The Zuiderdam

May 7, 2023

The MS Zuiderdam is a Vista-class cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line (HAL). It is the lead ship of the Vista-class vessels, so named for the extensive use of glass in their superstructure, and is sister to three other HAL ships, Oosterdam, Westerdam, and Noordam. The prefixes of the four ships’ names represent the four directions of the compass in Dutch.

The Zuiderdam is 936 ft. in length and 105.8 ft. wide. She carries 1964 guests. The ship shares similar exterior dimensions with Carnival Cruise Lines’ and Costa Cruises’ Spirit class. Cunard Line’s Queen Victoria is an enlarged version of the same design, as is HAL’s Signature class.

As with all Vista-class ships, Zuiderdam is equipped with a diesel-electric power plant and an Azipod propulsion system.

Azipod propulsion is a gearless steerable propulsion system where the electric drive motor is housed within a pod outside the ship hull. Azipod units can rotate 360 degrees, increasing maneuverability and operating efficiency of the vessel, while cutting fuel consumption by up to 20 percent compared to conventional shaftline systems. From its creation three decades ago to its market leading position in global shipping today, Azipod propulsion has revolutionized marine transport with its unparalleled performance, efficiency, sustainability and reliability.

Eighty-five percent of her staterooms have ocean views and sixty-seven percent have verandahs. Her art collection carries a Venetian theme throughout the ship; the most dazzling features figures in the time of Carnival in Venice, created by Daniel Ogier.

Here are a few photos of the venues on the ship. This is the swimming pool as viewed from The Greenhouse Spa.

This was a performance of African singers on The World Stage.

This is The Lido, a casual dining restaurant. We did not avail ourselves of The Lido, preferring instead to have room service bring breakfast and lunch to our stateroom. For the most part we had dinner in the main dining room.

Here is a view of the casino and casino bar.

This is a part of The Shoppes.

The Pinnacle Grill is the high-end restaurant. We ate there once.

Some of the fine art available for sale.

Here are Han and Fanni, our excellent cabin stewards with us for most of the trip:

We were strolling on Deck 3 when we were astonished to come upon two familiar faces. Nona Hamilton is on the left, and Beryl Mitton is on the right. We first met Nona and Beryl on our 2012 world cruise, and we played a lot of bridge together.

This is a picture of Jett and Kelly from Gallatin, TN. We enjoyed their company on a number of occasions. This photo is taken in The Canaletto, a fine dining Italian restaurant.

Here are our perennial dining companions in the main dining room. We ate together most nights and shared a lot of laughs. This is Jean.

And Jean’s sister, Diana. Thanks for all the anchovies, Diana.

We made friends with the next table. Much to Janice’s delight they all came from the Boston area. This Paul, and Paul, and Linda.

Here’s Paul again with his wife Suzie.

And this is Pat chatting with Jean.

Panjang umurnya
Panjang umurnya
Panjang umurnya
Serta mulia
Serta mulia
Serta mulia
Hip, hip, hura!

If you sail on Holland America, you will periodically hear this song sung by the wait staff at dinner. It is Indonesian for Happy Birthday. Both Linda and Pat had birthdays one night, so we enjoyed singing along with the staff.

Well, dear readers, the time has finally come to end this blog. I will miss doing it. It has been hard work, but a great deal of fun too, and it has been an honor to share our voyage with you. We had over 60 sea days. Janice spent most of them playing bridge and I used the time to blog.

We wish you all safe, happy and healthy lives, and who knows, maybe we’ll meet on a future cruise.

Bon Voyage!