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Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long)



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 28th, 2003, 08:58 PM
Mason
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long)

The Basics:
My wife and I cruised on the Holland America Cruise Line's ship, the Zaandam,
round trip from Port Canaveral, Florida, stopping in St. Maarten's, Tortola,
and Half Moon Cay. This was a Christmas cruise, Dec. 20-27, 2003.
The ship is 63,000 tons (780 feet long, 10 passenger decks) and was launched in
May 2000. She carries 1440 passengers and a crew of 561. The service crew is
primarily Indonesian, the officers primarily Dutch.
We booked at standard outside cabin, category "C", on the Lower Promenade Deck
(Deck "3" on some lines).

Embarkation
We wanted to check out HAL's new embarkation times but, unfortunately, did not
arrive until 2 pm. Due to heightened security, we could not pull up to the
cruise terminal, but HAL had excellent baggage handling at the satellite
facility. We pulled up, unloaded, and a porter immediately took the bags right
off the asphalt. The walk to the terminal was covered and perhaps 100 yards
away. Parking was very close and easy, although it was outside and cost $70 in
advance ($10 per day). I have to say, this was as close as you can get to
hassle-free parking and baggage drop-off, and I got a parking space only 50
yards from the drop-off facility.
Once in the terminal, boarding was better than average. It took us perhaps 15
minutes to clear the boarding area and get on board. Cabins were open when we
got onboard, and our baggage was delivered before departure at 5 pm.
All in all, embarkation was better than average.
THE CABIN
Our cabin seemed a bit spartan after our last cruise on the Celebrity
Constellation. At 165 square feet it was pushing my personal limit for full
comfort, but it was still entirely satisfactory in terms of space. The decor
was beige and a bit drab, really, although (as was true throughout the ship)
the artwork was excellent. The bathroom was typical HAL: just large enough to
function fully without an ounce of wasted space. There was a large medicine
cabinet, a hairdryer, and (underneath the hairdryer) an outlet.
On the left wall of the cabin entry are four closet spaces with adjustable
shelves in some and hanging bars in others. A credit-card safe (which is a
pain in the neck -- I much prefer programmable safes, so you don't have to
carry your credit card around and two people don't have to share one credit
card to get in) is in the closet. There was additional drawer space near the
desk unit and in the beside tables. Three large suitcases fit perfectly under
the bed. We found the space to be ample. There was also enough leg room to
actually sit on the love seat. The television in this cabin class is quite
small -- the mini-suites (which are really just large verandah cabins) have a
larger t.v. with a VHS player.
The bed is hard and reasonably comfortable. The bedcovers and sitting areas
were getting old and somewhat shabby, and are ready for replacement/recovering
as of December 2003. The bolster pillows, bedspread and blankets were really
close to unsatisfactory, actually.
THE SHIP
The Zaandam (like all HAL ships, named after a town in Holland) is a slightly
larger version of the beloved Statendam class of HAL ships, and has all the
advantages and disadvantages of that class. I really cannot tell the
difference except that the Zaandam seems to have a bit more space, but also
more vibration problems.
Let me just say, in my personal opinion, that this is my personal favorite ship
among all the mass-market ships I have sailed, seen, or heard about. The deck
space is the best of any mass market ship afloat. There is a full promenade
deck (actually it is the Lower Promenade) that completely circles the ship, and
it is 100% teak. There is a full bow deck, and a number of smaller and easily
accessible side and aft decks -- most of them are teak, except the huge bow
deck.
The really special thing about HAL ships in general, and the Zaandam in
particular, is the artwork. The theme of the Zaandam is musical instruments.
There is a three story pipe organ in the atrium, and throughout the ship are
scattered displays of ancient musical instruments. For example, there is a
17th century harpsicord, with some ornate formal clothing from the era
displayed beside it. There are also some interesting modern instruments, such
as a saxaphone signed by Bill Clinton (!) and a guitar signed by many guitar
greats (Eric Clapton, BB King, etc.).
Outside the library is a blown up photograph of the excavation of King Tut's
tomb, and surrounding it are a number of precious original artifacts from his
period of Egyptian history, including a full royal sarcophagus. To top it off,
there is a huge modern sculpture of the lower half of a face (mostly chin and
lips) which, you come to realize, is the lower half of the face of Tutankamen
himself.
No HAL ship would be complete without extensive nautical memorabilia, and the
Zaandam has a number of excellent ship models, lithographs, and paintings. My
favorite was a 30-inch model of J. Pierpont Morgan's magnificent steam/sail
yacht, the Corsair, located in the Crow's Nest. People who enjoy museums could
easily spend hours enjoying the artwork, or simply use it as a constant
diversion when ambling from place to place.
The atrium is less spectacular than many ships but is very pretty and to my
taste. (I would rather see the space used by a huge soaring atrium
redistributed into other public areas, personally.) The ship is standard HAL
fare, attractive without getting too intrusive. There is a nice
centrally-located sports bar with a large-screen t.v., wisely placed next to
the casino so that the noise is all in the same area of the ship. The smallish
library is beautiful, with a number of attractive writing desks, lit by nice
pressed-glass lamps and facing windows. The main dining room, theater, and
specialty restaurant are all conservative but colorful enough to maintain one's
interest.
Pools on these ships consist of a main pool which is freshwater and has a
retractable roof, and is located midships on the Lido Deck (top full deck), and
a small open pool with teak decking behind the Lido on the same deck.
Hamburgers, pizzas, and ice cream are served until 5 pm just behind the main
pool. (People who are distressed by not having food available between 5 and 6
pm -- Princess is calling you!)(Although you can get free hors d'oeuvres from
room service during this period.)
The Wajang Theater shows second-run features (i.e. movies out several months,
but not yet released on video/DVD) which were quite good. As always, HAL is
very good about not nickle-and-diming the patrons, and the movies have free
popcorn, popped a little before the movies begin. The coffee bar serves decent
cappucino, with delicious cakes and cookies, all morning and afternoon, all
without charge.
The downside to the "stretch" from the Statendam class is a noisy ship. In
moderate seas, the Zaandam creaks and groans like a haunted house. She has
good stabilizers and the roll is very well controlled (we had 18 foot swells
and gale force winds in the Atlantic, which she handled very adeptly), but the
noise bothered a lot of people. Personally I found it comforting, as it felt
like I was on a ship rather than in a hotel, but some people did not agree.
Also, Zaandam has a lot of vibration in turns and manuevers, which also does
not bother me much but does bother some.
Announcements are infrequent and are not pumped into the cabins (excepting
emergency information). The only ship activity generally made over the PA
system is bingo once a day, a nice change from constant barrages of art auction
and pool activity announcements.
FOOD
Holland America food is quite good. The food on the buffet line (called the
Lido, as it is on many ships) was not as good as the dining room food (also
true of most ship's food). Food quality varies quite a bit. The breakfast
meats were the worst thing -- really rather awful, the only bad food I had on
the entire cruise. The coffee is not very good, either (but you can get good
coffee for free at the Java Cafe). Eggs were quite good, and most of the lunch
selections were tasty. Soups were outstanding as were some of the daily
dishes. Bagels (which I eat toasted with cream cheese, smoked salmon and maybe
a garnish) were excellent. Fruit was excellent, and you can get a full glass
of any juice you want. The custom-cooked omelets were good but nothing great.
And so on. Really I have no complaints overall.
The dining room food -- well, you have to learn how to order in any ship's
dining room. The daily specials were excellent, and the beef orders
(steak/prime rib) were very good. I am still smacking my lips over the "Peking
style duck". The breads are very good. Soups are outstanding. Salads are
good but rather basic. Desserts are excellent. There were a couple of
not-so-hot entrees, but in every case they were items not "recommended" by the
waiter.
I don't know whether to say this here or somewhere else, and maybe I'll say it
twice. Every cruise line should send spies and simply copy what HAL does in
the dining room. The service and, for want of a better word, the "system" of
service, is head and shoulders above any other mass market cruise line, resort,
or anything else in the price range. HAL's head stewards (a.k.a. captains or
ass't maitres d') actually work and will even fill water glasses if the
assistant waiter is busy. The waiter and assitant waiter were nearly invisible
-- all one sees is a well-planned flow of food, with a quiet attempt to
remember every guest's preferences. I never felt hurried, and there were never
long periods of time when I felt like I was sitting waiting for food. If you
need to eat in an hour and a half, you can, and if you want to linger, you can
do that, too. I remember with great disappointment the long periods of sitting
on other cruises, waiters who must waste everyone's time giving lengthy oral
recitations of the menu which nobody can hear (Celebrity is very bad about
this), etc. And the personnel really seem to love their job.
The food in the specialty restaurant, the Marco Polo, was excellent, as was the
service and decor. It is really worth the extra $20 if you want a gourmet
experience.
SERVICE
Service on the Zaandam is the best. A++. The staff, from the guy sweeping the
carpet to the front desk (front desk personnel are often the poorest on a ship
in my experience -- I have wanted to strangle some of them on other cruises),
to the stewards and waiters -- are genuinely friendly, seem to like their jobs
(remarkable considering how extremely hard they work), and have "people skills"
-- they will chat with you if you want it, but won't force themselves on you.
The staff is almost entirely Indonesian on the Zaandam. I learned how to say
"good morning", "thank you" and a few other phrases in Indonesian on my first
HAL cruise, and the staff really appreciate the effort and interest. They do
give Indonesian shows and offer some Indonesian cuisine, which adds to the
cruise.
HAL has announced that it is changing its tipping policy, I think in response
to customer input, and it's high time. The old "no tipping required" policy
was well-intended (to add to the "no nickel and dime" atmosphere) but it didn't
work. It merely confused the passengers and probably hurt the staff's
pocketbooks. At some point in the near future, HAL is apparently going to
adopt a more mainline policy, with tipping guidelines and the ability to put
tips on the onboard accounts.
HAL has started putting fresh fruit in the cabins again, which is something I
missed and am glad to see reinstated. Now THAT is a great example of a little
free touch I enjoy. Higher categories of cabins also get fresh flowers.
ENTERTAINMENT -- I don't want to spend a lot of time on entertainment, which is
not HAL's strongest suit. The shows I saw were good and entertaining, but
nothing too special. I skipped the inevitable "Songs of the 60's", or
whatever, staff productions.
ACTIVITIES -- excellent. Good library and they give prizes for the daily quiz.
I like to play trivia, which was extremely well-run on the Zaandam, with two
good "name that tune" contests. The athletic activities can't compare to say
RCCL's, but were well-run and fun, especially the riotous putting contest in
heavy seas (which made volleyball, basketball etc. impossible - they set the
putting contest in the sports bar and it was a big hit). Fitness classes were
good, and the spa is good. Walking is excellent, due to the full teak
promenade deck. There were not many enrichment seminars, but then, there were
no "shopping" talks and the art auction was minimally invasive. One thing HAL
has -- you can always find a quiet corner to curl up with your free cappucino
and read a book.
I frequently dislike cruise directors, but the CD on this cruise (sorry I can't
remember his name, but he was Australian) was genuine, funny, and very nice.
The people running the small children's program seemed to do an outstanding
job, also.
GAMBLING -- Unfortunately, HAL has put in automatic continuous shuffling
machines on the blackjack tables. I am a veteran blackjack player and I simply
don't like this. The house rules are good on the standard table games,
comparable to Las Vegas. For those who want to lose their money faster, there
are lots of "fun" games (gag) and slot machines with no payout information.
The croupiers were polite and friendly, which is generally the biggest benefit
of cruise gambling.
My wife, by the way, won the Snowball Bingo jackpot We do well on cruises,
as I have won the blackjack tournament on my last two cruises, but my $500
contributions pale beside her $3910 bingo win. People would stop her all over
the ship and ask her "aren't you the woman who won the bingo?"
DESTINATIONS:
1) St. Maarten's - our first stop is a favorite of mine. Smart visitors know
to rent a car immediately upon landing and get the dickens out of Phillipsburg
(the town where you dock), a shabby and somewhat smaller version of such
hellholes as Charlotte Amalie. St. Maarten's, for those who don't know, is
half Dutch and half French. The Dutch side is drab and touristy; while the
French side (called St. Martin's) is quaint, thriving, and fun. The main French
town of Marigot has pleasant shopping, excellent dining, and is fairly scenic,
with a nice marina in the middle of town. There are over a dozen excellent
beaches all over the island, from the crowded and developed Orient Beach
(famous as a nude beach) to utterly secluded hamlets like Guana Point (which is
worth a drive just to see).
2) Tortola - this was my first visit to Tortola except a brief stop in my
college years. Tortola is a beautiful island. It is only moderately developed
and the little town does not have much to see, although there are several nice
shops. It is a huge sailing center and has nice beaches. The best favorite,
for a quick visitor, is to catch the ferry from downtown to Virgin Gorda (home
of the famous Rockefeller resort) and make your way to The Baths, a spectacular
beach.
3) Half Moon Cay - this is HAL's private island and is politically part of the
Bahamas. It is just lovely. I would wonder why someone who didn't like Half
Moon Cay would want to take a Caribbean cruise in the first place, as I would
rather go somewhere else unless I wanted to go to the beach or go snorkeling or
something. The water is sparkling blue and calm; the beach is pure powdery
sand, as soft on your feet as flour. There is a post office, food, and a wide
range of water sports (which are expensive, but for your money you get HAL's
assurance of safety and hygiene, which is not perfect but a lot better than
some unknown Caribbean operator). There is some music if you want, free use of
beach towels and beach chairs.
The only downside to Half Moon is that, with two ships in port, the beach gets
quite crowded. You have to walk around to the far side to get single-deep
towels and chairs, which are three-deep near the tender dock.
AMBIENCE
Ships have personalities; even two nearly identical sister ships, run by the
same cruise line, can be quite different. On this score, I give the Zaandam
high marks. The ambience of the ship is wonderful. Kudos to the Zaandam
staff.
The other passengers were extremely nice and intersting. Being a Christmas
cruise, we got more children and teenagers/college students than your typical
HAL cruise. I have to say that they were a big plus, as they were uniformly
well-behaved and were generally willing to interact some with older passengers
(i.e. me). They really livened things up a bit.


