Zaandam Christmas Cruise 12/18/04 (very long)

Zaandam Christmas Cruise 12/18/04 - 12/28/04

Us
We are a family of 11- 4 adults- late 30's-early 40's, 2 adults mid
60's, 1 great grandmother- 90+ and 4 children- girls 15, 12, 10 & 8.
Family cruise history: HAL, Renaissance, Cunard, Princess, NCL,
Carnival, RCCL, Celebrity, Costa, Chandris/Fantasy, Majesty, Delta
Queen Steamboat, American Hawaii Cruises. My grandmother is in her 90's
and has cruised for over 60 years for obvious reasons, won't list all
the lines she has been on...

Overview
There were a fair share of families were aboard for this Christmas
holiday sailing. Overall it was easily evident that HAL's median age
is older than most other cruises. This presented a fairly wide variety
of age groups, and reported 200+ well-mannered children. It was pretty
exciting shortly after embarkation, to encounter strolling carolers.
Unfortunately this was the one and only occasion where we saw this.

Pre-Cruise
We stayed at the Radisson at Port Canaveral. Nice resort and clean.
They presented an excellent breakfast buffet with friendly service.
What a great way in which to begin our family holiday. The drawback was
being packed like sardines on buses for the shuttle to the port. Again,
the resort's problem not HAL'S. There were 3 ships, leaving Port
Canaveral on this day. The wait, loading of luggage etc. on a
50-passenger bus was EXTREMELY chaotic and time consuming. Pick up by
the Radisson shuttle at the end of the cruise was via their "regular"
shuttle and went very smoothly.

For those debating pre-cruise parking, Signage is excellent leading to
the port via stationary and electronic signing. Parking at the Port is
also extremely easy with convenient drop off areas for both handicapped
persons and baggage. The parking area is fenced in and charges $10 per
day.

Porters were readily available to transport our luggage the 3 feet from
the storage under the bus to the forklift palette. We were very
disappointed by our first impression of HAL when the same guy asked for
a gratuity after having already being "taken care of". If no tip had
already been given, it would have been one thing, however we tipped him
more than a $1 per bag for our entire family. When I last checked this
was the recommended.

Embarkation
Longest part of the line was of course waiting to go through the metal
detectors along with the x-ray of all carry-on items. Inspections were
thorough and as we all know necessary. Cruise line reps were all
pleasant and polite, check-in agents were also plentiful and efficient.
We did have all our forms pre-printed and filled out, as most people
did.

Our daughter was issued an ID bracelet with her lifeboat muster station
in the event there was an emergency and she was separated from us. Ship
staff could then easily take her to where she was supposed to be. As a
parent this was very reassuring.

We arrived about 11:30 am and the whole process from arrival to
boarding was about a half hour. Our grandmother, taken aboard via
wheelchair, had separate check-in, which was of course much faster than
that of the "masses". The family met up at the Lido for lunch. At 1:40
pm the announcement was made that the cabins were ready. Luggage
arrived very shortly afterwards and everyone in our group was able to
unpack prior to the 4:30 pm lifeboat muster drill.

The steward (forgive me for not knowing his name- my Dad had the most
personal dealings with him) who wheeled her aboard was ready to ditch
her off as soon as they were aboard. My father mentioned to him that a
tip would be offered if he would to take her to lido deck and he became
her best buddy though out the entire cruise! Lucky for us he worked at
the Piano Bar where we gathered nightly for pre-dinner cocktails and
hors d'oeuvres. Again, he took excellent care of our entire family
making sure we always had plenty of hors d'oeuvres and peanuts to go
along with our drinks.

Side story: The last day at sea he asked for the names of our family
members. Little did we know and how delightfully surprised we were when
he searched us out in the Lido the next morning to present to each
family group a "personalized" Dutch hat signifying the date, family
members and signed, presumably by him! He received an additional
gratuity on the last evening to show our appreciation for his great
service.

Crew
See the Dining Room heading for our favorite crewmember. Overall
everyone on the ship was extremely pleasant and helpful. There were
plenty of smiles all around. I cannot begin to tell you how many times
in the Lido I had to politely and with a smile, ask one of the "boys"
to carry the tray of someone else "who REALLY needed the help".

The Ship
The Zaandam had the best layout out of all of the newer ships that I
have personally been fortunate enough to cruise on. The Zaandam's
layout made it very easy for my elderly grandmother to walk around with
out having to walk a "mile" to get anywhere as she does on a "MEGA"
ship. If you book on deck 6 or 7 you will never have to go any lower
than deck 4 on the ship except for shore excursions. With the Lido and
pools on deck 8 there is not too far too travel up and if you can
obtain dining in the Rotterdam Upper Dining Room, you will only have to
go down to deck 5.

With the before mentioned problems with our cabins, overall cleanliness
aboard the Zaandam was excellent. The ship's d=E9cor is a little worn
around the edges, but no real complaints. The ship is going into dry
dock January 2005 and will be getting some new carpeting along with the
other scheduled SOE enhancements.

