Cruise Reviews - Holland America Line Zaandam
Cruise Line: Holland America Line
Ship: Zaandam
Date of Cruise: September 23, 2000
Cruise Review: Eastern Caribbean on the Zaandam
By: Paul
On September 23, 200 my Sister and I took a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Holland America's Zaandam. I have sailed with HAL on 14 previous cruises on a number of their ships. This cruise to say the least was strange, as there were things happening that just don't normally happen. I guess the first thing was that some how HAL messed up our flight back home and when my TA noticed the mistake there was no room left on the flight so were booked on a different carrier coming home. Well on the day we left for the cruise it was raining and a little on the cool side. We were booked on AC from Toronto to Miami. The plane was late arriving in Toronto from Ottawa, then there was a problem with something in the cockpit, then there were 2 people that were not allowed through customs but their luggage was on the flight, how this happened is still a mystery as you need to carry your luggage through immigration and US customs before putting them on the belt to be loaded on the
plane. Well they needed to get them off so they started to look for them and did find them quite quickly. Once we backed away from the terminal there was another delay as they were in the middle of changing runways. Finally we taxied to the runway but now another thing came up. BIRDS they were in the flight path and all over the runway so we had to wait until someone came to chase them away. Finally we were off, late but still lots of time to get to Ft. Lauderdale.
We were met at the gate by HAL staff and showed to an area where we were to wait for the bus. In Miami, there is a policy of the cruise lines pick up the luggage and deliver it directly to the ship. When the bus got there 6 of us boarded but were told we had to go to a hotel to pick up 2 people that other busses had missed. We got to the hotel only to find out that there was nobody there and nobody knew of passengers. Well a half-hour after arriving there we were off to the pier when the driver said we would be there in 10 minutes. Someone on the bus picked up on that and told him we are not going from Miami but Ft. Lauderdale. So off we went and he made good time and we arrived to check in at 4:15 p.m. just as the bells were ringing for boat drill. We quickly got through the check in and to our cabin, which was on main deck mid ship. We found our life jackets and up we went 1 deck to lower promenade deck, found our station and checked with the officer in charge and he checked off our names on his list.
The ship sailed right at 5 p.m. and about 5:30 went to the cabin to get cleaned up for dinner as we had first sitting. Now I have been sailing with them many times and know that in the early stages of the cruise they put a form under your door to fill out with your travel arraignments but there it was on under my door just after sailing. I do feel that is a little much but did fill it out and took it to the front office. We ate in the Amsterdam Dinning room, a beautiful room with an upper balcony area that is joined with 2 semi-circular staircases. We had a great bunch at our table and everyone got along great. The one strange thing about it, the two people we went to pick up were at our table, small world. Well when we found this out we talked about it and they had been waiting since noon for a bus and finally took a taxi, which HAL paid for. It was a good idea to go that way because the hotel that the bus driver was told to go to was not even the right hotel. We all had a good laugh over this and many other things during the cruise.
The next day we were in Nassau, not one of my favorite stops but did get off for a short time. As this was Sunday the whole town but for a few shops in the straw market were closed as is just about everything in the Caribbean on a Sunday. There were two other ships in but not occupied as they belonged to Premier Cruise Line, there was the Big Red Boat III and the Oceanic.
I went to the cabin just before lunch at 12 and the ship was just starting to pull away at 1 p.m. as I made my way back to the cabin. Too my surprise there was a note saying we were due at boat station #1 for boat drill at 1 p.m. as they say we missed the one in Ft. Lauderdale. Now to put this under my door an hour or less before the drill was crazy as who is to say we would even be in the cabin. I looked out at that station and nobody was there so I went to the front office and explained the whole thing to her. She took the information and said they would forward it on to their supervisor and I guess they did, as we heard nothing more on it.
As I mentioned this was the start of a very strange week. After leaving Nassau we spent the next day and a half at sea. The weather was great and the seas were calm. I started to explore the ship and take some pictures, both the still and video. The lay out of the public rooms was very much along the lines of those ships in the "Statendam Class". As I had sailed three times on two of these ships getting around on the Zaandam was quite easy. Most lounges are named the same and in much the same location but they are larger and more roomier. This may be to the liking of some and disappointing to others as I know there are those who like a smaller lounge to get away from it all so to speak. All were brightly decorated although in parts of the ship the colours were strange to say the least. I think they got away from the more soothing colours of the rest of the fleet as HAL is targeting this ship to the younger crowd and on this cruise it certainly was younger. I would maybe put the average age at 50 but that may be pushing it, as most seemed to be in the-25 - 45yr. Range. Yes, there were younger (only saw about 3 kids) and still a good number of 65 . In the main show lounge I felt that unless you got front row or close to it the
sightlines were not the best. If you went up to the balcony any seat seemed to be good. The Crows Nest was a very popular spot both day and night as it serves as an observation lounge in the day and night club during the evenings and wee small hours of the morning. During the evening there is The Wilson Palomo Quartet playing and singing and they are very good. As for the evening entertainment I only saw the two
production shows and they were very good. They were Dancing Fool and Monte Carlo, the later probably the best of the shows I have see on HAL.