"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me
some coffee."
- Abraham Lincoln
  #2  
Old December 28th, 2003, 09:28 PM
Eileen Garland
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long)

Thanks for your lovely review, Mason. I really enjoyed reading it, and
it very much echoed what I remember of our cruise on the Zaandam when it
was first launched - except that many of the cabins had non-functional
air conditioning at that time, and the front desk staff were utterly
useless in trying to resolve the resulting complaints. I was
disappointed ot hear that it's become somewhat shabby in such a short
time! I loved the size and decor of this ship, and the pampering
feeling you get on a HAL cruise.

Eileen

Mason wrote:

The Basics:
My wife and I cruised on the Holland America Cruise Line's ship, the Zaandam,
round trip from Port Canaveral, Florida, stopping in St. Maarten's, Tortola,
and Half Moon Cay. This was a Christmas cruise, Dec. 20-27, 2003.
The ship is 63,000 tons (780 feet long, 10 passenger decks) and was launched in
May 2000. She carries 1440 passengers and a crew of 561. The service crew is
primarily Indonesian, the officers primarily Dutch.
We booked at standard outside cabin, category "C", on the Lower Promenade Deck
(Deck "3" on some lines).

Embarkation
We wanted to check out HAL's new embarkation times but, unfortunately, did not
arrive until 2 pm. Due to heightened security, we could not pull up to the
cruise terminal, but HAL had excellent baggage handling at the satellite
facility. We pulled up, unloaded, and a porter immediately took the bags right
off the asphalt. The walk to the terminal was covered and perhaps 100 yards
away. Parking was very close and easy, although it was outside and cost $70 in
advance ($10 per day). I have to say, this was as close as you can get to
hassle-free parking and baggage drop-off, and I got a parking space only 50
yards from the drop-off facility.
Once in the terminal, boarding was better than average. It took us perhaps 15
minutes to clear the boarding area and get on board. Cabins were open when we
got onboard, and our baggage was delivered before departure at 5 pm.
All in all, embarkation was better than average.
THE CABIN
Our cabin seemed a bit spartan after our last cruise on the Celebrity
Constellation. At 165 square feet it was pushing my personal limit for full
comfort, but it was still entirely satisfactory in terms of space. The decor
was beige and a bit drab, really, although (as was true throughout the ship)
the artwork was excellent. The bathroom was typical HAL: just large enough to
function fully without an ounce of wasted space. There was a large medicine
cabinet, a hairdryer, and (underneath the hairdryer) an outlet.
On the left wall of the cabin entry are four closet spaces with adjustable
shelves in some and hanging bars in others. A credit-card safe (which is a
pain in the neck -- I much prefer programmable safes, so you don't have to
carry your credit card around and two people don't have to share one credit
card to get in) is in the closet. There was additional drawer space near the
desk unit and in the beside tables. Three large suitcases fit perfectly under
the bed. We found the space to be ample. There was also enough leg room to
actually sit on the love seat. The television in this cabin class is quite
small -- the mini-suites (which are really just large verandah cabins) have a
larger t.v. with a VHS player.
The bed is hard and reasonably comfortable. The bedcovers and sitting areas
were getting old and somewhat shabby, and are ready for replacement/recovering
as of December 2003. The bolster pillows, bedspread and blankets were really
close to unsatisfactory, actually.
THE SHIP
The Zaandam (like all HAL ships, named after a town in Holland) is a slightly
larger version of the beloved Statendam class of HAL ships, and has all the
advantages and disadvantages of that class. I really cannot tell the
difference except that the Zaandam seems to have a bit more space, but also
more vibration problems.
Let me just say, in my personal opinion, that this is my personal favorite ship
among all the mass-market ships I have sailed, seen, or heard about. The deck
space is the best of any mass market ship afloat. There is a full promenade
deck (actually it is the Lower Promenade) that completely circles the ship, and
it is 100% teak. There is a full bow deck, and a number of smaller and easily
accessible side and aft decks -- most of them are teak, except the huge bow
deck.
The really special thing about HAL ships in general, and the Zaandam in
particular, is the artwork. The theme of the Zaandam is musical instruments.
There is a three story pipe organ in the atrium, and throughout the ship are
scattered displays of ancient musical instruments. For example, there is a
17th century harpsicord, with some ornate formal clothing from the era
displayed beside it. There are also some interesting modern instruments, such
as a saxaphone signed by Bill Clinton (!) and a guitar signed by many guitar
greats (Eric Clapton, BB King, etc.).
Outside the library is a blown up photograph of the excavation of King Tut's
tomb, and surrounding it are a number of precious original artifacts from his
period of Egyptian history, including a full royal sarcophagus. To top it off,
there is a huge modern sculpture of the lower half of a face (mostly chin and
lips) which, you come to realize, is the lower half of the face of Tutankamen
himself.
No HAL ship would be complete without extensive nautical memorabilia, and the
Zaandam has a number of excellent ship models, lithographs, and paintings. My
favorite was a 30-inch model of J. Pierpont Morgan's magnificent steam/sail
yacht, the Corsair, located in the Crow's Nest. People who enjoy museums could
easily spend hours enjoying the artwork, or simply use it as a constant
diversion when ambling from place to place.
The atrium is less spectacular than many ships but is very pretty and to my
taste. (I would rather see the space used by a huge soaring atrium
redistributed into other public areas, personally.) The ship is standard HAL
fare, attractive without getting too intrusive. There is a nice
centrally-located sports bar with a large-screen t.v., wisely placed next to
the casino so that the noise is all in the same area of the ship. The smallish
library is beautiful, with a number of attractive writing desks, lit by nice
pressed-glass lamps and facing windows. The main dining room, theater, and
specialty restaurant are all conservative but colorful enough to maintain one's
interest.
Pools on these ships consist of a main pool which is freshwater and has a
retractable roof, and is located midships on the Lido Deck (top full deck), and
a small open pool with teak decking behind the Lido on the same deck.
Hamburgers, pizzas, and ice cream are served until 5 pm just behind the main
pool. (People who are distressed by not having food available between 5 and 6
pm -- Princess is calling you!)(Although you can get free hors d'oeuvres from
room service during this period.)
The Wajang Theater shows second-run features (i.e. movies out several months,
but not yet released on video/DVD) which were quite good. As always, HAL is
very good about not nickle-and-diming the patrons, and the movies have free
popcorn, popped a little before the movies begin. The coffee bar serves decent
cappucino, with delicious cakes and cookies, all morning and afternoon, all
without charge.
The downside to the "stretch" from the Statendam class is a noisy ship. In
moderate seas, the Zaandam creaks and groans like a haunted house. She has
good stabilizers and the roll is very well controlled (we had 18 foot swells
and gale force winds in the Atlantic, which she handled very adeptly), but the
noise bothered a lot of people. Personally I found it comforting, as it felt
like I was on a ship rather than in a hotel, but some people did not agree.
Also, Zaandam has a lot of vibration in turns and manuevers, which also does
not bother me much but does bother some.
Announcements are infrequent and are not pumped into the cabins (excepting
emergency information). The only ship activity generally made over the PA
system is bingo once a day, a nice change from constant barrages of art auction
and pool activity announcements.
FOOD
Holland America food is quite good. The food on the buffet line (called the
Lido, as it is on many ships) was not as good as the dining room food (also
true of most ship's food). Food quality varies quite a bit. The breakfast
meats were the worst thing -- really rather awful, the only bad food I had on
