Zuiderdam

2024 World cruise/Holland America Zuiderdam

March

Pros: The crew are the BEST in the industry. They work hard to remember you and your preferences, your name and to make the voyage as special as they can. The ship was not full which made it even easier to find your own space and enjoy the activities or spend quiet time.

Cons: Menus are substantial but food is not consistently hot or cooked as you prefer. Live entertainment (from off the ship) is four nights a week plus the singers/dancers on the main stage = five nights a week - then a movie and it may be dark one night or a cultural show. Entertainment was good to very good (there is also the Rolling Stone Lounge, the Billboard/piano players, Explorers Lounge and Ocean Bar trio). This ship was not built for a world cruise so closet space is limited. When you ask, they provide portable drawers and clothing racks.

Recommended: No

1st time sailing with Holland America

October

Pros: The Itinerary, scheduled activities and the Staff

Cons: Food in the Lido Market could be hotter.

Recommended: No

When you cruise this many days, you get to know the staff well. This is where Holland America shines. All the ships staff, starting with the Dining Staff that met us the first evening and remembered and greeted us each day by name, to the beverage staff who smiled and knew our favorite beverages, to all the Friendly Guest Service staff who also remembered our names, room number and ready for whatever question or request that was thrown at them. Last by not least our cabin stewards, maybe I'm biased but ours were the best. We enjoyed the choices of food in the Main Dining Room and the Lido Market. In the Main Dining Room, you can choose to have fixed dining or open dining. We preferred to do open dining and share tables with others doing the same. The specialty dining includes the Canaletto and Pinnacle. Going back to the question on what do you do on Sea Days? Every day you have a full list of activities to choose from. Port talks, Pickleball, various exercise classes, Guest Presenters from the Grand Voyage Lecture Series, Bridge Lessons, Creative Writing Class, Art and Crafts, How to Paint with Watercolor and Trivia, to name a few. Add that with meeting with new friends to play games/cards/chess or puzzles in the Crow's Nest. At night, you can choose nightly entertainment on the World Stage, Dueling Piano players singing to your requests at the Billboard, and listening to a band at the Rolling Stones Lounge or The Ocean Bar. The Itinerary/ports were simply amazing and some more than others. Each place had something different to offer and it was all part of the experience. The excursions or tours were well organized and offered exciting adventures. Most ports included a shuttle service. Guest services and those behind the scenes made sure that we had all the proper documentation to visit these countries, kept us organized for Face-to-Face Immigrations, etc. Captain Friso would do an announcement at noon, starting each one with "Good Afternoon, It's Me", briefing us for each port, potential problems or concerns, telling us of the reasons behind canceled ports. You could tell that he and Holland America did not take these things lightly and that the safety of the passengers came 1st. This is the smallest ship we have sailed on but a perfect size for this voyage. It is an older ship in the fleet but well cared for. A beautiful, classy ship. On port days, the banner hanging from the promenade railing in big bold letters said WELCOME HOME. And that sums up how we felt, we were home.

Fall trip

October

Pros: The staff did an excellent job

Cons: Due to size of ship it doesn’t have as many restaurants as larger ships

Recommended: Yes

Our porters treated us like royalty. The servers were very friendly and helpful.

Holland America Mariners

September

Pros: Great food, great entertainment, good service, good selection of ports

Cons: none

Recommended: Yes

Have traveled with Holland America several times, always well satisfied with this Cruise Line. Needed additional help on the last day and received that help immediately - fell needed help getting up, needed a wheelchair which was obtained immediately.

Nice Cruise

September

Pros: Lido food was awesome. Entertainment was fantastic. Piano bar and main theater!

Cons: need more choices at dinner for food. staff to speak better english.need newer ships.

Recommended: Yes

Really loved the entertainment. Piano bar and main theater. Staff was good. Need newer ships.

Canada-New England tour

September

Pros: Food, excellent service, beautiful ship and scenery

Cons: Excursions were long bus.rides.

