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Login Classic nautical finishes, modern amenities and a spectacular art collection make Zuiderdam a continued favourite. Numerous enrichment and entertainment activities keep guests going from the moment they wake on this cruise ship. Explorations Central makes every journey more meaningful with local insights. Music Walk® venues, such as Billboard Onboard, brings the best tunes to the sea. When it comes to dining, there are options for everyone, from steak at the Pinnacle Grill to burgers and fries at the Dive-In to exquisite Italian cuisine at Canaletto.
A wonderful cruise regardless of bad weather. Great food, stateroom, and staff. I'm 88 and seldom go ashore, so it was perfect for me. Not overcrowded or out of control like the Booze Cruises. It was authentic and exactly what I wanted. I've done the Euro at Christmas, a sistership, ready for the fab. upgrade of the Zeider. I was very impressed by the fabulous food selection, Prime Rib, Beef Tenderloin, Lobster, Crab, and on and on. As I travel alone, I met many woderful people, Excellent shows, though way to loud and distorted. I took my hearing aids out and it was still too loud. Getting on and off was difficult as there was not the wheelchair assistance I had on the Euro...I managed with the help of others passengers. I'm fine on board, but can't manage getting on and off. Thank you for a wonderful and classic cruise.
We’re 3 star Mariner Holland America Line (HAL) cruisers (7 cruises). Just finished a Canada cruise (Quebec City, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Nova Scotia (NS, Sydney & Halifax), Portland Maine, Boston) 2026-5-2 to 5-9 on the Zuiderdam. Smooth embarkation at 2:30 pm, not crowded at all. Suite upgrade was nice - 2 desks, couch, 2 sinks, whirlpool bath, shower. May 3-4 weather was 2-9 C, wind gusts 30-40 kts (60-80 km/h), 25-40 mm rain, 1-2 m waves on the Gulf of St Lawrence - little rough. Food was good for the most part. The braised oxtail was superb - tender, velvety from the gelatin rendered out of the oxtail, great gravy. New York steak had good flavor, but chewy. It’s worth the extra US$20 for the 15 oz boneless ribeye (shallot confit, green peppercorn, baked potato, creamed spinach, from the Pinnacle Grill restaurant, but served in the main dining room). Broccoli is often quite overcooked (no Italian chefs on board, so “al dente” is not in their vocabulary). Latte & cappuccino are delicious, but the American coffee is often quite bitter. They need to make fresh coffee more often and invest in some artisan Italian and French roast coffee. Didn’t do any shipboard activities other than the port talks (all very good, in depth history & sightseeing tips) and "behind the scenes" ship talk. Well-stocked library. Really friendly and helpful staff (cabin attendants, dining room, bar, guest services). If you use spa services, be ready for really aggressive up selling. HAL has been quick to fix maintenance issues on all our cruises. They need to pre-punch stateroom key cards for lanyards so you don't need to go to guest services. On PEI, sunny, high 21 C, 30-50 km/h winds. Took the Anne of Green Gables & lobster lunch tour. Not into Anne, but the guide did a great in depth narration of the history, farming (1M acres of farms & dairy on an island 140 miles long) and industry (aerospace, guide said the mechanical arm on the shuttle and space station was built on PEI, but it was actually built in Toronto). At Sydney, NS, mostly cloudy, high 20 C, 50-60 km/h wind gusts. Took Baddeck (bad-DECK), NS & Alexander Graham Bell (AGB) tour. AGB museum closed for renovation (various dates for reopening: fall 2026 or spring 2027). Substituted AGB 1 hr talk at Inverary Resort in Baddeck by Jocelyn Bethune, who worked at the AGB museum for 20 yrs and is the author of "Historic Baddeck". Great talk, passionate speaker, but wish I could have seen the AGB museum, as it has the 2009 Silver Dart airplane replica for the 100th anniversary of the 1909 flight, the original 1919 hydrofoil remains and a replica, his kites and thousands of artifacts about his laboratory and family's life on the Beinn Bhreagh estate. I wouldn't recommend this tour with the talk replacement for the museum. Tall ships tour at Halifax, NS cancelled due to weather (30-40 mm rain, thunderstorm risk, winds gusting to 50-60 km/h). In Portland Maine, took the Best of Maine: Portland Head Light & Kennebunkport excursion. Due to 11 am ship arrival and US customs, excursion didn't leave until 2:30 pm, so went to Kennebunkport first for lunch (lobster rolls & bisque at Allison's Restaurant, excellent!) and walk the town, then the bus did a figure 8 through Kennebunk (residential, west/southwest side of Kennebunk River) and Kennebunkport (resort, east/northeast side of Kennebunk River) to see (too many) houses and the Bush estate, then Portland Head Light. Lunch was the highlight, everything else so-so. While on PEI or in Halifax NS, be sure to visit Cows ice cream (cows.ca website, only accessible while in Canada), best I've ever tasted! Smooth disembarkation at 9:30 am in Boston. Most guests stayed in their cabins until their luggage tag color/# was called, like they're supposed to, so very short line to get off and our luggage was waiting (which is exactly why you wait until called). We stayed in downtown Boston for a couple of days, so took a taxi from the Flynn cruise port to the hotel in downtown Boston (10 minute wait in the taxi line, 15 min drive, 2 people, $27 with tip, Gemini AI app estimated $25-30). Taxis are recommended over Rideshare for two reasons: 1. Rideshare pick up is 0.4 mi from the cruise terminal, 15 min walk with luggage. Massport shuttle bus is free, bus doesn't have any under bus luggage storage, so you need to lift your suitcases up the bus stairs and down the aisle (the Google summary doesn't mention the latter, but the Gemini AI app does). 