Holland America Zuiderdam 2026 Review: Canada & New England Cruise

Cruise Radio: Weekly Cruise News & Travel Tips

Hank reviews a seven-night Canada and New England cruise aboard the Holland America Zuilderdam. He explores the ship's amenities, dining opt

Key takeaways

• The Zuiderdam is a 24-year-old ship scheduled for a major overhaul in late 2027.
• Aft-facing veranda cabins offer excellent views but may lack modern electrical outlets and USB ports.

Main topics

• Holland America Zuiderdam ship review
• Canada and New England itinerary

Notable quotes

It was just such a treat, you know, having to put on a light sweater once or twice.

Conclusion

A highly recommended cruise for travelers seeking a mature, laid-back

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) This is Cruise Radio. Cruise Speaker 3 (0:02) Radio is brought to you in part by TripInsurance.com. Travel insurance done right by the people who know travel insurance. Get a quote today at TripInsurance.com. Speaker 1 (0:11) Broadcasting from the TripInsurance.com studios in Jacksonville, Florida. This Speaker 2 (0:16) is Speaker 3 (0:16) Cruise Radio. Hank and his wife just returned from a seven-night cruise from Boston and ended in Quebec City for a Canada-New England itinerary. He's here to talk all about his time on the Holland America Zyderdam. Welcome to the show, my friend. Speaker 2 (0:32) Thanks for having me, Al Gallup. Speaker 3 (0:33) So before we get to the ship itself, the Zyderdam, we'll take a step back. Give me some pre-cruise thoughts. What made you want to take this one? We Speaker 2 (0:39) live in North Alabama, and North Alabama gets really hot in August. and we wanted to go someplace cooler. We'd sailed with Holland America before on their newest ship, and this was one of their older ones. We'd sailed on a transatlantic on the Rotterdam a couple of years ago and just had a great experience and thought a New England cruise would be great. We did Alaska the year before on Princess and thought we'd give this a try. Speaker 3 (1:09) Now, so you make your way from Alabama up to Boston. Any pre-cruise time before you boarded the ship? Speaker 2 (1:16) No, we'd been to Boston before. We did fly in the night before. And I know you always talk about how the importance of doing that. And we were putting a long ground hold in Chicago and so got into Boston very late the night before. We did make it in. We booked a room at the Seaport Hotel, which is in a great location. That neighborhood in Boston right around the port is just really nice. And I wish we'd had a little more time to explore it, but we got in super late. The hotel, I don't know if it was because of our super late arrival, but they gave us a massive suite at the Seaport Hotel. We didn't know what to do with it in the short time we were there, but it was nice. We just grabbed a quick dinner at the hotel and crashed. Speaker 3 (2:10) So coming from Alabama up to Boston, was the weather a little cooler for you? Oh my Speaker 2 (2:15) gosh, it was so nice the whole week. It was just such a treat, you know, having to put on a light sweater once or twice. It was just amazing. And of course, we've had 90 degree weather ever since we came back. And we Speaker 3 (2:31) missed Speaker 2 (2:32) that already. Speaker 3 (2:34) Yeah, good break for sure. So you make your way to the cruise terminal. How was embarkation and how is the cruise terminal set up? Is it, I mean, for being right there, basically around the north end of the city, is it? Is it fairly simple to get in and out of and all that? Speaker 2 (2:50) We Ubered in from the hotel. It took like two minutes. It was getting in was not the problem. Getting on board was the, the, the terminal is basically looks like an old converted warehouse. And the, the, it was a long, long embarkation. I don't know, more than a half hour standing in line way more, I think. And, and the problem was, The problem wasn't Holland America or the terminal. The problem was security. That was the bottleneck. The Volandam was docked right next door, and they were also embarking. And I just don't know that they had enough security to scan everyone. They only had like two or three machines going for this massive crowd descending on them all at once. Once we got through security, it zipped. We were on board in minutes, but that was a real bottleneck there. You Speaker 3 (3:55) make your way on Zyderdam. Speaker 2 (3:57) What were your first impressions? It felt comfortable the whole week. I really enjoyed the look and feel and layout of the ship. There were lovely details. There's an actual promenade deck that circles the entire ship. You