the entire cruise. The coffee is not very good, either (but you can get good
coffee for free at the Java Cafe). Eggs were quite good, and most of the lunch
selections were tasty. Soups were outstanding as were some of the daily
dishes. Bagels (which I eat toasted with cream cheese, smoked salmon and maybe
a garnish) were excellent. Fruit was excellent, and you can get a full glass
of any juice you want. The custom-cooked omelets were good but nothing great.
And so on. Really I have no complaints overall.
The dining room food -- well, you have to learn how to order in any ship's
dining room. The daily specials were excellent, and the beef orders
(steak/prime rib) were very good. I am still smacking my lips over the "Peking
style duck". The breads are very good. Soups are outstanding. Salads are
good but rather basic. Desserts are excellent. There were a couple of
not-so-hot entrees, but in every case they were items not "recommended" by the
waiter.
I don't know whether to say this here or somewhere else, and maybe I'll say it
twice. Every cruise line should send spies and simply copy what HAL does in
the dining room. The service and, for want of a better word, the "system" of
service, is head and shoulders above any other mass market cruise line, resort,
or anything else in the price range. HAL's head stewards (a.k.a. captains or
ass't maitres d') actually work and will even fill water glasses if the
assistant waiter is busy. The waiter and assitant waiter were nearly invisible
-- all one sees is a well-planned flow of food, with a quiet attempt to
remember every guest's preferences. I never felt hurried, and there were never
long periods of time when I felt like I was sitting waiting for food. If you
need to eat in an hour and a half, you can, and if you want to linger, you can
do that, too. I remember with great disappointment the long periods of sitting
on other cruises, waiters who must waste everyone's time giving lengthy oral
recitations of the menu which nobody can hear (Celebrity is very bad about
this), etc. And the personnel really seem to love their job.
The food in the specialty restaurant, the Marco Polo, was excellent, as was the
service and decor. It is really worth the extra $20 if you want a gourmet
experience.
SERVICE
Service on the Zaandam is the best. A++. The staff, from the guy sweeping the
carpet to the front desk (front desk personnel are often the poorest on a ship
in my experience -- I have wanted to strangle some of them on other cruises),
to the stewards and waiters -- are genuinely friendly, seem to like their jobs
(remarkable considering how extremely hard they work), and have "people skills"
-- they will chat with you if you want it, but won't force themselves on you.
The staff is almost entirely Indonesian on the Zaandam. I learned how to say
"good morning", "thank you" and a few other phrases in Indonesian on my first
HAL cruise, and the staff really appreciate the effort and interest. They do
give Indonesian shows and offer some Indonesian cuisine, which adds to the
cruise.
HAL has announced that it is changing its tipping policy, I think in response
to customer input, and it's high time. The old "no tipping required" policy
was well-intended (to add to the "no nickel and dime" atmosphere) but it didn't
work. It merely confused the passengers and probably hurt the staff's
pocketbooks. At some point in the near future, HAL is apparently going to
adopt a more mainline policy, with tipping guidelines and the ability to put
tips on the onboard accounts.
HAL has started putting fresh fruit in the cabins again, which is something I
missed and am glad to see reinstated. Now THAT is a great example of a little
free touch I enjoy. Higher categories of cabins also get fresh flowers.
ENTERTAINMENT -- I don't want to spend a lot of time on entertainment, which is
not HAL's strongest suit. The shows I saw were good and entertaining, but
nothing too special. I skipped the inevitable "Songs of the 60's", or
whatever, staff productions.
ACTIVITIES -- excellent. Good library and they give prizes for the daily quiz.
I like to play trivia, which was extremely well-run on the Zaandam, with two
good "name that tune" contests. The athletic activities can't compare to say
RCCL's, but were well-run and fun, especially the riotous putting contest in
heavy seas (which made volleyball, basketball etc. impossible - they set the
putting contest in the sports bar and it was a big hit). Fitness classes were
good, and the spa is good. Walking is excellent, due to the full teak
promenade deck. There were not many enrichment seminars, but then, there were
no "shopping" talks and the art auction was minimally invasive. One thing HAL
has -- you can always find a quiet corner to curl up with your free cappucino
and read a book.
I frequently dislike cruise directors, but the CD on this cruise (sorry I can't
remember his name, but he was Australian) was genuine, funny, and very nice.
The people running the small children's program seemed to do an outstanding
job, also.
GAMBLING -- Unfortunately, HAL has put in automatic continuous shuffling
machines on the blackjack tables. I am a veteran blackjack player and I simply
don't like this. The house rules are good on the standard table games,
comparable to Las Vegas. For those who want to lose their money faster, there
are lots of "fun" games (gag) and slot machines with no payout information.
The croupiers were polite and friendly, which is generally the biggest benefit
of cruise gambling.
My wife, by the way, won the Snowball Bingo jackpot We do well on cruises,
as I have won the blackjack tournament on my last two cruises, but my $500
contributions pale beside her $3910 bingo win. People would stop her all over
the ship and ask her "aren't you the woman who won the bingo?"
DESTINATIONS:
1) St. Maarten's - our first stop is a favorite of mine. Smart visitors know
to rent a car immediately upon landing and get the dickens out of Phillipsburg
(the town where you dock), a shabby and somewhat smaller version of such
hellholes as Charlotte Amalie. St. Maarten's, for those who don't know, is
half Dutch and half French. The Dutch side is drab and touristy; while the
French side (called St. Martin's) is quaint, thriving, and fun. The main French
town of Marigot has pleasant shopping, excellent dining, and is fairly scenic,
with a nice marina in the middle of town. There are over a dozen excellent
beaches all over the island, from the crowded and developed Orient Beach
(famous as a nude beach) to utterly secluded hamlets like Guana Point (which is
worth a drive just to see).
2) Tortola - this was my first visit to Tortola except a brief stop in my
college years. Tortola is a beautiful island. It is only moderately developed
and the little town does not have much to see, although there are several nice
shops. It is a huge sailing center and has nice beaches. The best favorite,
for a quick visitor, is to catch the ferry from downtown to Virgin Gorda (home
of the famous Rockefeller resort) and make your way to The Baths, a spectacular
beach.
3) Half Moon Cay - this is HAL's private island and is politically part of the
Bahamas. It is just lovely. I would wonder why someone who didn't like Half
Moon Cay would want to take a Caribbean cruise in the first place, as I would
rather go somewhere else unless I wanted to go to the beach or go snorkeling or
something. The water is sparkling blue and calm; the beach is pure powdery
sand, as soft on your feet as flour. There is a post office, food, and a wide
range of water sports (which are expensive, but for your money you get HAL's
assurance of safety and hygiene, which is not perfect but a lot better than
some unknown Caribbean operator). There is some music if you want, free use of
beach towels and beach chairs.
The only downside to Half Moon is that, with two ships in port, the beach gets
quite crowded. You have to walk around to the far side to get single-deep
towels and chairs, which are three-deep near the tender dock.
AMBIENCE
Ships have personalities; even two nearly identical sister ships, run by the
same cruise line, can be quite different. On this score, I give the Zaandam
high marks. The ambience of the ship is wonderful. Kudos to the Zaandam
staff.
The other passengers were extremely nice and intersting. Being a Christmas
cruise, we got more children and teenagers/college students than your typical
HAL cruise. I have to say that they were a big plus, as they were uniformly
well-behaved and were generally willing to interact some with older passengers
(i.e. me). They really livened things up a bit.