On our cruise aboard the Golden Princess in late 2003, DH and I, still
childless, reveled in the sanctity of the their "Adult Only" Aft
swimming pool. In September of 2004 our soon to be adopted 8 year old
daughter arrived in our lives. Both swimming pools aboard the Zaandam
had signs posted "saying no children swimming without supervision
under the age of 13" at both the Lido and Aft swimming pools. The
daily bulletin, for only the first few days of the cruise, "requested"
that the children use the Lido Swimming Pool.

Well we tried that. I'm sorry, but with a crowded holiday sailing it
was just plain unrealistic. The Lido Pool area is perfect for relaxing
when it is cool outdoors. On hot Caribbean days the air was downright
hot, even with the roof fully open. The water was opposite, positively
cold. Even had it not been a sold out sailing, there were not enough
seats never mind chaises around the Lido pool to reasonably expect
families to solely use that pool. Our daughter, with chattering teeth
asked if we couldn't swim in the aft pool. Ever mindful of the peace
for the adults, after some discussion we decided to try the aft pool.
Much to our surprise we discovered other well behaved children and
adults thawing out in the sunshine.

Our daughter never had the luxury of swimming lessons in her previous
foster homes. At all times she was accompanied by one of us at least
sitting at the pool's edge, if not in the water with her, to insure
she would not splash or otherwise interfere with any of the adults
present. All of the children always behaved themselves, which led us to
the conclusion that HAL does attract a more conservative clientele.

Pinnacle Grill
Did not dine there, but did see the beautiful table settings and dining
room. Christmas Day they offered their "$49.95 pp Wine Dinner"

Gym/Spa
I had a terrific manicure at a very fair price. My SIL, and her family
had multiple spa services and were very pleased with the staff and
wonderful massages, manicures and pedicures, which they received. We
both booked immediately after lunch right after we boarded the ship.
And glad we were. Do not call, go there in person, otherwise, they will
tell you they will call you back and that may not be for a long long
time. The new Spa will be going in during dry dock. The spa staff will
have off for two weeks and the last week in dry dock will be spent on
training for their new "digs".

Shows/Entertainment
Did not attend any shows. Family members who did, said they were just
"so, so". We regular listened to Sonia Marie while in the Piano Bar,
she had her "following", though I don't think any of us would
have gone out of our way to listen to her play. Sea Breeze was better
and they played in the Crow's Nest.

For the most part, after the last show, the ship grows quiet. You can
find people in the Casino, Casino Bar or Crow's Nest. Each evening the
Crow's Nest featured a different theme such as Disco, 50's, Black &
White, from about 11 pm to Midnight. Then music reverted to a DJ who
played for the most part hip-hop. The Crow's Nest was a late night
"hangout". On the last evening of the sold out holiday cruise at 1:30
a=2Em. there were all of 12 people still there.

Cabin Accommodations
Our family of eleven had 4 (3/3/3/2) - Cat. A. Verandah cabins on deck
7- 7048, 7050, 7052 & 7054. For two persons the cabins were terrific.
With 3 people the cabin quickly became difficult to maneuver given the
narrowness of space between the end of the queen size bed and the wall.
For privacy there was a curtain, which extended 3/4 of the way to
divide the cabin between the "living area" or in our case, sleep sofa
for our daughter and the queen size bed. There was an additional
curtain that provided privacy between the bathroom and closet area from
the rest of the cabin.

For families, if only for the space, if budget allows, I would highly
recommend a Cat. S suite. This allows not only more room to get around,
an additional sink with private dressing area separate from the tub and
water closet. Even better would be an adjoining or inside cabin for the
kids. Even for couples, if you enjoy breakfast on your balcony, the
only way in which to have a table AND chairs for a "sit down" breakfast
would be in a Cat. S suite.

Just as an added note, we had a comparable mini-suite on the Golden
Princess last year. The cabin was much more spacious and though the
balcony was slightly smaller, the cabin itself offered more seating and
was much less cramped. Cat. Balconies on the Zaandam are equipped with
a high quality comfortable chaise lounge as well as matching chair with
end table. Nice touch over the cheap hard plastic stuff found
elsewhere. I don't know if it was because of our location higher up
on the ship than where we were last year, but our balcony remained
virtually salt free. Last year while sailing Princess, after just a few
days the furniture was so encrusted in salt you needed to sit on a
towel.

Princess did offer an advantage with two TV's as opposed to just one.
When there is a disaster the size of the recent Tsunami, if only while
getting dressed in the morning and at night, DH and I are interesting
in keeping up with what is going on. Our daughter is too young for gory
tragedies of this nature and much preferred watching cartoons on
Boomerang! In each cabin there was a directory including movie listings
and the channel offerings: ESPN, CNN, TNT, CNN Headline News,
Boomerang!, Discovery Channel, "On Board"- promos for ship services,
"In Port"- shore excursion and port information, Nautical Info with
view from the bridge, and "Port Shopping". Our cabin also had a VCR and
a very long listing in cabins of videos available for pick-up at the
front desk. The Wajang Theater offered movies such as Collateral,
Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, Santa Clause 2, Bourne Supremacy, and The
Manchurian Candidate.

