The Most Horrible Cruise We Have Ever Taken
Zuiderdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 26
Review summary
Don't waste your time or your money. If we were offered $100 or a free cruise, we would take the $100.00 over the $1,600 spent on this joke of a trip. If they were to offer us a free cruise back on the same cruise line, we would decline immediately. We wouldn't even play bingo to win a free cruise because it wouldn't have been worth the paper that the bingo cards were printed on.Embarkation
Upon embarking, we were surprised to get to our room only to discover it had been given to someone else. Lots of issues as there were a lot of guests at Guest Services trying to get their rooms straightened out.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was the same every night with the exception of maybe one different side or a piece of meat. There was no variety. And the ice cream/desserts were limited and not available at all times like advertised. They shut down at 9pm, and then reopened from 10:30-11:30 pm. Disappointed with the food and the quality. Even the glasses that were on the tables a supposed to be clean were grimy and dirty looking.
Onboard Activities
There were pools, 1 shuffleboard court, 2 ping pong tables, and one game of cornhole. The activities were for 80+ year olds and the activities advertised for children were either not offered, not supervised, or nonsense. The casino was tiny and paid $0.04 on a $0.50 bet even when the slot machine face was lit up and ringing. Texas Hold Em was computerized and no real dealer. Sorry excuse for activities for a cruise line that has such great ratings. And the fact that there was more focus on selling spa packages, jewelry, overpriced and wrong pictures given, and focus on LGBTQ activities than kids or family activities is a disgrace.
Entertainment
There was one band that had great energy, but they had pretty much the same venue every night. The one night there was a comedian on board, he was funny, but his later show was the exact same material as the one earlier in the evening. The "dueling pianos" in the Billboard Onboard bar sounded like two wounded dogs in a fight, it was awful. My daughter's middle school band has more talent from 11 year olds playing an instrument for the first time than these "trained musicians".
Children's Programs
What kids clubs and entertainment?! It was a complete joke!
Service and Staff
Our room steward were wonderful. The poolside bar main tender Leo had the biggest attitude and must have thought he was above all others because he never smiled, laughed, and even argued with my spouse about a drink order. I waited over 20 minutes for one alcoholic beverage and a virgin strawberry daquiri for my 12-year-old because the bartender completely forgot about my order. Poor service from just about everywhere other than the room stewards. Even the photo shop got our order wrong and provided us with some wrong pictures only to find out that after we received them and were made to get off the ship, the pictures were deleted and we could not rectify the situation. The pictures were delivered at midnight the night before disembarkation and we were told to start disembarking at 7 am and the photo shop was not up and functional.
Ship Quality
So much space that could be used for better things like more entertainment, a better casino, more kids activities, a game room, etc. Poor layout and use of space.
Cabin / Stateroom
Our cabin was changed from an interior room to a balcony. Thought that was amazing. However, our room had a leak from the spa above our room. The floors were so wet that the carpet squished beneath your feet and water seeped up between your toes causing you to need to wear closed toed shoes or long sandals that would not allow your feet to get wet. It took 2 1/2 days to get it rectified with multiple complaints to our room stewards, their supervisor, guest services, and even the spa upstairs. Finally it took 5 plumbers hours to remove the ceiling tiles, get the leak from the spa pipes fixed, and then had to wait on the room stewards to come back and re-clean the room as the plumbers left a mess, a broken floor piece, and wood laying all over the floor.
Ship tip
DON'T DO IT!!! Save your money and take a real cruise ship.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic
The Monkey Land and Taste of Dominican Republic excursion were wonderful. The tour guides were great and it was a beautiful port. However, when we booked, we were to be there until 2am and celebrate New Years Eve there. The DAY BEFORE we were told that we would be leaving port at 9pm. There is no reason we could not have stayed docked and watched the activities and fireworks instead of being sent out to see and being forced to pay $80.00 per person if we wanted to celebrate New Years with the ship. Nothing but music and drinks. No fireworks or any real entertainment. Yet as we were leaving port, a Carnival Cruise boat was pulling into port to celebrate. Why were we kicked out? Disgusted.
Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)
The horseback riding along the beach and through the ocean was breathtaking. However, the tram to take us back to our lunch made us wait over 45 minutes for them to come get us. The lunch was poorly organized and they were taking away food and drinks before people waiting in line ever even got to sit down and try to enjoy the sorry excuse for a meal that was provided.
Disembarkation
As long as you do self service, it was fairly quick and easy.