"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me
some coffee."
- Abraham Lincoln


  #3  
Old December 28th, 2003, 09:39 PM
Ebbtide
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long)

Yes, it was a great review, just what I was looking for. We only live 2
hours north of the port and have considered sailing her, so know I am sure
we will. we have done Holland in the past and enjoyed it.

Joyce


"Eileen Garland" wrote in message
...
Thanks for your lovely review, Mason. I really enjoyed reading it, and
it very much echoed what I remember of our cruise on the Zaandam when it
was first launched - except that many of the cabins had non-functional
air conditioning at that time, and the front desk staff were utterly
useless in trying to resolve the resulting complaints. I was
disappointed ot hear that it's become somewhat shabby in such a short
time! I loved the size and decor of this ship, and the pampering
feeling you get on a HAL cruise.

Eileen

Mason wrote:

The Basics:
My wife and I cruised on the Holland America Cruise Line's ship, the

Zaandam,
round trip from Port Canaveral, Florida, stopping in St. Maarten's,

Tortola,
and Half Moon Cay. This was a Christmas cruise, Dec. 20-27, 2003.
The ship is 63,000 tons (780 feet long, 10 passenger decks) and was

launched in
May 2000. She carries 1440 passengers and a crew of 561. The service

crew is
primarily Indonesian, the officers primarily Dutch.
We booked at standard outside cabin, category "C", on the Lower

Promenade Deck
(Deck "3" on some lines).

