Zuiderdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We enjoyed the length of the cruse. Staff was friendly & accommodating. Entertament was great. Especially enjoyed the Piano Bar & the casino. Our room was very adaquite. The food was excellent. 

One problem was finding a seat athe the Lido Cafe. Would like to see the dining room stay open longer for lunch. 

Have recomended the cruise to friends already. 

ports visited were all very well planned, love the trip! great staff and great entertainment, the shore excursion desk was not opened often enough, good food though instead of served each time, I prefer to take the portion that I would like

We enjoyed the length of the cruse. Staff was friendly & accommodating. Entertament was great. Especially enjoyed the Piano Bar & the casino. Our room was very adaquite. The food was excellent. 

One problem was finding a seat athe the Lido Cafe. Would like to see the dining room stay open longer for lunch. 

Have recomended the cruise to friends already. 

We savored excellent customer service, they even called and left flowers in our room as a follow up to an issue we had which was resolved within the day.

The staff, from room service to dining areas were always positive, upbeat and helpful.

The food was excellent and we were quite pleased that each menu offered vegetarian choices. There was even a vegan menu. The dishes were artistically presented.

The muster drill was extremely clear, easy to follow, took appropriate time and left no room for any misinterpretations - far superior to a competitor's which we went on prior.

The nightly entertainment was magnificent, and we were especially thrilled with the "BB King Musicians" who played awesome dance music.

We very much enjoyed our excursions as well.

My wife and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary as well as my birthday during the cruise. They did an awesome job celebrating with us in the dining room.

This cruise was everything we were hoping it would be. From the cleanliness of the stateroom to the fabulous dining experience we enjoyed every minute of our cruise.

The staff on Holland America are the best - they could not be more accommodating.  The room service charge is a bit rich  as well as the drinks on board,  It is easy to run up another $1000.  

Holland does a superior job!!!    Great cruise, great ports, great staff, great food.Smaller ship made it easier to get around.    The ship needed refurbishing!But the staff made quick repairs and things worked most of the time!

very nice cruise . the guys that cleaned on room did a very good job very day .getting off the ship was very nice The Panama  Canal was a experica that was something you don't what to miss. I loved the Rainforest and the waterfall

Cruise was not up to par.  We have traveled with Holland America 5 times previously.  We have always had a good time.  This time our cabin was under the galley and we had non-stop noise.  Sometimes it was 18 hours a day and sometimes it was almost 24 hours.  Try sleeping with banging, wheels sliding across the floor, noise and more noise.  Ship did not have lecturers like they normally do and it just wasn't up to par.

We enjoyed the delicious Food, Great Entertainment and Friendly Professional Staff. Our Excursions were very organized and met all our expectations. Our Stewards Waylan and Ruben were very professional but more importantly very attentive.

We really enjoyed our Animals created by towels, so cute.

The dining room, room service staff and bartenders on the Zuiderdam were exceptional!!  They were professional, courteous, friendly and fun.  The food served on the ship was also exceptional.  Nicely prepared with good choices and great presentation. Going through the Panama Canal was interesting.  Curaçao was a beautiful island. We also enjoyed our in Costa Rica.  We were unable to stop at Half Moon Cay due to the weather so our compensation was 2 more hours in Aruba. Although we enjoyed an excursion in Costa Rica, we wee disappointed that there was only time for the excursion and no time allowed for shopping or exploring the port. So, the time we were ported there was not long enough. The entertainment on the ship was lacking. There were daily shows (offered twice)! But three of them were by Zuiderdam staff. The comedian show was completed filled by the time we got to the show after our assigned dinner time.  When we had sea days, the entertainment on the ship was trivia several times a day and bingo once.

The Canal was the high light of the cruise.  There were no disappointments. The cruise was uneventful as for the weather.  The seas were smooth.  The travel time at sea was something that couldn't be shortened but it was long with over 4 days at sea with no port calls.  The Canal was worth the trip.  The experience was good. Not wanting to put down Holland America but when you've had a perfect cruise as we did with Norwegian you tend to compare everything with them.  All my responses are rating as compared to Norwegian being a perfect 5 STAR.  The cruise was well worth the expense and as mentioned I'm not putting down Holland America.  They did a fine job.  The details were the difference.  The onboard shops were not ones we particular cared for.  There were days while at sea they sold souvenirs but the selections wasn't very good.  They could learn a great deal by checking with Norwegian for the little nice things that make for a more enjoyable journey.   

My reason for cruising the Panama Canal for the 6th time was to see and hopefully experience  the completed new locks.  We were not previously informed that due to the astronomical over-budget cost to complete the canal and the nearly 2-year delay, the Panamanians are charging triple the cost to pass through the new locks vs the old locks.  Needless to say, the new locks sit virtually unused, causing the usual delays and back-ups getting through the old locks.  Be prepared to be disappointed if you had hopes of viewing the completed and costly project.

cruise was ok

not terribly impressed with service

wait staff on decks for drinks was lacking

entertainment was only ok

dining rooms needed fancier dressing than we are accustom to

We chose this cruise to get warm in January as well as because it was a great buy. We were not disappointed!  In addition we thoroughly enjoyed our open seating dinners in the dining room daily. It was like going to a fancy restaurant with wide ranging food choices each evening. We also enjoyed meeting a wide variety of people--including immigrants from Shanghai, Greece and Jerusalem and people from Nebraska to Maine to Utah and on and on. 

VERY, VERY WINDY in the Caribbean this Year due to GLOBAL WARMING...many many people seasick and 1/2 passengers ended up with major head colds.  HAL Excursions were a HUGE Disappointment, double price of Independents at the ports, besides the tour guide(s)..(Cartagena) Unable to be Understood due to heavy accent!  Thus when Independent Tour Guides used MUCH BETTER RESULTS and Very Interesting Sights & History NOT Offered on HAL Tours!   High Class Pinnacle Restaurant on the Zuiderdam Big Disappointment for last night's Family Meal.  Sports Deck Equipment very used and worn out..shuffleboard court unplayable due to abrasive deck, ship's staff not helpful in remedy of sports...Entertainment selections @ 50% ..1/2 good, other 1/2 below average.

Great service, the best food that I have ever had on a cruise. This was my 11th cruise. The cabanas in the retreat area were fantastic. I felt completely spoiled in the cabanas. The pinnacle restaurant was wonderful. We went back another night because the food and service were so good. The entertainment on the ship was great. The mentalist, comedian, and zuiderdam dancers and singers very good. The shows were the best we have seen while on a cruise. I would recommend this ship because of the great food and service.

trip was fine, but food has gone downhill.  prime rib was tough.  (prime rib is NEVER tough)  all steaks thin and hard to cook rare.  food on lido deck  was

better than restaurant.  Loved the canal.

We would not choose Holland America Cruise Ships after this trip, although the staff was extremely excellent! We thought we had a on board credits for something but there were none.. they only had a $250 coupon book for services we don't use. We paid for everything and they did not have a beverage package, we paid for water in our room and the food was not that great and very disappointing.

 This cruise was fabulous, the cabin was clean and the space was well used.

 The waitstaff were responsive to anything we requested. 

In fact, we had so much fun at our table that the waiters you stand around our table because we laughed so hard, and often

 They were few things  which I would find needs improvement communication is one  of those there was a lot of miscommunication as far as what we would be doing and dressing for dinner.  The announcements we did not hear.  Food was great many choices. Drinks were well watered down 

i didn't mind.   

  Occasionally  we would encounter a passenger or a crewmember a little cranky however they were few and far between everybody was so polite and so happy on this cruise.