Smaller ship, good experience
Zaandam Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 42
Review summary
Friendly and accommodating staff. We were only on for the last 4 nights after our land tour portion ended.Embarkation
We embarked in Skagway part-way through the cruise after the land portion of our land/cruise tour (Alaska). It was cold and windy and the line moved a bit slowly. We were delayed getting on the ship due to some issue with the check in system. That made for a rushed lunch so that we could make our 1 pm white pass train excursion.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Holland America’s food is very good.
Onboard Activities
There isn’t as much to do on the Zaandam’s Alaska cruise (as compared to Carribean cruises, for example) as Alaska itself is the featured event, and the Zaandam is a smaller ship.
Entertainment
Would prefer a comedian one night at least. I miss the dueling piano players (Zach and Emma the duo) that we had on the Eurodam last year (Alaskan cruise out of Seattle).
Service and Staff
The staff on this ship was very pleasant. The cabin stewards we had were excellent.
Ship Quality
The ship is clean and well maintained.
Cabin / Stateroom
Cons: Our cabin’s bathroom needs a makeover. The tile is dated and worn. The desk area needs better lighting. The lighting in general in this cabin is not good. Need more lights. The room temperature is very warm and the hallway was very cold. We asked the steward for a fan and appreciated that we were able to get one. There is only 1 US and 1 European outlet in the cabin.
Pros: The inside cabins on this ship are larger than on Norwegian ships. Our cabin had a LOT of storage: Three closets, and 3 drawers at the desk, 2 drawers under the bed, and 2 nightstands with drawers. We loved having a couch so we didn’t have to sit on the bed. Movie selection is vast! Internet was fairly good and worked much of the time. There are four large hooks on the wall (the walls aren’t magnetized like other cabins we have been in) so we didn’t need our magnet hooks.
Ship tip
Ask for a fan if you are in inside cabin. The room was very warm and we wouldn’t have slept well without it.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We were at Hubbard Glacier last year and we thought it was more beautiful, and we got closer than we did to the glacier we viewed at glacier bay. Also at Hubbard glacier (same time of year) there were seals on icebergs.
Disembarkation
Traveler Photos
9 Comments
CindiVF 3 months ago
One of the questions in the comments was asking what we did on our land portion of this tour. We rode the train from Anchorage to Denali, which was an all-day event. It was really wonderful and we enjoyed the narration and the dining and service. We went on a side by side ATV excursion where they also served dinner. Was a lot of fun! We also took one of the busses into Denali. We were lucky to be able to see a Grizzly bear, a black bear and 2 cubs, Eagles, a moose and many other animals and birds!
In Fairbanks, we just had a nice dinner. In Dawson we went to the cancan show at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s and also had a Sourtoe cocktail at the Downtown hotel. In Whitehorse, we went to a brewery and went out for dinner. We took a bus from Whitehorse to Skagway and enjoyed the scenery. Once we embarked on the Zaandam, we got off about an hour later to ride the white pass train from Skagway. We also really enjoyed that.