Embarkation
We wanted to check out HAL's new embarkation times but, unfortunately,

did not
arrive until 2 pm. Due to heightened security, we could not pull up to

the
cruise terminal, but HAL had excellent baggage handling at the satellite
facility. We pulled up, unloaded, and a porter immediately took the

bags right
off the asphalt. The walk to the terminal was covered and perhaps 100

yards
away. Parking was very close and easy, although it was outside and cost

$70 in
advance ($10 per day). I have to say, this was as close as you can get

to
hassle-free parking and baggage drop-off, and I got a parking space only

50
yards from the drop-off facility.
Once in the terminal, boarding was better than average. It took us

perhaps 15
minutes to clear the boarding area and get on board. Cabins were open

when we
got onboard, and our baggage was delivered before departure at 5 pm.
All in all, embarkation was better than average.
THE CABIN
Our cabin seemed a bit spartan after our last cruise on the Celebrity
Constellation. At 165 square feet it was pushing my personal limit for

full
comfort, but it was still entirely satisfactory in terms of space. The

decor
was beige and a bit drab, really, although (as was true throughout the

ship)
the artwork was excellent. The bathroom was typical HAL: just large

enough to
function fully without an ounce of wasted space. There was a large

medicine
cabinet, a hairdryer, and (underneath the hairdryer) an outlet.
On the left wall of the cabin entry are four closet spaces with

adjustable
shelves in some and hanging bars in others. A credit-card safe (which

is a
pain in the neck -- I much prefer programmable safes, so you don't have

to
carry your credit card around and two people don't have to share one

credit
card to get in) is in the closet. There was additional drawer space

near the
desk unit and in the beside tables. Three large suitcases fit perfectly

under
the bed. We found the space to be ample. There was also enough leg

room to
actually sit on the love seat. The television in this cabin class is

quite
small -- the mini-suites (which are really just large verandah cabins)

have a
larger t.v. with a VHS player.
The bed is hard and reasonably comfortable. The bedcovers and sitting

areas
were getting old and somewhat shabby, and are ready for

replacement/recovering
as of December 2003. The bolster pillows, bedspread and blankets were

really
close to unsatisfactory, actually.
THE SHIP
The Zaandam (like all HAL ships, named after a town in Holland) is a

slightly
larger version of the beloved Statendam class of HAL ships, and has all

the
advantages and disadvantages of that class. I really cannot tell the
difference except that the Zaandam seems to have a bit more space, but

also
more vibration problems.
Let me just say, in my personal opinion, that this is my personal

favorite ship
among all the mass-market ships I have sailed, seen, or heard about.

The deck
space is the best of any mass market ship afloat. There is a full

promenade
deck (actually it is the Lower Promenade) that completely circles the

ship, and
it is 100% teak. There is a full bow deck, and a number of smaller and

easily
accessible side and aft decks -- most of them are teak, except the huge

bow
deck.
The really special thing about HAL ships in general, and the Zaandam in
particular, is the artwork. The theme of the Zaandam is musical

instruments.
There is a three story pipe organ in the atrium, and throughout the ship

are
scattered displays of ancient musical instruments. For example, there

is a
17th century harpsicord, with some ornate formal clothing from the era
displayed beside it. There are also some interesting modern

instruments, such
as a saxaphone signed by Bill Clinton (!) and a guitar signed by many

guitar
greats (Eric Clapton, BB King, etc.).
Outside the library is a blown up photograph of the excavation of King

Tut's
tomb, and surrounding it are a number of precious original artifacts

from his
period of Egyptian history, including a full royal sarcophagus. To top

it off,
there is a huge modern sculpture of the lower half of a face (mostly

chin and
lips) which, you come to realize, is the lower half of the face of

Tutankamen
himself.
No HAL ship would be complete without extensive nautical memorabilia, an

d the
Zaandam has a number of excellent ship models, lithographs, and

paintings. My
favorite was a 30-inch model of J. Pierpont Morgan's magnificent

steam/sail
yacht, the Corsair, located in the Crow's Nest. People who enjoy

museums could
easily spend hours enjoying the artwork, or simply use it as a constant
diversion when ambling from place to place.
The atrium is less spectacular than many ships but is very pretty and to

my
taste. (I would rather see the space used by a huge soaring atrium
redistributed into other public areas, personally.) The ship is

standard HAL
fare, attractive without getting too intrusive. There is a nice
centrally-located sports bar with a large-screen t.v., wisely placed

next to
the casino so that the noise is all in the same area of the ship. The

smallish
library is beautiful, with a number of attractive writing desks, lit by

nice
pressed-glass lamps and facing windows. The main dining room, theater,

and
specialty restaurant are all conservative but colorful enough to

maintain one's
interest.
Pools on these ships consist of a main pool which is freshwater and has

a
retractable roof, and is located midships on the Lido Deck (top full

deck), and
a small open pool with teak decking behind the Lido on the same deck.
Hamburgers, pizzas, and ice cream are served until 5 pm just behind the

main
pool. (People who are distressed by not having food available between 5

and 6
pm -- Princess is calling you!)(Although you can get free hors d'oeuvres

from
room service during this period.)
The Wajang Theater shows second-run features (i.e. movies out several

months,
but not yet released on video/DVD) which were quite good. As always,

HAL is
very good about not nickle-and-diming the patrons, and the movies have

free
popcorn, popped a little before the movies begin. The coffee bar serves

decent
cappucino, with delicious cakes and cookies, all morning and afternoon,

all
without charge.
The downside to the "stretch" from the Statendam class is a noisy ship.

In
moderate seas, the Zaandam creaks and groans like a haunted house. She

has
good stabilizers and the roll is very well controlled (we had 18 foot

swells
and gale force winds in the Atlantic, which she handled very adeptly),

but the
noise bothered a lot of people. Personally I found it comforting, as it

felt
like I was on a ship rather than in a hotel, but some people did not

agree.
Also, Zaandam has a lot of vibration in turns and manuevers, which also

does
not bother me much but does bother some.
Announcements are infrequent and are not pumped into the cabins

(excepting
emergency information). The only ship activity generally made over the

PA
system is bingo once a day, a nice change from constant barrages of art

auction
and pool activity announcements.
FOOD
Holland America food is quite good. The food on the buffet line (called

the
Lido, as it is on many ships) was not as good as the dining room food

(also
true of most ship's food). Food quality varies quite a bit. The

breakfast
meats were the worst thing -- really rather awful, the only bad food I

had on
the entire cruise. The coffee is not very good, either (but you can get

good
coffee for free at the Java Cafe). Eggs were quite good, and most of

the lunch
selections were tasty. Soups were outstanding as were some of the daily
dishes. Bagels (which I eat toasted with cream cheese, smoked salmon and

maybe
a garnish) were excellent. Fruit was excellent, and you can get a full

glass
of any juice you want. The custom-cooked omelets were good but nothing

great.
And so on. Really I have no complaints overall.
The dining room food -- well, you have to learn how to order in any

ship's
dining room. The daily specials were excellent, and the beef orders
(steak/prime rib) were very good. I am still smacking my lips over the

"Peking
style duck". The breads are very good. Soups are outstanding. Salads

are
good but rather basic. Desserts are excellent. There were a couple of
not-so-hot entrees, but in every case they were items not "recommended"

by the
waiter.
I don't know whether to say this here or somewhere else, and maybe I'll

say it
twice. Every cruise line should send spies and simply copy what HAL

does in
the dining room. The service and, for want of a better word, the

"system" of
service, is head and shoulders above any other mass market cruise line,

resort,
or anything else in the price range. HAL's head stewards (a.k.a.

captains or
ass't maitres d') actually work and will even fill water glasses if the
assistant waiter is busy. The waiter and assitant waiter were nearly

invisible
-- all one sees is a well-planned flow of food, with a quiet attempt to
remember every guest's preferences. I never felt hurried, and there

were never
long periods of time when I felt like I was sitting waiting for food.

