Zuiderdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

 The food and service was excellent. I enjoyed the ping-pong tournaments (Great opportunity to meet other players and engage in this activity).but wish they had offered more pickle ball  gatherings  when we were out to sea. The shows were very good. Wish you would add dance/Zumba classes to work out.  Very disappointing movie schedule overall hardly any current movies, plus he repeated romancing the Stone twice and the panama canal history twice in the theater. At least you had DVDs though my DVD player and the DVDs themselves had a lot of problems. Again my cabin service and dining service were outstanding and all the workers on the ship always were  and friendly and offering to help. 

Ship was a bit old, but the food and service was fabulous!  The servers everywhere couldn't have been nicer, more helpful, and I loved that always used our names!

Nice cruise.  (except for the cruise crud that half of our people caught) 

We were on the 10 day Panama Canal Sunfarer Feb 15th sailing. We were lucky to find a great head waiter on day 3 and requested to be with him the rest of the cruise which they accommodated. Wayan our room steward was very good. We enjoyed the production shows and the comedian. Get there early if you want the early show. If you can stay up past 9:30, which much of the other passengers won't, the 10PM shows had plenty of available seats. We knew HAL would skew older but my goodness, the ship was empty after 9. We had terrible bar service. I've never seen so many confused and ill prepared bartenders. I've never had a bartender roll his eyes when we ordered a drink until this cruise. We were in 5186, an aft cabin. loved the large room and the large covered deck. The food in the MDR was hit and miss. Never had a good piece of beef in 10 days. Ate in the Pinnacle one night and probably wouldn't do that again. We ordered a filet medium rare and it came out dry and well. I ordered a ribeye medium and it came out rare. Not worth $70 IMO. Loved the ship. We found it to be very well taken care of. Once we found the observation deck on 11 forward that eliminated the constant hunt for chairs in the sun. We had a great time. We make our own fun and don't look for staff to provide our fun for us. The staff and service, bartenders notwithstanding, were exceptional. HAL does this right. Not sure I would do HAL for our next trip just because we're not quite in their target demographic yet but for the right value we most certainly would.

REALLY POSITIVE THING:  The Panama Canal was worth the trip!

The Ship is in need of repair.  AC in our cabin out every other day.  Phones didn’t work.  It took a dozen attempts to reach the service desk by phone, and sometimes nothing worked.  (Technician said it was fine).  TVs couldn't be seen; old screen pointed toward the ceiling (Technician said it was fine).

  Meals in the main dining room took 2 to 2 1/2 hours because service people were so confused.  Evening Entertainment:  Ships crew? BBC movie?  Really?  There were only two “professional” acts in the main theater.

The ship skipped the Bahamas because the tender provisions were not adequate.

The excursions were not only overpriced but overall disappointing.  For example, we took the jungle canal boat tour.  Most of the canal was in front of a refinery or a village. 

Food was mediocre.  Most everything was overcooked and unseasoned, especially the fish.  I have eaten in 3 of the specialty restaurants and would rather eat at Burger King (eech!).  Even in these "specialty restaurants" the service was abysmal... waiting 20 minutes to get plates cleared before desert.  Really?  At the Mariner's luncheon I ordered the chicken and sausage gumbo.  What came out was Miso soup, with two finger nail sized pieces of chicken and even smaller 3 pieces of sausage, all accompanied by 14 grains of rice (yes, I counted them.)  I grew up in New Orleans where they would sue for this being called gumbo.

 I know people eat like pigs on these ships, but it is a tragedy to ruin so much food through poor cooking.

Every performance was oversubscribed (except the hokey crew shows).   Had to get to a movie viewing room an hour before to get a seat.  For the main, live performances, seats were filled a half hour before the show.  Could never get a seat in BB King performances.

The only reason we took this cruise because of its Panama Canal destination.  Our last HA cruise on the Neue Amsterdam was disappointing and this doubled down on the disappointment.

Embarkation was a nightmare, from the ship getting untied, to absolute confusion about E-immigration, to getting people on board.

Loved cruising to the panama canal on the Zuiderdam. Food was fantastic as were our waiters Ali and Ery. Our room was roomier than other interior rooms we have had, very nice and steward was very attentive. Entertainment was best i have seen on cruise in a long time. Singers and dancers terrific. Appearances by Island Magic were outstanding. Also enjoyed BB Kings. Very personable captain, saw him in all the ports checking out things around ship.

