The Zuiderdam is a lovely ship. She is a little worn in spots, but still attractive and her age (8 years) did not detract from our enjoyment. Overall, she is in meticulous shape.
Alex and I splurged and had corner aft suite 5190. We chose this stateroom because of it's enormous, fully covered balcony. Our hope was to share it with the entire family, and we had many opportunities to do so. We don't regret our decision one bit, it was worth every penny we paid. We've sailed in a suite once before on HAL's Westerdam, facing port side. The non-corner suite rooms are slightly larger (as if we didn't have enough room with this one!), but the balconies are not nearly as big. As has been our experience on HAL before, our bed was amazingly comfy. Falling asleep was no issue, getting out of our cocoon each morning was difficult! Yudi, our stateroom attendant, was wonderful.
When traveling in a suite on HAL, you have access to the Neptune Lounge and concierge service. During our previous cruise in a suite on HAL, these services were WONDERFUL. Being tucked in a suite at the back of the ship, two floors down from the other suites and the Neptune Lounge, we felt severely neglected. Our attempts to engage the help of the concierge for several things failed miserably. Several of our phone calls early on during the trip went completely unanswered, no voicemail to even leave a message, nothing. That should have been our first clue.
Our dining room experience was just mediocre, which has not been the norm for us on HAL. We had two tables of 6 in the dining room, which were diagonal from each other and became annoying early on. The two tables also had different wait staff. The last two nights of the trip several of us switched places with each other so we could dine with others in our party. Our waitstaff, for the most part, did an ok job. They really doted on the kids, which was fun. Our bar/wine steward was a joke, often leaving us waiting for 15 minutes or more at the end of dinner to sign our bar tab.
The "Master Chef" dinner on the last night was ridiculous. Part of the menu is fixed, and it included things such as mushroom pate which aren't geared toward the average palate. The waiters all pranced around at various times through the meal, and I felt sorry for them. They are busy and have a hard job to do (that they usually do quite well), and HAL has put an additional burden on them. They have also eliminated Dutch night, which Alex and I both previously loved. The menu that night included both Dutch and Indonesian selections and we were sad not to see them this trip. I hope enough people complain, and they at minimum remove the Master Chef's dinner, if not also returning Dutch night.
The Lido (buffet) was really good. However, the way it is set up is a bit confusing, and they do not have trays to carry your food. So you end up getting your meal, finding a table, and going back for your drinks, etc. The Lido always had a wide variety at lunch. My favorites were the salad, sandwich, and Asian stations. It was so nice to have a relatively lighter meal compared to what we were eating in the dining room each night. We also tried the Lido for dinner once and while not great, it sufficed fine. Both the chicken dishes and the Asian items in the Lido got many rave reviews.
All but one morning we had breakfast delivered to our room. Having coffee (which on HAL is really good) brought to you while still in your pajamas makes the mornings so much easier! You request what you'd like the night before, and hang it out on your doorknob. The menu is pretty basic, various breads, pastries, cereals, and eggs. You can write in additional items and if they can accommodate your request, they will. The only thing we tried writing in was eggs bennedict, and our request was granted.
Mom and Tom had no major issues getting gluten-free food. I haven't talked at length to them about it, but as long as they ate their meals in the dining room they were accommodated and the menu had variety. Tom was bold early in the trip and ate at the Lido several times. He mistakenly glutened himself one evening, and religiously went to the dining room to eat after that.
Several in our party found the nightlife on HAL a little disappointing. It severely lacked variety, and HAL really drops the ball entertaining people in their 30's and 40's. It didn't bother Alex and I so much, as we are just looking for a place to get one or two after dinner drinks before crashing for the night. But for night owls, I concur that it leaves a lot to be desired. Oh, and the piano bar guy was a tool. Who doesn't know any Phil Collins? (see Tom, I told you I would be sure to mention that!)
This was Alex and my fifth cruise, and we've yet to make the shows in the theater each night a priority. We just aren't the singing, dancing, & show tunes type, and are spoiled by often partaking in Chicago's theater offerings. We did see one show this trip, a magician and his dog, which was a lot of fun. Others in the family enjoyed the offerings in the theater on several nights.
Club HAL, the kid's club, was fantastic. The four kids traveling with us really enjoyed it. Kevin preferred to hang out with the adults most of the time, but the girls were always asking when they could go back to the club. The three of them became well known among the staff on the ship, with one person or another always stopping them in the hall to inquire about their day. Big thumbs up to the Kid's Club staff.
Other than the evening trivia once or twice, Alex and I didn't partake in any of the daily ship activities. Compared to Caribbean cruises, the offerings were thin and geared toward the much older, or much younger, crowd. We were so busy with ports and spending time with the family, that it wasn't until the end of the cruise that we even noticed the daily activities were lacking a bit. But when we reviewed the daily programs, we realized we hadn't missed much.
Would Alex and I sail HAL a fourth time? Probably.
Would we consider sailing other lines again? Probably.
(except Royal Caribbean, that is)
This wasn't our best cruise with HAL by far, but it was a lot better than our worst cruise experience (which was on Royal Caribbean many years ago). Celebrity is another line we have sailed and until now we'd considered them a close second to HAL. After this trip we'd rank HAL on par with Celebrity, if not giving Celebrity a slight nudge ahead. We'd probably even consider Princess if the web wasn't oozing with complaints about their coffee (and a few other things).
Moe
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