Karen's Holland America Western Caribbean Cruise - May 2004

Holland America - Zuiderdam

We had a wonderful trip on the Holland America Zuiderdam. Fantastic weather, great ports, Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman & Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. We hung out with some terrific people. We were surprised at the dock when we received a FREE upgrade to a full Suite. You should have seen this room. 528 sq ft of pure luxury. We had a massive deck with 6 chairs, a soft leather sofa in our room with 2 club leather chairs, 2 refrigerators, one with a fully stocked bar, 2 telephones, double sinks in the bathroom, 2 showers and a whirlpool bath. But the best part was we had our own personal BUTLER. We also had free laundry, pressing, and dry cleaning. It was AWESOME!!! Oh to be rich!!!!

My husband and I booked our own air and flew from CA to Ft. Lauderdale. We stayedovernight at the Amerisuites on 17th street. This is an excellent location as the Outback Steak House and a good Mexican Resturant are just across the parking lot. The hotel provides a free shuttle from Airport to Hotel, and Hotel to the pier. Around 10:45 we hopped on the shuttle to take us to the beautiful Zuiderdam.

We dined the 1st night in the Odessey/Pinnacle since it is a 2 for 1 on the 1st night. Call HAL and book your reservation before you get on the ship. We thought the food was worth $10 each but not worth $20 p/p + tip. Food in the Lido and regular dining room is very good. My
husband especially loved the hot soups, and I enjoyed the cold ones. The cheesecake is heavenly.

Service was excellent and the crew aimed to please. Nice!

Key West - We walked around the corner from the dock and saw the sign for the Conch Train. Cost $22 each for 1.5 hours. It is great, and they show you the whole island. The ship charges $24 p/p.

Cozumel: We grabbed a taxi with another fun couple we met and headed for Chaakanub(spelling ?) park. $10 per taxi NOT P/P + tip. Chaakanub is a beautiful park. It is $12 p/p to get in. Rental of mask, snorkel and fins was a total of $6 p/p.The snorkeling is excellent. We lounged in the chairs under the grass huts. Paradise.Everything is sparkeling clean, and there are no beggars. Including cab, park entrance fee, snorkel equipment we paid $20.50 each. Ship
charges $49 p/p.

Grand Cayman: I pre-booked a trip to Stingray City, and Coral Reefs through NativeWays Sports. Their rep Sharon Eubanks met us in the North Terminal which is where the tenders dock. Great lady. Since we had a later excursion she kindly offered to take us to 7 mile beach,
then picked us up later. We went to the dock where we boarded a small boat, and had refreshments. Richard & Michael the 2 crewman were excellent. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Nativeways. Cost was $30 p/p for stingray city and 2 snorkel sites, for 2.5 hours. Ship charges $49 for Stingray City alone.

Half Moon Cay: Very pretty island. It was super windy when we were there. We got a clamshell which I would recommend if you are pasty white, or don't want to get too much sun. The snorkeling from the beach is NOT GOOD, so if you want to snorkel take the boat trip. We
had a delicous barbeque there.

Cruise-Critics: There were about 35 people who I corresponded with via e-mail before the trip. About 20 or so showed up for our get together the day of sail. I want to thank Sandy and Peter from Australia who we pal'd around with and made our trip so much fun.

Bottom line. OUTSTANDING CRUISE, gorgeous ship, great food, excellent service.

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