Recommended: Yes

Extra night in Quebec City was the best part of the trip. The hotel was exceptional. Acadia National park tour was too long, would have enjoyed more time in Bar Harbor. Bay of Fundy trip was also much too long and food was less than adequate,disappointing at best.

5th cruise is the best

September

Pros: Food, customer service

Cons: Not enough activities on the "at sea" day.

Recommended: Yes

We like the mid-size ship. Overall, Holland America is our preferred cruise choice.

50th anniversary celebration

May

Pros: Great table steward. Dining room food was excellent. Staff amazingly friendly, helpful and happy

Cons: Lido good same every day will few changes. entertainment lacked variety.

Recommended: No

Cantara and the dance troop were excellent entertainment. Other than that, if you did not visit a bar in the evening, there was no entertainment. The afternoon movies were a great distraction however, they were shown in a room that had too many obstructions. There weren’t very many seats that were on obstructed. So we stopped going to the movies. the lectures were excellent a lot of great information and a very good speaker.

Extraordinary

September

Pros: Everything about the ship was excellent

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

The Activities Director, Kimberly was amazing in her presentations! All of our ports and shore excursions were wonderful. Don’t ever miss the Tracy Arm Inlet excursion! Was our highlight as well as having sunshine everyday! Glacier Bay was special as we experienced Sawyer Glacier which few ever get to see. Even first time for our captain. They extend a few permits after the first of September.

Alaska

August

Pros: All the workers were top notch.

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

My first cruise & it was very enjoyable!!! All the workers were very friendly & greeted you as we passed one another. Clean ship & was kept clean.

Excellent experience

July

Pros: Spotless ship, very friendly and helpful staff

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Cabin with veranda deck view made for a wonderful 1st cruise experience

Denali, Klondike, land tour with inner passage cruise

July

Pros: The cruise portion was well executed, all staff extremely friendly and accommodating

Cons: Lodging at Dawson City was not in hotel with dining. Requied a 6 block walk to hotel with dining to be able to use meal vouchers. Klondike Spirit non operational due to high water

Recommended: Yes

Felt that our land tour guide/coordinator could have made more of an effort to determine the needs and expectations of the various members of our group. .The Klondike Spirit cruise was touted as part of the tour but hadn't been launched for the season due to high water. While this is beyond anyone's control it should have been explained along with how to navigate Dawson City and arrange walking tours and other activities. Similar experience with Gerties and the touted Can-Can show. Gerties was closed the Monday and Tuesday we were there. We did arrange a guided tour through the city's information center that was very good. I would have thought that the Denali Wildlife excursion would have included the Park Visitor Center. A transportation shuttle was available but was not well explained. Our driver from Dawson City to Skagway "Jimmy" was great, very knowledgeable and informative.

February holiday

February

Pros: Decent vegan food, great embarkation and disembarkation, quiet atmosphere, older crowd of people

Cons: Poor library, some Navigator app functions do not work

Recommended: Yes

Have never met a more friendly crew as those on this ship, always smiling even though they work exceptionally hard to make life good for all the passengers. An older crowd seems to enjoy hanging out on the ship. Not for passengers who like a noisy, busy, busy vacation. Would definitely sail with Holland America again.

Holland Amercia

February

Pros: Wonderful staff...friendly, helpful,hard working

Cons: Not enough activities.

Recommended: Yes

Very clean, easy on and departure. Loved the dance shows, the Lincoln Center performers, and the comedians.

Panama Canal and Caribbean ports

November

Pros: Wonderful lectures accompanied by slide shows by Lance, activities director. The crew was extremely attentive. Food was wonderful!!!!

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

The crew members were very attentive and happy to help you. The captain was often seen walking around, interacting with the guests and crew. One waiter even mentioned that Captain Wourter was the best captain he had worked under. Entertainment was great. Food was great. I think I would do it again! I could hardly believe how difficult it was to get the canal built!! I rally is a wonder of the world!!!