There were 2 Movie Channels showing a daily rotation of movies (beware
parents...we awoke one morning to our 8 year old watching an "R" rated
movie). It was nice during a Christmas cruise, if you are inclined to
stay in your cabin, to have the option of viewing Christmas movies,
some classics such as, "It's a Wonderful Life", Noel, White Christmas,
ELF, and Santa Clause 2. For adults there were also movies such as
Collateral, The Terminal, The Stepford Wives, King Arthur, Troy and
Manchurian Candidate. For kids, there was Around the World in 80 Days,
Spy Kids, The Prince and Me, Cinderella Story and Shark Tale.

The same steward served our 4 cabins. He spoke next to no English.
Formerly serving as a bartender on the ship, he was now cleaning cabins
and poorly at that. At the end of our voyage, everyone pretty much
agreed that his lack of English speaking skills were more than likely
the root of most of our "cabin problems" not being solved in a
timely manner.

We were surprised that our cabins, which had sofa beds, were never
converted back to sofas during the day. Upon arrival we walked into
cabins with a queen size bed and one sofa. After the first night's
dinner we returned to cabins with the queen size bed and a small narrow
bed, which remained such for the entire cruise. In other words, with
one chair IN the cabin and one chaise lounge and additional chair on
the balcony for three people, don't plan on sitting around. Room
service breakfast balancing plates on our knees would not have been a
pretty sight.

In that our family had 4 cabins adjacent to one another we were hoping
to have the doors between the 4 cabins opened for easy access to one
another. Our cabin steward said it was not possible. As we were waiting
to disembark along comes a crew member climbing over the railing
opening door upon door so that he would be able to walk through balcony
to balcony while he was hosing off the salt.

My cabin as well as my parent's cabin did have mildew present amongst
the grout in the bathroom tiles. Big turn off considering it is easily
curable with a little of the right cleaner and some elbow grease.

First night prior to leaving for dinner we left a note for the cabin
steward: from the previous cruise which had disembarked that morning,
we were left with: a bathroom wastebasket which had not been emptied, a
desk full of crumbs and a shelf full of receipts from the previous
cabin occupants. 3 of 4 cabins had 3, not 4 occupants. Each of the four
cabins only had two bath towels! They were not offered outright, each
cabin had to request the 3rd bath towel for the 3rd occupant
individually. Sorry but is that not just common sense?

Cabin 1- safe would not lock, a screw had fallen out. Called each
morning for repair, 3 days in a row, with no response. A phone call was
placed day 4 and we asked simply for a screwdriver to repair it
ourselves. Afternoon of day 4 we remembered we had an eyeglass
screwdriver. DH used this and fixed the safe himself.

Over the period of 6 nights, the cabin became progressively warmer at
night. Called day 7 for someone to check it. Front desk phoned morning
of day 8 to see if it had been repaired. No it had not. By the end of
the day it was fixed and in perfect working condition.

Unfortunately in the same cabin one of the children accidentally broke
the flexible hose off of the shower nozzle to brace herself and avoid
falling during a swell (too young and never having traveled before, she
did not know enough to grab one of the hand holds). Called for repair
as soon as it happened prior to dinner and it was repaired by the time
dinner was over.

Cabin 1 again- besides the problems with the safe, one morning there
was an 8:15 am knock on the door from maintenance. They knew, without
it being reported, that the cabin had low water pressure. Without
asking anyone to vacate the cabin they went into the bathroom and did
what they had to do. Again, the privacy curtain between the cabin
entrance where the bathroom is located and the rest of the cabin was
appreciated since everyone was in pajamas and one person was still in
bed.

Cabin 2- ring on tub faucet was broken, thus shower did not function.
Called for repair, no response. After my SIL had a total of 4 others
shower that evening in her cabin she called the front desk for a second
time requesting repair. "She" explained it would be appreciated if our
grandmother who had paid over $20,000 for this cruise had a shower that
actually functioned. The shower was repaired by the time we returned
from dinner that evening.

Cabin 3- one day, the cabin was just never cleaned, morning nor night.
We did see a supervisor making notes on a clipboard outside of the
cabin as we were departing for dinner that evening. No way of knowing
if one thing had anything to do with the other. No phone calls were
made to have the cabin cleaned. At this point we just couldn't be
bothered considering HAL'S staff unresponsiveness to other maintenance
problems in the cabins. The following day the cabin steward apologized
stating that he had "forgotten about it". This cabin also had an
intermittent odor of sewage from the toilet, which was not present in
the other cabins.

Lido
Quality of the food was good and the selection was for the most part
pretty good. Breakfast buffet open 7 or 7:30 am - 10 or 10:30 am,
offered just about everything imaginable except for waffles or soft
boiled, or poached eggs (yes, heard someone ask for poached, but they
did offer hard boiled eggs). If you arrived at breakfast early enough
before it got too busy, the waiters would be kind enough to get your
coffee or tea for you. Arrive later when it was busy and it was "hit or
miss" whether you would be lucky enough to be offered a refill by one
of the waiters roaming with a pot for such purpose.

