Zuiderdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

If you are old this is for you. But, if you are young or young at heart you need another cruise line. This  is a small ship with boring activities and shopping. Not much to do but lay around, ,eat and drink. The average age was 60 to 80 yrs. old. Though we are in our 60's ,we feel we are more active and want some more outgoing things to keep us preoccupied. This ship lacked enthusiasm. Holland caters to older people primarily and if that is what you want than great.

We have been on several Carnival cruises and they have all been fun to be on. I think the difference is that Carnival  is a larger ship and it has more shopping, more diverse age group with many things for all ages  to do entertained.  

This was a nice relaxing cruise.  Most of the time is at sea.  Only two hours in Colon, Panama.  Unless you take excursions offered by the cruise line, the two hours in Colon is all the time you will get in Panama out of eleven days.  The ship was nice except that there were a lot of problems with toilets, including ours.  The Pinnacle dining experience was not worth the money.  We were disappointed with Aruba but maybe our expectations were too high.  If you want time to relax, take this cruise; if you want to see Panama, find another way.

Good check-in,  Stateroom were ready when we arrived. Cabin stewards  were great. Cabin was always taken clean.  Lido restaurant-good selections, good service, well prepared food.  Pinnacle Grille, excellent food and service.  Canaletto Restaurant excellent food and service,  Vista Dinning Room was disappointing Servers seemed to be somewhat lacking. Shows were good.

enjoyed cruise. everything went as scheduled, except you were supposed to give us a $50.00 on board credit which we did not receive. the ship was clean and the food was excellent. the entertainment was not as good as we would have liked,but the piano bar was superb.

We had a superb cruise an a fine ship.  The food was excellent, service excellent, weather excellent.

We wanted to be in warm weather and to enjoy care free lazy days.  Where we stopped didn't matter much.  This cruise filled our desires.  The stops were ok, but the big thing for us was being on a care free get away. 

We like going through Ft Lauderdale and have gone on several cruises through that port.  We were extremely disappointed with the disembarking process.  We end a nice cruise by standing in line in a warehouse dragging our baggage for over an hour getting through customs.  Holland American and the port folks at Ft Lauderdale need to take a hard look at disembarking. 

The Panama Canal cruise is a good alternative for travelers who think they have seen it all.  There is nothing quite like this experience of entering and exiting the locks. 

The port of Willemstad, Curacao is great for history buffs who want to connect the dots between European history and the New World.  The colorful buildings, Dutch influence and Jewish roots of the city make it a meaningful port of call.

An 11-day cruise is also one way to improve on a 7-day cruise!  

As before we had a great time visiting the ports of call. The food was excellent and only overshadowed by the superb service. The entertainment was great.

The ship and staff were super great.

Great meals and upscale service as compared to Carnival, Royal Carib, Princess.

Best in-cabin food service, high quality of food and fast delivery and tray pickup.

Would do the same cruise again.

Armando Perales, Jr.

This was the worst cruise I have ever taken.  The activities were not very exciting, the food selection was poor (mash potatoes- almost every night) the choices were limited, which forced you to go to their private dining for a better meal. The activities were also very boring and limited.  I have been on many cruises before but this is my first cruise on Holland America and my last.

Seeing the Panama Canal was interesting. 

The itinerary was great, however, due to the age demographics (average age of cruiser approximately 75+ years old), dining options and activities extremely limited.

Food extremely bland in dining room and lido deck.  On sea days dining room open for lunch only 1 hour.  Lido deck food extremely bland and limited and not a true buffet.  With the exception of the salads, crew members served everything to you on and very hot plate through a pass-through.  I am only in my 50's and would want a little more that a small disk of fish, so when asking to have more placed on my plate they acted like I had asked for a whole tuna to be cooked up and given to me.  If you wanted anything to eat after 8:30 pm, you had to order through room service which had a very limited menu and rarely get your order correct.

The bulk (90%) of the activities ended at 8:30 or 9:00 pm.

Again the itinerary is once in a lifetime good, transiting the Panama Canal, but if you are younger and/or are looking for a little more fun, this is not the cruise for you.

First of all the ship is overdue a refurbishment, it's tatty with rust everywhere, dirty broken life boats, broken railings, etc. The interior, everywhere you look something is broken, chairs and sofas are broken and need replacement.  Our cabin had a broken door lock, a toilet that didn't flush properly and smelled, and our TV was too dark and needed adjustment.  

The help was good the food was decent but, not great.  The "Baked Alaska" was pathetic.  The entertainment was so so, except for the classical duet, they we're great.