If you
need to eat in an hour and a half, you can, and if you want to linger,

you can
do that, too. I remember with great disappointment the long periods of

sitting
on other cruises, waiters who must waste everyone's time giving lengthy

oral
recitations of the menu which nobody can hear (Celebrity is very bad

about
this), etc. And the personnel really seem to love their job.
The food in the specialty restaurant, the Marco Polo, was excellent, as

was the
service and decor. It is really worth the extra $20 if you want a

gourmet
experience.
SERVICE
Service on the Zaandam is the best. A++. The staff, from the guy

sweeping the
carpet to the front desk (front desk personnel are often the poorest on

a ship
in my experience -- I have wanted to strangle some of them on other

cruises),
to the stewards and waiters -- are genuinely friendly, seem to like

their jobs
(remarkable considering how extremely hard they work), and have "people

skills"
-- they will chat with you if you want it, but won't force themselves on

you.
The staff is almost entirely Indonesian on the Zaandam. I learned how to

say
"good morning", "thank you" and a few other phrases in Indonesian on my

first
HAL cruise, and the staff really appreciate the effort and interest.

They do
give Indonesian shows and offer some Indonesian cuisine, which adds to

the
cruise.
HAL has announced that it is changing its tipping policy, I think in

response
to customer input, and it's high time. The old "no tipping required"

policy
was well-intended (to add to the "no nickel and dime" atmosphere) but it

didn't
work. It merely confused the passengers and probably hurt the staff's
pocketbooks. At some point in the near future, HAL is apparently going

to
adopt a more mainline policy, with tipping guidelines and the ability to

put
tips on the onboard accounts.
HAL has started putting fresh fruit in the cabins again, which is

something I
missed and am glad to see reinstated. Now THAT is a great example of a

little
free touch I enjoy. Higher categories of cabins also get fresh flowers.
ENTERTAINMENT -- I don't want to spend a lot of time on entertainment,

which is
not HAL's strongest suit. The shows I saw were good and entertaining,

but
nothing too special. I skipped the inevitable "Songs of the 60's", or
whatever, staff productions.
ACTIVITIES -- excellent. Good library and they give prizes for the

daily quiz.
I like to play trivia, which was extremely well-run on the Zaandam,

with two
good "name that tune" contests. The athletic activities can't compare

to say
RCCL's, but were well-run and fun, especially the riotous putting

contest in
heavy seas (which made volleyball, basketball etc. impossible - they set

the
putting contest in the sports bar and it was a big hit). Fitness

classes were
good, and the spa is good. Walking is excellent, due to the full teak
promenade deck. There were not many enrichment seminars, but then,

there were
no "shopping" talks and the art auction was minimally invasive. One

thing HAL
has -- you can always find a quiet corner to curl up with your free

cappucino
and read a book.
I frequently dislike cruise directors, but the CD on this cruise (sorry

I can't
remember his name, but he was Australian) was genuine, funny, and very

nice.
The people running the small children's program seemed to do an

outstanding
job, also.
GAMBLING -- Unfortunately, HAL has put in automatic continuous shuffling
machines on the blackjack tables. I am a veteran blackjack player and I

simply
don't like this. The house rules are good on the standard table games,
comparable to Las Vegas. For those who want to lose their money faster,

there
are lots of "fun" games (gag) and slot machines with no payout

information.
The croupiers were polite and friendly, which is generally the biggest

benefit
of cruise gambling.
My wife, by the way, won the Snowball Bingo jackpot We do well on

cruises,
as I have won the blackjack tournament on my last two cruises, but my

$500
contributions pale beside her $3910 bingo win. People would stop her

all over
the ship and ask her "aren't you the woman who won the bingo?"
DESTINATIONS:
1) St. Maarten's - our first stop is a favorite of mine. Smart

visitors know
to rent a car immediately upon landing and get the dickens out of

Phillipsburg
(the town where you dock), a shabby and somewhat smaller version of such
hellholes as Charlotte Amalie. St. Maarten's, for those who don't know,

is
half Dutch and half French. The Dutch side is drab and touristy; while

the
French side (called St. Martin's) is quaint, thriving, and fun. The main

French
town of Marigot has pleasant shopping, excellent dining, and is fairly

scenic,
with a nice marina in the middle of town. There are over a dozen

excellent
beaches all over the island, from the crowded and developed Orient Beach
(famous as a nude beach) to utterly secluded hamlets like Guana Point

(which is
worth a drive just to see).
2) Tortola - this was my first visit to Tortola except a brief stop in

my
college years. Tortola is a beautiful island. It is only moderately

developed
and the little town does not have much to see, although there are

several nice
shops. It is a huge sailing center and has nice beaches. The best

favorite,
for a quick visitor, is to catch the ferry from downtown to Virgin Gorda

(home
of the famous Rockefeller resort) and make your way to The Baths, a

spectacular
beach.
3) Half Moon Cay - this is HAL's private island and is politically part

of the
Bahamas. It is just lovely. I would wonder why someone who didn't like

Half
Moon Cay would want to take a Caribbean cruise in the first place, as I

would
rather go somewhere else unless I wanted to go to the beach or go

snorkeling or
something. The water is sparkling blue and calm; the beach is pure

powdery
sand, as soft on your feet as flour. There is a post office, food, and

a wide
range of water sports (which are expensive, but for your money you get

HAL's
assurance of safety and hygiene, which is not perfect but a lot better

than
some unknown Caribbean operator). There is some music if you want, free

use of
beach towels and beach chairs.
The only downside to Half Moon is that, with two ships in port, the

beach gets
quite crowded. You have to walk around to the far side to get

single-deep
towels and chairs, which are three-deep near the tender dock.
AMBIENCE
Ships have personalities; even two nearly identical sister ships, run

by the
same cruise line, can be quite different. On this score, I give the

Zaandam
high marks. The ambience of the ship is wonderful. Kudos to the

Zaandam
staff.
The other passengers were extremely nice and intersting. Being a

Christmas
cruise, we got more children and teenagers/college students than your

typical
HAL cruise. I have to say that they were a big plus, as they were

uniformly
well-behaved and were generally willing to interact some with older

passengers
(i.e. me). They really livened things up a bit.


"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please

bring me
some coffee."
- Abraham Lincoln




  #4  
Old December 29th, 2003, 05:07 PM
Tobie Gerbrandt
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long)

Hi Mason,

Thank you for your great review. We were on the Zaandam for the spring
Trans-Panama repositioning cruise in 2003.

Most of your remarks coincided with our thoughts on this ship. We travelled
with Barb's 3 wheeled electric scooter and, other than not being able to
take it ashore in tender ports, and their refusal to let us take a ship's
wheelchair, we found the accessibility very good. The shore excursion staff
was next to useless in information for people with movement disabilities,
and at times were outright RUDE.

We also found the ships staff to be excellent, especially Buddy (the dining
room mint guy) and Ari with his BMW (bun, muffin wagon) at breakfast.

We thought we could have done without the "organ" in the atrium. The space
would have looked better, in our opinion, without it.

We truly loved that cruise, and given the chance to sail Zaandam again at a
reasonable price and desirable itinerary, would sail on her again in a
heartbeat.

Tobieon an Island in the Pacific

"Ebbtide" wrote in message
...
Yes, it was a great review, just what I was looking for. We only live 2
hours north of the port and have considered sailing her, so know I am sure
we will. we have done Holland in the past and enjoyed it.

Joyce


"Eileen Garland" wrote in message
...
Thanks for your lovely review, Mason. I really enjoyed reading it, and
it very much echoed what I remember of our cruise on the Zaandam when it
was first launched - except that many of the cabins had non-functional
air conditioning at that time, and the front desk staff were utterly
useless in trying to resolve the resulting complaints. I was
disappointed ot hear that it's become somewhat shabby in such a short
time! I loved the size and decor of this ship, and the pampering
feeling you get on a HAL cruise.

