs wall shelves in the bathroom.

Ship tip

HAL has destroyed the Crows Nest. The Explorations Cafe, library, daily trivia, desktop computers, and afternoon happy hour are gone. The cafe has been combined into the center bar resulting in lineups and a lot of extra work for the staff. Terrible. New touch screen digital information pool tables have taken up too much space near the former Explorations Cafe. Seldom used. Many comfortable sofas and chairs removed. At least there are still chairs available at the front windows to enjoy the ocean view. Huge blunder on the part of HAL.

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