Awesome cruise!
Zaandam Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 13
Review summary
Wonderful, no nonsense cruise full of beautiful sights and experiences.Embarkation
Everything was very smooth. Both port and HAL staff were friendly and helpful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Overall, the food was great. In the dining room, service was excellent and the food was just right. Pinnacle Grill's food and service were quite a few steps up from the dining room as expected. Lido food was great. Plenty to choose from and made well. Dive in was ok, probably great for kids, but pretty standard fast food type fare. Drinks are fantastic. No skimping on alcohol and made really well. Good value was well.
Onboard Activities
Honestly, this ship didn't have climbing walls and all that amusement park stuff, which is one is the main reasons we choose Zaandam. We mostly hung out in the Crow's Nest or out out on deck sightseeing. The puzzle tables are great and we found so many places to just sit quietly and enjoy the cruise.
Service and Staff
The crew is what makes this ship. Everyone smiles and says hello. No matter how busy they are, they stop to make sure you're enjoying things. They work tirelessly as well, vacuuming, wiping elevator doors, painting, cleaning decks, putting out lounge chairs every morning and stacking them every evening, polishing hinges, I mean they are constantly working. Our stateroom stewards, Jar and Ahmad were excellent. They anticipated our needs, were super friendly, and on top of everything. I can see why people love this ship.
Ship Quality
Everything was clean, like I mentioned, crew is always working. Ship's layout was great. My favorite deck was Deck 3 with where you can walk around the entire ship. I would just walk with my camera and stop when I saw a shot. The ship could use a few updates, but nothing detracted from the trip.
Cabin / Stateroom
The stateroom was well appointed and laid out. So much storage with plenty of hangers. Baggage easily stowed under the bed and clothing and goods fit perfectly in there drawers and closets. Room was cleaned at least twice per day, which was really nice. We'd go out, come back, and everything was clean and bed was made. We'd just mess it up again with all the naps, lol. But it would be remade when we left and returned. It was very comfortable for a couple for 7-days. We never felt crowded. There was a little ship noise every so often, but it didn't bother us. I mean there's noise on a ship, it's basically a floating city. Slight hum of the engines at night, but we're found it soothing.
Ship tip
Ask your stewards for a fan and power strip.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Nice port, again very touristy. We did the White Pass Rail, Tundra excursion. It was 8 hours. Though we enjoyed the bus ride up, we would probably skip it next time and try to get a ride straight up to the rail station. The White Pass Rail was excellent though. Highly recommended.
Tourist trap, but that's ok. We did a whale watching excursion and had a wonderful time, seeing orcas, humpback whales, dolphins, bald eagles, and even a big rainbow. Perfect excursion.
This was our favorite port. Didn't do an excursion here and we were glad we didn't. It's just a beautiful port that is easy to walk and just enjoy its beauty. The first shops you see at port pretty much all carry the same tourist stuff. I highly recommend walking away from the main port to find more unique and special items.
Fantastic! Margerie Glacier calved twice while we were stopped there. Also saw bald eagles and otters.
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia
Disembarkation
Smooth as could be. We choose to carry our luggage instead of having it ported and were off the ship and in our car in about 10 minutes.
Traveler Photos