Trip Review

September

Pros: Professional, friendly and helpful staff and crew. Very clean.. Food good not exceptional.

Cons: Activities and main stage shows not as professional as expected.

Recommended: Yes

Overall a good trip.

HAL Voyage of the Vikings on Zuiderdam

July

Pros: The CREW and the ITINERARY.

Cons: BB King Blues too loud with staterooms nearby/above/below hearing them -

Recommended: No

17 Day Voyage of the Vikings, Rotterdam to Boston

July

Pros: Fabulous itinerary, excellent shore excursion team, welcoming staff

Cons: No self-serve laundry, very limited passenger diversity

Recommended: Yes

The ship is lovely, the staff friendly and helpful, and the itinerary magnificent. But the overwhelming majority of passengers were old, affluent, white people. My husband and I fit this demographic and we would consider taking another cruise with Holland America. However, we would pick a more family focused cruise line if our trip included our children and grandchildren.

Baltic Sea

June

Pros: Excellent service and staff, food, entertainment

Cons: Bathroom needs a night light

Recommended: Yes

I recommend this cruise for everyone of all ages.

Baltic adventure

April

Pros: Staff, ship, ports, overlands

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

We certainly like this ship, staff are great, food is good, entertainment is also great....no negatives from us

Holland America Cruise Vacation

March

Pros: Promenade deck to walk and sit to enjoy the ocean.

Cons: No organized bridge games. Same Oprah book as a year ago. Test kitchen same recipes as a year ago.

Recommended: No

Fabulous trip!

February

Pros: Itinerary was excellent, took some good tours, especially Cartagena old town "less shopping" tour. Also had an excellent experience with a wildlife boat tour in Panama. Our guide (I believe Juan) was so passionate and wanted to share his knowledge so much, that it became a really phenomenal experience. The walking tour in Costa Rica was also very good. I liked the on-board activities like the various trivia (the asst. cruise director did a good job). Also, the BB King group was very, very good and did a great job of getting people up to dance. Only suggestion is to expand their playlist a bit. The more educational talks given by the crew were also interesting. More of those would be good.

Cons: Only real complaint I had was of the "excursion director" (not certain of his real title). His performance on stage was good, but his individual interactions with guests was, at times, not good. I already wrote about specifics on my on ship comment card.

Recommended: Yes

See above!

Great service..fun staff..lots of room

February

Pros:

Cons: Cold in mainstage and test kitchen; local port info presentation could be better

Recommended: No

Cruise of the Panama Canal

February

Pros: Great sevice all during the cruise

Cons: Adventure Tour in Costa Rica was uncomfortable and not worthwhile

Recommended: Yes

Some of the adventure tours were not up to what was described for the adventure but the guides had energy and did their best.

one of the best!!

February

Pros: food, cabin, service, tours

Cons: none

Recommended: Yes

Wonderful trip

October

Pros: Very friendly

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

Enjoyed every port and all times on ship. Top notch!!

10 Day cruise on the Baltic Sea

July

Pros: Wonderful Attentive Staff! Love the Balcony on the Neptune Suite! Good selection of Entertainment during our Cruise. Great options for dining!

Cons: Felt a bit rushed at some of the ports.

Recommended: Yes

Overall, this was a amazing Cruise! So many wonderful moments and memories!

Panama canal cruise on ms Zuiderdam

December

Pros: Recent renovation

Cons: Doesn't have the midship Asian restaurant that the more recent bigger HAL ships have

Recommended: Yes

Although the ship is about 20 years old it received recently a renovation and the cabins (at least my Verandah storeroom) have recent flat screen TV's with wireless connectivity. Also the crows nest (upper most deck near the bow) has several large touch screen tables that display interactive information about the cruise ports.