At lunch, the buffet was open 11:00 am - 2 pm, the soup and salad bar
was a big hit, open 11:30 am - 5:00 pm as well as the deli. Stir Fry
and a Pasta Bar rotated day to day. The ice cream bar is extremely
popular as well with flavors of ice cream and some toppings rotating
daily. Wish there was an easier way to get a soda on the lido though.
They had a bartender set up at this little table. Half the time they
did not have what you wanted and the rest of the time he was off
getting, presumably, more soda. I had a good chuckle when one of the
waiters asked ME, who herself was wondering where he was, where the
bartender was. Alas, a mind reader I am not...Towards the end of the
cruise, we just found it easier to order a soda at the pool bar on our
way in for lunch.

Besides never missing ice cream, our children all especially enjoyed
making their own tacos and daily selections of pizzas, which were
offered. This food was available from 11:30 am - 5 pm. If you were
still full from breakfast, it was also very convenient to stop by late
afternoon for a burger or a "make your own" plate of nachos to snack
on. Still enjoying our time poolside, this was a better option than
having to go to our cabin and order room service.

Though we did not have dinner in the Lido, tables at night were set
with linen tablecloths. A condensed version of the evening's menu is
offered buffet style. The exception being your entree that you order
while in line and then is served to you by a waiter at the appropriate
time.

Room Service
HAL does excel and shows some nice touches in their room service. My
favorite late lunch was the French Onion Soup and a Caesar Salad. One
of our cabins had room service breakfast almost daily. One cabin had
early morning coffee delivery along with juice. At no extra charge,
there were a good variety of items available for appropriate times of
the day, which were delivered in a timely manner, whether ordered the
night before (breakfast) or via telephone.

Christmas eve morning an order was placed for a couple of cheese plates
for delivery to one of our cabins that night. This was no problem and
they arrived promptly at 6 pm as requested. A bottle of wine and six
cans of beer ordered at 5 pm for 6 pm simply never showed up. The
server who delivered the cheese stated he would check on the liquor
deliver, but we never heard back from him either.

A sampling of items offered 12 Noon - 10 pm a Bay Shrimp Cocktail,
Smoked Salmon Appetizer, Onion Soup, Caesar Salad, Chef Salad, Club
Sandwich, Chicken Breast Sandwich, Tuna Melt, Vegetarian Wrap, Steak
Sandwich and Hamburger.

Dining Room & Food
Our family booked this cruise in July and the only seating available
was the Main seating 8:30 pm. Since booking, we had been waitlisted for
the 8 pm seating. Upon embarking, my Mom and SIL, visited the Maitre
'd in order to take one last stab at changing to the 8 pm seating.
Fat chance!

None of us had hopes that the time would be changed, so contented
ourselves with the fact that HAL had accommodated our request for a
table for 11 people. Evenings the family gathered pre-dinner for drinks
and hors d'oeuvres, usually at the Piano Bar and then proceeded to
our table J in the Lower Rotterdam Dining Room.

We had the opportunity to enjoy some breakfasts and one dinner in the
upper dining room and noticed a drastic difference in room temperature.
It was unbelievably cooler on the upper level than the lower level. It
did not matter that on the Informal night's gentlemen were requested
to wear a sports jacket. Half way through dinner, in our area of the
lower dining room, many men room were removing their jackets.

Overall, as some others have stated, HAL does have some problems in the
dining room. HAL is spreading their dining room waiters and busboys so
thin that they have all they can do just in order to keep up. I
don't' require polite chitchat and you do not have to know me by
name. I can appreciate feeding the children early in the meal. But my
Mom did teach me to be polite, and "wait for everyone to be served"
before beginning to eat. Only problem was that we were never served
courses together. Food was served as soon as it came out of the kitchen
as long as you were finished with your previous course. It did not
matter where your tablemates were in their meal. A regular production
line for sure, but again, we in no way fault the dining room staff,
they are just trying to do the best they can with what they have.

It was no wonder that pepper grinders are on the tables in the dining
room. While HAL is at it, another time saving measure to make it easy
on everyone would be to place a pitcher of ice water, salad dressings
and sour cream on the table as well. Everyone can agree there is
nothing worse than a cold baked (steamed) potato with sour cream or
having to ask for a second cup of coffee.

Our head steward, Oka, really saved our HAL dining experience. He in
his supervisory position tried his utmost to provide the touch of
service that one used to find on all cruise ships. Oka picked up the
slack as best as he could, refilling water glasses, clearing dirty
plates etc. He not only took care of all of us, but in particular, this
father of 3 young children, who are home in Bali, took great joy at
dessert time, in pleasing the 4 children in our family. There were
napkin animals, magic tricks, jokes, puns, and riddles. In return the
children taught him a few of their own for him to add to his repertoire
for future passengers.

Oka, also accepted special orders in advance for the following evening.
The kids in particular became hooked on the Fettuccine Alfredo with
extra sauce and extra cheese on the side. He found out that our
daughter was head over heels for shellfish. A couple of nights she
dined on 2 double portions of huge shrimp, one for an appetizer and one
for dinner. Following her first taste and love at first sight with King
Crab Legs, he surprised her on another night with the biggest portion
of King Crab that you have ever seen!

One night dinner was open seating due to the Lido Deck BBQ. The dining
room was serving only in the Upper Rotterdam Dining Room on a "first
come, first served basis". Oka made sure that he saved a highly coveted
table for 10 (which he squeezed into 11) for us. We did not have our
regular waiter, but Oka made sure he surprised our daughter once again
with a huge portion of King Crab. On our last morning, Oka helped us
out with breakfast once again. The steward was insisting our family,
together again for one last time until most likely next Christmas, had
to split up into two tables of 6 & 5. Oka raced across the room and
whisked us off to a table for ten, quickly adding an additional place
setting and chair. Obviously this is why he "gets paid the big bucks".

