Chilean Fjords Adventure
Zaandam Cruise Review to South America
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 66
Review summary
Could not have asked for a better cruise experience.Embarkation
Cab ride to gates then a short bus ride to the Customs and Immigration building. Allowed us to see more of Buenos Aries.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Main Dining Room-Very good service. Ate mostly seafood and fowl. Soup was excellent. Gazpacho x2 nights had a nice spicy flavor. Pineapple and cucumber soup unique soup with excellent flavors. Lobster tails for gala dinners were very good.
Pinnacle Grill-Had a supper and a lunch in the Grill. Shrimp cocktail both times. Moist juicy shrimp could have been a meal in themselves.
Lido Buffet-Tables could have been cleared a bit quicker for breakfast. Enough room on this ship to be able to push back chairs and not run into the chair behind you. Food was very good. Eggs either eggs Benedict or omelets were made to the passengers order. Eggs Benedict info: Smoked salmon available every day put that with the poached egg and English muffin for a Smoked Benedict.
Onboard Activities
America's Test Kitchen Classes-Maria was excellent in the class. Also, dropped cooking pearls all through out the classes. The room started out with about half the seats full. After word got around about the classes, it was SRO for some of the last classes.
Windows 10 classes-Straight forward and clear presentation of the information. Glad some of the classes were repeated. Able to attend most of them. Handouts helped with information. Much given.
Spanish Classes-The couple who did the Tango Passion dances also did the classes. It was so helpful for native Spanish speakers who had an excellent command of English explain use of the words. Hand outs were concise and reminder of the information presented during the class.
Entertainment
Was not sure of some of the individual entertainers performances. After the performances knew why they were chosen.
Zaandam singers and dancers did some very good shows. The last performance they did was beyond excellent for the music and songs preformed, the costumes, and dance routines.
It good to be able to hear each performers story of their educational and performance experiences. The back stage tour also was interesting to see the clothes up close and receive an explanation of their maintenance. It was interesting to hear the extra duties they perform for the show company and within the ship's needs.
Children's Programs
Couple only traveling.
Service and Staff
Both of the Room Stewards completed their services before we would expect. (Other "luxury" cruise room did not have morning service until the afternoon). Would stop in the afternoon or evening and tell us about their country and their upcoming trips to home. English skills were excellent for all the staff.
Ship Quality
Cleanliness-Handrails and floors were cleaned often and always looked to be in excellent shape.
Quirky feature of Zaandam-have to go to 5 and walk across to next elevator then down to 4. This is if you walk out of Dining Room at the aft portion of the ship.
Cabin / Stateroom
The room was the same type as we have had previously. This room seemed to be bigger. It seemed longer. The sofa was long of leather or leather like material. One had to sit straight on it with pillows into the small of the back or at least I would get up and would feel stiff for a few minuses.
Plenty of closet space. The room was very clean upon arrival and every morning and night it was tidied.
Ship tip
Do it. For some reason this cruise was spot on for all aspects of a cruise experience.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Had been previously. Did the Food Tour. Went to restaurants/grills that every day people frequent. Nice variety of food. Empanadas, tortilla, grilled meats and cheese for lunch, and ice cream in San Telmo area.
Walked int he area. Had a feel of the Portenos life in this neighborhood.
Guide also expalined the various areas we drove through. Guide was very good.
Motor coach ride to the main Plaza and overlook beach area. Guide was also knowledgeable. This city needs more time to be explored.
Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Went of the Rookery Tour on private land. Did see several varieties of penguins. They would walk right by and were not phased by us interlopers. It was a fun 4x4 ride. The bus ride was fine. Guide explained the Falklands Conflict and were it happened. Wish we could have had time to see and hear more info on the Conflict. This is still a tender subject on both sides. Interesting to know people have had families there for up to 8 generations.
Bus ride that circled around town several times. Overlook of the city, dark multi-floor museum, park, and house now museum of rich business family. Windy, windy, windy.
Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina
We had been here previously. Did take the bus tour of the city to see many of the places we had been to previously. Ride took us through the neighborhoods and overlooks of the city.Warm, beautiful sunny day. Some snow still on the mountains.
Puerto Montt, Chile Did not visit port
Due to Pacific Ocean storms stayed one night in a fjords for the ship and passenger safety.
The coordination of luggage and the tour route and stops were excellent in the wine region. Wine practices were explained and are a bit different than what is done in US.
The bus tour into Santiago was another story. The guide kept asking people how we say things in English. Once or twice is okay to promote some interaction but it got irritating. Commentary about the areas tended to be a bit negative in describing areas that were not super upscale. Departed the tour at the airport. Our hotel was across the street. We assumed the people watching and helping with the luggage already on airport carts were HAL staff. The fellow even took the luggage on the airport cart to the hotel for us. He was gone before we could give him a gratuity.
Disembarkation
No luggage to take off. HAL has a well oiled machine.