Everything was perfect

December

Pros: Food room limited passengers few children great musical shows on time leaving and in every port. Dry cleaning great. People were caring and friendly

Cons: Everything was perfect. Beautiful ship and amenities

Recommended: Yes

Excursions were great. Food excellent. In lido deck and dining room. Off shore meals good. A few more variations of fish and more vegan meals would help But I wouldn't change much December 2017

Everything was perfect

December

Pros: Food room limited passengers few children great musical shows on time leaving and in every port. Dry cleaning great. People were caring and friendly

Cons: Everything was perfect. Beautiful ship and amenities

Recommended: Yes

Excursions were great. Food excellent. In lido deck and dining room. Off shore meals good. A few more variations of fish and more vegan meals would help But I wouldn't change much December 2017

A Great Trip

October

Pros: Food was superb as was the staff and service. Since we went through Immigration in Bal Harbor, getting off in Ft Lauderdale was a breeze.

Cons: Ship was very cold. Went to dry dock after we arrived so perhaps there was a problem.

Recommended: Yes

Perfect trip when you can get off the ship and be home shortly thereafter. Limited daytime activities as very few sea days... fine with me...

colorcruise

September

Pros: good service, everywhere on the ship

Cons: don,t have any, love this company!

Recommended: Yes

ports of call on this tour are just super. the sailaway fromNewYork at night, oh my!! going down the Cabot trail in NovaScotia, the scenery, wow! and Boston, just super. every stop on this cruise was a winner and all the brew pubs, good times.

Great Cruise!

April

Pros: Excellent service; respectful and efficient staff; great food!

Cons: Pools on the ship were too cold

Recommended: Yes

Highly recommended!

Exceeded expectations... mostly

March

Pros: Holland America?? TYVM. Staff was even better than other cruises !!! Awesome service and dining. Loved the dining. Service was exceptional. One show was full audience standing ovation, The Island Magic Steel Band

Cons: Unsafe cabin hallway sub-floors needed repair on several decks.

Recommended: Yes

Excellent cabin stewards (Sugi). Chefs and Dining staff (Widy, Daru, Mario) above expectations! The Asst Dining Room Manager was an excellent leader by example, ever present and always smiling. Only disappointment was the sub floor "divots" in the cabin hallways. Our Panama Canal Cruise was a fabulous experience and loved all the excursions! But it was the continued service that I appreciated most. Thank You Very Much Holland America for returning my phone by express mail when I left it in my stateroom as we exited the ship. Now that is exceptional service!!! The show: Island Magic Steel Drum Band got thunderous applause and total audience standing ovations at both appearances. You have got to see their Beethoven and Beyond collection!

Exceeded expectations... mostly

March

Pros: Holland America?? TYVM. Staff was even better than other cruises !!! Awesome service and dining. Loved the dining. Service was exceptional. One show was full audience standing ovation, The Island Magic Steel Band

Cons: Unsafe cabin hallway sub-floors needed repair on several decks.

Recommended: Yes

Excellent cabin stewards (Sugi). Chefs and Dining staff (Widy, Daru, Mario) above expectations! The Asst Dining Room Manager was an excellent leader by example, ever present and always smiling. Only disappointment was the sub floor "divots" in the cabin hallways. Our Panama Canal Cruise was a fabulous experience and loved all the excursions! But it was the continued service that I appreciated most. Thank You Very Much Holland America for returning my phone by express mail when I left it in my stateroom as we exited the ship. Now that is exceptional service!!! The show: Island Magic Steel Drum Band got thunderous applause and total audience standing ovations at both appearances. You have got to see their Beethoven and Beyond collection!

Relaxing experience.

February

Pros: Food and service were excellent

Cons: Could have had more and better night shows

Recommended: Yes

Best staff I have ever encountered... Friendly and efficient. Beds were cozy... Staterooms were ample. If looking for a relaxing cruise, I would highly recommend this one. If you're a party animal, it's not for you.

About What I Expected

December

Pros: Good Service

Cons: Entertainment lacking, movie theater too small to accommodate so many who want to go

Recommended: Yes

Fair

Sailing on top of the earth

August

Pros: Great itinerary, nice pace with sea days and excellent geological and cultural lectures of countries visited

Cons: Ship air is very dry. During storm at sea - we experienced flooding on the verandah and very wet carpeting.