Eileen

Mason wrote:

The Basics:
My wife and I cruised on the Holland America Cruise Line's ship, the

Zaandam,
round trip from Port Canaveral, Florida, stopping in St. Maarten's,

Tortola,
and Half Moon Cay. This was a Christmas cruise, Dec. 20-27, 2003.
The ship is 63,000 tons (780 feet long, 10 passenger decks) and was

launched in
May 2000. She carries 1440 passengers and a crew of 561. The service

crew is
primarily Indonesian, the officers primarily Dutch.
We booked at standard outside cabin, category "C", on the Lower

Promenade Deck
(Deck "3" on some lines).

Embarkation
We wanted to check out HAL's new embarkation times but, unfortunately,

did not
arrive until 2 pm. Due to heightened security, we could not pull up

to
the
cruise terminal, but HAL had excellent baggage handling at the

satellite
facility. We pulled up, unloaded, and a porter immediately took the

bags right
off the asphalt. The walk to the terminal was covered and perhaps 100

yards
away. Parking was very close and easy, although it was outside and

cost
$70 in
advance ($10 per day). I have to say, this was as close as you can

get
to
hassle-free parking and baggage drop-off, and I got a parking space

only
50
yards from the drop-off facility.
Once in the terminal, boarding was better than average. It took us

perhaps 15
minutes to clear the boarding area and get on board. Cabins were open

when we
got onboard, and our baggage was delivered before departure at 5 pm.
All in all, embarkation was better than average.
THE CABIN
Our cabin seemed a bit spartan after our last cruise on the Celebrity
Constellation. At 165 square feet it was pushing my personal limit

for
full
comfort, but it was still entirely satisfactory in terms of space.

The
decor
was beige and a bit drab, really, although (as was true throughout the

ship)
the artwork was excellent. The bathroom was typical HAL: just large

enough to
function fully without an ounce of wasted space. There was a large

medicine
cabinet, a hairdryer, and (underneath the hairdryer) an outlet.
On the left wall of the cabin entry are four closet spaces with

adjustable
shelves in some and hanging bars in others. A credit-card safe (which

is a
pain in the neck -- I much prefer programmable safes, so you don't

have
to
carry your credit card around and two people don't have to share one

credit
card to get in) is in the closet. There was additional drawer space

near the
desk unit and in the beside tables. Three large suitcases fit

perfectly
under
the bed. We found the space to be ample. There was also enough leg

room to
actually sit on the love seat. The television in this cabin class is

quite
small -- the mini-suites (which are really just large verandah cabins)

have a
larger t.v. with a VHS player.
The bed is hard and reasonably comfortable. The bedcovers and sitting

areas
were getting old and somewhat shabby, and are ready for

replacement/recovering
as of December 2003. The bolster pillows, bedspread and blankets were

really
close to unsatisfactory, actually.
THE SHIP
The Zaandam (like all HAL ships, named after a town in Holland) is a

slightly
larger version of the beloved Statendam class of HAL ships, and has

all
the
advantages and disadvantages of that class. I really cannot tell the
difference except that the Zaandam seems to have a bit more space, but

also
more vibration problems.
Let me just say, in my personal opinion, that this is my personal

favorite ship
among all the mass-market ships I have sailed, seen, or heard about.

The deck
space is the best of any mass market ship afloat. There is a full

promenade
deck (actually it is the Lower Promenade) that completely circles the

ship, and
it is 100% teak. There is a full bow deck, and a number of smaller

and
easily
accessible side and aft decks -- most of them are teak, except the

huge
bow
deck.
The really special thing about HAL ships in general, and the Zaandam

in
particular, is the artwork. The theme of the Zaandam is musical

instruments.
There is a three story pipe organ in the atrium, and throughout the

ship
are
scattered displays of ancient musical instruments. For example, there

is a
17th century harpsicord, with some ornate formal clothing from the era
displayed beside it. There are also some interesting modern

instruments, such
as a saxaphone signed by Bill Clinton (!) and a guitar signed by many

guitar
greats (Eric Clapton, BB King, etc.).
Outside the library is a blown up photograph of the excavation of King

Tut's
tomb, and surrounding it are a number of precious original artifacts

from his
period of Egyptian history, including a full royal sarcophagus. To

top
it off,
there is a huge modern sculpture of the lower half of a face (mostly

chin and
lips) which, you come to realize, is the lower half of the face of

Tutankamen
himself.
No HAL ship would be complete without extensive nautical memorabilia,

an
d the
Zaandam has a number of excellent ship models, lithographs, and

paintings. My
favorite was a 30-inch model of J. Pierpont Morgan's magnificent

steam/sail
yacht, the Corsair, located in the Crow's Nest. People who enjoy

museums could
easily spend hours enjoying the artwork, or simply use it as a

constant
diversion when ambling from place to place.
The atrium is less spectacular than many ships but is very pretty and

to
my
taste. (I would rather see the space used by a huge soaring atrium
redistributed into other public areas, personally.) The ship is

standard HAL
fare, attractive without getting too intrusive. There is a nice
centrally-located sports bar with a large-screen t.v., wisely placed

next to
the casino so that the noise is all in the same area of the ship. The

smallish
library is beautiful, with a number of attractive writing desks, lit

by
nice
pressed-glass lamps and facing windows. The main dining room, theater,

and
specialty restaurant are all conservative but colorful enough to

maintain one's
interest.
Pools on these ships consist of a main pool which is freshwater and

has
a
retractable roof, and is located midships on the Lido Deck (top full

deck), and
a small open pool with teak decking behind the Lido on the same deck.
Hamburgers, pizzas, and ice cream are served until 5 pm just behind

the
main
pool. (People who are distressed by not having food available between

5
and 6
pm -- Princess is calling you!)(Although you can get free hors

d'oeuvres
from
room service during this period.)
The Wajang Theater shows second-run features (i.e. movies out several

months,
but not yet released on video/DVD) which were quite good. As always,

HAL is
very good about not nickle-and-diming the patrons, and the movies have

free
popcorn, popped a little before the movies begin. The coffee bar

serves
decent
cappucino, with delicious cakes and cookies, all morning and

afternoon,
all
without charge.
The downside to the "stretch" from the Statendam class is a noisy

ship.
In
moderate seas, the Zaandam creaks and groans like a haunted house.

She
has
good stabilizers and the roll is very well controlled (we had 18 foot

swells
and gale force winds in the Atlantic, which she handled very adeptly),

but the
noise bothered a lot of people. Personally I found it comforting, as

it
felt
like I was on a ship rather than in a hotel, but some people did not

agree.
Also, Zaandam has a lot of vibration in turns and manuevers, which

also
does
not bother me much but does bother some.
Announcements are infrequent and are not pumped into the cabins

(excepting
emergency information). The only ship activity generally made over

the
PA
system is bingo once a day, a nice change from constant barrages of

art
auction
and pool activity announcements.
FOOD
Holland America food is quite good. The food on the buffet line

(called
the
Lido, as it is on many ships) was not as good as the dining room food

(also
true of most ship's food). Food quality varies quite a bit. The

breakfast
meats were the worst thing -- really rather awful, the only bad food I

had on
the entire cruise. The coffee is not very good, either (but you can

get
good
coffee for free at the Java Cafe). Eggs were quite good, and most of

the lunch
selections were tasty. Soups were outstanding as were some of the

daily
dishes. Bagels (which I eat toasted with cream cheese, smoked salmon

and
maybe
a garnish) were excellent. Fruit was excellent, and you can get a

full
glass
of any juice you want. The custom-cooked omelets were good but

nothing
great.
And so on. Really I have no complaints overall.
The dining room food -- well, you have to learn how to order in any

ship's
dining room. The daily specials were excellent, and the beef orders
(steak/prime rib) were very good. I am still smacking my lips over

the
"Peking
style duck". The breads are very good. Soups are outstanding.