There has to be a better way with the March and festivities taking
place at dessert time for the Main seating in the Upper dining room.
Being the "late" seating we were just being served our entrees in
the darkness of the festivities. The Baked Alaska on the upper level
was most likely to die for; however downstairs, after our meal, we were
served a melted mushy mess. I was embarrassed for the dining room staff
actually having to "slop" the drippings onto the plates.

Even the wine stewards are ragged. Some nights sodas were not received
until the entree was being served. Those drinking soda gave up on
ordering seconds and simply began ordering two sodas at one time. The
wine steward quickly picked up on this and kindly obliged and kept this
as a standing order. One night, and one night only, towards the middle
of the cruise, the "standing" soda order was already present on the
table when we arrived!

If you love wine, and are adventurous, you have to love the Zaandam's
"Wine Navigator". These packages offered a mix of wines from all
over the world. The Wine Navigator Package was priced 4 bottles for $82
or 6 bottles for $125. You are able to pay for the package and then as
you go, choose from the list of wines offered. Choose every bottle the
same, or try a different one each night! My Mom and sister-in-lawn
really lucked out since two of their favorite wines were offered
through the "Admiral's Choice" Package. This package offers
higher price pointed wines, which were 6 bottles for $175. Both
packages offered savings on a good balance of whites and reds from
around the world. The price of the packages does not include the
automatic 15% gratuity.

Guess it would not happen too often, but the night we had open seating
for dinner, those ordering individual bottles of wine as I did, vs.
those ordering from "their package", were served first. My bottle
of wine arrived at the table in a timely manner. The wine from the
package, which my Mom had selected, did not arrive at the table until
the salad was being served. Perhaps the wine steward felt I deserved
better service since the 15% auto tip was going directly into his
pocket vs. that from the Wine Package that was already pre-paid and
presumably pooled among all the wine stewards?

Breakfast here was awesome and cappuccino or espressos were at no extra
charge. Service in the morning was excellent in every way. Most of the
time, the toast was actually even still warm.

Diabetic selections in the Lido and the Dining Room are excellent. You
will have no trouble dining on this cruise, even more so in the goodie
department...sugar free ice creams, cookies, desserts...

Items are hardly if at all salted (including popcorn at the theater) so
those on low sodium diets will have no problems. If you like salt, be
prepared to "shake, shake, shake".

Soups and breads were especially excellent, as well as the King Crab
Legs and most of the Appetizers. "Daily Alternatives" were offered:
Caesar Salad, Grilled Salmon, Broiled Chicken Breast and Grilled
Sirloin Steak. The Sirloin was disappointing in that it was "hit or
miss". Just about everyone at our table ordered it on one night or
another, and whether ordered rare or medium well, the taste was never
consistent. Portions for all of the courses served were a perfect size.
Each of us always had enough room to sample dessert. Again though, if
HAL would like to show true quality of their line they would not bother
serving certain items such as Carpaccio. Offered on several evenings,
it was so paltry, it was laughable. There IS a difference between
thinly sliced and translucent. If you do order it, ask for a double!

Christmas
The rest of the family had cruised two years again over Christmas with
RCCL and were moved to tears by the beauty and amount of decorations
around the Grandeur of the Seas. The Zaandam in their opinion was very
lacking in comparison. Just no oomph! Yes, each cabin door had a small
wreath, there were Gingerbread houses at the entrance to the dining
room, and Christmas trees were not overly abundant. Yes there were
fresh flowers in Christmas displays, including the cabins and dining
room. Chocolate Santa's were put out on display at the Lido Buffet on
the 27th of December, the day after the Chocolate Extravaganza on the
26th. Two days before the end of the cruise the ship's flowers were for
the most part wilted and dead. I personally would prefer they just
remove the dead/dying flower arrangements, as opposed to the sad
remnants of dried carnations and wilted orchids left in the holiday
aftermath.

Egg Nog was served Christmas morning to those waiting in the Mondrian
Lounge for those waiting for Santa. Following an old fashioned
"sing-a-long", we watched via two large screens, Santa's trek from
arrival at the top of the ship's stack, down the ladder onto the sports
deck and then various stops such as the spa, weight room and Lido prior
to his "live" entrance to the Lounge.

IMHO, call it sour grapes if you like, but I do need to mention the
selfishness of the childless persons who crowded the front of the
lounge. I am not saying that this is a "family only" event, but it
would have been nice if families with children received some type of
priority seating in the lounge.

With an 8:30 pm dinner seating which was all which could be offered 5
months prior to booking, how early could we drag our eight year old out
of bed the next morning to get a seat in the front of the lounge? After
we opened Santa's gifts in our cabin, attended breakfast with the rest
of the family in the dining room, which HAL so thoughtfully served
until 10 am, our family made the lounge 15 minutes prior to Santa's
arrival. This was not nearly enough time to get those highly coveted
seats near Santa which had already been taken by those who did not have
"family obligations" prior to Santa's arrival. Kid's received a
wrapped gift, a "Club HAL" baseball cap, and had their picture taken
with Santa by the ship's photographer. This made another nice cruise
keepsake for only the price of a ship's photo gallery.

