Disappointing experience

Item: Zuiderdam
Rating: 4
Author: alexisjulian

Zuiderdam Cruise Review

alexisjulian

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 9

Helpful Votes: 101

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

14 Night Panama Canal Eastbound (San Diego To Ft. Lauderdale)

Sail date: November 17, 2022

Ship: Zuiderdam

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

This cruise was not emblematic of the Holland America we have come to know and love. After 1,000+ weeks at sea, the Zuiderdam is ready to be retired or for a complete retrofit and overhaul. Fortunately, she was headed into dry dock the second we disembarked. Unfortunately, that did not benefit us at all. We made wonderful friends and were treated like royalty by the outstanding waitstaff, made the most of an overall disappointing experience, and will cruise with Holland again. But I cannot recommend the Zuiderdam in good faith.

Embarkation

2 out of 5

Embarkation was god-awful. It took a total of 4 hours, partly becsuse we were sent away after arriving at our appointed time. There were five major lines to snake through instead of the usual three. Very underwhelming, chaotic, and frustrating experience.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

MDR food was consistently higher quality, but the menu did not consistently offer appealing options. The Lido was better for a variety of options, but did not consistently offer quality. Hours are too abridged, we often found ourselves wanting to eat during periods when food was not available. We did learn that you can order MDR meals to your room through room service for free - this was wonderful! Especially for breakfast.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

The aft pool was closed for the first 5 days of our trip, disappointing.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Service and staff are where Holland shines always and especially on this trip. Outstanding.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Zuiderdam should be taken out back and put out of her misery. The dozens of buckets collecting dripping water (presumably faulty AC?) from deck 1 to deck 10, bow to stern, was not only disconcerting but a real eyesore and embarrassing to the brand. Frankly, Holland is better than that. It seemed every other person we met either had an issue with plumbing or AC, or in our case both. Rooms are dated. Carpet was very stained. During major rains in Central America, water poured through the light fixtures above the Seaview bar. The ship was limping into dry dock.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The layout of our cabin was typical of the Deck 10 Spa Cabins. We did experience both plumbing issues and a broken AC. Staff provided us a fan and buckets of ice so we made a swamp cooler during the hottest days. Kind of an odd thing to have to do on your luxury honeymoon.