This ship does not have a good design.  There is no real lobby, hallways are narrow, pools are awkwardly located.  You have to walk through the cafeteria to get to the back pool and through the spa to get to the other.  Even walking to dinner takes you through long hallways of nothing.  There is a wonderful staff, but the ship can't compare to others I've experienced.

Overall, my wife, my sister and family friend thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this cruise. This was my wife and my 3rd cruise, our first on Holland America. It was my sister's first. We each had balcony cabins which made coastal viewing exceptional. Our cabins were very comfortable and we were well taken care of by our steward. I use a CPAP machine for Sleep Apnea and all I needed to bring on board was a 6 ft extension cord. The cruise line provided the distilled water at a minor charge. 

We mostly ate in the buffet which had a fairly nice variety of foods which were well prepared. We ate in the dining room twice, which was very enjoyable. 

We enjoyed the evening entertainment very much, as well as bingo in the afternoon (my wife did very well in one of the games)! The library is a wonderful section of the ship where you can relax, enjoy coffee, a pastry and great views of the surrounding wilderness. We hung out there almost daily.

All three ports were very enjoyable stops, and the local folks we met were very friendly. Our excursions were entertaining and educational. We felt that we would like to return to Skagway and Ketchikan again for an extended stay. Glacier Bay was great! The sun was out and our view of the glaciers was spectacular.

The staff on board this ship were exceptional. They were friendly, very helpful and enthusiastic about working. Some of the passengers (mostly European to be honest) tended to be a bit rude to them, but the staff just responded with a smile and tried to make whatever accommodation needed.

My wife and I previously cruised on Princess, and I think we prefer that cruise line...but Holland America had a better price and it really was an enjoyable time. We would cruise H.A. again. 

My cruise stated with the dirty bath tub, hair and skum. Poor room service. I have been on a couple cruises and the best part is where I am treated extra special as well as staff that will always have a energetic happy and welcoming smile. The food was ok but on buffet there was not enough variety. I do not drink alcohol or soda but when I would order a coffee or ice tea they said I had to go get it at the lido resraunt, I thought I was to be waited on? I think I will stick with Norwegian Cruises. The contact that holland America have with excursions is not best.

I wasn't real happy with the way the ship was run.    Once I had to wait about 45 min to eat dinner and causing us to miss the show in the Visa Lounge.     The longest lines I have ever experience on any cruise ship.

Our cabin was very nice & Mus, our cabin steward was probably one of the best we've ever had (33 cruises).  The ports were also nice & we had a good time on the "Sunset Cruise" shore excursion in Aruba. 

The food was not as good as previous (2) HAL cruises and we heard other people comment on that as well. The Pinnacle restaurant was very good, but we were comped those dinners. We wouldn't pay extra to eat there since we feel we pay enough when paying for a cruise to expect good food in all the regular restaurant's.

The daily newsletter was a little misleading regarding some of the entertainment as well.  We showed up 3 times to hear "Yolanda & the HALCATS" at the advertised time (8-12) only to find out that only the band was there at 8 & Yolanda wouldn't be there until 10!!!! The band was good, but we wanted to hear Yolanda!!! Some of the other venues started earlier than advertised, so by the time we arrived, there was not a seat to be found!

The cruise was okay, but not as good as we thought it would be.

What a joyful ship to be on, the crew was a happy, helpful group of people that made the cruise a pleasure.

Please let the chef know that they tend to overcook their meats[not fish], they need to know the difference between medium rare anf well done.

N/A      What  can I say, but a GREAT TIME  was had by us.  The room was fine,  I found a make -up mirror and a hair dryer, for my use (and I did.)   Our cabin steward was helpful and very pleasant.  Only thing I would add to the room would be a small clock.

        The food was top notch in all areas of the  ship, and of course the service (with a smile always) was wonderful.

Being our first cruise I didn't know what to expect.  I enjoyed it very much.  Being more of a older people type cruise a lot of the rooms like the crows nest and theather rooms were way to cold for us old timers.

The crew was very cordial and helpful.  the one waiter in dining room always remembered our names. The cleanliness of the  ship concerned me I used the robe when I was getting ready I used  the second robe and felt something in poctket it was a card from where this lady was at spa and treatments from 12/13/13 this robe had not been cleaned for several trips. Our door to the balcony had the key broke off in it .  On the last day we were staying in our stateroom untill our time to disembark we decided to go and get a bite of breakfast When we returned to our room (our things were still in our room) they had cleaned the bathroom (we were not finished)  the bed was made up with covers for luggage on it. I questioned whether our room was clean when we arrived. We have been on several cruises on other lines I never felt like things were dirty.