Zuiderdam
by
Bob
Eastern Caribbean
December 21, 2002
As in all new ships the staff/stewards needs to work
out their routines. This should have been done prior
to the first sailing. Perhaps a seasoned staff would
have been a better approach. Most of their efforts
seemed uncoordinated. For us the selection of The
Zuiderdam on this their secong weekly voyage, would
have been better put off until the ship had been in
service for a good while, in order for all to get
their act together. The lack of attentiveness and
abundance of indifference was quite apparent and not
at all like the other HAL ships. The lower dining
room vibrated all during dinner and was a
distraction to normal conversation. The Odessey
dining room was another experience. Three times to
get the filet mignon cooked properly and then a much
smaller portion than originally ordered was
provided. The Rotterdam had this one down pat.
Article continues below
The
photo gallery was another dispaapointment. Original
order was incorectly done and cancelled at my
request only to find that I was re-billed for a
re-do and then not notified that the redone product
was available for pickup. Sounds like a recharge
without delivering the goods.Read your final billing
is my advice. Stay away from the (dining room)
Puerto Rican version of Paella, Taco Bell can do a
better job. My general impression is that on these
shorter (7 day cruises) HAL is trying to (willingly
or not) pattern itself after some of the things I
dislike about their parent "Carnival". Now the good-
The ship was quite nice with ample cabin space and
good views from within.