On Tuesday we were in San Juan and it didn't start out very good. Since we had visited a foreign port (Bahamas) all non-US passengers had to go to the Half Moon card room for Immigration. This is usually not a big thing, more a pain than anything else but this time for some reason it was a DISASTER! We were notified to be there for 7:00 a.m. when we were to arrive in San Juan which a good number had done but they were late in getting to port and I guess those who were supposed to be in charge of organizing the people coming in didn't show up until just before arriving. Now you have a room full of people who have started to sit correctly but then there were those who decided that they were more important than others and took front seats in the next section. Most people were well behaved but as always there are a few jerks out there and they started to complain about waiting so long but the strange thing was we were there longer than these people. Because it was not set up correctly all "hell" broke loose when some in the front row of other sections decided to go ahead of those in the right order. Well the whole process takes about 10 seconds to go through and works well when there is some order.
Well after breakfast it was time to head ashore. I am not sure what the temperature was but the humidity was unbearable. I live in a humid area during the summer but never have felt anything like that before. We just walked around the old city and went to "El Morro Fort". I had been to the fort before but this time there was another ship coming in and it offers a great viewing point. The afternoon was hot and humid with showers off and on but when it did rain it poured. That evening there was a deck party that lasted until the rains came and it did come very quickly that there was little time to close the roof over the pool where things were going on. As we sailed at midnight there was quite a bit of lightning that made for some fireworks so to speak.
The next day, Wednesday found us in St. Thomas and docked at the Crown Bay Marina on the other side of town from where most ships tie up. It was raining this day and because we were short on time due to a tour in the early afternoon we took a taxi to town. If you are docked in this location a taxi ($2.50) to town is the way to go. You can walk it, but it is not a scenic walk like it is from Havensite dock area. We quickly got what we went for and headed back to the ship. We took an Island tour, which is a very nice way to see the Island and get away from the shopping crowds. Unfortunately with rain comes clouds and even though most views were unobstructed when we got to the mountaintop we had a great view of clouds. There were stops along the way for refreshments and picture taking. We had a wonderful guide who had a great personality and was a lot of fun. At this time of year St. Thomas has very few ships in on a weekly basis compared to the winter months. Including us there were 4 ships in port, Disney Magic, Grandeur of the Seas and the Norway. After leaving St. Thomas we headed for Half Moon Cay but before we got there it was another relaxing day at sea. As it was for the cruise to this point the seas were very calm.
On Friday we arrived at Half Moon Cay (HAL's private Island) I had been here once before and they were still building it at that time but even though it was not completed it was a wonderful day. With this in mind I was waiting to go back and see it in its finished state. We thought we would wait a bit to allow the main rush off the ship as you tender at this port and the early passengers then needed tender tickets. We went to the main show lounge to pick up a ticket expecting half the lounge to be full of people waiting. Instead I found just a trickle of people walking in getting a ticket and heading right for the tender, it was wonderful but I couldn't understand why as this has never happened on any other cruise with tenders. I went over for about 1 hour to take pictures and walk a round then headed back to the ship to put the cameras in the cabin and change into my swim suite. At this time I thought it would be just about time for the open tenders, was I wrong. It seemed that most of the ship had decided to wait for the open tenders and created a huge backlog of people waiting to get tickets. I finally did get back to the beach and although I am not what you call a beach person I had a wonderful time just relaxing. They have a very nice BBQ with hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken and salads plus drinks. It was a beautiful day but I noticed by the afternoon the wind starting to pick up and after hearing of at least two different times of sudden storms blowing up there we might have one. At 4:00 p.m. the last of the tenders were raised and it was off to Ft. Lauderdale.
On my way to dinner at 6:00 p.m. I saw that there was now no sun and took a look out on the promenade deck and it was pouring rain and lots of fog. During dinner we had one dramatic lightning show out the windows. This caused the first movement I felt of the ship all for the entire cruise and that was short lived. I felt the service might not have been up to HAL's standards with a number of small things not being done in the dining room. I do feel that maybe HAL is coming out with too many new ships and now have many inexperienced staff. It is a hard job these people are put into and I feel if everyone gives them a chance and don't complain about every little thing the service staff or most of them will improve with experience. Our cabin steward was excellent and they say you never see them, well this was the case as the only two times I saw him over the week he was working in another cabin and I said hello to him. The cabin was kept spotless. Well even with a number of strange things happening that don't normally happen and the few minor problems in the dining room I had a great time on board and if the chance to sail on the Zaandam comes around I will certainly take it. I am sure I have missed out on a few things here and I may sound like I am being picky but after 14 previous HAL cruises I feel these should be mentioned. Nothing on this cruise was so bad that I would never sail with them again, in fact I can't wait to sail with them again as for every little negative there are many more positives. Any other information or questions please e-mail me.
Paul
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