1. the room was not what I expected

2. we were deck 8, LIDO above us, each am, 0630, and PM moving the tables and chairs in smoking area.

3. Food was NOT hot

4. Rough sea, many people fell, had slings on arms, not fitting correctly.

5. Tour of Bloody Omaha, overpriced!!

6. Why is staff eating on LIDO with paying guests?

7. The Ports were great !!

8. workman doing painting, etc, on various decks..very distracting

Trans-Atlantic crossings on Holland America Line (HAL) are always wonderful, and this voyage on the Zuiderdam was no exception. Cuisine in the main dining room was exceptional - perhaps the best we've experienced on our four repositionings with this cruise line.  The highlights of our cruise were daily mass, as Holland America always sails with a catholic priest, and the excellence in service by the Filipino and Indonesian crew - two top reasons why Holland America is our preferred brand for cruising.  Entertainment and guest speakers were top notch - a variety surely to please all tastes.  Disappointing on this voyage was the absence of two HAL traditions:  Dutch pea soup and pictures with King Neptune in front of ship  (perhaps due to rough seas) and the Captain's Black and White Ball, usually held on last formal night (no explanation given).  There were some plumbing issues in public restrooms that persisted throughout the journey, wherein several toilets were constantly out of service.  One day staterooms on our deck had no hot water, but the problem was resolved within 24 hours.

This was our third transatlantic cruise and it was WONDERFUL! Holland America knows how to take care of its customers. From the cabin stewards to the captain himself, everything was done to accommodate our needs, 

From the start, the captain explained that it might be a bit bumpy but that they were going to change the navigation to get us away from the rougher seas that had arisen because of a storm. And he did a great job. Although it was by far the roughest passage we have experienced, sounds like it could have been quite a bit worse!

There were a few problems with the plumbing in our cabins and some of our fellow travelers had more major issues then we did. They were not only addressed quickly but the management made some generous adjustments to the bill that was paid at the end.

At one point, I had made a minor complaint about service in one of the loungs areas. I received a phone call within 24 hours from the beverage manager to rectify the issue!

I can't say enough good things about this cruise line. It's not the glitzy state of the art type of ships that some lines have. But if you are looking for great service and a crew that seems to really care about your experience - go HAL

Excellent Itinerary.  Lets you see the canal plus other locations without spending hours of lock transitions. Great food, great crew and staff a nice ship.  Shore excursions in Aruba and Costa Rica were a little lame but still nice.  I think Holland has the best food.  The ship was a little dated but the size was just right.  Debarkation was slow.  Only one immigration agent at first.  More came later.

we had a great time, this ship needs lots of work, open area's have roof leaks and if you ask the staff, they say its been like that for months. When you go to eat your breakfast, you have to find a dry area to sit or find a table that has been clean off, main eating area is short of staff, they have cut back on the staff to save money. Also the days at sea, they do repairs, you cannot sit out with all the noise and the paint flumes. Then you have the washrooms over flowing and out into the hallways, most of the hallways smelled of toilet over flow.

Well organized Cruise, Friendly Staff, Good Meals, Good Shows.

Well maintained ship. Maintenance team work on ship to keep the ship clean.

Why you need 150 chars. Less than 150 is enough with concise comments.

We selected the Holland America due to the sail dates for the Panama Canal. The Room Attendant was excellent but service in the dining room was very slow and poor. It often took over 2 hours for dinner and we had to leave more than once before dinner was over to make a show. However, given the quality of the shows, we would have been better off staying at dinner. There were to highlights to the entertainment, the BB King All Stars played almost every evening and they were outstanding. The comic the second night was also very good as was the illusionist.  The rest of the shows were just plain boring. The singers and dancers needed to stay with just dancing. A few notes were hit that actually hurt my ears. 

However, my biggest disappointment was the casino. I was shocked to see that the ship had changed the gaming rules to make it even harder to a player to break even, much less win anything. On the one non-smoking day, they held a Blackjack tournament, something I could enjoy without having to wear a gas mask. 

As the winner of the tournament I expected to collect a good percentage of the total pot of $470. My take was $95 and part of that was $50 in chips that could not be cashed, they had to be played. Thus I went to the roulette wheel and played both odd and even five times. Luckily zero or double zero did not come up. 

The scratch off tickets were also rigged, they claimed one could win up to $25,000 but only one out of six tickets paid anything and that was just $5. How do I know the other part of my winnings was 47 scratch off tickets which paid off $45 at $5 a card. 

