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Holland America Line

MS Zuiderdam

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Merilyn Lethbridge
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: October 30, 2004
Itinerary: Caribbean

As my first cruise ever I would rate my overall experience as amazing. Coming on to the ship I had no clue what was to be expected and I was, on a day-to-day basis wowed and amazed at the ships beauty. I would definitely suggest to people to take this cruise. Holland America has a standard of excellence at providing the cruise vacation of a lifetime. It really opened my eyes to new things and I would choose Holland America over any other cruise line any day. I hope to go back again either as a passenger or as part of the cruise staff, which is something I think, I would like to do.

There were a lot of public areas located throughout the ship. They were all very comfortable and visually appealing. I personally enjoyed the Queens Lounge and the Vista Lounge. The two pools were very nice with hot tubs and underwater speakers. The casino was very big with a wide variety of slots and games to be played.

The food service was wonderful. There was a buffet on deck, which was pretty much opened all day. You could walk in there at any time whether it is for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a little snack. There were several dining rooms located on the ship; I personally only ate at one. It had amazing five-star food and the service was excellent.

I shared a cabin with three other members of my family and still I found the cabin to have an excellent amount of closet space, a comfortable bathroom with a fairly big shower. It was overall pretty quiet in the cabins; we had a lovely verandah, which gave us a gorgeous view of the passing scenery and ports of call.

I attended pretty much all of the shows while on board. The shows were amazing; from Edge the hilarious juggler with his show of the evolution of manipulation to the musical Broadway shows which were very high energy and visually appealing. I would rate the overall quality of the cruise staff and entertainers as fabulous. The cruise staff and entertainers had a lot of energy and enthusiasm. They were friendly, down to earth people with a funny sense of humor.

The four ports of call we stopped at were: Half Moon Cay, St.Thomas, Tortola and Freeport. There were a lot of activities available at all the ports of call. Onboard the ship there was always something to do whether it be just relaxing by the pool, going to the library, internet cafe, spa & salon, casino, dancing, dinner shows, the list went on and on. You could do as little or as much as you liked.

My fellow passengers aboard the ship were a group of wonderful people. Passing through the hallways everyone said hello to each other. You could strike up a conversation with anyone because everyone was extremely friendly. I think the people I cruised with were some of the nicest and friendliest people I have ever come in contact with.