Recommended: Yes

Tremendous Value!

Copenhagen trip

August

Pros: Great suite, wonderful staff

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Third trip with Holland. Very satisfied.

24 Day Cruise

May

Pros: Staff was excellent, number of stops provided a lot of variety, ship was always clean, dining options were good

Cons: Very poor and expensive wifi, daily hotel service charge over and above what you have already paid, way over priced beverage packages, over priced shore excursions through Holland America with absolutely no assistance when other options are available

Recommended: Yes

We very much enjoyed our twenty-four day cruise stopping at so many places that we have always wanted to see. Our biggest frustration was there was so much to see and so little time to see and do everything that we wanted to see and do. Holland America should consider including wifi as it is becoming a necessity rather than a luxury.

Baltic Cruise

May

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

The cruise ship is catered for adults.

10 day trip to the Panama Canal

April

Pros: Excellent food and service level

Cons: Old leather chair in room- verandah deck floor and windows dirty

Recommended: Yes

Cabin stewards could not have been more helpful and pleasant. Food in their dining room and restaurants was excellent. However, in the Lido restaurant a station for less exotic and lower sodium food would be welcome. The make your own salad station was great!

11 Day Southern Caribbean & Panama Canal Cruise

April

Pros: Great staff and experience

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Ship had a couple of medical emergencies on board which they handled great, including a Coast Guard helicopter medical evac off Cuba on last day

Panama Canal Cruise

March

Pros: The staff treated us like kings and queens.

Cons: The food was good but not delicious. About what you'd expect when serving so many people at one time.

Recommended: Yes

Overall, we had a fantastic time. The destinations were good and the sea days were fun too. The staff went over and above to make it a trip of a lifetime.

Panama Canal

March

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Had a wonderful time. Entertainment and Food was great.

Panama Canal Cruise

January

Pros:

Cons: Ship changed time at 3:00 in the afternoon

Recommended: Yes

Great cruise--staff very efficient and friendly. Food was excellent with a good variety.

Cruise Experience

January

Pros: Food, Staff, Room

Cons: Entertainment, Activities

Recommended: Yes

Have cruised with Holland America many times over the years. On this ship found the entertainment and activities to be very lacking compared to other cruises.

Panama Canal

December

Pros: HAL, especially at the Nepturn Suite level, provides excellent accomodations,service and great food,

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

Best of Bonaire tour was disappointing-not much to see. The salt ponds were the only interesting feature. Panama Canal tour met all expectations; we were very happy with the bus trip to Miraflores-our guide, Jill, was excellent. Veragua-Eco Tour was more physically demanding than advertised. It's a must see when in Costa Rica, but 4 hours on my feet after two back surgeries was tough.

Last minute cruise

December

Pros: Good ship, excellent staff, plenty of choice in dining

Cons: Not much choice in cabins

Recommended: Yes

Pleasantly supprised at the quality of the Zuiderdam. Everything about it was comfortable. Plenty of space to relax, lots of varied entertainment, great alternative restaurants and wonderful presentation in all venues.The staff was attentative and most pleasant.

A Wonderful Ten Day Experience at Sea

November

Pros: Our Pinnacle Suite was superb, the food and service in the dining room and specialty restaurant excellent,and the service from our concierges and room stewards responsive and unobtrusive.

Cons: Having to disembark.

Recommended: Yes

From the time we arrived at the port prior to our embarkation to the time we completed going through Customs, everything was perfect. Holland American thought of everything.

Zuiderdam cruise

August

Pros: The itinerary was excellent. We enjoyed all the ports. The public rooms and elevators and promenade decks were lovely. There were beautiful large bouquets of fresh flowers here and there which added a lot to the ambiance. The dining room was comfortable and attractive and the service was excellent. Our waiter was a charmer and very attentive. We had two excellent shows: a mime/magician who was incredible and very entertaining, and a local singing and dancing troupe from Kotor, Monte Negro, who performed native dances in a great variety of beautiful costumes. One other show we enjoyed was put on by Philippine staff members, doing native singing and dancing in costume.