The casino also changed the pay off for a blackjack from 2 to 1 which was clearly printed on the table to 5 to 6 (very small sign placed when no one would look). 

I did talk to the casino manager and he was not very friendly, told me to put this down on my comment survey which I did. 

I suspect that this was our first and last cruise with Holland America. We are regular cruisers (3 or 4 per year), thus being cheated at the casino is a deal breaker for me. 

Relaxing not the best cruise but not the worst either.  Ship needs to be updated and understand it will go into dry dock later this year.  It needs it.  Unfortunately we are booked on same ship this summer for Baltic cruise.  Know ship and have made some changes based on our knowledge now.

Understaffed dining room, very few "poolside games", too many "seminars".  We could not get much "no sugar added" food, the movie theater only had 29 seats, dinner selection was poor, cabin service was poor.

I would not recommend HAL to any of my friends or relatives.

Overall the cruise was very nice.  The Zuiderdam is getting the refurbishment it needs.  We heard it called the "Tiredam" and the "Black Pearl" while on board.  Holland America is trying to revive the older ship.  Some of the ship staff needs a break.  The entertainment is was very young and fresh.  The singer and band in the BB King Lounge was unbelievable!!  The singer was the best we have seen & heard on any cruise.  The ship casino was the worst we have ever experienced.  The casino was very smoky and very little in payouts.  The ports we stopped at were good.  The Panama Canal is something everyone should see.  At least watch a documentary about the construction of the Panama Canal prior to see the locks in action.  The locks are fantastic to see.  A few negatives about the cruise.  Many of the passengers were rude.  Never heard a "please" or "thank you" from too many of them.  The piped music on the ship was completely inappropriate in either location or type that was played.  In the Thermal Spa room, there was 80's music playing while meditation music was playing on speakers 2 feet away.  On Lido pool deck there was loud heavy rock music for 80 year old passengers.  Lastly, we heard a number of staff saying that they couldn't wait to leave the ship.  The employees were brutally honest which is nice but it says there is something wrong about working on the Zuiderdam.  Lastly, the Guider dam was not as clean as the Eurodam (which we cruised on last year).  One person said that the Eurodam is controlled by a leader who has high exceptions of cleanliness and order.  Our room was very nice and mostly up to par.  The room attendants were very good and friendly.  The hand sanitizing should be encouraged by the ship staff.  The food was mostly good quality.  The Thermal Spa is need of a major cleaning and renovation.  The steam room is very moldy.  In conclusion, go on this cruise to see the ports and the Panama Canal.  Don't bother to go on this cruise for the ship, the other passengers, the cleanliness, the casino or Lido entertainment.

We had 2 rooms at approximately $9000 without working toilets.  Toilets would stop working after one use in the morning and would stay clogged and full until someone could temporarily fix-usually around 8pm that night when we were at dinner.  Unacceptable.

My wife and I took a November 2007 cruise on the Zuiderdam and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and ship.  We were disappointed with our latest cruise on this ship.  Since the ship had a recent refurbishment we felt that our timing was right.  Wrong.  Whatever was refurbished was not evident to my eye.  The rooms apparently were not on the refurbishment list.  Floor tile, tub and mirror were all worn and needed replacement or repair.  Cleanliness in some of the card rooms was a problem.  The ship just looked worn.  Personnel were great.  There was a problem with one of the six tenders being used at Grand Cayman. It had to be brought back aboard.  Didn't see anyone working on it so it might not have been serious.  Hope not as this was a lifeboat also.  Food ok but nothing to write home about. 

Chris of united and Holland America's Zuiderdam delivered in providing us a with a wonderful cruise vacation that included the Panama Canal, Half Moon Bay, Aruba, Bonnaire, and Costa Rica.  Everything was handled so professionally from the beginning booking by Chris to the end of the cruise experience.  Thank you!

Good cruise overall, some highlights, some things that could have been better

Didn't like anytime dining. Waite staff didn't seem as friendly with assigned dining.

Ship appearance was not as good as other Holland America ships.

We have heard a lot of excellent things about Holland America, but were a little bit disappointed.

The best entertainment was duo Adagio with 4 hours of classical music every day. This was excellent experience, which we did not have ever!!!!

Other entertainment was OK except Patrick with Matilda.

It could be many more interesting events during the day where we were at sea.

Food at the main restaurant was very good, but at Lido café was not good at all.