Good cruise, ship needed repairs
Zuiderdam Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 44
Review summary
It was a good itinerary. We had not been to this area before and plan to go back, especially to Stockholm. The cruise staff was great. Daniel, the cruise director, was funny and engaging. The ship needs some maintenance but it didn't affect our enjoyment.Embarkation
Ijmuiden is far out of town and very rustic. It was raining and the luggage was stored outside before it was loaded on the ship. Our cloth bags were pretty wet.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The staff on the ship was excellent in general. The dining room service and food were great. We ate in the Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto, the food and service was great in both but the Canaletto location was in the buffet area. The buffet was good though we didn't eat there much.
Onboard Activities
We didn't use the fitness center or pools. We would have liked to participate in the trivia contests but there was a lack of seating because of the small venue they used for them.
Entertainment
We enjoyed most of the stage shows. The piano player in Billboard Onboard was not a very good singer but he did it with gusto. The band in the Rolling Stone bar was excellent but the singers were subpar.
Service and Staff
All of the service staff were great - engaging and efficient. The waiters and bartenders learned our names quickly and went out of their way to be helpful and made us feel appreciated. The future cruise director was very informative regarding cruise options without being pushy.
Ship Quality
Everything felt very clean and they were constantly doing maintenance but the ship showed signs of wear and tear. Some of the viewing windows in the Crow's Nest were either broken and had plastic over them or were cloudy. Many times there were buckets catching ceiling drips in certain areas. My husband had to change chairs one day because of an overhead drip.
Cabin / Stateroom
We had a king size bed, 2 side tables, couch, chair, table and vanity in the room. Not much walking space but it was comfortable. The bathroom was large with a bathtub/shower combo. Plenty of storage and a safe.
Ship tip
If you want to participate in the trivia activities get there very early.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Ijmuiden (Amsterdam), Netherlands
The was the embarkation and disembarkation port. It was very far out of Amsterdam (there is a cruise port in Amsterdam), the terminal was rustic and they did not have indoor storage for luggage. It was raining (which it does frequently) so our cloth luggage got wet.
The trip into Berlin was a very long train ride there and back. A train that had many cruise passengers on it was delayed for 3 hours causing the cruise ship to have to wait for them.
Stockholm was a surprise. We did an overview excursion and could tell we want to see more.
Disembarkation
Ijmuiden is not a good cruise terminal. It was chaotic with people trying to find their transportation. Uber does not like to come there to pick up passengers. We had to wait 20 minutes for it to find a driver for us and he said he just happened to be nearby otherwise he wouldn't make the trip. Glad it wasn't raining as there isn't much cover outdoors.