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Zaandam - Baja California Dec 2007
We took the HAL's Zaandam from San Diego to Baja California and return
from December 11th through Dec 21. Ports we San Diego, Porto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Topolobampo, Loretyo, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, and back to San Diego. The Zaandam is one of the larger "DAM" ships but is still not a super big ship. The ship's decorations for the Holiday were very nice and the ship was very, very clean. The crew were all helpful and seemed to be really happy to be of service. Check in was very quick and painless, including the digital picture for the shipboard ID purposes - not the photographer's welcome aboard snap. The photographers are still using film aboard the Zaandam, by the way. Our cabin was really nice. I had decided it was time to see how the "real cabins" were different from the one's we usually use - the ones low down. It was a "Deluxe Verandah Suite" and certainly was a step up from our "normal" with finally more than enough drawers and closet space. The Neptune Lounge was very nice to have, and it was nice to get off the ship when we wanted to - no tender tickets required. The food was very, very nice. Great variety, well prepared, and beautifully presented. Serving sizes were somewhat smaller than what we recalled from previous trips; something we were very happy with since this way I got to try everything. Additional servings were available if you wanted them with no problems. The Lamb and Beef items were especially fine - perfectly cooked the way I like them, medium rare. We had one meal in the Pinnacle dining room and it was nice, but not nearly as nice as the advertising hype would suggest. The servers were all grousing about the "travel agent gift certificates" causing them too much work. It seems that a number of travel agents had gifted dinners and the servers were not happy. I guess the "giftees" didn't tip enough or something. I'd suggest any beef lovers forget the Porterhouse Steak - it shrank greatly from the version presented and was clearly not of the same quality as the filet. Ports of call were varied and all the unique ports were served by an industrial pier. A large number of passengers took the Copper Canyon rail tour - they got up before 3:00 a.m. to leave and were not back until well after dark. All those we talked to said it was a disappointment and they would not do it again. "The bus ride was long and there were no rest rooms on the buses; l the train was uncomfortable; the canyon was bland." I don't know what was expected by them but all we talked to were unhappy with the experience. Perhaps we missed the happy ones. The entertainment was nice; a good blend of everything from jugglers to classical piano. John Davidson did a show and my spouse loved it. Music was available in all the lounges and was of a uniformly high quality. The production show was a Broadway medley. The ship is scheduled for dry dock soon to undergo some much needed refurbishment. Some of the carpeting is showing its age, as is the show lounge. The satellite television system needs some work; the CNN channel was miss-tuned and had frequently chopped - broken audio. This points to the need for some well trained technical people on the ship who can undertake some non-front panel adjustment. We had a great trip, we enjoyed the ship and the staff and would do it again in a minute. HAL certainly knows how to make a cruise pleasant. What we really would like to do next is a non-port cruise: depart, sail around for about a week, and then return to port. Cheers, John in LALALand (On the Left Coast) |
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