Zaandam - Alaska cruise questions

Will the hot tubs on deck be open late in the evening for some midnight sun viewing? At first I was not going to pack a bathing suit, but thought that may be kind of cool.

Best places to spend the day viewing Glacier Bay? We don't have a balcony, we have an outside on the lower promenade deck.

Thanks... I'm sure as the week continues I will have a few more questions!

I'm not 100% sure but I think the hot tubs close around 9 or 10 pm every evening.

As for viewing Glacier Bay, go out onto open decks. The bow gets a little too crowded. I much prefer getting out on the higher forward decks. Not as many people (although it can get crowded there, too, just not as crowded as the bow). On the Zaandam, that would be on Deck 6. You can also get out on Deck 8 if you go through the Aerobics area in the Spa. If you get out on the highest decks, the view of the scenery all around you is incredible.

On Noordam this year the hot tubs were typically open into mid to late evening. Maybe 10pm? I'll have to look at the schedule in the dailies we kept.

For Glacier Bay the best place would be the bow assuming they open it up as they did on Noordam. Deck 10 / Observation deck above Lido was also good, you could easily go from side to side as desired. (though I admin that this was partly because it was so easy to alternate between this location and our deck 10 balcony where we could escape the people chatter and enjoy the quiet as well as the sounds of the glacier)

We went to Tracey Arm on the Zaandam and the bow was opened for viewing. That way you have an all around view. The crew brought out a bar set up and also served their Dutch Pea soup. It was a magical day.

As for viewing Glacier Bay, go out onto open decks. The bow gets a little too crowded. I much prefer getting out on the higher forward decks.

There will not be any midnight sun on a cruise to Alaska . The cruise is to far south for that . You'll have twilight but no full sun.

I have been to Glacier Bay many times and find any place outside when at Glacier is good. The ship turns totally around a couple of times so everyone gets a good view. But if you are not looking right at the glacier you might miss calving. The Zaandam has some great decks on the stern, I think deck 7 and 8. The doors at end of hallway say "keep closed" but they are open to passengers. Used them a lot on trip to Antarctica.

Another great place to be outside is right in from of the gym on the Lido deck.

Dutch Pea Soup is usually served on the Promenade Deck and in the Crow's Nest.

We have done Alaska quite a few times and the port side of the ship faced the glaciers the longest time. The ships we were on do not turn around a couple of time -- and it was several different ships.