Salads
are
good but rather basic. Desserts are excellent. There were a couple

of
not-so-hot entrees, but in every case they were items not

"recommended"
by the
waiter.
I don't know whether to say this here or somewhere else, and maybe

I'll
say it
twice. Every cruise line should send spies and simply copy what HAL

does in
the dining room. The service and, for want of a better word, the

"system" of
service, is head and shoulders above any other mass market cruise

line,
resort,
or anything else in the price range. HAL's head stewards (a.k.a.

captains or
ass't maitres d') actually work and will even fill water glasses if

the
assistant waiter is busy. The waiter and assitant waiter were nearly

invisible
-- all one sees is a well-planned flow of food, with a quiet attempt

to
remember every guest's preferences. I never felt hurried, and there

were never
long periods of time when I felt like I was sitting waiting for food.

If you
need to eat in an hour and a half, you can, and if you want to linger,

you can
do that, too. I remember with great disappointment the long periods

of
sitting
on other cruises, waiters who must waste everyone's time giving

lengthy
oral
recitations of the menu which nobody can hear (Celebrity is very bad

about
this), etc. And the personnel really seem to love their job.
The food in the specialty restaurant, the Marco Polo, was excellent,

as
was the
service and decor. It is really worth the extra $20 if you want a

gourmet
experience.
SERVICE
Service on the Zaandam is the best. A++. The staff, from the guy

sweeping the
carpet to the front desk (front desk personnel are often the poorest

on
a ship
in my experience -- I have wanted to strangle some of them on other

cruises),
to the stewards and waiters -- are genuinely friendly, seem to like

their jobs
(remarkable considering how extremely hard they work), and have

"people
skills"
-- they will chat with you if you want it, but won't force themselves

on
you.
The staff is almost entirely Indonesian on the Zaandam. I learned how

to
say
"good morning", "thank you" and a few other phrases in Indonesian on

my
first
HAL cruise, and the staff really appreciate the effort and interest.

They do
give Indonesian shows and offer some Indonesian cuisine, which adds to

the
cruise.
HAL has announced that it is changing its tipping policy, I think in

response
to customer input, and it's high time. The old "no tipping required"

policy
was well-intended (to add to the "no nickel and dime" atmosphere) but

it
didn't
work. It merely confused the passengers and probably hurt the staff's
pocketbooks. At some point in the near future, HAL is apparently

going
to
adopt a more mainline policy, with tipping guidelines and the ability

to
put
tips on the onboard accounts.
HAL has started putting fresh fruit in the cabins again, which is

something I
missed and am glad to see reinstated. Now THAT is a great example of

a
little
free touch I enjoy. Higher categories of cabins also get fresh

flowers.
ENTERTAINMENT -- I don't want to spend a lot of time on entertainment,

which is
not HAL's strongest suit. The shows I saw were good and entertaining,

but
nothing too special. I skipped the inevitable "Songs of the 60's", or
whatever, staff productions.
ACTIVITIES -- excellent. Good library and they give prizes for the

daily quiz.
I like to play trivia, which was extremely well-run on the Zaandam,

with two
good "name that tune" contests. The athletic activities can't compare

to say
RCCL's, but were well-run and fun, especially the riotous putting

contest in
heavy seas (which made volleyball, basketball etc. impossible - they

set
the
putting contest in the sports bar and it was a big hit). Fitness

classes were
good, and the spa is good. Walking is excellent, due to the full teak
promenade deck. There were not many enrichment seminars, but then,

there were
no "shopping" talks and the art auction was minimally invasive. One

thing HAL
has -- you can always find a quiet corner to curl up with your free

cappucino
and read a book.
I frequently dislike cruise directors, but the CD on this cruise

(sorry
I can't
remember his name, but he was Australian) was genuine, funny, and very

nice.
The people running the small children's program seemed to do an

outstanding
job, also.
GAMBLING -- Unfortunately, HAL has put in automatic continuous

shuffling
machines on the blackjack tables. I am a veteran blackjack player and

I
simply
don't like this. The house rules are good on the standard table

games,
comparable to Las Vegas. For those who want to lose their money

faster,
there
are lots of "fun" games (gag) and slot machines with no payout

information.
The croupiers were polite and friendly, which is generally the biggest

benefit
of cruise gambling.
My wife, by the way, won the Snowball Bingo jackpot We do well on

cruises,
as I have won the blackjack tournament on my last two cruises, but my

$500
contributions pale beside her $3910 bingo win. People would stop her

all over
the ship and ask her "aren't you the woman who won the bingo?"
DESTINATIONS:
1) St. Maarten's - our first stop is a favorite of mine. Smart

visitors know
to rent a car immediately upon landing and get the dickens out of

Phillipsburg
(the town where you dock), a shabby and somewhat smaller version of

such
hellholes as Charlotte Amalie. St. Maarten's, for those who don't

know,
is
half Dutch and half French. The Dutch side is drab and touristy;

while
the
French side (called St. Martin's) is quaint, thriving, and fun. The

main
French
town of Marigot has pleasant shopping, excellent dining, and is fairly

scenic,
with a nice marina in the middle of town. There are over a dozen

excellent
beaches all over the island, from the crowded and developed Orient

Beach
(famous as a nude beach) to utterly secluded hamlets like Guana Point

(which is
worth a drive just to see).
2) Tortola - this was my first visit to Tortola except a brief stop

in
my
college years. Tortola is a beautiful island. It is only moderately

developed
and the little town does not have much to see, although there are

several nice
shops. It is a huge sailing center and has nice beaches. The best

favorite,
for a quick visitor, is to catch the ferry from downtown to Virgin

Gorda
(home
of the famous Rockefeller resort) and make your way to The Baths, a

spectacular
beach.
3) Half Moon Cay - this is HAL's private island and is politically

part
of the
Bahamas. It is just lovely. I would wonder why someone who didn't

like
Half
Moon Cay would want to take a Caribbean cruise in the first place, as

I
would
rather go somewhere else unless I wanted to go to the beach or go

snorkeling or
something. The water is sparkling blue and calm; the beach is pure

powdery
sand, as soft on your feet as flour. There is a post office, food,

and
a wide
range of water sports (which are expensive, but for your money you get

HAL's
assurance of safety and hygiene, which is not perfect but a lot better

than
some unknown Caribbean operator). There is some music if you want,

free
use of
beach towels and beach chairs.
The only downside to Half Moon is that, with two ships in port, the

beach gets
quite crowded. You have to walk around to the far side to get

single-deep
towels and chairs, which are three-deep near the tender dock.
AMBIENCE
Ships have personalities; even two nearly identical sister ships, run

by the
same cruise line, can be quite different. On this score, I give the

Zaandam
high marks. The ambience of the ship is wonderful. Kudos to the

Zaandam
staff.
The other passengers were extremely nice and intersting. Being a

Christmas
cruise, we got more children and teenagers/college students than your

typical
HAL cruise. I have to say that they were a big plus, as they were

uniformly
well-behaved and were generally willing to interact some with older

passengers
(i.e. me). They really livened things up a bit.


"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please

bring me
some coffee."
- Abraham Lincoln






  #5  
Old December 29th, 2003, 07:19 PM
Mason
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Zaandam Eastern Caribbean Review (long)

We also found the ships staff to be excellent, especially Buddy (the dining
room mint guy) and Ari with his BMW (bun, muffin wagon) at breakfast.


Ari is a character! They have him doing dinner mints, now.


"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me
some coffee."
- Abraham Lincoln
 




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