I can fully understand how older or single folks would like to see the
delight in the children upon seeing Santa, but how about giving a break
to the parents? Our kids only believe in Santa for so many years, why
not let us appreciate it while it lasts. When the day comes and our
children no longer "believe", we will gladly join you in the back
of the lounge to make room for the younger families.

Itinerary & Weather
4 full days at sea, one of the reasons our family chose this
itinerary/ship, the ship was our destination and resort.

We had near perfect weather with a mostly cloudy and cool sail away.
First day at sea was more clouds than sun and last day was chillier and
mostly cloudy. The other days in between were stunning Caribbean
perfect with warm temperatures and refreshing trade winds. Most
mornings, as typical of the Caribbean, there were also rainbows a
plenty.

That late afternoon and throughout the evening of our last night the
waves were reaching upwards to 13 feet+ along with a gale force wind
which made the ship very "creaky". If you were a novice cruiser you did
notice the "barf bags" placed at all elevators, but did not know that
this would mean a rough night. After departing Half Moon Cay, it was
too windy to be out on deck. All in all this made for an excellent
opportunity for packing and last minute on board shopping. The Mohito
Happy Hour was moved from the Aft pool to the mid-ship Lido Swimming
Pool where the roof was closed well before 3 pm.

Tortola
Here is a tale of two families who choose two outings. Half of the
family, a party of five, awoke early and were off the ship just after 8
am. Their aim was to catch one of the ferries to the Bath's. Walking
off of the pier, both Speedy's and Smith's Ferry companies had
representatives selling packages. The party of five, basically ended up
going with Speedy's after the reps from each company fought back and
forth over who was going to charge what. Speedy's finally won the
competition. By this time, it was going to be cutting time short for
them to walk from the pier over to Speedy's ferry departure point.
The Speedy's rep was kind enough to throw in a free taxi ride for the
five of them so they could make the ferry in time. The family had a
terrific time exploring the Baths and then a late lunch at the "Top
of the Baths" before taking the ferry back to Road Town.

The rest of us got off the ship after lunch and "tried" to hire a
taxi. All the drivers were absolutely insisting that we had to go to
Cane Garden Bay. We politely declined asking for a ride to either
Brewer's Bay or Sapphire Beach. They continued to refuse to take us
to Brewer's Bay and to them Sapphire was just way too far and out of
the question. After seeing some threads regarding the water conditions,
we told them that we thought the water may be unsafe due to discharge
from the boats anchoring here. Of course they stated this was not
correct. Our vacation, and health, so we did not want to take a chance,
especially knowing there were other places we could visit. As a side
note, HAL no longer offers their Cane Garden Bay excursion.

Interestingly enough, it was only when the six of us turned away to
re-board the ship, where we would not have to pay a taxi to get to the
ship's swimming pool, and thus taking our money with us, that one of
the drivers came forward. He was more than happy to take us to our
destination of Brewer's Bay. He was even fortunate enough to fill up
his taxi with six additional people. Evidently after agreeing to a
return time in two and a half hours it was worth his time since he
parked and hung out at the snack bar.

We paid $10 pp roundtrip from the ship to Brewer's Bay. It was a great
place to hangout even if you have only a few hours, much cheaper than
any three-hour beach excursion the ship could offer. You can rent
chaise lounges for $5 each. There is a bar with liquor and snacks. The
ride over and back was a good way to see the beautiful vistas and the
driver was kind enough to stop for photo opportunities without even
being asked.

Snorkeling is off to the west side of the beach along the rock cliff.
The water is fairly shallow and clear. There are a few rocks on this
west end of the beach, but water shoes are not required. Walk/swim a
short ways out and the bottom becomes ALL sand. The further you walk
east down the beach, the sandier it gets.

When in Tortola, if you do not want to venture to the Bath's this is a
great alternative! In our case the Baths were not doable for my 90+ yo
grandmother. She went to Brewer's with us and loved watching her
granddaughter swimming and playing in the sand.

St. Martin
Mom and Dad did what they do best here, spending 4 hours making a
sizable donation to their friends at Ballerina Jewelers.

The ship's "Discover Scuba" excursion was sold out way in advance
of sailing. I found out through this board about Shore Trips=AE so for
an additional $12 per person over the ship's excursion price, my
brother, niece and sister-in-law booked a trip through them to try out
scuba. As had happened with my husband and I after our first dive, once
you do it, you are hooked! They had a fine experience with Shore
Trips=AE and would not hesitate to use them again.

The rest of the family enjoyed the Aft swimming pool which, as you can
imagine was very peaceful.

Barbados
Wow is all I can say! This day was by far one of the highlights of our
Christmas cruise aboard the Zaandam. We sailed aboard the Silver Moon
II on Christmas Eve for their 5 hour Lunch Cruise. The new 45'
catamaran is sister to the original 44' Silver Moon. SM II sails this
lunch cruise with a maximum of 18 people aboard. Cost was $80 per adult
and $50 per child and well worth the expense. The cat does hold up to
40 persons for private charters, so it is obvious that there is plenty
of room for 18 people to comfortable sail, drink, eat and swim or
snorkel.

