Zuiderdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,028 reviews

Some bumps in the water

Review for Norwegian Fjords Cruise on Zuiderdam
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kwebster58
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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

We left on the Zuiderdam’s July 7, 2018 sailing for a two week cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark visiting Norway, Iceland, The Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands. We flew a day in advance so as to make certain we would feel refreshed for boarding. We stayed at the Clarion Airport hotel which was an easy walk with luggage from the airport. We checked in and walked half way between the hotel and the airport and took the metro to the city center our first afternoon. From there we did a boat ride through / around downtown.

We left for the airport check in the next morning around 10:45 am. Boarding the bus was straightforward and we arrived at the pier around 11:30 am. The check in process was also smooth. We were on the ship within half an hour. The cabins were available by the time we got on (noonish). The weather was warm and we had specifically packed our bathing suits for the pool. Excellent check in experience.

The ship is looking a little worn. The benches in the hallway by the elevators are just pure ugly and chipped. The corridor artwork is also old and outdated. As far as maintenance, there were a few issues. Some of the arrows above the elevators are burnt out. You cannot tell if the elevator is headed up or down. The reading light by my bed was also burnt out. The wooden door that covers the mini fridge had screws that had been pulled out from the frame. Also, during the voyage, maintenance staff were sanding down the metal door frames to each cabin and repainting them. The screeching from the sanding was annoying and I had to request that they stop so I could take an afternoon nap. They obliged. (It seems to me that since this ship just recently came out of dry dock, that would have been the place and time to address these issues.)

Cabin Review

Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom

Cabin VC

As for the room, we were in Verandah stateroom 8143. This was a fan tail cabin with a large balcony and great view off the back of the ship. The storage space for two was adequate for a 2 week cruise. The placement of the closet was directly opposite the bathroom door, so it became clear right away, if someone was in the bathroom, it needed to be stated that the other person was in the closet so as not to be bumped / hurt. The hallway past the bathroom and the closet opened up into the main part of the cabin. What was nice here is that there was a curtain separating these two parts of the cabin. So, if one person came back to the cabin after the other was asleep, cloths could be changed in this part of the room without disrupting the other person’s sleep. The bathroom door open could provide enough light for getting into and out of the closet space. Speaking of which, the cabin lighting itself was rather low with the balcony curtains being shut. A couple of tips here… get some magnetic hooks (mine support 14 lbs.). Hook space is limited with two in the bathroom and two in the main part of the cabin. Also, I brought along a motion sensor light to provide more light in the hallway entrance so as to avoid turning on the cabin lights and awaking the ‘other person’. This worked out really well, especially with the hallway curtain. Also, I brought along some battery operated tea lights so that the other person could find the desk / table space in the dark. Unfortunately, this cabin sits directly below the pool areas of the deck above. So, there was some noise that would happen around 8:00ish when deck chairs were being placed. Luckily this was a cool weather trip so deck chairs were not put out daily. But, this is just a note to be prepared. If you are an early riser, like myself, this is not a problem. We had a burnt out reading light and the screws had come off the door cover to the mini fridge. Both of these were maintenance issue that were addressed within 1 day. PS, we had two room stewards who were outstanding. Thank you to Anggi and Risar.

Port Reviews

Torshavn (Faroe Islands)

This was a ride to a small community in the Northern Eysturoy - Gjoov

This was way in the middle on nowhere. Would not really recommend.

Lerwick (Shetland Islands)

Pleasant visit here. Good souvenir shops. Went to the Scalloway castle which was not very impressive, but enjoyed seeing Shetland ponies.

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