don't see that every day. on modern cruise ships. Lots of little touches, very thoughtfully designed ship and in very good condition for 24 years old. Now, this ship is slated to go in for a major overhaul late in 2027. Holland America is doing this evolution program with their old ships, Speaker 3 (4:37) and Speaker 2 (4:38) they're putting in solo cabins, the Royal Dutch Cafe and stuff like that. And this one will go in. then. And it really needs to. There are things that need to be upgraded on the ship. Speaker 3 (4:48) You make your way to your stateroom. What kind of stateroom did you book for this seven-night cruise, Speaker 2 (4:52) and what did you think of it? We loved the location. We had an aft-facing veranda. I'd never had one that looked out the back before, and it was nice. It was a standard veranda cabin. What it didn't have was anything. I like enough plugs. I think there might have been one plug in the whole cabin. And it was by the desk. So the cabin steward had to run an extension cord by the side of the bed so I could use my CPAP. And there were no USBs or any of that. The tub was, it was a tub shower thing with the shower curtain. Speaker 2 (5:34) Just, you could tell this, it was 24-year-old technology in the cabin. But it was clean. It was perfectly adequate. The bed was very comfy, and we had the best cabin stewards we'd ever had. And Holland America still does evening turndown service, which is some, I know a lot of people don't care, but I like that. Speaker 3 (5:57) No, it is a nice touch for sure. Let me ask you this. Looking at the aft-facing veranda against a standard Porter starboard side veranda, was there a pretty big price step up for that? Speaker 2 (6:11) No, I don't believe so. And I booked it very early and got the have-it-all deal thrown in. And I apologize. Don't even remember what we paid, but I don't think it was a big bump. Well, Speaker 3 (6:27) let's talk about the dining on board the Zyder Dam. We'll start at the buffet area, which is it called the Lido Marketplace on Holland America? Yeah, Speaker 2 (6:36) the Lido Market. Speaker 3 (6:37) What did you think of the food in there? And did it ever feel too crowded during your sailing? Speaker 2 (6:41) Our ship sailed full. I think the ship holds about 1,900 and it was absolutely, it was packed. The one blessing is there were very few children on this sailing. So, you know, there weren't four to a cabin, but every cabin was occupied and the ship felt it, especially in the buffet. It was hard to find a seat sometimes. You always did. And we tend to avoid the buffet. We did the lunch on the embarkation and maybe one breakfast, but that was about it. The food was very good. Except for the pizza, worst pizza at sea. I really, really was disappointed there. I love a good pizza. But all in all, the food was very good. The service was pretty good at the buffet, but we didn't spend much time there. Speaker 3 (7:31) Sounds like the New York deli got you spoiled on the Rotterdam with that good pizza out there by the pool. Speaker 2 (7:37) Oh, my gosh. And the Royal Dutch Cafe. Yeah. Well, Speaker 3 (7:43) let's talk about the poolside areas. Any grab and go out there? Yes. It's Speaker 2 (7:47) called the Dive-In. The burger, I ate there twice. I had a pizza or a hot dog one day. And the Dive-In dog or whatever, or Dive-In burger, the loaded up one, one time, because that's what she told me to get. And they were both very good. Nothing. spectacular, but very good, served very quickly. They had the little beeper that they handed you when you placed your order, and I don't think it was more than a minute or two before, or the food was ready either time. Speaker 3 (8:17) Now, for the main dining room, what time dining did you have, and how was your experience in there through the week? Speaker 2 (8:23) Yeah, it's called the Vista Dining Room on the Zyder Dam, and we had the any time dining. We typically... choose an early or late, but we tried any time dining this time. And it was a good experience. Really surprised we never had to wait for a table. And we showed up at all hours for dinner and never waited for breakfast, lunch, or dinner more than a minute to be seated. So I was really impressed by that. The only thing I didn't like about it is when you have a set time, you get to know your wait staff. over the course of the cruise, and that didn't happen on this cruise. But I liked the experience overall. Speaker 3 (9:07) This size of ship, sometimes the ship might have two dining rooms, and sometimes it might have one in the back that is two decks. What was this one? Speaker 2 (9:16) This was one in the back with two decks.