Our family made up 11, out of a total of 18 people aboard. There was
plenty of space for everyone to spread out. Never did we feel crowded.
There was shade for my Grandmother and anyone else who wanted it and
plenty of spots for sunning and relaxing. Captain Nick, the owner, and
his crew, the kind of young men which every parent would like their
daughter to marry, treated spoiled us from the first moment we stepped
on board and we could not have been more pleased with this excursion.

Our excursion this day was 10 am to 3 pm. We were met outside of the
cruise terminal and transported via mini-bus the few minute ride to the
marina. The boat is new, and kept clean as a whistle. You must remove
your shoes to even step aboard. We were a little concerned about my
grandmother being able to walk on board, but the crew very very
carefully and skillfully cajoled and assisted her. Once we were all
aboard drink orders were taken and we began our 5 hours of bliss. First
off we were told that there was a very strong swell out of the north
and the waves were just too big to get in with the turtles. A snorkel
above a couple of wrecks would be substituted instead. After a
45-minute sail, the first snorkel stop was to a reef. The crew passed
out high quality and well kept, snorkel gear. At each stop one of the
crewmembers snorkeled with the group and acted as guide.

Following this snorkel, everyone re-boarded, rinsed off with the fresh
water hose and ate a delicious bountiful lunch of fried chicken,
macaroni and cheese, fish, garlic bread and Caesar salad. All the
while, we were offered unlimited soda, beer, wine, pina coladas, rum
punch or strawberry daiquiris. Lunch was even followed by Rum Cake and
coffee or tea.

Seeing some of the other passing catamaran excursions packed to the
gills, we knew no matter how much others had paid for their excursions,
we had the best value for our money and it was the absolute best
decision to go with Silver Moon. Don't' believe me, check out this
thread... Silver Moon Catamaran - Great !!!!!

Martinique
Been there had already done that. Brother and SIL paid $25 each for a
taxi tour with another couple and now they too can say, "been there
done that". DH and I spent a quiet relaxing day lounging by the aft
swimming pool.

Daughter spent the morning in Club HAL and then returned for the
afternoon session after a dip in the pool and her luncheon feast.
Please see "Club Hal" in this report for information on what this
day.

Half Moon Cay
This is a beautiful island for sure. It is very similar to Princess
Cay, but with much more in the way of facilities. Our half day, 8 am to
1:30 pm, on the island was shared with the passengers from the
Zaandam's sister ship, the Volendam. The island's weather this day
was mostly cloudy, cool and extremely windy, but nonetheless, the beach
was crowded. If you are unable to walk a distance down the beach, the
advice is to make sure you get to the island early.

The new children's water play area was nice, however was not officially
open? A water slide is just not a water slide without running water. On
a Christmas cruise with a lot of kids (well for HAL right?), there was
enough disappointment to go around. But they made the best of it, using
the floating platforms. Most, if not all, of the excursions this day
were cancelled due to high winds. To avoid the children's water park
area, head north, the further the better.

Food was typical out island BBQ: Baby back Ribs- to die for, the usual
hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, salads, fruit, brownies,
cookies. There was also steak albeit under cooked.

Zaandam Christmas Cruise 12/18- Club HAL, Disembarkation, Favs &
Overall
Club HAL
The oldest and the youngest children in the group participated. In that
this was a Christmas cruise, there were a fair number of children
aboard, but not an overwhelming amount as I thought there might be.
There was no charge for the club, not even supplies.

The teen made tons of new friends and generally just ended up
"hanging out". Most night's teen events (ages 13 - 17) ran 10
pm to 1 am. There was an organized "get together" for the teens,
for some reason it seems they were held mostly at the Aft Pool or Sky
Room. With the upcoming addition of the Oasis Lounge, of course this
will be the new place for the teens to gather.

Our daughter picked and chose which Club HAL activities she wished to
participate in. She enjoys arts & crafts and now has some nice
souvenirs from her first cruise. I was not too thrilled the day she
played "Toilet Tag" until I was let in on the details. This was a
regular game of tag with a little bit of a different title.

Only disappointment in the Club was the day we were in Martinique. We
had signed up our DD the day before as required. When my husband went
to sign her into the club that morning, none of the Club HAL staff was
there. "They" decided they felt like taking the day off, and we
were "lucky" that one of the male entertainers "volunteered" to
man the Club that day. My husband chatted with the gentleman long
enough to determine he felt safe leaving DD at the Club. Our daughter
happily played on the computer for a couple of hours, but obviously
that was beside the point.

Disembarkation
Debarkation on Dec. 28 was miserable. I don't believe this was any
fault of the cruise line. Departure questionnaires were left in our
cabin earlier in the week. Since we had driven to the Port, we knew we
would be some of the last people off of the ship. Each cabin was later
assigned a letter, which would be called for disembarkation.

It is terrific that HAL allows you to remain in your cabin, so were
astonished they had repeat the age old announcement for people not to
gather around the gangway, staircases, etc. Although the ship had
arrived in Port on time, there were the usual case of inconsiderate
passengers needing being paged over and over to report to immigration.
The first numbers were not called until about 9:30 am. We did not get
off until almost 10:30 am.

