Zuiderdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Don't book cabin SS6108 which is advertised to be a handicapped accessible room  if you are in a wheelchair 24/7 until it is refurbished.  It was not properly equipped for wheelchairs.  Shower in bathroom  and ramp to veranda had to be worked on in order for them to be used.  Room is not laid out properly for a wheelchair guest and room was not in good condition.  Bathtub had holes in bottom enclosure and it was advertised to have dual sinks but had only one. Bathroom floor overflowed first time shower was used.  We were given towels for us to clean it up!

  The front office did recognize problems and did what they could to help us.  And we appreciate all that was done for us.  This  was a 50th wedding anniversary cruise.  Traveling through the panama canal locks,  seeing it with our eyes and hearing the story of how it was built  was a most chilling  memorable experience. 

Last year I did the same cruise and enjoyed it tremendously but this year everything went wrong. The norovirus attacked many passenger. My mother spend 2 days in her cabin cause of diarrhea. My son Michael vomited twice on the dinner table and I was held in my room because of diarrhea. Yes some precautions were taken but not enough. Our balcony was filthy and so we took pictures to show. People were allowed to smoke in their balconys and in the casino. There were no designated areas for smoking as on other cruise lines. We did not go to Costa Rica because of bad weather but we couldn't get of  at Grand Cayman because it was too dangerous for the wheelchair to be transfer to the shuttles and then to shore.  Will never travel Holland America again.

What a great staff!!!!  The Food in the dinning room and Buffet was fabulous.  Our last cruise in 2013 on the Queen Mary 2 was great that is the ship the food in the dinning room was good while the buffet was fair.  The staff on Holland America was outstanding The attention to detail was tops.  There is plenty to do.  For dinner we had a table for four.  The staff treats you like we have known each other for a long time.  We would consider sailing with Holland America  again 

Personnel and staff were extremely helpful and friendly. All requests were taken care of without delay.

Shows and entertainment were very good. Enjoyed ship activities. Were kept busy and entertained.

Started with boarding process, they  lost some of info, had to redo. Cabin shall we say was well worn. Upholstery was cracked & frayed. Had good cabin service folks though, they were best crew we encountered.Main dining room menu very poor & limited, that is compared to Carnival & Royal Caribbean. I think one of the best meals we had was the complimentary lunch at the Pinnacle you folks provided. The second Sat. night dinner was good. My wife loves lobster but even if you pay the $29.00/person for the Pinnacle they charge you another 20 for lobster which means it's $98.00 for 2, NO WAY! Some of dining room staff were rude. We are not young but when you see a dozen scooters & wheelchairs lined up at dining room entrance, not a good sign. They skipped a port (Limon). Went to Grand Cayman instead (NO!). Did love Panama Canal. Will not go on Holland America again. Also had probably 100 or so cases of Noro Virus. We didn't get it. Thank God

This cruise experience was the best by far.  We really enjoyed the smaller ship and HOlland America went above and beyond.  The service was truly outstanding, food exceptional, entertainment top notch (except for the singers) and the itinerary excellent.  Every crew member greeted us no matter where we were on the ship, with a genuine smile and verbal greeting.  We were entertained by an outstanding violinist and his pianist wife in the lounges, excellent blues band and piano man in the Piano Bar nightly....I could go on and on.  The menu selections in the dining area were unique, delicious and presented well.  Cabin stewards attentive without hovering and kept our cabin clean and supplied with fresh towels.  We had to cancel our Costa Rica port because of rough seas but Holland America took us to Grand Cayman and it was lovely.  I talked with a couple from the Princess cruise line in Grand Cayman and they also had to cancel Costa Rica but they ended up at sea an extra day.  They were hoping to have 2 days in Grand Cayman but did not get it.  We felt extra special that HA gave us a replacement port and not just stay at sea to use up time.  Looking forward to our Alaskan cruise with HA in July!!!!

Our stateroom was large enough that we could stow all of our belongings and stay out of each others way!  The chamber staff was meticulous about keeping our room spotless, twice daily, and they did all of this with a smile on their faces.  This International crew was exceptional and it was more than easy to converse with them.

The food was not only plentiful but of the highest standard.  Every meal was different and the choices abundant.  Again, the International wait staff was excellent and most pleasant even late in the day.

In general, I would say Holland America is slipping a little bit.  Their cruise ships are aging and the quality of the overall decor reflects it.  The food was not quite up to prior standards and we missed some of our favorite events including Chocolate Desert Night and Champagne Night.  The Piano Bar was still excellent, but the shows (except for the comedians) were below par.  The excursions were well organized, but the destinations were not too exciting.  The Pinnacle Grill was excellent.  Finally, the cruise line needs to put an end to the saving of deck chairs in the pool areas.  They should require that all deck chairs be occupied within 15 minutes or made available for other passengers who ARE present.

There are things that one takes for granted after sailing with a cruise line four times.  With HAL, we've enjoyed easy on and easy off our ship.  That was on the case with our cruise to the Panama Canal on Jan. 25th.  The port in Fort Lauderdale and our cruise line seemed to be at a loss as to how to take care of so many people.  Ah.... unpleasant.

   Most disappointing was what i call the "Carnivalization of Holland America".  Everywhere were there salesmen wanting us to buy pictures, manicures, watches, bingo cards, art auction tickets, excursions.  Did I forget something?  Oh yes, future cruises.  "Enough already"... I wish I'd said.