2. Rideshare isn't metered like taxis, so the usual $15-25 cost for a mid-sized vehicle to downtown Boston jumps to $40-70 with surge pricing when 1,900 guests get off the ship at once. HAL cabin power plugs are way behind the times. We had a suite with only two 115V plugs, which are recessed and tilted slightly upward, so multiport charger bricks with foldable plugs sometimes lose contact and charging stops unexpectedly. If you carry a lot of electronics like I do, suggest you invest in a multiport fast charger, two fast charge USB-C cables (6 & 10 ft) and a 1 ft extension cord with 3 outlets. Don't bring a multi-outlet plug expander, as that covers the light switch and 220V outlet for the hair dryer. I'll have to say that Internet speeds have vastly improved since we started cruising with Holland America Line (HAL). Up until the end of 2023, HAL was using hybrid mid/high orbit satellite system with about the same capacity as home Internet for the entire ship (1,900 guests, 800 crew). The lag time from tap to response) was 6-180x home Internet, so video calling wasn't supported and Internet apps were pretty much unusable. The ship's superstructure sometimes blocked the signal. The new Starlink Low Earth Orbit is 4-6x faster, the lag is 5-8x less the old system and no blocking by the ship's superstructure, so video calling and web apps are supported and browsing speed on average is pretty close to home use (except at 5 pm in port when everyone returns to the ship and uploads their photos!). Downside is ship Internet is expensive ($18-47/day, depend on whether you pre-order or buy on the ship and which plan (email/browse, +video calls, +video streaming), VPNs are disallowed and most HTTPS sites are blocked (which is 98% of Internet browsing world wide). You can use Amazon (yay!).
We loved the Zuiderdam Eastern Caribbean cruise! A wonderful ship and crew with a great itinerary! Our first port was Half Moon Cay on Easter Sunday morning, and we were the only ship in port. The water was a bit cold and a little choppy, but we had a great day. We did the Lobster Shack early and enjoyed a lobster roll with seafood soup combo, and then we sampled the grilled chicken on the normal island buffet late. The second port was Grand Turk where we did the 4-seat golf cart excursion tour of the island. Great island tour, but the excursion description is misleading as I thought I was getting a free-range golf cart, but it was a follow the leader golf cart tour. The third port was Amber Cove Dominican Republic where we rented a personal Taxi for a local tour $150 for the van taxi with guide for the day, which was an exquisite touring day for the money! We saw everything in Puerto Plata except the top of the mountain as the cable car was under repairs. The fourth and last port was Key West Florida where we just simply walked the island and shopped for $5 store T-shirts and saw the local sites. Service abord the Zuiderdam was wonderful in the main dining room, and the staff pays attention to little details like the first names of the guests even at large tables, and their drink preferences. For example, they had iced tea waiting for my wife and I at dinner every evening without us even asking a second time past the first evening. The food quality was great in the main dining room, and the options/choices were wonderfully put together. I only had the standard steak one night on the 7-day cruise, and that was on a night that featured steaks. So even though steak is one of the standard secondary choices on other nights I ventured through their normally offered menus. Some nights the deserts were hit or miss for us. I would advise the Zuiderdam to stop having the ships officer's vs the passengers contests at trivia and other games as they break the golden rule and the crew already has the answers memorized to get a perfect score on all the games. They cheat! LOL. Good standard cruise ship entertainment and casino and other activities all around the ship abound.
With refined amenities and Holland America Line signature Mariner’s Dream bed gracing each elegant stateroom, the ship offers six grades of staterooms. Most are ocean-facing, many featuring teak-lined verandas for dining alfresco or private sunbathing.
Holland America Line invites you to dine "As You Wish". To savour Italian cuisine one night and a perfectly grilled porterhouse steak the next. To take your place in the Dining Room at a specific seating time or be spontaneous, following your desires. Onboard, there are restaurants to suit every mood, along with the flexibility to choose the dining style you prefer.
Every day aboard a Holland America cruise ship brings a wealth of cruise activities and indulgences, along with the freedom to partake in as many- or as few- as you please. It's an opportunity to try something new that surprises you, every day. Dabble, discover, daydream- do everything, or do nothing at all.
Whether you want to workout in the Fitness Centre, learn yoga, pamper yourself with a massage and spa treatment, or enjoy a game of basketball, there's a perfect onboard activity for everyone.
Holland America Line's youth activities program, Kids Club, offers an array of entertaining events for kids and teens ages 3-17, supervised by a full-time, professionally trained staff. They'll have an opportunity to join other kids their age for arts and crafts, sports, video game competitions, scavenger hunts, challenging team games and themed parties.
Note: Kids Club is not offered on cruises of 25-days or longer, including all Legendary and Grand Voyages. We will offer a selection of children’s activities throughout these longer voyages for any children who may be onboard.
Safety Comes First
Safety is our primary concern and strict policies are in place for effective supervision. Adult guests are not permitted to remain in Kids Club unless attending to a special-needs child.
Please note: During voyages with a high number of families onboard, we will make all efforts to accommodate interested parties. However, participation in our program cannot be guaranteed. Hours of operation may change to better serve our guests.