The good news was that if you did NOT require a porter it was very easy
to claim your luggage and get out of the terminal. If you need to get
to Orlando definitely make arrangements to have someone meet you rather
than relying on the whim of one of the taxi drivers. Our Radisson
shuttle picked us up and took us back to the resort to retrieve our
cars.

Overall Experience
Another holiday cruiser stated they "would return to HAL. However, we
all felt that Princess was slightly better than HAL." Our group was of
mixed opinions. The three kids who had cruised previously with
Celebrity and Royal Caribbean would choose Royal Caribbean.

HAL would have won us over completely if their dining room service were
improved and the quality of the food elevated just ever so much.
Problems with the cabins were annoying but as time has faded become
less important. Let's just say it was good enough that three in our
group just booked a suite on the Westerdam for a 15 day transatlantic
cruise in April.

Favorites:
1=2E Our kid's loved the Pizza & Taco Bar in the Lido.
2=2E Salad bar and Ice Cream bar in the Lido.
3=2E Cappuccino and Espresso at the Java Bar.
4=2E Soda card at a little over $50 (including the non-optional 15%
gratuity) sounds like a lot of money but is actually a bargain. If you
drink two sodas per day, it pays for itself. In the hot Caribbean sun
if you drink more than that, you will be ahead of the game. Thumbs up
to HAL for including ginger ale and Diet Sprite in the package.
5=2E Chocolate Chip Cookies

Classy Touches:
1=2E Terry cloth hand towels in the public restrooms
2=2E Pleather document holder
3=2E Keepsake Portfolio of Captain's Farewell Dinner & Christmas Dinner
menus
4=2E A wheelchair was given to my grandmother for her use throughout the
entire cruise. She is able to walk short distances with the aid of a
cane to get her place to place on the ship. Our last night at sea was
too rough for her to walk at which time she was able to revert to using
the wheelchair rather miss dinner in the dining room.
5=2E Happy to see a cruise line who still conducts a kitchen tour.
6=2E The Cruise Log presented at the end of the voyage makes another nice
keepsake of our trip.

Could Have Done Without
It was heavenly, there were only sporadic "reports from the bridge"
given by the Chief Navigator, not the Captain. Sadly, we had bingo
announcements a plenty. "You gotta be in it to win it"... Daily bingo
announcements are just plain rotten. If the passengers cannot remember
what time bingo is scheduled, let them carry the daily schedule with
them.

Additional Notes:
My husband does not buy the latest fashions in clothes, doesn't have
a ear splitting stereo or an expensive sports car. He is however what I
refer to as a "coffee snob". No Starbucks double Latte for him,
just good, high quality, read expensive, coffee and the right machines
for grinding his own beans and brewing the perfect cup. The one
complaint I hear from him, everywhere but inside our own home, is how
rotten the coffee is. Finally I can send him to the Zaandam! Whether in
the Lido, Dining Room or Java Bar the coffee was near perfection and
lived up to his expectations.

Upon arrival, each cabin already had a nice complimentary holiday
arrangement. For this Christmas cruise there was an additional offering
of Holiday gifts available for delivery once aboard. DH and I purchased
various gifts for our family and ourselves directly through Hal's
Ship Services. Besides the 28 inch Christmas Tree for my
grandmother's cabin and the 16 inch trees for our other three cabins.
We ordered "Frosty The Snowman" for our daughter. The description was
labeled a "festive drum filled with traditional seasonal trimmings".
Traditional seasonal trimmings it indeed did have. So fresh and so
green was it that my allergies forced Frosty into relocating to my
parents cabin. There were also bottles of wines and orders of Chocolate
strawberries with Champagne. We had faxed the order to ship's
services well in advance of departure and brought the copies with us
should there have been any problems with delivery. Each and every item
arrived on the appointed day and nothing was forgotten. Especially
wonderful was not only the chocolate covered strawberries, but the
California Chase-Limogere, Brut which came with it.

Arubalisa

Thank you very much for your review. My Mum and I are taking the
repositioning cruise Apr/May from FLL to Vancouver B.C (home) on the
Zaandam. Your review has answered a number of questions I had. Not too
many references to the Zaandam anywhere. I know the ship will be in drydock
for upgrades etc. just before we board.

I am so looking forward to this cruise as my Mum (78yrs) has always wanted
to see the Panama Canal (her younger sister did it about 10 yrs ago) and as
her health just recently has declined I figured it would be a good idea to
do it now!!

3 weeks is longer than I would have chosen but this way she just has to fly
in one direction which is a definite plus for her. I was interested to see
that HAL provided a wheelchair? Did I misunderstand? If they ARE able to
provide a wheelchair how would I go about enquiring? My Mum too, can
stand/walk for reasonable distances but longer jaunts do tire her.

Regards

Lois in Vancouver B.C.

Hi Lois,

For a wheelchair ask you travel agent to contact HAL letting them know
you will need to be met with a wheelchair at the port.

I also have photos of the ship at
http://www.arubabound.com/image/lg/us/zaandam/zaan.htm