We wanted to go to the beach in Curacao.  The ship offered an excursion to the beach for $55 pp.  We decided to hop a public bus and paid $6 for us both--round trip.

 On a bright note, the service staff on the Zuiderdam was still old fashioned HAL.  I suspect that will go by the wayside too, dagnabbit.

It was a very enjoyable cruise. The staff  was very courteous and helpful.  Our stateroom was very nice.  The on board activities we participated in were very enjoyable.  Our experience in the Buffet and Dining Hall was very good.

This was our second time taking this cruise, although the first was several years ago.  It was fine, except for minor problems.  Meals were not up to Holland America standards, there was only minimal shipboard activity, and spaces were often too small for the number of people on board.  On the other hand, the stateroom stewards were excellent, as were the Windows 10 presentations.  The excursion through the Pacific locks in the Panama Canal was terrific, with an outstanding tour leader.  The B.B. King Blues band was outstanding also, well worth seeing and hearing over and over.  Overall, the experience was a bit better than our last time on the Zuiderdam.

To start out with our Island ports were short like 6 hours or less per port not a lot of time to enjoy it.Thers nothing to see on Grand Turk and the beach where the ship docked was as nice as any of the others we paid to see.The food was nothing to write home about,no buffet just serving stations with small portions,first cruise i ever went on where i didn't gain an ounce. I found the dinning room staff rude at times and we even complained about them.There was a lot of vibration from the engines in the dinning room and other parts of the ship.If your going to take advantage of your passengers buy doubling the cost of the cruise because its New Years you should try to make it more enjoyable.In closing probably the last trip on all the Carnaval Cruise Lines for us.

The cruise in general was a lot of fun. By the time it had ended, my mom and I had wished we had signed up for a longer cruise. We didn't think we would enjoy being on a boat together for 7 days. It flew by all too quickly. 

The crew members are very friendly and always happy to help. The food was amazing. The service was awesome. 

The only few things that I didn't enjoy too much was how pricey some of the services were...like the spa. I would have loved to indulge but those prices were on the line of too much/ridiculous in my opinion. 

Some of the days, the activities on board were a little bland. But we always found something to do whether it was go tan outside or just walk around. 

Also, This cruise was a majority of very old people. Everyone was friendly but it would have been nice to see more people around my age group (age 27) and be able to hang out with them. 

However, these things did not take away from any fun that we had and would have loved to stay on the cruise to do one more week. 

great food and service. Could have offered more on board activities. We were not impressed with the teen club                                                                    

We had a wonderful cruise. The only negative was some 

of the ports we stopped at we're not to my liking. The excursion was just ok.  I would recommend holland America. 😊

This was our first cruise and we had a wonderful time.  Everyone was so polite and friendly.  Can't wait till our next cruise.  My only issue was with the Photo Gallary.  The staff doesn't listen and are just trying to get you in and out.  When there is an issue they still won't listen.  They are eager to blow you off.

Overall itinerary was poor example::Arriving Aruba at 1.00pm and leave 11.00pm planed , Only 7.5 hours in  Bone Air ? I think only adequate time was  around Canal.  

What a wonderful experience.  The experience started with BJ's Travel Representative Katia Speller who took care of everything and checked in routinely to ensure that I had everything I needed.  She even called upon my return to ensure the whole trip went well.  That's Service.

Now on Holland American's Zuiderdam no one could ask for better service.  From the greeting upon embarkation to every crew member you saw smiling and saying good morning or good afternoon. 

Our cabin stewards Wibi and Made were terrific and I don't know when they slept as they were always there in the hallways and asked if there was anything else they could do to make us comfortable.

Our dining room experience (2nd seating, Table 43) was 5 star all the way.  Dede Mulyadi and Mohammad Sadar executed their duties as if we were the only table they were responsible for and that was not the case but the other dinners in their section felt the same way.  They made excellent suggestions and always provided a smile with the services.

We also had a dinner and a lunch in the Pinnacle Grill and that was another 5 star experience and the food was devine.

The only negative I have is that there are only two locations for smokers, Sea View Pool, Deck 9 and the Casino, when open.  There were two nights, both Tuesdays, where smoking was not allowed in the Casino at all.  I understand the rationale for this but the other 9 nights the non-smokers were out in full force in the smoking section and didn't appear to be bothered by the smoke at all.

We very much enjoyed this cruise through the southern and western carrabian. The rooms on the ship were nice with a larger than expected bathroom and a very comfortable bed. The room stewards were friendly and attentive and the bar staff was terrific. The food was very good but a little too fancy for my wife. The common areas were in great shape. The only issue we had were that at some of the bars the seats were either too high, too far from the bar, tough to get in or uncomfortable.

The ports we stopped at were all new to us. We most enjoyed Aruba, Curacao, going through the Panama Canal and Costa Rica.

We will recommend this cruise to others and would sail on Holland America in the future.

While a bit outdated, the Zuiderdam was an excellent ship with a super friendly and professional crew (great customer service -- the best we've ever had on any line!).  Food of high to excellent quality; solid to great entertainment each night. A memorable shore excursion booked through ship was the trip to the Embera tribal village in Panama -- first rate!