Zaandam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This cruise would have been good for me if I had not gotten sick from the food and been treated like a red headed step child. If HAL does not want to serve gluten free, they should tell me before taking my money. The food on this cruise ruined my experience. I am still fighting the inflamation and I disembarked 2 weeks ago.

Wonderful trip full of beautiful scenery and wildlife!

Cruise was good. Cape Horn was to be the highlight for me but it didn't happen. Still, worse things happen at sea. Cruising is not for me (Husband of Josanne, she loved it!) It must be me :-)

Great cruise....very relaxing, excellent weather , not too rough anywhere. FIORDS were the highlight for me....glacier alley particularly.Holland america ZAandam was a very comfortable ship.

From the time we arrived in Anchorage to landing in Vancouver, Holland America Line took very good care of us! It was our first time to Alaska, and highly recommend going there. We arrived 1 day early which gave us the opportunity to explore Anchorage. The next day, boarded the train to Denali and was privileged to see all the glory of the mountain range. The weather throughout the trip was outstanding! We saw many interesting sights and met some interesting people. We loved every minute of it and the service was excellent! We spent 3 nights in Vancouver to explore that city, that was very interesting and beautiful too. All in all, it was an excellent vacation.

The ship was good but certainly needs updating. The captain and staff were very organized and sailed without a hitch. The service was adequate but you did not feel pampered or special...just one of the masses on board. And my wife got sick on the ship even though she was fastidious about washing and sanitizing her hands. The entertainment was very good. The weather was a bit rainy and dreary...recommend going in June or July to Alaska.

Wonderful cruise. However both my husband and I got seasick the last leg (between Glacier Bay and Seward) when we were in the open ocean. So we're not anxious (at this time at least) to get on another cruise, However, if it weren't for that, we'd be planning our next cruise already!

Nice cruise, beautiful scenery! I do not agree this field must contain 150 characters. I will add another sentence if necessary to get one hundred fifty characters.

Cruises are my favorite vacations, so overall I loved the cruise. But as for the ship itself I was not a fan. It's a very small ship and there is not much to do. If we didn't have 2 other couples with us, I think my wife and I would have been bored out of our minds on the days at sea. The room was nice and cozy and they keep them very clean. Staff was nice, food was decent, the the entertainment and options of activities during the day were not good.

For a first cruise experience we were quite happy. The inside cabin was spacious for the three of us. We were always out and about in the ship or excusions so being inside was never issue. MDR food was good and we found a wonderful table/waitstaff on day 3 so made reservations for same the rest of cruise. Liked the comfortable feel of the Zandaam. Not a ship for kids needing something to do, they will get bored. We brought our own wine on board and paid corkage fee as onboard selection/price ratio offered were not good.

Could have been alot better, a lot healthier and alot more enjoyable. Being confined to the bathroom and my bedroom for a day and a half was horrible and could have been prevented

Great cruise, good size ship. Great staff. Pretty good food . Not tons to do at night, but still ok. Liked the size of the ship .6 of us had a pleasant time . Would sail on HA again, but a quieter room.

This was our very first cruise and we were thrilled with the ship, the service and the beautiful Alaska scenery. The Zaandam is an older ship but is shiny clean and well maintained. The crew members and the food were excellent. Especially in the Rotterdam main dining room. I would encourage anyone thinking of this cruise to think outside of the port towns and get out into Alaska. It's a magnificent state and we will be back one day. ❤️

The scenery was fantastic from the ship.

Service aboard was very attentive to your needs.

Program and informative classes offered were good. 

Somehow by the 4th day several people began coughing. It may have been due to the air change but it may be something the ship might want to address.

I highly recommend the Zaandam: it is just the right size ship.  We were in AA Vista Suites, Cabin 6196, which is spacious and well positioned on the port side.  It is near the rear elevators and convenient to dining on Decks 4 and 5, or Lido Resturant (and the excellent Canaletto Italian Restaurant) on Deck 8.  IMO, the Casino is somewhat of a let down.  Only one evening was "smoke free", and the payout on slots is awful and the minimum bet is actually about $.60 on penny slots. The Deck 5 Explorer Lounge is a great place to read, relax, work on puzzels, get on the internet, take digital courses, Do not miss the 3:00 pm High Tea.  It is exquisite. The entertainment is good; the commedian and magician were very good, and music and dancers were enjoyable.  You can tell they work very hard to show their talent.  The cruise through Glacier Bay was beautiful and smooth.  The ports are at well established towns (Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan).  You have many tours to choose from; although most are expensive and for more active adults (helicopter, sea plane, kayak, raft, hiking, etc.).  Still, there are a few sightseeing tours worth the time and money. All employees we met were pleasant, cheerful, helpful, and seemed to really care about our enjoyment.  The one semi-serious complaint we had was toilet stoppages.  It seems, due to narrow piping, that you shouldn't be mixing toilet paper and solid waste.  They should be flushed separately, and HAL would do well to provide such a notice.  We met one plumber who works full-time unplugging toilets. Here is a picture of the Zaandam at Port in Haines and two from the Mendenhal Glacier and Tram Tour in Juneau.

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Overall I was quite disappointed with the Cruise portion of our trip.  I felt the crew was very inexperienced and barely spoke English.  Food was good but the Lido was not a buffet.  You had to select the food and the staff put it on the plate for you.  It was very slow and I thought the staff was trying to minimize what they put on your plate.  I gave up waiting on being served beverages and got them myself.  I don't know how many times I saw the serving staff deliver the drinks to the wrong table.  Entertainment was limited, but the comedian and magician were quite good.  Pinnacle grill was excellent.  Biggest disappointment for me was that I ordered the anniversary package to be delivered on 6/1 and it was there when we arrived on 5/28.  This ruined my surprise for my wife and did not

start us on the right foot.  Overall we had cruised before on other cruise lines  and these folks just did not match up to our other cruises.

Great experience of the wilderness and the beauty abound. I loved the helicopter ride to the Mendenhall Glacier where we experience walking on the glacier for about 30 minutes with special boots. An environmentalist spoke to us about the glaciers and animal life. We saw all kinds of animals on the land portion of the tour...a grizzly bear was about 50 yards from out bus at one time and we got wonderful video of him. I think we saw every kind of animal there except a Fox. The cruise portion was great especially in Glacier Bay where we saw walls of ice falling into the sea....wow, what a beautiful sight to behold....God's Country !!!!!!!  Denali Park Tour was such an experience and we would highly recommend it. Great vacation....Just be sure to take plenty of warm clothing...cold, cold, cold..

This cruise was absolutely amazing, such different scenery throughout the cruise, from fiords, glaziers deserts and the different wildlife. The weather was great for us and sailing around the horn, something we will never forget.

Terrific itinerary with wonderful scenery through Chilean fjords and around Cape Horn. Embarkation and disembarkation points (Santiago/Valparaiso and Buenos Aires) offered excellent options to explore on our own before and after the cruise. Zaandam is an older, smaller ship (1400 passengers) — just big enough to offer several entertainment and dining venues but small enough to navigate challenging itineraries and not seem like a city at sea. Crew and staff are courteous and very good at their various specialized duties. We found the old ship to be well maintained and clean, more interesting for not being the latest seaborn gimmick; the crew was unfailingly polite, the dining options much better than expected for a ship at sea.

Smaller ship. But loved the scenery in Haines, Ketchikan And Juneau Alaska. Great food and entertainment. Too rainy end of August 2016. Little sea sick. Not bad. Would love to go again.