Alaska..Zaandam or Noodam

This is far in advance, but we are planning a 2 week cruise/tour for next summer. The ships in the title are our options. On the Zaandam, we would be getting a bigger room on a smaller, older ship and on the Noordam, a smaller room on a bigger, newer ship. We have never cruised Holland before.

We are in our mid-50's. We also enjoy calmness. Not into dancing or games. We would save a bit of $ on the bigger ship, but not sure if the money saved is worth the extra 500 people on board.

Opinions? Thank you!

What category room are you considering? Do you want interior, ocean view, a verandah suite. or verandah? Even within categories the stateroom size may differ somewhat.

Many people have lots of experience with different staterooms but it helps to know where you got the information you have as far as size of rooms and what your expectations are.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

You need to give us more information -- what are the ports for each ship?

Especially in Alaska, the first thing to decide is itinerary. If the two ships are doing the same itinerary, then take a look at the day of the week of sailing, and compare to which other ships you will be sharing the ports with. Fewer passengers from other ships means a better experience for you.

In general, the same category cabin on the Zaandam will be larger than the comparable category cabin on the Noordam. The public rooms have similar offerings on both ships, although the execution may be different.

Either ship will give the Holland America experience of gracious service in a traditional atmosphere.

Have a great time in The Great Land.

If the itinerary was similar I would personally choose the Zaandam over the Noordam. Although we just had a great cruise on the Noordam, I like the smaller ships.

It is quite a personal choice though but that's my 2 cents worth!:)

I am 70 plus and I love the Noordam. I would choose the Noordam but I also like the Zaandam. They do identical. cruises between Vancouver and Seward in 2016.

Thank you, everybody, for your replies! I guess I had known all along that we wanted to go with the smaller ship, just needed to run it past experienced cruisers. Both ships are doing identical itineraries.

We are just so excited, as we have been saving for this for many years.

What are the opinions on touring first vs cruising first? I was hoping to tour first, but we could save money cruising first

What are the opinions on touring first vs cruising first? I was hoping to tour first, but we could save money cruising first

If you are planning to take a HAL tour, as opposed to on your own, then tour first, cruise second.

Land touring on HAL is exhausting! You have to be up before the crack of dawn in order to have your bags out for pick-up at too-early o'clock. Then, it's long hours in a bus, with scheduled stops not necessarily at a time you would prefer.

Now, it's all worth it for what you get to see/do, but it does tucker you. When I did the HAL tour I was quite a bit younger than I am now, and I still slept through the first cruise day! I was that worn out.

If you do the cruise at the end, you have the chance to recuperate before heading home, and you will return much more refreshed.

Oh, and I think the 7-day cruise is infinitely preferable to doing the 3- or 4- day cruise. Good choice.

If you are planning to take a HAL tour, as opposed to on your own, then tour first, cruise second.

 

Land touring on HAL is exhausting! You have to be up before the crack of dawn in order to have your bags out for pick-up at too-early o'clock. Then, it's long hours in a bus, with scheduled stops not necessarily at a time you would prefer.

Now, it's all worth it for what you get to see/do, but it does tucker you. When I did the HAL tour I was quite a bit younger than I am now, and I still slept through the first cruise day! I was that worn out.

 

If you do the cruise at the end, you have the chance to recuperate before heading home, and you will return much more refreshed.

Oh, and I think the 7-day cruise is infinitely preferable to doing the 3- or 4- day cruise. Good choice.

Thank you! This is exactly what we were thinking. Did you go on the 6-8 hour wilderness tundra tour?

I am 70 plus and I love the Noordam. I would choose the Noordam but I also like the Zaandam. They do identical cruises between Vancouver and Seward in 2016.

So the Noordam is changing her itinerary? When I looked at Alaska cruises, her itinerary was identical to the Volendam - Vancouver round trip without Hubbard Glacier or College Fjord. I chose the Volendam because of airline tickets (prices and times are horrible in both directions), so that's something to think about as well if you have to fly.

Did you go on the 6-8 hour wilderness tundra tour?

We went on a road tour at Denali the afternoon we arrived, but I don't know that it had a name at that time. It went from some time early afternoon until something like almost 10:00 PM, so 8 hours sounds right.

It was in a school bus. The weather was so good, with the mountain out in all her splendor, that we were able to go to something like the 89 mile marker, iirc. It was as far as you could go by road---I do remember that. We had a snack there which was supposed to hold us over 'til supper when we got back.

The next day was just as clear, and I went up the mountain in a single engine Cessna, to about the 11,000 ft. mark. I know that was an optional tour.

Then we landed, and a short time later we boarded the train to finish the ride to Anchorage.

Personally I thought the Zaandam was the worst Holland Ship I have ever cruised on while the Noordam was one of my best Holland Ships. In my experience the maintenance of the Zaandam was sorely lacking compared to other Holland ships.

But others may have had a different experience.

Personally I thought the Zaandam was the worst Holland ship I have ever cruised on while the Noordam was one of my best Holland ships. In my experience the maintenance of the Zaandam was sorely lacking compared to other Holland ships.

 

But others may have had a different experience.

It's crazy how that happens. I know a guy who called his week on the Noordam "the cruise from hell" partly because the service was horrible. Other people who sailed on the Noordam after him loved the ship and were unable to find flaws in the service onboard. Go figure.

Have you ever sailed on the Volendam? She is my next ship.

I've been on Volendam three times and like it a lot.

Zaandam cruise to south america that I was on just simply was not up to usual Holland standards in my opinion...the crew was great but there were a variety of maintenance issues that should have been dealt with but for whatever reason were not. Frankly my opinion was the captain and the hotel manager were really not very good or engaged at providing the direction and support that the hard working crew and the paying customers deserve.