More like a 6 night cruise

Zaandam Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 74

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5
Verified Review
Zaandam

7 Night New England & Canada Discovery (Boston To Montreal)

Sail date: September 14, 2019

Ship: Zaandam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 3338

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I know emergencies happen, but it should have been handled differently. HAL did not care one bit about the passengers. There were many elderly and guests with special needs. No questions were asked. If you did not get on the school bus you were completely out of luck. No water - and 1 stop at a rest area after 2 hours. Many busses were there and the lines were long. This final impression of the cruise does not reflect well on HAL.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Organized and smooth

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
The Pinnacle was wonderful - excellent service and food!

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
Not much to do. The pools and hot tubs were fun. The spa was extremely high pressure and over priced. The "thermal room" was a complete rip off and waste of money.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
The shows were ok. They were based on the elderly crowd.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Many employees were amazing! A few seem annoyed when asked for something. The coffee shop lady did not like to be bothered.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The ship was clean, but dated. Needs updating. The TV's and CD player (?) in the room suck.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
The room was ok. Seemed to have a back-up problem in the shower. The bed was comfortable and towels were always replenished.

Ship tip

The destinations are way better than the ship

Ports of call

Boston, Massachusetts

3 out of 5
Nice port and smooth boarding operations

Bar Harbor, Maine

4 out of 5
Beautiful!

Halifax, Nova Scotia

4 out of 5
Very nice port.

Sydney, Nova Scotia

4 out of 5
We walked everywhere - very nice

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

5 out of 5
Beautiful place and nice people.

Cruise Gulf Of St. Lawrence

5 out of 5
It was a very nice day to cruise

Quebec City, Quebec

5 out of 5
Quebec City was my favorite! So much to see and do and wonderful people!

Cruise St. Lawrence River

1 out of 5
We did not get to do this since the ship broke down

Montreal, Quebec

1 out of 5
We did not get to see anything. The transfer to Montreal was a complete disaster.

Disembarkation

1 out of 5
Horrible - very uncaring people at HAL. A 3 1/2 hour school bus ride to Montreal was terrible. I had back surgery before and the ride hurt my back terribly. I have been home for 3 days and am still in pain. Passengers were abandoned at the Montreal Port and the wait for luggage was terrible. We did not get to see Montreal - complete;y wasted day.
Was this review helpful? 74

2 Comments

OTIS7070    5 years ago

MY WIFE AND I WERE ALSO ON THIS CRUISE,ZAANDAM IS 20 YRS OLD AND THINGS DO HAPPEN,IN GENERAL CRUISE WAS VERY NICE ,ALTHOUGH A 3AM FIRE ALARM CALL IS ONE HE'LL OF A WAKE-UP CALL. SERVICE AND FOOD WAS WAS GREAT,I'VE BEEN ON A LOT OF OTHER CRUISE LINES, THEY DON'T COME CLOSE FOR SERVICE OR FOOD.AS FAR AS BUSING TO MONTREAL WE WERE LUCKY IT WAS A SATURDAY OTHERWISE THOSE BUSES WOULDN'T BE AVAILABLE,THEY'D BE BRINGING KIDS TO SCHOOL! MY BUS TOOK 31/2HRS ,WE ARRIVED IN MONTREAL AND IT TOOK 20 MIN FOR TRUCK TO ARRIVE WITH LUGGAGE ,WE STAYED IN MONTREAL SAT.NIGHT

missnotanlines    5 years ago

Try another cruise line