Cons: We were disappointed in our stateroom. It was very cramped and shabby. Supposedly a cabin for 3 people, it had 2 1/2 closets, two small 2-drawer chests, and in the evening when the beds were made up, one could not get out to the balcony without stepping on the pullout sofa, which we did not do. There was no room for the extra chair or sofa table, nor for my rollator walker, which I put in the bathtub, until I found out I could call and have it taken away overnight and delivered back in the morning. The door to the balcony was very heavy to open and couldn't be kept open the way sliding doors would have been. We had to make do with a folding chair for the dressing table. Other cons were: the food was not as good as I have had on Celebrity ships and even Norwegian line ships. The breads, hors d'ouevres and desserts were the best food items. It was difficult to orient oneself on the ship. There was very poor signage, indicating forward and aft, port and starboard. The day we left the ship we wanderered all over trying to find which way to get off and were afraid of missing our airport bus.

Recommended: Yes

I feel that on the whole the cruise was a success. We had a good time both on and off the ship, with interesting ports, a pleasant swim at the end of the day and a good dinner, nicely served, with family. We often caught several minutes of classical music in one of the lounges after dinner. My granddaughter enjoyed the Memphis blues night club and some of us tried our luck ( not good) in the casino. We patronized some of the shops on the ship. We also appreciated having a card room. I enjoyed walking around the promenade deck. So many ships nowadays don't have a walk that goes all the way around.

FAMILY TIES

March

Pros: GOOD WEATHER, FOOD AND ENTERTAINMENT

Cons: NONE

Recommended: Yes

ESPECIALLY ENJOYED THE TRAIN AND BOAT TRIP AND BANANA PLANTATION IN COSTA RICO.

Out of the cold in February!

February

Pros: Great itinerary- Panama Canal, Costa Rica, etc. If you have limited mobility HAL goes out of the way to assist both on the ship and with land excursionson. Entertainment was very good - both shows and music on board.

Cons: Ship is due for refit in April, some of the maintenance ( paint on the outside, upholstery in the Lido) was let go. Definitely an older crowd ( my wife and I are mid 60's.)

Recommended: Yes

The cabin and service on board was excellent. Food could be better including a better menu in the Pinnacle ( great space and service was over the top). Did not like having to buy water to take off ship at with tropical ports. First time on HAL- they do a good job.

Tanya's review

January

Pros: Beautiful ship, excellent food, great service

Cons: Forward cabin loud and shakey in rough seas

Recommended: Yes

Loved the whole thing. Thank you for arranging it.

The Joys of Sailing as a couple in their late 80's

October

Pros: A vey helpful and friendly wait staff; a very efficient medical staff; fantastic room stewards; an extremely talented Cruise Director Dave Shae; a very knowledgeable Bridge Instructor

Cons: Early seating too early at 5:15 p.m.; loveseat in stateroom needs new upholstery

Recommended: Yes

Over the years we have enjoyed our cruises on Holland America Line's ships, as well as this cruise on the MS Zuiderdam. Our favorite was our cruise with our 15-year-old grandson on the Prinsendam from Rome to Amsterdam in June/July of 2007.

Panama Cruise 2014

March

Pros: Restful cruise plenty of on ship time

Cons: We were discouraged from touring ourselves, much pressure to book ship tours

Recommended: Yes

If there was a problem it was with the hard sale of the cruise tours, they used the scare tactic and lied to the onboard passengers saying there was nothing to do in ports other then their tour. I took offense to these tactics and lies.

HAL Zuiderdam Panama Canal 12/9/2013

December

Pros: Friendliness and attitude of the staff and very good food & entertainment

Cons: The ship is looking a little tired.

Recommended: No