Zuiderdam Review

Iceland was the highlight

Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on Zuiderdam
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Dawn Poore
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

Rating by category

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jul 2018
Cabin: Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom

We chose this cruise for the itinerary. It was our first time on Holland America, which we feel is not as good as our favorite cruise line, Princess. We loved all of the ports on this cruise. The drop down boxes above didn't give me the choice to say this was the Northern Isles cruise. We visited two ports in Norway, spent 5 days in 4 ports in Iceland (overnight in Reykjavik), and stopped at the Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands. We spent a day in Copenhagen before boarding, visiting Tivoli Gardens. Boarding was smooth, and we were very pleasantly surprised that our room was ready when we arrived. The ship was recently refurbished, but we did not see much evidence of it. Our room was standard issue cruise cabin, which we expected. The bathroom needed serious attention: the toilet seat had deep scratches, as did the bathtub. It was just very tired looking. We chose Open Seating for our dining option. Our cruise consultant assured us we would be able to make 6 PM reservations, but once on the ship we found we could not. The choices in the dining room and in the buffet did not offer much variation. Room service kept bringing me decaf tea when I requested regular, so I finally gave up. Canaletto, the $15 per person Italian restaurant, was a disappointment. It's located at one end of the buffet, so it doesn't seem in any way special. The food was no different in quality or variety than the regular dining room. The entertainment in the Main Stage was okay. We've seen better on Princess and Royal Caribbean. Activities on sea days were disappointing. Talks on upcoming ports were given once, so if you couldn't make it you were out of luck. Seems like it would be simple enough to record them and give the option of watching them on the TV in one's room. Our room stewards were great! Always attentive and very helpful. The buffet staff and dinner waiters were also outstanding. Breakfast and lunch waiters in the dining room were curt and almost surly, as were some of the room service delivery persons. We took only three cruise line sponsored shore excursions because there just weren't many to choose from. All were very good. We appreciated that Holland America helped us with hearing assistive technology for my husband. One of the three tour operators had a system for him to use. Maybe Holland America could be more pro-active about this. Overall, we enjoyed this cruise very much, mostly because we were able to visit ports that we were interested in. I doubt we would choose Holland America again unless they offered an itinerary that another cruise line does not, as in this case.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom

Cabin VE

As stated above the room was what we expected. The bathroom needs work.

Port Reviews

Copenhagen

We visited Tivoli Gardens the day before we boarded. It was a fun day.

Bergen

The way to the center of town should be more clearly marked. Lunch was $80!

Alesund

We visited the aquarium, which is small but very interesting. A highlight was the Art Nouveau museum. Lots of souvenir shops with made in China stuff.

Akureyri

The hike up the 100 steps to the church is daunting but worth it. We didn't get to see the interior because a funeral was being held. We walked on to the Botanic Garden, which was beautiful.

Isafjord

We booked a private tour with Wild Westfjords tours. Our guide Herbert is a native of Isafjordur, and had many stories that only locals would know. The town is somewhat new to tourism.

Lerwick (Shetland Islands)

Cute town with many opportunities for photos and buying souvenirs. Our shore excursion was very good.

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